Does Dan have early alzheimers?

[islander]

he has a caregiver at home and is suffering from memory loss. maybe that's why he wants to go to the island.

[lostNspace]

It could be that he has early onset Alzheimer's. He could also have another neurological disorder. I did a little searching and came up with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt-Jakob_disease#Symptoms
I'm not saying this is it. It just caught my eye due when I saw Jakob (Jacob) in the name. (I googled neurological disorder memory loss).

EDIT: removed 'this has been discussed in other threads'
Memory loss has been discussed. I am very close to people with MS, Parkinson's, and Epilepsy so I just made the connection as read it/ saw it.

[beachblinkette]

Very good observation! So many people have disabilities such as early Parkinsons (ages 20 to 40) and MS ( Children and young adults), Lupus, etc., that it is an interesting theory. With his job in geophysics, he may have been in a geo- incident where he was harmed by the environment. I could be wrong, but I haven't seen this mentioned before.Sounds reasonable that he would want to see if the island could work any wonders for him.

[jacksnurse]

i wonder ifDesmond will suffer something like this...it says in previews that he will have some issues with his "memory" and he has moved through time obviously..i wonder how this affects him.....maybe Daniel has traveled this way before as well and that is why he is so messed up....good point re: neuro disorders...i first thought that he might have Asperger's syndrome/autism.......i have had a few of these patients and the disease has many different levels of disability.....mild/mod/severe....with mod to severe...memory can be poor and affect can be flat and social akwardness is there but intelligence in certain subjects can be extreme (his is science)...who knows....all guesses are great in here

[tbil999]

Dan was injured in a physics experiment. He was recovering in the hospital or wherever he was at the time he saw the news report.
I am just guessing, just like everyone else.

[islander]

Dan was injured in a physics experiment. He was recovering in the hospital or wherever he was at the time he saw the news report.
I am just guessing, just like everyone else.

do we know he was injured? i may have missed that.

the more i think about it, the more i like the idea that he has some incurable memory-related disease which has motivated him to go to the island.

[HardrocksII]

but wernt these people hand picked to go, rather than voluntering ?

[Lost in Thought]

I heard a theory on another site that he might be a savant, so that goes along with the autism theory. So Dan could be a genius in one area (physics), but be hopeless in others (memory games). There's one pretty famous savant named Daniel Tammet, but "Daniel" isn't exactly a rare name.

[c.smoke815]

i keep readin that everybody thinks he has downs but i really didn't see it...maybe i need to watch that episode again:confused:

[bunnydixon]

thats aaron folks are talking about but i dont think he has downs. daniel definitely does not have downs.

[UnknownPoster]

When they were playing with the cards, I thought they were testing his psychic ability, but maybe it is a test of his memory in hopes the island cures him???
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[james220]

When they were playing with the cards, I thought they were testing his psychic ability, but maybe it is a test of his memory in hopes the island cures him???

Yeah, on first view I thought it was a psychic exercise too. But I watched it again and they're definitely testing his memory. Daniel is very frustrated that he can't remember three cards and Charlotte is trying to be encouraging and calling it progress.

[UnknownPoster]

I know Locke was cured immediately and I assume the same of Rose. Why not Dan?
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[james220]

I know Locke was cured immediately and I assume the same of Rose. Why not Dan?

Well, assuming he is suffering an illness, perhaps it's because it's a disease of the brain rather than the body. Maybe the island has it's limits.

[Quick Draw]

While the Island may very well have limits, I don't think we've even come close to seeing them.

If the Island can heal the physical instantly but mental issues take longer or don't heal, Hurley would be in serious trouble there. He was institutionalized both before and after reaching the Island. Given his history and future I would imagine that if he has any trouble separating reality from fantasy (hinted at by the encounter with Charlie in the flash forward) the things he's seen on the Island should have pushed him far over the edge long ago.

[stargazer]

So whatta you think about that Charlie encounter...ghost or vision or what?

[UnknownPoster]

Hurley had those visions of "Dave" on the island. So his mental probs were not cured.

I guess Libby's dead husband was named David. Was that supposed to be him?
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[Quick Draw]

And Jack saw his dad on the island (locke too but that's a can o worms i'm not trying to open) would you say Jack is certifiable too, if so someone should really tell the people on the beach. Hurley also saw the cabin but pulled it together in both cases.

This is only my opinion but I think Charlie was exactly what he said he was, dead and really there. Ghost, vision, messenger, hand of God, I don't know what to call it but I believe Hurley was visited by his dead friend. I think he'd rather believe it's because of his illness but I don't think it's that easy.

