CareGiver Clips

About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

2011-12-21T15:00:00.000-05:00

The goal of the Alzheimer's Reading Room is to Educate, sometimes Entertain, and Empower Alzheimer's caregivers, their families, and the entire Alzheimer's community.

At the Alzheimer's Reading Room, we offer "real life" solutions to problems that Alzheimer's caregivers face each day.

The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one source of life news for the entire Alzheimer's community.

The site focuses on Alzheimer's disease and the art of Alzheimer's caregiving.

On the Alzheimer's Reading Room, we tackle real world problems and offer advice and solutions on issues like: repetitive questioning, challenging behavior, how tounderstand Alzheimer's disease, how to cope with the disease, and how tocommunicate effectively with a person living with dementia.

Read more about the Alzheimer's Reading Room here.

Alzheimer's Patient Dotty Sings and Talks to Parrot (Video)

2011-11-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

Dotty performs live, and talks with Harvey the Parrot

By Bob DeMarco Alzheimer's Reading Room

Dotty is 95 years old and lives with Alzheimer's. She was diagnosed in 2004.I learned something today that I had never heard before. Dotty mentioned the Lobster Club in south Philadelphia in the video.The Lobster Club turned 100 years old in 2007. After a little investigation, I found out it is about a block and one half from where my mother lived as a young girl. The members of the Lobster Club also performed in the famous Mummers Day Parade on New Year's Day in Philly.Read more at the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's Disease Caregiver, Are You a Hamster?

2010-11-02T12:59:00.000-04:00

Amplify’d from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com

One of the most difficult tasks an Alzheimer's caregiver faces is the development of a new set of communications skills. Sooner or later the caregiver needs to come to an understanding that the way they have communicated in the past, before Alzheimer's, won't work in a world filled with Alzheimer's disease.

Here is the good news. You are the ONE that gets to decide. Stay on, or get off the wheel. The hamster has no choice. You do.

Original content Bob DeMarco, read this article at the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's and the Thyroid Revisited

2010-03-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

Experiencing forgetfulness, weight gain, depression, dry skin, intolerance to cold, muscle aches, or fatigue? You could be suffering from hypothyroidism.....

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

"Get your thyroid tested. Nearly one in five people over the age of sixty has some degree of hypothyroidism, meaning a sluggish thyroid. The sympotms include forgetfulness, weight gain, depression, dry skin, intolerance to cold, muscle aches, and fatigue. People who are hypothyroid feel as though they have mild Alzheimer's and depression all mixed into one bad day."

Read -- Alzheimer's and the Thyroid Revisited

About Alzheimer's Reading Room

2010-02-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

At the Alzheimer's Reading Room, we discuss solutions to common problems that Alzheimer's caregivers face each day. These include issues like: communication, wandering, incontinence, hygiene, eating disorders, and what to expect as the disease progresses. We provide specific insight, advice, and solutions based on real life experience.

The Alzheimer's Reading Room

I started the Alzheimer’s Reading Room to keep track of the thousands of articles and many books I was reading about Alzheimer's disease.

I soon realized that Alzheimer's caregivers are often thrust into their role with little or no experience, training, or education about Alzheimer's disease. As a result, they are often overwhelmed and suffer from feelings of helplessness. Forty percent of Alzheimer's caregivers suffer from depression.

Go hereto continue reading.

Making Rounds with Oscar: The Extraordinary Gift of an Ordinary Cat

The Alzheimer's Hamster Within YOU

2010-02-13T10:25:00.001-05:00

Here is the good news. You are the ONE that gets to decide. Stay on, or get off the wheel. The hamster has no choice. You do......

By Bob DeMarco

One of the most difficult tasks an Alzheimer's caregiver faces is the development of a new set of communications skills. Sooner or later the caregiver needs to come to an understanding that the way they have communicated in the past, before Alzheimer's, won't work in a world filled with Alzheimer's disease.

Change is difficult under any circumstance. It is even harder when you need to change something that you have been doing all day long throughout your life.

Continue reading --

Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Alzheimer's Hamster Within YOU

Also see -- 60 Reasons to Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Combination of Aricept and Namenda Helps Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

2010-01-27T08:55:00.001-05:00

"The results of this study should change the way we treat patients with Alzheimer's disease. Cholinesterase inhibitors are approved for use in mild to moderate dementia, while memantine has been approved for advanced dementia. But it looks like there is an advantage in prescribing both drugs as initial treatment."--John Growdon, MD

My name is Bob DeMarco, I am an Alzheimer's caregiver. My mother Dorothy, now 93 years old, suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

By Bob DeMarco

To continue reading go here -- Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Combination of Aricept and Namenda Helps Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients

Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Front Row in Alzheimer's World

2010-01-24T08:18:00.001-05:00

Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Front Row in Alzheimer's World

Is it really Alzheimer's or something else?

