December 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers & Educators

Welcome to the December newsletter!

Caring for Veterans: A Harsh Reality for Some

Every year on Veteran’s Day our nation honors those who have sacrificed and served our country. Behind these veterans there are family caregivers who reflect on a very different kind of service and often feel forgotten. Life has not moved forward or gotten easier for many of our nation’s military caregivers, who are silently earning their version of a combat badge, setting aside their own goals and even their identities, long after their loved ones have made it home.

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Know the signs of caregiver burnout and compassion fatigue

Being a caregiver means you provide consistent and often everyday care to a parent, partner, child, other relative, or unrelated person who is aging, ill, or disabled. It’s a responsibility that can become all-consuming and emotionally challenging, to say the least. In addition to stressful hospital stays, office visits, and a wide range of home-care responsibilities, caregiving often brings:

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Alzheimer's timeline shows changes start as trickle, become torrent

A study of cells from 84 cadaver brains suggests that Alzheimer's has two distinct phases, and that one type of neuron is especially vulnerable.

"There's an early phase where there's a very slow increase in the amount of pathology," says Ed Lein, a senior investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, "then a more exponential phase where suddenly things get really bad."

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November 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers & Educators

Welcome to the November newsletter!

6 Ways to Help Someone Who Doesn’t Believe They Have Dementia

Family caregivers often ask “how do you tell someone they have dementia”? And in some cases, the answer may be that you simply can’t.

Damage in the brain can cause people with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, stroke, brain tumors, and other cognitive impairments to believe that there’s nothing wrong with them.

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Study suggests resistance training can prevent or delay Alzheimer’s disease

Regular physical exercise, such as resistance training, can prevent Alzheimer’s disease, or at least delay the appearance of symptoms, and serves as a simple and affordable therapy for Alzheimer’s patients. This is the conclusion of an article published in Frontiers in Neuroscience by Brazilian researchers affiliated with the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) and the University of São Paulo (USP).

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Advice for Caregivers of Loved Ones with Dementia

George Reed was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in September 2012. A former professor of astronomy, he was angry when his doctor told him. “His intellect was his greatest strength and the core of his identity,” says his daughter Tara, who lives in Portland, OR. Reed's wife, Joan, was unprepared to care for him and relied heavily on two of their three children—Tara and a son—who lived nearby.

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October 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers & Educators

Welcome to the October newsletter!

Falls put older adults at increased risk of Alzheimer’s

In a study that included 2 million older adults who sustained a traumatic injury, 10.6 percent of patients who experienced a fall were subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Falls also increased the risk of a future dementia diagnosis by 21 percent, according to researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

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5 Coping Tips for the Overwhelmed Caregiver

Caring for an older adult is an all-consuming and demanding job.

This can easily lead to feelings of overwhelm – sometimes it’s just too much.

So we found a great article from Retro Housewife Goes Green with 5 things you can do to improve the situation when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

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When Caregivers Wonder What Their Loved Ones with Dementia Are Feeling

“I wish I knew what was going on in his mind,” my mother would say about my stepfather. He’d be staring straight ahead, hands fidgeting on his wheelchair armrests, without a hint of facial expression. If he was hungry or bored or even in pain, she couldn’t tell. If she asked him directly what he was feeling, he’d just look at her blankly and then turn away without saying a word. 

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September 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers & Educators

Welcome to the September newsletter!

Dementia-Like Conditions

Some causes of Dementia or Dementia-like symptoms can be reversed. Your doctor may identify and treat these causes:

Infections and immune disorders. Dementia-like symptoms can result from fever or other side effects of your body's attempt to fight off an infection.

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Mixed Dementia

Autopsy studies looking at the brains of people who had Dementia suggest that a majority of those age 80 and older probably had 'Mixed Dementia,' caused by processes related to both Alzheimer’s disease [or, other Dementia] and vascular disease. In fact, some studies indicate that mixed vascular-degenerative Dementia is the most common cause of dementia in the elderly.

