Tips on Dementia (2)

Some people are worried that they are having Dementia as they are getting more and more forgetful.

Forgetfulness and Dementia or Alzheimer's Disease are different. As we grow old, we often forget where we place our keys, or our spectacles or the TV's remote control. That is not Dementia.

2 early signs of Dementia are:
a) The person keep asking the same thing over and over again, within a few minutes. For example: "Where did Ah Lian go this morning?" after 10 minutes, the same question is asked. After 30 minutes, the same question is asked again." The person did not 'forget'. He did not register the answer in the first place.

b) The person is not aware that he did something a moment ago. For example: "Did I take breakfast just now?" or "Did I go to the market this morning?" The person did not even remember an event/action which he took part in.

All my friend who read this blog are still 'young'. I trust that you are not having Dementia. I wrote all this for you to identify Dementia in other people.

Tips on Dementia

Dementia, mainly due to Alzheimer's Disease, is becoming more and more common in Singapore.

The progression of this illness, from inception to end-stage,could take 5 to 7 years from the time a person is identified with the illness. At the end-stage, the sufferer cannot feed or take care of himself.

Here is a tip. Once identified that Dementia is on the way, let the sufferer drink using a drinking straw. Let drinking from straw become an insinct. At the end-stage, the sufferer could only do things by instinct. He will not be able to spoon food or drink from a cup on his own. If sucking up from a straw becomes an instinctive action, then at least he can still drink by instinct.

This will solve the problem of spoon-feeding or syringe-feed him whenever he needs to drink.

Alzheimer's Disease - When a Person's Soul Hibernates

The Straits Times carried a report on Alz Disease Last Saturday, 27 Sep 08.

My mother suffers from Alz for over 10 years. This disease degenerates the mind, the soul and finally the physical body progressively. In fact, the mind and the soul is dead long before the physical death.

At the start of the illness, forgetfulness and absentmindedness set in. The mind fails, along with the nervous system fail gradually. The patient regresses to the mental state and the faculty of a 3 years old, then a 2 years old, then a 6 months old child. Finally, the patient does not know how to open her mouth to suck or swallow food, the stomach and intestines do not know how to digest food. And then, the body succumbs to malnutrition or failure to breathe...

Unlike other illnesses, the patient has to be cared for 24 hrs by 7 days a week. It takes one to two full-time caregivers to manage one patient at the ending stages.

Looking at the situation my mother is in, I could see the different entities of the human being -- the physical body, the mind, the soul and the spirit. My mother is a non-christian, so she may not have the spirit. With the mind 90% destroyed, she is only capable of basic involuntary functions like breathing, digestion, slow walking, and secretion of waste matters.

Since she is without a lucid mind, I would not detect her soul. There is no expression of joy or sadness, no thoughts of goodness or evil, no thoughts of love or hatred, no thoughts of earthly or spiritual things, no thoughts of right or wrong...

Without a mind capable of thoughts, I believe an alz person's soul is de-activated. One day, when the soul is liberated from this earthly body, it would recall or be aware of the eternity of life again.

Alz is a terrible disease. Honestly, it's a mystery why we are plagued by it.