Alzheimer's Caregiver Advice and Insight

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver
The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I learned a great deal about Alzheimer's disease and dementia--including the science. It helped me understand a very mystifying disease. It helped me to put a frame around something that is difficult if not impossible to describe.

Communication in Alzheimer's World
Let's face it, dealing with dementia is not easy. Understanding Alzheimer's disease is not easy...

Alzheimer's World -- Two Circles Trying to Intersect
When Alzheimer's strikes communication and behavior change abruptly -- overnight. It is up to the caregiver to adjust since the person suffering from dementia is incapable of the adjustment. Understanding this need is the first big step.

Communicating in Alzheimer's World

Let's face it, dealing with Alzheimer's is not easy. Understanding Alzheimer's disease is not easy. Some people can't do it...ever...

By Bob DeMarco

It takes a lot of energy, learning, and patience to deal with the Alzheimer's disease.

In order to begin the process of dealing with communication in a world fill with Alzheimer's you first need to make a simple important decision -- you want to decrease both your stress as caregiver, and the stress of the person suffering from Alzheimer's.

Read that carefully, you want to reduce stress. You want to change the dynamic. You want to change for the better -- you want and need to change the way things are.

You might be wondering why I just repeated myself. Why? Because I believe it is necessary to get focused on what you want to accomplish, if you ever expect to accomplish it. It must become a deep and strong desire within you.

100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer's

HBO Alzheimer's Project / Harris Interactive Census

Read more on this topic.

Alzheimer's Reading Room: 100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Reading Room: Vitamin B12 May Protect Against Brain Shrinkage in Old Age

These findings should be of special interest to baby boomers now entering their 60s.

A study conducted by researchers at the Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA) found that people with higher levels of vitamin B12 were six times less likely to experience brain volume loss. Vitamin B12, a nutrient found in meat, fish and milk, may protect against brain volume loss in older people. The researchers studied 107 volunteers age 61 to 87 who did not have cognitive impairment when they volunteered. The volunteers underwent yearly MRI brain scans, cognitive and memory tests and physical exams for five years.

This study suggests that simply adjusting our diets to consume more vitamin B12 through eating meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk may be something we can easily adjust to prevent brain shrinkage and so perhaps save our memory, says Anna Vogiatzoglou of the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at Oxford University. Research shows that vitamin B12 deficiency is a public health problem, especially among the elderly, so more vitamin B12 intake could help reverse this problem. Without carrying out a clinical trial, we acknowledge that it is still not known whether B12 supplementation would actually make a difference in elderly persons at risk for brain shrinkage.

Alzheimer's, Validation Therapy and the CareGiver

I ran across this article while "fishing" on the Internet. This tried-and-true technique can be used when you are at "wits" end when dealing with difficult behavior. The article contains examples that should help you develop your own frame of reference, techniques when dealing with difficutl situations on a daily basis. It should be particularly useful in helping you understand that the often bizarre behaviors evidenced by your Alzheimer's loved one are not uncommon and can be dealt with effectively. This article is worthwhile reading and is worth "salting away" for future reference.

Nursing Homes, June, 2000 by Mark Warner

DESIGNS for Validation Therapy

Mark Warner

This tried-and-true technique can be supported in the Alzheimer's environment

As each member of the group sat in the circle hoping the balloon would gently drift their way, Roxanne burst from her chair in a fit of rage, shouting "There'll be no ball-playing in my house!" Furious at the insolence of the players who ignored her commands, Roxanne forcefully attacked a staff member, who tried to comfort her by explaining that she was not in her house, but merely with her friends playing a game. Roxanne didn't buy that and swung wildly, hitting the staff member squarely in the chest.

Fearing that I, too, might fall victim to the same fate, I cautiously approached Roxanne.

I put my arm around her shoulder and supported her in her cause that there should be no ball-playing in her house. "This is terrible," I said. "You're right, they should not be throwing that ball in your house, should they?"

"No, they shouldn't," bellowed Roxanne, showing only the slightest relief that someone saw her point of view.

"But you know, Roxanne, the only way they will stop throwing that ball is if we write down the rules for them. I think it's the only way they'll listen." Roxanne was buying this approach, so I suggested, "Let's go into that room over there and write down all the rules for them, okay?" Much to my relief, Roxanne agreed, and hand-in-hand we went into the room to write down the "rules."