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Young-Onset Dementia

Young-Onset is often also referred to as "Early-Onset." Yet, it should be differentiated from another commonly used phrase: "Early Stage Dementia," which is more appropriate to describe someone in the early stages of Dementia, at any age.

Young-Onset Dementia is conventionally thought to include patients with onset before 65 years of age.

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August 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the August newsletter!

How Family Caregivers Can Deal With Guilt Over Placing a Family Member in a Nursing Home

When the time came, I knew that my mother needed to move into a nursing home. She knew it, too.

Because of her poor balance, she’d had several falls during the previous year and suffered broken bones that required hospitalizations. It was no longer safe for her to live alone in her apartment, and we could not afford to hire round-the-clock aides to stay with her.

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How Family Caregiving Can Alter Dreams and Goals Deferred

“I don’t want my mother to die,” said Valerie, my 62-year-old psychotherapy client, “but, when she does, I am looking forward to finally getting back to the rest of my life.”

She had put her work and social life on hold for four years to care for her mother, who was steadily declining from dementia.

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11 Ways to Manage Sundown Syndrome​

If your loved one has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, you may be seeing changes in their behavior in the late afternoon or early evening — a phenomenon known as sundown syndrome, sundowners or sundowning.​

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, as many as 20 percent of people with Alzheimer’s experience sundown syndrome.

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July 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the July newsletter!

The Unique Challenges of Dementia Caregiving

Douglas Scharre, M.D., author of Long-Term Management of Dementia and director of the division of cognitive and memory disorders at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, explains how to manage such often-difficult care.

With Alzheimer’s disease, a loved one can seem lucid one day and unrecognizable the next. Why?

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Health Panel: Adults Under 65 Should Be Screened for Anxiety

If you’re under 65, your next check-up could include a new screening — one for anxiety.

A panel of medical experts is, for the first time, recommending that adults under the age of 65 get screened annually by their primary care physician for the increasingly common mental health condition, even if they don’t have symptoms.

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How to Stop Getting Distracted

At 55, my focus started to fray. I had to ask my teenage daughter to stop chatting during tricky highway merges. I penciled “COUNT!!!” across my community orchestra music, to avoid getting lost in long strings of repeated notes. I wrote multiple to-do lists and forgot new neighbors’ names. Turns out, I was completely normal and there was something I could do about the problem.

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June 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the June newsletter!

10 Warning Signs of Dementia You Shouldn’t Ignore

It’s not unusual to have occasional trouble finding the right word or remembering where you put things. But persistent difficulty with thinking, memory or the ability to perform everyday tasks might be signs of something more serious.

Dementia is a catch-all term for changes in the brain that cause a loss of functioning that interferes with daily life.

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11 Ways to Manage Sundown Syndrome

If your loved one has Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, you may be seeing changes in their behavior in the late afternoon or early evening — a phenomenon known as sundown syndrome, sundowners or sundowning.​

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, as many as 20 percent of people with Alzheimer’s experience sundown syndrome.

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How Menopause Messes With Your Brain

Each year, over one million women in the U.S. go through menopause, which can cause symptoms including hot flashes, weight gain, low or fluctuating libido and sleep problems. But there’s another change that carries even more health implications: an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Nearly two-thirds of those living with Alzheimer’s in the United States are women, a vulnerability that may begin as early as perimenopause, and relates to estrogen.

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May 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the May newsletter!

Inside the brain: The role of neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease research

Imagine being able to look inside the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease and see the changes that are interfering with that person’s thinking, memory, and other important brain functions. Scientists working in the field of neuropathology are doing just that.

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How Alzheimer's Changes the Brain

In healthy people, all sensations, movements, thoughts, memories, and feelings are the result of signals that pass through billions of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. Neurons constantly communicate with each other through electrical charges that travel down axons, causing the release of chemicals across tiny gaps to neighboring neurons. Other cells in the brain, such as astrocytes and microglia, clear away debris and help keep neurons healthy.

