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Nearly anyone over the age of 50 has experienced some frustrating moments of memory lapse that younger society calls “gapping out,” and older society calls “senior moments.” These memory lapses, or slowed recall, can send some people into a panic, particularly if they have a relative with Alzheimer’s disease. read more..
You have heard about the latest thing the kids are doing. This is not that kind of Cinnamon Challenge. Our Cinnamon Challenge is of the HEALTHY sort. Scientists are increasingly... read more..
This morning I was thinking about two different friends of mine, both facing losing their moms to cancer. At least they get this holiday season with their moms, and they know it's the last one, is the direction my thoughts went, and I started composing some sort of holiday blog post in the back of my mind.
And when I got home from driving and musing, and logged onto Facebook, I saw to my dismay that one friend's mom had succumbed to her cancer only 2 weeks after her diagnosis. Last year was their last holiday together and they didn't know it. Her mom was healthy and fine in mid-November (or thought she was).
You don't know when it will be the last time. The last time you see someone, talk to them, celebrate a holiday, hoist a pint, laugh or cry or cringe at a movie together. It is worse when a healthy person gets taken in an accident of course, as there is no warning, but as my friend just found out to her sorrow, a mom can be fine on Thanksgiving and dead of cancer by Christmas.
When my dad got diagnosed, the doctors estimated, based on his age and how far his Alzheimer's had progressed, that he would live approximately 11 years. How GOOD those years might have been, they didn't say. Just that he should have made it to about 75 years old. So at that last Christmas, the one we didn't know was the last, in 2006, we thought we had 8 or 9 more years, when in truth it was less than a year.
Ironically, every year my mom thinks it's her mother's last Christmas (she's 93 now) and every year Grandma keeps going like the Energizer bunny. We're almost numb to thinking about her not being here anymore, to the point that when it does happen, we're going to be in total shock.
I guess we all know somewhere deep inside that anyone and anything can be taken from us without warning. And maybe we should live like that, never going away mad or holding a grudge. Always kissing our loved ones goodbye and telling them they are loved. But we don't. We get angry. We slam doors. We leave without saying goodbye. Everyone would like to think they are immortal and so are all their loved ones.
I believe that as long as someone remembers us, our memory is immortal, and our souls hang out in the Elsewhere Bar and do whatever needs to be done in the next life. But Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia can steal away even that breath of life, taking those memories forever.
I can't offer a solution. I'm not a god or a doctor, just a person who has lost so much, who grieves to see her friends in similar sorrow.
Love who you have while you have them, and remember them fondly every day after that."Had a Dad" Alzheimer's Blog http://alzheimersdad.blogspot.com(c) Gevera Bert Piedmont })i({Thank you for visiting! read more..
It appears at the moment that Dotty has some new awareness and is more engaged. Yes, like always I am amazed, and greatly heartened.
By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Bob DeMarcoI had a long conversation with Carole Larkin yesterday about how Dotty has recently "perked up". She is more alive and more aware.
As this happens, I always ask myself, what changed, what variables are causing the difference? What am I learning, or relearning, that could help or benefit other dementia caregivers?
I think a key word is relearning. It is amazing how I have to relearn something I already learned over and over as an Alzheimer's caregiver for my mother.
AD caregiving is difficult. There is always so much going on. One of the things that make it difficult is that the variables are always changing, the person living with dementia is always changing. As persons living with Alzheimer's change, so do the tasks you perform each day change.
In a way, at least for me, this sometimes makes it difficult to stick to the routine, to stick with the program. To do the things that are necessary to help keep the dementia patient attached to the world, and aware.
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One reason that I get distracted from our routine is that I have to deal with the reality that Dotty's condition continues to worsen. This is not unexpected, but nevertheless dealing with the "expected" as it happens is taxing emotionally and psychologically. So I think this explains in part why I sometimes get distracted and fall out of our routine. It takes a lot of energy to deal with the progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Recently, I have been distracted because Dotty can barely walk. We are now using the wheelchair every time we go out the door.
Dotty can no longer walk the 60 or so feet to go see Jim and Ruth. I must tell you this does make me a bit sad. That drains energy. Dotty can no longer "mosey" on down to see Jim and Ruth. This means she can't go get her own social interaction. This means I have to take her down, or find a way to fill in the void. Again, emotionally, psychologically and energy draining.
It took me a while to figure out what we were going to do adjust to these new circumstances. As a result, while I was making a plan, we fell out of our routine a bit.
A few weeks ago, I finally gathered up the energy and focus to start pushing Dotty around in the wheelchair. The purpose is simple, get her out into the sunlight for a big injection of Vitamin D. Yes, I think the level of vitamin D is important. You absorb vitamin d from the sun. So, if Dotty is not getting enough vitamin d she gets dull, bored, and less communicative.
Recently, we have been getting some very large doses of sunlight. This happens on our wheelchair walks, and on our renewed trips to the pool.
I have to assume that sunlight is one factor that is making Dotty more aware and more communicative.
Let me throw this out while we are here. The sun is out folks even if its cloudy or dingy out. Keep that in mind.
During the last trip to pool Dotty started saying some things and making some observations she had not made in a long time. I wondered about this. The only thing I can conclude is that the trips to the pool are "throwing Dotty back in time". In other words, she talks and acts a bit like she did in the long ago "days". I see this as a big positive. Why? Well, at least Dotty is initiating some talk and make some observations. This seems to carry over at home.
For the last two days, Dotty has started to say over and over, "I'm hungry, I'm starving". I had not been hearing this for a long time. So yes, it catches my attention. Why? The sunlight? The pool? The rides in the wheelchair? Me? Or, all of them in combination?
I think it is all of them in combination plus I am paying more attention to Dotty.
Another thing read more..
Title: Brain Scans Suggest How Alzheimer's Spreads
Category: Health News
Created: 3/21/2012 2:06:00 PM
Last Editorial Review: 3/22/2012 12:00:00 AM read more..
Does anybody still write the old fashioned way with pen and paper in this digital age of computers? My preferred method of writing is still furiously scribbling in notebooks, crossing out phrases and revising in the margins with puzzling asterisks … Continue reading ? read more..
The 16th Annual Memory Loss Conference takes place on November 7-8, 2011 in Springfield, Illinois, and I just registered to attend for the first time this year. I’m looking forward to this as an educational opportunity to learn more about … Continue reading ? read more..
From an Alzheimer’s and dementia perspective, I’m puzzled by the announcement of a senior day-time care service closing in my area due to declining enrollment. With all the statistics pointing towards an Alzheimer’s epidemic as baby boomers age, why is … Continue reading ? read more..