"Okay," I began, "Rule Number One is 'No ball-playing in the house,' right?"

"That's right," agreed Roxanne.

"So what will Rule Number Two be," I asked, and then offered, "How about, 'No running in the house'?"

"That's right," said Roxanne, "my grandchildren are not allowed to run in my house."

"Roxanne, you've got grandchildren," I said, raising the tone of my voice with delight.

"Oh, yes, my little gran'boy is six years old, and he is as smart as they come." Roxanne was on a roll now, and the upset caused earlier by the balloon toss in the next room might as well have been miles away. Fifteen minutes later, when the game was over, Roxanne and I emerged from the room, both of us just as happy as we could be, the "rules" left on the table and the incident long forgotten.

The technique used here is called Validation Therapy. It assumes that no matter what illusion the person with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is living, she is right, and nothing you can say or do will convince her otherwise. Naomi Feil is the acknowledged expert on validation therapy and wrote the book The Validation Breakthrough. The basic concept is that you have to buy into the resident's illusion and convincingly play along with it, there by validating it. Eventually you'll see opportunities to mold the tale--and the resident's behavior--into something that is acceptable and no longer upsetting.

"What has this got to do with design," you ask? Everything, in fact. Understanding Alzheimer's disease and the many creative ways to deal with it are as much a challenge of designing an environment as of caregiving within it.

Angie is always complaining about the stranger in the bathroom. She won't use the toilet while "the other lady" is in there. She says that the bathroom is occupied, not realizing it is her own reflection that she sees. Do you explain that she is seeing herself in a mirror?

No. You go along with her. How about, "I'm sorry, Angie, let me see what's taking that lady so long." You go into the bathroom and somehow cover the mirror. One family confronted by this situation told their mother that the mirror was dirty and needed to be cleaned. They sprayed it with a powdered deodorant, creating a haze that obscured any reflection. "Mom, she's out of there now," her daughter said. "I wonder what took her so long. Let me know if you need anything. I'll be right here waiting for you."

Caregiver 1: "Deborah won't eat anything. She just sits at the table and stares at the food. She loves gardening, though; we spend hours every day weeding and pruning the vegetables in our garden."

A golden opportunity awaits us here. Figure it out. Deborah loves gardening, but won't eat.

"So we tried something a little different. Though the tomatoes were days from ripening, I went to the grocery store and picked out some beautiful red ones. Instead of putting them on the table in front of her, I pretended to come in from the garden, tomatoes in hand. As Deborah Looked at the tomatoes, I told her, 'They came from our garden and don't they Look delicious?"'

Granted, such ploys are not always so successful, but many are. Sharing the bounty of the garden, enjoying the fruits of your labor that you grew together, can somehow trigger pleasant, guiding thoughts and behaviors when all else fails. Perhaps it stirs up memories from long ago, or maybe it's just the thrill of eating your own garden vegetables. Regardless, it adds a new dimension to life that might very well conquer the ravages of the disease and perhaps bring new purpose to those waist-high gardens many facilities are installing these days.

Taking validation to the next step often involves anticipating the problem and creating the illusion. Validation, also referred to as deceptive therapy, white lies and fiblets, means creating a story--in the best interest of the person who is "confused."

"Dad, who's president? Do you remember his name?"

"Of course l do, it's Roosevelt!"

If your family member believes it is the 1930s, so be it. As he regresses in time, so do his memories of values, experiences and people. What was important then becomes important now!

Given residents' belief that they are living when Roosevelt was president, what would the world have been like back then? What would the good experiences and environmental features have been? How can we recreate the familiar feelings of that period in a convincing and subtle way?

For example, those were the days when they hung the clothes on a line in the back yard. Isn't that the kind of good and secure feeling we would want to recreate--possibly by merely providing a clothesline? Others might be enjoying the time when they were raising their families. What better way to indulge them than by allowing them to once again care for their spouse or children by hanging "their" clothes out to dry?

Or, perhaps they have less comforting memories.

Caregiver 2: "Mom collects everything--rubber bands, paper clips paper...everything! And she stores them everywhere. You can hardly walk in her room, there is so much stuff in there!"

