Friday, September 16, 2011

From the ridiculous to the sublime

I get a daily news digest of all-things-dementia from the good people at Ageless Design.

Sometimes I find something I can use or feel encouraged about, other times there is nothing of interest for me.

In yesterday's digest ... the bizarre story about televangelist Pat Robertson offering advice on his television show to a man whose wife has Alzheimer's Disease to divorce her rather than just fool around on the side. Such idiotic advice, and why he thought he was qualified to answer, I can't fathom. Followup news stories on the revelation, which include the fact that Mr. Robertson declined additional comment, quote a representative of the Alzheimer's Association who states that divorce is rarely employed by those married to people with dementia. If you want to watch Robertson's entire comment, about two and a half minutes, start at 0:50:42. Prepare to be irritated.

In much more positive news, an electromagnetic brain stimulation system has been developed in Israel and is showing reversal of symptoms for Alzheimer's patients in cognitive skills. It's coupled with simultaneous cognitive training, and the effects, so far, are long lasting. Clinical trials are supposed to start in the US next year. Don't know if G would qualify, as he has vascular dementia rather than Alzheimer's. But I'm putting a call in to his doctor.

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