racketboy.com

Hey fellow racketeers,

What can I say? Alzheimer's disease is a major jerk. I lost my Grandfather to it a few years ago, and it causes so much suffering. Not just to those with the disease, but if you'd had a family or friend who has had it, you know what I'm talking about. It's hard to put into words what it is like when a lifetime family member doesn't even recognize you.

A friend of mine lost her Father this past weekend, and has set up a memorial fund:

http://act.alz.org/goto/chuckmontoya

Please donate whatever you can, every penny helps.

Thanks guys!

I'm sorry to hear about the news. My great grandmother had alzheimer's and it was miserable to watch her slowly degrade into practically a vegetative state. And once they're in that state, the disease brings suffering onto the entire family. It's hard to see a family member slowly waste away, and they get to a point where they become incredibly difficult to care for. Getting professional care is very expensive and most people can't afford it.

Fortunately, there are some lifestyle exercises that may reduce the chance of it happening. It's too bad we're just now learning about them. A cure would be fantastic, but unfortunately, it's a very complicated issue. It's very clear that the human body was never intended to last longer than 40 years. Once we've reached maturity and reproduced, we've done our natural duty and our body just degrades. Our knees don't have enough lubricant, our cardiac cell reproduction eventually reaches a saturation point, and our adult nerve cells simply can't reproduce. Because of this, some cases of alzheimer's may never be cured, due to drastic neural degradation experienced by most people who reach 80 and on.

I wish you well and hope that you can raise money for alzheimer's research. There are already hundreds of scientists hard at work on this issue, and not all of them have adequate funds to make steady progress. I'd donate, but unforunately I'm so poor right now that I just had to apply for food stamps.