My
brother, whatshisname sent this to me, although he swears he
never read it. Anosognosia is a
deficit of self-awareness, the inability of a
person to be aware of their own disability or illness.
French Professor Bruno
Dubois Director of the Institute of Memory and Alzheimer's
Disease at La Pitié-Salpêtrière - Paris Hospitals says, "If
anyone is aware of his memory problems, he does not have
Alzheimer's. . .The more we complain about memory loss, the less
likely we are to suffer from memory sickness."
Many people over sixty forget the names of family or friends,
forget where they put things, forget why they walked into
another room, or misplace keys and other items. It is usually
temporary forgetfulness. Half or more of these people have some
symptoms that are due to age rather than disease or Anosognosia.
We are learning that forgetfulness is not a disease, but rather
a frustrating characteristic due to age. The important thing is,
those who are conscious of being forgetful have no serious
problem of memory, but those who suffer from a memory illness,
Alzheimer's, or Anosognosia, are not aware of what is happening.