Cause and Effect
During the early part of summer I began to accept the reality of mom’s condition. My monthly trips to Ohio allow me much time to think about the disease that is invading her mind. Alzheimer’s disease is no respecter of persons. It strikes rich and poor, famous and ordinary alike. Presidents are no exception. My thoughts and questions turned to research on my computer when I returned home. I found the moving letter Ronald Reagan wrote to the nation on November 5, 1994 after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. He ended the letter with the statement, “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.” Earlier in the letter he wrote, “Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience.” I always admired Nancy for the many years of faithful care she gave to her husband, as did most of the nation. Throughout his presidency Reagan had supported Alzheimer’s research and now he was a victim of it.
What is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease(AD)? The researchers have come up with several factors that may contribute to the onset of the disease, the first of which is genetics. Ronald Reagan’s mother died of Alzheimer’s disease. This is strong evidence to support that theory. In mom’s case, we don’t know if genetics played a role. Her parents died at a very young age and she went to live with her uncle when she was five years old. The family history beyond her parents is very fuzzy.
Researchers are also studying the roles of education, diet and environment as possible causes of AD. They say the evidence for physical, mental and social activities as protective factors against acquiring AD is increasing. That caused me to think. Without being overly judgmental about my parent’s lives, the mental and social activities aspect of the researcher’s findings sparked a thought as I began to reflect on mom and dad’s history together.
They had a great partnership during their sixty-six years. They each found, and accepted their roles in their quest to make a living and raise a family. Happily, mom took the supporting role and did her job well. Her major emphasis in life was to take care of dad and his needs. Many times, I am sure, to the neglect of her own needs and wants. This gave her a life-time of satisfaction, fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment. Who can argue with that? Many people long for that but come to the end of their lives without achieving it. After dad died, many of us expected her to fall apart, but she didn’t. Of course she was sad and lonely, but she had long since accepted death as a part of life. What began to sneak up on her, however, was the great void in her existence. Her supporting role died with dad. Her mind started to go to sleep because it no longer had challenges or purpose. If the disease lurked in her genes, this gave it the fertile soil in which to germinate. If I had the power, would I change any of that? Probably not. She is now on a journey into the shadows before she leaves this life, but that is a relatively small price to pay for the richness she experienced for the bulk of her life.
For the most part, her social life is non-existent. We have suggested that she visit the Senior Center to see the activities available. She starts shaking her head even before we get the words out, and says, “Dad and I never thought very much of things like that.” That was a “No,” in case you didn’t get it.
Mom is a Christian, as was dad, but they stopped attending the Sunday assemblies of a congregation years ago. There was some kind of a feud between some of the members, as will happen even in the best of congregations. Dad, especially, did not like confrontation, and as a result they stopped attending. From that time on, every Sunday morning in their living room they sang together from a song book, read the scriptures, sometimes listened to a sermon on tape, prayed, and always took communion together. This was a very private, precious time they spent together each week. Several times throughout recent years, I participated with them in these sessions, often with tears running down my cheeks as I observed their conviction in action. Again, who can argue with that? Few people on this earth have that kind of faith and consistency in their lives. On the other had, I am sure that you can see the problem already. Had they been part of a loving congregation, mom would now have the support she needs as well as an active social interaction with people of like faith. She is not about to change this now, because she and dad made their decision years ago.
So, where does this leave us? We, like the AD researchers, do not know very much about the cause—but we have to live with the effect. All we know is what we observe and experience and that is that there are probably life-style factors that contribute to the onset and progression of AD. We can’t do much about this for other people who get the disease because they are usually older people who had long ago set their life patterns in stone. We could all do something about our own situations, but my experience tells me that most of us will not. Years from now, some of us will step into the same shadow of AD and our care-takers will be analyzing our lives.
What is the cause of Alzheimer’s disease(AD)? The researchers have come up with several factors that may contribute to the onset of the disease, the first of which is genetics. Ronald Reagan’s mother died of Alzheimer’s disease. This is strong evidence to support that theory. In mom’s case, we don’t know if genetics played a role. Her parents died at a very young age and she went to live with her uncle when she was five years old. The family history beyond her parents is very fuzzy.
Researchers are also studying the roles of education, diet and environment as possible causes of AD. They say the evidence for physical, mental and social activities as protective factors against acquiring AD is increasing. That caused me to think. Without being overly judgmental about my parent’s lives, the mental and social activities aspect of the researcher’s findings sparked a thought as I began to reflect on mom and dad’s history together.
They had a great partnership during their sixty-six years. They each found, and accepted their roles in their quest to make a living and raise a family. Happily, mom took the supporting role and did her job well. Her major emphasis in life was to take care of dad and his needs. Many times, I am sure, to the neglect of her own needs and wants. This gave her a life-time of satisfaction, fulfillment and a sense of accomplishment. Who can argue with that? Many people long for that but come to the end of their lives without achieving it. After dad died, many of us expected her to fall apart, but she didn’t. Of course she was sad and lonely, but she had long since accepted death as a part of life. What began to sneak up on her, however, was the great void in her existence. Her supporting role died with dad. Her mind started to go to sleep because it no longer had challenges or purpose. If the disease lurked in her genes, this gave it the fertile soil in which to germinate. If I had the power, would I change any of that? Probably not. She is now on a journey into the shadows before she leaves this life, but that is a relatively small price to pay for the richness she experienced for the bulk of her life.
For the most part, her social life is non-existent. We have suggested that she visit the Senior Center to see the activities available. She starts shaking her head even before we get the words out, and says, “Dad and I never thought very much of things like that.” That was a “No,” in case you didn’t get it.
Mom is a Christian, as was dad, but they stopped attending the Sunday assemblies of a congregation years ago. There was some kind of a feud between some of the members, as will happen even in the best of congregations. Dad, especially, did not like confrontation, and as a result they stopped attending. From that time on, every Sunday morning in their living room they sang together from a song book, read the scriptures, sometimes listened to a sermon on tape, prayed, and always took communion together. This was a very private, precious time they spent together each week. Several times throughout recent years, I participated with them in these sessions, often with tears running down my cheeks as I observed their conviction in action. Again, who can argue with that? Few people on this earth have that kind of faith and consistency in their lives. On the other had, I am sure that you can see the problem already. Had they been part of a loving congregation, mom would now have the support she needs as well as an active social interaction with people of like faith. She is not about to change this now, because she and dad made their decision years ago.
So, where does this leave us? We, like the AD researchers, do not know very much about the cause—but we have to live with the effect. All we know is what we observe and experience and that is that there are probably life-style factors that contribute to the onset and progression of AD. We can’t do much about this for other people who get the disease because they are usually older people who had long ago set their life patterns in stone. We could all do something about our own situations, but my experience tells me that most of us will not. Years from now, some of us will step into the same shadow of AD and our care-takers will be analyzing our lives.
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