Don’t Take It So Hard, For Your Brain’s Sake

Taken From: http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/2013/10/dont-take-it-so-hard-for-your-brains.html The Study Women who suffer from a lot of stress in middle age may increase their risk of developing dementia. This is according to research published in the online journal BMJ Open. The researchers say that the response to common life events – such as divorce or serious illness or death of a close family member – …

Dementia-Safe Bedrooms

Home Design: Use this safety Checklist for living at home with dementia. It can alert you to potential hazards. Your home is a personal and precious environment. As you go through this checklist, make adaptations that modify and simplify without severely disrupting the home. You may want to consider setting aside a special area for yourself, a space off-limits to …

10 Ways to Preserve Dignity and Quality of Care

The ideas of dignity and quality of life mean different things to different people.  Those with Alzheimer’s disease must depend on their caregivers to help preserve quality of life for them.  Like people of all ages, the person with Alzheimer’s experiences feelings of joy, sadness, fear, anger, and jealousy.  As a caregiver, you need to recognize and respond to these …

8 Medication Questions for Caregivers to Ask Doctors

Taken from: Alzheimer’s Weekly at alzheimersweekly.com/2013/04/8-medication-questions-for-caregivers.html Medication Care Tips: People with Alzheimer’s generally take a lot of medicine. Some drugs boost memory and cognition, while others help with mood, behavior and other conditions. Learn how caregivers can help ensure medication is taken safely & correctly. There are 2 things that can be said about all FDA-approved medications: They help many …

When Alzheimer’s Disrupts a Marriage

Taken from: Alzheimer’s & Dementia Weekly at http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/2015/07/when-alzheimers-disrupts-marriage.html When a spouse is cognitively impaired, marital communication is impaired. As Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progresses, language problems increase in frequency – such as searching for the right word, repeating the same word, asking the same question over and over, or substituting one word for another. As a result of the decline in …

10 New Year’s Resolutions for Alzheimer’s Caregivers

Taken from: IlluminAge AgeWise at http://caringstrategies.com/2018/01/2018-new-years-resolutions-alzheimers-caregivers/ Do you make New Year’s resolutions before or after the first day of January? If you are caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer’s disease or a related disorder, you may think you don’t have time to make them at all! But now during the first week of the year, as the holiday …

Checklist for Providing Alzheimer’s Care

Even in the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, you will want to plan for the changes that will take place in the person’s daily life. Types of care to consider for Alzheimer’s Alzheimer’s Texas has several resource lists containing contacts for the following types of care. Informal Care: Family Friends and neighbors Community volunteers providing assistance as needed Respite Care: …

Alzheimer’s and Spirituality

Spirit can be defined as the animating force traditionally believed to be within living beings; a human being’s essence.  It is the part of the human being association with the mind and feelings as distinguished from the physical body.  Spirituality is not a doctrine.  It is a remembrance.  It is a feeling.  It is the knowledge that you are more …

Lewy Body Rollercoaster

Article by www.alzheimersweekly.com Attention, alertness and cognition have dramatic fluctuations in Lewy Body dementia. Caregivers call these ups and downs “The Roller-Coaster of LBD.” Learn more about it and where to get essential support. “I watched my husband experience a decline in cognition followed by a period of what seemed like improved function only to plunge again into confusion with …