Just my 2cents.
As far as MCI goes, potential new interview question: "Stand on either foot and count backwards from 100 by 7 please."
Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor.
Though I do not have mental health issues, I do this(minus the counting) to just keep my brain fresh. It is a good idea to use your both hands as well regularly or occassionally for task that they are not used to e.g. writing or painting with your left hand(if you are right hander) or with right hand. My drawing teacher in school use to paint with either hands!
If you actually have it you would be exhibiting symptoms already, so there’s not much to prepare for. Ive included more info from Mayo Clinic below.
If it’s a 23andme test take that worth a grain of salt. They disclaim heavily that correlation does not equal causation. You should also google the 5 daily habits to increase lifespan, one of the habits helps stave off Alzheimer’s, doing things like daily crosswords
—-
For those with Alzheimer's dementia, doctors can offer drug and nondrug interventions that may ease the burden of the disease. Doctors often prescribe drugs that may slow the decline in memory and other cognitive skills. You may also be able to participate in clinical trials.
Also, doctors can teach you and your caregivers about strategies to enhance your living environment, establish routines, plan activities and manage changes in skills to minimize the effect of the disease on your everyday life.
Importantly, an early diagnosis also helps you, your family and caregivers plan for the future. You'll have the chance to make informed decisions on a number of issues, such as:
Appropriate community services and resources Options for residential and at-home care Plans for handling financial issues Expectations for future care and medical decisions
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-di...
Bill Gates has started funding research. Hopefully, we can address the disease in some form within a decade or two.
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/Digging-Deep-Into-Alzheime...
https://www.gatesnotes.com/Health/How-you-can-help-fight-Alz...
I mean, some people try to label the physical aging process itself as a "disease", as if it needs to be "cured" via discovering a path to immortality. Does Alzheimer's fit into that line of thinking, or is it truly a "real" disease.
Plan for long term care. Have a living will. Figure out who you want to have power of attorney. Figure out who you want to have access to medical records behind Hipaa. Choose a lawyer. Do all that stuff now while it's less messy and there is a low probability of crisis. These are things that are good to do even without diagnosis of a debilitating illness. They are good things to do orthogonally to software engineering.
In the US, there is the Alzheimer's Association. https://www.alz.org/ similar groups are likely in other places. There are resources. But they are stretched thin because Alzheimer's lasts a long time without underlying morbidity. Again, acting early matters because waiting lists are long.
Consider moving into an assisted living facility:
with step up to nursing home with a memory care unit
Well fuck, this all sucks. I'm sad to learn of your diagnosis. Saying "we all die" probably doesn't help. What's in your control is some of the circumstances in which your disease progresses. There's no manual. No instruction book. And it's all going to involve institutions where your unique circumstances are mostly irrelevant beyond your illness. Institutions that deal with the normal problems. Institutions that can't act quickly when someone calls for resources in crisis. Plan and act now for the people you love.
What they don't realize is that caring for an Alzheimer's sufferer, in the later stages, can take years off the loved one's life. It is a hard, depressing, 24-hour job to take care of all the physical needs of someone who is no longer mentally there. Even worse if the caregiver is old or has health issues.
So do your family a favor, if finances allow, and urge them, while you still are able, to plan put you in an appropriate living arrangement (in an institution, or with full-time paid caregivers) when the time comes.
And I'm sorry about your diagnosis. Best wishes.
My father had Alzheimer's he was in 60s and it was so sad to see such a great mind get lost. I was lucky that my mother was expert on this subject and help set the procedures in my home country The Netherlands.
Also have a look if the area where you live organise the Alzheimer Cafés and bring your close family along to get informed about the decease and meet fellow sufferers and their family. It's great, my mother was one of the early organisers of it: http://www.alzheimerscafe.com/alzheimer-s-and-memory-cafes.h...
