Alzheimer’s, memory lose and old age?

[skeggysteve]

My wife (55 year old) is getting very worried that she might have alzheimer's.

Back story:

She went to the GP who did a memory test.

GP asked me to come in with her and he asked me some questions about her 10 years ago.

Because I said her memory had got worse the GP is referring her to a 'memory consultant'.

So she is getting very worried that she might be at the early stages of alzheimer's.

I know she is worrying because her mother had alzheimer's and it's something she would have no control over.

I'm 58 years old and my memory isn't as good as it was, I just accept that I'm getting old and some things do work as well as they used to do.

Yes, I worried about her but I'm also concerned that she is worrying about nothing.

Any thought, advice?

[Hoofy]

There are numerous things that she can do to slow things down (apparently)... from memory (not trying to be funny):
-exercise
-maintain a healthy weight
-avoid booze
-eat more healthy food
-do stuff that challenges the brain
-reminisce (eg watch old films, listen to old music)
-play computer games that tests reactions ie fast arcade/action games
-do puzzles

That's stuff I seem to recall from reading various things. Dementia scares me more than cancer. Cancer is usually relatively quick if it's fatal. If it's not, it's just a nuisance that can be overcome through drugs. Dementia can last for decades.

[Shaw Tarse]

You probably have already had a look at https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ if not, it's a good source of info.
55 is (or was) an early age for dementia, though lifestyle can affect this.

[skeggysteve]

Shaw Tarse said:

You probably have already had a look at https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/ if not, it's a good source of info.
55 is (or was) an early age for dementia, though lifestyle can affect this.

Thanks for the reply.

I'll have a look at the website.

I've looked at http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/ but wasn't impressed.

[skeggysteve]

Hoofy said:

There are numerous things that she can do to slow things down (apparently)... from memory (not trying to be funny):
-exercise
-maintain a healthy weight
-avoid booze
-eat more healthy food
-do stuff that challenges the brain
-reminisce (eg watch old films, listen to old music)
-play computer games that tests reactions ie fast arcade/action games
-do puzzles

That's stuff I seem to recall from reading various things. Dementia scares me more than cancer. Cancer is usually relatively quick if it's fatal. If it's not, it's just a nuisance that can be overcome through drugs. Dementia can last for decades.

Thanks for the reply.

She is disabled and can't stand or walk without being in a lot of pain.
So she is overweight and this is really is a big problem.
She really hates being 'fat' so it bring on depression.

She is trying to start a business to advise companies about disabled access.

She doesn't drink apart from the occasional glass of wine.

The only old film she likes is Casablanca and we must have seen a 100 times!

She will not do online gaming...nor will I.....

Puzzles - she's never been one to do those sort of things.

I don't think cancer is 'real', but that's for another thread!

You are right about " Dementia can last for decades" - her mother died just before christmas last year but she hadn't been my wife's mother for 20 years.

[Hoofy]

skeggysteve said:

Thanks for the reply.

She is disabled and can't stand or walk without being in a lot of pain.
So she is overweight and this is really is a big problem.
She really hates being 'fat' so it bring on depression.

She is trying to start a business to advise companies about disabled access.

She doesn't drink apart from the occasional glass of wine.

The only old film she likes is Casablanca and we must have seen a 100 times!

She will not do online gaming...nor will I.....

Puzzles - she's never been one to do those sort of things.

I don't think cancer is 'real', but that's for another thread!

You are right about " Dementia can last for decades" - her mother died just before christmas last year but she hadn't been my wife's mother for 20 years.

Weight loss - try seated tai chi or yoga. It won't burn 1000 calories an hour like a bootcamp but it will help plus she will feel less depressed. Also, it's also about the amount of food eaten.

Business - fantastic, that will be a good brain stimulating activity.

Films - well, it doesn't have to be that old. She can also listen to older music from when she was in her late teens, perhaps stuff you listened to when you were both dating pre-marriage.

Games - not necessarily online gaming. Plenty of free phone games that might provide a few minutes' entertainment here and there and require fast action and/or problem solving eg Fruit Ninja, Giant Boulder of Death ( ) https://youtu.be/-ep0qsTArP8 , Piano Tiles 2 https://youtu.be/-h3a6ZY7EYk , Traffic Rider https://youtu.be/-RBeVChxt2I , King of Maths https://youtu.be/oirMxqhFxKk . It's stuff that challenges different parts of the brain.

I forgot to add - learn something new, eg a foreign language, a musical instrument or read up on something that fascinates (biology? history of art? quantum physics?).

Edited by Hoofy on Monday 29th February 00:04

[skeggysteve]

Many thanks Hoofy it's very much appreciated.

[Hoofy]

[FlyingMeeces]

Worth looking up some accessible sports options maybe? There are more and more disabled people's sports clubs popping up round the country, table tennis through powerchair football (clubs provide chairs for that!) via rugby, boccia, indoor curling... pretty much anything you can imagine. Not for weight loss but for quality of life: being more active, having chances to interact with people, having a chance at feeling like you're good at something can make a HELL of a difference to someone's sense of wellbeing.

Whether or not she's having memory problems, she sounds quite anxious so anything that improves that will surely help.

[skeggysteve]

FlyingMeeces said:

Worth looking up some accessible sports options maybe? There are more and more disabled people's sports clubs popping up round the country, table tennis through powerchair football (clubs provide chairs for that!) via rugby, boccia, indoor curling... pretty much anything you can imagine. Not for weight loss but for quality of life: being more active, having chances to interact with people, having a chance at feeling like you're good at something can make a HELL of a difference to someone's sense of wellbeing.

Whether or not she's having memory problems, she sounds quite anxious so anything that improves that will surely help.

Many thanks for that reply. It's not something I'd thought about.

She did a lot of sports stuff, tennis, golf swimming etc. I think it's why she put on weight because she can't move as much as she could.

When we first met she introduced me to golf - she had a handicap of 4! But I still loved golf and her!

[Hoofy]

Wheelchair tennis rules - 2 bounces allowed. She should also check out touchtennis - smaller court, all about technique rather than power.

[Halb]

skeggysteve said:

My wife (55 year old) is getting very worried that she might have alzheimer's.

Back story:

She went to the GP who did a memory test.

GP asked me to come in with her and he asked me some questions about her 10 years ago.

Because I said her memory had got worse the GP is referring her to a 'memory consultant'.

So she is getting very worried that she might be at the early stages of alzheimer's.

I know she is worrying because her mother had alzheimer's and it's something she would have no control over.

I'm 58 years old and my memory isn't as good as it was, I just accept that I'm getting old and some things do work as well as they used to do.

Yes, I worried about her but I'm also concerned that she is worrying about nothing.

Any thought, advice?

Fasting can help.
Look into it.

[Hoofy]