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Dementia in life writing: our health care system in the words of the sufferer

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease as the most common neurodegenerative disorder places enormous financial demands on our society that is increasingly focussed on the cost-effectiveness of treatment and care. The present article reflects on central information drawn from four autobiographical texts written by patients in the early stage of dementia, elucidating their needs relating to, first, the medication they rely on and, second, the importance of a healthy doctor–patient relationship. Their comments and feelings are placed in the context of clinical practice and current health care policy pertaining to our dealing with dementia, thus, contributing to ongoing discussions relating to the suitability of current health care structures in view of challenging demographic changes.

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Notes

  1. I think donepezil is doing well for me, even though I am absent-minded from time to time. I have the impression to have more calm days than before without making too many stupid mistakes (107).

  2. Earlier in the text, Graboys cites Anatole Broyard who died of prostate cancer: “I see no reason or need for my doctor to love me––nor would I expect him to suffer with me. I wouldn’t demand a lot of my doctor’s time; I just wish he would brood on my situation for perhaps five minutes, that he would give me his whole mind just once, be bonded with me for a brief space, survey my soul as well as my flesh, to get at my illness, for each man is ill in his own way.” (60; emphasis original). The original quotation is found in [27].

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to J. Klein for welcoming interdisciplinary approaches and to S.P. Brown for continuous discussion and encouragement. The study was entirely self-funded and there is no conflict of interest to be declared.

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  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Goethe University, Biocentre N260, Max-von-Laue Str. 9, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Martina Zimmermann

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Correspondence to Martina Zimmermann.

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Zimmermann, M. Dementia in life writing: our health care system in the words of the sufferer. Neurol Sci 32, 1233–1238 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0459-2

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