# It's "World-Wide Alzheimer's Day" Today **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 21, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951 "2009-09-21T15:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/1 "2009-09-21T15:30:25Z")
The website is at [www.alz.org](http://www.alz.org). Chances are you know of someone with _dementia_.šŸ˜‰ There are 35 million of us world-wide. Please support reserach. The US is way behind other countries. Thank you! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Uosdwis\_R.Dewoh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uosdwis_R.Dewoh)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/2 "2009-09-21T16:57:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Itā€™s ā€œWorld-Wide Alzheimerā€™s Dayā€ Today It is? It must have slipped my mind. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/3 "2009-09-21T16:59:42Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > The website is at [www.alz.org](http://www.alz.org). Chances are you know of someone with _dementia_.šŸ˜‰ There are 35 million of us world-wide. > > Please support reserach. The US is way behind other countries. > > Thank you! > > Quasi Thanks Quasi. My mom was a Parkinsonā€™s Disease sufferer and dementia was no small part of her life towards the end. I will make a donation today. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/4 "2009-09-21T18:55:05Z")
What day is it today? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/5 "2009-09-21T19:02:24Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Thanks Quasi. > My mom was a Parkinsonā€™s Disease sufferer and dementia was no small part of her life towards the end. I will make a donation today. Thank _you_, **jali**. My wife and you could probably share some stories about Alzheimerā€™s related dementia. I can still communicate, but my short-term memory is going and my Parkinsonā€™s isnā€™t getting any better. Add to that the fact that my SSDI still hasnā€™t been approved, and itā€™s easy to see what a handful I must be for my sweet wife to deal with. She has an older brother and sister she also cares for, so she carries quite a load. Thanks, my friend!šŸ™‚ Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/6 "2009-09-21T19:08:40Z")
My greatgrandmother had "dementia and Alzheimerā€™s ", but we called it senile. Her last two years she lived with my grandparents in the spare bedroom and seldom came out and didnā€™t recognize us. I remember her as a great iceberg in a granny dress and slippers floating down the hall to the bathroom and back without a sound. Just glad it didnā€™t hit anyone else, but then some suffered at the end, so which is worse? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/7 "2009-09-21T19:10:29Z")
Man! I totally forgot! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/8 "2009-09-21T19:17:48Z")
:D:D:D I try to keep it all in perspective and look at it with a lot of humor.šŸ™‚ But there may come a day when it wonā€™t be so funnyā€¦ Hereā€™s an example which happened a few months ago: Me: ā€œHoneyyyyyyyyy! Seen the keys? I JUST had 'em!!!ā€ Wife: ā€œLook in the fridge, babe!ā€:D:D See what I mean? Thanks! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/9 "2009-09-21T19:45:06Z")
**Quasi** my father, his sister and a brother all had Alzheimerā€™s. Thatā€™s just scary, especially considering I am so much like my father it ainā€™t even funny. Also, my funny, bright, super mechanically inclined and all around nice guy of a neighbor was diagnosed at the age of 55. Heā€™s now 62 and living at a VA care facility in Dublin, GA. He has no idea who anybody is, including his wife who goes faithfully every Saturday to see him. The last time she brought him ā€œhomeā€ the poor guy had no idea where he was or who anybody was and, saddest (to me) of all, did not even recognize ā€œBearā€ the poodle who absolutely adores him and who Harry would walk around in the yard carrying for literally hours at a time. I know from first hand experience how it affects people. **Quasi** just know youā€™re in my continued thoughts and prayers. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/10 "2009-09-21T21:04:08Z")
Thanks for sharing your stories with me/us **swampy** , **Brainiac** and **jali** , and for thinking about me and my wife. Itā€™s no secret how much I love The Dope and you kids, but it is especially gratifying on a day such as this: When world-wide attention is focused on this awful mind-robbing disease. I am blessed to have yā€™all as my friends!šŸ™‚ Quasi ETA: I too am like my late Dad, whose diagnosis at THAT time (early 90ā€™s) was ā€œPre-Senile Dementiaā€ ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/11 "2009-09-21T21:28:48Z")
