NCBAC™ today announced the addition of a new course to its curriculum of eldercare training. The new three hour program, Understanding Dementia, is a certificate course aimed at providing a complete overview of the subject.
When Parents With Dementia Don't Realize They Need Help
Your once jolly dad now thinks that you’re stealing from him. Your once frugal mom is charging odd things that she finds on the Internet. You know that these types of personality changes can be signs of dementia, yet when you offer to help you are vehemently rebuffed. How do you convince your cognitively fragile parents to allow help? How hard do you push? There’s no easy answer but there are steps to consider.
5 steps for making a caregiving plan for an elderly loved one
If you've found yourself in the position of having to care for an elderly loved one, one of your first steps should be to draft a caregiving plan.
As your loved one ages in place, you may find that his or her circumstances change rapidly — especially if he or she is living with mid- to late-stage dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. That means you need to be ready to act in your relative’s best interest, when he or she is unable to make decisions independently.
Frontotemporal Dementia: Devastating, Prevalent and Little Understood
Bill Whitaker reports on FTD, a devastating illness and the most common form of dementia for Americans under the age of 60.
This is a story about the cruelest disease you have never heard of. It's called frontotemporal dementia — or FTD. And given the devastating toll it takes on its victims and their families, it ought to be much better known than it is.
How Exercise Affects Our Memory
A single, moderate workout may immediately change how our brains function and how well we recognize common names and similar information, according to a promising new study of exercise, memory and aging. The study adds to growing evidence that exercise can have rapid effects on brain function and also that these effects could accumulate and lead to long-term improvements in how our brains operate and we remember.
Aging baby boomers are about to push Alzheimer's disease rates sky high
She had researched Alzheimer's disease and its effects on the brain for years, but it wasn't until her own mother's memory began to slip that Dr. Eva Feldman, a University of Michigan neurologist, truly grasped how devastating the disease is.
Margherita Feldman was 88 when she moved in June 2017 to the memory care unit of an assisted living home in Saline. And although her memory loss wasn't as acute as some of the other residents, it's when the cruelty of the disease — now the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States — and the scope of the America's Alzheimer's crisis became clear to her daughter.
Nearly 3 in 4 people with dementia in S’pore feel ashamed, rejected: Study
Nearly three in four people with dementia here experience rejection and loneliness.
And while more than half of the general public feel uncomfortable interacting with them, nearly eight in 10 want to do more to improve the lives of people with dementia.
These were among findings of the first national survey on dementia by the Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA).
More evidence that blood tests can detect the risk of Alzheimer’s
A new study confirms that a simple blood test can reveal whether there is accelerating nerve cell damage in the brain. The researchers analysed neurofilament light protein (NFL) in blood samples from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Recently published in JAMA Neurology, the study suggests that the NFL concentration in the blood could be able to indicate if a drug actually affects the loss of nerve cells.
Should I Get Involved in Helping a Neighbor With Dementia?
I live in a large co-op apartment building in Manhattan. Our staff is lovely and caring. A staff member told me that a resident is getting very forgetful and that she likes to spend her time in the lobby. I asked if she had family and was told she had only one brother in Japan. I was probably chosen as a confidante because I cared for my husband who had Alzheimer’s at home. Despite that experience, I was at a loss to give advice.
One day, I got on the elevator with this lovely, forgetful neighbor. She could not remember the number of the floor on which she lived. I offered to accompany her downstairs to learn her apartment number. She thanked me but was naturally embarrassed at the need for help and declined. She acknowledged that she was getting forgetful, and I told her my husband had the same problem and I understood.
How Low Should Blood Pressure Go?
Q. What is the lowest a blood pressure should go?
A. The lower limit for blood pressure is perhaps best defined by symptoms rather than numbers.
In the early 1900s, life insurance companies began compiling actuarial data that established a link between increased blood pressure and increased risk of death. This insight led some doctors to adopt a blood pressure philosophy of “the lower, the better.”
The Diagnosis Is Alzheimer’s. But That’s Probably Not the Only Problem.
Allan Gallup, a retired lawyer and businessman, grew increasingly forgetful in his last few years. Eventually, he could no longer remember how to use a computer or the television. Although he needed a catheter, he kept forgetting and pulling it out.
It was Alzheimer’s disease, the doctors said. So after Mr. Gallup died in 2017 at age 87, his brain was sent to Washington University in St. Louis to be examined as part of a national study of the disease.
Employer Wake-Up Call: It’s Time to Become “Caring Companies”
Experts weigh in on why care benefits will only increase in importance as Americans live longer.
While some U.S. businesses are doing a noble job providing caregiver support at work, a Harvard Business School report published earlier this year shows far too many employers are not delivering when it comes to caregiving. Employers are still struggling to become what Harvard calls “caring companies.”