Alzheimer's

I'm happy to have found an article that finally explains in a clear way what Alzheimer's disease is about (in the New York Times Health section). It is basically aging in the brain, but need not impair everyone. Filaments within nerves get twisted, dead cells accumulate around these and in certain areas of the brain: it is a garbage disposal problem. Bottom line: the brain produces fewer neurotransmitters, those molecules between nerve cells that allow different parts of the brain to communicate with each other. Hence the symptoms: progressive memory loss, confusion, personality blanks.

The progression of the disease is predictable: the rapid variety has a genetic basis and declares itself before age 60. The slower form is linked with high blood pressure. Treatment is difficult, and made more complicated when interaction with other diseases - and their medication - is involved. Avoidance takes the form of clean living, anti-oxidants in the diet, and an active brain.

One aspect of the question is rarely discussed, and difficult to apprehend, and that is the lived experience of older people itself. I have noticed in myself that, as I age, I feel I have less time to loose and get impatient with social niceties. My entourage may feel I am becoming anti-social or resistant to change but, from this side of the event, the feeling is Been there!, Done that!, and Give me a break! I don't mind being talked about in stage whispers because that is part of social interaction for all age groups. But I feel there is a real lack of understanding about what is going on with me. For the first time in my life, there is no one around to reprimand me intelligently (or helpfully) except for other baby-boomers. The French call us pappy-boomers. We are a force to be reckoned with yet.

I do feel a need to pass on what I know: it seems totally wasteful to me that I should have spent half a lifetime learning calculus, or how to play Mozart on the piano with a proper German intonation and be taking that knowledge to the grave with me. I need air time; it is a sense of mission with me, like finding a mate was when I was eighteen. This is where the young misunderstand; it is not a need to control or meddle, I merely want to place my piece of the puzzle on the board.

The Times piece contained tantalizing bits of information on how memory works: the emotional context present when one first learned something is stored with it, and is an avenue to its retrieval ( which might explain why things learned more recently are sometimes forgotten quickly: Who cares?). Sensory input to the brain is localized on the outside areas, but memory storage will differ between individuals, with a brief passage to the frontal area which we call thinking or being aware. Is human memory like computer memory - an electrical pattern that is erasable - or indeed erased, when turned off. I would be curious to find out more on this. I have no doubt humanity will eventually manage the brain like we order sock drawers. I am saddened to think I won't be there to see it.