tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post6710609143860586130..comments2024-02-23T04:39:49.329-05:00Comments on Conversations in Klal: Another Plus for ReadingProfKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17954446826821665314noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-68514486819010870992012-02-07T11:23:35.981-05:002012-02-07T11:23:35.981-05:00Abba,
No one doubts exercise prevents cardiovascu...Abba,<br /><br />No one doubts exercise prevents cardiovascular disease, but people who exercise have heart attacks and arteriosclerosis and some people who live sedentary lives consuming junk food live forever.<br /><br />There's a strong genetic component to a lot of diseases. You can only fight your genes so much.<br /><br />My point isn't that people shouldn't read and keep their mind sharp - people should do that anyways. My point also isn't that sometimes you can't avoid the inevitable - that's obvious.<br /><br />The point is that there's a tendency to "blame" people for getting sick. Someone has a heart attack and there are people who assume the person wasn't taking care of themselves - they must have been eating too much fat, too much salt, not enough exercise, etc. It would be a shame if that became the case for diseases like dementia - that people assume the person was a coach potato whose idea of intellectual stimulation was reading the expiration date on the milk carton.<br /><br />Oftentimes the preventive steps we can take become ways of blaming those who succumb to illness.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-36567771132211571682012-02-07T10:43:51.840-05:002012-02-07T10:43:51.840-05:00"These recommendations may help on average, b..."These recommendations may help on average, but they're no guarantee."<br /><br />don't be ridiculous. no treatment is "guaranteed." if something helps "on average" compared to no treatment, what's the problem?Abbahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06147724170190982376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-88372652553464391032012-02-07T10:41:34.756-05:002012-02-07T10:41:34.756-05:00there are some important medication used to treat ...there are some important medication used to treat patients with alzheimers-associated dementia, e.g., aricept and namenda. but they are not cures.Abbahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06147724170190982376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-50180846650773369142012-02-07T10:30:04.004-05:002012-02-07T10:30:04.004-05:00You're losing sight JS that what is in the pos...You're losing sight JS that what is in the posting is one type of treatment that is available now, not 10-15 years from now. Alzheimer's usually attacks those 60 or older. That means that those in their 40s now should be looking at what the study suggested as a way to possibly prevent them from getting Alzheimer's. 10-15 years from now, if they find a different treatment, it will be too late for those now in their 40s.<br /><br />Come on people, it's not like trying this is going to cost you money or be dangerous medically. You have nothing to lose, since the reading, writing and game playing will also sharpen your mental skills now, give you knowledge and pleasure now, and help with the life you are living now.Trudynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-43345205881863111722012-02-07T09:32:59.271-05:002012-02-07T09:32:59.271-05:00Anon,
Need to be careful in using the term dement...Anon,<br /><br />Need to be careful in using the term dementia. There are 170 diseases that qualify as dementia, with Alzheimer's being one of them. So all Alzheimer's patients are suffering from dementia but all patients with dimentia are not suffering from Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's is not reversible but some other dimentia diseases are. In short, those brilliant people you refer to certainly developed dementia but not necessarily Alzheimer's. <br /><br />The study referred to in the posting was dealing specifically with Alzheimer's, not dementia in general.<br /><br />Re the guarantee, We don't have a single treatment or preventative method for any disease that is 100% guaranteed for everyone. There is always going to be a statistical outlier. And if the program of writing/reading/game playing "only" helped prevent anywhere from 60-90% of the the population from getting Alzheimer's, would anyone really say "I'm waiting for something that is 100% guaranteed so I won't try this now."<br /><br />http://www.ehow.com/about_5270803_difference-between-alzheimers-dementia.htmlProfKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17954446826821665314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-90933180851432538862012-02-07T09:13:19.273-05:002012-02-07T09:13:19.273-05:00Have to agree with anonymous. These recommendatio...Have to agree with anonymous. These recommendations may help on average, but they're no guarantee.<br /><br />That said, I'd estimate this disease will likely be treatable within the next 10-15 years given the progress being made.JSnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096776708897685863.post-72167019776200004662012-02-07T07:07:43.717-05:002012-02-07T07:07:43.717-05:00These are all population statistics. Unfortunatel...These are all population statistics. Unfortunately everyone knows someone who was a brilliant intellectual who used their mind and still developed dementia. Of course, the recommendations can't hurt.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com