Today I was calling in an order for an attachment for our lawn tractor. Hb always has done these kind of things and he wanted to talk with the man but I was wary of what he might order as he kept getting his numbers mixed up. I called first and told the man who answered that I was going to place an order but my husband might want to talk but that he had dementia. The man on the phone paused and then said my wife has dementia. I said then you understand. As an aside husband never got on the phone.
I am finding this out too. I have a coworker who has a wife who has dementia too. Did not know this until my DH was dx. And I had talked in passing to people at church who have LO who have it. I think if the truth be told the numbers are much much higher than anyone thinks. Look at how many here have a LO who has not been dx'd yet. They are not counted. Make you wonder why so many now. What did we do to set this up to happen like this now. So many EOAD also.
For blue, and flo; "...What did we do to set this up to happen like this now? So many EOAD also."
If one thinks about it, and uses a liitle common sense, three words will come to mind. Did for me, anyway, after some rudimentary research at the beginning of my own journey: 'the industrial revolution'. This world's living environment has been corrupted so as to be totally unrecognizable from what it was 100 years or so ago. Not just the air we breath, but the foods we eat, the water we drink, etc. Everything about our lifestyles was changed from that era forward. No doubt, not all the changes were for the worse, but I'd bet a dollar to a dime that the huge spike, world wide, in chronic diseases, and dementia is a chronic disease, is the ultimate result of those 'changes'.
I know most here are no longer concerned about the 'whys', and understandbly so, they have far more pressing problems to deal with by the time they feel the need to reach out for support such as the kind Joan has provided here. But, no disease can be 'cured' without first determining the cause of it, and I believe everyone reading here would welcome that.
Sadly, I'm pretty sure that, in my opinion, of course, the scientific and medical communities are WELL aware of the general underlying reasons there are so many people with dementia, heart disease, cancer, and the like. Problem is it's too late to reverse these changes in our environment. They are pretty much left with trying to development treatments for those that suffer and prolong their lives if possible. (And, you can bet, the fewer $$$s you have the less you're going to benefit from those efforts.) One huge problem they are faced with, also, is the world's population explosion. The industrial revolution was kicked into super overdrive high gear beginning with the post WW2 era. At the same time us 'baby boomers' just happened to come along. Chronic disease in now a pandemic world wide. These changes we've seen not only cause medical problems, but economic problems as well. There is a great big elephant in the room that can only be talked about openly behind closed doors when the G8, or G20 or the WHO gather every so often for, what I call, 'their little socials'. They are the people who will be deciding how much medical austerity we'll all be living with in these years to come as chronic diseases grow more and more prevelant. In the meanstwhile, those who find theirselves as care givers will find, as I've learned from reading this board over the last couple of years, they'll be more and more left to 'their own devices' far as coping goes.
After saying all that, which again, is only my opinions, I know it leads to one other question. If all, or any, of that is true then why isn't EVERONE sick with a chronic disease? I would say that too often we forget that all life on this earth is subject to what many refer to as a 'natural selection'. Some just have a stronger genetic makeup that is better at warding off these onslaughts of environment changes. Some have better immune systems. Some have "healthier" lifestyles that build stronger immune systems. And some, who knows?
I hope I haven't come across as trying to offer simplistic answers to what are some complex questions. or, as being too long winded.:) It's just a subject I'm very passionate about and have given a lot of thought to.
Thanks, boutoutaluck, for your insightful opinion. In my hb's case his mother and one sister had dementia although no one in the family ever mentioned it as such. Another sister had az which was not recognized for many years. The family just said she was not herself, etc. So recognizing my hb as having az has been too much for his remaining brother and sister to accept they have actually asked if he was just (fill in the blank----------.) They live in another state and have not seen him in over a year and the change is very evident. He also has lymphoma and my uneducated opinion is this was the result of washing tools bare handed in a chemical solution which in later years was deemed to be unsafe. This was long before workers safety was a factor. Our first child was stillborn and I believe it is because of my exposure to lead based paint in the first trimester. All these things now we know and it wasn't always so. But as you say what is is for those of us with loved ones who have dementia. Perhaps in the next generations the break through will come - we can only hope and pray it will be so.
i think the next generation will have even more difficulties with new disease. the use of cell phones is going to probably be a biggie down the road. the radiation effect etc. and use of computers and all these techie gadgets come with a price a am sure it will be discovered. its probably a combination of all the above like boutoutaluck says. and we will be living longer and resources will be scare. pretty scary picture of the future.
