Today, I’m delited to present as a guest blogger, Dennis Fortier, editor of the
Brain Today Blog and President of Medical Care Corporation.
“As we enter into National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, you may wonder whywe should bother promoting awareness. Those who have been touched byAlzheimer’s are already aware and those who have not been touched can’t really help — so what’s the point? After all, doesn’t it make more sense to skip the awareness effort and just focus all resources on a cure?
As it turns out, lack of awareness and education are major contributors to the burgeoning Alzheimer’s problem. And while the benefits of awareness may not be obvious, they are very real.
For example, do you know what you can do today to reduce your risk of getting Alzheimer’s later in life? If not, your lack of awareness is fueling the ongoing problem. Do you know how we can immediately improve the efficacy of those drugs currently approved for Alzheimer’s? Sadly, most patients and many physicians do not. How clear is your grasp of the relationship between a healthy heart and a healthy brain? For many of us, investing a few minutes to improve our understanding of that relationship could yield long-lasting health benefits.
The answers to these questions along with four other important perspectives are summarized in a short article on the Brain Today blog (http://braintoday.blogspot.com)*. The full article can be read in about five minutes and, with a couple of additional clicks, can be forwarded to your online networks.
In the spirit of National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, please visit the Brain Today blog ( http://braintoday.blogspot.com) and read the article and then encourage your social networks to do the same. In this way, you will become a part of the solution, doing your part to thwart Alzheimer’s through the simple act of awareness.
Dennis Fortier is President of Medical Care Corporation and Editor of the Brain Today blog (http://braintoday.blogspot.com). Brain Today is a non-commercial publication devoted to interpreting the daily news about brain health and distilling the true value of that news.
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The reason we want to promote awareness is to generate the funds necessary for research because we need effective treatment (if not a cure). I would argue that we need to encourage people to get diagnosed – not for purposes of treatment (since there is no effective treatment), but so that people can get their legal, financial and medical wishes in order. Unfortunately, this is not something that is mentioned enough or prioritized by doctors or advocacy organizations. No family wants to discuss these issues with their mother/father however it’s absolutely necessary to avoid serious problems later. My mother was a victim to shady “charitable” organizations prior to her being diagnosed (and before we took away access to her banking). Alzheimer’s left her at risk to making poor medical, and financial decisions. It’s a terrible diagnosis, and my heart goes out to anyone who is diagnosed with this disease as well as their family members, who are also unacknowledged victims of the disease. Sonia, caring for mom with Alzheimer’s 7 plus years.
I absolutely agree with you that an early diagnosis will enable people to get their affairs in order and may prevent dementia sufferers from being scammed. My own father purchased a truck and had it delivered while I was at work (he was not supposed to drive) AND sold his lakeside home for 100 thousand dollars less than market value before I could obtain conservatorship/guardianship for him.
My concerns about early diagnosis are twofold.
I’m worried that an early diagnosis will elicit prejudices against the indivual who was diagnosed. Will their employment be cut short even when they are still capable of making appropriate decisions? They will definitely be under the microscope by their employer (We might watch this play out in the case of Tennessee women’s basketball coach, Pat Summitt).
Also, what will happen to the insurance rates of the person with the early diagnosis? Insurance companies are acutely aware of the cost of Alzheimer’s care and I can’t imagine that (just like in the case of those diagnosed with HIV) they won’t find a way to raise the rates so much as to become unaffordable or disqualify them in some way.
My other concern is in regards to powers of attorney and conservatorship/guardianship. I believe that there needs to be something in between these two options.
Powers of Attorney are easily revoked (and probably will be revoked at the time they are needed the most). Conservatorships/Guardianships are difficult to obtain(although maybe not difficult ENOUGH) and literally remove any individual decision-making rights that the diagnosed person once had.
Unfortunately there’s no perfect answer.
There is no cure and really no effective treatment, but we must continue to advocate for the vision of a world without Alzheimer’s Disease.
Thank you so much, Sonia, for sharing your story.
Shelley