
The terrorist inside my husband's brain (2016) - dsr12
http://n.neurology.org/content/87/13/1308
======
mirimir
I love the article, but hate how it personifies LBD as a "terrorist". I mean,
a degenerative disease has no political goals. I don't even see anything about
infectious agents, to which one could ascribe goals of some sort.

If one must personify, LBD is basically a traitor.

But whatever, I mean no disrespect. It's just that the usage detracts from the
article. It should have been caught by an editor. And if it was introduced by
an editor, that was a poor decision.

~~~
magnetic
I think the way it is meant to be interpreted as is "inflicting terror", not
necessarily in the strict political sense.

Basically it's sneaky, can hit anytime, you don't know how to find & target
it, when it's going to attack, where it's going to come from, and what
suffering it's going to cause (but you know it's going to be bad). It seems to
me the metaphor is quite apt.

Personally, I didn't feel like the usage detracted from the article at all.

I'm not sure why it causes such a strong feeling of "hate". Mild
disappointment perhaps, but hate?

~~~
mirimir
Upon reflection, it annoys me so much because the label "terrorist" has become
so misused in propaganda. Friends are "freedom fighters" and enemies are
"terrorists". Regardless of the actual merits of their cases. I'm just very
tired of it.

------
swah
Note: this article is about the actor
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Williams)

~~~
vinceguidry
A great story about a guy's 2008 interaction with Robin Williams:

[https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-
cel...](https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-randomly-meet-a-
celebrity/answer/Dallas-Adams-1)

------
rustcharm
I'm glad she told the story. When William's death was in the news, everyone
was talking about "depression." This really wasn't the full story behind his
death.

~~~
ams6110
Williams also abused cocaine in the 70s and 80s. And there is some evidence
that cocaine abuse is linked to Parkinson's type disease.

[http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf](http://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/23/7/2564.full.pdf)

~~~
masonic
LBD/Alzheimer's is not "Parkinson's type".

------
Doctor_Fegg
This is so painfully true.

My mum’s partner has LBD. It’s still considered obscure: the diagnosis only
came after she pushed and pushed. But it’s insidious - the inevitable,
relentless breakdown of a human being. Two years ago he was a bright,
independent man, with an active social life, a dozen interests and a
retirement to look forward to. Now he can’t sit down in a chair without
missing and she can’t leave him alone for more than a couple of hours.

------
donquichotte
What a harrowing experience for everyone involved. Coupled with financial
difficulties, this could be the worst nightmare imaginable.

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foobarian
For something that affects 1 in 6 people it seems surprising that it was
missed during 2 years of diagnoses.

~~~
sathackr
The 1-in-6 figure I believe is for brain disease in general. 1.5 Million out
of ~300 million is a much rarer case.

> As you may know, almost 1.5 million nationwide are suffering similarly right
> now.

> He just happened to be that 1 in 6 who is affected by brain disease.

------
JeanMarcS
Previous discussion
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12619622)

(Don’t know how to mark as dupe)(Or more probably haven’t got enough karma)

~~~
wila
Hacker News has its own algorithm to detect dupes, but it only does that for 1
or 2 days (Sorry I don't know the specifics). However it means that there is
nothing to mark.

Having said that, it is fine to repost a particular topic. What has been read
by people in 2016, might still be interesting to read about in 2018 too, there
might be people who didn't notice it in 2016 or people who didn't even visit
the site in 2016.

The time interval doesn't even have to be that long.

