Tangled Minds: Understanding Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

Rating:
Summary: a combined personal and professional review of Alzheimer's
Review: I picked up this book while browzing the bookstore in an effort to make sense of the behavior my family was seeing in my 87 year old mother who had had a stroke (right brain) in 12/97. Having been told that she was suffering from "vascular dementia", I proceeded to investigate what that really meant. Even my son, a physician, was not really clear on how that differed from Alzheimer's. Dr. Gillick's book outlines a typical course of dementia, from early to late stage using a fictional composite patient drawn from her medical experience. She interstices this story with factual material on legal, political, medical research, and cost issues. I have recommended this book to friends and colleagues interested in aging, particularly related to brain assaults. There is much good material in this book even if the patient is not a diagnosed Alzheimer's sufferer.