Grandma Baker

One day while in my senior year at the University of Akron, I rushed home to change cloths. I remember walking into my parent’s home and seeing my grandmother in the living room. 

Grandma Baker was always a kind and wonderful person to talk with. She took care of me when I was a tiny terror and my mother was ill with TB. Maybe that’s why I felt so close to her and saw her more of a friend than a “grandmother”. I enjoyed stopping by her place and sharing a few moments with her while on my way to work at City Hospital while I was in school.

But this time was different.

I remember the look on her face when she saw me, At first, it was totally blank… then her expression turned to fear. She didn’t recognize me at all.

I was totally devastated. Grandma was one of the most important people in my life. In fact only a few weeks prior we had talked and laughed together, just like always.

“Those good days are past now… and Grandma is a person I no longer know,” I remember thinking.

Today I know that my Grandma was ill with some form of Alzheimer’s disease.

But in 1969, I didn’t know. I was frightened because I understood even back then that it is a fatal disease with no known cure.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about five million Americans are afflicted with Alzheimer’s and researchers predict that the incidence of Alzheimer’s will triple over the next 50 years.

The other day, I stumbled upon an article about a new study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. Researchers there have found that, “… tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active compound in marijuana, appears to remove toxic buildups of amyloid beta protein in the brain — the brain plaques which are linked with the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”

I know much remains to be done before this breakthrough becomes a part of our lives. Still, I wish Grandma Baker were still on this Earth. Maybe there would be enough time to help her.

And, me, too. I miss my friend.

Please go here for the rest of the story:

THC Can Remove the Toxic Plaques That Cause Alzheimer’s, Study Finds,

Kelly Tatera, The Science Explorer, 4 July 2016.