Sunday, August 31, 2008

Alzheimer’s caregivers exemplify true love

Jacksonville Progress
Dr. Sam Smith, Butterfly Ministry

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast. It is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails...” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

A dear friend sent me this beautiful story. With the prevalence of Alzheimer’s these days, there are so many loving husbands and wives caring for their loved ones who do not even know who they are. If you have loved ones who have been affected by Alzheimer’s, you know how it is. This story helps us realize what you are going through, and the beauty of true love.

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Friday, August 29, 2008

DCC: Stepped-Up Fall Prevention Needed in Acute Alzheimers and Dementia Care

By Crystal Phend, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
GARDEN GROVE, Calif., -- Fall prevention for Alzheimers and other dementia patients during acute care in hospitals may require the same approaches used in long-term care facilities, researcher found.

Low beds, bed alarms, an emphasis on understanding patient agitation and behavior, and other non-restraint interventions introduced at an inpatient geriatric psychiatry ward reduced the number of falls by close to 60%, according to Ben Inventor, C.N.P., of Rush Medical Center in Chicago, and colleagues.

Findings from the single-center study suggested that strategies borrowed from long-term care were feasible and effective in the acute treatment of dementia patients, Inventor said at the Alzheimer's Association Dementia Care Conference here.

Beyond the implications for patients...

read the whole story here

Professionals get CMEs here

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Say thank you to Alzheimers caregivers this Labor Day

From Fisher Center for Alzheimers
Writing in the December 11 Wall Street Journal, staff reporter Kelly K. Spors addresses many of the issues surrounding extra compensation for a devoted caregiver. Appropriate ways to say “thank you” to someone who has contributed so much to the care of a loved one with Alzheimer’s can be a concern for any family touched by the disease.

Some families may say “thank you” with a monetary gift, such as a week’s or a month’s salary. Others may find a momento, like a gold watch, or a dinner out more appropriate. But, Spors emphasizes, there is no clear-cut formula for compensating a devoted caregiver, like tipping a restaurant waiter 15% to 20%.

click here to read this article

Read how caregivers should cope with Alzheimers

Finally this Labor Day please think about Alzheimers caregivers because
it is estimated that there are over 50 million caregivers, of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, worldwide. Learn what a hard job they have and why they deserve everyone's praise this Labor Day.

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Monday, August 25, 2008

Scientific Revelation: Age Related Alzheimers and other Dementias Are Not Inevitable

Natural News
Maryann Marshall

A Dutch woman decided to will her body to science when she was 82 years old. When she turned 111, she contacted the researchers, worried that she was too old to be of interest to them. On the contrary, they assured her, because of her age, they were especially interested in her.

Over the next four years, she submitted to testing twice. The results showed her to be above average, even for people aged 60 to 80 years of age. There were essentially no signs of cognitive decline or memory loss.

Gert Holstege, a neuroscientist at the University Medical Center Groningen, in The Netherlands examined her body after she died at 115 years of age. The results are reported in the August issue of the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

To the surprise of the examiners, the woman's brain showed no sign of Alzheimer's....
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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Brain stimulation improves memory in Alzheimer's

Reuters
Aug 22, 2008

By Will Boggs, MD

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Electrical stimulation of the brain may improve memory and recognition in elderly people who suffer from Alzheimer's disease, results of a study hint.

"Our preliminary data on Alzheimer's disease patients are promising as we observed beneficial effects after a single session of transcranial direct current stimulation," Dr. Alberto Priori from the University of Milan told Reuters Health, "suggesting that chronic daily application might induce even greater improvement."

"Our studies encourage broader research programs using different stimulation protocols and longer clinical follow-up to clarify the impact this therapy might have on patients' daily functional activities," Priori added...

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Author Susan Berg and others believe that mind stimulating activities go a long way in keeping an Alzheimer's or dementia person's mind working better

read what she had to say

You can also read this

Here is another interesting article

Friday, August 22, 2008

Alzheimer's disease, other diseases and the condition of your mouth

A pattern is emerging for heart disease, kidney disease and Alzheimer's and oral health.

The way to a person's heart is through his stomach, the adage goes. But researchers now think the way to a healthy heart might be through your gums and teeth.

Evidence suggests that the healthier they are, the stronger and less disease-prone the heart is. If you don't floss or brush, you might be setting yourself up not just for gum disease but also for heart disease.

