Wednesday, April 29, 2009

People with dementia love Judy Garland

Most people with dementia love Judy Garland movies and songs
Judy Garland

Judy Garland movies

"The Big Revue" foom
http://www.jgdb.com/jgfilms.htm

Meglin short subject, 1929 [as one of The Gumm Sisters]
"A Holiday in Storyland"

Vitaphone short subject, 1929 [as one of The Gumm Sisters]
"The Wedding of Jack and Jill"

Vitaphone short subject, 1929 [as one of The Gumm Sisters]
"Bubbles"

Vitaphone short subject, 1929 [as one of The Gumm Sisters]
"La Fiesta de Santa Barbara"

MGM short subject, 1935 [as one of The Garland Sisters]
"Every Sunday"

MGM short subject, 1936 [as Judy]
Pigskin Parade

20th Century-Fox, 1936 [as Sairy Dodd]
Broadway Melody of 1938

MGM, 1937 [as Betty Clayton]
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry

MGM, 1937 [as Cricket West]
"Silent Night"

MGM, 1937 Christmas Trailer
Everybody Sing

MGM, 1938 [as Judy Bellaire]
Love Finds Andy Hardy

MGM, 1938 [as Betsy Booth]
Listen, Darling

MGM, 1938 [as Pinkie Wingate]
The Wizard of Oz

MGM, 1939 [as Dorothy Gale] AA
Babes in Arms

MGM, 1939 [as Patsy Barton]
"If I Forget You"

MGM, 1940 short subject
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante

MGM, 1940 [as Betsy Booth]
Strike Up the Band

MGM, 1940 [as Mary Holden]
Little Nellie Kelly

MGM, 1940 [as Nellie Kelly and Little Nellie Kelly]
Ziegfeld Girl

MGM, 1941 [as Susan Gallagher]
Life Begins for Andy Hardy

MGM, 1941 [as Betsy Booth]
Babes on Broadway

MGM, 1941 [as Penny Morris]
"We Must Have Music"

MGM, 1941 short subject
For Me and My Gal

MGM, 1942 [as Jo Hayden]
Presenting Lily Mars

MGM, 1943 [as Lily Mars]
Girl Crazy

MGM, 1943 [as Ginger Gray]
Thousands Cheer

MGM, 1943 [as Herself]
Meet Me in St. Louis

MGM, 1944 [as Esther Smith]
The Clock

MGM, 1945 [as Alice Mayberry]
The Harvey Girls

MGM, 1946 [as Susan Bradley]
Ziegfeld Follies of 1946

MGM, 1946 [as "The Star"]
Till the Clouds Roll By

MGM, 1946 [as Marilyn Miller]
The Pirate

MGM, 1948 [as Manuela Alva]
Easter Parade

MGM, 1948 [as Hannah Brown]
Words and Music

MGM, 1948 [as Herself]
In the Good Old Summertime

MGM, 1949 [as Veronica Fisher]
Summer Stock

MGM, 1950 [as Jane Falbury]
A Star Is Born

Transcona / Warner Bros, 1954 [as Esther Blodgett] AAN
Pepe

Columbia, 1960 [voice only]
Judgment at Nuremberg

United Artists, 1961 [as Irene Hoffman] AAN
Gay Purr-ee

UPA / Warner Bros, 1963 [as voice of Mewsette]
A Child Is Waiting

United Artists, 1963 [as Jean Hansen]
I Could Go On Singing

Judy Garland songs

* Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart
* 2.You Made Me Love You/For Me And My Gal/The Trolley Song
* 3.Hello Bluebird
* 4.Over The Rainbow
* 5.Come Rain Or Come Shine
* 6.I Don't Care
* 7.Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
* 8.After You've Gone
* 9.Just In Time
* 10.Maybe I'll Come Back
* 11.Shine On Harvest Moon/Some Of These Days/My Man/I Don't Care
* 12.The Party's Over
* 13.Danny Boy
* 14.The Man That Got Away
* 15.He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
* 16.We're Off To See The Wizard
* 17.It's All For You
* 18.CD-ROM Data: A Musical Anthology