For many that are dxed with EOAD I believe it was exposure to Agenet Orange while serving in Nam. My dh was dxed with his Alzheimrs, COPD and had a silent heart attack all within a year. That seems a bit strange to me without some kind of outside influence.
If comments like this is posted some place else, I am sorry for double post. Can't find what I thought I did the first time.
I agree with the exposure to Agent Orange causing problems. My husband has had problems with his ears draining and itching (no doctor has ever been able to stop it) ever since Viet Nam and then being diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2004 and FTD in 2008. No family history of dementia or bladder cancer.
Well, we do like to think up reasons, don't we? My dad attributed his Parkinson's to having flown in a rural crop-dusting plane in the late 40s/early 50s, tossing billowing dusty bales of herbicides and insecticides out the hatch. I blame my husband's PCA on spending his teen years using chemical furniture strippers in an unventilated basement as a summer job (then going on to be a renovator and hardware guy who paid no heed to chemical safety warnings, ever.)
Who knows? Whatever the case may be, that stuff can't have been good for them.
My DH has EOAD. But was never in the service. But he use to joke about the lead paint in the house he grew up in. I am not sure if AD ran in the family. No one had EOAD that is for sure. His mom died young, his dad is in his 80 and is just now showing signs of dementia. DH was dx at 58 but it had been coming on for 15 years I am sure of now.
Boutoutofluck, I am sure you hit the nail on the head. I do not want to think about what you said as we are all doomed if true. Also I have to laugh at the people who eat all organic food. Where do they think that soil has been the last 100 years, where did the rain come from, etc. We have lost any ability to keep our food or ourselves safe. Look a genetically modified foods. They are creeping into the food chain now. I know at one time they were working on terminator seeds,a plan to make second generation seeds sterile.
One hundred years ago the average life expectancy was 47 years old, now it is 78 years old.
Longer lives = more age related illnesses.
Speaking of life expectancy - here’s an interesting webpage which will predict your life expectancy: http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortality/perl/CalcForm.html
HA! I will live to 87.41 years old. We will get back to this in 35 years and see if they were right. But with the way things are going, do I want to live that long. :)))
Mary22033, you wrote; "One hundred years ago the average life expectancy was 47 years old, now it is 78 years old."
Yep, but it cost A WHOLE LOT OF $$$s to get that average up, and it's going to cost even a whole lot more in the future to break even with it.
As a side note, after reading the replies of those who took the test your provided link was evidently about, (and by the by, I didn't visit it), I ain't taking it! >:)
92.34.... At 83 I might have another 10 years before I go to meet my maker. There are still so many things I want to do but right now I am stuck in traffic.
87 here---Oh boy 26 more to go! Ha I won't last that long living like this. At least I hope not-only long enough to see this through then I am ready and willing to go to a better place.
I agree that our environmental changes and the things they add to our food supply may play a huge part in the increase of all diseases, excluding those genetic/hereditary. I was reading a report on 'wheat belly'. It talks about how the genetic changes they have made to wheat to produce more, make it store longer, etc. has made it unhealthy. It says two slices of whole wheat bread will raise your blood sugar levels higher than a snicker bar. Maybe I will work on cutting bread out - I eat 2-4 slices a day - and see if it makes a difference.
During the diagnostic period, my dh was questioned about head injuries in his youth. He reported several that I had heard the family recall. This led him to believe that his EOAD was brought on by "too many bumps on the noggin." I had researched that theory. (Boxers and football players...) I wondered then about women with EOAD who did not serve in military, did not engage in contact sports, did not have a car accident or any head injuries in their health history. No family history of AD. I try not to think about WHY my dh had AD, but I am concerned about the future of our children. We are walking this weekend in memory of my dh, their father. All those thoughts that blue and flo mentioned have been swirling about in our minds. Why so many people with dementia? Why is EOAD earlier and earlier? It's still so scary.
It's easy to say it's environmental-and perhaps it is. I think better diagnostic tools are making it possible to put specific names on conditions that have always been around.