Memory When stolen Alzheimer stolen memory
In Switzerland, more than 102,000 have Alzheimer's disease . Of these, 60% still live at home, thanks to the support they receive from family and friends. Testimonials occasion of World Alzheimer's Day , commemorated on 21 September.
"We still live under the same roof: Beppe my husband, my son Riccardo and me. But nothing or almost nothing, like before ... The disease has infiltrated our lives as an unwelcome guest, has been a part of the identity of the man I love and has left a great void. "
 |
More than a century after its discovery, Alzheimer's
is still an incurable disease. (AFP) |
Antonella's husband has Alzheimer's, a disease that 36 million people worldwide, of which 102,000 live in Switzerland. Due to the progressive degeneration of cells brain, patients lose their mental faculties and with them the memory, reasoning, language.
"Beppe was a handsome man, you know ..." says Antonella. "Her blue eyes and a penetrating gaze. But with the disease have been narrowed his eyes have become gray, staring into the distance. " This cheerful, energetic woman suddenly found himself next to a stranger: "When I fell in love with him, thirty years ago, was a happy man, he loved to travel and be with friends. Now nothing arouses interest, lives anchored in the past, his body remains the same, but his mind is lost ... God knows where. "
difficult diagnosis
The first symptoms of the disease manifested two years ago on the eve of 70 anniversary of Beppe. "He began to have strange behavior. Lost keys, forgot to convey messages and one day came home with the car's body completely ruined, without saying anything. He was always a meticulous man, especially with his car ... "
diagnosis was not immediate. "At first the doctor thought of a simple depression, but eventually the neurological tests confirmed a deficiency in the frontal lobe." And so, after a lifetime steeped in the order and perfection, the man suddenly lost control. "When the doctor first talked about Alzheimer's disease, my husband was completely destroyed."
Antonella While working as executive secretary, spends his days Beppe drowsy, listless. Still retains some autonomy, but each of his actions - even the most banal - carries risks and must be calculated in detail. "Once he forgot to turn off the faucet after washing a bunch of grapes and flooded the whole kitchen. Sometimes left on the hob then prepare a coffee or you forget to close the refrigerator door. I lined the house with notes, I have forbidden to cook and lock the car doors so they do not get off the moving vehicle. "
Antonella Each day discover a new aspect of her husband or encounters an obstacle that had not happened before. "For some time I can not sleep in peace: I am always on alert, with a pending hearing of his bedroom. You never know if you suddenly get a pasta or ironed a shirt at three in the morning. "
A child that no longer exists
Alzheimer's Disease is a condition that, along with memory and memories, it also carries the identity of the individual. Each patient reacts differently: strange attitudes, amnesia, inattention, difficulty carrying out daily activities, loss of sense of time and space, apathy, but also aggression and violence.
"Sometimes I think I live next to a stranger. It behaves like a spoiled child, all said 'no', stamp their hands on the walls, throw things on the floor. You can also have reactions very hard, being rude and insulting release. Aggressiveness which I'm not used and it costs me to cope, especially when oriented towards our son. "
Riccardo, a teenager who has been compared to that of a father overnight lost interest in him, to speak of express affection. "It's like your child to him did not exist, as if his presence would disturb. And yet, when Riccardo was small and suffered from cramps, my husband spent whole nights with him in my arms so I could sleep and go to work the next morning. "
Before Alzheimer's invaded their lives, their home was a coming and going of people: friends, family and relatives, schoolmates knock at the door for coffee, dinner, a card game. Riccardo now dare not invite anyone, is embarrassed by the guttural voice of the father, his attitude and unpredictable responses.
But family friends have distanced themselves, it is not easy to relate to one man as Beppe. "As soon as he sits at the table, begins to devour what's on the plate as if his life depended on it. Then grab a napkin and wipes his hands ten times, it rubs on the lips and thrown to the ground. I hate to say, but it has become unbearable. "
Uncertain future
More than a century after the discovery of Alzheimer's disease is not has yet found how to cure this degenerative dementia, or at least slow its progression. There are medicines that can only contain the symptoms and prolong patients' autonomy. On average, the illness lasts for a dozen years, but nobody can say why, how and when to trigger these pathological changes.
Beppe For now lives in her home, surrounded by his people, but Antonella is aware that her husband's situation may worsen overnight. "I look for someone to take care while I work, but it bothers the simple idea of \u200b\u200bhaving a stranger at home. And then what do I do? "asks Antonella.
Planning for the future is not an easy task when it will present you a hand. "I have afraid to think about tomorrow, to make a decision and be wrong, of not being able to cover everything. Riccardo sometimes ask me, 'Mom, this can get any worse? " What I am going to respond? I also had this ... "
Stefania Summermatter, Lugano
swissinfo.ch
Translation: Couchman Bethlehem
RE TV and JNN 3853H SR 2220 (IS 805 - 55.5 ° W) 
4140H SR 4700 (IS 805 - 55.5 ° W) 
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