This question comes from watching the TV right now, and they’re talking about Bruce Willis. I feel bad for him, I really do…
Bruce Willis apparently has what they call Frontotemporal Dementia. That’s a tounge twister mouthful for most average people, I can only assume Mr. Willis probably can’t even remember the name of his own condition…
Why isn’t there a ‘patient-friendly’ easy to remember name for disorders that literally affect a person’s brain and memory?
Like shit, I bet most people wouldn’t know what polytetrafluoroethylene is, but they gave everyone a simple name to know it by, teflon.
So, why don’t they have simpler terms for brain disorders so the suffering patient might be able to talk to their own doctor privately…?
That’s a type of dementia.
So the answer the question is they do.
Yes, I get that. The word dementia itself has 3 syllables, they can’t come up with a shorter and easier to remember and speak 2 syllable version?
They shortened polytetrafluoroethylene down to 2 syllables, so why not help those suffering brain disorders and memory issues with simpler terminology?
You ever ask a person suffering Alzheimer’s how to actually spell their own condition? They’ll probably be either like ‘old timers’ or just a frustrated ‘fuck you’
Do you have much experience with people with Alzheimer’s? It’s not a question of keeping the spelling simple. They lose their own names. And anyway what is this scenario where any damn thing depends on their ability to spell their clinical condition?
No, not specifically Alzheimer’s anyways.
But for almost the past decade, I’ve been helping care for people that have had stroke, partly paralyzed, have brain damage, mute and unable to speak from birth, etc.
Thank you for asking though. I actually do have genuine care for disabled people. Even if I’m not a complete expert in the field, I do what I can. They don’t have many people actually willing to help.
Does it hurt to think about ways to help better? Like what if something happens, and I can no longer help?
No it doesn’t hurt. I’m really just trying to answer your question. Why don’t we have better names? Because they’re for the clinicians, who need the terms to be precise, not easy to pronounce. And literally nothing is easy enough for a patient with dementia or Alzheimer’s to remember.