Is it coincidental that both Reagan and Thatcher had dementia?

[Blaukraut]

28. I was exactly where you are two years ago, when my mom started her rapid decline into dementia

Small signs were there already, but because she lives in Germany, and I only got to see her once or twice a year, I didn't notice them during my visits. Then, during our visit for her 80th birthday two years ago, she slid into the disease incredibly fast, and had to be put into a nursing home only six months later. She is still there, with her disease being at a relative standstill. She's in a wheelchair, incontinent, does not recognize anyone, and cannot have coherent conversations anymore. Fine motor functions have also declined.

Guilt and grief had me experience panic attacks as well. I was on meds until this past winter.

She was an extremely intelligent, liberal, and caring woman. Her illness turned her inward, made her more selfish, less able to listen to others. These were early signs nobody recognized. People just thought she was turning into a lonely old woman. I can see how an elected official with Alzheimer's or Dementia in the beginning stages can be seen as a right wing crazy. Some of the personality changes can definitely mimic that. In Reagan's and Thatcher's cases, the illness only amplified their natural personalities.