system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why can't a person with Alzheimer's have a fact sheet in front of them at all times reminding them of every truth about them, including the fact that they have Alzheimer's, and that they are expected to be constantly confused?
gpt
Because it will add to their misery. This is not like the forgetting that non-sufferers may experience as a result of an injury or hangover; it goes much deeper and has a shorter cycle. You can tell an Alzheimer's patient a "fact" one minute and it's gone in 30 seconds. The *truth* for advanced patients may bear absolutely no resemblance to fact, because a humane approach most often involves meeting their uncertainties with whatever words bring comfort, not pounding them with proof that they're wrong.