When Alzheimer’s disease strikes before the age of 50

Pierre-Paul Biron

Sunday, 3 September 2017 00:01

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Sunday, 3 September 2017 00:01

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In his former life, the daily life of Patricia Gilbert was like that of any woman in the forties. She did not need anyone to get dressed in the morning and went to work driving her car. However, that was the life before, a memory now clouded by Alzheimer’s.

The diagnosis came it was a little over a year ago, on may 28, 2016. Elderly at this time of 47 years, Patricia Gilbert refuses to believe that she suffers from Alzheimer’s. Even if she knew that something was going on for some time, she never imagined that the disease was causing in his absence.

“It started at the hair salon. I had always done it, but there I was more. The anxiety was beginning to embark on, because I was no longer able to follow. I reminds me of a little girl who wanted a braid and I had a white one. I didn’t even know how to make a braid, ” sighs the woman, who has recently celebrated his 49th birthday.

After a battery of tests and several meetings with a specialist, there is no doubt that she suffers from a rare form of Alzheimer’s that develops early in a tiny percentage of the population. “It’s a big grief to do so. I spent several weeks on the couch crying, ” says Ms. Gilbert, who continues to live in small periods on a daily basis, as its capacity decreases.

Missing parts

During the meeting with the Newspaper, the woman must often pause, to find the missing pieces in the thread of his ideas. She explains that the symbolism of the puzzle is what best describes his condition. “There are still missing pieces in my puzzle “.

When she does not know where she was, the anxiety rises quickly, but it cannot be longer gets to ask for a helping hand to put everything in order in his head. “That is what I said already ? “As if it had only needed that one gives a small boost to the” hamster that spins to the top “. However, there are other moments when the brain takes a lot of time to respond. Especially in the morning. “I don’t do it on purpose, but I put on my shoes or my clothes upside down. I have beautiful me focus, it doesn’t work. “

To succeed to keep the cape, the woman has a schedule the same from one day to the other. A little bit of physical exercise, the time on the phone or visiting with friends and family to continue to sociabiliser, small household chores in order not to lose the hand, everything becomes a treatment to contain the disease.

“I have to stay positive and make the social. This is what allows me to keep the cape, ” said Mrs Gilbert, who remains, nonetheless, quite a morale of steel. “I have always had the gene of life and good mood ! “

The future, a great unknown

Even if she keeps the moral, Patricia Gilbert and her partner have no idea of what to expect. The disease is not too progressed since the diagnosis, but there is no guarantee for the future.

“It brings us back to the day-to-day in cursed,” sighed Norman. “Some can do 15 without too much to lose and for others, it is very short. We don’t know what it will be for us, so we don’t want to think too much about it. The more you break the head, the less you are enjoying life, ” he adds, casting a look full of tenderness on the one who shared his life for 20 years now.

The most important thing for Patricia, it is that memories are always rooted in the depths of his mind. The key moments, the people, the colors, the smells, everything is there. And she has no intention of letting the disease steal this treasure. “I never want to forget it. “

A disease that has an impact on the daily

Not knowing how to write

The spouse of Ms. Gilbert questioned whether something was wrong the day he had asked Patricia to take something note. Even if it was only to note that a name and a telephone number, the operation had proven to be difficult and the small piece of paper and was unreadable. More than a year after the diagnosis, the situation has continued to evolve. “Patricia, this is not the motor that is under attack, it is especially his view, the senses of perception. There is a delay between the eyes and the brain, so, when she reads for example, it loses its line and is not able to follow the text. And it’s the same thing when she’s writing. It is distortionné. She wrote down, ” says Normand Audet.

A color code that makes the difference

Patricia Gilbert was experiencing a lot of difficulties to operate devices such as the oven, the washer and dryer. It has, therefore, developed a color code that avoids mixing between the different functions of the devices. Small round red made the nail Polish on the oven to indicate what round is connected to which button. Trademark red and blue on the washer and dryer allow also to disentangle the warm and the cold.

Not to take messages on the phone

When the phone rings in the Audet-Gilbert it is almost exclusively Norman who responds to the calls. When she is single, Patricia prefers to let the phone ring rather than forget who called. “Regularly, when the phone rang, I took notes, but I am no longer able to read me. And forget it, remember who called it is impossible. “

Help to dress and put on his shoes

Ms. Gilbert can’t do anything, the disease is the fact that she has difficulty to put on his clothes and his shoes in the right direction. Even when she focuses for a few seconds and that it looks like it should her shoes, she puts them all the same upside down. “I still catch myself doing this surprise-there every time,” joked her about her condition. Except that this is not always easy to turn into a humor of errors that have become day-to-day. “Put my clothes, dress me up in the morning, I’ve done it all my life. Why I am no longer able ? “a long time, was asked the woman.

“No control over its oversights”

One of the main consequences of the disease for Patricia Gilbert, is that she often forget where she left her things in the house. As it cannot operate ” in sequence “, if something attracts his attention while she is doing a task, this last cup of his mind quickly. “This morning, she wanted to make her hair with her flat iron. She has thought of something else, and came out of the bathroom with his iron in his hands. When she returned to do her hair, there was more iron and she has no idea where she left it, ” says his spouse Normand Audet. Even if it makes constant efforts, she has no control over its omissions. “What a luck that we have a small house ! “says the lady to de-dramatize the whole thing.

Uncommon cases

Dr. Rémi W. Bouchard, neurologist and director of the Clinic for interdisciplinary memory of the CHU de Quebec, responded to our questions about Alzheimer’s disease early.

Why Alzheimer’s is she says so early in some patients ?

These are not cases that are very common. In a very small percentage of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, about 3 % to 4 %, the disease is of a hereditary form. These people are therefore the gene in them.

It is largely in these patients that we see the disease develop between the ages of 40 and 65 years. In very rare cases, a form of non-hereditary can also develop in young people, but we speak of exceptional cases.

Is it that the research could help detect and treat this type of Alzheimer’s ?

It should not be forgotten that Alzheimer’s disease cannot be cured as such, in the same way that the medicine does not cure either diabetes or hypertension. Treatment want to tackle the progression of the disease to slow it down, so the ultimate goal is earlier diagnosis.

Methods, such as the study of the cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture or PET scan amyloid let us see some constants between patients to identify markers of the disease, but there currently is no diagnostic biological clear that one can obtain.

We are therefore looking for a clear marker of the disease to possibly to detect it before the onset of the first symptoms.

What can we do today for patients living with Alzheimer’s ?

There has been a lot of advances over the last 45 years. Formerly, it was said that there was nothing more to do, but today, we are able to give several good years.

The medication allows currently to slow the progression of the disease and stabilize. What we want to do achieve for patients, it is that life is not over when it comes to a diagnosis.

Several structures of the brain continue to function well and it is necessary to keep them active. Patients must continue to sociabiliser and keep an active lifestyle. Sometimes, the non-drug is as effective as certain drugs.