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I wanted to
talk to you all about the light-hearted melo-dromidies that are afflicting my
life so far, but I’ve found a worrying trend of pluralistic ignorance on a
terrible subject and I feel the need to point out the horrible facts to you all
(the few readers I have anyway)
I want to
talk to you about a disease, a disease so heartless that it attacks love
itself.
A disease so
viral that, if you are merely in the presence of a sufferer, you will feel it
inside yourself; squirming at the back of your mind, waiting for its chance to
afflict you and the people you love.
I won’t tell
you what this disease is just yet – oh no - I want to shock you with a few
facts first – catch your eye with the truth, so to speak.
- This disease will affect 1 in 3 people.
- There is a very good chance that, if this disease does not affect you directly, it will affect the person you love or respect the most.
- This disease is NOT limited to age and can affect people as young as 30: in fact, in America alone, the early onset of this disease affects 200,000 a year.
- 5.4 Million American & 750,000 British people are currently living with this disease with the numbers set to rise by 2021 to 1.7million British people & 10.77 million American people.
- This is the only disease that cannot be cured, slowed or even prevented.
- Deaths from other disease are lowering – this is the only disease that has a mortality rate that rises regardless of treatment provided.
Do I have
your attention yet? No? More? Ok:
NOBODY CARES
ABOUT IT:
- Whilst cancer research received £2482.4 million in the space of a year to aid research and treatment, this disease received £32.24 Million.
So, let’s
round this up:
- This disease WILL affect either yourself or somebody you know.
- This disease cannot be prevented once it starts.
- The leading causes of this disease are unknown.
- If you were ever to get this disease, you will die in the cruellest way possible.
- Hospital’s and hospice care homes are not equip to care for you should you ever get this disease – if you have nobody to look after you prior to getting this disease, you will probably be homeless and die alone.
- The Hospitals and Hospice care homes that can provide care are limited to across the world so, for every 1 person who gets a place there, 10 more will go without.
Shocked?
Appalled? Good, you should be.
This disease
is reliant only on time to manifest. This disease is called Alzheimer’s.
Yes, I heard
the collective groans and the sounds of itching-clicker fingers scrabbling with
their mice to click the back button – STOP RIGHT THERE AND READ ON!
I need you
to hear me out here, because nobody – not even your own government – cares enough
to do something about this. It is downright ignorance – and for some reason,
that seems to be acceptable.
It is almost
as is Alzheimer’s is the last great taboo – the “reward” for you get for
growing old or the punishment you get for not taking better care of yourself as
you age.
Look at the
numbers above, donated by ordinary people – not by the government – there is a
huge that isn’t being filled. Targets are not being met for this epidemic and
epidemic it is - the 6th leading cause of death.
Death by
other disease’s have lessening mortality rates each year. Alzheimer’s continues
to grow every year.
So what’s
the big deal here? People get old – IM a good enough person to look after my
loved ones should this ever happen - this won’t be a problem for me!
Ok. You have
to spend every hour of every day with this person. As the disease progresses,
so will their mental health decline. Some are delusional; some are violent due
to the terrible confusion they suffer.
You will
have to feed them.
You will
have to clean and bathe them.
If you were
to claim benefits for them, it would amount to the same as being paid for 10
hours a week at the current minimum wage. You will be expected to provide
unpaid care to these people for 70+ hours a week. For this reason alone, a lot
of people DO NOT claim benefits for providing care to a loved one with Alzheimer’s
or Dementia, which actually SAVES the government more than £100 billion a year
with the total number of carers a year providing 170 billion hours of unpaid
care (in the USA alone)
This is a
WORLDWIDE Epidemic that only a handful of people care about. A WORLDWIDE
Epidemic that, for every hour you age, you are an hour closer to experiencing.
If you’re
wondering effect this disease will have on you when you are lucky enough not to
have it but somebody you love is: if you’re wondering how a disease confined to
somebody else’s brain could possibly effect you then I defy you not to feel
heartbroken when they look at you, lash out at you and become scared of you
because they have no idea who you are.
Are you
scared? You should be; you have a 1 in 3 chance is getting this horrible
disease – you have a mother and a father? Two mothers? Two fathers? A brother? Sister? Plural? Aunt? Uncle?
Nephew? Neice? Grandparents?
This disease
doesn’t discriminate.
Yet, nobody
cares.
Change that
fact. Research the numbers for yourself. Show no ignorance in the face of ignorance,
by defiance in the will to change.
We can
change this, but only when more people start to care.
