By Dorothy Brush / dcb1@frontier.net
June 09, 2009 04:53 pm
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Recently a new drug has been developed that erases memory. It is described as a therapeutic drug but one person who lives with horrible memories expressed doubts about the purpose of this kind of drug.
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 Elie Wiesel spent his early years in four different concentration camps and experienced the death of his parents and a sister during that time. After his liberation in 1945 his adult years have been spent in keeping the tragedy of the Holocaust alive in the world. Early in this challenge he wrote “Let us remember, let us remember the heroes of Warsaw, the martyrs of Treblinka, the children of Auschwitz.” He expressed his thoughts about this new drug when he pointed out that memory, even of uncomfortable or painful events, is necessary for both historic and moral understanding.
Another viewpoint on memory was given by a literary giant from the south, Willie Morris. In a radio interview he said, “Memory is very important to a writer.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Memory is about all any of us have.”
Just why it seemed important to develop this new drug I do not know. With the toll Alzheimer’s disease has taken on 5.2 million Americans it would seem more appropriate to work on a drug to save memory. Before German physician Alois Alzheimer gave this kind of dementia his name in 1906 this loss of memory was considered part of growing old.
It is estimated that 10 percent of the population over 65 have Alzheimer’s and by age 85 almost half are afflicted. The disease is found equally in men and women and all ethnic groups. It is now the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
For those living with a loved one with Alzheimer’s the loss of memory is one of saddest symptoms. As the years add up it is not surprising that anytime memory fails for even a second, panic strikes a person.
Before my mother’s death she lived in Arizona with my sister for many years. I saw her during short visits there but she had never visited me after we moved to Tennessee. She was 90 when we planned such a visit.
She looked the same when we met her at the plane but when we went to retrieve her luggage she insisted that none of the bags on the carousel were hers. We went to file a claim and I began checking name tags on the pieces there. Sure enough hers was there but she still insisted it was not hers.
When we arrived at our home and began unpacking she kept saying those were not her clothes. Not only that but she was confused as to where she was. As the days went on there were normal times as well as times of confusion. She lived most of her life in rural setting but as darkness fell and the insect symphony began she closed all the windows to keep out the sounds.
Each time she revealed another bit of time lost I wanted to deny it as reality. I wanted to shake her and say stop it. Soon I realized I could not keep asking her to remember things because one day when I asked that question she said, “Don’t use that word remember!” That seemed to reveal that she had moments when she knew she had lost something.
As we age those words Willie Morris spoke, “Memory is about all any of us have” become truer. Instead of working on a drug to erase memory scientists should devote their talents to working on a drug to restore memory.
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