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WORD FOR THE DAY "gaga" (adj.) "1. Excessively and foolishly enthusiastic; 2. ardently fond; infatuated; 3. demented; crazy; dotty." (dictionary.com) 

Gaga's "old fool" inappropriate as Alzheimer's label

Alzheimer’s disease is top-of-mind these days. After all, it is Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Many people are preparing for various walks around Central Minnesota. The walks, sponsored by the Alzheimer's Association, raise awareness and funds, and educate people about the appropriate response to Alzheimer's dementia. We've come far since those days of labeling Alzheimer's sufferers as "old fools" or speaking of their condition as "going gaga."

Do you know that for thousands of years the symptoms of this type of dementia were lumped into the category we now call "senility," a synonym meaning, "deterioration of physical strength or mental functioning, especially short-term memory and alertness as a result of old age"? Forgetfulness and memory loss, language difficulty, irritability, aggression, combativeness, and mood swings were thought to be normal aging. In fact, the origin of the word "senile" is the Latin word "sen," meaning, "old man" (Dictionary.com). Only after 1902 when German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer identified the symptoms as disease in a 50-year-old woman was "and disease" added to the definition. Today we know that this disease in not just an "old-timer's disease," that there is something called "early-onset" dementia, which can be caused (but not always) by the disease known as "Alzheimer's."

These myths about the disease are busted on the Alzheimer's Association's website at www.alz.org. The site also features "10 Signs of Alzheimer's," which can help families explain "What's wrong with Dad?" and "How come Grandma doesn't know me?" and "Why is Mom acting so childish?" Do some research and check out the site.

It is interesting that, while I was researching the meanings and roots of various words related to the disease, I came across "doddering, doddery, gaga" as words for "senility." "Gaga" is also a synonym for "demented," and has its origin in the French "old fool." This usage is usually derogatory, in the same category as "crazy, daft, disordered, insane, mad, maniac, etc." and in the informal "daffy, loony, bonkers, cracked" and the slang "batty, buggy, cuckoo, fruity, loco, nuts, wacky, etc." (Dictionary.com).

However, those afflicted with dementia, including Alzheimer's, are loved ones not deserving of ridicule and mistreatment, but instead, should be given proper, patient, and very necessary care as their bodies and minds deteriorate. Elder and Alzheimer's - dementia care expert Erin Bonitto of Gemini Consulting in Cold Spring, notes on her website at www.gemini-consulting.org that "Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease destroy language centers and short-term memory. But the person is still in there." All the more reason why it's important that there is an Alzheimer's Association and that it encourages people whom have been touched by the disease to raise awareness and funding for research and education.

So, "walk on" this weekend girls and guys, knowing that the steps you take are part of a longer journey on a historical continuum to the final elimination of this wicked disease and to a greater recognition that sufferers are not "old fools" that have gone "gaga." They're our friends and our loved ones, deserving of our care and respect.