Trish Vradenburg

Biography: I'm a playwright, author, television writer, and Alzheimer’s disease advocate. My husband George and I founded UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, with the goal of finding a cure or treatment for Alzheimer’s by the year 2020. I post here on the AARP blog every other Thursday.

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Trish Vradenburg 'sPosts

Up Close and Personal: My Mother and Alzheimer’s

Posted on 02/17/2012 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthColette Cassidy’s Mom with her youngest child several years ago. Her family was already seeing memory problems and increased anxiety, but never dreamed it was Alzheimer’s. As many times as I read reflections of a daughter writing about her mother with Alzheimer’s, it never gets old; it never fails to punch me in the stomach; it never fails to make me tear up. Such is the case with Colette Cassidy, a former news anchor, trained to be dispassionate about every story. But …

The Iron Lady Fights Her Toughest Foe

Posted on 02/2/2012 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthBy Trish Vradenberg Well, it’s a biopic so you have to expect that there will be quibbling over interpretation. You know, the usual stuff: was he the favorite; was she a mean witch; was he a private cross-dresser? Who really knows? The new biopic The Iron Lady, currently showing in your favorite Cineplex, has sparked controversy – even outrage – due to the fact that the central figure, Margaret Thatcher, is still alive. The crux of the objection is that the film depicts …

My Mother, My Grandmother, My Daughter, Myself

Posted on 01/19/2012 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthNote: this is first in a series of posts about women and Alzheimer’s When I was home during intersession in my junior year of college, I went with my mother to visit my grandmother in a nursing home. She had what was called “hardening of the arteries.” An articulate, determined, domineering woman-of-her-era, she was now a confused, rambling old lady. I watched as my mother gathered her mother’s soiled laundry to wash at home. Until then, my mother’s laundering skills …

Hit and Run

Posted on 12/5/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthRecently, the New York Times ran another in their series of articles about concussions and football players. Written by George Vecsey, this piece focused on a college football player, Derek Owens, who has joined with other varsity players – three football players and one soccer goalie – in a class action suit that claims the NCAA has been negligent regarding awareness and treatment of brain injuries to athletes. The article begins with Derek’s mom, Teresa, reacting with a mother’s horror at …

AIDS and Alzheimer’s: Two Deadly Diseases, Two Different Stories

Posted on 11/17/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthIn 1986, when I was writing on the sitcom “Designing Women,” the brilliant creator of the show, Linda Bloodworth Thomason, and I found out on the same week that both of our mothers had a fatal disease. Linda’s mother had acquired AIDS from a transfusion; my mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Within six months Linda’s mother had passed; my mom died five years later. Years later, in 2002, I had a meeting with then Senator Hillary Clinton. Hillary and Linda …

Tackling Concussions

Posted on 10/27/2011 by Trish Vradenburg | Before I Forget | Comments

Personal HealthGood news for football moms…and football dads…and football grandparents…and anyone who watches football…and, well, anyone who cares about human life and scientific research. (There must be a category you fit into.) NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, at first in denial about the link between player’s repeated concussions and degenerative cognitive function or Alzheimer’s later in life, has made a laudable 180-degree turnaround. He is now a vocal champion for the safety of his players: “There is no issue of greater importance …