* 1.Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart
* 2.The Trolley Song
* 3.Meet Me In St. Louis, Louis
* 4.On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe
* 5.You Made Me Love You
* 6.Over The Rainbow
* 7.I Can't Give You Anything But Love
* 8.April Showers
* 9.When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
* 10.Chicago
* 11.Swanee
* 12.Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody


* 1.Swanee
* 2.San Francisco
* 3.You Made Me Love You
* 4.For Me and My Gal
* 5.Trolley Song
* 6.Man That Got Away, The
* 7.After You've Gone
* 8.Dialogue
* 9.Happiness Is Just a Thing Called Joe
* 10.Chicago
* 11.I Can't Give You Anything But Love
* 12.Come Rain or Come Shine
* 13.Dialogue
* 14.Stormy Weather
* 15.Rock-a-Bye Your Baby
* 16.Over the Rainbow
* 17.Reprise
For more songs and a 30 second sound sample of each, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Researchers Discover How Alzheimer's Disease Kills Brain Cells

EMaxHealth

Submitted by Kathleen Blanchard RN
Posted under: Alzheimer's Disease
Until now, scientists have been uncertain exactly how Alzheimer’s disease kills brain cells, causing debate among researchers. The results of a new study show how amyloid plaques, found in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, cause brain cells to die.

Researchers from University of Michigan and the University of California, San Diego were able to observe spikes in electrical currents across artificial cell membranes and in the membranes of live human cancer cells in the presence of the amyloid-beta peptide. What that told the scientists is that amyloid peptides poke holes in the cell membranes, allowing influx of calcium. Prior to the current research, it was believed that amyloid peptides thinned the cell membranes, producing calcium ion fluctuations. When ions become imbalanced, cell death results.

The researchers say that controversy about how Alzheimer’s disease kills brain cells has been a hindrance to developing new drugs. Michael Mayer, an assistant professor in the U-M departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering says, “It is our hope that putting this disagreement to rest by showing that amyloid beta peptides do not thin membranes but instead form discrete pores in membrane can help the field move forward at a more rapid pace."

Mayer explains how his team was able to........read the whole article

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Chemical device in worms 'may point to Alzheimer's treatment'

Telegraph.co.uk

chemical device dicovered in worms may help doctors treat diseases including Alzheimer's, researchers believe.

Chemical device dicovered in worms may help doctors treat diseases Scientists bred worms with the ability to "turn on" a reaction in their body's cells that is usually prompted automatically by a drop in surrounding oxygen.

Those worms able to "turn on" the reaction - called the hypoxic response - lived longer and are relatively free from toxic proteins that accumulate and clump together as an animal ages, the researchers found

Similar collections of toxic proteins are seen in the brain cells of people with Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and several other degenerative conditions associated with aging.

The bodily substance that controls the hypoxic response is called.......read the whole story

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Franklin Study Could Make Difference To Alzheimer's Patients

newschannel5.com/Global/story

FRANKLIN, Tenn. - More than five million Americans now live with Alzheimer's disease - something researchers in Franklin hope to change.

Alzheimer's disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. There is currently no known cure.

A research study in Franklin has been looking for volunteers to help study a new drug that could make a difference.

Just a year ago, Sandy Boswell was an active, semi-retired carpenter until Alzheimer's robbed him of his memory and any chance of working again.

"Just looking at him today, and his memory from yesterday is very devastating," said Albert Bell.

Bell is Sandy's caregiver. He has enrolled the 73-year-old in the research study.

"We feel by volunteering, maybe with this new drug - at least slow the progression down or cure the disease if not help Mr. Boswell or some other patients," said researcher Dr. William Petrie.

Petrie said the new drug has shown promise with the disease, but more patients are needed to join a nationwide study to learn if the drug works and whether it is safe.

"We will only know years from now if it will work, but it looks......
read the whole story

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Friday, April 24, 2009

Perfect last minute gifts for your mom with dementia

Healthnews-stat.com
First on the list of gifts for mom is a book by Susan Berg called Adorable Photographs of Our Baby -- Meaningful, Mind-Stimulating Activities and More for the Memory Challenged, Their Loved Ones and Involved Professionals, This book features baby photographs that seniors with dementia love. This book shares a plethora of idea sand resources for you.

