# David Cassidy has dementia \[EDIT: RIP\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2017, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357 "2017-02-20T23:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/21 "2017-02-22T22:58:14Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Are you telling me it was a pun before we started calling it old timer’s disease? > > My grandmother used to tell me that I’d get whiplash because I had long hair and flicked it out of my eyes by snapping my head the way Cassidy did in his Tiger Beat days. Maybe he broke his brain doing that? > > Seriously though, he has my best wishes. [Grandma was right](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/head-bangers-risk-brain-neck-injuries/). She almost always is. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/22 "2017-02-22T23:06:52Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > [Grandma was right](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/head-bangers-risk-brain-neck-injuries/). She almost always is. Probably the most convincing piece of science I’ve ever seen. I might not have been so easily convinced before I tried to walk through that closed glass door this morning. ---
**Author:** ![D.E.S.K.Top668](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@D.E.S.K.Top668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D.E.S.K.Top668)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/23 "2017-02-23T00:52:39Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > I think I love you… do I? I’m not sure. I think I love someone. Thank You. When I heard the news and saw this thread, My first thought was along the same lines. I thought I was going to be the first to say something terribly wrong. I feel bad for him. Losing yourself before you actually depart this world. I can’t imagine anything worse. I hope for the best for him, as I do for anybody with such a diagnosis. ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/24 "2017-02-23T02:30:20Z")
Well don’t let him drive the bus! Sorry, it’s very sad. The Partridge Family was serious television for those of a certain age. As I recall it was back to back with the Brady Bunch. Yeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/25 "2017-02-23T02:48:19Z")
Is there a difference between Alzheimer’s and senile dementia? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/26 "2017-02-23T02:53:21Z")
I don’t know the answer to that, I can say it is heart wrenching to watch strong, vibrant and sharp people lose their edge and slip away. Anyone who has taken care of an aging parent understands. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/27 "2017-02-23T03:02:49Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Is there a difference between Alzheimer’s and senile dementia? Senile dementia is just an umbrella term for any type of dementia that occurs in old age. The Alzheimer’s Association [has a list of different types of dementia](http://www.alz.org/dementia/types-of-dementia.asp). Alzheimer’s is the most common. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/28 "2017-02-23T03:10:27Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Is there any correlation between dementia and drug/alcohol usage? Yes, but Cassidy has a family history of dementia. > [@Biggirl](#): > > Is there a difference between Alzheimer’s and senile dementia? You can have dementia that is not Alzheimer’s. My grandmother lived to be 98 1/2. For the last 18 months or so, she had bad memory lapses and had to move into a nursing home. It was probably a good idea for her health, too. Anyway, there were a couple of times that she left the stove on. She probably had dementia for about her last three years, but could cope. It was only bad enough for her to need nursing care 18 months after diagnosis (and she probably had it a little while before diagnosis). However, it was NOT Alzheimer’s. The age on onset was too late, for one thing, and there were features that differentiated it from Alzheimer’s. I don’t remember what they were, but the doctor ran down the list one time. He short term memory was intact, for one thing: it was her ability to multi-task that had failed. So she could look a number up, and remember it to make a phone call just fine, and when people visited, she could keep track of the names of up to three visitors, but more than that, unless she already know them, she couldn’t remember. She also had difficulty with my son’s name, because he would change too much between visits, and she had trouble recognizing him, but she could recognize pictures of him as a baby. My father also had dementia that didn’t set in until the last maybe two weeks of his life. It was a combination of nerve damage from his cancer (which was a little bit of a blessing, because he couldn’t feel pain anymore), and a head injury he had, because he tried to go to the bathroom on his own, and fell. It really looked like Alzheimer’s, but there were times when he would give the wrong answer to a question, and clearly know it was wrong, but couldn’t say the right word. He told a nurse I was his sister once, and you could see from the look on his face that he knew that was wrong, but he couldn’t come up with the word “daughter.” It was some kind of dysphasia. So yeah, there are all kinds of dementia that are not Alzheimer’s. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/29 "2017-02-23T06:31:57Z")
