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An experimental drug called aducanumab shows promise in treating Alzheimer's disease, researchers report.
A small clinical trial showed that it significantly reduced toxic plaques in the brains of 165 patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease, National Public Radio reported Wednesday.
The findings, published in the journal Nature, suggest the drug may slow the loss of memory and thinking in Alzheimer's patients.
Catherine Serie was announced today as the new Chief Operating Officer(COO) of the Chicago based organization, which is dedicated to quality training to care for today's senior adults as well as the overall improvement of the senior living lifestyle. As the Chief Operating Officer, Serie will be responsible for marketing and development of new education programs, certifications and managing the day to day business of the organization.
Many people today are faced with the difficult task of caring for an aging parent. The National Alliance for Caregiving reported that 36 percent of the 65 million unpaid caregivers in the U.S. are caring for an aging parent. This challenging role reversal leaves current and future caregivers asking a difficult question: How do you prepare for becoming your parents’ caregiver?
As you do prepare for caregiving duties, it is important to explore your own abilities and what you will realistically be able to do for your parents. In order to avoid becoming overwhelmed with stress, you should consider what life would be like for you as a caregiver.
Some older women who take calcium supplements may face an increased risk of developing dementia, a small study suggests.
The heightened risk appears limited to women who have had a stroke or suffer from disorders that affect blood flow to the brain, researchers report in the journal Neurology.
“Our study is the first to show a relationship between calcium supplementation and increased risk for dementia in older women,” said lead author Silke Kern of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
A study by researchers at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior has found that a healthy diet, regular physical activity and a normal body mass index can reduce the incidence of protein build-ups that are associated with the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the study, 44 adults ranging in age from 40 to 85 (mean age: 62.6) with mild memory changes but no dementia underwent an experimental type of PET scan to measure the level of plaque and tangles in the brain. Researchers also collected information on participants’ body mass index, levels of physical activity, diet and other lifestyle factors. Plaque, deposits of a toxic protein called beta-amyloid in the spaces between nerve cells in the brain; and tangles, knotted threads of the tau protein found within brain cells, are considered the key indicators of Alzheimer’s.
Read any article about Alzheimer's and you'll think the next cure for this devastating disease is right around the corner. But for patients and their families, the stark reality is that it's been more than a decade since memantine, the last molecule against Alzheimer's, was approved in Europe and the US.
Since then, there has been a number of trials for different drugs, but none have been successful. The drugs that do exist are not intended to cure Alzheimer's sufferers – they are only able to attenuate the symptoms and slow down the disease's progression.
A new low-cost biochip-based blood test which can test for an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Low-income Californians who are elderly and disabled were less likely to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized after their in-home caregivers participated in an intensive training program, according to a report.
Under a pilot program, nearly 6,000 aides in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Contra Costa counties were trained in CPR and first aid, as well infection control, medications, chronic diseases and other areas. All were workers of the In-Home Supportive Services program, who are paid by the state to care for low-income seniors and people with disabilities, many of them relatives.
There is probably not another segment of the population as large and drowning in quiet desperation as our country’s 34 million unpaid family caregivers. Yet their needs have barely been discussed on the national stage of this presidential election.
Why is that? Maybe it’s just that caregivers don’t have any time left on their hands to organize protest marches or come up with Twitter hashtags to keep their situation front and center in Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump’s headlights. But come November, don’t be surprised if the nation’s family caregivers rise up and speak in one voice.
Written by Dr. Nathan Herrmann, Lewar Chair in Geriatric Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Question: Is this the right time to think about a nursing home for my husband with Alzheimer's disease?
Answer: Placement in long-term care is one of the more difficult decisions facing caregivers of patients with dementia. Let me start by stating that my personal bias is to try and keep my patients at home as long as possible, assuming that their safety and health, as well as the caregiver's health, is compatible with this goal.
When I lost my mom to Alzheimer’s disease, one of the things I vowed was that I wouldn’t wait to fulfill my “bucket list” items. At the moment, I’m spending the summer with my family in New York City, where we’re seeing as many Broadway shows as we can — checking off another item on that bucket list. Seeing yet another Tony Award-winning show was part of our itinerary this week.
I’d heard that the play was full of humor, that it cast a spotlight on family dynamics and sometimes the darkness that lies beneath, that it was earning rave reviews and had a stellar cast. What I did not know was that the play features a grandmother with a dementia-related illness. I don’t think one character in the play ever uttered the word “Alzheimer’s,” but I know Alzheimer’s when I see it.
Can you keep the love light shining after your partner’s brain has begun to dim? Just ask Denise Tompkins of Naperville, Ill., married 36 years to John, now 69, who has Alzheimer’s disease.
The Tompkinses participated in an unusual eight-week storytelling workshop at Northwestern University that is helping to keep the spark of love alive in couples coping with the challenges of encroaching dementia.
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