This past weekend, my kids and I binge watched our favorite Christmas movies, watching at least two each day. I had not watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation in a few years, and now that I teach classes and facilitate presentations on Alzheimer’s and dementia at least once a month, I couldn’t help but “diagnose” the elderly relatives of Clark and Ellen.
Since I frequently teach classes and workshops on the stages and progression of dementia, I am well aware of the differences between dementia and normal aging. A young, healthy brain can hold eight pieces of information at once, but as we age, this number gradually decreases. At least for me, this number drops dramatically in the weeks leading up to Christmas.