The link between what's happening in your mouth and in the rest of your body goes further still: Gum disease might be a kind of early...

click here to read the whole story

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Alzheimer's, dementia, and cocoa-why you should be glad

Many elderly especially those with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias love chocolate. There are many simple great treats you can offer a person with Alzheimer's or another dementia that taste good and are good for them.

As reported recently cocoa increases blood fow to the brain which has an impact on brain function...

Read more about that as well as other important news stories here

There is an outstanding cookbook that shares many tasty, healthy recipes called
The Cardiologist's Wife's Chocolate Too! Diet: No Sugar, No Fat & Luscious

See for yourself

Monday, August 18, 2008

Einstein researchers find a way to get rid of damaged proteins of Alzheimer's and other dementias

BRONX, NY)
As people age, their cells become less efficient at getting rid of damaged protein — resulting in a buildup of toxic material that is especially pronounced in Alzheimer's, other dementias, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders.

Now, for the first time, scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have prevented this age-related decline in an entire organ — the liver — and shown that, as a result, the livers of older animals functioned as well as they did when the animals were much younger. Published in the online edition of Nature Medicine....

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Saturday, August 16, 2008

Prevent dementia-Beef up your brain 5 ways

By Andrea Thompson, Senior Writer
15 August 2008 10:28 am ET

With the prevalence of Alzheimer's and other types of dementia, which slowly deteriorate the brain's capacity to make new memories, retrieve older ones and perform other mental and physical tasks, is on the rise as the baby boomer generation hits retirement age. A 2007 Alzheimer's Association report estimated that more than 5 million Americans were currently living with the disease and that that total could reach 16 million by 2050.

What can you do?

click here to find out

Did you ever imagine a loved one with Alzheimer's or a related dementia in a nursing home?

GABRIELLE SELZ
Published: August 14, 2008

FIVE years ago I promised my mother that I would never place her in a nursing home. She was 78 and showed no symptoms of Azheimer's or another dementia at the time. At her younger brother’s urging, she had bought a long-term health care policy, and the possibility of not being able to live on her own had reared its head. Back then, my mother lived next door to me in Southampton. She was in good health, a vibrant dresser who liked to walk the half-mile into town when the weather was good.

Read the whole story

Friday, August 15, 2008

One-quarter of spouses of those with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, depressed

CLEVELAND, Aug. 13 (UPI) -- Spouses of husbands and wives with Alzheimer's and other dementias, pay a high emotional toll as they care for their ailing spouse, Case Western Reserve University researchers say.

Kathryn Betts Adams analyzed data from spouse caregivers and compared their responses to non-caregivers at the symptom level to determine which symptoms were especially common.

The study involved 391 caregivers and 226 non-caregivers from the Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals Alzheimer's Disease Research Center.

After factoring for age, gender...

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

Stay strong because physical frailty linked to dementia pathology

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Physical weakness or "frailty" among elderly people can be an early indicator of the presence of abnormal brain plaque and tangles characteristic of Alzheimer's disease, even before the onset of memory problems, a new study hints.

The degree of Alzheimer disease "pathology" in older patients with and without dementia is directly associated with their degree of physical frailty, researchers report in the August 12th issue of the medical journal Neurology.

Dr. Aron S. Buchman, from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and colleagues examined the brains of 165 people in their 80s who had died while participating in a long-term study called the Rush Memory and Aging Project.

While the participants were alive, they were....
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Prevent Alzheimer's, boost your brain power

Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,

Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be

Here are more interesting dementiaarticles and activities, Biloxi Mississippi

WLOX Channel 13

Every seven seconds, someone in the world is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. More than 24.3 million people in the world are currently living with these conditions.

Experts say memory loss can occur for a number of different reasons, including Alzheimer's disease, arteriosclerotic disease, vascular disease, stroke, vitamin deficiencies and thyroid deficiencies; but with early and careful evaluation, many dementia-causing conditions are treatable and sometimes even reversible.

After Alzheimer's disease the second most common form of dementia is vascular dementia, which results from blockages in the brain's blood supply and the vital oxygen and nutrients it carries....
read the whole story

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

When it comes to Alzheimer's, brain size does matter

WMAQ NBC5 TV Chicago

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias usually shows up late in life, but researchers said that signs may appear decades in advance.

One of the signs could be poor school performance, University of South Florida researchers said.
The researchers based their conclusion on a study of nuns. Those who had a smaller head size were more likely to have had dementia or showed signs of Alzheimer's during an autopsy.

