Is there some kind of epidemic of murder and AD? Or is it just coincidence? Elderly Cambridge suspect in stabbing has Alzheimer's disease: An elderly Cambridge man charged with the attempted murder of his wife was not criminally responsible for the crime due to mental disorder....Gordon Bickford, 79, is charged in the Nov. 21 stabbing of his 77-year-old wife....An earlier psychiatric report indicated Bickford had dementia and was not fit to stand trial. A separate report concluded he was "marginally fit'' to stand trial because he had periods of lucidity. (Screenprint)
Periods of lucidity? Yeah, those are great. And such a period would certainly last long enough for this guy to stand trial. After all, people with AD respond so well to stress, strange environments, strange people, and lots of questions. Instead of going to school, these shrinks should live with (not just "observe") someone with AD. They'd learn a LOT more. Or just ask any of us.
Follow up to the local story: The man who stabbed his wife as part of a failed murder-suicide plot was deemed unfit to stand trial. (Surprise, surprise). I also found the original story; an onlooker tackled the old man after he attacked his wife and foiled his plan. (combined screenprint)
In other news, a vaccine similar to the one my dad tested, while it dissolves plaque, doesn't fix damaged neurons or help gain memory. The test was done on elderly dogs: brain autopsies showed that although plaques had been cleared from multiple brain regions damaged neurons remained. (screenprint)
But you can just smoke a joint and even if pot really doesn't help AD, you'll be too busy standing in the junkfood aisle at Food Bag with extreme munchies to care. (screenprint)
Still Living in the Shadow of Alzheimers
9 months ago
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