[R] Pterry on documentary yesterday

[Daibhid Ceanaideach]

I've not seen it yet myself, but apparently Sir Pterry has an appearance in
the Maureen Lipman doc "If Memory Serves Me Right", available on iPlayer
here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01s0zvx/Maureen_Lipman_If_Memory_Serv
es_Me_Right/

I think he's only got a brief bit, but it looks interesting.

--
Dave
The problems in this world are not caused by those who love.
They're caused by those who hate.
--Arthur, King of Time and Space.

[RuneMaster]

On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:11:14 +0100, Daibhid Ceanaideach
<daibhidc...@aol.com> wrote:

> I've not seen it yet myself, but apparently Sir Pterry has an appearance
> in
> the Maureen Lipman doc "If Memory Serves Me Right", available on iPlayer
> here:
>
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01s0zvx/Maureen_Lipman_If_Memory_Serv
> es_Me_Right/
>
> I think he's only got a brief bit, but it looks interesting.
>

Quite brief, but showing his speech-to-screen dictation software as well
as a brief explanation on how his condition began and developed.

He is looking more frail every time he appears on TV (his orang-utan
documentary with Rob was excellent) and he spoke again of his involvement
in the Assisted Dying debate/movement.

It seems very clear that he will definitely chose this way out, rather
than endure the slow but inexorable slide into a non-functional (mental)
state. I just hope this will not happen for a few years yet, but fear
that it may not :-(

--
Veistu hve rísta skal? Veistu hve ráða skal?
Veistu hve fáa skal? Veistu hve freista skal?
Veistu hve biðja skal? Veistu hve blóta skal?
Veistu hve senda skal? Veistu hve sóa skal?

Hávamál, Stanza 144

[Lesley Weston]

On 04-20-13 5:29 AM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <op.wvty5...@compaq-sr1839uk.home>

> RuneMaster <runem...@runes-online.com> wrote:
>> On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:11:14 +0100, Daibhid Ceanaideach
>> <daibhidc...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>> I've not seen it yet myself, but apparently Sir Pterry has an appearance
>>> in
>>> the Maureen Lipman doc "If Memory Serves Me Right", available on iPlayer
>>> here:
>>>
>>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01s0zvx/Maureen_Lipman_If_Memory_Serv
>>> es_Me_Right/
>>>
>>> I think he's only got a brief bit, but it looks interesting.
>>>
>
>> Quite brief, but showing his speech-to-screen dictation software as well
>> as a brief explanation on how his condition began and developed.
>
>> He is looking more frail every time he appears on TV (his orang-utan
>> documentary with Rob was excellent) and he spoke again of his involvement
>> in the Assisted Dying debate/movement.
>
>> It seems very clear that he will definitely chose this way out, rather
>> than endure the slow but inexorable slide into a non-functional (mental)
>> state. I just hope this will not happen for a few years yet, but fear
>> that it may not :-(
>

> One thing we, sadly, learned is that the more mentally active a person
> is, the faster the slide happens. In our case a active person who did
> crafts and jigsaw puzzles all the time slid into goldfish-state<1> in a
> little more than 2 years.
>
> <1> Short-term memory immeasurably short, no long term memory at all for
> people or places.
>
That's the opposite of the findings of all the current studies. There's
not much we can do to ward off senile dementia if it's in our stars, but
one thing we can do is to keep our minds and bodies as active as
possible. That slows down the decline dramatically once it has started,
and there is some evidence that it postpones, or possibly even prevents,
the start. So keep doing those crosswords (or writing those novels),
playing that piano and going to that exercise class, whatever your age.

Lesley.

--
This address is real, but to reach me use leswes att shaw dott ca

[Larry Moore]

On 2013-04-20, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> In message <op.wvty5...@compaq-sr1839uk.home>
> RuneMaster <runem...@runes-online.com> wrote:

>> On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:11:14 +0100, Daibhid Ceanaideach
>> <daibhidc...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>>> I've not seen it yet myself, but apparently Sir Pterry has an appearance
>>> in
>>> the Maureen Lipman doc "If Memory Serves Me Right", available on iPlayer
>>> here:
>>>
>>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01s0zvx/Maureen_Lipman_If_Memory_Serv
>>> es_Me_Right/
>>>
>>> I think he's only got a brief bit, but it looks interesting.
>>>
>
>> Quite brief, but showing his speech-to-screen dictation software as well
>> as a brief explanation on how his condition began and developed.
>
>> He is looking more frail every time he appears on TV (his orang-utan
>> documentary with Rob was excellent) and he spoke again of his involvement
>> in the Assisted Dying debate/movement.
>
>> It seems very clear that he will definitely chose this way out, rather
>> than endure the slow but inexorable slide into a non-functional (mental)
>> state. I just hope this will not happen for a few years yet, but fear
>> that it may not :-(
>

> One thing we, sadly, learned is that the more mentally active a person
> is, the faster the slide happens. In our case a active person who did
> crafts and jigsaw puzzles all the time slid into goldfish-state<1> in a
> little more than 2 years.
>
><1> Short-term memory immeasurably short, no long term memory at all for
> people or places.
>

M'lady and I cared (fsvo) for a retired couple of teachers - he
developed one of the forty-something conditions and followed the path
you described over a two year interval. TANJ.

