Use It Or Lose It Club (dot com)

New Alzheimer’s disease treatment gives hope for cure

Senile dementia sufferers like my daddy could be helped by latest research on a Alzheimer's cure

Great news just came my way today – Alzheimer’s disease treatment which could cure the cruel condition could be here in five years.

Could this be true? With the brain-wasting disease expected to affect 600,000 Australians by 2050, this is astounding news for us baby boomers, especially those caring for elderly parents with Alzheimer’s and other dementia and  for the next generation who may have to care for those of us who develop it.

It is heart-breaking when loved ones first develop Alzheimer’s disease symptoms and the inevitable diagnosis hits you like a ton of bricks.

Of course, Alzheimer’s does not only affect the elderly as it can strike at earlier ages. But the older a person gets, the greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s grows.

The newspaper article which brightened my Sunday said that researchers at the University of Sydney had isolated the cause of the disease in the interaction between two proteins in an otherwise healthy brain cell.

The university team stopped this interaction in mice genetically engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease by injecting a special protein into their brain using special implants.

This is another example of the brilliant medical researchers we have in Australia where we lead the world in so many areas.

While the research is concentrating on Alzheimer’s, it is feasible that any breakthrough will lead to better treatment for other forms of dementia. My father has senile dementia, not as cruel as Alzheimer’s but heart-breaking enough as bit by bit, he slips away from me.

If you want to read about the research in more detail go to the Herald-Sun website. Hope it puts a smile on your face, my friends

Don’t just dream – do

When we are young, we think we have all the time in the world – to dream, to plan and to eventually get around to doing.
But time, as they say, waits for no man or woman and before you know it your dreams, or at least some of them, may not have been realised.
It seems just like yesterday that I was dreaming about being a best-selling novelist, dictating my breath-taking prose to a secretary in between holidaying in the south of France from my writing income.
While lounging around on my jet-setting vacations, I would take a break from novel-writing to pen some pithy poetry – ah, see, I haven’t lost my love of alliteration, the tool of the talented poet. And so, apart from picking up a Pullitzer prize or two, I would also be Poet Laureate. If I wrote about the evils of war, I might score a Peace Prize as well.
Ah, yes, such wonderful fantasies, such big dreams. And while there is nothing wrong with dreaming, there is a point where we have to try to enact those dreams.
I have been too much of a dreamer my whole life. As a teenager, I aspired to be a creative writer and 40 years later, I have not achieved a fraction of what I set out to do.
I am happy being a journalist but regret not pursuing my dreams. I have encouraged my son and my daughter, both creative souls, to pursue their dreams and they have inspired me to press on and do what I can.
Just because you are middle aged or older, does not mean that you cannot still strive to achieve at least some of the dreams you had when you were younger.
You are no longer going to win prizes for best young achiever, but there are still prizes to be won – the greatest one being self satisfaction.
Reach for the stars, guys, if the stretching doesn’t hurt!

Importantly, still having ambition at an advanced age can help stave off senile dementia and keep your mind and body active. The main aim of living your dream when you are older is not for the accolades or fame and fortune, but for the health benefits of keeping your mind alive and getting the old heart ticking faster.

So full of dreams at 16

Still dreaming at 55