Robin Williams had Lewy body dementia, which is like a cross between Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and much worse than either. I consider this, and not suicide, to be his actual cause of death. Parkinson’s itself can lead to dementia if it progresses far enough. There’s also vascular dementia, which is simply the brain not getting enough of a blood supply to perform all its functions. The prion diseases, like Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, are also a type of dementia. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2017, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/30 "2017-02-23T12:21:49Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > The Partridge Family was serious television for those of a certain age. As I recall it was back to back with the Brady Bunch. Yeesh. You’re right, it was back-to-back with The Brady Bunch. Friday night, IIRC. You can tell the generation gap on my Facebook because anyone younger than 40 has no idea how big a star he was back then. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/31 "2017-11-18T21:09:38Z")
Updating this: > [@](#): > > David Cassidy has been hospitalized for liver and kidney failure and is currently in critical condition, his rep confirms to PEOPLE. > > The Partridge Family star was in a medically induced coma but is now conscious and surrounded by family, including his son Beau Cassidy, ex-wife Sue Shifrin (whom he was married to from 1991 to 2016) and brother Patrick Cassidy. > > Cassidy entered the hospital earlier this week and is currently in need of a liver transplant, his rep said. [http://people.com/tv/david-cassidy-hospitalized-organ-failure/](http://people.com/tv/david-cassidy-hospitalized-organ-failure/) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/32 "2017-11-18T21:26:42Z")
Wow. I doubt someone with dementia is going to be considered for a liver transplant. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/33 "2017-11-18T22:03:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Wow. I doubt someone with dementia is going to be considered for a liver transplant. Agreed. OTOH, liver failure also causes encephalopathy; however, at his age, it’s unlikely that he’d be very high up on the transplant list. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/34 "2017-11-18T22:18:31Z")
Wow. Given that my need for a liver transplant due to alcoholism will likely accelerate the older I get, this isn’t great news for anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/35 "2017-11-18T22:27:33Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Wow. I doubt someone with dementia is going to be considered for a liver transplant. I’d expect it would rule him out as a liver recipient. Uncontrolled/limiting medical conditions are considered to be contraindications to transplant. And losing one’s cognitive abilities to progressive dementia should fall into that category, unless it’s expected that the transplant would cure the dementia (but it would not, in Cassidy’s case). ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/36 "2017-11-19T00:36:25Z")
This is very sad news. While I personally wasn’t a fan, I know he brought a lot of joy to many people. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/37 "2017-11-19T01:49:15Z")
I read this book [http://www.whenweresingin.com](http://www.whenweresingin.com) about the music from the TV show and records. It said that the top songwriters (Carole King, et al.) and musicians (The Wrecking Crew) always were eager to work with Cassidy because of his incredible work ethic. He didn’t have much of a range but he made up for it in style and perfectionism, and he never, never complained. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/38 "2017-11-19T02:28:16Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I read this book [http://www.whenweresingin.com](http://www.whenweresingin.com) about the music from the TV show and records. It said that the top songwriters (Carole King, et al.) and musicians (The Wrecking Crew) always were eager to work with Cassidy because of his incredible work ethic. He didn’t have much of a range but he made up for it in style and perfectionism, and he never, never complained. I’d heard that too. I was a _Partridge Family_ superfan when I was like, 6, 7, & 8. I knew all the words to all their songs. My friends and I used to choreograph elaborate dances to them. When I changed schools, they suddenly weren’t cool anymore, so no more dancing with my friends, but I still used to listen in my room. About 20 years ago, I bought their CD for the nostalgia. I recently caught an episode of the show, and it dawned on me for the first time that they weren’t rock stars-- they were lounge singers! When I watched the show when I was six, I thought they were rock stars! Oh well. Also, all the commercials were for reverse mortgages, and dental implants, instead of _Tiger Beat_ and the Ronco rhinestone and stud setter. The exact same audience was watching, 40 years later. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/39 "2017-11-19T13:50:58Z")
Many of my friends in junior high had crushes on Cassidy. The Partridge Family, along with The Brady Bunch, were pretty big deals and if you didn’t watch them woe be you in school the following Monday (I know TBB was on Fridays, memory tells me that TPF followed it). I think I said somewhere around here that he appeared on (god help me) Celebrity Apprentice a few years ago and had to keep calling his daughter Katie for help because he couldn’t comprehend the assignments. I recall some kind of fundraiser where they were supposed to rally their celebrity fan base and he was on the phone to her almost crying that he had nobody he could call, could she please put out the word for him? It was clear something was going on with him. It was sad. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357/40 "2017-11-19T15:13:33Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > I read this book [http://www.whenweresingin.com](http://www.whenweresingin.com) about the music from the TV show and records. It said that the top songwriters (Carole King, et al.) and musicians (The Wrecking Crew) always were eager to work with Cassidy because of his incredible work ethic. He didn’t have much of a range but he made up for it in style and perfectionism, and he never, never complained. I’m glad you posted that, thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-cassidy-has-dementia-edit-rip/780357.md?page=3)