Ex-QB Jim McMahon talks of early-stage dementia

Yahoo ^

[nuconvert]

-excerpt-

...when he meets people, "I'm asking two minutes later, 'Who was that?'

"When my friends call and leave me a message ... I'll read it and delete it before I respond and then I forget who called and left me a message," he added

[The Duke]

When I turned 50 I just learned how to augment my memory with the features of my smart phone.

Now I've got better memory than any 20 year old! :)

In fact, my phone just reminded me that tonight is the first showing of "Last Resort". :)

[peeps36]

I would think that playing certain positions would make a player more prone to suffering a brain injury. The linemen and running backs have a lot more contact during a game then a QB. I would like to see the cases broken down by position.

[hummingbird]

"It took ten years for this awful disease to kill my mother. The only great President in my lifetime correctly called it “the long goodbye”.

Reagan's speech re: Alzheimer's was so sad - such a wonderful and vibrant person.

I'm so sorry about your Mother.

[GreenHornet]

I hate it when that happens.

So do I.......wait a minute.......when what happens?

[Phlap]

"When my friends call and leave me a message ...

Jim has friends? Who knew? lolbnr

[nuconvert]

I don’t think anyone would make light, if he had described symptoms that were different from what most people suffer in their 50’s.

I’m sorry to hear about the rapid decline of your Dad. My mother-in-law has Alzheimer’s so I know how awful it can be.

[nuconvert]

Are you wondering if he’s trying to drum up sympathy?

[Gay State Conservative]

unusual brain deodorization LOL!

Yikes! (clears throat)....well,that too! ;-)

[marstegreg]

I did it in fun. Good job catching it! :o)

[AmericanVictory]

We joke about it because actually facing the possible loss of memory is so very frightening. But, most people who suffer dementia, including early onset, have never played football. It seems to strike without any common cause, and has no respect for title/position/education much less race, color or creed. It’s a hideous disease and so painful for the patient and his/her family.

[VanShuyten]

Yes, I joked about it a little earlier, with the reference to my wife, but you’re right. I studied this in grad school, and the Bears QB probably doesn’t have Alzheimers. He probably has an organic brain disease that is related to repeated blows to the head. That’s much different from most people with Altzheimers. They have a build-up of a protein call beta-amyloid that appears to be a mis-folded protein. Some think this is just built up over the years, but others, including me, think that the rapid-onset Altzeimers is due to some kind of prion infection. The slow-onset form is probably due to multiple causes - trauma, alcohol, hypertension,drugs, and that prion.

[cynwoody]

...when he meets people, "I'm asking two minutes later, 'Who was that?'

I hate it when that happens.

[cynwoody]

I still remember the very first drink I ever had way back as a teenager.

It was Heineken Bock Beer and we were on a school outing.

In my case, it was Mogen David, consumed at the Bar Mitzvah of a Jewish buddy when I was twelve or thirteen.

Thinking back, I must have been twelve, because the local Catholic priest came around some months later and tried to reason with my mother that the spiritual affairs of a household should not be ruled by a "thirteen-year-old". I had read a book around that time that convinced me that the RC Church was an anti-American institution, and I, in turn, had convinced my (divorced) mom. LOL! This was the early sixties.

[Safetgiver]

I feel for ya, pal. Heck, you even forgot you already posted once before!