Planning for the Future

The title of the TEDTalk for my last Neuro Note was the reason I chose to do it.  It was called How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's and that stuck my attention.  A woman named Alanna Shaikh shared with us how she is preparing herself for potentially getting Alzheimer's in the future.  Her father has had the disease for the last 12 years and now has to be taken care of and have full time care giving.  This has shown her that she herself wants to be prepared if she is to get the disease.  The things she is focusing on is her health through eating right and exercise, creating new hobbies, and being kinder.  By creating hobbies that are very hands on she thinks that if she is to be affecting my Alzheimer's she will be able to still keep those hobbies.  She talks about her father and how throughout his life he was a very kind person and throughout his progression of the disease he has remained a kind and gentle soul. She desires this for herself and hopes that if she were to get Alzheimer's disease she would maintain her personality.

I think that this is so interesting and I disagree with part of her thinking.  On one hand I can see her fear of one day getting Alzheimer's disease and seeing how it has affected her father driving her actions.  But I also feel that by living with that fear of one day maybe getting the disease is holding her back from living in the present.  I think it is important to remain healthy and to work on brain health as well.  But living your life by the what ifs is never a way I want to live.  Especially when the way you live your life now doesn't determine how the disease affects you.  I worked with people with dementia and Alzheimer's and many of them had changed temperaments from their earlier years. 

Overall, I would recommend listening to Alanna's TEDTalk to see how you feel about what she says and see if you agree. I think peoples life experiences shape the way they see things and if preparing for getting Alzheimer's disease helps her cope, then that is what she should do.

Shaikh, A. (2012, June). How I'm preparing to get Alzheimer's. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7669900564032199547#editor/target=post;postID=1598683168652652274