|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
- Watch Dealing with Dementia: Insight | Stream free on SBS On Demand (Australia)
- Watch Dealing with Dementia: Insight | Stream free on YouTube (International)
Shirley has been living with early onset dementia for almost 10 years now. Her case is manageable, according to daughter Jasmine. That’s me! It’s manageable through her dietary intake, and by keeping a close watch on what she eats or does not eat, Jasmine has observed that the fructose in fruits will bring out Shirley from her working days at Coles Supermarkets. That Shirley, is in a rush, and she just wants to find her car keys and dash to work! There’s no stopping her and oft-times, Jasmine has had to block the door in case Shirley dashes out to find her car.Other times, another personality of Shirley would manifest. The one who is a teacher, very busy in the classroom with her students and chatty with her fellow colleagues in the staff room. Shirley was so industrious, she used to sell fruits to her colleagues at school. She bought fruits at the huge wet market during the weekend and would bring fruit in her car boot on Mondays. It wasn’t really about making money. It was her gesture for sharing. She loved fruits.The Kurang Manis (Sugar,Less) Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Subscribe to the Kurang Manis Newsletter now
When I started caring for Shirley about a decade ago, she told me that the doctors ordered for her to have oranges, for Vitamin C. But I knew they would not have prescribed a 10KG bagful of oranges just so that you could save money when buying them in bulk but be tempted to have one sometimes two or three whole oranges per day! Did you know, that one standard 240ml glass of orange juice has no less than 3 oranges in it? That’s a lot of fructose!
I’ve heard people recommending a simple breakfast meal of two slices of toast, butter and jam, a poached egg, one glass of orange juice and a coffee. That is a couple of BIG spoonfuls of sugar in a breakfast! Shirley’s favourite food of all time is bread. Toasted bread with jam or peanut butter. So, I’ve found a way to serve her what she likes, with some creative additions. I started making her a toasted sandwich with butter, cucumber, smoked salmon and a dash of pepper! Sometimes, served with steamed eggs. Other days, an omelette. Two olives. Two thin slices of oranges or half a banana with Weet-bix. A glass of water and black coffee. This has proven to be quite an effective meal in satiety.I’ve witnessed her sugar-high bravado when she wakes too early while I’m in bed snoozing away unaware. Shirley often wakes up by 5am and on warm summer days, she’d make herself breakfast! That would usually include extra serves of fruit, which she knows I’d disapprove of, so she’d eat it while standing over the sink. Calculated move. Lucidly lucid! I can tell by about 10am, she’d want to “find her keys” and “drive to work”. She’d insist that I brought out her uniform so that she could get dressed. If I am not home, she’d dash out the door and end up waiting for me downstairs in the lobby. Confused! HAYWIRE! Sugar highs, from observation, are the precursor to cognitive confusion. Isn’t it bizarre how the body would be so full of glucose in the blood stream and yet our brain cells, which normally thrive on glucose as fuel, are suddenly clogged up like a blocked drain. Brain fog like.
Glucose deprivation is followed rapidly by aberrations of cerebral function. Hypoglycemia, produced by excessive insulin or occurring spontaneously in hepatic insufficiency, is associated with changes in mental state ranging from mild, subjective sensory disturbances to coma, the severity depending on both the degree and the duration of the hypoglycemia.
The brain needs a constant supply of glucose to work properly. When blood sugar drops too low (hypoglycemia), which can happen from taking too much insulin or due to liver disease, it can quickly affect a person’s mental state. Depending on how low the blood sugar goes and how long it stays there, symptoms can range from mild sensory changes to a complete coma.
– Substrates of Cerebral Metabolism – Basic Neurochemistry – NCBI Bookshelf
As we navigate each day with trial and error, I have found a sweet spot to manage Shirley’s declining kidney function of eGFR 10%. Eating less is more, except that she loves eating! It’s a sport! She was quite sporty in her younger days. Golf, squash, tennis, swimming the lot. Now, she eats and remains outside the ring as a keen sports spectator and in-home announcer!
Have a lovely Sunday!
Related media:
Groundbreaking dementia doco ‘Human Forever’
Dementia is Australia’s top killer — yet most still miss the early signs – ABC News
The loneliness of living with dementia | 60 Minutes
The loneliness of living with dementia | 60 Minutes Extra Minutes
Like this?
SHARE IT!
First published in The Kurang Manis (Sugar,Less) Newsletter, a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Republish this by quoting source: How did Shirley make TV host Kumi Taguchi chuckle on SBS Insight’s “Dealing with Dementia” programme?
Facebook Comments