Minding Our Elders®

Scholars Coming Forward with Their Alzheimer’s Stories Helps Reduce Stigma of Dementia

Brilliant people get Alzheimer's and other dementias. Three rather public figures that come to mind are recent Nobel prize winner, physicist Charles K. Kao, retired psychologist, professor and Alzheimer's activist Richard Taylor and the husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Most of us can name a few lesser known figures, though to us they are far more important. My dad's dementia was much like Alzheimer's, however it was brought on by brain surgery that was meant to correct the effects of a World War II brain injury. We all probably know and love others who may not have been well educated, or achieved public acclaim of any kind. What better recommendation can anyone have but to be loved?

Read more about Alzheimer's and the attached stigma on ouralzheimers.com:

Find care agencies to help your loved one:

Products to help you stay independent:

Aging and Psychology Marry in Book on Aging and Illness

Tamara McClintock Greenberg has written an important book on aging and the medical community. Psychodynamic Perspectives on Aging and Illness gives readers much to think about. Hopefully, many of these readers will be members of the medical community.

People are living longer but not always better. Aging carries with it many psychological challenges. Medicine is still more about curing rather than helping people cope with challenging medical futures. Greenberg's book challenges medical people to look at the whole person they are treating. It challenges medical people to look at the medical system. It challenges readers to consider the trauma elders are subjected to while the system treats them as just another cog in the wheel. And it examines many psychological traumas elders must endure.

This book is not light reading. However, the information included is important and the humanness of some of the material is surprising, given the rather imposing title and scientific appearance. I would recommend it to anyone interested in how elders are treated in our medical system, but I'd be down right pushy in recommending it to medical professionals. Greenberg's book, published by Springer, can be found in bookstores and online.

Cholinesterase Inhibitors Shown to Have Side Effects Serious to Some Alzheimer’s Patients

All drugs have side effects. That's pretty much a universal factor. Most drugs that pass through rigorous testing and gain FDA approval are determined to have enough benefit to make any known risks acceptable. Often, however, it takes time for all side effects to become clear. Often, too, the significance of the effects isn't absorbed by the doctors prescribing the drugs. From Canada comes a story titled, "Dementia drugs may put some patients at risk, Queen's study shows," that reports on a study about the side effects of some Alzheimer's medications.

Read more on side effects of Alzheimer's drugs:

Find care for your long-distance loved one:

Consumer Reports Launches New Hearing Aid Site

Hearing aids. Most people put off the decision to buy or not to buy hearing aids as long as they can. The equipment keeps getting better (and more confusing and more expensive). Also, there's a certain amount of ego deflation involved in admitting hearing loss due to aging, though much hearing loss is due to our noisy society and is occurring at younger ages.

Consumer Reports has launched a very good site about hearing aids, how to rate them, buy them and what to look for in the business you trust to help you with your hearing problem. If hearing loss troubles your or your loved one, check out this site. There's a lot of good information.

Take a survey to see what care agency best suits your needs:

Ten Warning Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Aging takes its toll, but way too often certain changes people experience are chalked up to "just normal for the aging process." While we don't want to panic every time we have a memory slip, we do want to catch Alzheimer's early, if that is what's happening. There are now drugs that can slow the decline and preserved quality of life for a much longer time. The Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) has an excellent list of 10 warning signs. This is well worth checking out.

Find caregiving agencies for long-distance and in town care:

HBO Series on Alzheimer's begins May 10

HBO's "The Alzheimer's Project" airs starting today continuing through Tuesday (May 10- May 12). The Web site provides you with all the information you need about the series, plus indepth information on Alzheimer's. You'll find, on the site, information about the project, films to watch, basic information on Alzheimer's, hope through research, the national impact, how to get involved and how to get help.  This HBO series should be superb. Maria Shriver, who has written a children's book on the subject, hosts one part, called, "Grandpa, do you know who I am?" There's a phone number for help - just tons of information. Even if you miss the series, check out the site soon.

Find caregiving help for your elders:

Statin Study Shows Promise for Alzheimer's Disease

"This stuff ought to be in the drinking water!"

I remember hearing that from doctors when they first found out how effective the early cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, were. Of course, I also read a couple of articles where at least one doctor thought Prozac, an anti-depressant that belonged to a new class of  drugs, ought to be given to everyone - that way everyone could be happy all the time (true, I did read that, though it was short-lived). I think most doctors and researchers have gone beyond that jubilant mentality.

