AstridGuide – Dementia & Alzheimer Guide

Dementia & Alzheimer’s

One cause of Dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. This disease has been known to attack elderly people and cause them to forget things about themselves. Alzheimer’s disease does not pick on whom to inflict. If it is bound to happen, it will happen. Even famous people can have Alzheimer’s. Here are some known personalities who had this disease and short stories about how they went on with their life having Alzheimer’s:

President Ronald Reagan

Credit: wikimedia.org

The late President Reagan was one of those people who suffered from this fatal memory loss. Though the symptoms were realized years after his term had ended, he might had some hints of waning mental abilities when he was still in the White House. He once joked to his doctor on one of his regular checkups, “I have three things that I want to tell you today. The first is that I seem to be having a little problem with my memory. I cannot remember the other two.” People with Alzheimer’s disease seem to know that something is not right even during the early stages.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This renowned author also suffered dementia during the latter years of his life. The disease caused him to forget even his own name. However, his response to the disease was a lot different from normal. He accepted his condition well and he didn’t seem to realize the gravity of his situation.

Willem de Kooning

de Kooning was an artist known for his dark, introspective and complex paintings during his earlier years. As he got old, he suffered from Dementia which was likely due to Alzheimer’s disease. During those years when he cannot remember anything from his past, he still continued on with his love for art. Apparently, his theme changed into brighter, lighter, and livelier work full of colors. Alzheimer’s can cause people to have a fresh, new insight on familiar things.

Aaron Copland

Composer Aaron Copland started experiencing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s in his late 70s. With the condition, he easily forgot where he was and did not remember questions thrown at him as well as his responses. Surprisingly, given the nature of the condition, he was still able to conduct his masterpiece “Appalachian Spring” until he died. Suffering from the disease isolated him to his social world.

People with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease have different reactions and responses to their condition. But however they view the situation, the important thing is these people should be taken care of and showered with attention to be able to gracefully cope with the disease.