Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 (Page 2): Lavender Room: Slowtwitch Forums

Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [Moonrocket] [ In reply to ]

May 31, 17 13:55

I feel for you, and agree, there are so many grey areas when dealing with death, mental health disorders, etc.

As it stands right now, our law allows for doctor assisted suicide if death is imminent and, after applying, the patient is still in control of their faculties after a 10 day waiting period. What appears to be happening is people applying too soon, like as soon as they are given a terminal diagnosis, are not "bad enough" or dying fast enough to warrant the procedure, while those who are close enough to death often won't be able to make that call after the 10 day waiting period, so they're screwed too. Entertaining any doc assisted suicide is a step in the right direction, but, isn't really helping many people at this point.

Long Chile was a silly place.

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [Moonrocket] [ In reply to ]

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TheRef65

May 31, 17 14:00

Post #27 of 32 (717 views)

Moonrocket wrote:

I always thought I would be pro assisted suicide but now watching my mom it has changed my opinion a lot. There really is no black and white point where it would make sense. I say this having made the choice for a number of animals- but that was a lot different. My mom may not know who I am some days but she still smiles and gets enjoyment from cookies and other sweets (even if she pukes them up after a lot).

Even just executing a living will is hard on a regular basis. At what point do you withhold antibiotics? Do you deal with a skin cancer that pops up on someone with dementia that could turn extremely painful if left untreated?

It's a lot less clear than what I expected when I started this journey. And there really are not a lot of resources to help you understand how immediate medical questions intersect with a long term plan even if it's accept natural death.

Accepting natural death without prolonging suffering actually has a lot more grey areas that I thought it would.

I watched my mom gradually decline from Huntington's Disease over the course of 20 years. The only reason she lived that long is because she received a feeding tube for experimental surgery and was not allowed to remove it. She would have died 10 years earlier than she did. As it was, she died basically from assisted suicide because we petitioned to remove the feeding tube. She wanted to die for 10 years but was unable to end her life due to stupid laws that allow people to suffer.

You mentioned deciding for animals. Why the hell can you end the suffering of an animal but not a human?

HD is a death sentence and can be diagnosed with genetic testing. As I've written before, my sister died at 55 from Huntington's. I have a brother who is 55 and in pretty bad shape. When he finally accepts he has Huntington's, I'm convinced he will do it himself.

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Each day is what you make of it so make it the best day possible.

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [malte] [ In reply to ]

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ThisIsIt

May 31, 17 14:02

Post #28 of 32 (716 views)

malte wrote:

ThisIsIt wrote:

H- wrote:

ThisIsIt wrote:

racin_rusty wrote:

One thing to keep in mind, I'm pretty sure the reason for the increase in Alzheimer diagnosis's has more to do with awareness rather than a health trend.

Alzheimer's is primarily a disease of old age becoming more common the older people get. A lot of the increase is simply due to the baby boomers getting old, there's just more old people alive today.

The rate of deaths among the elderly (75-84) population has increased about 42% a statistic for which the increase in numbers has no effect. From the CDC study summary:

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From 1999 to 2014, age-specific rates of deaths attributed to Alzheimer’s increased among adults aged 75–84 years from 129.5 to 185.6 per 100,000 population and among adults aged ≥85 years, from 601.3 to 1,006.8. The largest increase in the rates of Alzheimer’s deaths among adults aged ≥85 years occurred from 1999 to 2005, compared with 2005–2014 (p<0.001) ([/url]Figure 1). Since 2005, although the mortality rate has continued to increase, the rate of increase was not as large as 1999–2005.

The WashSlop article does not specify the "rate" that it reports. However, from the CDC article, the 55% number corresponds to increase in death rate across the entire population -- for which greater numbers of elderly has effect as you note.

Other things to think about is I'm pretty sure remaining intellectually engaged decreases the risk of getting Alzheimer's, maybe some of the increase is we have a bunch of old people staring at the TV and doing little else?

Also cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's are linked and modern medicine is doing a pretty good job of keeping people with CVD alive and kicking for a number of years, predisposing them to developing dementia including Alzheimer's.

I also wonder how accurately you can actually determine that someone is dying from Alzheimer's rather than with Alzheimer's

I think these sorts of things are usually measured by what's listed as a cause of death, so a lot of it could simply be the recognition that Alzheimer's contributes to the demise of people and it gets listed as a cause of death when in the past it might not have been.

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [TheRef65] [ In reply to ]

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Moonrocket

May 31, 17 14:13

Post #29 of 32 (711 views)

I guess I wasn't clear. I am supportive of assisted suicide - I just think it gets really unclear in the case where an individual can't make the decision.

I'm curious as a POA how your mother ended up with a feeding tube that was not removed. As I would not want that to happen and I am going through this real time. My mother has a living will that is clear supplemental nutrition is not allowed nor is CPR and a number of other life saving procedures. Is there a risk this could happen?

Personally, I don't see removing a feeding tube as assisted suicide, but rather AND allowing natural death.

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [Moonrocket] [ In reply to ]

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ThisIsIt

May 31, 17 14:21

Post #30 of 32 (707 views)

Moonrocket wrote:

I don't get this. A friend's father basically was legally killed by having food/fluids withheld, which took a few to several days for him to die. The outcome was as sure as giving him an overdose of morphine or something, and I can't imagine less painful. It seems rather ridiculous to me to distinguish between natural and assisted death when the only difference is more unnecessary suffering by the patient.

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [SH] [ In reply to ]

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jkca1

May 31, 17 16:57

Post #31 of 32 (684 views)

Let me add this to the theories of why "dementia" is happening; environmental factors. My dad and his brothers all worked in hardware stores their entire life. This means for decades they were surrounded by lead paint and who knows that else. My dad also smoked like a fiend, drank coke by the case and never worked out. He had a heart attack at 59 and rather then go to the hospital, tried to claim it was indigestion for 3 days.... I shit you not. You put that all together and I am surprised he lived until 66.

"The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do."

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Re: Death rates from Alzheimer’s climbed 55 percent from 1999 to 2014 [travelmama] [ In reply to ]

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Billabong

May 31, 17 17:57

Post #32 of 32 (676 views)

travelmama wrote:

My father passed from Lewy Bodies dementia related complications and for as difficult as has been for me, I am grateful that it was not as brutal as Alzheimer's causing us both to suffer for a very long period of time. I see Alzheimer's dementia patients at the VA who are so bad that their actions and thoughts are so uncontrollable that I wonder how much longer they have to live. Other than wishing I had a miracle potion to rub across their heads, I always check in with cookies and a smile.

My dad 77, was diagnosed about two years ago with Lewy Body, his memory had been slipping for a number of years before hand. His health has never been great, he has been in and out of Hospitals since his mid-40s because of Idiopathic Lymphocytosis. Over the last six to seven years he has been seen by every specialty save Psychiatry.

It has been real hard on my mom, fortunately she has qualified for assistance with Care Giver Respite.

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