Alzheimer's disease: Ten Simple Solutions for Caregivers by Jo Huey Ten chapters, each devoted to one of Jo Huey’s well-known Ten Communication Absolutes. Easy practical suggestions for improving communication, preventing behaviors due to frustration or fear and fostering a hopeful attitude. Talking with Your Doctor from National Institute on Aging This 44-page booklet is full of ideas and tips for good communication with your doctor. The illustrations and conversational tone help to explain how to prepare for a medical appointment, discuss sensitive topics, and coordinate help from family and friends. The Best Friends Approach to Alzheimer's Care by…
(CNN) — For years, the former host of "Good Morning America" had been a long-distance caregiver to her mother and brother in California, providing them with emotional and financial support from New York. After her brother's death in 2006 from complications from type II diabetes, Lunden needed to find a new home for her mother, who was suffering from the onset of dementia. Trying to create the best possible quality of life for an aging relative is "the new normal" for 43.5 million Americans caring for someone older than 50, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance. It's not just their…
Just about everyone has some loss of memory as we age. However, don't confuse normal aging with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). As you enter your 50s and 60s you may experience "mild cognitive impairment" (MCI) being forgetful, a bit confused and display other symptoms suggestive of mild Alzheimer's — but they can manage. However, MCI increases the likelihood of developing AD — as great as 15 times more risk. Alzheimer's disease (AD) – a small percentage of people (5 percent) will fall ill to its neurological destruction before the age of 65. But as we age into the 70s, 80s and…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched its “National Initiative to Improve Behavioral Health & Reduce the Use of Antipsychotic Medications in Nursing Home Residents." The initiative aims to raise awareness of antipsychotic misuse, improve regulatory oversight and train nursing home workers on non-drug treatments for aggressive and agitated dementia behaviors. When prescribed inappropriately, resident advocates have argued, antipsychotics can increase the risk of death for nursing home residents with dementia. They say increased nursing home staffing levels and extra training, among other measures, can help curb the use of such drugs. Groups such as the American Health Care…
Do you know where most of the millions of people who have Alzheimer's disease live? The answer, at home. Consequently, family and friends provide almost 75% of their care. That's why caregiving has been called the fastest growing unpaid profession in the United States. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving, during the past year more than 67 million Americans provided care to a family member, friend, or loved one, many of whom are suffering from different stages of Alzheimer's disease or some other type of dementia. If you're a caregiver, you know first-hand what it's like: Getting swept up…
Many people use the terms Alzheimer's disease and dementia interchangeably, but they have very different meanings. Although dementia is a group of symptoms that include memory loss, the term itself doesn't explain what is causing the symptoms. Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia, but here are many other causes. Dementia is a general term for memory loss that is severe enough to interfere with daily life. The signs of dementia may include forgetfulness, difficulty making plans, thinking ahead, or using language, as well as changing character traits, among other symptoms. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 80 percent…
The term "dementia" is thrown around a lot in discussions of elderly individuals, but what exactly does it mean? Dementia is a general term for memory loss that is severe enough to interfere with daily life. This general term encompasses many different diseases, of which Alzheimer's is only the most common. Following is a brief summary of the different types of dementia: Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's disease accounts for 50 to 70 percent of all cases of dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Alzheimer's is a partially hereditary disease that causes a loss of brain cells. It gets progressively worse over…
Lewy body dementia (LBD) affects an estimated 1.3 million individuals and their families in the United States, but because LBD symptoms can closely resemble other more commonly known diseases like Alzheimer's (the most common type of progressive dementia) and Parkinson's, it is currently widely underdiagnosed and there is a good chance your primary care physician is not familiar with it. Despite the disease's prevalence, people with LBD have to see an average of three doctors before the LBD diagnosis is made. In order to raise awareness about LBD in the general public and in the medical profession, The Lewy Body…
With more than 1.6 million Americans now living in nursing homes, many of us are all too familiar with the debilitating cycle of a nursing home admission followed by repeated hospitalizations, a spiraling into decline, and ultimately death. A Brown University study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, confirms what many of us have observed: health care transitions, such as moves in and out of the hospital from a nursing home, do not lead to positive outcomes. More common are frequent medical errors; poor care coordination, infections and additional medications. For patients with acute dementia, these transitions can…
While it is important for everyone to plan for the future, it is especially important for a person diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. When diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, family, friends and loved ones should help the person take the necessary steps to contact an elder care lawyer to help the family begin developing a long-term care legal plan. The sooner the legal planning begins, the person with Alzheimer’s, will be able to participate and help in the decision making. This legal planning may include making plans for health care and long-term care coverage, making plans for finances and property, and placing…
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