Leaves
It’s now just me and my wife of almost fifty years, living a life of retired bliss and letting all the memories of my attempts to solve the problems of this world melt away like glacier ice. Which brings up another reason for my writing this book: getting all this stuff down on paper before I forget it. Never mind that my memory has already become ‘selective’. — ‘An Einganeer’s Tale’, page 13.
“apple,” “table,” “penny,” “carpet,” “watch.”
Say these words aloud and memorize them.
Medicare has started having me do this test as part of my annual physical to determine if I have dementia. It turns out that I do, and so do you.
Memories are like leaves on a tree. They start out fresh and green. As time passes, a few are lost, while others turn to gold. With more time, many of the gold ones turn red, then brown, then fall away.
A Dr. Barry Reisberg, who is the Clinical Director of New York University's Silberstein Aging and Dementia Research Center, defined something called the "Global Deterioration Scale (GDS)". (Odd name, Global Deterioration, sounds very apocalyptic. You’d think it had something to do with climate change, not brain health.) It is widely used by doctors to assess the progression of dementia.
Dr. Reisberg says there are seven stages of dementia. Stages 1 through 3 are No Outward Behavior, Very Mild Changes, and Mild Changes. Stages 4 through 7 are Moderate, Moderately Severe, Severe, and Very Severe. So everyone is at least at Stage 1 dementia. (Stage 1 cancer is still cancer, so I guess Stage 1 dementia is still dementia, right?) For those of us over 65, 90% of us are still below Stage 4. About 3% of us, though, are over Stage 5.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, the major risk factor for dementia is… age. Not much a person can do about not getting older. A far less risk factor is family history. That’s good for me! My folks were messed up, but they seemed to remember every infraction they ever did to each other.
Well, you can’t not get older — but if you don’t drink, don’t have blood pressure or cholesterol issues, and don’t get stressed out — you may not move up the dementia ladder as fast. Not much I can do about this stuff either. Doing puzzles and games does slow your ascent up the ladder. I do like puzzles and games. Maybe I’ve got a chance.
There’s really nothing wrong with having a little dementia. I never see a repeat on TV. And folks seem to like me asking their name. I’ve also found that, as a senior, faking dementia is often a good way to explain why you “forgot” to do something.
So what were those five words (don’t look!)? If you can’t recall, you’re over Stage 4. Get help!