People Features

Sir Terry Pratchett spent years rising to the top of his profession to become Britain's second most read author. Now in 2009 he faces another battle for which he doesn't control the story or the outcome, living with Alzheimer's.

When writer Terry Pratchett was told he had Alzheimer's disease, one of his initial thoughts was "I hope they hurry up and find a cure quick."

In December 2007, at the age of 59, the Discworld author was diagnosed with a rare early-onset form of the disease called Posterior Cortical Atrophy, or PCA.

It was in the summer of 2007 that the author realised all was not well.  Pratchett when to see his doctor and was given a brain scan and a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), a brief 30-point questionnaire commonly used by medics to screen for dementia, he was told that all was well. "I passed the test - it's actually quite hard to fail I think."

But as time wore on, he remained convinced that all was not well.

Sir Terry Pratchett

"We had what I called a Clapham Junction day, when you know the phones were ringing. There were lots of things to do and I was just kind of flat-lining almost. I just couldn't deal with it and I thought 'there's more, there's more'."

He was referred to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where the diagnosis was finally made.

In the most common form of Alzheimer's, the main symptom is loss of memory, but PCA affects the back of the brain and so it is motor skills and vision which are hardest hit. 

"It's unusual because people deal with me and they refuse to believe I have Alzheimer's because at the moment I can speak very coherently, I can plot a novel," Pratchett says.

"I type badly - if it wasn't for my loss of typing ability, I might doubt the fact that I have Alzheimer's.

"It's now hunt and peck, and there will be a moment sometimes when the letter A just totally vanishes and I don't quite know what happens.

Sir Terry Pratchett during an interview

"It's as if the keyboard closes up and the letter A is not there anymore. Then I'll blink a few times and then the letter A comes back."

But though his typing has slowed, the good news for his many fans is that his imagination remains undimmed, 'going on at the same old rate'.

Terry Pratchett donated $1 million to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, the country's leading dementia research charity, earlier in 2008. He played a prominent role in the charity's campaign to end the severe under-funding of dementia research, culminating in a meeting with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street in late November.

Rebecca Wood, Chief Executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "Terry promised to 'scream and harangue' about dementia research. He did much more than that: he became a voice for the 700,000 people in the UK who live with dementia but cannot shout so loudly. Dementia research is still vastly under-funded, but this is changing thanks to Terry's incredible work."

Terry in the '90s

Pratchett's declaration that he would like to 'kick a politician in the teeth' over the treatment of dementia patients did not seem to deter Gordon Brown from meeting the Discworld author.

During their meeting in the Cabinet Room, the Prime Minister lavished praise on Pratchett, made him a cup of tea and heard an impassioned plea to fund much more dementia research or face a 'tsunami' of Alzheimer's suffering.

Sir Terry who's literary work was recognised with a Knighthood in this year's Queen's Honours is the patron of the UK's leading dementia charity the Alzheimers Research Trust.