Perhaps Mom is reliving times when the country was at war, when every little scrap was valuable in the war effort, or the Great Depression, when times were so tough that you had to keep everything, when nothing that might be useful was thrown out. Environmental validation then might mean providing easy-to-see drawers, trunks or cabinets to store these important items.

How were evenings spent in the good ol' days (before TV, let's say)? Many families spent hours sitting on the porch, watching people go by, talking to neighbors, etc. Why not create a porch, complete with rockers and swing gliders? Locate it carefully and safely, but within view of interesting activities (maybe a playground where children play). Make sure it is secure for those who might try to leave or climb over the railing; it should also be far enough from strangers outside who might be perceived as intruding into their space. Perhaps a screened porch would do the trick.

One should also beware of environmental miscues.

"Bruce, why aren't you eating?"

"I didn't bring my wallet and can't pay for the meal."

Although Bruce is living in an assisted living facility and doesn't have to pay for his meal, he doesn't realize that. As far as he is concerned, this large, beautiful dining room is a restaurant, and the more he eats, the bigger the bill. Perhaps if we had divided the room into smaller, more homelike dining rooms and spared the expense of the huge chandelier, Bruce would feel more comfortable with his home-cooked meal.

Don't forget that little environmental touches can mean a lot.

Caregiver 3: "My mother refused to take a bath. For years, soaking in a warm tub of water had been the highlight of her day. But now, for some reason, she feared the tub and everything it represented. Eventually she confided in me, relating a childhood story about a little girl who got sucked down the bathtub drain. She recalled that tale and, like that little girl, she was afraid that she too might fall victim to that terrible fate. The solution: We put a mat over the drain. Her fear suddenly disappeared."

In a daycare center, angry and impatient residents wait for their rides to take them home. Each time the door opens, one, two or even three of them race to it and powerfully attempt to get into the van, which has actually arrived to transport someone else. Staff members intervene, often unsuccessfully, overcome by the strength and determination of people with a very important cause (the van is there for them). If we, as facility planners and designers, can anticipate this kind of behavior, we can plan door placement to eliminate visibility of the van outside, thus avoiding this upsetting and potentially volatile situation. There are design solutions for problems like these, if problems are simply acknowledged and thought about ahead of time.

Although the stories I've recounted are all too familiar to healthcare professionals, they are often "Greek" to design professionals. Nevertheless, it is a design credo: To design for any client, you have to understand the client. Why should those who have Alzheimer's disease be treated any differently?

We are only in the earliest days of learning how to design for dementia. Hopefully, there will soon be a cure for these devastating diseases, making an article such as this a moot exercise. But until then, we must continue to delve into our creative minds, take chances and discover what works and what doesn't for this population. Nursing home/assisted living managers should help designers understand how people with dementia perceive and interpret their worlds. Only when equipped with this knowledge can we designers begin to address these problems with the tools that we have available to us.

Mark Warner, AIA, is the author of The Complete Guide to Alzheimer's Proofing Your Home, the first book in the Homes That Care series on age related conditions and creating homes for those suffering from them. His firm, Ageless Design, Inc., offers consultation and assistance in the design of environments for seniors. For more information, call (561) 745-0210, visit the Web site at www.agelessdesign.com or e-mail ewarner@agelessdesign.com.




The Emotional Survival Guide for Caregivers: Looking After Yourself and Your Family While Helping an Aging Parent


alzheimer's, assisted living, behavior, caregiver, loved one, nursing home, validation, Validation Therapy

Clinical Trial: Omega 3 Fatty Acid, Slowing the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease

Preliminary studies have shown a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in people consuming increased amounts of fish in their diets. Many of the health benefits of fish are attributed to the abundance of omega 3 fatty acids. Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) is the most abundant omega 3 fatty acid in the brain. Data from several animal models supports the hypothesis that DHA may be an effective treatment for AD by means of anti-amyloid, antioxidant, and neuroprotectant mechanisms.

This study is currently recruiting patients.

Personal Note: I have been feeding my mother fish and giving her Omega 3 Oil daily for a couple of years. I believe it is beneficial.

