How hard it is to forget

Year 2003 that was, my grandfather found himself in an optical clinic, dumbfounded and unaware of what might have been his purpose in arriving to such destination. Since then, things were never the same. There were countless moments when we would find our gate's locks unleashed; we then rush to the streets, looking for a medium-built man whom on his mid-70's was believed to have Alzheimer's disease.

Ironic as it may seem, he lived a non-sedentary life when he was younger. He was a man raced on hard-earned labor and a man that practiced hard work in his routine. Yes, he had vices, but he wasn’t abusive enough to be called neither a full-pledged smoker nor an irresponsible alcoholic. Vague as it may seem, I would always ponder on what might have been the major contributor for him to attract such neurodegenerative disease?

Alzheimer’s, being the most common form of dementia, accounts for 50-70 percent of worldwide dementia cases. Statistics would prove that this disease is not among the isolated cases of disorders affecting neurological function. Contrary to myths from the past that claimed such disease as a normal occurrence in the aging process, experts argue that severe memory loss results as a symptom of a serious illness. Characterized by erratic behaviors, memory changes, and loss of body functions this disease slowly deprives a person’s identity and ability to interact with others.

Discussions from the earlier studies placed weight on the use of aluminum products to have contributed to the development of the disease, researchers however disregard such notion. A more scientific discussion involving reduced synthesis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine is driving most of the focus in understanding the disease process. Furthermore, another study points out that presence of neurofibrillary tangles inside nerve cell bodies collapses the neuron’s transport system. A more in-depth and significant discussion of brain pathophysiology would map out the progress of the disease.

“Every seventy seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s”. Unlucky enough for my grandfather unable to escape the wrath of such condition. In whatever he might perceive his senile condition to be, that we can’t figure out. But for someone like me, who is up and about, able to carry out routine with full discernment and understanding, the perception remains, that indeed…it is definitely hard to totally forget!
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