10 Sanity-Saving Long Distance Caregiving Tips

In a past blog post, I talked with three daughters who have all cared for their ailing mothers. The specifics of each situation are unique but one thing the trio has in common: They have all been -- or still are -- long-distance caregivers.

For two years, Barb Silver made a monthly trek to her mother's home on the other side of the country for a five-day visit. She says that period of her life, before her mother died, is a blur because she was sleep deprived and jet lagged much of the time. Judi Kaplan spent 18 months shuttling back and forth between her home in San Francisco and her mother's Santa Monica address before recently relocating her to the Bay Area. Janice Shapiro continues to make regular visits to her frail 93-year-old mother, now in a nursing home on the East Coast.

Should Patients With Dementia Be Able To Decline Spoon-Feeding?

People who abhor the thought of being kept alive with feeding tubes or other types of artificial nutrition and hydration have, for years, had a way out: They could officially document their wishes to halt such interventions using advance directives.

Even patients diagnosed with progressive dementia who are able to record crucial end-of-life decisions before the disease robs them of their mental capacity could write advance directives.

Caregiving's Taboo Subject: Coordinating The Finances

During our parents’ last years, my sister and I wound up becoming their “financial coordinators,” handling everything from getting their bills paid to balancing their checkbooks to managing their investments to dealing with their health insurers. A new, groundbreaking Merrill Lynch/Age Wave study, The Journey of Caregiving, documents just how common this responsibility is for family caregivers — and how difficult it can be.

This is the side of caregiving you don’t hear much about.

As Alzheimer's Numbers Soar, New Poll Focuses On Caregivers

A new study suggests that caregivers need and want to access support resources and that perhaps the experience of caregiving has made them consider the possibility of their own future needs. And there is no doubt that the current number and expected increase in the foreseeable future of individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease will necessitate it.

According to the Alzheimer's Association, "the number of Americans living with Alzheimer's disease is growing — and growing fast. An estimated 5.5 million Americans of all ages have Alzheimer's disease."

When Short-Term Memory Fades, Researchers Try Tapping Into Procedural Memory

For people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, short-term memory fades first.

While this may not seem like the best time in a person’s life to start learning a new skill, researchers at the Mayo Clinic are realizing that learning a new procedure or habit, is not only possible, it could also have long-term benefits for patients as their dementia progresses.

New Grant Funds Alzheimer’s Research

Researchers have long known that genetics play a role in causing the dementia of Alzheimer’s disease, but genes, it turns out, are only part of the story. What’s come to light over the last several years is the incredible complexity of the disease, which involves not only genetic factors but also the vasculature of the brain. It’s not clear, however, what goes wrong within the cells of the brain’s blood vessels, how they accumulate clumps of toxic proteins, or how that process contributes to cognitive decline. A team of researchers on Mayo Clinic’s campus in Florida has received a grant of $3.5 million from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), of the National Institutes of Health, to better understand the interconnected genetic and vascular pathways involved in Alzheimer’s.

Dementia takes us Piece by Piece, but this is the Last Piece to Go.

I’ve raised my voice to my mother a few times in my life.

Granted, it mostly happened when I was a teenager, but a few years ago, it was because she was in the middle of a full-blown conspiracy delusion about the doctor, my sister, and a truck load of crazy.

And I made her cry. It’s quite a gift to make a woman in her 80s cry—well done, self.

In my defense, I didn’t really understand dementia then, even though it’s a growing worldwide problem.

10 Things to Do When an Alzheimer’s Patient Says They Want to Go Home

It’s not uncommon for people with Alzheimer’s disease to express a desire to go “home.” It can be difficult to understand whether “home” to them is a beloved childhood house, a time from their past life, or a place among the people they used to know. It’s unlikely that your loved one can ever return to this place, but that doesn’t mean caregivers can’t help them feel more comfortable. Here are 10 things you can do when your loved one says they’d like to go home.

The Drug Being Pushed on Nursing Home Residents

In a startling investigation, CNN has learned that the maker of a drug designed to treat an uncommon condition is increasingly pushing it on nursing home residents with dementia and Alzheimer’s — with sometimes dire consequences.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Avanir Pharmaceuticals’ drug Nuedexta in 2010 for pseudobulbar affect, or PBA, a condition marked by bouts of uncontrollable crying or laughing.

What Does Oriented x1, x2, x3 and x4 Mean in Dementia?

Orientation is a term that encompasses a person's awareness of herself, those around her, her location and the date and time. Oriented x1, x2, x3 or x4 is a way of expressing the extent of her awareness. Orientation is often assessed as part of a mental status test to evaluate cognitive functioning and screen for dementia.

Dementia dog study seeks to prove effectiveness of assistance animals

The research takes 20 guide dogs, normally used by visually-impaired people, and re-trains them to assist people living with the condition, as well as their carers.

It is being undertaken by The University of Melbourne, Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs, and Dementia Australia, and the early results are encouraging.

Edie Mayhew was diagnosed with younger onset dementia in 2010. As part of the study, she's been paired with a white labrador called Melvin.

Glen Campbell’s Widow on Alzheimer’s Caregiving

Two months after singer Glen Campbell’s death from Alzheimer’s disease, his widow and primary caregiver, Kim, is expanding her mission to help others. She learned a lot about the disease and how to cope with it, as a caregiver, since Campbell’s diagnosis in 2011, and wants to use that experience to educate people on caregiving.

“When the doctor used the ‘A’ word, it just terrified me and shocked me, I really didn’t know much about it,” she said. “But I started to ask questions: Is it fatal? He said, ‘yes.’”