Hallucinations in Lewy Body Dementia: Should You Use the Therapeutic Lie?
Hallucinations can occur at times in Alzheimer's disease, but they are extremely prevalent in Lewy body dementia, with about 80% of people with LBD experiencing them.
Hallucinations can be distressing for the person with LBD to experience, and they also may be difficult for caregivers to know how to handle. So, what's an effective way to respond to these hallucinations?
While there's no one-size-fits-all response, one approach you may want to avoid using (or at least use with caution) for someone with Lewy body dementia is the therapeutic lie. The therapeutic lie, where the caregiver may bend the truth with good intentio...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - October 13, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Clinical Trials and the Use of the ADAS-Cog
If you've ever read research on clinical trials for treating Alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia, chances are you may have seen a reference to the ADAS-Cog- an abbreviation for the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale- Cognitive sub-scale. The ADAS-Cog is a frequently used test that measures cognition. It not only identifies people whose ability to think, process and recall information is impaired, but it also measures the extent of the impairment. So, in clinical trials where a drug may be tested to see if it can improve memory or other aspects of cognitive functioning, the ADAS-Cog is often one of the tools ...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - October 6, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Flu Vaccine- To Immunize or Not to Immunize?
It's that time of year again, where we'll start to see signs at the pharmacy, doctor's office and medical centers reminding us to get our annual flu shot. So, will you be getting a flu shot this year?
To me, as an advocate for people with dementia and their family members, there are two important questions about flu shots, in addition to the question of how effective each year's immunization will be in protecting people from influenza.
First question: Do flu shots affect your chances of developing dementia?
Second question: If you have a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia and are asked for your conse...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 29, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Effective in Treating Alzheimer's Disease?
As researchers continue to search for effective treatments for Alzheimer's disease, they've considered some non-traditional approaches, one of which is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) . TMS is currently being explored for several different conditions including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
TMS involves transmitting magnetic pulses to the brain by placing a machine on the head that creates electric currents to stimulate the brain's nerve cells. Now, before you write that off as science fiction, the results have actually been quite encouraging.
For more information...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 22, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Study: Insulin Sensitizer Drug Demonstrates Positive Results for Alzheimer's Disease
At the International Conference on Alzheimer's Drug Discovery, interesting research was presented about a potential new medication to treat Alzheimer's disease.
The drug, MSDC-0160, is an insulin sensitizer originally developed to treat diabetes. Researchers have been focusing lately on the connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease since approximately half of people with type 2 diabetes will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease. (Not knowing that this research would be announced, I just recently reported research on a screen that determines the chances of a person with type 2 diabetes developing Alzheimer's base...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 15, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Why Is Bath Time so Hard for People with Dementia?
There are few activities that elicit such strong resistance from someone with Alzheimer's disease as taking a bath or shower. While some people experience difficulties when helping their loved one get dressed in the morning or take their medications accurately, assisting with a bath or a shower is often at the top of the list of caregiver challenges.
So why the problem? If you think about this from the perspective of someone with memory loss and confusion, and consider all that bathing entails- getting undressed and then stepping into water or getting sprayed with water-it's no wonder there's resistance at times. Then thr...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 9, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
76 Year-Old Woman with Dementia Drowns in Lake
I was saddened tonight to read of the death of a 76 year-old woman from Illinois with dementia. The news reported that she was visiting her son in Michigan and apparently wandered out of the house in the middle of the night. She was found drowned in a lake nearby his home and was not able to be resuscitated. The article reported that she had gone to bed at around10pm and the son had checked on her at 2am, only to discover that she was missing.
My heart hurts for the son and any other family members. I'm choosing to write about this story not to add to the heartache or to focus on what could've been done differently. Hinds...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 2, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Researchers Create Dementia Risk Scale for People with Type 2 Diabetes
As we look at the epidemic of dementia, one of the related diagnoses that has come to the forefront as an important area to study is diabetes. Approximately half of people with type 2 diabetes (typically adult onset, although some children are now also being diagnosed with type 2) will go on to develop dementia as they age. This also means, of course, that half do not. What makes the difference? What are the risk factors that make someone with type 2 diabetes more likely to develop dementia?
