On Feb. 24, the results of a Harris Interactive survey of over 1000 people done for the MetLife Foundation were released, and the results may surprise you. The telephone survey, completed in September 2010, found that 31% of Americans fear developing Alzheimer's disease, second only to cancer (41%). The next most feared diseases were heart disease and stroke, each far behind at 8%. Compared with a similar survey done in 2006, the highest percentage increase in fear was for Alzheimer's disease, which climbed from only 20% who feared getting it then.
A majority of those polled (62%) admitted they knew little or nothing about Alzheimer's disease (how can I get more people to read this site?!), and less than 1 in 5 people had done any planning for its possibility. Ironically, American families are no strangers to Alzheimer's disease: 44% reported having a friend or family member with Alzheimer's.
So why is it that in this day and age of so much easy access to information, people know so little about a disease that's both getting more press and affecting more people they know and love? Please let me know what you think.
Maybe the answer is fear fosters avoiding the issue at hand.
Avoidance promotes lack of knowledge
“Ignorance is bliss” some people believe. My mom has Alzheimer’s and every time I forget something I am terrified that I am next. While I do read this site and others, plus reading news articles, it is always with a sense of foreboding. Since there is not much you can do (scientifically proven anyway) to avoid Alzheimer’s, maybe it is just as well not to give yourself one more thing to worry about.
My dad has been diagnosed with alzheimers. He is 90 years old so it is an easy diagnosis. Easy – but is it right? I think he might – just might have a few more good years ahead. He had congestive heart failure – spent 8 days in the hospital. This is a man who spent 90 years without a single heart problem. High blood pressure – never – not one time despite the fact that he spent 90 years salting everything he ate – including dill pickles.
His new wife assures me that this heart failure was caused by his drinking and the fact he is a former smoker. The doctor said so? Interesting – he quit smoking 63 years ago. He has always had a drink or two in the evenings and he did begin drinking to excess about a year or so ago.
An additional note that may or may not be important – normal size man 5′10″ – currently very thin 140 lbs (his normal weight was always 175-180) and a hat size of 8. Hat stores rarely carry his size! No one has looked at NPH. It seems to me that a man with sudden swelling of feet legs and heart sack might just have swelling in his oversized head. This life member of MENSA does not always know who I am – I am his only child. Alzheimers still seems the most likely diagnosis but I will have more tests. Can any person with a medical background give me some advice? I am not a person with any medical background but i am signed up to attend a medical continuing education seminar in Houston Texas on May 6, 2011. It is for “cognitative impariment” = alzheimers. My Email is jeangreen62@gmail.com. Any advice, name of expert, tests i should request – all of these are welcome.
I know it is a long shot – but dad’s doctor has 1500 patients – i only have one dad. I want to look down every avenue to help him.