Dementia

Make Alzheimer's End-of-Life Healthcare Decisions Long Before You Need Them

Marie Marley | Posted 05.22.2012

Read More: Hospice, Living Will, Dementia, Tube Feeding, Advance Directives, Power of Attorney for Healthcare, Alzheimer's, End-of-Lfe, Do Not Resusitate, Death, Fifty News
Marie Marley

The most important decision is to stop focusing on the loved one's approaching death and start figuring out everything that can be done to help them have the highest possible quality of life.

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How to Best Help Alzheimer's Caregivers? Teach Them Mindfulness

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Stress, Caregiving, Depression, Dementia, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Alzheimer?S, Mindfulness, Mbsr, Dementia Care, Stress Reduction, Caregivers, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Caregiver Training, Mindfulness-Based Dementia Care, Mbdc, Healthy Living News
Marguerite Manteau-Rao

Mindfulness is about slowing down enough to connect with ourselves and our loved one, moment to moment. As we do so, we can de-stress and at the same time give ourselves and our loved one the chance of experiencing greater well-being.

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How I Got My Beloved, Demented Romanian Soul Mate to Move to a Nursing Home

Marie Marley | Posted 05.21.2012

Read More: Geriatrics, Alzheimer's, Nursing Home Placement, Caregiver, Dementia, Come Back Early Today, Caregiving, Fifty News
Marie Marley

So there I was with this 92-year old man who desperately needed to be in an Alzheimer's care facility. He adamantly refused to go. He said he'd die first. He always said he'd die first. Always.

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When Alzheimer's Patients Make Perfect Sense: Those Stunning Moments of Total Lucidity

Marie Marley | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Geriatrics, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Memory Loss, Moments of Lucidity, Come Back Early Today, Fifty News
Marie Marley

As a person's illness progresses, these episodes tend to occur less often, and so when they do occur, it's all the more striking and precious.

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Helping Those With Memory Loss Have a Successful Dining Experience

Rita Altman, R.N. | Posted 05.14.2012

Read More: Elderly, Dementia, Caregiving, Sunrise Senior Living, Caregiver Advice, Nursing Homes, Memory Loss, Seniors, Assisted Living, Senior Citizens, Senior Living, Alzheimer's, Old Age, Healthy Living News
Rita Altman, R.N.

For individuals with memory loss, mealtimes provide social engagement, sensory stimulation and enjoyment, and can add structure and routine to their day. However, mealtimes can also present some challenges for caregivers, especially as their loved ones' memory loss progresses.

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Finding the Love, Laughs, Tears, Beers and Joy in Caregiving

Lisa Cerasoli | Posted 05.11.2012

Read More: Elderly, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Elderly Care, Caregivers, Impact News
Lisa Cerasoli

My grandmother, Nora Jo, moved in with my family when her Alzheimer's disease advanced to the point where it was dangerous for her to live alone. That's when "chaos" of ultra-farcical proportions began.

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'When We Hear Music, Memories Fill Our Minds': Living With Dementia

Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W. | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Arts, Aging Gracefully, Alzheimer's, Dementia, Mental Health, Music, Art and Dementia, Dementia Music, Music and Dementia, Alzheimer's Caregiving, Caregiving, Healthy Living News
Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W.

A concert by the Unforgettables, a unique singing group, makes it clear that there can be a life worth living for people with dementia and their caregivers, and that music and other forms of art have much to contribute to making it so.

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How to Break the News When It's Alzheimer's

Marie Marley | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Informing Children, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Come Back Early Today, Informing Others, Grandparent With Alzheimer's, Fifty News
Marie Marley

Informing people that you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's can be painful and exceedingly difficult.

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Making Alzheimer's Moms Happy With Just a One-Minute Call a Day

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 05.06.2012

Read More: Dementia, Caregiving, Family Caregiving, Long Distance Caregiving, Memory, Alzheimer's, Caregiver, Alzheimer's Care, Dementia Care, Family Caregiver, Affective Memory, Caregivers, Healthy Living News
Marguerite Manteau-Rao

I would like to share one small thing I have discovered with my mother, that's made a huge difference in how I feel about living so far from her.

