Mind Matters: Life with Alzhe... Video Transcript

Participants

, Norman Relkin MD, PhD, Allen Willner PhD, Judy Willner , Chi Chau MD

Summary

Allen Willner was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease early in the disease process. With medication and the care of his wife, he's slowing the progression of symptoms.

Webcast Transcript

ANNOUNCER: Allen Willner is a well-educated man, with a PhD in psychology. One day about three years ago, he was preparing for a important talk at an international conference.

ALLEN WILLNER, PhD: And I began noticing I was having trouble finding words. I felt both startled and scared and my wife said, "Well look..." and I said, "It'll go away." And my wife said, "Maybe it will and maybe it won't, but you're getting closer to the day and you're supposed to give the talk. People are coming from long distances, you'd better make up your mind one way or the other." So I decided I would make up my mind and wouldn't give the talk.

JUDY WILLNER: Gradually, through the fall, we were having problems. It took a while to get an appointment with a psychiatrist that Allen trusted. He was having word-finding problems. He would lose himself in the middle of a sentence. He would be talking and just totally forget where he was.

ALLEN WILLNER, PhD: I knew some people that were pretty much experts in the area and I figured out that, if I was going to be diagnosed as Alzheimer's, I may as well be diagnosed by somebody who knew the area well.

ANNOUNCER: The test results confirmed that Allen was in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

JUDY WILLNER: And he was quite taken aback by that, and for a psychologist, it's difficult, because he can see from afar and see it in other people, but he could not see it in himself.

ANNOUNCER: Allen then saw a neurologist, who explained that there were medications that could help slow down the progression of the disease. They are called cholinesterase inhibitors, and for early-stage patients like Allen, there are three approved products in common use: Aricept, Exelon and Razadyne.

Allen admits to being depressed early on, but he also decided to take a proactive approach toward the disease.

ALLEN WILLNER, PhD: I decided Alzheimer's, you had to use your mind. Alzheimer's stopped your ability to use your mind. And I figured I'm going to have to go ahead. If you have Alzheimer's, you can't think, you can't remember, it all goes from you. I decided I was going to go ahead and learn and think and remember.

ANNOUNCER: Allen pursued astronomy, an interest he had left behind in childhood. He read, and he watched programs on tape and DVD. Over and over if necessary. But he felt good about mastering some of the material.

Judy believes that some of Allen's activities that took concentration improved, and she attributes it to the cholinesterase inhibitor he was prescribed.

JUDY WILLNER: And in terms of his reading of materials, he could then at this point read The New York Times cover to cover. If you asked him about a story, he would remember the story, not just the front page, but he would have followed it through to the inside and be able to remember the story. And, at a previous time, before medication, he could not do that.

ANNOUNCER: In other ways, Allen's disease has clearly progressed. He no longer drives. He can stay at home alone, but the stove is off limits. And some tasks have become too difficult.

JUDY WILLNER: There were several things that occurred as time went on that were progressive. One of these was the ability to manage Allen's own medicine, which I do now for him. But he takes, as most older people do, several medications. So he had medications in the morning and medications in the evening and there are several of them and they're different. And it was very confusing for him.