‘But if I stop, I’m euthanising her’

Peter Dredge refuses to accept that his wife’s Alzheimer’s disease can’t be reversed. But some accuse him of ‘chasing crazy theories’. Tony Wall reports for the series Drugging the Elderly.

The medical profession believes Ann Dredge has an incurable disease that will soon kill her, and all that can be done is lessen her agitation and distress. That involves giving her drugs when needed, including powerful anti-psychotics and heavy duty pain medication.

Peter Dredge has a different view: he believes his wife’s symptoms are caused by a chronic inflammatory condition and can be arrested and even reversed.

Doctors predicted Ann, 67, would be dead two years ago – Peter says that she’s alive and stable is proof the experts don’t know what they’re talking about.

The two sides obstinately stick to their views. Caught in the middle is Ann, whose life over the past three years has been a rollercoaster of rest homes, hospitals, drugs, tests and alternative treatments. ‘‘She said to me once... ‘just let me go’,’’ Dredge says. ‘‘I said ‘darling, we’re just going to try some of these things and if they show that there’s some hope... I’m sorry but I can’t do that’.

‘‘I’m sure there’s days when she would go ‘I’ve had enough of this’. But if I stop, I’m euthanising her.’’

Peter is sharing his wife’s story for the series Drugging the Elderly, which has found that more elderly New Zealanders, including dementia patients in nursing homes, are being prescribed dangerous anti-psychotic drugs.

Peter has clashed with DHB clinicians and management at various rest homes over his insistence that Ann be treated according to the Bredesen Protocol, a holistic approach to dementia developed by American neurologist Dr Dale Bredesen. It involves regular blood tests to assess levels of hormones, heavy metals and vitamins in a patient’s system. Treatment includes various supplements and a special diet.

Ann has been diagnosed by the Bredesen team as suffering from Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS), possibly due to Lyme disease contracted while visiting Fiji in 2007.

That explanation doesn’t wash with many elder care doctors, who say there is no evidence for a rheumatoid, or inflammatory, cause for dementia and prefer a palliative approach to care.

At one point a DHB dementia nurse referred Ann to a social worker over concerns she was a ‘‘vulnerable adult whose needs aren’t being met’’, and there were even threats to have Peter’s power of attorney removed.

‘‘I’m [supposedly] a danger to Ann as I’m chasing crazy theories at her expense,’’ says Peter has a Bachelor of Science degree from Auckland University and was a teacher for many years.

‘‘I should step aside and let the ‘experts’ take over Ann’s inevitable slide to the funeral home.’’

But he says his wife of 45 years has made remarkable progress when the Bredesen Protocol has been properly implemented.

Ann, a mother of three and former university librarian with a degree in biochemistry, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2012 after several years of cognitive decline.

By 2014 she was totally dependent on Peter. In June 2017, she suffered a delusional episode and was admitted to Waikato Hospital, where she was put on the drug haloperidol, an older generation anti-psychotic often prescribed off-label for agitated dementia patients.

‘‘She’s lost the use of her left arm to haloperidol,’’ Peter says. ‘‘It was invented in 1958. Like a lot of drugs of that era there’s huge side effects, it’s like using a sledgehammer to drive in a nail. When they told me this had caused the loss of the arm they seemed totally unconcerned; ‘it happens’.’’

Around that time Ann entered a nursing home – the first of eight she would stay in as Peter searched for a facility that would meet her needs and handle her agitation without resorting to sedative drugs.

Before she went into care, Peter says, he and Ann would ride a tandem bike.

‘‘Six weeks later she couldn’t walk, talk – she just screamed most of the time. The doctors were saying ‘she’s looking like end stage’.’’

In September 2017, a neurologist assessed Ann for a terminal illness life insurance claim.

‘‘Quarter of an hour into the meeting he said ‘look, if she sees Christmas I would be very surprised, she definitely won’t see March.’’

But a week later she started the Bredesen treatment and improved markedly, Peter says.

‘‘She went from a screaming, gibbering wreck to talking, being able to interject in conversations, report the need for toileting, feeding... that took four weeks from the time we started her treatment. ‘‘We knew we were on to something.’’

But a doctor ‘‘torpedoed’’ the treatment plan, Peter says, and Ann quickly deteriorated, spending several hours a day screaming in agitation.

She was admitted to North Shore Hospital’s psychiatric unit for the elderly, where she spent three months. Peter would later lodge a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) over her care.

He claimed the hospital ‘‘nearly killed’’ his wife by giving her a ‘‘cocktail’’ of anti-psychotics and opioid painkillers, causing her to inhale her food

I’m [supposedly] a danger to Ann as I’m chasing crazy theories at her expense. I should step aside and let the ‘experts’ take over Ann’s inevitable slide to the funeral home. Peter Dredge