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How Leeza Gibbons Is Improving Life For Alzheimer's Caregivers

Marie Marley | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Memory Care, Leeza Gibbons, Leeza's Place, Caregiving, Caregiver, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Post50 Health, Fifty News
Marie Marley

One evening Leeza Gibbons, the celebrated radio and TV personality, was out to dinner with her mother. When they went to her home, which her mother had visited hundreds of times, she said, "This is such a beautiful place. Is there a room for me here?" Her mother had dementia.

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The Death of Memory

Stacey Gordon | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Dementia, Aging, Retirement, Losing a Parent, Memory, Memory Loss, Preparing for the Unknown, Aging and Loss, Fifty News
Stacey Gordon

As I was tucking my 10-year-old into bed, she suddenly cried out "Mommy, please don't ever forget me! Don't lose your memory and forget why I'm important to you. I need you to know me."

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How a Dutch Facility Takes Care of its Residents Suffering from Severe Dementia

Dorian de Wind | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Rick Santorum, Dementia, Euthanasia, Health Care, The Netherlands, Hogewey, Fifty News
Dorian de Wind

The idea behind Hogewey is to put the patients in more familiar surroundings where they might "experience the smells and sounds of a normal household," where they don't have to sit alone.

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Catherine Pearson

Blueberries And Strawberries May Slow Cognitive Decline

HuffingtonPost.com | Catherine Pearson | Posted 04.26.2012

Read More: Blueberries Health Benefits, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, Cognitive Decline, Alzheimers, Antioxidants Berries, Strawberries, Antioxidants, Blueberries Antioxidants, Cognitive Impairment, Flavonoids, Blueberries, Alzheimers Prevention, Video, Aging-Gracefully-Custom, Dementia Prevention, Superfoods, Healthy Living News

Consuming berries regularly may help curb cognitive decline among older adults, a new study finds. It suggests that eating one or more servings of blu...

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Pat Summitt's Candor Is a 'Win' for Young-Onset Alzheimer's Disease

Eric J. Hall | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's, Dementia, Young-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease, Lady Vols, Tyler Summitt, Pat Summitt, National Alzheimer's Plan, Summitt, Pat Summitt Retires, Pat Summitt Alzheimer's Disease, Pat Summitt Dementia, Coach Summitt Alzheimer's, Coach Summitt Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease National Plan, Healthy Living News
Eric J. Hall

Every time news hits about Pat Summitt -- not about her victories with the University of Tennessee women's basketball team, but about her fight with dementia -- it's a win for the cause.

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When Your Mom Forgets Who You Are

Chuck Gomez | Posted 04.23.2012

Read More: Healthy Living News, Pat Summitt, Alzheimer's, Early-Onset Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, Early-Onset, Caregiving Alzheimer's, Parent With Alzheimer's, Caregiver Alzheimer's, Healthy Living News
Chuck Gomez

I'll never forget the moment when I realized my mother no longer knew who I was. For every child of a parent with Alzheimer's, that reality is a devastating one. How could she not recognize me?

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3 Zen Ways to Nurture the Very Sick

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Hospice, Dementia, Caregiving, End of Life, Zen Hospice Project, Food, Elder Care, Eating, Caregiver, Alzheimer's, Compassion, Zen, Mindfulness, Mindful Care, Dying, Healthy Living News
Marguerite Manteau-Rao

Food is one of the last few pleasures left when illness leaves one laying in bed in a small room with little else available in terms of sensory gratification. Food is also an important part of caregiving.

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Alex Karras Joins Players' Lawsuit Against NFL

AP | HOWARD FENDRICH | Posted 04.13.2012

Read More: Dementia, Nfl, Actor, Pete Rozelle, Greg Aiello, Alex Karras, Detroit Lions, Susan Clark, Craig Mitnick, Concussions, Football Injuries, Sports News

-- To a generation of TV and film fans, Alex Karras will forever be the loving adoptive dad on the 1980s sitcom "Webster" or the big guy who punched ...