Here's my penny's worth, as someone with no actual experience of the disease:
From a programming and work perspective, make sure that other people have the knowledge and skills to take over. Little things that should be obvious (and ideally avoided up front), but only in hindsight, like write access to repos, third-party accounts linked to email addresses. Now is a good time to audit them.
And the bigger things, like "so how is this library Charlie wrote supposed to work?" Now might be a good time to pair with someone unfamiliar with it to make sure documentation is up-to-date and encompasses what the intention behind the decisions was.
Depending on what you're working on, there might be a point in the future at which you might be inadvertently capable of harm: accidently publishing secrets, etc. I don't know enough to know how best to mitigate this, or even if it needs worrying about at all in your work.
If you've got any projects that have downstream users, you might want someone else to also have write access to the project. Managing their expectations on the future may be of use to them.
Consider getting pictures/video of your favourite projects, people and places in the work environment; I've heard these sort of external memory cues can be helpful later on in sparking recall of memories.
Best of luck in what is going to be a trying time for you and your loved ones.
First, do all of the responsible things listed below (estate attorney, eat healthy, etc.), and remember that real life comes first.
For day-to-day with programming, start building in more of a buffer in your timeline for bad days. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you might find yourself unable to grasp or find concepts mentally. It is frightening; if you can, work on coping skills with a therapist. Getting anxious will usually make things worse. Build a time buffer into more of your estimates so you can balance good days with bad days. You might not be able to be reliable every day, but you can achieve reliable results with the right planning.
Realize that taking good notes and documenting well is going to help someone else take up a task on your behalf, but also help yourself if you're having a bad day. It takes discipline to take the time to document when you're on fire and having a good day. Work on doing it anyway.
Work with your team to ensure you have new, exciting work for the good days, so you can keep your mental state fresh, as well as work that is in your wheelhouse for bad days. This is both a reasonable accommodation as well as a way for you to be more productive.
Coincidentally, these are all best practices anyway. This is just a new application of them. I've gotten a lot more people on board by emphasizing these as best practices, not specifically reasonable accommodations.
Please feel free to PM me if this was helpful.
Make time NOW to see your family. Let them know that you have been diagnosed. Do not try and hide it from them.
Get your hearing tested now, and every year. If you have any hearing loss try hearing devices. You will have increased issues getting used to hearing aids as the disease progresses, and hearing/communication problems will only make the Alzheimers symptoms worse for you and your family.
You will still have great days, enjoy them now. You will have tough days, and having understanding family is very important.
diet - mediteranean https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-do-we-know-about-diet-an...
supplements - https://alzheimersprevention.org/4-pillars-of-prevention/pil... https://examine.com/nerd/article/can-vitamin-d-help-with-alz...
sports - probably useful for all disease states.
Good luck.
Some food for thought: https://www.google.com/search?q=alzheimer's+as+part+of+metab...
https://www.nia.nih.gov/alzheimers/clinical-trials/valacyclo...
This will gave you some peace of mind and will allow you to focus your energy in other problems.
1. Get pro-active 2. Take a wormer. (Vermox in Europe) - 2x tablets per day for 3 consecutive days. One tablet am, one pm. Repeat quarterly. 3. Stop all Dairy produce intake (As they say, PERIOD) 4. High dose Vitamin C (Water soluble so you piss it out fast) so 500mg per meal per day 5. Ubiquinol or less(er) effective Co-Enzyme Q10 - 2x tablets per day. One tablet am, one pm. 6. Hot Yoga 3x per week or get on your bike and cycle 2 hours per day. 7. Take a daily Pro-Biotic 8. Visit a nutritionist and get expert analysis of your diet. 9. Change your acceptance mindset and get active. Go to WAR. Empower yourself. Become an expert on defeating Alzheimer's and report your findings back to everone else. I wish you the very best of good luck. Now, get to work.
There are realities that must be faced, and planned for, you'll have plenty of time to "go to war" but for now, make sure you and your loved ones are as prepared as possible.