When Alzheimer's hits home: How one mom is approaching a family disease
A life lesson I have tried to teach my sons is that almost any problem can be solved if you are willing to take the action needed to discover a solution. I always add that there are, of course, exceptions to this rule. Lately, I have been wondering if Alzheimer’s disease is one of those exceptions.
Last month, I wrote about my mother’s death following her 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s. My mom, her two sisters and her dad were all diagnosed with it. My grandfather’s battle was cut short by lung cancer, unlike his three daughters. In my family, he is considered the lucky one.
With this family history, I have been asking myself for years if there is anything I can do to prevent Alzheimer’s. Since my mom’s death, the space the disease has taken up in my brain has become what you might call “outsized.” Over the years, I have read article after article about how diet, exercise, friendships and learning new things can reduce your risk of developing the disease or, perhaps, delay its onset. My days have now become to-do lists. Have I eaten berries today? Check. Have I exercised? Uh, skip that one. Have I talked to another human being who really knows me? Not yet.
Last year while researching the disease again, I discovered a North Carolina-based study on how age-related factors across an individual’s life contribute to Alzheimer’s. This one, called the Memory and Aging Study, sought participants over the age of 18. Almost every other study I had seen wanted only participants over 65. I filled out the interest form and became the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center’s (ADRC) newest participant. This ADRC, there are more than 30 across the country, is a partnership between Duke University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.
What does the study entail? For me, not a lot. I have taken tests to measure my sensory skills and mobility. For example, I had to remember and repeat numbers, squeeze things, and get up from a chair. I had an MRI and my blood taken; the next step is a spinal tap. My husband is the partner I am required to have. His role is to answer researcher’s questions once a year to determine if my cognitive abilities have declined.
The only frightening part of this is that I have chosen to learn the results of my tests, which will indicate if I have any biomarkers for the disease. According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, “A biomarker is something that can be measured to accurately and reliably indicate the presence of disease…” I will not receive that information until later this spring.
Why do I want to find out? The answer is really simple. If I am on the path to Alzheimer’s, I want to know, and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to prevent or delay it.
