Shuuji Yamashita

Shuuji Yamashita

Age:

70 years old (As of November 2019 interview)

Year of birth:

1949

Place of residence:

Tokyo

Relatives living together:

Lives together with wife

Age of onset:

63 years old

Age of diagnosis:

67 years old

Diagnosis:

Alzheimer type

Dementia rating scale?Mini-Mental State Examination(MMSE)
The most widely used screening test internationally for identifying dementia, in which questions are asked directly to subjects. The MMSE assesses cognitive functions with a series of questions/tasks related to orientation, memory, attention and calculation, language, giving commands and copying a picture. The test yields the highest score of 30 points, and, in general, those who score 23 points or lower are identified as suspected patients with dementia.Revised Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS-R)
A screening test widely used in Japan for identifying dementia, in which questions are asked directly to subjects. It has 9 questions/tasks related to age, orientation, immediate memory and delayed recall of 3 words, calculation, backward digit span, memory of 5 objects and language fluency. The test yields the highest score of 30 points, and, in general, those who score 20 points or lower are identified as suspected patients with dementia.
:

MMSE 20About

Using long-term care insurance:

Uses day service 4 times a week

Past experiences

2011年(62)

Experienced things like being unable to remember how many I have hit when playing golf and being unable to tell who had prepared something I found in the fridge

2011年(62)

Adding and subtracting golf scores was getting harder, but I thought it was nothing unusual

2012年(63)

My brain had atrophy, and there were associated functional declines. I had a brain tumor surgery, and higher brain dysfunction developed.

2013年(64)

After I fell off a cliff and underwent leg and back surgeries, I felt my cognitive functions deteriorated further.

2015年(65)

I became not able to tell the difference between shampoo and conditioner. I started to use day care services.

Diagnosis

2015年(66)

I started to apply anti-dementia medications.

2015年(66)

I have trouble remembering the names of people who come to the day service and ask myself, "Who could those people others are talking about be?" But I remember people by their characteristics and am not experiencing any particular problems.

Joy in life and living

1

Joy that you have given up

Playing golf

2

Joy that remains with you even after onset

I love fried rice. When we together decide on what to have for lunch at the day service and when it is decided on fried rice, I feel very happy.

3

Joy that has come to you after onset

Being able to do farming work at the day service. Touching the soil and grass is calming and good.

4

Joy that has come to you after onset

Being able to get along with others at the day service

Something you would like to do in the future

I do not have anything right now because my body does not move, but I am happy that I can go grape picking, for example, with my dear friends from the day service. I hope it will continue forever.

Challenges in daily living

Physical and mental dysfunctions

Message to the society

For instance, there are events that allows us to go far from home with like-minded friends. I would like to see day care services to be treated as something more important. I want them to be treated as important at the city level. I think people at this daycare center are really trying hard.