wednesday, march 2, 2011 The VancouVer courier EW17

Seniors

by Helen Peterson

A 48-year-old man dutifully goes to visit his mother weekly at one of the more upscale retirement residences in Vancouver.

She’s been living at the seniors’ facili-ty for several years, since the time she’d had a stroke and was no longer able to live on her own, being a widow and all.

The man knows his visits lift her spir-its, as she doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends. At 86 years of age, and hav-ing raised a family of four children and emotionally supported a Type-A busi-ness tycoon husband, she was weary of making new liaisons that weren’t from her past.

The son brings her a burger, from her favourite take-out place. They eat together in her room, chatting about this and that, the questions seemingly always the same, the answers – more of the same.

Each time, she asks the man how his brother is doing. When is my eldest son coming to see me? The man says to his mother that he is very busy and ‘he’ll be by to see you next week.’

But of course the man is merely appeasing his mother’s pleas because, in fact, his brother has been deceased for over six years. The family told their

mother about it when it happened; she even attended the funeral. But she can-not recall it, and thinks her eldest son is merely “too busy” to stop by.

The visiting son hates the fact that he has to make up stories to not upset his mother. To watch her cringe from the dreadful news each and every time would rip his heart out.

And so it goes, the dysfunctional but loving methods that family mem-bers apply to the situation within the Alzheimer’s environment.

The son knows his mother is well taken care of physically, and her needs are attended to. But above that, all he can do is wait for the inevitable, and hope she is feeling all right, and not afraid, each and every day.

The BC Alzheimer Society says that more than 70,000 British Colum-bians are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia – 85 per cent are over the age of 65. In just five years, as many as 50 per cent more Canadians and their families could be facing Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

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EW18 The VancouVer courier wednesday, march 2, 2011

seniors

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Q We often hear about people with dementia who showed signs long before they were

diagnosed by their doctor. Are there any reliable screening tests?

A Unfortunately there are no total-ly reliable screening tests. As we speak, various committees/pan-

els, etc. in Canada and in the world generally are trying to establish early diagnosis criteria – even pre-symptom-atic ones.

There is a condition called Mild Cog-nitive Impairment (MCI) which occurs prior to the onset of the dementia – per-haps by decades. In some 70 per cent (the number varies) of people diagnosed with MCI, the condition progresses to the full-blown Alzheimer’s disease.

Many are beginning to refer to MCI as a “pre-Alzheimer disease” state. What

is now well established is that the abnormal changes in the brain (the “pathological” changes) characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease begin to appear in the brain decades before the demen-tia appears, and also in the brains of people with MCI – but – sometimes in those that do not progress to Alzheim-er’s disease proper.

But there’s little information on reli-able signs or symptoms (aside from MCI) that occur before the disease is diagnosed.

Q As with any research, there are always new findings and studies about what is and isn’t

good for your brain, and sometimes it’s hard to know what to believe. What can you or your research say is good for our brain and what should be avoided?

alzheimer Disease UpDate

Q&A with Dr. DiAmonDDr. Jack Diamond (pictured), scientific director for the Alzheimer Society, was in British Columbia for a recent speaking tour, where he shared his knowledge about the latest developments in Alzheimer’s research and answered questions about diagnosis and treatments. Here are some excerpt Q&As from Dr. Diamond’s speaking engagement:

wednesday, march 2, 2011 The VancouVer courier EW19

seniors

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A If you look up the “healthy brain” informa-tion on the Alzheimer Society website (www.alzheimerbc.org) and also in my booklet A

Report on Alzheimer’s Disease and Current Research you’ll see lots of advice about how to help reduce one’s chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease, and about the risk factors that should be avoided if possible.

Q If someone has Alzheimer’s disease in their family, is there a way to test or determine the likelihood that someone else in the fam-

ily may also be diagnosed with the disease?

A Except for the presence of apoE4 gene, which does indicate an increased suscep-tibility to the disease, [unfortunately] the

answer is no! Other genes are implicated, though their presence has much less importance than the apoE4 gene (this is all discussed in A Report on Alzheimer’s Disease and Current Research.)

If a parent or sibling (i.e. a direct relative – nobody else) has the disease, one’s chances are tripled. But understand what this means. In 100 people whose families never once had even one relative with Alzheimer’s disease, on average five will get it, and 95 will not. In 100 people of whom everyone had a direct relative, only 15 will get it and 85 will not!

[It’s a numbers game, that’s for sure.]

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To register, contact Kelly Ablog Morrant, health education director, at BC Lung Association; tel: 604-731-LUNG; email: ablog@bc.lung.ca.

Q&a continUeD

W20 The VancouVer courier wednesday, march 2, 2011

seniors

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(This is the continuation of an article from Jan. 5.)

It was in ‘46 when the returning troops thinned out and we drove to camps that were closing down.

I remember, one winter day in a bliz-zard, heading for Halifax in a staff car from a closing camp with a bus behind me. He couldn’t pass me, so I soldiered on into town through the snow; then we hit glare ice. I did a couple of pivots and landed on my back bumper in a ditch!

The two officers in the back seat were drunkenly unaware of our predicament, but a kindly truck driver was the one who towed us back onto the ice. That was a slow approach to the city.

When Armistice was declared we all celebrated in Glacis Barracks. The Regimental Sergeant-Major combed our quarters and found—up the chim-ney, under the sofa—the booze we had stashed away. I even recall burying a bottle of rum in a graveyard at Spring Garden Road and Barrington St. down-town. I wonder if it’s still there.

VE Day was a riot in Halifax with all the troops—navy, army and air force —laden with liquor. The riot made headlines across Canada. We broke into

the (unwisely) closed liquor stores and helped ourselves!

As I recall, the city fathers left town hurriedly, but the troops had a glorious time, if short-lived, from Citadel Hill to the waterfront. I remember driving my small jeep with 13 servicemen aboard, all clanking with bottles stowed in their battledress tunics. Then, of course, the service police appeared after a day or so, and we were confined to barracks. But it was all worthwhile.

Then came the demobilization. Peg St. Louis and I were the last in the bar-racks, packing up the popular canteen. Then she left for Ontario, and I clam-bered aboard a train for my fifth trip across Canada, to be demobbed in St. Mary’s Priory in Vancouver.

CWACS were allowed to continue wearing uniforms for a month after discharge, so my western army buddy, Jean Eddy, and I hitchhiked to Mexico for a month, spending nights in Ameri-can army camps on the way. But that’s another story!

Jacquie Hooper, a local writer and artist, shares her memories of days past with readers every other month.

backstory:

women oF wArtime, PArt twoby Jacquie Hooper, contributing writer