Another gift a dementia mother will fancy is a classic musical video or DVD. Your mother will enjoy watching something from the good old days and singing the songs played throughout the picture.Here are a few suggestions: Singin’ in the Rain, Meet Me in St. Louis, or Shall We Dance

Next is a sing a long CD or audio cassette of their favorite songs. There is a series of these called, Old Time Favorites by Nancy Pitkin

You may want to get a sing a long video where you loved one can see and hear performers singing songs they love. A good one is, Sing-Along with Phil Bernardi: Songs We Know and Love

Here is another idea. Give your mom some...read the whole storyFor a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here


For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Pfizer and Medivation to initiates Phase III trial for Alzheimer’s disease

Business Review.com

By PBR staff writer

Trial to last 12 month

Pfizer and Medivation, a biopharmaceutical company reported the initiation of a 12-month, Phase III clinical trial of the investigational drug Dimebon. The study, known as Concert, is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Dimebon when added to ongoing treatment with donepezil HCI tablets, for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

The Concert study is part of a broad, Phase III clinical development program for Dimebon. The study builds on data from a small-scale safety and tolerability trial of Dimebon added to donepezil, which found the combination to be well tolerated. Concert is designed to complement previous and ongoing studies by further evaluating the efficacy of Dimebon. The Phase III program also includes the confirmatory 6-month Connection study, which is designed to.......read the whole article

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Monday, April 20, 2009

Recognizing Volunteers During National Volunteer Week

Ezine

National Volunteer Week runs from April 19 through April 25 this year. This week is about recognizing those individuals who have engaged in their community. It's about showing the nation that we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members of a true community with all of us working together. It is about all the wonderful things the volunteers do.

Many nursing home volunteers have assisted the staff in enriching the lives of the residents in oh so many ways. Some of the volunteers serve coffee and doughnuts. Some lead religious services. Some provide assistance at bingo or another activity. Some play musical instruments or lead a sing a long. Others visit residents with Alzheimer's disease or other dementias. They help to keep the minds of these folks active. Some just take time to put a smile on the faces of the residents. Of course, our volunteers help in many other ways but they are just too numerous to mention.

The theme of National Volunteer Week this year is "Celebrating People in Action". We are extremely fortunate to have these individuals, young and old, take such an interest in the happiness of the residents.

National Volunteer Week began in 1974 when President Richard Nixon signed an executive order establishing a week in April as an annual celebration of volunteering. Since then, every U.S. President has signed a proclamation promoting National Volunteer Week. Also, governors, mayors, and other elected officials make public statements and sign proclamations in support of National Volunteer Week.

In 2003, President Bush created the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation to explore ways to acknowledge the worthwhile contributions volunteers are making in our Nation. The Council brings.........read the whole article

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Neurodegenerative diseases target healthy brain's intrinsic networks

EurekAlert
Contact: Cathleen Genova
cgenova@cell.com
617-397-2802
Cell Press

New research suggests that neurodegenerative diseases are neither diffuse nor random but specifically target large-scale functional networks in the human brain. The study, published by Cell Press in the April 16 issue of the journal Neuron, may drive a new generation of network-based strategies for diagnosing and monitoring neurodegenerative diseases.

Brain imaging studies have revealed the architecture of intrinsic functional networks in the human brain. These networks involve multiple functionally related groups of neurons that exhibit spontaneous synchronous baseline activity during task-free conditions. Previous work has established that connectivity within these networks can influence task performance, but it has remained unclear how fluctuations in neural network activity are correlated with brain structure in health and disease.

"Although some studies suggested that Alzheimer's disease may attack a specific large-scale network, we hypothesized that all neurodegenerative diseases target a distinct signature network," says lead study author Dr. William W. Seeley from the University of California, San Francisco. "If demonstrated as a class-wide phenomenon, this network degeneration framework could have major mechanistic significance, predicting that spatial patterning of disease relates to some structural, metabolic, or physiological aspect of neural network biology."

