Sufferers "are often victims of violence, mistreatment and abuse that crushes their dignity," Francis said during his weekly general audience at the Vatican, in a message to mark World Alzheimer's Day on September 21.

"Let us pray for the conversion of hearts, and for those affected by Alzheimer's, for their families and for those who care for them lovingly," he said. Read more

Wilson's lawyers say he is medically unfit to give evidence because of physical and mental health issues.

In 2015 he was charged with covering up a Hunter Valley priest's abuse, which took place in the 1970s.

The priest, Jim Fletcher, has since died.

Adelaide neurologist Associate Professor Andrew Lee told the Court an examination of the 67-year old archbishop after a severe fall earlier this year brought to light a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

He has also recently had a pacemaker installed.

The prosecutor asked Lee if Wilson could have been malingering during these tests.

Lee agreed it was possible, and said the archbishop must be assessed further by a neuro-psychologist to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

He said in his opinion Wilson was a genuine person and wasn't trying to put something over him during the tests.

In a statement, Wilson says many people's initial reaction to an Alzheimer's diagnosis is to think life is all but over.

His statement goes on to say a person with such a diagnosis "cannot continue to live a productive life and contribute to society.

"I am fully aware that some people will now judge me in this light. But I hope to prove them wrong.

"I have been prescribed medication that may assist me greatly in slowing the progress of this disease and indeed improve my present condition."

The Newcastle Local Court has heard that the medication could take six months to work, but it is successful for only one in three sufferers.

Some abuse survivors say Wilson should step down because of his Alzheimer's diagnosis.

Wilson isn't keen to retire yet, however.

"If a point comes in the next eight years before my mandatory retirement, and I am advised by my doctors that the effects of Alzheimer's disease might be beginning to impair my ability to function properly as Archbishop, I will offer my resignation," he said.

Wilson says he has informed the Apostolic Nuncio in Australia of his condition and will provide him with the medical reports.

"I will update him regularly with the results of tests and consultations with my neurologist during the years ahead.

"I am in God's hands and I trust in the love and care of the Lord on the journey of life I have before me."

Source

• news.com.au
• ABC
• Image: The Advertiser

Yet people with dementia can still find meaning in life, she says.

MacKinlay is professor of theology at Charles Sturt University in Canberra and an Anglican priest.

She has been presenting workshops in New Zealand, "Spiritual Reminiscence in Dementia", on ageing and spirituality, particularly spiritual reminiscence for people with dementia.

Some of the work Prof MacKinlay does looks at unpacking what people think is ‘spirituality'. "It's not religion, although religion may be a way of working out one's spirituality," she says.

"A lot of Australians and New Zealanders don't have a religious faith. Yet they still search for meaning."

MacKinlay's work in this field started when one of her friends, Christine Bryden, was diagnosed with early onset alzheimer's at age 46.

"She asked me if I would journey with her because I was both a geriatric nurse and an Anglican priest. She thought that she needed both."

"She challenged me in many ways over the coming years and I found that it was possible to talk with her quite naturally."

Bryden has since published several books including "Who will I be when I die."

MacKinlay was brought to New Zealand by the Selwyn Foundation for Ageing and Spirituality.

She is the author of a number of books

Her book, "Finding Meaning in the Experience of Dementia: the Place of Spiritual Reminiscence Work ," won an Australasian Journal of Aging book prize last year.

Source

• Taranaki Daily News
• Scoop
• Image: Shutterstock

Despair clutches our throat and what's left of our heart cries out to a silent God. Our only comfort is the words of Butch Cassidy to the Sundance Kid: "Don't worry. The fall will kill you."

It happened to me last week. It had to do with my wife and Alzheimer's and poop — here, there and everywhere.

I didn't like cleaning it up, and when Vickie expressed her frustration by again resisting my help, I blurted out, "What's the matter with you? I'm trying to help you!"

And when the poop on her bare feet spread into other rooms like vandals, I yelled, "You're killing me!"

I wiped my hands on my pants, hugged Vickie, and said, "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

I knew my anger was awful and the weight of anguish made me woozy so I hugged her some more to squeeze the fear out of both of us.

After I bathed us both with a hand-held shower spray like circus elephants, I wrapped Vickie in her friendliest PJs, placed her in the embrace of the recliner in the family room, and turned on "Ellen" who was talking like an adult to Sophia Grace and Rosie.

I went upstairs and closed the door of our bedroom. I tried to take three deep Andrew Weil breaths, in and out, in and out, but blew up on the second exhale. "God," I yelled, 'you're an —hole! An —hole! You know that?!" I grrrrd fiercely.

I suppose my scream was a projection of my own guilt, but so what, it got the poison out. Continue reading.

Michael Leach edits the Soul Seeing column for National Catholic Reporter, and is the author of Why Stay Catholic? Unexpected Answers to a Life-Changing Question. His wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer's ten years ago.

Source: National Catholic Reporter

Image: RandomActsOfMomness

The pattern of over-diagnosis is the same for many diseases: we screen healthy people and those with minimal symptoms; we use sophisticated technologies that detect early or minor abnormalities that may not progress; and we treat people with these abnormalities on the assumption that this will prevent significant illness and death.

The downside of all this medical intervention is that we're exposing healthy people to the potential harms of diagnosis, investigation and treatment without any certainty about long-term benefits. Indeed, there's a growing unease that this trend is being driven by the financial benefits of creating a larger market for drugs rather than genuine health gains.

I work in geriatric medicine and over the last few years, I have seen how the changing definitions of dementia and Alzheimer's disease has insidiously been leading to over-diagnoses.

Screening the healthy

Let's start with the schema of over-diagnosis: are we screening healthy people and those with minimal symptoms? Yes. In the past, we diagnosed older people complaining of minor memory impairment with "benign senescent forgetfulness", and told them that it didn't require any further action. It was, after all, benign.

But this terminology progressed to "mild cognitive impairment (MCI)" and now (more ominously), to pre-dementia and pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease. We are also being encouraged to screen older people for any memory impairment because this has now been defined as a pre-disease or early disease.

The screening tools are usually simple questionnaires, such as the mini-mental state examination (MMSE). There's variability in how well the assessments are performed, and forgetting the date or stumbling on a repetition task can lead to a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. But how many of these people actually progress to dementia?

Most studies show that only one in ten cases of mild cognitive impairment progress to dementia each year, and many improve. One study that followed outcomes for ten years concluded - "The majority of subjects with MCI do not progress to dementia at the long term." Read more

Sources

• The Conversation
• Image: TopNews.in