Your thoughts and reaction?....By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
I was reading a series of Letters to the Editor on the New York Times under the title -- Piercing the Mysteries of Alzheimer’s.
To the Editor:
Sanjay W. Pimplikar is absolutely correct. Even assuming that the new diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s is 100 percent accurate, what good does that knowledge do? There is no drug that cures the disease, only ones that mitigate the symptoms at an early stage.
My wife died four years ago from Alzheimer’s at age 69. She and her family suffered with the disease for seven years after the initial diagnosis. Had we known earlier, everyone would have suffered even longer.
While early detection may have some merit, the real breakthrough will come when we know and understand the cause of this disease.
William Eisen
Philadelphia, July 20, 2010
These words stuck out:
"She and her family suffered with the disease for seven years after the initial diagnosis. Had we known earlier, everyone would have suffered even longer".
Interesting use of the word suffered? Might sound odd, I never thought of myself as suffering. Never.
And, while each and every person touched by Alzheimer's disease is entitled to his/her own feelings and opinion, I couldn't agree less.
Looking in the rear view mirror, I can envision many wonderful things that could have, and probably would have, happened had we known well in advance that my mother was going to "suffer" from Alzheimer's disease.
Your thoughts and reaction to Mr Eisen's words? Use the comments box below the article.
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Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,690 articles with more than 70,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.
Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room