To examine whether large-scale neural networks are targeted by disease in living humans, Dr. Seeley and colleagues used neuroimaging to study patients with five distinct neurodegenerative syndromes and two healthy control groups. The researchers found that each of the neurodegenerative syndromes featured a distinct regional vulnerability pattern within one of five specific healthy human intrinsic networks.

Additionally, the authors found a direct link between intrinsic connectivity and normal brain structure. In the healthy individuals, nodes within each functional network exhibited tightly correlated gray matter tissue volumes. "These results provide a new, structure-based window into network organization," says Dr. Seeley. "It appears that regions that fire together also grow (in health) or atrophy (in disease) together."

These results provide strong support for the........read the whole article

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Saturday, April 18, 2009

'Sleeping longer linked to dementia'

The Hindu

London (PTI): It's time to cut down on sleep for those who love to spend more time on bed, for a new study says that sleeping longer could raise a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's or dementia.

Researchers in Europe have carried out the study and found the link between sleeping longer and memory loss in old age -- in fact, those who stay on bed for more than nine hours could be twice as likely to develop dementia.

They have based their findings on an analysis of sleep patterns of a group of people.

And, the findings revealed that those who indulged in sleeping and napping for more than nine hours daily were 2.18 times more likely to end up with a degenerative condition like dementia or Alzheimer's disease.

In fact, the results were adjusted for smoking and drinking habits, age and level of education.

People who got the least amount of sleep, categorised as less than five hours a night, could also expect a slightly increased risk, the study suggested. However, the researchers said sleeping longer may be an.....read the whole article

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here

Friday, April 17, 2009

Brain Cells Give New Clues to Alzheimer's

Protein plaques disperse a free radical that can damage neurons, scientists say

(HealthDay News) -- By uncovering a mechanism that causes damage to brain synapses during Alzheimer's disease, researchers might have found a key to reducing or preventing nerve degeneration for these patients.

According to a report in the April 3 issue of Science, researchers at the U.S.-based Burnham Institute for Medical Research have shown that beta-amyloid protein "multimers" create excessive nitric oxide. This free radical then reacts with the protein Drp1, causing the fragmentation of mitochondria -- the cell's energy storehouses -- in the brain, a violent process that causes the neurodegeneration linked to Alzheimer's disease.

When mitochondria break apart, the reaction damages synapses leading to nerve cell death. As brain synapses are vital for learning and memory, any damage or malfunction of these message-carrying connections can lead to Alzheimer's and dementia. Multimers had also been previously linked to Alzheimer's disease.

"By identifying Drp1 as the protein responsible for synaptic injury, we now have a....read the whole article

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Alzheimer's cholesterol connection

Advance
Although the causes of Alzheimer's disease are not fully understood, there may be a clear connection between high cholesterol and the risk of developing the disease.

Emma Roberts is 73 years old and spends most of her days sitting in her favorite chair. She is incapable of conversation and often babbles incoherently. Her soft, baby blue eyes are wide and glossy, giving her the look of a lost child. For some 10 years now, Emma has been fighting a losing battle with Alzheimer's disease. In that time, the disease has slowly and steadily erased her identity. Nearly all traces of her former self — her exuberant personality, warm understanding and quick-witted sense of humor — have disintegrated in such a way that she is barely familiar to her closest family members. But more importantly, those family members are no longer familiar to Emma.

As sad as Emma's situation may be, she is just one of about 4 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer's. The disease is associated with the elderly, as it usually begins after age 60, with risks increasing with age. Ten percent of all Americans over the age of 65 — and nearly half of those over 85 — have the disease.1 Furthermore, a strong increase in the prevalence of the disease is expected over the next 50 years.1 It is estimated that by the middle of this century, 14 million Americans will have Alzheimer's.1

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurological disease that results in the irreversible loss of nerve cells in the brain, inhibiting a person's ability to remember, think and talk. The disease starts off by causing mild memory problems that may go unnoticed, but it ends up causing serious mental damage and possibly death. Alzheimer's disease also leads to changes in behavior and mood. People with Alzheimer's often become delusional, depressed and very agitated. Alzheimer's can also cause anxiety, hallucinations, insomnia and wandering.

