HW 30 - Illness & Dying - Culminating Experimental Project

As much as we have a choice on the person we want or would like to be our bodies have a mind of their own. We put ourselves in the mindset that we are invincible; living with this attitude isn’t going to do us any good. We should come to terms with reality and accept the fact that we are all going to die. That one day we just won’t be here anymore, so every moment we have should be spent doing something great. My grandfather died of Alzheimer’s and I decided knowing that it is genetic that it would be to my benefit to understand the disease at a more complex level. In doing this I talked with my Dad, found books at the library on the disease, researched the Internet and watched a movie on the brain. Although there is no cure for Alzheimer’s I can say now that I understand it a bit better. Instead of avoiding our fears we should embrace them and learn how to live with them.

I listened attentively to my Dad’s words as he spoke about his father. I never saw this side of him, he seemed so sad. I sensed that it was really difficult to watch someone die like this. Someone who had always been there for you was suddenly unaware of who they were or who you were anymore. “Well it was very sad…the person I had known as a child and a grownup as well was not the same person. He continued to loose sense of who we were as a family and who we were as individuals…He was not capable of really taking care of himself and in addition to that we couldn’t let him go outside by himself because he would get lost and not know where he was. He didn’t always understand what we were trying to say to him. One of the things he did like was going to concerts, he seemed to enjoy music and listened to it very carefully and it seemed like for a moment he found someway of focusing on something that was enjoyable to him.” At this moment in time I cannot imagine having such a drastic change happen to my body and my mind. It makes me wonder though if my grandfather was in two universes at once. If maybe Alzheimer’s is a point where you are merely stuck in time and although your body keeps moving forward your mind is still.

While walking to the library with my mother we passed the nursing home where my Grandfather died. I asked her if we could go in but she didn’t think it would be a good idea. I examined all of the windows on the building; it looked more like a jail than a nursing home.The colors of the building were dull and grey. Life looked like it was sucked right out of it. “So I was “NORMAL,” but what did that mean? That I performed on a par with my peers, that I was average, that there was no obvious evidence of disease? Being normal, of course, was no insurance against getting sick. It was no guarantee that my body wasn’t already ganging up on my brain, or that my brain was not plotting against itself. Researchers still do not know when a disease like Alzheimer’s began. Was it twenty years before there was actual evidence? Was it fifty? Or was disease, as the Harvard neuroscientist Randy Buckner said, an inevitable artifact of staying alive longer than evolution had planned?” (Can’t Remember What I Forgot – Page 78) For most of us our lives will be much longer than our deaths, however, if death is what our final destination is than are we really living or just dying? Society seems to make living out to be as normal and dying is completely not normal. Dying is completely normal, so why do we put such a strain on the step?

8 Lifestyle Changes to Prevent

Alzheimer’s Disease

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables.
2. Eat berries each day.
3. Eat fish high in omega-3 fatty acids.
4. Take folic acid supplementation or eat foods high in folate.
5. Drink a glass of red wine or purple grape juice with your evening meal.
6. Follow a Mediterranean style diet.
7. Control your blood pressure.
8. Have strong social support.

This list of lifestyle changes comes from The ANTI-Alzheimer’s Prescription… Ironically enough over the past year I have changed my diet and exercise plan drastically, so in a sense subconsciously I have already been fighting and preventing my chances of getting Alzheimer’s.

In the book 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer’s there were some shocking yet funny ideas… Play Video Games, Grow a Bigger Brain, Don’t be Afraid of Caffeine, Go Crazy for Cinnamon, Say Yes to Coffee, Google Something, Consider Medical Marijuana, Take Care of Your Teeth, Put Vinegar in Everything… Simple adjustments in the way we live or continuing the lifestyle we already lead could potentially help us in the long run.

Although there are simple ways to fight against the disease it was important for me to have a better take on exactly how it affects the brain. I took a tour of the brain on this website,http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_4719.asp … I would highly recommend taking two minutes to check this out. The most interesting fact that I took away was that Alzheimer’s basically shrinks the brain and over time the brain looses the basic parts that we need to function.

Looking at this image of the brain got me thinking about body and soul being one or being separate. A couple days ago I thought they were separate but now I feel differently. Our bodies and our souls are interconnected and without one we wouldn’t have the other. Although a person with Alzheimer’s still has their brain is their soul there anymore? How do we have a soul if we don’t know who we are?

While I was at the library I got a DVD called The Brain – Developing Memory in Developing Brains. Although Alzheimer’s affects people who are older it is interesting to back track to see where the memory starts. In the DVD they talked about how there are ways to stimulate the brain by massaging, playing pretend, having face time. Activities that even after our brains are more developed should continue to be part of our daily routines.

After examining Alzheimer’s from a number of angles, I don’t feel as scared. When we are born we don’t have a developed brain, and as we get older it seems as though although we stay in our adult body our brains go back to being blank slates. The cycle of life is merely the circular ending. We end where we begin, and in many ways that gives me comfort, that we might not be gone forever. For our souls and our minds get put back into the pool of being chosen to live. Although I am sure a lot of these sources are not completely accurate I think it shows how our culture takes a mystery and tries to solve it to the furthest degree. I talked to my Dad again after researching the disease and he said, “He died in a nursing home, when he was admitted he died within two weeks. I don’t think he was happy anymore. He sensed that he was somewhere very different than what he was used to.” When we are dying days are not going to make a difference and I feel as though we would rather be remembered for whom we were verses what we became. However, if understanding what may or may not happen to us in the future gives us comfort than I am all for it. I think we have to find the almost humor in the situation we are in. That may seem strange but there is no way of getting around dying, so why worry and wonder when we should just take advantage of the time we have. After visiting my parent’s friend in the nursing home who is in a state of dementia, it made me realize how much I wouldn’t ever want to be in that state. I would feel trapped and anxious waiting for my tranquility, I wouldn’t understand the point of living anymore.

Death is confusing but life might be even more confusing, and it is okay to feel confused but I think we should spend more time just living verses pondering over ideas that no one really knows the answer too. However, I think this unit was important to understanding the fundamental ideas on our culture’s take on life and the price of life. At a certain point though you have to come to terms with reality and instead of fighting it just let it take its course. So eat your berries, exercise more, create a social circle that will support you and don't be afraid to be afraid, instead of avoiding our emotions embrace them.

Citations:

1. "Alzheimer's Association - Inside the Brain: An Interactive Tour." Alzheimer's Association. Web. 16 Jan. 2011. .
2. Halpern, Sue. Can't Remember What I Forgot: the Good News from the Front Lines of Memory Research. New York: Harmony, 2008. Print.
3. Fortanasce, Vincent. The Anti-Alzheimer's Prescription: the Science-proven Plan to Start at Any Age. New York: Gotham, 2008. Print.
4. The Brain – Developing Memory in Developing Brains.
5. Carper, Jean. 100 Simple Things You Can Do to Prevent Alzheimer's and Age-related Memory Loss. New York: Little, Brown, 2010. Print.