Posted on 07/29/2021 12:23:23 PM PDT by KeyLargo
What the film ‘The Father’ tells us about Alzheimer’s disease
The film “The Father” brings the issue of dementia to the forefront. This is a story about how a man, played by Anthony Hopkins, who refuses all assistance from his daughter, played by Olivia Colman, as he begins to suffer from the overwhelming and unnerving symptoms of dementia. As he tries to make sense of his ever-changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality. Watching the film gives viewers a close-up experience of what it’s like to be an Alzheimer’s patient, as well as a caregiver.
Understanding Alzheimer’s symptoms
The movie is based on a play by Florian Zeller, a French novelist and playwright who has made his directorial debut with “The Father.” A recent USC ATRI Latest Science and Path Forward event featured guest interviewer Claudia Puig, an entertainment journalist and film critic who has interviewed Hopkins, Colman and Zeller about the film and has her own personal experience with Alzheimer’s disease in her family.
USC Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) Medical Director Michael Rafii, MD, PhD, reported that he thought the film did “… a great job in portraying the chaos that someone can feel as they’re going through the dementia stages, particularly the moderate stages of Alzheimer’s disease, where they have some insight which causes them to feel uncomfortable, and want to cover it up.”
(Excerpt) Read more at hscnews.usc.edu ...
The movie hit home for me since my father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease when he was in his late sixties. Within a couple of years he no longer knew who I was.
Watching Joe Biden’s behaviors I see the same thing happening to him.
The only difference is that Biden occupies the Oval Office as President of the United State’s of America.
I encourage those that have not seen the film, especially those not experiencing a friend or family member with that devastating disease to watch it.
My grandfather went the same way. Brilliant attorney had his razor sharp mind stolen from him. What made it worse is that he forgot the names of everyone — his wife, his 3 daughters, his friends — but he always remembered MY name (I was 9), which instead of makig me happy filled me with guilt. Horrible disease.
One of the most poignant songs I have ever heard was Glenn Campbell's last song, I'm Not Gonna Miss You, which he recorded after his diagnosis with Alzheimer's.
Living it with my Dad now...
Dementia is not Alzheimer’s. My mother-in-law had dementia. She knew who everyone was and wasn’t resistive, but slowly lost her faculties. My wife’s aunt had it as well, same thing. My sister-in-law’s dad had Alzheimer’s. And he was a resistive trial and couldn’t be left alone at all.
Personally, I’d prefer a trip on a Jack Kevorkian electric rocket. But that’s me.
Although Alzheimer’s is the leading cause of dementia, there are several other causes.
biden is clearly demented. But we do not know what the cause of his dementia is. That is why I do not call his an “Alzheimer’s patient”.
I hope that his doctors know exactly what’s wrong with him. In any case, he does NOT belong in the Presidency, especially since the election was stolen!!!!
Ronald Reagan had the courage and integrity to announce that the had Alzheimer’s. However, he was no longer President when he did so. This contrasts with the biden “Presidency”, in which a demented individual strings us along, to the detriment of the entire nation!!!!
Wife’s uncle ended up in the VA hospital with Dementia and was still fighting the Japanese until he died. The one funny story was that he became obsessed with weeds so the family filled his Roundup bottle with Gatorade.
I have no experience with Alzheimers so I figure I’ll be the one.
Dementia is a general term describing a group of symptoms, including a decline in memory, reasoning or other thinking skills, that can have many different causes. Alzheimer's is a specific degenerative brain disease. Alzheimer’s is, however, one of the most common causes of dementia.
Dementia from other causes may or may not be progressive. Alzheimer's nearly always is. Alzheimer's victims generally lose short term memory first, followed by recent memories, then older memories, and then physical function (including finally the ability to swallow and breathe).
As my mother's Alzheimer's progressed (over the course of several years), she first could not recognize my children, then she started to mistake me for my father (who had died 20 years before), then started asking where her parents were. She finally died of aspiration pneumonia when she lost the ability to swallow without inhaling. IMHO, it is one of the worst ways there is to go.
Dementia is also an umbrella term for multiple degenerative diseases with different causes, symptoms, and paths of progression. I think in each case though, the path only goes one way. For some dementia patients, there are several years post diagnosis where they seem more lucid than not and only exhibit symptoms under certain conditions or times of day, usually at night.
Biden, for whatever his actual affliction is, is probably a best case scenario for dementia. He's physically and socially active, has very close medical observation and probably very regular care to include diet and exercise, and he has a support structure around him that is trying to keep him engaged. If he weren't also the President of the United States, an actual job that should be filled by someone with a full set of mental faculties, I'd say it's the best memory care plan in the world.
I have had talks with friends that had a parent with Alzheimer’s and admit concerns about inheriting that disease, but we all have realized that is the same feelings others have with other types of diseases. The bottom line is to learn to live your life to the fullest and enjoy it. All of us laugh about normal things as we age such as remembering where we left things, but understand how are brains are just trying to keep up with all of the stuff going on at the same time , and how much simpler life was many years ago.
My father passed away thirty two years ago after Irving with the disease nine years. And I’m still kicking.😊
I agree. I don't think anyone can argue with a straight face that Biden is not showing clear signs of progressive dementia. It could be caused by Alzheimer's Disease or it could result from other causes.
The big question is whether Biden's handlers can prop him up until the 2024 Presidential election. I am betting he will resign shortly after the 2022 Congressional election, if they can prop him up that long.
I am really torn as to which will be worse, President Dementia Joe with Jill and his other handlers making all of the decisions in the background, or President Kamala Harris. Either way, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Not necessarily. We really have no way to know how quickly his dementia is progressing or how far it has already progressed. His handlers are making great efforts to hide Biden from public view most of the time. When he has to read from a teleprompter they try to rush him out before he can answer any questions. Lucid intervals are common in even moderate to advanced dementia victims.
There are some things you can do to stave Dementia off somewhat. I see it quite a bit with people who live alone so have some social outlets like a Bible Study. Write things down long-hand. Analytical work can help keep your mind sharp. Reading instead of television.
harris may not be demented, but she’s incompetent!!!!
“Stolen elections have consequences”!
Yes, perhaps you maybe right.
Doing Sudoku and crosswords won’t stop dementia or mental decline, study suggests
Reading, playing board games, and playing musical instruments could help instead, researchers say.
Neither Biden nor Harris are making any decisions at all, nor do they have any real power. They are both figureheads.
The real decision makers are an oligarchy deep in the background. They have a crew of handlers who implement those decisions in the current administration.
Most elected officials now are merely paid actors playing a role.
It seems possible that Biden had a strong vascular event in 2020 which required the Dems to almost completely hide him in his basement for the entire campaign. He’s doing much better now, but not doing well.
People with dementia do much better in familiar surroundings which may be why Biden returns to his home in Delaware every weekend
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