This Wednesday at 2pm ET/11 am PT, I'm honored to be leading the inaugural monthly support group -- "Keeping each other Company: #Caregiving and #Grief" -- for #HFC, an extaordinary foundation established by #LaurenMillerRogen & #SethRogen in honor of Lauren's mother Adele who died of early-onset #Alzheimer's. Please join me -- it's on Zoom -- if you are looking for a space to share your feelings, tell your story, or just want to listen to others.
Jerry, my dad, who died almost 30 years ago, was born today in 1927. Here I am with him -- he had lost just about all of his words and I had none to express the grief of watching him suffer. I think about him everyday, miss him so much, and do everything I can to be the best version of the person he (and my mother) raised me to be.
Jerry, my dad, who died almost 30 years ago, was born today in 1927. Here I am with him -- he had lost just about all of his words and I had none to express the grief of watching him suffer. I think about him everyday, miss him so much, and do everything I can to be the best version of the person he (and my mother) raised me to be.
A HS student emailed me out of the blue to do an interview as part of her capstone project on #Alzheimer's. I spoke w/her about #brain science & #caregiving. She's 18, her family has the #APOE4 gene - a risk factor for the disease - & she will study neuroscience to find a cure for Alzheimer's. She's smart, determined, & I had chills listening to her story and her passion. The senseless, fascistic #NIH cuts are imperiling the potential, the future of people like her, & our own.
It's Brain Awareness Week. Take care of yours!
Wear a mask (COVID has implications -- bad ones -- for brain health. Get sleep (sleep rids the brain of gunk -- the vox technica - that accumulates in it). Get hearing aids if you're experiencing age-related hearing loss. Take your SSRI if you're on one (depression isn't good for the brain). Stay engaged w/ people (connected with friends; meet new ones @ #Tesla protests).
If you are in the Palm Desert area on March 28, please consider coming to the Joslyn Center where I'll be talking about #Alzheimer's: #Grief, #Guilt, #Memory, and #love. I will discuss the many years it took to get the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's, his suffering, our pain, what I wish I knew when he was sick, & the importance of sharing our experiences.
Once upon a time, I asked people to review my memoir, written w/#neurologist Dr. Bruce Miller, Finding the Right Words on #Amazon to help people dealing w/#dementia: the complexities of #brain health, #caregiving, #grief. B/c #Bezos is no longer someone I can support b/c he supports #Nazis, I humbly ask you -- if you've read the book -- to review it here. Also, #NIH cuts & the evisceration of #Alzheimer's research (et al.) will immiserate all of us. Grief (& rage) are the words.
I wrote and submitted this short letter to the editor about cuts to #Alzheimer's research but the window for it being accepted has passed. I was hoping it might get picked up by the #MSM so people whose politics with whom I profoundly disagree might read it and see the damage that is being wrought by eviscerating #NIH -- if they can't understand its implications for others perhaps they could for themselves and their loved ones. Please share as you see fit.
I wrote and submitted this short letter to the editor about cuts to #Alzheimer's research but the window for it being accepted has passed. I was hoping it might get picked up by the #MSM so people whose politics with whom I profoundly disagree might read it and see the damage that is being wrought by eviscerating #NIH -- if they can't understand its implications for others perhaps they could for themselves and their loved ones. Please share as you see fit.
The #memoir I wrote with Dr. Bruce Miller is now available in #Chinese. Thank you Johns Hopkins UP & East China Normal UP. According to this article, "#China has the world's largest population of patients with #dementia, and #Alzheimer's disease and other dementias (ADOD) is the fifth leading cause of death in China." I hope this translation finds its way to people who are looking for information about #brain health, #grief, and #caregiving.
https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.14254
CW: Suicide
To test or not to test. That doesn't seem to be the most important question. Rather, the question is assisted-suicide options.
https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-2025/alzheimers-diagnosis-before-symptoms.html
Jason Karlawish reviews Doctored: "The problem is that the facts don't support Piller's message. It's sensational, and in my experience, it's causing harm. One of my patients who plans to take one of these anti-amyloid drugs explained that the multiple scandals reported by Piller caused him to question his decision. My colleagues relay similar dispiriting conversations with their patients."
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/114503?trw=no
Thank you #EastChinaNormalUP for translating into Chinese Finding the Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain, which was originally published in English by #JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress. #Neurologist Dr. BruceMiller and I are so honored, and I know my father, Jerry, for whom the book is written, would have wanted his experience known so that it might help others. He was a wonderful human being -- when he had his memory and when he didn't.
Here is an announcement about the new grief support group I'll be leading for #HFC. The 1st meeting is on 3.19 at 2 pm ET, 11 am PT. Click enroll & sign up if you want to talk about your grief or listen to others share theirs. My experience comes from my father's early-onset #Alzheimer's. He was diagnosed in his mid 50s & died 15 years later. Looking back, he was sick well before then (the #prodromal phase). How I wish I knew then what I know now. I'll share this & more.
MAGA = Make Alzheimer's Great Again? The rage is hard to put into words. Dad, I will do everything I can to fight this sadism, this idiocy.
"Neurologists say the downsizing at CARD [Center for #Alzheimer's and Related #Dementias] could be a blow to the scientific quest for new Alzheimer's treatments. NIH scientists at CARD work with external scientists to turn early scientific discoveries into treatments and medicines."
Me w/Dr. Matthew Lefferman, a kind dr. He specializes in #geriatrics & goes to the places where his expertise is needed. Here we are @ the Kensington Redondo (he's holding my book, Finding the Right Words: A Story of Literature, Grief, and the Brain), where we watched "Taking Care," a beautiful film honoring Adele Miller, mother to Lauren Miller Rogen & mother-in-law to Seth Rogen. Their foundation, HFC, supports #caregivers of people with #dementia.
February 21 was National Caregiver's Day. I was thinking about caregiving (in fact, speaking about it at #UCSF) but didn't post. Here is a photo of my mother and father, Tzip and Jerry, on their honeymoon. Both are gone. Many years of her life were dedicated to taking care of my father, who died of early-onset Alzheimer's. I love this photo.
February 21 was National Caregiver's Day. I was thinking about caregiving (in fact, speaking about it at #UCSF) but didn't post. Here is a photo of my mother and father, Tzip and Jerry, on their honeymoon. Both are gone. Many years of her life were dedicated to taking care of my father, who died of early-onset Alzheimer's. I love this photo.
"[Dr. Flatt's] work focuses on military veterans & & LGBTQ+ #veterans & their risks of Alzheimer’s & #dementia & the obstacles #caregivers face in providing resources & care." How cutting funding for #Alzheimer's research (& #cancer & all the other #NIH/#NSF cuts) helps anyone/improves government efficiency is beyond my ken. It doesn't of course. It's an attempt to bring us to our knees. Let's not bend.
#Diversity
#Equity
#Inclusion
#EndAlz
#TransRightsAreHumanRights
Know his name: Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller, first Black psychiatrist in the US. Studied with #AloisAlzheimer.