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Risk factors for heart disease linked to dementia

People with dementia have problems thinking, remembering, and communicating. They may repeat the same question over and over, get lost in familiar places, or have other problems managing everyday life.

Dementia can be caused by a number of disorders, such as strokes, brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, and late-stage Parkinson’s disease.

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April 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the April newsletter!

Memory Problems, Forgetfulness, and Aging

Older adults may worry about their memory and other thinking abilities, such as taking longer to learn something new. These changes are usually signs of mild forgetfulness — or age-related forgetfulness — and are often a normal part of aging.

However, more serious memory problems could be due to mild cognitive impairment, dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease, or other factors beyond normal aging.

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What Is Dementia? Symptoms, Types, and Diagnosis

Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning — to such an extent that it interferes with a person's daily life and activities. Some people with dementia cannot control their emotions, and their personalities may change. Dementia ranges in severity from the mildest stage, when it is just beginning to affect a person's functioning, to the most severe stage, when the person must depend completely on others for basic activities of daily living, such as feeding oneself.

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Can I Prevent Dementia?

As you age, you may have concerns about the increased risk of dementia. You may have questions, too. Are there steps I can take to prevent it? Is there anything I can do to reduce my risk? There are currently no approaches that have been proven to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. However, as with many other diseases, there may be steps you can take to help reduce your risk.

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March 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the March newsletter!

Helping Family and Friends Understand Alzheimer's Disease

When you learn that someone has Alzheimer’s disease, you may wonder when and how to tell your family and friends. You may be worried about how others will react to or treat the person. Realize that people often sense when something has changed. By sharing what is happening, family and friends can help support you and the person with Alzheimer’s disease.

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What Is Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks. In most people with the disease — those with the late-onset type symptoms first appear in their mid-60s. Early-onset Alzheimer’s occurs between a person’s 30s and mid-60s and is very rare. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older adults.

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What Is Mild Cognitive Impairment?

Some older adults have more memory or thinking problems than other adults their age. This condition is called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI.Calendar resting on a table

There is no single cause of MCI. The risk of developing MCI increases as someone gets older. Conditions such as diabetes, depression, and stroke may increase a person’s risk for MCI.

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February 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the February newsletter!

Many Americans with dementia can’t get the hospice care they need

Rosalynn Carter, whose unflagging advocacy for mental health reform and on behalf of human rights, democracy, and health programs redefined the role of a president’s wife, died on November 19 at age 96.

Half a year earlier, her family had shared publicly that Rosalynn had been diagnosed with dementia.

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Travel Tips for Traveling with a Parent Who Is a Fall Risk

Aging adults progressively lose their independence in one way or another and it can be very hard for them to accept the changes. It can be even more difficult when a parent is at risk of falling. But don't let that risk stop you from traveling with your loved one. Here are some tips to help a senior prone to falling on your next travel adventure.

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End-of-Life Conversations with Seniors: A Guide for Caregivers

Talking about end-of-life wishes is one of the most important conversations to have because it’s not actually about dying.

It’s about how your older adult wants to live during their last months, weeks, and days.

And when others know their preferences, they’ll be able to die on their own terms.

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January 2024 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the January newsletter!

Dementia Friendly Home: 4 Ways to Make Things Easier to See

Everyday tasks are often challenging for people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

But small changes at home can have a big impact in making their life easier.

As the disease progresses, your older adult will have increasing difficulty remembering, thinking, processing, and reasoning.

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7 Ways to Reduce Dementia Sundowning Symptoms

Many people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia get increasingly confused, anxious, and agitated later in the day.

Others may have disrupted sleep schedules or restlessness at night.

These sundowning symptoms are disruptive and difficult to manage. They’re also stressful and negatively affect your older adult’s quality of life.

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10 Ways to Respond to Dementia Hallucinations in Seniors

Dementia causes changes in the brain that may cause someone to hallucinate – see, hear, feel, or taste something that isn’t there. Their brain is distorting or misinterpreting the senses.

