Sad Terry Pratchett News

[straycat]

Just read today - Terry Pratchett's been diagnosed with an early form of Alzheimer's - which is, as he so eloquently puts it: 'An embuggerance'

[Tiggerbabe]

What an eloquent way to describe it sad news

[martingold]

Originally Posted by straycat264

Just read today - Terry Pratchett's been diagnosed with an early form of Alzheimer's - which is, as he so eloquently puts it: 'An embuggerance'

Oh no i am a big fan of the disc world stories at one time he was publishing three a year he must be one of our countries most prolific writers

Having said that there is a drug on the market that helps with alzheimers called "Aricept" and it stops the advancement of the disease if treated early enough

And this is typical quote from the man himself stolen from the article that straycat has linked us to

"I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do", but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry."

Lets just hope eh

[jive_me]

Unfortunately you have to tick a lot of boxes to qualify for most of the drugs that are available.

That's quite sad news it's such an incredibly sad way for anyone to end up.

xXx

[Little Monkey]

I was so sad to hear this! I'm such a fan of his books, the man is brilliant. I really hope there's something that can be done to help him. Alzheimers is such a terrible disease.

[straycat]

Originally Posted by jive_me

Unfortunately you have to tick a lot of boxes to qualify for most of the drugs that are available.

Does that include people on private healthcare who can afford to pay? I don't think there's any doubt that he's wealthy enough, should that option be available for him to choose...

[dance cat]

How very sad. My brother and I have been religiously reading his books since the year dot and Christmas presents regularly involve some kind of Pratchett related purchase. It must be utterly devastating for his family.

[Ghost]

Originally Posted by jive_me

Unfortunately you have to tick a lot of boxes to qualify for most of the drugs that are available.

Let's hope it's a one in a million chance then...

[jive_me]

/hijack/ by ticking boxes I meant healthwise. My grandfather's deterioration has been quite rapid. He cannot take any of the drugs because they decrease heart rate and he already suffers angina which puts him at increased risk. Stuff like that /end hijack/

Like I said. It's awful.

xXx

[martingold]

Originally Posted by jive_me

/hijack/ by ticking boxes I meant healthwise. My grandfather's deterioration has been quite rapid. He cannot take any of the drugs because they decrease heart rate and he already suffers angina which puts him at increased risk. Stuff like that /end hijack/

Like I said. It's awful.

xXx

Any form of dementia is appalling not only for the sufferer but for their family as well
My mother in law had vascular dementia and though most of the time she was happy because she didnt know anything was wrong on the times that she was completely lucid she would become really depressed
as for my wife seeing her mum who was an extremely inteligent woman descend into not even knowing what time of day it is was horrific to say the least
We lost her this june to cancer and that to be honest (for her) was a release none of us knew she had cancer until 8 days before she died and now she is at peace.
Sorry for being so morbid but this story has bought it all back

[cat]

Sorry to say that aricept doesnt stop it, only slows down the deterioration in some people. About a third of people dont benifit at all from "memory drugs" like aricept. Thats if you get them prescribed, currently you need a diagnosis of alzheimers, despite the fact the can help vascular dementia as well. How old is TP now? I would have thought he is quite young to get this as i thought he was in his late 50's? Usually people get diagnosied 65 onwards, often in their late 70's/80's.