For a complete description of the trial including eligibility requirements go to the Clinical Trials Page

Official Title: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial Of The Effects Of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) In Slowing The Progression Of Alzheimer’s Disease

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Treatment, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study

Further study details as provided by National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Primary Outcome Measures:
Changes in rate of cognitive and functional decline measured by ADAS-Cog and CDR-SOB

Preliminary studies have shown a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in people consuming increased amounts of fish in their diets. Many of the health benefits of fish are attributed to the abundance of omega 3 fatty acids. Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) is the most abundant omega 3 fatty acid in the brain. Data from several animal models supports the hypothesis that DHA may be an effective treatment for AD by means of anti-amyloid, antioxidant, and neuroprotectant mechanisms.

In this study, 400 individuals with mild to moderate AD will participate at approximately 53 study sites throughout the US for 18 months. Participants will be randomized so that 60% will receive approximately 2 grams of DHA, divided into 4 capsules, 2 capsules taken twice a day, while 40% receive an identical placebo.

Potential participants will go to their study site for a screening visit, where eligibility is determined, and if accepted, for a baseline visit where cognitive status, behavioral status, functional status, and global severity of dementia will be assessed. Vital signs and biomarker labs will also be obtained. Subsequent visits will occur every three months for medication checks and, every 6 months, further assessments, physical exams, and labs.

Some participants will also take part in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and/or CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) sub-studies. For the MRI sub-study, scans will be done prior to beginning the study medication, and again after 18 months. Likewise, for the CSF sub-study, a lumbar puncture will be done prior to beginning the study medication, and again after 18 months.

Enrollment is restricted to individuals who consume no more than 200 mg of DHA per day, which is almost 300% of the average daily intake in an American diet. Individuals who take fish oil or omega 3 fatty acid supplements are also not eligible. Each visit will include completion of a very brief food frequency questionnaire to monitor dietary DHA levels.

The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for People with Alzheimer Disease, Other Dementias, and Memory Loss in Later Life

This best-selling book is the "bible" for families caring for people with Alzheimer disease...



Read the full text review at The Alzheimer's Reading Room

Fruit Smoothie Could Improve Thinking, Memory In Alzheimer's Patients

This article on the smoothie really caught my attention. Why? I drink one of those almost every day. Oddly, when I try to get my mother, the Alzheimer's patient, to drink one along with me she refuses.

A simple fruit smoothie could soon help improve thinking and memory in Alzheimer's patients.



Fruit Smoothie Could Improve Thinking, Memory In Alzheimer's Patients

St. Louis University is the only U.S test center to study whether the drink actually works. The beverage isn't a new drug, but a nutritional drink with a combination of vitamins, antioxidants and lipids that are consumed once a day. The smoothie comes in peach or cappuccino flavors.

Dr. Theodore Malmstrom is one of three researchers looking into what could soon be a very important weapon in the fight against Alzheimer's.

"There is increasing evidence that concentrated components of natural foods can improve memory so those components have been put in a drink and we are hopeful it will help," said Malmstrom.

The goal now is to get actual patients to test it out.

SLU researchers need at least 10 Alzheimer's patients to take part in the study. They are looking for people recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but not currently taking medications.

Patients will be divided in two groups. One group will get a daily supply of drinks with nutritional supplements. The other group will get a similar drink but without the nutritional additions.

Results of the 24-week study will hopefully end with good news.

"There is always great hope whenever you can have new research emerging. One of the Alzheimer's Associations mission (is) to fund research programs so we are very excited," said Stephanie Rohlfs-Young, the outreach director for the St. Louis Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

The risk of side effects from the drink are very minor compared to side effects from the five FDA-approved medications that treat Alzheimer's.

For more information, contact Malmstrom at 314-577-8745.

Alzheimer's Disease Rate Rises to More Than Five Million in the United States

Someone Develops Alzheimer's Every 72 Seconds, According To New Alzheimer's Association Report.

The Alzheimer’s Association today reports that in 2007 there are now more than 5 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer’s disease. This number includes 4.9 million people over the age of 65 and between 200,000 and 500,000 people under age 65 with early onset Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.


Read more about this topic at The Alzheimer's Reading Room

Many Alzheimer's caregivers seek help in God

About a third of those who take care of loved ones with the disease feel 'more religious' because of their experiences, a new national study says.


You can read this article at The CareGiver Weblog

The Alzheimer's Reading Room Weblog: Trouble identifying odors points to Alzheimer’s

One thing I noticed a long time ago was that my mother's sense of smell was gone. I am always looking for ways to take better care of myself and of course to detect any symptoms of Alzheimer's in myself and other members of my family. By now you might guess that I will be paying close attention to my ability to detect odors.

