On one level, all the old folks in my family stay sharp, even into their 90's. On the other hand, my mom is bipolar and gave it to me, so whit like this scares the hell out of me. There is no greater horror to me than losing my mind. None. Death is well preferable.

Those are some mighty fine genes you're passing on there, Lou.

This is just awful.


Side note: Are Australians the only people on the planet who are hair, skin, teeth and eyes the same color all over?

The moment I saw that woman I knew she was Australian.

This made me sad more than anything.

Jesus. She's already mostly gone.

What the... are they going to have to take care of a drooling vegetable for 30-odd years? How awful.

My grandmother suffered from this disease, and she went from being a sweet (if somewhat uptight) woman to being an irritable, horrible person. Apparently that's a common side effect. And of course, she also slowly lost her memory, personality, and mind. We, as humans, are poorly equipped to handle that kind of change in our loved ones, let alone ourselves.

This lady gave birth to a little girl and passed away about 15 months after.

My grandmother recently descended into severe enough dementia that she is no longer able to live in her house. I saw her last week and it's awful, seeing her there in body but not in mind, still moving and functioning but just not enough to be "her". It's the first time I have cried since the parrot scene in Metal gear solid 2.