The Spectrum of Alzheimer’s: An Interview With Gayatri Devi, M.D.

One neurologist shares her thoughts on the individuality of people living with Alzheimer’s

For years, the push to do something about Alzheimer’s disease focused almost entirely on drug development. Find a cure. Develop a vaccine to prevent the disease. Develop a drug to “manage” people who live with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia.

What many people weren’t noticing, however, was that in tandem with this effort was a quiet revolution doggedly moving forward. Long championed by Dr. Bill Thomas of Changing Aging among others, the thinking behind this movement has always been to recognize that people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementia were first and foremost people. Developing dementia doesn’t take away your individuality or humanity any more than developing cancer or diabetes. Therefore, rather than concentrate only on drugs, we need to help caregivers – and yes professionals – better understand how to help people living with dementia cope with the negative aspects of their illness so that they can live the best life that they can.

No two people with Alzheimer’s present symptoms identical to someone else. It is a disease of individuals and should be treated as such.

“The Spectrum of Hope: An Optimistic and New Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias,” written by Gayatri Devi, M.D., represents an exceptional effort to support the second movement and expand on it. Dr. Devi, a board-certified neurologist…

Continue reading on HealthCentral for more about Dr. Devi’s splendid book about dementia:

Minding Our Elders: Caregivers Share Their Personal Stories. “For anyone having to walk the last segments of life with a loved one, read this.” …Delores

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