Pratchett on Alzheimer's

When writer Terry Pratchett was told he had Alzheimer's disease, his first thought was "that's a bit of a bugger".

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But life as an in-demand public figure posed specific problems when it came to diagnosing his condition. "The basic test, for example, will ask you questions like what day of the week is it, what is the date? I have a PA so there are really only two types of day - is my PA in or is my PA out? What day of the week is it? Well if he's not here then it's probably the weekend."

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And as a writer of fantasy fiction, and therefore a keen observer of the outlandish, this further complicated matters for those seeking to make a diagnosis. "One of the questions was how many animals can you name.
"And I said 'let me think... There's the rock hyrax which is the closest living relative to the elephant, and then there's the thylocene which is the possibly extinct Tasmanian werewolf. How many more would you like me to name?'"

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