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Donna Kaye Hill realized that her 80-year-old mother was faltering cognitively when her phone suddenly stopped working. When Ms. Hill called the phone company, “they told me she hadn’t paid her bill in three months.”
Finding other alarming evidence of memory gaps, she took her mother, Katie, to a memory clinic. A geriatrician there diagnosed dementia and recommended two prescription drugs and a dietary supplement, a form of vitamin E.
Dear Candid Caregiver: My grandma has had mixed dementia, probably a combination of Alzheimer’s and vascular, for many years. She’s generally sweet and compliant, just wanting to stay comfortable in a world that she seems to have created for herself. The whole family tries to encourage her to tell stories, which she will sometimes do if she’s feeling up to it, but mostly she listens to the old-time music that we play for her or she naps. Grandma hasn’t recognized anyone in the family for a couple of years, but last week my mom and I had a shock. We were both helping Grandma get dressed after a sponge bath when she looked at Mom and called her by name. She asked how my dad — using his name — was. Then she looked at me, and using my name, told me that I’d grown up so nicely. While Mom and I were recovering enough to engage Grandma in some happy conversation, she slipped back into her personal reverie. That was it. We’re still shaking our heads. How common is this? — Stunned Granddaughter
Families sometimes go to extreme lengths to prevent a loved one from moving to a nursing home. That might be based on a promise that it would never happen. How realistic that promise is can be tested over and over again.
When healthy adults are asked would they rather stay home or move to a nursing home, the answer is obviously to stay at home. Still, I have heard some exceptions, all from women who say they do not want to remain at home if their family has to take extreme measures to care for them. A common expression is “I do not want my daughter to have to go through what I did” (in caring for a very frail parent or one with dementia.)
An increasing number of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias has put families through heartache, cost hundreds of millions in health care expenses and turned millions of spouses, adult children, friends and neighbors into unpaid caregivers. Today, more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. And as thousands of boomers turn 65 each year, experts say we’re facing an overwhelming wave of more cases. Currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer’s or an effective way to halt or slow its progression.
The body’s ability to adapt to changing conditions and shifting physiologic demands is essential to survival. To do so, each cell must be able to dispose of damaged or unnecessary proteins—a quality-control mechanism critical for cellular performance and for the health of the entire organism.
Now, a study from Harvard Medical School shows that intense exercise, fasting and an array of hormones can activate cells’ built-in protein disposal system and enhance their ability to purge defective, toxic or unneeded proteins.
Many people struggle with loneliness, but it can be particularly hard among older adults. One unique daycare model is hoping to change that, by bringing children and seniors together.
It’s called the Intergenerational Learning Center, and it’s situated inside the Providence Mount St. Vincent senior care facility in West Seattle. It’s a place where babies as young as 6 weeks old and those approaching centenarian status can help and appreciate each other.
Memory and thinking skills naturally slow with age but now scientists are peeking inside living brains to tell if depression might worsen that decline — and finding some worrisome clues.
Depression has long been linked to certain cognitive problems, and depression late in life even may be a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's. Yet how depression might harm cognition isn't clear.
During the last three years of her life, Deanne Alexander’s mother cycled through about 30 home care workers.
Alexander said some caregivers didn’t know how to interact with her mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease. They’d walk up behind her, startling her. They’d grab her hand without asking permission first. They wouldn’t talk to her, assuming she was too ill to understand them.
One caregiver left almost as soon as she had arrived, saying she didn’t want to catch Alzheimer’s.
Physical activity is known to improve memory, and studies suggest it may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. But researchers don’t understand why.
A few years ago, exercise researchers discovered a hormone called irisin that is released into the circulation during physical activity. Initial studies suggested that irisin mainly played a role in energy metabolism. But newer research found that the hormone may also promote neuronal growth in the brain’s hippocampus, a region critical for learning and memory.
The time has come in America when the same kind of concerted effort that split the atom and took man to the moon should be turned toward conquering this dread disease.” That was President Nixon in his State of the Union address 48 years ago. The dread disease he was talking about was cancer, the second leading cause of death in the country, and he used the address to open his “war on cancer.”
Since then, we have made major strides against that disease. Death rates have been declining for 25 years. Breakthrough treatments and cures are now coming at breakneck speeds. But we have made little or no progress against another “dread disease” plaguing Americans — Alzheimer’s.
Last week’s column focused on when older drivers have to give up driving, and to be honest, it was a topic I was uncomfortable diving into. My parents haven’t turned 60 yet, and the giving advice on how to approach the topic with an older loved one was outside my comfort zone.
Not everyone appreciated my effort. One reader suggested I was putting seniors in a difficult spot by singling them out. Living without a car can be devastating in a mobile society, and he asked me what about all the young drunk, drugged or just unsafe drivers out there?
As the healthcare landscape changes, nurse leaders are being asked to forge new paths to achieve high-quality, cost-effective patient-centered care.For example, patient care is growing beyond acute care. Nurses are connecting with patients in more settings than ever before through new and changing roles in areas like care coordination or outpatient clinics. These new roles demand that nurses have different knowledge, skills, and competencies than in the past. Additionally, patients expect care to be delivered in a seamless, timely, and efficient manner that takes into account their personal needs and preferences. How do nurse leaders meet the challenge of the transformation of patient care?