Dr. Robert S. Wilson told Reuters Health that difficulty identifying odors seems to be related the buildup of 'tangles' in the brain that appear early in the development of Alzheimer’s disease. “We found the correlation of difficulty identifying familiar odors with Alzheimer’s disease pathology even in people without dementia,” he added.


Go read the entire article at The Alzheimer's Reading Room Weblog: Trouble identifying odors points to Alzheimer’s

Exercise slows decline in Alzheimer's patients

I can attest, exercise makes a difference. My mother now has the tendency to sit around all day. On those days when I can get her to go to Gold's Gym with me she is a completely different person. The look on her face, from dull to smiling, is more than enough to tell me that exercise works to her benefit.

"Nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease who participate in a moderate exercise program have a significantly slower deterioration than those who receive routine medical care, researchers have shown."

Read the article in its entirety at the CareGiver: The Book Weblog

Myriad Genetics Presents Additional Flurizan Phase 2 Study Data

Myriad Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MYGN) (www.myriad.com) announced today that it presented additional results of its completed Phase 2 follow-on study of Flurizan™ in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease at the annual meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), held March 1-4, 2007 in New Orleans.

Read the release in its entirety at The Alzheimer's Reading Room Weblog

Loneliness Increases Risk for ALzheimer's Disease-Like Dementia

"Social isolation in old age has been associated with risk of developing dementia, but the risk associated with perceived isolation, or loneliness, is not well understood," write Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues. "We examined these issues using data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinicopathologic study of risk factors for chronic conditions of old age."



Source Medscape

Lonely elderly patients are more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like dementia than those who are not lonely, according to the results of a 4-year cohort study reported in the February issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. However, pathology did not reveal Alzheimer's disease or cerebral infarction, suggesting that novel mechanisms may be involved.

"Social isolation in old age has been associated with risk of developing dementia, but the risk associated with perceived isolation, or loneliness, is not well understood," write Robert S. Wilson, PhD, of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues. "We examined these issues using data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinicopathologic study of risk factors for chronic conditions of old age."

At baseline and annually thereafter for up to 4 years, 823 participants recruited from senior citizen facilities in and around Chicago, underwent uniform in-home evaluations including detailed cognitive function testing, clinical classification of dementia and AD, and assessment of loneliness with a modified version of the de Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale. For participants who died, uniform postmortem evaluation of the brain quantified AD pathologic abnormalities and cerebral infarction.

On the 5-item loneliness scale, mean baseline score was 2.3 ± 0.6. During follow-up, 76 subjects developed clinical AD, based on previously established composite measures of global cognition and specific cognitive functions.

Compared with persons who were not lonely (score, 1.4; 10th percentile), risk for AD was more than doubled in lonely persons (score, 3.2; 90th percentile). Controlling for indicators of social isolation did not affect this finding. Loneliness was associated with lower level of cognition at baseline and with more rapid cognitive decline during follow-up. There was no significant change in loneliness during the study, and mean degree of loneliness was robustly associated with cognitive decline and with development of clinical AD.

In 90 participants who died and had brain autopsy, loneliness was unrelated to summary measures of AD pathology or to cerebral infarction.

"Loneliness is associated with an increased risk of late-life dementia but not with its leading causes," the authors write.

Study limitations include predominantly white volunteer cohort, mean observation period less than 3 years, only 76 cases of incident AD, and only 90 autopsies performed.

"The perception of being alone was associated with cognitive decline and development of an AD-like dementia even after controlling for objective indexes of social isolation and other covariates," the authors conclude. "Neither AD pathology nor cerebral infarction could account for the association, suggesting that novel neurobiologic mechanisms may be involved."

The National Institute on Aging and the Illinois Department of Public Health supported this study. The authors have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007;64:234-240.

Clinical Context

Little is known about the association of dementia and emotional isolation, although social isolation, defined as having a small social network, being unmarried, and participating in few activities with others, has been associated with increased risk for dementia.

This is a prospective cohort study within the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a longitudinal clinicopathologic study of risk factors for chronic diseases of old age. Loneliness was assessed using a modified version of the de Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale, and patients were followed up for incidence of AD and cognitive impairment, and brain autopsies were performed at death.

