ENCORE #155! – How Do Other Countries Deal With Alzheimer’s?

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer in March of 2011, there was a deafening silence from the men I knew. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry first appeared in August of 2018…

I just got back from three weeks in South Korea, where my son and his family have lived for the past three-and-a-half years.

While I cannot categorically say that I never saw a person with Alzheimer’s, I CAN say that I never saw a person who BEHAVED as if they had Alzheimer’s. That got me to thinking – I know what we have done to my dad here in the US. What do other countries do for or with their people. I’m going to start with South Korea and see what I can come up with…

The first thing I found was this: “Alzheimer Disease International (ADI), was founded in 1984 to help to fight Alzheimer's disease, first diagnosed back in 1906. ADI is the umbrella organization of more than 80 Alzheimer’s associations around the world.”

OK. So I know that out of 195 countries (including the Holy See (the Vatican) and the State of Palestine) there are eighty associations around the world. While that sounds “wonderful”, that means that less than half of the countries on Earth have some group or organization whose purpose is to intentionally help fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. Question: Where does South Korea fall?

“Although a rapid increase in the number of patients with dementia is a worldwide problem with significant health and economic consequences, the rates of increase is not uniform. The numbers in developed countries are expected to increase by 100% between 2001 and 2040 and by >300% in Asian and South American countries. The rate of growth of the aged population in the Republic of Korea (hereafter, Korea) is known to be one of the fastest in the world (2). Korea is expected to move from an aging society to a ‘super-aged’ society in only 26 yr (2000-2026), and 37.6% (17.9 million) of the population is expected to be of the age>65 yr by 2050. In addition, the rapid industrialization in the past four decades has brought extensive changes in the structure and value of Korean families. For example, the percentage of one-person households is increasing, particularly in the elderly population where it will reach approximately 33%. At the same time, more women have started to work; therefore, the number of informal caregivers is decreasing. Because of this rapidly aging population and progressive westernization of lifestyle, dementia has emerged as a major health problem in Korea.”

Clearly, even though I didn’t SEE anyone with Alzheimer’s-like behavior, that didn’t mean squat! It’s actually a problem of greater proportions in Korea. Of course, Korea went from a bombed out, agrarian, perhaps close to a stone-aged society at the end of the Korean War in 1953; to one of the most technologically advanced countries on Earth 65 years later (which of course, depends on who you ask – Americans count themselves as #1 (https://www.theclever.com/most-technologically-advanced-countries/); Quora counts them as #2 (https://www.quora.com/Which-is-the-most-technology-advanced-country-of-the-world); and this Youtube video (which doesn’t disclose its origin) put the US at #2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHLYpsbB7Sc&vl=en) – but not one of the lists I perused excluded South Korea as one of the top 10 most technologically advanced nations on Earth.

So what are they doing to deal with Alzheimer’s?



At this point, it appears only raising awareness, training people to deal with dementia, and diagnosing it. They have also instigated Family Caregiver Support Policies. You can read the entire proposed National Dementia Plan here: file:///C:/Users/gstew/Downloads/(ENG%20ver.)%20The%203rd%20National%20Dementia%20Plan%20(%EC%A0%9C3%EC%B0%A8%20%EC%B9%98%EB%A7%A4%EA%B4%80%EB%A6%AC%EC%A2%85%ED%95%A9%EA%B3%84%ED%9A%8D).pdf

I’ll summarize a couple of things: In 2014, the following legislation was introduced: “The Respite Care Service was installed to provide family caregivers of PWD with a brief repose. The 5th grade was added to the Long-term Care Approval System to allow people with mild dementia to be eligible for service benefits such as cognitive stimulation and visiting nursing services.”

It’s not much, but in future essays, I’ll dig into Korea’s plan – as well as the national American plan – to deal with dementia in our population.

Resource: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4101777/,
Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

GUY’S GOTTA TALK ABOUT BREAST CANCER: Three Thousand, Six Hundred and Fifty Days Later…

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…



1) Observations of A Breast Cancer Husband

I wanted to us a blog title that was simple and would pop up on a normal GOOGLE search, but “Breast Cancer Husband” was already taken (http://www.breastcancerhusband.com/). So was “Stand By Her” (http://standbyher.org/). I went to those sites, but one has been corrupted by endless spam and the other has been inactive for nearly a year. Another I tried seems full of advertising and another still was a long advertisement for an exercise program developed by a breast cancer husbands’ wife.

So here I am, because I need someone to talk to RIGHT NOW and I want to talk to other husbands, fiancés, and lovers of women with breast cancer.

Our journey is only two weeks old. While my wife Liz knew something was seriously wrong inside of her body, I was clueless. Until two weeks ago, a biopsy at the Breast Care Center at Regions Hospital in Minnesota ( ) confirmed that she had infiltrative ductal carcinoma. It was the most common form of breast cancer. Treatments had been worked out. Research had been done. It is survivable…

A week later, Liz had a bilateral mastectomy.