Read more on statins and Alzheimer's:

Study Shows Insulin Can Help Protect Brain From Alzheimer’s

My area of the country has a relatively high rate of diabetes. When I was spending a good portion of every day in a local nursing home, taking care of the needs of family elders, I would often see quite young folks in wheelchairs, recovering from foot surgery or even an amputation due to diabetes. Blindness and other serious consequences of diabetes are well known. My area of the country has a relatively high rate of diabetes. When I was spending a good portion of every day in a local nursing home, taking care of the needs of family elders, I would often see quite young folks in wheelchairs, recovering from foot surgery or even an amputation due to diabetes. Blindness and other serious consequences of diabetes are well known. Now, however, there is evidence that a type of Alzheimer's can also be a consequence of diabetes.

Read more about diabetes and Alzheimer's:

Can An Oil From the Coconut Tree Help Alzheimer’s?

Dr. Mary Newport, who has spent her practice taking care of babies, is also the wife of a man with early-onset Alzheimer's. Newport contacted me and asked if she could send me an article, along with some links to newspaper stories, about an oil found in the coconut tree and its effects on Alzheimer's disease. I said sure. I'm always happy to learn about new ideas in development. When the article arrived, I was impressed by how promising this sounds and excited that there may be one more product, already available, that could protect brains and even help the quality of life of those with Alzheimer's disease.

Read more about coconut oil and Alzheimer's:

Old Drug Offers New Hope for Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers around the world are working feverishly to develop a drug that will prevent or cure Alzheimer's. There's a lot of pressure to do so, and only some of the pressure is a financial windfall for the company who develops the first drug with one of these effects.

Read more about anti-seizure drug preventing Alzheimer's:

Awareness of Personal Growth During Caregiving Can Help Caregiver Health

In a story on health.usnews.com titled "Caregivers Face Multiple Strains Tending Older Parents," a study was examined that showed "middle-aged adults who regularly help their elderly parents get by experience a drop in health and well-being in their own lives..." The study is reported in an edition of the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences earlier this year.

Read more about caregiving and personal growth:

Medication and Lactose Intolerance: Are You Aware?

A  reader of mine opened my eyes wide. I have a son who is lactose intolerant. So is my sister. There are entire ethnic groups who have a large percentage of their population with this food intolerance. Lactose, described in the dictionary as, "A white crystalline substance obtained from whey and used in infant foods, bakery products, confections, and pharmaceuticals ...

Read more about medication and lactose intolerance:

Study Shows B Vitamin Deficiencies Contribute to Memory Disorder

A Newswise article titled, "B-Vitamin Deficiency May Cause Vascular Cognitive Impairment," caught my eye, as I'm always looking for ways that we can help prevent dementia and other health problems through nutritional or other safe and readily available means. This particular article is about a Tufts University study that "...used an experimental model to examine the metabolic, cognitive, and microvascular effects of dietary B-vitamin deficiency." In a nutshell, the study found, "Mice fed a diet deficient in folate and vitamins B12 and B6 demonstrated significant deficits in spatial learning and memory compared with normal mice."

Read more on "B Vitamin Deficiencies and Memory Disorder" at ouralzheimers.com

Another Early-Warning Test for Alzheimer’s is on the Horizon

Once more, we've received news from the United Kingdom about advances on the Alzheimer's front. An article in the Daily Mail titled, "Blood test that gives 'a six-year early warning' of Alzheimer's," brings us news about a blood test that can detect Alzheimer's and Parkinson's (and even differentiate between the two) as much as six years in advance of symptoms.

Read full post:

New Law Should Protect Those Who Want Genetic Tests – Will It?

Many people would like to have genetic testing done. Whether their family history includes breast cancer, Parkinson's disease, early on-set Alzheimer's disease or any of a number of other illnesses that may have genetic roots, it can often be good to know if you are, or are not, at risk.

Read full post:

Could Your Prescriptions be the Culprit?

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen wrote an eye-opener on elders and drugs titled "Is Grandma drugged up?" She tells the story of a family who had their mother diagnosed with dementia, and then decided to get a second opinion from a geriatrician. The diagnosis? Too many medicines interacting with on another.

Read full post: