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.
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.