Not sure how many of you have seen this but I recommend you give this a read about what Dean Smith, arguably one of the best coaches of all time in men's basketball is dealing with. Tough read but worth it. E$PN does some things halfway but this was well done.
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/10545949/precious-memories-de...
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I can think of no worse way to lose a loved one. My Dad died from dementia two years ago. I guarantee you I will not, one way or another.
Terrible disease. My grandmother lived the last three years of her life in a nursing home and didn't know any of us when she passed away.
Very sad. Hoping that someone a lot smarter than I out there can find some way to combat this terrible disease (as well as Alzheimer's). Watched my wife lose her grandfather to Alzheimers, and such a terrible toll on mind and body. Good to see an outlet like ESPN with its reach getting into this topic and doing it appropriately.
This is something that runs in my family on my dad's side. I can't imagine what it must be like, and I hope to never find out.
This is a sad article. I've never had anyone close have problems like this, so I can only imagine how painful it is to watch.
I don't really want to, though.
My 91 yr old Grandfather is fighting bladder cancer along with early onset dementia.
It is so painful to hear him tell my mother he's going to go home when he is already in
the house he built with his own two hands. Such an awful terrible disease for all involved.
My thoughts go out to anyone in this situation. Its hard as hell to watch my mother deal
with it. Bless this mans heart.
I have never dealt with anyone that has dementia but I would be hard pressed to go out like this. This article really hit home for me though because Coach Smith was a guest coach at the basketball camp I went to at the Naval Academy back in the late eighties. I remember him and David Robinson demonstrating how to correctly run a pick and roll drill they were showing us. Saddens me to think that such a great basketball mind has been overtaken by this. Pat Summit on the women's side is another great mind lost to this kind of disease.
Smith and Robinson? That's a helluva demo. Robinson went to high school in my home town, same town where we picked up RMFW, Greg Stroman, and, next year, Tim Settle.
Yeah. It was a great camp. Danny Manning and a few other notables were also instructors
I get very sad and frustrated every time I see a story like this. I spent my entire Ph.D. working on the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease on the molecular level, and even when I think of all that I discovered, I have a sad realization that we still know so little. The scientific community was barking up the wrong tree for the better part of the last 30 years or so (no one's fault, that's just the way it goes) when it comes to Alzheimer's pathology and treatment, but I am glad to say that progress is (seemingly) accelerating. I just wish we could get a full understanding of the disease. Everything is complicated by the fact that dementia (of which there are multiple types, so it is just a blanket term) is not necessarily Alzheimer's, but the only way (at present) to really know is post-mortem, though again, our imaging and diagnostics are getting better.
I'll avoid getting political or too cynical, but I will say that federal funding is a mess right now, despite recent attention to neurodegenerative diseases. Drug companies often don't find such ventures profitable due to the very small odds that they will find something that works, and a "cure" simply doesn't end up making a lot of money. Hence investments from the NIH are crucial at this point, and you'd better believe I bug my legislators continually.
As hollow as it may be, I do wish the Smith family the best as they deal with his illness. Hopefully he will find a way to reconnect with past memories and find those few moments of joy. Until then, we in science will continue to do what we can...
PhD? Dude, you da man! and.....don't you have some important shit to be doing right now? ;)
I'd go one step further to say that Dean Smith is a legend of the sport at every level and an icon of the college game if there ever was one. As a boy, UNC was my bball team because outside of Ace Custis, I mean....c'mon. I somewhat pull for UNC nowadays because they're a freakin amazing program that produces A+ talent and are fun to watch, but of course I never feel any bit of good when they beat VT.
Thoughts out to his family.