The Carter Center announced on Tuesday that Rosalynn Carter, the wife of former President Jimmy Carter and a longtime supporter of improved access to mental health care, has dementia.
Just over three months earlier, the Carter Center had announced that Mr. Carter, the longest-living president in American history at 98, had chosen to forgo further medical treatment and would enter hospice care at the couple's Plains, Georgia, home.
In a statement released by the center on Tuesday, it was stated that Mrs. Carter, 95, "continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones."
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The organization stated, "We recognize, as she did more than fifty years ago, that stigma is frequently a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and receiving critical support." "We hope that by sharing our family's news, more significant conversations will take place at dinner tables and in doctors' waiting rooms across the nation."
The term "dementia" refers to a collection of symptoms that indicate cognitive deterioration rather than a specific illness. Dementia affects memory, thinking, and verbal communication. They can become disoriented in their own neighborhood or forget their spouses' or kids' names.
According to Dr. Joel Salinas, a cognitive-behavioral neurologist at N.Y.U. Langone Health and the chief medical officer of Isaac Health, an online memory center, people with dementia may also find it difficult to carry out everyday actions like taking a shower, getting dressed, or driving a car. According to him, melancholy and anxiety are common side effects of dementia.
As far as dementia goes, Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent.
Dementia patients tend to be older adults (average age: 65). Additionally, a person's chance of having dementia by the time they are 80 years old is about 30%, according to Dr. Salinas. A traumatic brain injury, a family history of dementia, particularly having parents or siblings who have the disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking can all raise the chance of acquiring dementia.
The Food and treatment Administration has approved a new treatment, lecanemab, to decrease cognitive loss, although that prescription carries the risk of bleeding in the brain and swelling. prescription can help manage the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Additionally helpful are behavioral interventions like cognitive rehabilitation training.
"The earlier you can detect, diagnose, and treat, the greater the impact you'll have on the long-term trajectory of these conditions," Dr. Salinas stated.
The Carters have been together for 76 years, making them the oldest presidential marriage in history. It's a relationship that has survived both his ascent from Georgia politics to the White House and his loss in the 1980 presidential contest, which drove the pair back to Plains as political exiles with a failing business.
In 2021, as the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary, Mr. Carter noted that despite his numerous health problems, including a battle with melanoma, which metastasized to his liver and brain, their relationship had only grown stronger.
We've simply become more affianced, Mr. Carter added.
The Associated Press was informed by Mr. Carter's grandson Jason Carter last week that the former president and Mrs. Carter were enjoying time with family and "doing it in the best possible way: the two of them together at home." Mr. Carter was receiving hospice care at the time.
According to Jason Carter, they have been married for more than 70 years. They are aware that they are not in charge as well. Right now, their religion is truly establishing them. It is at its best in that regard.
Mrs. Carter once claimed that the 1970 Georgia governorship campaign of her husband was when she first became interested in mental health. She claimed that she was astounded by the sheer volume of persons who informed her of mental health issues in their families as she visited the state.
In 1976, she remarked, "I started to realize that something needed to be done and that we were the ones who needed to accomplish it.
During the Carter administration, Mrs. Carter served as honorary chairwoman of the President's Commission on Mental Health, served on a commission to improve mental health services, and advocated for the passage of the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980, which required states to fund mental health programs. She also organized the Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy, an annual conference for more than three decades, to talk about methods to enhance care and lessen stigma.
She stated in 1977 at a global gathering of mental health professionals that their top concern should be educating society so that people with mental illnesses are not viewed with terror.
We need to foster an environment where our most vulnerable people are accepted, she said. "We must start with them first. The rest will then work itself out organically.
The Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers was founded by Mrs. Carter, who frequently remarked that there were only four types of people in the world: caregivers in the past, caregivers in the present, caregivers in the future, and caregivers who will need caregivers.
According to the center, "the universality of caring is evident in our family, and we are experiencing both the joy and the challenges of this journey." We ask for patience on behalf of our family and of everyone around the nation providing care, and we do not anticipate making any additional comments.
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