Legendary singer Tony Bennett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease back in 2016, his family revealed in a new interview. Bennett first began experiencing memory issues in 2015, but with his wife as a solid caregiver, he’s been able to continue functioning quite well despite his condition.
The first clue that Bennett was developing memory issues came in 2015 when he told Susan Bennett, his wife, that he couldn’t remember the names of the musicians that played with him onstage, Susan told AARP. He was 90 at the time and wanted to see a doctor.
“Tony Bennett brought an amazingly versatile brain,” Gayatri Devi, M.D., a neurologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, who diagnosed Bennett in 2016, told AARP. Although he has some cognitive issues, some areas of his brain are “still resilient and functioning well,” she said. “He is doing so many things, at 94, that many people without dementia cannot do. He really is the symbol of hope for someone with a cognitive disorder.”
He began to show significant decline about two years after his diagnosis while working on an album with Lady Gaga, the article explains. The two had previously recorded the 2014 album Cheek to Cheek and gone on tour together. But when Gaga brought up memories of the fun they’d had together on that tour, Bennett only responded with distant one-word answers.
Bennett can still recognize family members these days and, on the recommendation of his doctor, he continues to rehearse twice a week. But he is often confused about where he is and what’s going on around him, as well as by everyday objects, like a set of keys, the article says.
“Life is a gift – even with Alzheimer’s. Thank you to Susan and my family for their support, and @AARP The Magazine for telling my story,” reads a tweet from Bennett’s official Twitter account.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive illness that causes issues with memory and other cognitive abilities, SELF explained previously. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s may start out mild (someone may forget upcoming appointments or have trouble making decisions, for instance). In later stage of the illness, someone might experience more sever symptoms, such as forgetting important people in their life or getting lost even in familiar places. These more severe symptoms tend to be signs of dementia, a collection of issues related to memory loss and cognitive decline. And Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, there are medications that can help slow the disease’s progress and reduce the symptoms. One option is cholinesterase inhibitors, which are a type of medication that affects the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is involved in learning and memory as well as muscle control and attention. These drugs prevent an enzyme (cholinesterase) from breaking down the acetylcholine in the brain, which helps increase the amount of that neurotransmitter in the brain.
Another option, which tends to be reserved for more moderate-to-severe cases, is memantine (Namenda), which works on receptors in the brain for the neurotransmitter glutamate. (Like acetylcholine, glutamate plays a large role in learning and memory functions.) Generally, a patient might start with a cholinesterase inhibitor and then, as the symptoms of their disease become more serious, their doctor may add memantine to their regimen.
In addition to medication, having the support of a caregiver can also help patients continue to live their life as fully as possible. Bennett does take medication (a cholinesterase inhibitor) and is on an exercise and Mediterranean diet plan which, the Mayo Clinic explains, has been linked to a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s and slow cognitive decline in older adults.
But Dr. Devi also says Susan’s skill as his primary caregiver contributes to his continued functioning. “She also expects a lot from him. I think her background as a teacher helps, but she’s also very much in love with him,” Dr. Devi said in the interview. “And he rises to her expectations.”
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