Talking about dementia or memory loss, we probably imagine an elderly person. Indeed, memory problems mostly appear after the age of 65, and people who have dementia were diagnosed at a younger age, are much less common.
Even more rare – a teenage dementia, which is currently identified only about 500 children worldwide. One of these patients – Josh Cullip (Josh Cullip). Josh has a rare genetic disease syndrome Niemann-pick type C. the Disease is characterized by abnormal lipid metabolism, causing the liver, spleen, lungs, bone and brain accumulate lipids. The symptoms of the disease appear in infancy – the disease of Josh and his parents found out when the child was only a few weeks.
Josh is now 11 years old and he has not easy: besides the fact that he is a child who constantly needs to learn something new and learn something as they grow older, it is necessary to regularly re-learn the most common things he was already known – for example, tying shoelaces.
The disease is incurable and parents remains nothing how to observe the progression of the disease. The doctors don’t know how fast will worsen the boy’s condition. They do not exclude the possibility that the loss of the ability to walk, talk and feed himself, will be sharp.
Josh goes to school and has been singing – he hopes that in the future will be able to become a singer. In order to preserve your memories, he created the album cast photos, notes and everything that can help him, if he loses memory.
The child’s parents explain that they feel “like sitting on a keg of gunpowder”, but they do not lose hope ever, scientists will create a drug that will help adolescents with dementia.