M'lady was diagnosed with a less common one and has been taking meds for
four years now - which have been very good at slowing the 'progress' but
not reversing. Assuming that she doesn't develop reactions and
complications, she may have years of effective life before her (though
she shan't get her driver's licence back.)

Pterry has yet another and less common condition and a correspondingly
smaller data set of reactions to treatments but he's willing to beta
test and has considerable advice, support and resources available.

--
"With what confusion thinking's fraught!
I sometimes think I'll think no more.
For when I spend much time in thought
I unthink things I thought before."

[Larry Moore]

On 2013-04-20, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> In message <kku5db$2bcl$1...@mud.stack.nl>

> Yes, that delays the onset. But once they occur, the slide is much faster.
>
><http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/alzheimers/2010-09-02-braingames02_ST_N.htm>
>
>

Do you have a tiny-URL for that article? The link above 404s.

Guessing at the article contents and assuming that USA Today reported
the study correctly:

it may be Alzheimer's specific and not necessarily
applicable to any of the other (physiologically different,) conditions
lumped under the Alzheimers Foundation umbrella;

the person may prefer the light shed when both ends of the candle are
lit.

--
Josephin Peladan, the 19th-century French occultist liked to say that
society is an anonymous enterprise for living a life of secondhand
emotions.
John Michael Greer

[Larry Moore]

On 2013-04-20, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

>> Do you have a tiny-URL for that article? The link above 404s.
>

> <http://goo.gl/yrbIY>

That worked, thanks.

>
>> Guessing at the article contents and assuming that USA Today reported
>> the study correctly:
>
>> it may be Alzheimer's specific and not necessarily
>> applicable to any of the other (physiologically different,) conditions
>> lumped under the Alzheimers Foundation umbrella;
>
>> the person may prefer the light shed when both ends of the candle are
>> lit.
>

The article reported that there was a diagnosis specifically of Alzheimers
Syndrome in the study subjects. I wondered if they established that by the
presence of plaque in the brain in autopsy or structural changes that
show up in a series of MRI scans.

I doubt that the reporter completely understood what he was writing
about..

[Lesley Weston]

On 04-20-13 9:36 AM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <kku5db$2bcl$1...@mud.stack.nl>
> Lesley Weston <brightly_co...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> Yes, that delays the onset. But once they occur, the slide is much faster.
>
> <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/alzheimers/2010-09-02-braingames02_ST_N.htm>
>
>

I didn't know that. But I've just done a quick Google Scholar search,
and it does seem to be right, so thank you for the information. Rather
depressing, though: how do you determine the point when you should
abruptly stop using your mind, having poured everything you had into
using it as much as possible for many years beforehand?

[Larry Moore]

On 2013-04-21, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

> You don't. I suspect that the end point in time is the same either way. An active mind delays the onset, but you end up at the same end-stage at the same time.
>
> That's just my guess, of course.
>

We are working on the 'carpe diem' principle - do it while you can
because no-one will make promises about the future.

Just like normal life, only a little more so.


--
Calling terrorism an 'existential threat' is ridiculous in a country
where more people die each month in car crashes than died in the 9/11
terrorist attacks.
Schneier on Security

[Lesley Weston]

On 04-21-13 2:16 PM, Lewis wrote:
> In message <kl0qch$qds$1...@mud.stack.nl>

> You don't. I suspect that the end point in time is the same either way. An active mind delays the onset, but you end up at the same end-stage at the same time.
>
> That's just my guess, of course.
>

It seems likely that an active mind hides the deterioration until a
later stage of the disease, as suggested by the authors of that paper,
so that all we see is the end stage that is accelerated for everybody.
The decline is at the same pace whether or not we use our minds, we just
don't notice it in a busy mind until later.

But using your mind and body is more fun than sitting in a recliner
watching reality shows, so that's a good argument in itself, even
without any potential benefits.

[Lesley Weston]

On 04-21-13 2:55 PM, Larry Moore wrote:
> On 2013-04-21, Lewis <g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
>
>> You don't. I suspect that the end point in time is the same either way. An active mind delays the onset, but you end up at the same end-stage at the same time.
>>
>> That's just my guess, of course.
>>
>
> We are working on the 'carpe diem' principle - do it while you can
> because no-one will make promises about the future.
>
> Just like normal life, only a little more so.
>
>

That seems like the right approach. It's the one TP is using too.