The Loose Women actress has emphasized the need to be more aware of a crippling condition.
Ruth Langsford has opened up about a ‘hard lesson’ she learned about her parents amidst their struggles with a debilitating condition. The star’s 94-year-old mother is battling Alzheimer’s – the most common form of dementia – just 13 years after Ruth’s father died of the same disease.
Although their symptoms, including memory loss, have certainly been challenging, Ruth said she is now better at caring for her mum than ever before. Speaking on Loose Women, the 65 year old said she learned from ‘all the mistakes’ she made with her dad and stressed the need for increased awareness about the disease.
“I am so much better looking after my mum and being with my mum because of all the mistakes I made with my dad,” Ruth said in a recent episode of the ITV show. “Because there was so little awareness, and there needs to be more, but we are more aware now.
And so it was when my father would say things like, “Oh, I’ve been here before, haven’t I?” and I would say, “No, dad, you couldn’t have been here before,” as if I had imagined helping him remember. And I used to say, “Dad remember, dad remember when, remember remember.”
She continued, “And now I look back and believe he didn’t remember.” He was unable to recall. I don’t do any of that, my mother. And if she says, “Oh, I’ve been, I’ve sat here and done this show,” I’ll just go, “Yes, that’s nice. There is no stress because it is completed. However, you are aware that it was a difficult lesson to learn.
On the surface, telling white lies to a person with dementia may seem unfair, especially when it appears easier to correct them or simply tell the truth. However, official advice from the Alzheimer’s Society suggests it’s much preferable to lie if ‘doing anything else would cause the person significant physical or psychological harm’. This is often referred to as a ‘therapeutic lie’.
“We instinctively want to lean towards the ‘whole truth’ end of the spectrum, but we also want to minimise any distress our response causes to the person with dementia,” the society’s advice reads. “But these aims often contradict, leaving us to seek a balancing act or a ‘least-bad’ trade-off. (We should not forget our own well-being either, as we don’t want to end up feeling bad about ourselves.)”
The society goes on to say that “the entire truth here could mean repeatedly disclosing the death of a parent as if it had just happened, over and over again.” What could possibly be crueler”?
Joan, Ruth’s mother, lives close to the star’s Surrey home. Joan can’t remember what she had for lunch or breakfast, according to Ruth, who said in August.
According to a previous Mirror report, Ruth said: “She wouldn’t remember what she’s had for her lunch or breakfast, and if I go and see her, when I leave, if you said to her was Ruth here today, she’d say no. But in the moment, she still knows it’s me – as soon as she sees me, she says ‘Oh, what a lovely surprise!’ like she hasn’t seen me for months.
Because of my dad, I’m much more knowledgeable about this than my mother, which is very difficult. When he got Alzheimer’s or dementia, we as a family were a little lost. With my dad, I received a lot of lessons.
Ruth also acknowledged during the interview that she occasionally wonders if she might be a victim of memory loss and that she occasionally gets anxious whenever she has a memory lapse.
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She doesn’t intend to take any tests to assess her risk of dementia, though. I can feel the panic when she says, “Every time I forget something, those blank moments where you go, I’ve totally forgotten that person’s name, and I work with them every day.”
“And sometimes I look back and think, “I was tired that day,” but I’m thinking about it because both of my parents have dementia, and I’m aware of tests that can determine your level of vulnerability, but I don’t want to know.
There may seem a little childlike, but I don’t want to know because there isn’t a cure for it and I am aware of what it involves. I simply want to live my life. I get it if I want it. “I hope not,”
Alzheimer’s disease: what is it?
NHS figures indicate that over 944,000 people in the UK have dementia, including one in every 11 people over 65 years old. According to the World Health Organisation, Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent type of dementia, representing roughly 60 to 70% of cases.
Alzheimer’s is a progressive disease that gradually gets worse over time. The first symptoms of memory loss, typically include minor forgetting names or conversations, are typically less severe.
However, the NHS suggests that additional symptoms may arise as the condition worsens.
- Hallucinations
- communication, language, or speech difficulties
- difficulty making decisions
- confusion, confusion, or feeling lost in well-known locations
- anxiety and low moods
- Behavioral changes: growing suspicion or aggression
- Having trouble moving around unaided
There is no treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, according to the NHS’s guidance, but medications are available to treat some of the symptoms. Making changes to your home environment to make it easier to move around and remember daily tasks is one of the other options that can be used to help people with Alzheimer’s live as independently as possible.
“Psychological treatments like cognitive stimulation therapy may also be provided to improve your memory, problem-solving abilities, and language ability.”
Source: Mirror
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