Forgot to add something else: A motto (is that the right word?) of the Alzheimerā€™s Association is: ā€œYou are _not_ alone!ā€ Thanks to folks like you, I _know_ Iā€™m not!šŸ™‚ Thanks again! Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/12 "2009-09-22T02:49:02Z")
Thatā€™s right, weā€™re here for you, **Quasi**. {{{hugs}}} ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/13 "2009-09-22T04:10:06Z")
Weā€™ve been thinking of Alzheimerā€™s a lot today. First there was the projection about cases doubling in the coming years, and then my girlfriend got some sad news about her grandparents, both of whom have Alzheimerā€™s. Her grandfather is now in hospice and her grandmotherā€™s disease has progressed quickly. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/14 "2009-09-22T04:29:07Z")
My father died of Alzheimerā€™s, and so did most of his siblings. Iā€™ll be 64 next week, and every year I get a little more scared. And I have nobody to take care of me, like my father did. If it happens to me, Iā€™ll be planning an exit strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/15 "2009-09-22T04:34:15Z")
I am sorry, **Marley**!ā˜¹ That **has** to be tough to deal with, my friend! Everyone? **Please** educate yourselves about dementia? Alzheimerā€™s is just a _form_ of it! There are _many_ kinds of dementia, and we donā€™t _all_ suddenly go incontinent from it. Yeah, it takes me a little longer these days to post here, but I am so grateful that I can still hang some words together and make sentences. As it was explained to me, we have something like 8 years left once weā€™re diagnosed, and you know what? I am _convinced_ that if the funds are there, there will be a cure. 8 years will make me 67, and I believe VERY STRONGLY that I will survive this and be able to talk to my Doper kids for a long time after that. Remember The Kinks, yā€™all? Well, ā€œGod save the Dope!ā€šŸ™‚ Bill ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/16 "2009-09-22T04:38:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My father died of Alzheimerā€™s, and so did most of his siblings. Iā€™ll be 64 next week, and every year I get a little more scared. And I have nobody to take care of me, like my father did. If it happens to me, Iā€™ll be planning an exit strategy. **panache45?** PLEASE get in touch with your local Alzheimerā€™s Association! They are there to help and will make sure you are not alone. There are all kinds of wonderful people who are volunteers and I BELIEVE they are in every state, now. PLEASE, okay? Thanks Bill ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/17 "2009-09-22T20:02:30Z")
But **panache45** , you have a partner, right? Why wouldnā€™t your partner be your caregiver (if needed) as my wife is for me? Unless you just wouldnā€™t want to put your partner through that? Again, please contact your local Alzheimerā€™s Association or at least go the site and take a look at what the symptoms and severity are. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/18 "2009-09-22T23:45:33Z")
Thanks **Quasimodem**. This is a hard time for her because sheā€™s basically not in contact with her family and has been saying for at least a year that sheā€™d like to see her grandparents one more time at their farmhouse. (She didnā€™t know until yesterday that they werenā€™t there anymore.) She mailed a card and some pictures of us to her grandmother today and she might call after the card arrives. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/19 "2009-09-23T00:14:24Z")
Itā€™s difficult to explain, **Marley** , but as I understand it, it all has to do with the nerve cells in the brain and the plaque that forms because of the disease. In some people it progresses more rapidly than in others, and this is what it sounds like is whatā€™s happening with your girlfriendā€™s grandparents. Yā€™all be strong for each other. Bill ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951/20 "2009-09-23T11:30:12Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Itā€™s difficult to explain, **Marley** , but as I understand it, it all has to do with the nerve cells in the brain and the plaque that forms because of the disease. Thatā€™s my understanding: the plaques build up and damage nerve cells, and then brain function suffers. Iā€™m far from an expert but Iā€™ve written about Alzheimerā€™s topics a few times. The good news (at least in a relative sense) is that itā€™s a well known disease at this point, and itā€™s getting a lot of attention and research. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-world-wide-alzheimers-day-today/510951.md?page=2)