Pratchett has Alzheimer’s disease
Author Terry Pratchett is suffering from a rare form of early Alzheimer’s disease, it has been revealed.
He said: “I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news.
“I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer’s, which lay behind this year’s ‘phantom stroke’.”
He added: “We are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism.
I first saw this on Paul Kidby’s website yesterday, via a post on Ask h2g2. Mr Pratchett is also quoted as saying he would prefer it if people “keep things cheerful”, but it’s hard not to feel sadness and concern. 😦
casa azahar 
Drat!
Let’s hope he can retire in dignity before making too much fuzz of himself.
I’ve seen Alzheimer’s disease both as family member and as professional. None is uplifting.
The patient usually is suffering less when the condition gets worse, but then the family suffers more.
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what dragonqueen says is true. but something I’ve noticed with many of our alzheimers patients is that the basic personality is still there.
if they were happy well rounded people before the disease took hold, they seem to be able to engage with life in a meaningful way still. more easily than those who had negative personalities anyway
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It’s just so hard imagining such a sharp mind and rapier wit losing its capacity to be so. I mean, before its time, while he is still relatively young. Meanwhile, I liked it when he pointed out that he isn’t dead yet, and so yeah, he isn’t, and that’s something to feel good about.
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Yep, I’m with you girls – having seen Alzheimers in two family members plus having worked for the Alzheimer’s Society for 3 years, I can only be sad to hear that anyone has been diagnosed with it.
That said, Mr Pratchett’s attitude to it should guide ours I think. He’s not dead and we all might get hit by a bus tomorrow (not the same bus, obviously, unless the driver was on a serious mission…) so Viva Terry!
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maybe they will come up with a treatment to stop the cerebral plaques, or make them go away.
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Hi markps2 and welcome! 🙂
Just had a quick peek at your blog and will definitely stop by again later.
I’ve never heard of cerebral plaques before.
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I know lots of people trying to crack this disease – hopefully they’ll make some progress soon. I know there is a huge amount of motivation in the research community to beat this one.
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