Fasten your seat belts! It’s going to be a bumpy night!

Unlike most of my friends, I’ve never been terribly fearful about dementia. My father lived to be 96 and was coherent till the end. Ditto my mother at ninety. Alzheimer’s had a serious hereditary component, didn’t it?

Seems to me there are three sources of my spaciness- normal aging, Parkinson’s Disease itself and attendant dementia, and the side effects of the pills used to treat the disease.

What brings me to all this musing on one of the scariest health topics known to humankind? I suspect a number of you may stop reading at this point and decide to bake a cake. Fine with me as long as you offer me some. And it’s chocolate. And – sorry allergic people- I respect your allergies but I need nuts in my cake. As you probably know, they protect against PD disease progression.

Alzheimer’s and its evil twin Parkinson’s Disease Dementia ( and let’s not forget that malevolent triplet, Lewy Body Dementia), are surely the movie monsters of our nightmares. But how do they get into our sweet little brains, which are really just minding their own business and doing the job they were hired for: running our lives.

If you read my last blog post, you’ll know that on my last shrink visit I told the good doctor I wondered if I might make a death wish, i.e. have neuropsych testing to see if, as I suspect, I’m cognitively impaired beyond the degree to be expected in normal aging. Now that said testing is scheduled (mark your calendar for May 18. I mean it, mark your calendar so I can add you to my support team),

I’m wondering if I’m making a mistake in having the test. Which approach shall I take: Ignorance is bliss vs. knowledge is power? I put the question to the Aristotles, Platos and Socrateses of our time- the folks on Reddit.

And the Redditors and my sometimes put-upon friends have spoken! Team Knowledge is Power has defeated Team Ignorance is Bliss in a landslide. At the very least, I’ll have a baseline for future testing. So with head held high and I hope the rest of my body tremor and twitch-free, faithful sister by my side, I shall learn, if not my fate, at least a little bit more about this aging and messed-up brain of mine.

And so will you, should you wish to read my next blog post. Wait, I have a better idea! Go bake a cake.

Recommendation:

You’ve heard of “the talking cure.” Well, now try “the walking cure.” Whatever ails you, a walk may make you feel a little better…or a lot. It’s easy, pleasant, often restorative and it’s free. Next time you’re stressed, just try an amble around the neighborhood. I’d be willing to bet that you’ll be glad you did.