And even if it’s not real, the hallucination is very real to the person experiencing it.

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December 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the December newsletter!

Wander Management in Senior Care: Lessons From the Brookfield Assisted Living Settlement

In May, a lawsuit against Brookfield Assisted Living in Bella Vista concluded with a $2 million settlement. It comes less than two years after 74-year-old Barbara Doyle went missing after wandering from the facility in August 2021, and was found dead 13 days later.

Her husband, Jack, alleged in the wrongful death lawsuit that an employee saw that Doyle had left the facility but did not notify anyone.

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Why Seniors Need A Health Advocate: 7 Health Benefits

Visiting the doctor can be an exhausting blur for some older adults.

Sometimes, seniors aren’t able to fully understand what the doctor says, aren’t comfortable asking questions, don’t like to speak frankly about symptoms and concerns, or are too shy to insist on treatments that are in their best interests.

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Strategies to Facilitate Social Engagement Among Senior Living Residents

Social engagement is vital to senior care residents, but facilitating it can be a challenge. With obstacles to social engagement common in senior living settings, senior care communities need to take an active approach in facilitating resident engagement.

Socialization is critically important for senior care residents.

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November 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the November newsletter!

Seven Tips for Helping Seniors at The Doctor: Being A Health Advocate

Figuring out how to get the best possible health care can be overwhelming. And for many seniors, a doctor’s appointment can be a confusing blur.

That’s why having you as their health advocate can improve your older adult’s overall health – especially if they need help keeping track of details, making sure their care is coordinated among multiple doctors, or bringing up sensitive subjects.

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Better Senior Health Involves Improved Doctor Visits

Having a good understanding of your older adult’s health conditions is especially important because they’re usually managing serious chronic conditions or multiple health problems.

As their health advocate, knowing what’s going on with your older adult’s medications and treatments helps reduce medication errors and improves quality of life.

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What Does a Geriatric Doctor DO? How Seniors Benefit from a Specialist

Many older adults have multiple chronic health conditions.

Treatments for one issue can easily affect other aspects of their health and worsen their overall quality of life.

Managing these complex health situations are where geriatricians (geriatric doctors) can be especially helpful.

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October 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the October newsletter!

Hospice Myths:5 Common Misunderstandings

One of the biggest hospice myths is that it’s only for people who are expected to pass away in days or weeks.

Common misunderstandings like this can discourage people from learning more about services that could improve quality of life for seniors and families.

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9 Top Questions about palliative care vs hospice care

These two services are often confused, so it’s important to understand the key differences and benefits of palliative care vs. hospice care.

Depending on their health conditions, one or both of these services could significantly improve your older adult’s quality of life.

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Hospice isn’t a Death Sentence: Get the Facts

The biggest myth around hospice care is that it means giving up on your older adult.

Many people think that hospice care is only for people who are expected to pass away within days or weeks.

That’s not true.

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September 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the September newsletter!

Caring for the Caregiver: 6 Ways to Get Help and Improve Your Health

Caring for the caregiver is a key component in long-term caregiving. Without help, you’re more likely to become exhausted and severely stressed. That can lead to serious health problems and limit your ability to care for others.

This is why it’s so important to find caregiving help so you can take regular breaks and have the time to maintain or improve your own health.

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Caregiver Guilt Two Common Myths Increase Stress

There are many common misconceptions about what caregivers should do or how they should feel that can cause guilt that isn’t deserved.

Unfortunately, these misguided beliefs and unrealistic expectations about caregiving can also hurt you by causing burnout, compassion fatigue, or serious health conditions caused by chronic stress.

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How Geriatric Care Managers Can Help You

Many family caregivers are overwhelmed with complex senior care issues and endless day-to-day tasks.

Others are living far away and struggling to manage their older adult’s care from a distance.

In these situations, a geriatric care manager (GCM) could be a helpful addition to your caregiving team.