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WHO, Health and American Politics

Michael Hodin | Posted 04.12.2012

Read More: Alzheimer's Disease, Baby Boomers, Peter-Piot, Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease International, World Health Organization, Stephen Dorrell, Dr. Sarah Harper, Economic Crisis, President Obama, Unaids, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan Medicare, Alzheimer's, Medicare, Fifty News
Michael Hodin

Whoever makes the better sell of his Medicare vision may prove victorious come November.

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Sergeant Eddie Schall

Dr. Lawrence M. Schall | Posted 04.10.2012

Read More: Aging Parents, Alzheimer's, Dementia and Alzheimer's, Caregiving, Dementia, Caring for Veterans, Caregiving and Dementia, Sergeant Eddie Schall, Passover, Fifty News
Dr. Lawrence M. Schall

As I pushed my father's wheelchair, we passed a homeless man in the street. He stood up and saluted my dad: "Welcome home, Sergeant. Thank you for your service."

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Basic Research: The Fountain About to Run Dry

Athena Andreadis, Ph.D. | Posted 04.11.2012

Read More: Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, Hiv, Science Funding, Basic Research, Cancer, National Institutes of Health, Retroviruses, Oncogenes, Alzheimer's Dementia, Alzheimer's Prevention, Alzheimer's Research, Science News
Athena Andreadis, Ph.D.

Biology is an intrinsically artisan discipline: it looks like a crazy quilt of intricately interwoven threads (take a look at the diagram of any biological pathway and you get the picture, let alone how things translate across scales).

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Draft National Alzheimer's Plan Is Disappointing

Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W. | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Health Economics, Dementia, Alzheimer's, Mental Health, Behavioral Health, Health Policy, Alzheimer's Disease, Alzheimer's Care, Healthy Living Health News, National Alzheimer's Project Act, National Alzheimer's Plan, Healthy Living News
Michael Friedman, L.M.S.W.

We need a National Alzheimer's Plan that reflects the psychosocial/mental health needs of Americans with dementia and their families, and that creates opportunities for them to have a vastly improved quality of life.

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Elderly Murder-Suicide: Should We Praise Old Men Who Kill Their Wives and Themselves?

Elizabeth Marquardt | Posted 04.09.2012

Read More: Adrienne Snelling, Marriage, Depression, Dementia, Palliative Care, Murder-Suicide, Donna Cohen, Alzheimer's, Long-Term Care, Not Dead Yet, Charles Snelling, Domestic Violence, Crime News
Elizabeth Marquardt

A bizarre aspect of murder-suicide episodes is that reporters, commentators or the killers themselves speak of them as "loving" acts. When a husband kills his sick wife and then himself, he is said to act out of compassion or understandable desperation.

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What Makes Me Angry? Dementia

Nancy Wurtzel | Posted 04.07.2012

Read More: Care Giver, Aging Parents, Caregiving, Baby Boomers, Aging, Dementia, Health, Old, Alzheimer's, Boomers, Geting Old, Caregivers, Sandwich Generation, Fifty News
Nancy Wurtzel

The clock is ticking. We need a fully-funded, coordinated national effort against dementia or we face big troubles ahead

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Will New DSM-5 Diagnosis End 'Dementia' Stigma?

Marguerite Manteau-Rao | Posted 04.05.2012

Read More: Stigma, Dementia Diagnosis, Dementia, Mci, Health Labels, Elder Care, Alzheimer's, Lewy Body Dementia, Major Neurocognitive Disorder, Frontotemporal Dementia, Mncd, Dsm-5, Mental Health, Healthy Living Health News, Healthy Living News
Marguerite Manteau-Rao

"Dementia" is a loaded word, one that carries with it the baggage of hundreds of years of gross associations and misunderstanding of the reality of the person living with the illness.

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Grief and Alzheimer's -- Anguish Over Multiple Losses

Marie Marley | Posted 04.03.2012

Read More: Aging and Grief, Alzheimer's and Grief, Alzheimer's Disease, Caregiving, Dementia, Unresolved Grief, Caregiving Advice, Caregiving-for-Alzheimers, Alzheimer's, Anticipatory Grief, Fifty News
Marie Marley

When Ed, my soulmate of 30 years, developed Alzheimer's, I sank deeper into despair each day. Death is typically a clear starting point for grief, but with dementia, loss comes in bits and pieces.

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