Alzheimer's- An analogy

Crushed

I posted this in a thread but I thought it was worth its own topic

Remember there is the underlying Alzheimer's pathology and the symptoms we can see.

As far as we know nothing stops the underlying pathology

 Think of a city with lots of streets and destinations and your taxi  has a GPS.  the utility company is digging up and closing the roads permanently.  They do this at random and nobody tells you what streets are closed.  you just run into   "dig we must"   barriers and use the GPS to find another path.    
That  is the  Alzheimer's disease and there is nothing you can do about it.

For while the GPS can find a new path to any  destination, since there are lots of streets. You can even get a faster GPS that works better and you can find the remaining paths quicker . 

that is every kind of medication promoted for alzheimer's

  It's why this disease is a treasure trove for quacks.

   But after a while it takes longer and longer as streets close and finally there are destinations you can never get to again.  Every street to those destinations is closed. so you try other destinations.   Sometimes whole groups of destinations get closed off at once 

   Eventually you may just drive the remaining streets at random and can't go anywhere.  Then finally  you are on a street and find you can go nowhere 

That's Alzheimer's.

John1965

Thanks. That's a good analogy for the disease.

Lately I've been thinking of it as DW getting a life sentence for a crime she didn't commit, and the judge ordering me to accompany her for protection.

Last Dance

A very simply and understanding analogy that really explains it all.  I wonder if we would tell that to our family and friends if they would finally understand what Alzheimer's is all about, and what we go through.

ButterflyWings

Crushed - that's such a clear analogy for this disease that seems to be so random and makes no sense most of the time. It reminded me of a time, pre-diagnosis and pre-anosognosia, when DH confided in me how he was feeling at a moment of clarity and vulnerability. After an afternoon nap he was visibly worried, and seemed sad and depressed even. 

We had been awake for a short while, just lying around "relaxing" or so I thought. He was uncharacteristically quiet so I asked him what was wrong. He said he'd had a dream that he was driving back from across town. Said he kept driving around and around and trying different routes but couldn't figure out where he was, nor find his way home. (This man knew our large city like the back of his hand. And he was always confident to a fault, so, dreaming about being hopelessly lost would feel totally unfamiliar and terrifying). He said in his dream he finally just pulled into a parking lot, and cried. That's when he woke up, and couldn't shake the feeling of dread. We had not yet discovered he was having problems. But somewhere inside, he knew.

Sounds like that maze of streets in your analogy. I was dumbstruck that this was what was on his mind in his sleep. And then he woke up to the real nightmare, because it wasn't just a dream...it was real. We just didn't really know it yet.

Laurention

Crushed - Excellent analogy !!

M

Keep It 100

Perfect analogy. 

And the treasure trove of "quacks" who prey on the hopes of the otherwise hopeless have a special place waiting for them. 

zauberflote

Crushed, what a perfect analogy-- thanks so much!