NOTE FROM DR.
TRACY:
“amnesia” is listed as a “frequent” side effect.
friends Frank and Phyllis Van Wagenen, parents of Robert Redford’s wife of
nearly 30 years, Lola Van Wagenen. They were writing to thank me for the copy of
my first booklet on Prozac that I had recently sent to them because it helped
them so much to understand what they had been through during the past year. Upon
receiving their note, with great concern I immediately called Frank and PHyllis
and she shared with me their experience.
attacked near their hotel and Frank’s watch was stolen. In the attack Frank was
hit in the head and had to be hospitalized for a concussion. Then not long after
they returned home to Utah Frank lost five friends to death. When you are
elderly that begins to happen, but his doctor immediately put Frank
on Prozac. Within one week on the drug Frank was diagnosed with Rapid
Onset Alzheimer’s. The facility issuing the diagnosis wanted to commit him
to a long term facility. Luckily Lola put her foot down and refused and asked
them instead to take him off the Prozac. They refused. And she told them they
would take him home and take him off it themselves. At that point the facility
wished them luck in getting him off Prozac! (That was after only one week of use
and developing an addiction to it!!)
Frank miraculously recovered from his rapid onset Alzheimer’s! The only long
term effect that stayed with him was that he never did regain any recall for the
one week he was on Prozac.
the use of the Prozac family of antidepressants, Utah has gained the number two
spot leading the nation in Alzheimer’s cases! Obviously it is long overdue that
Utah, the nation and the world wake up to the connection between Alzheimer’s
Disease and antidepressants.
condition of elevated serotonin levels. Utah is the antidepressant, ice cream
and jello capital of the nation – all of which increase serotonin levels. Utah
also has some of the highest rates of Alzheimers, autism and Bipolar
nationwide.
serotonin that produced the gummy gooey glossy substance to build up on heart
valves. They now have research demonstrating that in Alzheimers there is a gummy
gooey glossy substance that builds up in brain tissue. Search Dr. Cade’s work in
Florida. He took children who were autistic or schizophrenic off dairy & 80%
returned to normal.
dairy-free/jello-free/sugar-free/Nutrasweet-free/antidepressant-free/atypical-antipsychotic-free/pain-killer-free/tussin-cough-syrup-free,
etc. diet (all are known to increase serotonin levels) our Alzheimer’s rate
would plummet! But that plan would not make billions for the big boys.
an excellent reference.
Awareness
Utah No. 2 in nation for Alzheimer’s
By
Carrie A. Moore
Deseret
News
Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009 12:03 a.m. MST
Memories of the year his parents hid a Red Ryder
BB gun behind the Christmas tree come easily to John Stone.
In fact, he can even recount the exact number of
BB cartons he emptied before his parents woke up that frosty morning in
Lewiston, Idaho.
But at 71, John forgets what he had for
breakfast today.
His mind can’t hold a current thought long
enough to retrieve hot dog buns at the grocery store. Or to remember which key
does what on the computer. Or that a dear friend he spoke with at church isn’t a
new acquaintance.
John is one of 30,000 Utahns who have
Alzheimer’s disease, the second highest incidence in the nation, according to
the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association Disease Facts and Futures report. That is
likely due to the fact that Utahns live longer, and it plays into projections
that during the next decade, the Intermountain West will see the nation‘s
greatest increase in Alzheimer’s patients, the report said.
For John Stone, Alzheimer’s disease has stolen
the present while preserving the past. So as his wife, Judy, wrote the annual
Christmas letter last month, she decided it wouldn’t be real without a paragraph
telling extended family and friends about her Parkinson’s disease and John’s
Alzheimer’s — a decision he agreed to but likely doesn’t remember.
Not the kind of happy news they had been used to
sharing over the years. “Coming out of the closet,” as Judy put it, was
difficult because “the last thing I wanted was for people to feel sorry for us.
… It was just time to tell people what’s going on in our lives.”
In a society where the most lurid details of
celebrities’ lives are updated daily in the media, there is still something of a
social taboo about Alzheimer’s. What will people think? How will they react? Or
not?
People 65 and older have a 1 in 8 chance of
acquiring Alzheimer’s, and those who live to 85 have a 47 percent chance of
developing the disease. And Utahns who do so “tend to stay here. They don’t move
to Florida,” like they do in so many other states, according to Nick Zullo,
program director at the Alzheimer’s Association of Utah.
Judy Stone has become part of those statistics,
as one of more than 90,000 family caregivers statewide. As she plans the family
Christmas party, she knows John will enjoy the celebration. He just won’t
remember much, if any, of it.
At 63, Judy wasn’t yet ready to retire from
teaching English at Skyline High School after her own diagnosis a few years ago,
though it got to the point “I couldn’t read my own handwriting.”
John’s diagnosis earlier this year made the
decision about whether she should retire.
Both had teaching careers they loved, built a
life around their children and saw a future very different from the one that
faces them. “It’s crazy that we both have a neurological disease,” and while
some treatments are available, neither condition has a cure.
Judy says the thought of losing motor control is
daunting, but the loss of memory seems overwhelming at times.
A former building contractor who found a second
career as a teacher for the disabled, John “knows what’s happening to him,” Judy
says. Though he “works hard to please me and do the things that need doing
around the house” like folding laundry and unloading the dishwasher, “I think he
feels like he can’t do anything anymore. He’s lost his confidence.”
To keep them both as active as possible, one of
their daughters has created “John and Judy’s Medical Book,” a three-ring binder
that organizes information about all their medications and possible side
effects, list of bills and other items that need regular attention, as well as
summaries of past doctors’ visits to help them track the progression of both
their conditions.
It also contains a daily schedule, laid out hour
by hour, which Judy calls “invaluable” at helping them create a daily routine
that includes exercise, healthy eating, social activities and cognitive mind
games. TV is limited to a hour or two after dinner, and bedtime comes early.
While the routine has helped give purpose that
can often evaporate along with memory, Judy knows things will likely have to be
adjusted over time as their abilities change. She’s learned to be both
optimistic — and realistic — about the future.
“Life goes on. It’s not totally bad, and it can
be good at times. I think there always has to be a silver lining. Maybe if it
brings us closer together, that’s the silver lining,” she says, eyeing the
brightly lit tree and an antique Christmas stocking on the fireplace that
belonged to John’s father, who also died of Alzheimer’s.
As for how this Christmas — and the next one,
and the next — will mark the changes ahead as they age, “who knows?” she says.
“We just have to focus on turning lemons into lemonade.”
Every minute. Every hour. Every day.
e-mail: carrie@desnews.com
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