BtVS: S3, Ep. 16, Dopplegängland
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I avoid writing these pages because am skeptical they will help anyone else alongside the "me, me, me" chorus. The reason am continuing is because health experts are learning more about the brain each day. Am no science expert so will strive to share the simplified research.
On Friday, I went to own doctor who is specializing dementia prevention, which is never a guarantee, but worth the fight due to our familial history with Alzheimer's (dad, both mom's parents, and both her maternal aunts).
Here, the nurse administers a 10-minute-ish MoCA cognitive test which asks one to:
name the current year, where you are, and who is president
name three animals shown in an illustration
draw an analog clock face to match the chosen time
receive five words, repeat them once, then recite them again later (when asked)
name as many words as possible that start with a chosen letter
follow verbal directions and then repeat the action
repeat a number sequence (maybe forward, backward, or both)
spell a chosen word backwards
I scored 30, which sounds bad, but indicates no cognitive impairment (whew). Simultaneously, a recent MRI from two years ago, and repeated this year, indicates "no abnormality except mild generalized brain parenchymal volume loss, stable since 2020."
Willow cannot say it better:
Like her character, without any spoilers, how can these two things be happening at the same time?
What does this mean?
I do not have dementia nor is there yet reason to think I will at present. However, I do have stable volume loss in the frontal lobe which is the executive function and attention center. Unsurprisingly, that's also where I lifelong struggle in the general cognitive testing teased last time. Am weak in multitasking and math.
Truth is that no one multitasks so am in good company. Could be much worse results and these are not new phenomenon as was diagnosed with ADHD at age 30 (now fiddy two). Sure "wish" [spoilers] had known as a kid how to slay these daydreamy cognition baddies even with inferior meds. Back then, no one thought calm girls or women had attention problems.
Also: The other culprit for our slayage is vascular dementia which seems to have promising, yet healthcare provider observed, superslow results with hyperbarics. Mom and I each carry the APOE 3/4 gene combo (own 5% Neanderthal genes for the 4), with one gene inherited from each parent, which equates to a 30 percent lifetime risk. So far, we have avoided this beast, and so the fight continues without alcohol as the ideal remedy.
"Beer Bad", S4, Ep. 5
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