Tango on? I don't think so.

From an article in the New York Times: http://health.nytimes.com/ref/health/healthguide/esn-alzheimers-ess.html

Alzheimer’s is roaring down — a train wreck to come — on societies all over the world. People in this country spend more than a $1 billion a year on prescription drugs marketed to treat it, but for most patients the pills have only marginal effects, if any, on symptoms and do nothing to stop the underlying disease process that eats away at the brain. Pressed for answers, most researchers say no breakthrough is around the corner, and it could easily be a decade or more before anything comes along that makes a real difference for patients.

Meanwhile, the numbers are staggering: 4.5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s, 1 in 10 over 65 and nearly half of those over 85. Taking care of them costs $100 billion a year, and the number of patients is expected to reach 11 million to 16 million by 2050. Experts say the disease will swamp the health system.

The advice is painfully and ironically reminiscent of the 1960s and ’70s: go with the flow.
- If a patient asks for her mother, for instance, instead of pointing out that her mother has been dead for 40 years, it is better to say something like, “I wish your mother were here, too,” and then maybe redirect the conversation to something else, like what’s for lunch.
- If Dad wants to polish off the duck sauce in a Chinese restaurant like it’s a bowl of soup, why not?
- If Grandma wants to help out by washing the dishes but makes a mess of it, leave her to it and just rewash them later when she’s not looking.

Pull out old family pictures to give the patient something to talk about. Learn the art of fragmented, irrational conversation and follow the patient’s lead instead of trying to control the dialogue. Basically, just tango on. And hope somebody will do the same for you when your time comes.

From me to this advice: Tango on, my ass. You presume I am a caregiver, and aspire to being a more effective caregiver. Not so. I want a legally enforceable Condition Of Life Agreement available to every American. And death panels to stop pouring resources into disastrous and terminal end-of-life situations.