Thursday, March 28, 2013

Alzheimer's books

Losing My Mind by Thomas DeBaggio

    I picked this up at the library recently (in FL). The title grabbed me right away (it was one of those days). It was written by a man after he was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. It was a little difficult to follow at first. He skips between recounting recent memories, distant memories, and Alzheimer's research. The scattered style caught me off guard but I eventually got used to it. I think he used that style to showcase the disease. I'll be honest. This book is dark and depressing. He wanted to share the raw emotion of someone battling (and losing to) this disease. It also struck me that as an atheist he has no hope in an existence after this life on earth (and it shows). After I finished reading this book I looked up the reviews on Amazon. This book got great reviews there as many family members of people with Alzheimer's felt that is gave them insight into the minds of their loved ones.

The Alzheimer's Prevention Program by Gary Small

I read this book while we were still in NY (from the Marcellus library). I enjoyed reading this book. It included lots of good science and it was presented in an easy to understand way. The advice was very practical and is all the stuff we should already know (eat fruits and veggies, only drink coffee and wine in moderation, exercise, keep brain active, reduce stress). It includes quizes and exercises and a daily plan.

I need to read this one to counter-act the darkness of the first. I'll let you know how it is... (besides, I have a soft heart for cute nuns)

Update: I LOVE this book. It was exactly the right mix of science and story. The nuns were amazing. In this book, the nuns agree to take part of a brain study. David Snowdon, the researcher, really gets to know the nuns and develops a close relationship with several of them. Because the convent keep such great records the research team was able to examine early writing samples of the nuns. Those nuns who wrote elaborately and used large and varied vocabulary when they were young had overwhelmingly better cognitive scores in their old age (so read to those kids). I learned alot about Alzheimer's from this book and the infomation was very encouraging. I fell in love with these wonderful nuns and I love how gracefully they approach old age.

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