The people with smaller heads -- and, thus, it was assumed, smaller brains -- also were more likely to have done poorly in school.

A news release said that previous studies have found that Alzheimer’s disease is related to head size, with people having smaller heads more likely to show symptoms...
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Sunday, August 10, 2008

How Amyloid Plaques May Damage Brain Cells In Alzheimer's Disease

ScienceDaily (2008-07-31) --


A major question surrounding Alzheimer's disease -- whether and how amyloid plaques found in the brains of patients actually damage neurons -- may be closer to an answer. Using an advanced imaging technique, researchers from the MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease found that levels of intracellular calcium are significantly elevated in neurons close to Alzheimer's plaques in a mouse model and showed how excess calcium may interfere with neuronal signals and cause cell death. ...

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Still so many questions. Slowly but surely, we will get the answers

What do you think?

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Still no cure for Alzheimer's

August 7, 2008 - 9:54AM
Joy Slagowski
Daily News-Sun
Clinical trial results and presentations were the highlights of the Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease last week in Chicago.
About eight key researchers with the Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City joined approximately 5,000 other scientists at the annual convention.
Dr. Joe Rogers, president and senior scientist at SHRI, said he contributed to a presentation with members of the Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium, and also was there to learn about other important clinical trial results.
"We presented new results from the Arizona investigators concerning the genetic risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease," Rogers said. "From this we may be able to determine some day who will get Alzheimer's and who will not."
Rogers said the two clinical trial presentations produced mixed results.
click here to read the whole story

Friday, August 8, 2008

What is the news about the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia?

Innovative Alzheimer's medications offer hope
Dr. Beata Skudlarska
Article Last Updated: 08/06/2008 12:29:07 PM EDT


Q: What is the news about the treatment of Alzheimer's dementia? Are there any new medications available? How do they work? Do they have side effects? Is there any place close by where I can get my mom into a medication trial? She has been diagnosed with dementia 4 years ago and I think that the pills she is taking are not helping anymore. Any advice is welcome. Trish
A: The Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease just ended in Chicago last week. Many new drug trial results and potential new treatments were presented. Some were rather promising, others proved to be disappointing. I will try to summarize them for you, but first let me briefly describe what is available for treatment of dementia now.

First, no new drugs for dementia have been approved since 2003. We hope that some new medications will get approved soon (which, in the world of pharmacological intervention is 12-24 months). We do not know for sure when because the Food And Drug Administration tends to be more careful with new drugs these days, trying to make sure that medications have no harmful side effects (remember Vioxx?).

Currently, there are two groups of drugs on the market to treat Alzheimer's. One type blocks an enzyme responsible for the breakdown of a chemical, acetylcholine, which is believed to play a major role in memory transmission in the brain. As a result, there is more of that chemical available for brain cells to use. In this group we have three drugs to click here to read the whole story and comments

Saturday, August 2, 2008

ICAD: Int. Conference on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Diementias Meeting

By Peggy Peck, Executive Editor, MedPage Today
Published: August 01, 2008
Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

CHICAGO, Aug. 1 -- Dementia patients who persistently took medication for the condition had increased median survival by about three years, but it is unknown if the drugs were associated with delayed institutionalization, researchers here reported

Action Points
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explain to interested patients that this report describes observational findings that suggest an association between treatment with approved antidementia drugs and overall survival, which includes survival in nursing homes.

Note that this study was published as an abstract and presented as a poster at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

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read the full article


MedPage Today CMES for healthcare professionals

Friday, August 1, 2008

Overthinking may offer protection from Alzheimers and other dementias

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY

People who tend to overthink things might be protecting themselves from Alzheimer's, according to research presented Wednesday at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease.

A slew of studies were presented at the meeting in Chicago that looked at how certain lifestyle factors, like rumination, and family history may affect a person's risk for dementia. Among their findings:

HEALTH BLOG: Latest research on dealing with dementia

• Overthinking family and work troubles may be a good thing when it comes to late-life brain health, according to Israeli researchers. More than 9,000 men in midlife were asked to rate their tendency for rumination on a scale from 1 (always forget) to 4 (usually ruminate) when it comes to family and work difficulties. The scientists followed up three decades later performing dementia assessments in 1,892 of the 2,606 men who had survived. Dementia prevalence was up to 40% less in men who said they ruminated about life's matters more often, compared with men who had the lowest ruminating scores
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