How Alzheimer

Actor Gene Hackman was alone.

The twice winner of the Academy Award made no call or lost meals.

Medical experts say that it is possible that the 95 -year -old, who was decreasing health and suffering advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, did not even realize that his more than 30 -year -old wife was dead in the home where he lived.

If he did, experts told the BBC, he probably went through several stages of confusion and pain, trying to awaken it before the disease made him distracted or too overwhelmed to act, a process that was probably repeated for days before he also died.

Officials in New Mexico say that Betsy Arakawa, 65, He died of a weird virus about seven days before Hackman He perished on February 18, natural causes.

The couple, and one of their dogs, were found dead at their home in Santa Fe after the safety of the neighborhood carried out a well -being control and saw their bodies on the ground through a window.

The authorities, at first, said that the gloomy discovery was “Suspicious” to launch an investigation.

His remains were discovered in advanced stages of decomposition. Arakawa was found in a bathroom with nearby scattered pills. Hackman was found near the kitchen with a cane and sunglasses. One of his three dogs was found dead in a box.

But a police investigation did not find dirty game.

On the other hand, the case has shed light on the gloomy realities of Alzheimer’s disease, which damages and destroys cells in the brain over time, eliminating memory and other important mental functions.

“It’s as if he were living on a reel,” he told the BBC of Catherine V Piersol, an occupational therapist with decades of experience in care of dementia, to the BBC on how Hackman could have experienced the repeated loss of his wife.

He pointed out that patients with Alzheimer’s advanced disease as the actor live in the present and cannot look back at the moments of the past or look forward and act.

“I imagine I would be trying to wake her up and not succeed. But then (he) could have been distracted in another room due to one of the dogs or something,” he described.

Then, later, he would notice his wife on the floor again and “would live it again,” he said.

Although nobody knows how Hackman spent his last days live, the gloomy nature of the possibilities was discussed by the authorities and the forensic doctor of the area.

At a press conference last week, Dr. Heather Jarrell, the main doctor of New Mexico, said that Arakawa died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)A respiratory disease caused by exposure to infected rodents. Hackman’s death was the result of significant heart disease, with Alzheimer’s disease as a contributing factor.

Given Hackman’s advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease, it is “very possible that she does not know that she (her wife) had died,” said Dr. Jarrell.

His autopsy indicated that he had not eaten recently, although he showed no dehydration signs. The authorities did not find evidence that he had communicated with anyone after the death of his wife and could not determine if he could take care of himself.

Mrs. Piersol said that patients with advanced Alzheimer’s cannot capture environmental signals such as light and darkness, which makes it difficult to determine when you should eat, sleep or bathe.

“Those signals) are often fair, are no longer available for people at this stage of dementia,” he said.

Dr. Brendan Kelley, a neurologist who specializes in memory and cognition at the UT Southwestern Medical Center, explained why Hackman may not have called the authorities to get help. He said that Alzheimer’s disease can leave patients trapped between emotional discomfort and the inability to act accordingly.

“A person may feel worried or scared, but at the same time, they may not be able to take the actions that you or I could normally think about doing to alleviate that concern or concern, such as calling another person, or talking to a neighbor.”

Dr. Kelley says that Alzheimer’s patients experience emotions such as pain and sadness, and experience physical needs such as hunger and thirst, it is more difficult for them to identify what they are feeling.

He said that missing meals could also increase confusion and agitation levels.

The couple’s death and the surprising details of Hackman living in the house for a week after the death of his wife has shocked the Santa Fe area, where the couple had lived for more than 20 years.

“It is absolutely devastating,” says Jeffery Gómez, a city resident for a long time, who remembers seeing Hackman around the city in his different cars, always with a smile on his face.

His partner, Linda, said the details were triggering, explaining that he took care of his old woman with dementia. “Even when you have help, it’s a lot,” he said.

“We know that Gene and his wife were very private people and she was probably trying to protect him from the public,” he added, “but the idea of ​​doing it alone? It’s a lot of shoulder.”

Laura N Gitlin, a behavioral scientist who investigates ways to support caregivers, told the BBC, this is becoming a common problem among caregivers.

“With the aging of a population, we also have a simultaneous reduction of the number of people in the family, the number of children or relatives who live nearby,” he explained.

Mrs. Gitlin said that along with less caregivers, there is less support for these people to make great decisions, such as when it is time to place a loved one in a house instead of taking care of them yourself.

Jeffery Gómez said he couldn’t understand how nobody recorded in the couple for so long.

“My heart breaks, I was alone so long.”

A list of organizations in the United Kingdom that offers support and information with some of the problems in this story is available in BBC action line.