Alzheimer’s Avoidance – Blog 12: Understanding Alzheimer’s

With a forever increasing population, and with people living longer, there are more and more people being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia each day. That fact in itself is scary however it gets worse when we look at how many people actually understand what Alzheimer’s is. This is going to be what we are going to be talking about in today’s blog, what exactly is Alzheimer’s?

Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!

Today’s blog is the 12th blog in the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series and is going to be about understanding Alzheimer’s. It is easy to say that Alzheimer’s is just losing your memories but it is so much more than that. Alzheimer’s and Dementia are two very severe conditions that can potentially lead to death. If we know what Alzheimer’s and Dementia actually are and the differences that lie between the two, then I believe that we will be in a position moving forward.

We’ll first take a look at a video published by Bupa Health UK that looks into the differences between Alzheimer’s and Dementia:

As you can see from the video there is a clear difference between Alzheimer’s and Dementia. It is important to remember this difference when talking about each of the conditions. Despite this difference, there are quite a lot of similarities between the two regarding how they affect you and what happens when they both progress and get worse.

One of the common mistakes that I hear when talking to people about Alzheimer’s is then saying that Alzheimer’s only makes people lose some of their memories. I have learned the hard way that this is simply not the case. Alzheimer’s is a cruel condition which takes a person you love away from you and then leaves them as a shell of what they once were.

Alzheimer’s is a horrific condition that sadly people don’t understand until someone they know gets diagnosed with it. People do lose their memories, yes, but they also do so much more. They forget how to walk, how to talk and eventually how to even breathe. Alzheimer’s and Dementia both can kill. It is something that is barely ever spoken about but it is a reality when talking about the two. They are very dangerous illnesses that if not handled with care, can become deadly.

This blog isn’t meant to sound negative, it is just meant to be completely honest. From my experience, I would have loved to have known more about Alzheimer’s before my grandmother was diagnosed with it. Learning about the condition whilst watching it take your loved one away is a painful thing to do and I feel like we should try and change it. Understanding can take a while but it is a part of life and is something that we all do eventually.

One thing that I want to mention, a thing that I wish I understood at the time, is that Alzheimer’s doesn’t wait. Alzheimer’s doesn’t stop and wait for your approval or for you to be ready when it starts affecting someone. You need to make the most of the time you have left because honestly, it will get harder as time goes on and as I have mentioned it doesn’t wait for you.

The fact that it doesn’t wait for you again isn’t meant to scare you, it is the harsh reality of the situation. If you wait a few weeks for Alzheimer’s to ‘blow over’ then I’m sorry to say that you have wasted those weeks out of the time that you had left. You need to make the most of the person while they are still there. Go out to the beach, take that trip, have that photo. Get things done while you can, you will feel glad about it eventually.

There is a lot more information out there about Alzheimer’s if you do want to learn more. There are blogs and series on this page, you have organisations such as The Alzheimer’s Society and you can ask your GP. If you’re looking for stuff on this page I would recommend either searching ‘Alzheimer’s’ on our page search bar or read the blogs on Alzheimer’s in our Blogapedia! If you have any questions let me know!

That’s all I want to talk about in today’s blog! I think that today’s blog is the penultimate blog in the Alzheimers Avoidance series! There have been a lot of blogs in the series now and I feel like I have covered a lot of what I set out to cover. What do you think of today’s blog? Have you enjoyed the Alzheimer’s Avoidance series? Do you know what Alzheimer’s and Dementia are? Let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day!

James