I’m writing this six days after the surgery.

I’ve searched the internet and I haven’t been able to find an active husband-whose-wife-has-breast-cancer blog that I could chat on. Maybe it’s because their wives have been survivors for years and they can relax, or they can take a step back, or they’re exhausted, or the danger is no longer clear and present.

Not so for me. Based on everything I’ve read so far, this job is only just beginning.

Ah, the name of the blog: I couldn’t call it Breast Cancer Husband, so I went to the thesaurus to look for synonyms and the etymological dictionary for word roots. It all comes down to a “husband” having something to do with farming. Words like cultivate, garden, graze, grow, harvest, landscape, seed, sow, tend and till the soil are all related to “husband”. The word “reap” was in there, too.

At first that didn’t do anything for me, but when I came across “reap”, of course the first thing I thought of was the Grim Reaper. Then my mind went to work, the Reaper’s robe turned pink and I had the image in my head of the Breast Cancer Reaper: cutting down breast cancer, growing hope, harvesting love, creating a new landscape (in more ways than one!), cultivating peace, sowing joy, tending the field, the Garden of Eden, good and healthy eating…

At any rate, this will be a personal blog with medical LINKS – I’m no doctor, though I have been a science teacher for three decades. This blog may wax and wane humorous as well. Humor is how I deal with grief and tragedy (actually, humor is how I deal with just about everything and everyone…)

We’ll see. All I know right now is that my wife has breast cancer, she, my daughter (whose blog links are below), my son & daughter-in-law & grandson and the rest of both of our families and friends, are dealing with this in different ways.

I should be here once a week, probably Saturdays, and my goal will be to provide something that’s short, personal and helpful.

That is all…

But, that was NOT all.

A decade later, everything still remains…not the same. We have three grandchildren now; the kids have been married for some time. Our foster daughter is getting married this summer. We had the COVID19 Pandemic with nearly three million dead from it (by comparison the chart below shows the daily number of deaths from COVID as compared to the daily number of deaths from other causes. I repeatedly ran across COVID19 deaths referred to as “excess deaths”. Apparently the census takers count on a certain number of people dying every day…:

Heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s STILL claim way too many lives.

At any rate, all that to say that things have changed since my wife’s cancer diagnosis a decade ago. There are moments I’ll never forget. There are moments I’d LIKE to forget. There are events I can’t recall at all.

However, the ripples in the time line since that diagnosis are still active; not as huge, certainly, but they are still there. Lifestyle changes – for me for the worse (I spent too much of the past ten years eating too much…), some for the better – like we’ve both retired. As well, since that time, we’ve met MANY people whose lives withered under the impact of breast cancer. Many, many recovered, thank God and the doctors He’s had working on the breast cancer front (and the Alzheimer’s front!).

I’ll keep blogging, especially about medical development of tools to fight against both diseases. So, keep reading and if you have questions or need a virtual shoulder to cry on, let me know.

Resource: https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/covid-19-is-the-number-one-cause-of-death-in-the-u-s-in-early-2021/, https://img.datawrapper.de/jw0qD/full.png

Image: http://wrex.images.worldnow.com/images/23784252_SA.jpg

ENCORE #154! – Marijuana and Alzheimer's In Minnesota

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer in March of 2011, there was a deafening silence from the men I knew. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…That was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry first appeared in December 2018.

Odd this…referencing the article below, published in July of 2017, over a year ago, has this to say: “The currently available examined evidence is weak and limited. It would be premature to say that the cannabis and related compounds have any effect on dementia symptoms or progression. Robust study designs with larger samples are needed to clarify the utility of Cannabis in AD.”

So why the rush (no pun intended)? Why the stampede to give cannabis to Alzheimer patients when this review of two (2) studies specifically targeted Alzheimer’s and “were predominantly used for the management of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS). Two studies on THC reported no change in NPS and no severe side effects. The other three studies reported variable and inconsistent improvements in NPS.”

Oh! I missed this from the Alpha News article: “State officials say there is some evidence the use of medical marijuana may improve the quality of life for people with Alzheimer’s by improving their mood, sleep and behavior.”

That sounds like a ringing endorsement, a reason to rush to dope seniors who have Alzheimer’s.

Surely there must be a more solid foundation, a larger study that exhibited startling or even clear results that cannabis resulted in improvement of moods, sleep, and behavior. How MUCH of an improvement? What were the parameters of the study that caused this bill to be passed?

Oh! I missed this definitive research in the StarTribune: “The Minnesota Department of Health announced Monday that it was adding the degenerative neurological disorder to the program, despite limited evidence on the effectiveness of treatment with cannabis.”

Honestly? I don’t understand this – patients who have been diagnosed with “hepatitis C, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, opioid use disorders, panic disorder, psoriasis and traumatic brain injury” will get no relief from MaryJane.