It is not yet clear what causes Alzheimer's disease, and there is no known cure. Some scientists, however, hope that by researching common health risks that occur in the pre-elderly (age 40 to 60) stages of life, they will find links to a disease that is prevalent among the elderly.

Within the last 10 years, scientists have made great strides against deadly diseases that are most common among the elderly. There is a mounting body of evidence that indicates that several health threats of the elderly are interconnected.1 When studying the conditions that impinge on the elderly, scientists closely examine health conditions of the middle aged. Vital signs at midlife could help predict the development of Alzheimer's or, at least, the risks of developing Alzheimer's. Cholesterol, for example, has been identified as a significant risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

A Finnish Study

A Finnish study that followed 1,449 men and women from middle age to old age suggests that people with high cholesterol are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease later in life.1 Scientists measured the blood levels and cholesterol levels of the subjects in the 1970s, when they were in their 40s and 50s. The participants were examined again in 1998, when they were ages 65 to 79. After analyzing the data from the study, researchers concluded that those with high systolic blood pressure or high cholesterol levels were far.......read the whole article

For easy CEUs on dementia or other senior care isssues, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid May Signal Onset of Mild Alzheimer's

DoctorsGuide

Scientists have made a significant step forward in developing a test to help diagnose the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) sooner and more accurately by measuring tau and beta-amyloid proteins in cerebrospinal fluid.

The study, published in the March 17 online issue of the Annals of Neurology, from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) not only confirmed that certain changes in biomarker levels in cerebrospinal fluid may signal the onset of mild AD, but also established a method and standard of testing for these biomarkers.

"Research indicates that Alzheimer's pathology causes....read the whole article

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Friday, April 10, 2009

Study offers clue to why nonhuman primates do not get Alzheimer's

SNM SmartBrief
U.S. researchers discovered that Pittsburgh Compound B, a radiolabeled compound often used in PET imaging for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's, does not bind to beta amyloid proteins in the brains of nonhuman primates even if they had more of the protein than their human counterparts. This finding could help explain why.......read the whole brief

For more dementia information, click here

For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Protein-Folding Problem May Help Spur Alzheimer's

Forbes
Finding could lead to new target for disease therapy, researchers say

(HealthDay News) -- A dysfunction in protein folding contributes to nerve cell death in Alzheimer's disease, a finding that could help lead to new treatments, Dutch researchers report.

The presence of tangles of misfolded proteins is believed to contribute to Alzheimer's disease, the experts explained. A process known as the "unfolded protein response" typically protects cells from the toxic effects of accumulated misfolded proteins. But prolonged activation of the unfolded protein response -- such as that seen in Alzheimer's patients -- may result in cell death.

The researchers at the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam believed that unfolded protein response contributed to brain damage through its effects on the accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau, a major component of tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

The study revealed that markers of the unfolded protein response were expressed in areas of tau accumulation in Alzheimer's patients. The unfolded protein response-related proteins were expressed early, in pre-tangle neurons, but were absent in tangle neurons.

The findings suggest that......read the whole story

For more dementia information, click here

For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Getting the word out about dementia

Introducing our new "Headliner" Advertising Packages!

Announcing the launch of our best advertising program yet – the Today.com “Headliner Package”.

This package was specifically designed to provide a low cost way to advertise on the Today.com network. As an Advertiser: For just $4.99 per month you’ll have access to our most prominent ad spot – the banner at the top of each blog and category page*. At this low price, you’ll receive at least 1,000 highly visible impressions running across the entire Today.com network. You get affordable reach and premium placement, all in one advertising package.

For those of you who want more control over your ad placements, we’re offering the “Headliner Plus Package”. By selecting keywords related to your blog or product, you can ensure that your ad will appear only in relevant content areas.
For just $9.99 per month you’ll get a minimum of 1,000 targeted ad impressions running in the top banner. Plus, you’ll receive enhanced reporting that includes click counts.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! We want to be around for quite some time and continue cutting bigger checks each and every month.