[dudebro28]

maybe when he was crying at the footage of 815 his care taker asked wats wrong and he says i dont know. maybe he knew someone on the plane, doesnt remember it, but feels sad, but he cant figure out why

[UnknownPoster]

Ya sorry to get off topic with the Hurley stuff.

So Dan's memory is really really bad then. It's an interesting theory I hadn't thought of before.
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[HardrocksII]

I know Locke was cured immediately and I assume the same of Rose. Why not Dan?

or......locke and rose havnt been inflicted with their problem yet, as in...their presently living in the past. just a thgt

[Meditate]

I don't think Dan was really disabled mentally when he came to the island, my first assumption was the card thing was a psychic test and not memory (like a psychology test).

However, it could be he might be mentally disabled and he may have better memory on the island, but why would 1/3 or 2/3 be bad? My argument is that if he is so slow mentally, why would whoever hire him if he was so brilliant with physics and numbers?

My guess - He is the absent minded professor.

[Seaphoenix]

Interesting take on the autism. Time will tell I suppose (give or take 31 minutes) lol

[james220]

I don't think Dan was really disabled mentally when he came to the island, my first assumption was the card thing was a psychic test and not memory (like a psychology test).

However, it could be he might be mentally disabled and he may have better memory on the island, but why would 1/3 or 2/3 be bad? My argument is that if he is so slow mentally, why would whoever hire him if he was so brilliant with physics and numbers?

My guess - He is the absent minded professor.

I was on board with the absent minded professor originally. Many great scientific minds through history have been socially inept or otherwise quirkey. But the writers seem to be making more of it. Looking back, even when we first met him he rolled his eyes to the sky like he was trying to remember his name. And his partners keep tabs on him like he's the loose lipped little brother.

[Meditate]

Agree with the other three on the helicopter to keep him under control with what he says and does. It seems as if he has to ask for permission to do things.

But back to the memory discussion - did anyone take interest to when charlotte said "time."? how long was it from when Daniel looked at the cards to when he had to remember them, if he never saw them at all?

[Devi]

Playing cards have been used to boost memory by school children and college students alike for many years. In fact I would use this exercise with 7 cards before studying for difficult tests.

I would like to have a little fun here. The cards, does anyone recall which ones they pulled up? A wacky hippy friend in college used to read tarot cards with a deck of Hoyle. I'm more interested in the meanings of the cards for now than Dan's crap memory.

I remember the four suits were for each element. Water, fire, earth, and air. Hearts is water, clubs fire, diamonds earth, and spades air. That's all I know but I could find out more if someone would be kind enough to remind me of the cards she turned over. I forgot. ;)

[Devi]

OK so from some wonkey astrology site I got this after looking at the cards off ABC.com.

The most common tarot spread is three cards the first being the past, the second is the present, and the third being the future.

The first card was queen of diamonds. That card means a fair haried woman or gossip. The second card was the 6 of clubs. It means success or aid. The last card was the 3 of spades which means legal letter and be tactful with others to avoid disputes.

So I got nothing. LOL It was fun to look into it though.

[Archangel-Player]

Dan doese display memorie lost. Iv noticed this since day one he set foot on the island.

Remember also what Naomi describes Dan being to Abaddon while being informed of their mission. She referd to him as a "head case" So apparantly who ever this orgnization is. They know Dan is atleast stable enough to be on this mission. I don't think he is mentaly unstable. I belive he suffers from short term memorie lost. A very common thing amongs people of the world. But at the same time he is able to retain advanced long term memorie.
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Here is a list of events he has displayed memorie lost.

Daniel displays clear signs of memory loss:

He paused a long time before recalling his name when he first landed on the Island.

He displayed "word searching" when referring to his pack.

He was chastised by Miles for not remembering that Naomi gave the distress code---"tell my sister I love her".

He was unsure why he was crying when Oceanic 815 was found. ("Confirmed Dead")

He was playing what appeared to be a memory game with Charlotte, in which she would hide three cards, and he would try to remember them. He only got two out of three correct, which she referred to as "progress". ("Eggtown")
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While we are on the subject of Dan. Go check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage


This shield looks very familuer in LOST.

[beachblinkette]

In people with mental deficits from debilitating diseases there is something called a catastrophic event. The event doesn't have to be anything big, but it triggers a very emotional response such as crying, acing out, shaking, screaming, etc. Sometimes you cannot tell what the trigger is, you only see the cat/event.Was this Daniel's crying reaction? Just a guess here.