Singer/actor Kris Kristofferson’s battle with memory loss was caused by undiagnosed and untreated Lyme disease.
The 79-year-old country music star and movie veteran has been open about his battle with memory loss for several years, and doctors had been telling him for a long time that his worseningmemory was down to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia brought on by blows from his boxing, soccer and rugby days, so Kris was placed on Alzheimer’s medication.
However, earlier this year, he was tested for Lyme disease and it came back positive. The Blade star stopped taking pills for Alzheimer’s and depression and underwent a three-week treatment for Lyme disease, and his memory has since improved.
“He was taking all these medications for things he doesn’t have, and they all have side effects,” Lisa, his wife of 36 years, told Rolling Stone magazine. “All of a sudden he was back (following the treatment).”
Although there are still bad days, she says “some days he’s perfectly normal and it’s easy to forget that he is even battling anything.”
To help spark his memory, Kris, who is weeks away from turning 80, has been going through all his old songs. A box set of his first 11 albums, The Complete Monument & Columbia Album Collection, will be released on June 10th. Listening to each album “just takes you back like a picture of something would,” says Kris.
He was less enthusiastic talking about his recovery, and when asked if he was scared about losing his memories, he shrugged and replied, “What good would it do?”
“I really have no anxiety about controlling my own life,” he explains. “Somehow I just slipped into it and it’s worked. It’s not up to me or you. I feel very lucky that (life)’s lasted so long because I’ve done so many things that could have knocked me out of it. But somehow I just always have the feeling that He knows what He’s doing. It’s been good so far, and it’ll probably continue to be.”