Study Highlights

Inclusion criteria were absence of dementia and living in retirement communities, subsidized housing, local churches, or social services agencies.
At baseline, all participants underwent structured history, cognitive testing, and comprehensive assessment for AD.
The criteria for AD were from the joint working group of the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disease Disorders and Stroke-Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders Association.
A modified version of the de Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale with a 5-point Likert scale was used for self-reported symptoms of loneliness.
Social isolation was assessed by social network size and frequency of participation in social activity, rated on a 5-point scale.
Depressive symptoms were assessed with a 10-item form by the Center for Epidemiological Studies–Depression scale for 9 cognitive activities.
Physical functioning was assessed using the Health Interview Survey.
At each annual evaluation thereafter, 20 cognitive tests were administered including the Mini-Mental State Examination and 19 tests with 7 measures of episodic memory.
A composite measure based on all 19 test results was used to quantify cognitive decline.
Postmortem brain autopsy was performed in subjects who died.
857 subjects completed at least one follow-up evaluation.
Mean follow-up period was 3 years.
Mean age was 81 years, 76% were women, mean years of education was 14 years, 91% were white, 66% lived in retirement homes, 30% in single family homes, and 4% in assisted-living settings.
Loneliness was negatively correlated to social network size, frequency of social activity, and cognitive activity and education.
76 subjects developed dementia that met AD criteria.
Those who developed AD were older, more likely to be men, had lower cognitive function, lower income, and higher levels of loneliness and disability.
The risk for AD increased by 51% for each point on the loneliness scale (relative risk [RR], 1.51).
A person with a high degree of loneliness (90th percentile for score) was 2.1 times more likely to develop clinical AD compared with someone with a low degree of loneliness (10th percentile for score).
More frequent social activity was associated with reduced AD risk (RR, 0.52).
Loneliness was inversely related to level of cognitive activity.
The association of loneliness with AD was unchanged after adjustment for race, income, disability, and vascular risk factors.
Loneliness was inversely related to baseline level of function on each cognitive measure.
Loneliness was associated with more rapid decline in global cognition, semantic memory, perceptual speed, and visuospatial ability.
There was no significant change in loneliness during the study.
135 subjects died, and brain autopsy was performed on 90 subjects.
Baseline loneliness score was unrelated to a global measure of AD pathology identified by silver stain, percentage area occupied by amyloid plaques, and density of neurofibrillary tangles.
The authors concluded that the association between loneliness and AD or cognitive decline was not mediated by AD pathology or cerebral infarction.

Pearls for Practice

In elderly persons, those with loneliness vs those without loneliness have an increased risk for AD-like dementia.
Loneliness is not related to AD pathologic findings or cerebral infarction.

The CareGiver Blog

Robert T DeMarco

AllAmerican Senior Care

Senior CareElder CareCareGiver Alzheimer’sDementia> CareGiver

New Drug Stops Alzheimer's In Tracks

New Drug Stops Alzheimer's In Tracks

Caring for the CareGivers

“I don’t think I know how to handle the situation with dementia,” she said about her husband’s disease, diagnosed 10 years ago. “I lose my temper a lot and I get exasperated. I know I’m not handling things well, not for him and not for myself.”

Read the article in its entirety Caring for the CareGivers

Loneliness and Alzheimer's Linked

"People who are lonely are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease, a large US study has suggested."

Read this article at The Senior Reading Room

Huperzine A in Alzheimer's Disease-The Clinical Trial

"The Huperzine A in Alzheimer's Disease clinical trial is currently open and recruiting patients. This is a Phase II clinical trial."

Read about the study including requirements and available locations at The Alzheimer's Reading Room: Huperzine A in Alzheimer's Disease-The Clinical Trial.

Alzheimer's Vaccine Patch Works in Mice

"The Alzheimer's vaccine being tested works by triggering the immune system to recognize and attack Ab -- a protein that abnormally builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients."

Read the entire article Alzheimer's Vaccine Patch Works in Mice

Alzheimer's: Understand and control wandering

Read this article in its entirety Alzheimer's: Understand and control wandering.

"One of the questions I am most frequently asked is if I am worried that my mother might wander away from me and get lost. Wandering is one of the more widely known behaviors of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. This article from the Mayo Clinic explains this behavior and some of the likely causes and remedies."