[lit-ideas] Re: Superman Returns
- From: Robert Paul <rpaul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 02 Jul 2006 17:02:24 -0700
Lawrence,
I'm just trying to clear up certain misunderstandings, the first of
which, to go back to my earlier post, is that dementia is a cause of
death. I tried in my post before this to show how confusion might arise
about this by pointing out that the causes of vascular dementia
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/VascularDementia/index.htm
including ischemic stroke(s) may also cause death.
I don’t know if you’ve had anyone close to you die in this fashion, but
it is common for everyone involved to refer to the disease as
Alzheimer’s -- even if the doctor’s call it dementia, as in my mother’s
case:
I haven't. However, I've been around (and currently am around) a fair
number of people who suffer from dementia caused by various things,
about half of whom have Alzheimer's. Whether or not it's common for
people to refer to anyone suffering from dementia as suffering from
Alzheimer's it is simply a mistake to do so. Alzheimer's manifests
itself in brain changes before signs of dementia appear although it's
usually diagnosed only after they do. However, although Alzheimer's
causes dementia not all dementia is caused by Alzheimer's.
http://www.helpguide.org/elder/alzheimers_dementias_types.htm
(Some who have Alzheimer's have other dementia-related conditions, e.g.
vascular dementia.) You cite this
Dementia is a loss of brain function. It is not a single disease.
Instead, dementia refers to a group of illnesses that involve memory,
behavoir, learning, and communicating problems. The problems are
progressive, which means they slowly get worse.
from
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000739.htm
Had you cited the next section you'd have come closer to the distinction
I'm concerned to make:
'The two major causes of degenerative (non-reversible) dementia are
Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (loss of brain function due to
a series of small strokes). The two conditions often occur together.'
Here the authors correct an apparent slip in their first try at
characterizing dementia, viz., that in all cases dementia slowly
worsens. This is not true of the dementia caused by transient hypoxia,
drugs, or alcohol.
Robert
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