Ask the Doc
Is my increasing forgetfulness a sign of Alzheimer’s? By James Mastrianni, MD, PhD Fact checked by Shannon Sparks Q: I woke up this morning and saw that I had put the ice cream in the fridge. Am I on the road to developing Alzheimer’s disease? A: It’s common for people to do things without paying attention. Your […]
Aiding People with Alzheimer’s Through the Arts
While people with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia gradually lose the ability to speak and to remember, the arts can help ground them, keep them engaged and let them express themselves. “The arts enrich the quality of life of individuals with memory loss and provide them with a sense of purpose and meaning,” […]
Communicating with People with Memory Loss
Lessons Lynn Roberts learned while caring for her mother When interacting with someone with Alzheimer’s disease, it can be helpful to avoid confrontation, create a calm environment, and focus on communicating slowly and clearly. Correcting them, or trying to jog their memory, might make them feel frustrated or agitated. Play along. Enter their reality. “I’d […]
Stolen Memories
The losses of Alzheimer’s disease mount for patients and their families Lynn Roberts first noticed her mother’s memory issues in 2007. At 70 years old, her mother still had her quick wit and independence and could fully care for her husband, who had Parkinson’s disease. But her memory was starting to wane. While driving, her […]
Dealing with Dementia
Types of memory loss vary, but the effects can be profound Rosemary Pagura of Elk Grove Village and her friends thought little of it when Rosemary said she couldn’t remember where she put the dessert for their party. “We all laughed. But the next day, when I found the dessert right in the very front […]
Can Eye Exam Reveal Alzheimer’s Risk?
Looking for clues about the health of your brain? You might want to pay a visit to your eye doctor. Research increasingly links common eye conditions — glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy — to risk for Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. What’s interesting about the study results, says Albert Hofman, MD, PhD, […]
Many with Lewy Body Dementia Also Have Alzheimer’s disease
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: What’s the difference between Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s? How is Lewy body dementia diagnosed? ANSWER: Doctors diagnose Lewy body dementia based on the range of symptoms a person shows. Generally, the diagnosis requires an ongoing decline in thinking skills, along with two of the following: visual hallucinations, Parkinsonism or fluctuating alertness. […]
Build an action plan for Alzheimer’s
People who are newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease typically experience a tsunami of emotions: disbelief, fear, anger, depression, sense of loss. But after the initial shock, a person can assert some control over the future by creating an action blueprint that will guide the patient and caregivers as the disease progresses. “When someone is still […]
Brain Drain
As we age, our brains begin to decline, and problems start to arise The brain is the epicenter of our existence. It controls our thought, memory, motion and reasoning. But as our bodies age, our brains do, too. As neurons die, regions of the brain begin to shrink. Some people experience a progressive decline into […]
Don’t Forget About Alzheimer’s
There’s no cure, but researchers are hoping to prevent the most common type of dementia Traffic unexpectedly slowed on Green Bay Road through Winnetka. Glenview resident Jean Buchband was running errands following a workout session across town. After what felt like an eternity of riding her brakes and getting nowhere, the problem car pulled onto […]
Why Memory Care Matters
Alzheimer’s care facilities support residents as well as families The story about Alzheimer’s disease, a powerful degenerative malady that shrinks brain cells, robbing its victims of their memories as well as their physical and mental abilities, isn’t about the cure—there isn’t one. It’s about the care. Alzheimer’s shrivels brain cells, making its victims lose their short-term […]
Decline in dementia rate offers ‘cautious hope’
Harvard Health Blog According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2015 Facts and Figures sheet: “The number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias will grow each year as the size and proportion of the U.S. population age 65 and older continue to increase. The number will escalate rapidly in coming years as the baby boom […]
New ways to help dementia patients
By Sally Abrahms, Kiplinger Retirement Report Lynn Porter has helped people with dementia learn to draw and led an American history discussion with elementary-school students. Hardly extraordinary — except that Porter also has dementia. Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2006, Porter, a retired jeweler from Cambridge, Mass., spent two years in a pioneering day program […]
Alzheimer’s patients can craft their own care plans
By Eleanor Laise, Kiplinger’s Retirement Report Caring for someone with dementia can present a host of difficult questions. When should the patient be moved to a long-term-care facility? Would she want to participate in experimental drug trials? Under what circumstances would she want life-sustaining treatments? A growing array of advance-planning documents are helping seniors facing […]
Forget Your Lines
Memory Ensemble and Lookingglass Theatre use improv to help Alzheimer’s patients By Nancy Maes Physicians encourage Alzheimer’s patients to stay intellectually stimulated and socially connected, but when they are no longer working and have trouble attending their favorite leisure-time book club or volunteer activity, they have a hard time following the doctor’s orders. An improvisational […]
Precious Memories
Gene studies advance medicines and profit for Alzheimer’s Denise Combs remembers the moment when she first realized her husband John might be suffering from memory loss. “He was a real estate broker for 38 years and always wore a necktie, but one Easter morning… he couldn’t knot his tie. He had done [it] all his […]
