Thursday, January 23, 2014

Alzheimer's, Food, Sugar, and Idiocy

Married 63 Years!
There is a heart-breaking article on Alternet about people who warehouse their family members in corporate run facilities.  With luck, we are going to be able to care for APR and not go this route.  Unless he becomes violent, I'm not seeing it.  So far, he's far from violent.  (More about this in another post).  I wrote a comment to a comment left by someone who volunteers.  She insists that the disease is another form of diabetes, which is what they're pushing in some alternative sources, I think, to push books and vitamins. The following is my reply:

Alzheimer's is NOT a diabetes issue. It is NOT as genetic as the fear mongers say it is. There is a huge connection to Lyme Disease, brain injury, and even PTSD. To say that it can be prevented from diet is just plain foolish. One can stave off the effects of the disease for years by regulating diet - and that includes giving the person with Alzheimer's quite a bit of sugar. Sugar & carbs are fuel that make the brain work. We kept my father's Alz. under control for 3 years after he was diagnosed - in stage 3 - by using oatmeal, sugar, B-12, heavy cream, coconut oil, strawberries, and blueberries - for breakfast every morning. He still gets B-12 shots. Caffeine is also very helpful.

We're creating a pending Alzheimer's disaster by concentrating on sugar and carbs as pure evil.   I remember when eggs were pure evil, as were any forms of fat.  It is foolish to state that because of a couple studies, certain food groups cause certain diseases, when so much of this is fringe hype.
APOE4 gene primarily involves early onset, which is hereditary, or appears to be.  Late-onset, which is what the majority of individuals who have the disease have, is not, they think, due to the APOE4 gene, but something else, entirely. They are apples and oranges, apparently. The gene is fairly rare.  Fear mongering is not going to help anyone.  There are a couple other genetic factors, but they account for less than 1000 cases, world-wide.

The Lyme Disease factor is terrifying.  According to one study, the pathogen involved in lyme is present in 97% of Alzheimer's patients.  My father had the first documented case of Lyme Disease in the south, 30 years ago.   I know individuals who are suffering from Lyme who are already taking experimental Alzheimer's drugs, to stave off the disease. There are even talks that the CDC is covering up how disastrous Lyme Disease actually is.

We're keeping my father at home. He is 90, into Stage 5. He tires easily and lives in his own little orbit. Once in awhile it coincides with ours. He is happy, had his little dog, and still reads cowboy books. My mother has learned that he needs to be snacking, in order to keep him going.  When someone reaches the age of 90, I don't care what they say about food and sugar, you let them eat what they want, in order to get food into them.  if it's chocolate chip cookies, then just make sure my father doesn't give chocolate to the dog.  If he wants to drink orange juice, then let him have it.  So what if you violate the food police?  A person is old, let them enjoy their lives, as best they can.  We are well aware within the next year or so, this might not even be possible.

The first thing we learned is that people don't quite know what they are talking about with the disease.  it is almost trial and error.  I feel sorry for people who are warehoused, put into homes, and groups.  With luck, we won't be forcing this.  So far, my father is annoying, and tiresome, like a naughty 3 year old, but he's not violent.

We've also taken him off many of his Alzheimer's meds.  They were drugging him, sucking the life out of him.  Sure, he's busy, and annoying, but at least he has the life back in his eyes.  He's happier, my mother is exhausted and I don't have the patience to deal with a small child, let alone him, but he isn't being treated like a non-person.  I can't imagine putting someone in a 'group' setting and taking their dignity away from them.  The thought of my father sitting around in a group, clapping his hands while some idiot plays therapeutic music is enough to break my heart.

Sure, I sound nasty, but it's just the effects of living with the disease on a daily basis.



All rights reserved, SJ Reidhead