The world of women's basketball took a large blow late this summer. It had nothing to do with lockouts or injured players, but that of the diagnosis of one of the games most influential figures. The Tennessee Lady Volunteers head basketball coach, Pat Summitt , was diagnosed with early onset dementia. Summitt went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she underwent a series of tests and received the stunning answer of what disease she had. Many people know anything related with Alzheimer's is not good but what really is dementia?
Dementia is defined as a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior. Most types of dementia are nonreversible. Nonreversible means the changes in the brain that are causing the dementia cannot be stopped or turned back. Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. Lewy body disease is a leading cause of dementia in elderly adults. People with this condition have abnormal protein structures in certain areas of the brain. Dementia also can be due to many small strokes. This is called vascular dementia. Dementia symptoms include many areas of mental functioning such as language, memory, perception, personality, and many cognitive skills.
Pat strongly believes that she can continue coaching, "I feel better just knowing what I'm dealing with. And as far as I'm concerned it's not going to keep me from living my life, not going to keep me from coaching." said Summitt. Although Summitt maintains her positive attitude, she now knows her time as a coach, over three decades, is nearing its end. If the symptoms worsen, she simply will not be in a position to be under the national spotlight of women's basketball. Her highly intelligent mind for basketball is now under duress and sadly, the decrease her cognitive skills will affect every aspect of her life, including coaching the game she loves.