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dementia is a category of progressive illnesses that affect the brain functioning of adults, including alzheimer’s disease , frontal-temporal dementia and lewy body disease . there is no known cause for any of these conditions, however they have been generally linked to the development of abnormal proteins in the brain, reduced blood flow to the brain and/or nerve damage.
in canada, just over seven per cent of the population 65 and older is living with dementia , leading experts to warn that in the next 20 years, the number of canadians diagnosed each year will double as the population continues to age. however, there has been a small decrease in the number of canadians diagnosed with dementia each year, indicating that some interventions may be working.
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so my family doctor gave me a referral to the toronto memory program and i met with a neurologist. dementia isn’t a specific disease — there are just a whole bunch of symptoms and they’re put under the same umbrella. dementia is related to alzheimer’s and people often confuse them. the neurologist didn’t use any of these words, but i had read how dementia had no cure. i figured i had about six to nine years and that i should get my affairs in order.
well, my question to the neurologist was, ‘what do i do now?’ she asked me if i was still driving, and then told me to reduce my time driving to an hour at most at a time [and to do a driving test.] i did the test and passed it with no problem at all.
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my diagnosis meant that i began volunteering with the alzheimer’s society. i also started writing columns, which went into the newsletter — i’ve written 56 of them. i write for a local newspaper too — i tell my story. i just write the way i talk and people seem to like it. i write a blog called my voyage with dementia , and i am working on a book — i can’t find anyone who will support it, so i’m doing it myself. it’s going to cost me 10,000 bucks. i want to give it to doctors for their patients.
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i’m going on the rocky mountaineer rail tour next year. it’s a very luxurious train trip through the rockies from calgary to vancouver. it’s really special. you stop in a different hotel every night, it’s about five nights, and you’re in a domed car.
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