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August 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the August newsletter!

Six Ways to Get Seniors with No Appetite to Eat

Getting seniors who have no appetite to eat can be a challenge. 

There are many reasons why some older adults lose their appetite or refuse to eat.

But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re worried about them and are doing your best to give them the nutrition they need.

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Nine More Ways to Get Seniors with No Appetite to Eat

Getting someone to eat when they have no appetite is a tough challenge.

First, it’s important to rule out serious health conditions, medication side effects, and dental problems.

Once you know your older adult’s overall health isn’t causing their loss of appetite, experiment with different ways to entice them to eat more.

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Ten Reasons Why Seniors Lose Their Appetite

Many older adults struggle during mealtimes or simply refuse to eat because they’ve lost their appetite.

This is an important issue to address because seniors need to eat well to stay as healthy and active as possible.

But how can you convince someone with no appetite to eat? And why do seniors lose their appetites in the first place?

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June 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the June newsletter!

Cognitive super agers defy typical age-related decline in brainpower

Although it’s normal for brainpower to decline as people age, it’s not inevitable, studies show. Some people remain cognitively sharp into their 80s, 90s, and beyond, defying the common assumption that cognitive decline is a natural part of aging.

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"SuperAgers" show possible new link between social engagement, cognitive health

Scientific evidence about the importance of remaining socially engaged as we age continues to grow. Participating in social activities, such as visiting friends, volunteering, and getting out for events and trips, has been associated with better cognitive function, while low social engagement in late life has been associated with an increased risk of dementia (Krueger, 2009; Saczynski, 2006). 

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Psychological well-being in elderly adults with extraordinary episodic memory

The Northwestern University SuperAging Program studies a rare cohort of individuals over age 80 with episodic memory ability at least as good as middle-age adults to determine what factors contribute to their elite memory performance. As psychological well-being is positively correlated with cognitive performance in older adults, the present study examined whether aspects of psychological well-being distinguish cognitive SuperAgers from their cognitively average-for-age, same-age peers.

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April 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the April newsletter!

Early Signs of Dementia: When To Be Concerned

Dementia results in a serious decline in thinking skills and physical abilities. Yet the first symptoms of dementia can go undetected.

Telling the difference between normal aging and the beginning stages of dementia may be difficult. Symptoms are usually subtle at first, and your loved one could be masking their symptoms.

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Is Dementia a Normal Part of Aging?

As a caregiver, you’re likely aware of every change in your loved one’s behavior. Sometimes it can be hard to tell if they’re experiencing a brief moment of forgetfulness or something more concerning. While everyone has the occasional mental lapse, you shouldn’t expect memory loss to be part of your loved one’s life as they age.

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How the Aging Brain Affects Thinking

The brain controls many aspects of thinking — remembering, planning and organizing, making decisions, and much more. These cognitive abilities affect how well we do everyday tasks and whether we can live independently.

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February 2023 Newsletter for Caregivers

Welcome to the February newsletter!

Dementia-Like

"Some causes of Dementia or Dementia-like symptoms can be reversed. Your doctor may identify and treat these causes:

Infections and immune disorders. Dementia-like symptoms can result from fever or other side effects of your body's attempt to fight off an infection.

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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI)

Not necessarily "Dementia" in the strictest sense of the word, but a condition that commonly leads to Dementia, and therefore there should be a high level of concern.

"Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition in which people have memory or other thinking problems greater than normal for their age and education, but their symptoms are not as severe as those seen in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

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AIDS dementia complex (ADC)

AIDS dementia complex (ADC), or HIV-associated dementia (HAD), occurs primarily in persons with more advanced HIV infection. Symptoms include encephalitis (inflammation of the brain), behavioral changes, and a gradual decline in cognitive function, including trouble with concentration, memory, and attention. Persons with ADC also show progressive slowing of motor function and loss of dexterity and coordination. When left untreated, ADC can be fatal. It is rare when anti-retroviral therapy is used.  

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