Jack Hanna's long goodbye: How Alzheimer's is stripping away the man the world once k

[Baz]

Damn this is sad.......

[pwd72s]

She's far from alone in coping with this terrible affliction...

[Racerbvd]

Those of us who have dealt with this, be it family or close friends know the pain..

[Zeke]

My wife has Alzheimer's. The drugs are worse than the condition. After figuring out how to manage the drugs and the side effects I have gone from a bedside caregiver to being able to do yard work together, cooking, and some walking.

Eli Lilly has been working on another drug already generically named donanemab. It is not available yet and there is no brand name. Testing results recently released showed that less than half of participants of a double blind study showed no decline in function over a year.

The company stock rose $100 in something like 2 months adding maybe 25 billion in value to the company. Since there was a weight loss drug being evaluated at the same time, establishing exactly which brought what value is difficult.

A Google grab: Eli Lilly has a market cap or net worth of $445.19 billion as of July 1, 2023. Its market cap has increased by 49.83% in one year.


Let's just say that a drug that will retail for an estimated $57,000 per year per patient and 25 billion for the stock holders is obscene to me. If I can quote Jeff Higgens, "I'm Angry Beyond Words" that would sum things up.

Let's profit on disease. Fk them.

[WPOZZZ]

I've dealt with dementia with my paternal grandmother, and my mother. I know I will get it, it just depends when. To me, it is the most cruel disease. I watched my friend's father, who was also my business mentor go from a brilliant, very fit man, to one that could barely walk and could not remember things.

[id10t]

One of our best friends died of it a few years ago... nasty nasty thing.

And of course, some of us know the disease as Terry Pratchett's Embuggerance ... which I think is a great way to describe it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Zeke

My wife has Alzheimer's.

I'm sorry, Zeke. I can't even imagine.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Zeke

My wife has Alzheimer's.

After figuring out how to manage the drugs and the side effects I have gone from a bedside caregiver to being able to do yard work together, cooking, and some walking.

My heart goes out to you. Bless you for being there for her.

My mother abandoned my father when he got Alzheimer's. He was in a Care facility six miles away from their home for ten years. She never once went to see him.

Originally Posted by Zeke

Eli Lilly has been working on another drug already generically named donanemab.

Stupid, unpronounceable name. They should call it Awareagain.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

My heart goes out to you. Bless you for being there for her.

My mother abandoned my father when he got Alzheimer's. He was in a Care facility six miles away from their home for ten years. She never once went to see him.

Wow, that's something. I know that everyone deals with things in their own way (sometimes that way is to not deal with things). Sometimes the way is hard for others to understand.

Stupid, unpronounceable name. They should call it Awareagain.

I see a lot of drugs like that. I often wonder who at the drug companies is coming up with these names.

[Zeke]

Maybe I should have left out the first 4 words. That was far from the point.

Put sympathy one one hand and money in the other and see which one can move the needle.

So called cures for enormous profits are as immoral as it gets. With a 47% success rate of only slowing the disease is a failure and yet they add billions to their bottom line.

Preying on hope and fear. Anyone see what's wrong here?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Put sympathy one one hand and money in the other and see which one can move the needle.

"Man don't want no sympathy, man don't get no sympathy."

I know you weren't fishing for sympathy. You're not that kind of man.
Would you settle for empathy?

[Zeke]

^^^Absofkucingutely.

[creaturecat]

my dad - and all of his siblings? they went down from this disease. it was f'n brutal.
me? being adopted has it's virtues. in this particular situation. so far .....

[pwd72s]

I'm thinking nearly everybody has been saddened by this horrible disease. I have...

[MMARSH]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

I'm thinking nearly everybody has been saddened by this horrible disease. I have...

I agree. Is it more common now or are people just living longer? Is it enviromental? When I was a kid, I don't recall many people having alzeimers, Admittedly my world was much smaller then. Now, I don't know anyone who doesn't have someone with alzeimers in their family.

[Arizona_928]

So.
What causes alzheimer?

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Arizona_928

So.
What causes alzheimer?

It's a build up of a plaque in the connective tissue part of the brain. Now if you ask why that occurs that's the multi billion dollar question. A wiki article will explain it better than I.

However, what you might not see right away is that old head injuries can contribute to where the plaque forms. For instance, Bruce Willis in in the frontal lobe. My wife's is at the back of the brain.

And genetics are involved.

[TimT]

I just lost my cousin to Alzheimer's, she also had Downs syndrome..

She was 57

It was tough and sobering visiting in the hospice.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by MMARSH

I agree. Is it more common now or are people just living longer? Is it enviromental? When I was a kid, I don't recall many people having alzeimers, Admittedly my world was much smaller then. Now, I don't know anyone who doesn't have someone with alzeimers in their family.

I often wonder if medicine has become too good? That, and healthy diet advice have people living longer. Perhaps too long?

In the good old days, a guy would smoke, eat bacon & eggs for breakfast, lunch on burgers & fries, have a drink or two after work, then dinner on steak and potatoes.

Sure they died younger. But perhaps they died happier?

In my buddy since childhood's case, they're not sure if it's Alzheimer's or the result of concussions suffered playing football or the few days in a coma after a motorcycle accident. All I know is that a bright and physically fit guy who once flew F-111's, then went on to pilot for a major airline now sits in a care facility not able to recognize lifelong friends or his wife & children.

Just writing about it has my eyes wet...

Please God, not that...just a nice & quick fatal heart attack, please...

[stealthn]

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

Those of us who have dealt with this, be it family or close friends know the pain..

Ahmen brother!