To mark Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, Angela Rippon – who lost her mother to dementia – explains how to live, and live well, with the condition.
A diagnosis of dementia is dreaded perhaps more than any other. Slowly and insidiously, it steals a person’s memory, their personality and, eventually, their ability to look after themselves. It kills more people than heart disease and cancer, and there is no known cure.
Yet studies have shown that keeping physically and mentally active can help slow the symptoms – a fact that broadcaster Angela Rippon, ambassador for The Alzheimer’s Society, is keen to share.
‘There are so many things that you can still do so that your friend, your family member or your loved one can continue to get great joy out of life,’ she says. ‘They may not remember tomorrow what they did, and they may not know who you are, but it’s not about you – it’s about them.’
Rippon speaks from direct experience after seeing her mother, Edna, succumbing to dementia.
A ‘very practical’ Scot who drove lorries in the ATS during the war and then worked in fine china, Edna had been a trailblazing career woman at a time when many mothers stayed at home, ‘and the minute she retired she was busy doing other things,’ says Rippon. ‘She worked for Mencap, and did meals-on-wheels for the old people, even though she was in her 70s at the time. She was very active.’
But following her father’s sudden death from a heart attack in 2004, Rippon noticed changes in her mother’s behaviour. ‘She was getting forgetful, then she started to get agoraphobic, then she started to get very argumentative and distrustful. All of those are signs of people who have one of the dementias.
‘She kept saying “Angela, what’s happening to me?” which was so tragic, because she just didn’t understand.’
An estimated 850,000 people in the UK have dementia, an umbrella term for diseases that affect brain function. The most common is Alzheimer’s disease: 62% of people diagnosed with dementia have Alzheimer's, which is caused by a build-up of proteins in and around the brain cells.
Edna had vascular dementia, affecting 17% of those diagnosed, which is caused by reduced blood flow to the brain.
In all dementia’s incarnations, the outlook is poor. As the brain cells gradually die off, symptoms worsen. Early signs can include difficulty with names, repetition of questions, disorientation and mood swings. In the later stages patients may struggle to walk, talk and swallow.
But as mental and physical exercise has been shown to delay its progress, dementia care specialist Helen Lambert has written The Memory Activity Book, which includes more than 70 brain-stimulating ideas – from craft projects to games – to keep both mind and body active.
Rippon has written the foreword, ‘and I wish I’d had this book when my mother was diagnosed, because it tells you so much about living a full life with dementia,’ she says. ‘People can read it, and suddenly the light goes on and they go “That’s what we do! And that’s why we do it”.’
Rippon is adamant that friends and family must give people with dementia enjoyable experiences, even if they’re soon forgotten, to keep the mind moving. ‘When you’ve got dementia you don’t have to become isolated and lonely, you are still a valuable part of society,’ she says. ‘You can still go to football, go down the pub, go to the cinema or sing in a choir. As the disease progresses, your ability to do those things diminishes, but if the people around you understand that, they don’t exclude you from those activities, but adjust them so that you can still enjoy them.
‘A wonderful example is gardening,’ she says. ‘If you have dementia you can go on gardening, but there’s going to come a point where physically you’re not going to be able to. But your friends or family can take you to the local garden centre, where you can still appreciate looking at plants, where you can run your hands through compost, where you can pick up a bit of lavender or mint and smell it, and be reminded of something.’
She recalls a conversation with her hairdresser, whose cousin was debating whether to include his mother, who had dementia, in his daughter’s wedding; Rippon said that she absolutely must be involved.
‘About a month later I saw him and said “How did the wedding go?” And he said “It was wonderful! My cousin’s mother didn’t know who the pretty girl in the white frock was, but she looked lovely; she didn’t know who the man was who kept asking her to dance – who was her son – but she danced and she loved it; she didn’t know who anybody was, but she had the most fabulous time and was singing along to all the songs. Afterwards she probably didn’t remember what had happened, but on the day she had the time of her life”.
‘And that’s what’s important,’ stresses Rippon. ‘They will enjoy the moment, and even if they don’t remember it, at the time the fact that they’ve got dementia will be totally immaterial. The minute people ‘get’ that, then they will stop treating the person with dementia as someone different, and adjust their own behaviour.’
Edna Rippon eventually died in 2009, nearly five years after being diagnosed. She was 89. ‘I always say my mum lived on a parallel universe, and as the illness progresses, that universe became further and further away from reality,’ concludes Rippon.
‘But you don’t demand that the person inhabits your reality – I used to inhabit my mother’s dimension. It’s just about looking at life in a different way.’
About Angela
Born in 1944, Rippon had knock knees as a child; her doctor said she either needed built-up shoes or ballet lessons. She danced until the age of 17, but was ‘too tall’ to become a professional ballerina.
Instead, Rippon worked at her local newspaper in Devon before being headhunted, aged 21, by BBC South West. ‘They said “We like the way you write, would you like to come and see us?” So I did an audition and that was it.’
Reading her first news bulletin was ‘nerve-wracking. My dad said “It was fine, but you looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Next time, just look in the lens and talk to me”. So I’ve spent 52 years just talking to my dad.’
In 1975, Rippon became the first regular female newsreader when she joined BBC One’s Nine O’clock News. She went on to present programmes including the Eurovision Song Contest, Come Dancing and Top Gear.
In 1976, 23 million people watched goggle-eyed as Rippon high-kick away from her desk and dance with Morecambe & Wise on their Christmas Special. ‘They wanted me to sing originally, and I said well I can’t sing, but I studied classical ballet so I can probably dance a bit.’
She’s been co-presenting Rip Off Britain since 2009. ‘It’s public broadcasting at its best in that people are entertained but also learn something. They just love it.’
Rippon turns 74 next month, but has no plans to retire: ‘What would I do that’s as much fun? I do jobs where I meet people, visit places and get experiences that most people would give their right arms for. I’ll go on doing it for as long as people want me to, and then I shall make a nuisance of myself somewhere else.’
The Memory Activity Book by Helen Lambert with a foreword by Angela Rippon, DK, £16.99. The Alzheimer’s Society’s National Dementia Helpline: 0300 222 1122.
Keeping mind and body active
Physical activity, whether it’s sport, gardening, shopping or a gentle stroll, keeps you supple and more alert. It can also improve memory, appetite and quality of sleep.
Reminiscing triggers memories. Bring out the photos, make a family tree, fill a memory box, make a scrapbook, or record your life story.
Music is a powerful way of exploring memories, and both singing and dancing stimulate the brain.
Puzzles and games boost your ability to think, reason and concentrate. Jigsaws, crosswords, cards, bingo and boardgames keep the brain buzzing.
Arts and crafts allow you to be creative and express yourself without the need for words. Drawing, painting, pressing flowers and making a collage will stimulate the senses.
An edited version of this feature appeared in Waitrose Weekend in September 2018. (c) Waitrose