quote:

Interesting Observation :
David Hyde Pierce was on The View today- & wore his Alz sweat shirt, but when given the chance to talk about familal Alz...declined to do it & instead focused on the fact that by your 80's 50 % of all American's will have it or be caring for someone who does. So the AA is making it very obvious that the battle they want to take to the "American people" as David put it...Is not inherited Alz... "Because that doesn't make any difference." ...It's the Alz everyone has to deal with when they are elderly that is significant evidently.;-(

It also appears that the chosen battle by the Association is later stage dementia not early stage. It feels like we are on our own.

(((((((((((( It also appears that the chosen battle by the Association is later stage dementia not early stage. It feels like we are on our own. ))))))))))))))))


Tracy, I have been thinking that for a long time now. I could tell by the way the doctors talked to me and the test that they ran..........that I was an oddity. I was way to young to have Alz or any kind of Dementia. The AA has given me more support and information than any doctors, that I have gone to in my area. The AA info has been generalization.

Tracy, I really do believe now that this disease has caught the medical community off guard and they are overwhelmned with the number of cases of early stage alzheimer. Alzheimer seem to have fallen into the catagory of the common cold:

We = those in the Medical field.

1. We have no cure for alzheimer/dementia.

2. We do have some beliefs on the causes.

3. We are in the Early Stages of research into the causes of Alzheimer.

4. We are winging it with a treatment.

5.We can make the patient as comfortable as possible until they expire.

Tracy, you said, "It feels like we are on our own." We are on our own.

It is places like this forum that brings us together to share what we know about this disease. It is getting the ideas and taking them back into our homes and putting them into practice to see if that makes things better at home.

It is you Tracy, struggling with all of your might while you still can to get people to listen and learn. You have the ear of many people and so far from what I have seen you are speaking out in many ways.

It takes each disease Heart, Cancer, Strokes, Aids, ETC just as long to get the attention of the medical community as it is taking Alzheimer to get it's research time.

Tracy, this is a a very scarey disease......... if our young people are being Dx'ed with Alz/Dem..where will our researchers come from in the future??? When the Baby Boomers hit the Alzheimer- Dementia stages how will we as a nation care for all of them and who will care for them...........?????

AA has it's hands full and I think it is safe to say that their cup is running over with unanswered questions.

Miracles still happen so where God is there is hope. :-)

Years ago my wife diagnosed me with ALZ but I refused to accept it, I just told her that it was because of all the past alcohol and drug abuse. Anyway, I've been sober now for a few years and I think things are getting better. Skate hard,fast,and by all means free.

Didn’t get a chance to watch David Hyde Pierce on the Today Show but I did find an old interview at... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15736142/ that seems to mirror the response mentioned. Below is his answer to the question....Why should people support this cause?

“ All of us have Alzheimer’s disease in our future. The statistics are very discouraging even as the research is very encouraging. The older you get, the more your chances are of getting it, and by the time people are into their 80s, half will have Alzheimer’s disease. That makes it pretty certain that if you are not going to get it yourself, you’re going to be taking care of someone who has it, someone you love. That’s another reason it’s such a complicated and extensive disease, because it affects not only the health of the person who has it but also the physical and emotional health of spouses and children. It has such devastating consequences for all of us, for the healthcare system, the cost to businesses in lost work and additional health-care expense. All of those problems will be compounded by the aging of the baby boom generation and the fact that the numbers of people with this illness is just going to keep growing and growing and growing and growing. … Research takes time and research takes money and we can’t afford to wait really any longer to increase the funding for research, to increase funding for ways to take care of people with the disease because the epidemic is upon us. ”

To me his response is an attempt to make the public understand that every individual has a vested interest in find a solution to the Alz.issue..not an indication of excluding EODA. Unless the public embraces the cause few positive steps will be taken and all caregivers and AD individuals (regardless of their age) will continue to be overlooked.