And Jack Nicholson retired from the stage, no memory
At noon in 2000, Carol, the daughter of 75-year-old Margaret Thatcher, was shocked – her mother confused the Falklands with the Bosnian conflict. “I was going to fall off the chair. She had a brain like a sucker, if she heard anything once, she remembered it forever. And it became entangled in a key moment in her life – the war between Britain and Argentina, “Carol wrote in her memoirs.
As is often the case, the first signs of memory loss strike the former British prime minister suddenly, but develop over the years. “Before my eyes, a woman with a razor-like mind and a brilliant intellect became a helpless creature with confused thoughts and blank stares,” says the daughter.
The situation worsened in 2003, when her father, Dennis, died of pancreatic cancer. More than a decade
The Iron Lady
fights with
Alzheimer’s
– one of the 4 main forms of dementia, which affects more than 10 million people worldwide each year – one every 3.2 seconds.
A politician with a powerful memory and will, Thatcher begins to forget what he heard in an instant and asks about the same thing countless times. Her short-term memory is mainly affected. He struggles with words, starts a sentence and can’t finish it. She does not remember her husband dying, and every time she is told, she grimaces in pain and moans. “I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was eternal, invulnerable, armored against all kinds of diseases,” says Carol.
Thatcher died in April 2013 in an apartment in the luxurious Ritz Hotel in London, for which she paid thousands of pounds a week because her house in the elite Belgravia district became uncomfortable for the seriously ill. Until the end she is surrounded by a team of caregivers, she does not remember who she is and does not know her daughter.
Stroke was cited as the cause of death. But sclerotic changes and narrowing of the small blood vessels in the brain are at the root of many ischemic strokes, doctors say.
Paradoxically, Thatcher fell into the trap of dementia at the same time as her great ideological, political and economic ally and personal friend Ronald
Reagan died of
the same disease
– Alzheimer’s. “In recent years, Ronnie’s mind has been clouded by disease. This cloud rose. Now he is himself again, “Thatcher wrote of his death, ill but still able to grasp what awaited her and what her end would be.
Reagan’s dementia lasted from the late 1980s until 2004, when a corpse died at the age of 93. He declared his illness publicly in 1994, saying: “I am now embarking on a journey that will take me to the sunset of life. I would like to save my wife Nancy this painful period, but… ”.
In 2011, his son Ron admitted that the 40th President of the United States had been battling memory loss while in the White House (1981-1989). In 1989, Reagan fell from a horse, developed a hematoma in his head, and this worsened his symptoms. He recognizes fewer and fewer people, including his wife Nancy. Until 1999, he was seen visiting his nearby office every now and then. Then he disappeared from the stage and in 2001 his health was completed by anesthesia for surgery for a broken joint. The politician-actor, who fought against the “evil empire” of the USSR and undermined the Berlin Wall with the call: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” sat in a wheelchair.
“So far we have been silent about his condition, but I don’t think my father would want us to lie,” his daughter Patty told the BBC in 2002. “He’s in bed, he sleeps most of the time, he rarely opens his eyes.”
On June 5, 2004, Ronald Reagan died of pneumonia after lying in the arms of his wife Nancy. Sad and devastated by the worries of the love of her life, she says, “It was a very, very long goodbye.”
Dementia affects the poor and the rich, the intelligent and the uneducated, ordinary people and celebrities. The latest example is 76-year-old legendary actor Jack Nicholson, who announced that he was retiring from the stage due to memory loss. But he hasn’t starred in a movie in over 10 years and it’s been rumored for a long time
it can not
to remember
your lines
Brain loss is not just about old age. In 2014, the genius actor Robin Williams hung himself with his belt at the age of 63 and it was believed that the cause was alcohol and drugs. But the autopsy showed a progressive form of Levy’s body type dementia (DTL). The result is memory loss, disorientation, emotional instability, hallucinations.
Williams’ disease is acute. “There was no intact part of the brain, it was the most devastating form of DTL I’ve ever seen. I was amazed that Robin was able to walk and move at all, ”said Prof. Bruce Miller, who participated in the postmortem examination.
Symptoms of Brain Decay Robin Williams showed 2-3 years before he took his life. His wife, Susan, talks about causeless panic attacks, paranoid seizures, and insomnia that have ruined him. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s.
But the actor, known for his quick thinking, wit and good memory, also forgets the lyrics of his roles. He can’t understand why his brilliant mind betrays him. This makes him nervous and makes him aggressive. Smiling, meek, kind, well-meaning
Robin Williams
falls into
nervous crises
and angry outbursts, afraid of a terrible end. He never learns his diagnosis, but he feels that something bad is happening to him. Depression and suicide follow. According to doctors, his strong and high-quality brain kept him on his feet much longer than his condition suggested.
According to some experts, the most common form of dementia – Alzheimer’s, more often affects the smart, educated and intelligent. This has not been proven, but it is a fact that such people resist it longer and postpone its dehumanizing consequences with a mental load.
In 2007, Terry Pratchett reported suffering from a rare form of Alzheimer’s. But until his death in 2015 at the age of 66, the prolific comic book writer managed to write 5 more novels.
The strong-willed Briton kept his sanity almost to the end, but the decline in his brain struck him. Although he was considering euthanasia, his spirits remained high. With his famous black humor, he said, “I’m not so blind as not to see the darkness.”
Terry Pratchett was furious,
that little is being done to detect
of a cure for the disease.
“I took Alzheimer’s as a personal insult,” he said, donating huge sums to seek therapy. In his latest Twitter post, he acknowledged the inevitable and wrote, “Death told me, ‘Finally, Sir Terry, it’s time to go together.’
Dementia is less merciful to other victims and leads to complete stupidity. Annie Girardot fell on the street and was humiliated with vicious remarks: When she was around 70, her daughter discovered the problem of a vacation in Sardinia – the actress called her child “mom” and forgot how to swim. She died at the age of 79, brainless, speechless and motionless.
In the film “Iris”, Judy Dench poignantly performed the transformation of the prominent philosopher and writer Iris Murdoch into a confused and dependent weak-minded old woman.
Various forms of brain degradation carried a bunch of celebrities to the grave, having previously tortured them and their loved ones. Among them are media mogul Ted Turner, Frank Sinatra, actors such as the famous macho Charles Bronson, Mickey Rooney, Rita Hayworth, Omar Sharif, Peter Folk – the famous Colombo. Her victims include Winston Churchill, soul singer Bobby Womack and thousands of other celebrities.
From dementia
died and
the mythical agent
007 Sean Connery
His latest photos showed an exam old man with sunken empty eyes – a pathetic remnant of the great man that women were crazy about. “He could not speak, he could not communicate. This was not life for him. He died in his sleep as he wanted, “said his wife Michelin.
However, most victims of the disease at an advanced stage cannot say what they want and even who they are and how they are called. Few are lucky with Terry Pratchett, who, despite the Alzheimer’s disease, kept his sanity to some extent and comforted his relatives with the words: “It is possible to live well with dementia. And to write bestsellers. Like me”.
– .