A group of researchers considered this question and, and after reviewing the health histories of almost 30,000 people over the age o...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - September 1, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
How Does Breastfeeding Affect Your Chances of Developing Alzheimer's?
If I asked you how to reduce your risk for Alzheimer's disease, you might think of a healthy diet, physical exercise or mental exercise. But how many of you would suggest breastfeeding? Pretty unlikely- there's just not an obvious connection there.
Newly published research, however, challenges that. The Journal of Alzheimer's Disease recently published a study that illustrates a connection between breastfeeding and a reduced rate of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers found that women who breastfed their babies had a lower chance of developing Alzheimer's, and those who breastfed for a longer time had an even lower rate ...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - August 25, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Want to Encourage a Caregiver? You Might Want to Read This First
In thinking of friends and family members who are or have been caregivers, I cringe a bit when I remember the words I've said. No, of course I haven't intentionally been hurtful or not helpful; just the opposite. My goal is to encourage and help in any way I can. My best intentions, however, may have been falling short.
Recently I asked some caregivers what they felt people should NOT say to them or others providing care, and some of of their answers surprised me. I'll touch on one of those things here- a question not to ask:
"What can I do to help?"
Initially, this seems like a wonderful thing to say to someone. You're...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - August 19, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Hot Cocoa: Drink Up!
I knew it, or at least I had hoped so- Drinking hot chocolate may be good for your brain! Being a chocolate fan (okay, some might say "addict"), I was thrilled to read a study published in the online journal Neurology that discusses the benefits of drinking hot chocolate.
The research involved 60 people over the age of 65 without dementia; the average age was approximately 73. The study lasted 30 days and the participants were assessed on days 1, 2 and 30 of the study. The assessments included cognitive tests such as the Trail Making Tests A & B and a Transcranial Doppler study which measured blood flow in the brain.
The...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - August 18, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Is Laughter Okay When You're Coping with the Challenges of Dementia?
As I've watched many people cope with the difficulties and losses in dementia, my question today is this: Is there such a thing as laughter at the behaviors or words someone with dementia uses that is not laughter at the person or the disease? Are there times when it's okay to mix laughter and dementia?
This is a topic I've wanted to write about for a while, but have been holding off doing so because I don't want to hurt or offend others, especially those who are in the middle of grieving a diagnosis or struck anew at the way Alzheimer's and other dementias rob people of memory and life. I don't want to dishonor or disres...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - August 10, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Serious Thoughts about Laughter Yoga: Is It Beneficial for People with Dementia?
Have you heard about laughter yoga? If you're not familiar with it, it may seem funny to bring it up here in a place where we discuss all things dementia-related. Even if you are aware of laughter yoga, you may still be wondering what possible connection it could have to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
Let's start with what it is and is not. Laughter yoga is not as much yoga as it is laughter, and it's laughter for no reason at all. The yoga aspect enters with the addition of yogic breathing to the laughter.
As for how it relates to people with dementia, laughter yoga has been suggested as therapeutic for people...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - August 4, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Safety Alarms for People with Dementia: A Help or Hindrance?
For those with Alzheimer's or other dementias, safety alarms can be an effective way to alert others that assistance is needed. Alarms are generally used for two different reasons:
To prevent wandering by notifying caregivers that the person is leaving an area, whether that's a house or a facility.
To prevent falls by letting caregivers know someone is trying to walk independently when they're not safe to do so.
Use in Facilities
Earlier this year, The Joint Commission (an accreditation organization) pointed out the pitfalls of too many alarms in healthcare settings in a Sentinel Event Alert. It discussed the use of...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - July 28, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Research: Self-Reported Memory Loss May Be Earliest Indicator of Alzheimer's
This past week, the Alzheimer's Association International Conference was held in Denmark. For several days, the latest research on Alzheimer's symptoms, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment was presented.
Of note, five different studies focused on subjective cognitive decline (SCD). SCD is "the self-reported perception of memory or cognition problems" (Alzheimer's Association, 2013).
One of the studies found that participants who reported SCD on their regular follow up appointments were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with mild cognitive decline or dementia.
In another study, those who reported SCD were also more...
Source: About Alzheimers Disease - July 22, 2013 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