To sign up. click here

To get paid to write, click here


There are 3 ways you can help:

1. For a limited time, we’re rewarding all VIP Bloggers with 25% bonus impressions upon enrollment in either program. It’s our way of saying thanks, and helping you achieve your goals. Act now and increase your exposure to any blog, website, or business you are affiliated with. All you have to do it log into the Advertise page with your Today.com username/password and you should see all the details and an easy checkout process immediately after logging in.

2. Tell any and everyone you know who might be interested in this new program. While you're at it let them know they can sponsor your blog!

3. Give us your feedback on the checkout process or anything related to this new ad program. Especially if you see any bugs or problems.


*Currently, we’re running the “Get Paid to Blog” message in this high-impact space. Banner space is a standard half-banner size, 234x60.

*** INFO ON RECURRING PAYMENTS TO PAYPAL ACCOUNTS ***

If you wish to cancel any monthly subscription, log into your PayPal account and cancel it. Upon canceling it Today.com will receive a notification and will remove your AD at the appropriate time.

For your convenience, here are the directions copied from PayPal’s FAQ:

How do I cancel a subscription?
You can cancel your subscription from your transaction history.
A subscription can be canceled up to the day of the next scheduled payment.

Here's How:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click History at the top of the page.
3. Select Subscriptions from the Show menu.
4. Check the From box and change the date back 2 years.
5. Click Search.
6. Click Details to view the details of a specific Subscription Creation.
7. Click Cancel Subscription.
8. Click Cancel Subscription again.

For adementia information, click here

For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Friday, April 3, 2009

Drug-Induced Dementia and Delirium Common in Seniors But Often Undetected, Public Citizen Says

Commondreams.org
Condition Is Usually Reversible, Can Be Caused by 136 Drugs Listed on WorstPills.org
WASHINGTON - April 1 - Older patients become more susceptible to drug-induced dementia and delirium as they age, but the symptoms are often overlooked by doctors who don't realize that the condition may be caused by drugs and reversed, Public Citizen writes in a Worst Pills, Best Pills News article released today on WorstPills.org, the organization's drug safety Web site.

Unlike most forms of dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease, which cannot be reversed, dementia caused by prescription drug use may be stopped by discontinuing the offending medication. The drug safety experts at Public Citizen have identified 136 commonly prescribed medications, especially certain antidepressants and pain medications, that can cause difficulty thinking.

Drug-induced dementia and delirium are commonly misattributed to underlying medical illness or merely to "old age." But by stopping or modifying the dosage of numerous, frequently prescribed drugs, most patients can be restored to a pre-drug state of mental clarity.

Older people are more susceptible to drug-induced delirium and dementia because the body's ability to rid itself of drugs decreases with age, often because of normal age-related decrease in kidney and liver function. Also, older patients are often prescribed multiple drugs at the same time, resulting in complicated interactions and enhanced side effects. Some research also suggests older patients' brains may be more sensitive to drugs' effects on the central nervous system.

"Sadly, doctors don't always recognize cognitive impairment as a side effect, so many patients needlessly suffer from this debilitating but reversible condition," said Sidney Wolfe, M.D., director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group and acting Public Citizen president. "After beginning new......read the whole story

For more dementia information, click here

For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Drugs cause confusion in elderly

By Mary Brophy Marcus, USA TODAY
Commonly used medications could be a culprit in some older peoples' memory problems, a new report shows.
Elderly patients are often more susceptible to "drug-induced dementia and delirium," says Public Citizen, a consumer research and advocacy group, in an article posted Wednesday at worstpills.org. The report includes a list of 136 commonly prescribed drugs that are potentially dangerous to seniors' cognitive health
Sadly, doctors don't always recognize cognitive impairment as a side effect, so many patients needlessly suffer from this debilitating but reversible condition," says Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

The article says a host of factors can cause cognitive-related drug problems in the elderly, including....read the whole article

For more dementia information, click here

For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here

For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here

For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here
Blog Flux Directory
alzheimersideas - whereIstand.com

Fitness is important in dementia prevention. Click below for more info