Irritatingly, the state I live in seems to be the target of some exciting business growth opportunities: “Nic Easley, a national cannabis consultant and CEO of Denver-based 3C Consulting, said that based on market growth, the industry in Minnesota soon could prove lucrative for two to three players.”

Hmmm…I’m not convinced this is a good thing. But what do I know? I’m just a bofwhig and a Christian and not a terribly important demographic. While I understand it may alleviate some of the conditions of Dad’s Alzheimer’s, “Some studies have found that cannabis disrupts the tau proteins that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s and inhibit brain function. But they were only in animal models, said Petersen, who directs the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and serves as a science adviser to the Alzheimer’s Association.”

In a coda that didn’t make it to the headlines, Peterson added, “‘We have cured Alzheimer’s disease time and time again’ — in lab and animal models, he said. ‘But that hasn’t translated to humans yet.’”

Resources: http://alphanewsmn.com/republicans-applaud-addition-of-alzheimers-to-medical-marijuana-list/, https://www.alzheimersanddementia.com/article/S1552-5260(17)30907-X/fulltext, http://www.startribune.com/alzheimer-s-added-to-minnesota-s-medical-marijuana-list/501803661/, https://mjbizdaily.com/what-are-the-medical-marijuana-business-hurdles-in-minnesota/
Image: https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5527/10893068965_1d328e8f71_b.jpg

RELATED MEDICAL ISSUES RIGHT NOW! #1: Cause Célèbre

 From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog… 

From the first moment I discovered my dad had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, it seemed like I was alone in this ugly place. Even ones who had loved ones suffering in this way; even though people TALKED about the disease, it felt for me like they did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I added a section to this blog…

The immediate crisis that was Breast Cancer and Alzheimer’s have passed. There are, however ancillary issues like testing and treatments that may not be directly related to BC or A but intersect with them. Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: Cause Célèbre

https://variety.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/black-panther.jpg
https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/01/time-machine-inventor-01.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=618&h=410&crop=1

The "sudden" death of Chadwick Boseman, who played the blockbuster character of Black Panther in Marvel Universe movie of the same name as well as appearing in many of the rest of the Universe’ movies, sent shock waves through Hollywood and the rest of Marvel fandom. No one knew because Mr. Boseman had shared the knowledge of his cancer with the people who matter to him most – and that didn’t include the rest of the world.

When Michael J. Fox, beloved actor of American televisions shows Family Ties and Spin City, is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Marty McFly of “…the 13th-highest-grossing trilogy of all time…” was diagnosed with a neurodegenerative disorder, people were stunned.

Fox started displaying symptoms of early-onset Parkinson's disease “in 1991 while shooting the movie Doc Hollywood, and was diagnosed shortly thereafter…” Outside of his family, no one knew of the diagnosis, until, after a long period of denial, in “…1998, he went public about his Parkinson's disease, and has become a strong advocate of Parkinson's disease research. His foundation, The Michael J. Fox Foundation, was created to help advance every promising research path to curing Parkinson's disease…Michael J. Fox Foundation…became an advocate for people living with Parkinson's disease.” As well, Fox wielded his fame to “the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in 1999…”

“In 2016, Boseman was diagnosed with colon cancer. Boseman kept his condition private, continuing to act until his death from complications related to the illness in August 2020…[He] achieved international fame for playing superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) from 2016 to 2019”…becoming “the first black actor to headline an MCU film, he was also named in the 2018 Time 100.” Boseman “…extensively supported cancer charities publicly and privately...”

Colon cancer and breast cancer are both cancers...

Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are both neurodegenerative diseases…

My wife had BC, Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 84.

Not the same, but my wife and Dad were not celebrities. Fox and Boseman were.

I have no beef with their struggles or their dedication to the cause of finding cures for colon cancer and Parkinson’s. I question the rest of their “fans”…They flocked to the cause because a pair of superstars they loved had the diseases and suddenly, their fans HAD to do SOMETHING to make a difference. “…absolutely devastating…” and “…an icon for the ages…” were only a couple of the comments describing Boseman.

How many normal people died because their plight was just that…”normal”? Their fates were unmarked except by a small circle of family and friends, and devoid of invitations to address Senate subcommittees…

I lament not the MEN, but the rest of us. I wonder sometimes about “us” as a country. As a people. We ignore what we don’t want to see until suddenly, our icons are stricken and something we had no interest in knowing anything about becomes a consuming passion and accolades, invitations, and imperative research, and the interest is not based on real needs, it’s based on the effect of a pervasive disease that has (for some reason we think is inexplicable) on people we have idolized because of characters they've played on towering movie screens…

At any rate, because of this, I offer the existential question:

“If the idols in my life don’t suffer from it, does it exist?”

Resources: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/chadwick-boseman-dead-dies-black-panther-1234753232/, https://www.medicinenet.com/michael_j_fox_has_parkinson_disease/views.htm, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chadwick_Boseman, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Fox Image: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWFDJVgpz0G9kdb-eRXgRxMiv-Qz-Moaiw9w&usqp=CAU