Dementia / Alzheimer's

Today, September 21, is annual World Alzheimer’s Day and September is World Alzheimer’s month. These designations are obviously not intended to celebrate this dreaded disease but rather to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s. With that in mind, here are a few items of interest: First, Here’s a simple primer from the CDC…

It’s not uncommon for an adult child to be the caregiver for an aging parent. Perhaps it’s a little less common when that caregiver is a son. But perhaps most unusual of all is the son’s decision to document the time he spends with his mother, as her world collapses…

While the stories of people like Gerda Saunders are critical for enhancing our understanding of what it’s like to experience dementia, The Social Care Institute For Excellence, a British support agency that improves the quality of care and support services for adults and children, has come out with a video…

It’s not often that we get insight into someone suffering from dementia, particularly someone as articulate as Gerda Saunders. Ms. Saunders, 67, a retired professor from the University of Utah, was given the diagnosis of cerebral microvascular disease, a precursor of dementia, 6 years ago. She began a journal to document her…

For many people with Alzheimer’s or significant memory problems, their lives are lived mostly in the past- their days are spent thinking of long ago places and decades-old activities. Some get confused and try to physically return to those places, causing caregivers concern as they attempt to wander away. The result?…

Anyone who has dealt with Alzheimer’s knows how bleak the outlook can be, especially given the lack of effective treatment. What you may not realize is that many patients in the early stages of cognitive impairment or dementia seem to be misdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s, thus taking medications that are of…