Alzheimer's Today
Once considered an elderly affliction, it is now claiming younger victims
These are drugs that appear to enhance chemicals involved in the brain's abilities to form memories (box, below). They are two of five medications that are approved for mild to moderate dementia, and studies have shown that they stabilize people for several months to a year or two, helping to retain recall and language ability and keep the general mental state from getting worse. It's a limited respite, however, and eventually the decline continues.
Schneider, who says Namenda has really helped him, finds that his major complaint is a lack of focus. "With dementia, your brain is no longer like a light bulb, casting light everywhere at once," says Schneider. "It's more like a flashlight. You can only shine it on one thing." For example, he'll start to sweep the kitchen floor and plan to take out the garbage. So he'll look at the floor. Then wonder where the broom is. Ah, it's in the closet. So he goes to the closet, which is a mess. He thinks he should straighten it up. And by the time he's done with that, Schneider has completely forgotten about the garbage. "So I keep lists and write notes."
Younger dementia patients also often lose something integral to their livelihoods and personal satisfaction that most of their older counterparts don't: their jobs. Waterhouse was working in a payroll office in 2004 when her supervisor offered her a transfer. "I had always been good at math, but I guess he noticed that I was making some mistakes, or was taking a really long time to get things done," she says. The new job entailed answering questions from the public about city services. "That's where I ran into trouble," says Waterhouse. "There was this big brochure about different city services that we were supposed to work with, but I couldn't memorize it." So Waterhouse asked to go on medical leave, while she made the rounds of doctors. Several months later, with a confirmed Alzheimer's diagnosis, she quit.
That gives many early-onset sufferers a lot of time on their hands, and they channel their energies toward battling the disease. Schneider and several other friends started a support group about eight months ago, after finding that most other such groups are made up of 70- and 80-year-olds or are aimed at caregivers. "Part of it, honestly, is to keep us from losing our minds," Schneider says. The group gets together every month at a member's house and shares experiences and coping tips: Some of the favorites include brain games such as puzzles, meditation, and continuing education classes. "Trying to keep up with a bunch of normal people is exhausting for me," says Schneider, who adds that it takes him a bit longer to come up with words or concepts. "But these people go at my pace, and it feels much more relaxed and easier to keep up."
Advocacy groups are also responding to the need for specialized programs and support. Stephen McConnell, the Alzheimer's Association's vice president for advocacy and public policy, says the group is lobbying Congress for more money to study the specific needs of early-onset patients. Earlier this year the group was successful in getting Congress to expand eligibility for federal family caregiver support programs for the under-60 crowd, allowing early-onset patients to go to day-care centers funded by these programs. "That's real progress," says McConnell, though he adds that other efforts to get early-onset patients increased eligibility for Medicare disability insurance have failed so far.
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