Does Pres. Bush Have An Early Stage of Alzheimers Disease?
The Author of the Letter Sees: Pre-Senile Dementia
Letters to the Editor Atlantic Monthly: Sept 2004
{In Reference to An Article in a previous month's AM Edition entitled: When George Meets John}
"James Fallows's description of John Kerry's debating skills ("When George Meets John," July/August Atlantic) was interesting, but what was most remarkable was Fallows's documentation of President Bush's mostly overlooked changes over the past decade—specifically, "the striking decline in his sentence-by-sentence speaking skills." Fallows points to "speculations that there must be some organic basis for the President's peculiar mode of speech—a learning disability, a reading problem, dyslexia or some other disorder," but correctly concludes, "The main problem with these theories is that through his forties Bush was perfectly articulate."
I, too, felt that something organic was wrong with President Bush, most probably dyslexia. But I was unaware of what Fallows pointed out so clearly: that Bush's problems have been developing slowly, and that just a decade ago he was an articulate debater, "artful indeed in steering questions and challenges to his desired subjects," who "did not pause before forcing out big words, as he so often does now, or invent mangled new ones." Consider, in contrast, the present: "the informal Q&As he has tried to avoid," "Bush's recent faltering performances," "his unfortunate puzzled-chimp expression when trying to answer questions," "his stalling, defensive pose when put on the spot," "speaking more slowly and less gracefully."
Not being a professional medical researcher and clinician, Fallows cannot be faulted for not putting two and two together. But he was 100 percent correct in suggesting that Bush's problem cannot be "a learning disability, a reading problem, [or] dyslexia," because patients with those problems have always had them. Slowly developing cognitive deficits, as demonstrated so clearly by the President, can represent only one diagnosis, and that is "presenile dementia"!
Presenile dementia is best described to nonmedical persons as a fairly typical Alzheimer's situation that develops significantly earlier in life, well before what is usually considered old age. It runs about the same course as typical senile dementias, such as classical Alzheimer's—to incapacitation and, eventually, death, as with President Ronald Reagan, but at a relatively earlier age. President Bush's "mangled" words are a demonstration of what physicians call "confabulation," and are almost specific to the diagnosis of a true dementia. Bush should immediately be given the advantage of a considered professional diagnosis, and started on drugs that offer the possibility of retarding the slow but inexorable course of the disease. "
Joseph M. Price, M.D.
Carsonville, Mich.
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Note: Reading from the description of the stages of the disease one sees some striking parallels.
Common early symptoms of Alzheimer's are:
* confusion
* disturbances in short-term memory
* problems with attention and spatial orientation
* personality changes
* language difficulties
* unexplained mood swings
It is important to understand that Alzheimer’s disease does not affect every patient in the same way. The stages listed below represent the general progression of the disease.
Stage 1: Early in the illness, Alzheimer's patients tend to have less energy and spontaneity, though often no one notices anything unusual. They exhibit minor memory loss and mood swings, and are slow to learn and react. After a while they start to shy away from anything new and prefer the familiar. Memory loss begins to affect job performance. The patient is confused, gets lost easily, and exercises poor judgment.
Stage 2: In this stage, the Alzheimer's victim can still perform tasks independently, but may need assistance with more complicated activities. Speech and understanding become slower, and patients often lose their train of thought in mid-sentence. They may also get lost while travelling or forget to pay bills. As Alzheimer's victims become aware of this loss of control, they may become depressed, irritable and restless. The individual is clearly becoming disabled. The distant past may be recalled, while recent events are difficult to remember. Advancing Alzheimer's has affected the victim's ability to comprehend where they are, the day and the time. Caregivers must give clear instructions and repeat them often. As the Alzheimer's victims mind continues to slip away, the patient may invent words and not recognize familiar faces.
Stage 3: During the final stage, patients lose the ability to chew and swallow. The very essence of the person is vanishing. Memory is now very poor and no one is recognizable. Patients lose bowel and bladder control, and eventually need constant care. They become vulnerable to pneumonia, infection and other illnesses. Respiratory problems worsen, particularly when the patient becomes bedridden. This terminal stage eventually leads to death.
posted by Richard at
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
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