Larry King: Alzheimer's Special

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation

Many of you may have seen Larry King's CNN special last night on Alzheimer's disease.  It was a one-hour special report on the urgency of the challenge this disease poses for our aging population, for our health care system, and for our society.

Overall, I thought there was a fair amount of good information presented.  The expert testimonies from Dr. Ron Petersen at the Mayo Clinic and Dr. Jeffrey Cummings from the Cleveland Clinic were excellent and clearly characterized the nature and the magnitude of this epidemic.  Heartfelt stories from care givers brought a very personal face to the disease and provided an in depth look at the way this disease can affect an entire family.

Having said that, I also thought the show performed one major disservice to the public.  There was much dramatic emphasis on the fact that Larry King and Ron Reagan visited the Cleveland Clinic to be evaluated for early signs of Alzheimer's and Ron Reagan chose to forgo an evaluation based on his preference to remain "blissfully ignorant".

To be clear, everyone has the right to make such a decision and I don't begrudge Reagan his right to do so.  However, he couched his decision against the backdrop that "there is no cure" and implied that it is therefore better "not to know" about the early presence of disease process.  This is a myth we need to stop perpetrating and Larry King missed the opportunity to set the record straight.

While there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, there is certainly treatment.  Importantly, some people respond remarkably well to treatment, adding years of independence to their lives.  Broadcasting the message that it is "better not to know", as King did last night,  may prevent some people from gathering the facts and making a more informed decision,based on the knowledge that early intervention and appropriate treatment could be significantly beneficial.

2 comments :

  1. Contrary to popular held belief, there is a cure for Alzheimer's. It's hidden but it's there just the same. It's not about the end result of a deteriorated brain but the thought that turned on the brain. An electrical synapse is the original spark of life, and what evolves after that forms into a belief which then manifests as a something. The example we have is Alzheimer's Disease.
    In the book called Urantia, it tells us in Paper 93:6.4 that Abraham notarized an agreement with Machiventa, the sage from Salem; the Urantian Agreement. It's shows us how the mind has willed over the brain to God, to allow God to do whatever he wants, its all done by faith and to find favour with God. This is very simple to understand given the recent discoveries of neuroscientists, that no active participation in the brain causes it to deteriorate. North America is known as Turtle Island by it's aboriginal race. (We have heard that if you place a frog in hot water it will jump out, but if the frog starts in cool water with the heat turned on, it will stay in. We know that frogs and turtles live in the same environment.) With Reagan's position as the leader of United States, he swore under oath, that he would be an active participant of the Urantian Agreement. This is admirable quality, but that's not what i'm writing about. This is being done without our knowledge. We have enough evidence around to realize that there is an intelligence (someone) that can't create anything without our approval. Let's utilize the Alzheimer's Disease as a metaphor for us to begin to see what happens to us once we give our brain away to others and leave ourselves out of the equation called living.

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  2. it is impressive how a problem can make one of the diseases most harder to deal with. Memories are something that it is important for everybody.

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