2009-09-27T12:26:00.000-04:00

clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com

Many people assume that if an older person becomes forgetful and can no longer deal with some of the basic activities of daily living, he or she must have Alzheimer’s disease. This is not always the case.

I cannot tell you how many times I have recommended to someone to go beyond their personal physician and get a neurological consult. They rarely follow through which never stops amazing me.

Dementia (Alzheimer's disease) like symptoms can be caused by numerous factors. The following can present as a false positive for Alzheimer's. They can only be ruled out by appropriate testing.
These include:

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

Popular articles at the Alzheimer's Reading Room.

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part One)
Test Your Memory (TYM) for Alzheimer's or Dementia in Five Minutes
Does the Combination of Aricept and Namenda Help Slow the Rate of Decline in Alzheimer's Patients
Five Ways to Keep Alzheimer's Away
Is it Really Alzheimer's or Something Else?
Alzheimer's Wandering Why it Happens and What to Do
10 Good Reasons to Subscribe to the Alzheimer's Reading Room Now
World Health Care Spending and Performance Ranking by Country (Table)
What is Dementia?
Dementia and the Eight Types of Dementia
Walmart and this Alzheimer's Caregiver
Dimebon Connection Study
Are Alzheimer's Caregivers the Forgotten?
A Simple Three Minute Test Can Detect the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's Disease
Wii a Useful Tool for Alzheimer's Caregivers
2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures
The Mini-Cog Test for Alzheimer's and Dementia

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's Reading Room: The Alzheimer's Caregiver can become the Patient

2009-01-28T07:33:00.000-05:00

Previously I wrote, Where are the Alzheimer's Caregiver Helpers? I am trying to make a point on this blog--the Alzheimer's caregiver can become the patient. I don't think this is well known by families of caregivers. Over the last few years I have heard too many stories of caregivers going it alone while their family looks on. Patting the caregiver on the back while you sit on your butt is not enough. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that caregiving needs to be done in teams. Don't get me wrong here, I do know families that work together when someone becomes ill.

The Alzheimer's Caregiver can become the Patient

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

: When Alzheimer's Hits at a Young Age

2008-11-16T14:23:00.000-05:00

Brian Kammerer, the 45-year-old chief financial officer of a small hedge fund, called his wife one day from a cellphone in the men's room of his Manhattan office building. A colleague had just asked him for something, he whispered, but he had no idea what it was.

'It clicks and it holds papers together,' he said.

'A stapler?' Kathy Kammerer asked.

'I think that's what it's called,' he replied.

Special Reminder: PBS Presents The Future of Alzheimer's

2008-08-03T13:24:00.000-04:00

PBS will present a special evening of programming focused on Alzheimer's disease on Sunday, August 3 starting at 9 p.m.

The programming starts with a national encore broadcast of the Emmy-Award-winning THE FORGETTING: A Portrait of Alzheimer's, followed by a new half-hour discussion, The Future of Alzheimer's, moderated by actor and Alzheimer's champion David Hyde Pierce.

Amazon.com Widgets

Wii Fit

2008-05-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

This is an excellent article about the new fitness module for Wii. I am considering getting this for my mother who suffers from Alzheimer's. Along with this I hope to get friends to come over and bowl with her.

This would satisfy two important needs: exercise and social interaction. Follow the link to read the article.

I'll let you know.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

Exercising with Wii Fit is like having a Bob Harper or a Denise Austin who talks back — gently cajoling you through exercises, praising, nudging, even reminding you to eat a banana once in a while. It also lets you see how you stack up against friends or family members; each user creates a cartoony avatar called a “Mii.”

Playbook for Alzheimer's Caregivers

2008-04-22T11:34:00.000-04:00

Follow the link to get your free copy.

clipped from www.alz.org

Tackle the challenges of caregiving with this free football style "playbook" by Frank Broyles, former Athletic Director of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. The Playbook is an engaging, how-to guide written for those who care for someone with Alzheimer's. Coach Broyles cared for his late wife Barbara, who had Alzheimer's disease.

“My wife Betty is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. The minute I received the ‘Playbook,’ I sat down and read it word for word. What a huge blessing for me to find a straight forward, 'been there’ account of what lies ahead.
Thank you!"
John Cater
Richmond, Texas

Caring, day by day

2008-03-30T00:21:00.001-04:00

clipped from www.berkshireeagle.com

Program filling needs for seniors, caregivers

Her dad needed a day to dress up and socialize. Her mom, meanwhile, just needed a break. So Karen Hutson, a referral specialist for Fairview Commons, started taking her 78-year-old dad to work one day a week.

After the day ends at 4 p.m., Champigny goes home to the care of his wife Norma.

While taking part in Adult Day, which meets from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday, Champigny gets the benefit of a social circle, Hutson said, and her mother gets a well-deserved rest.

"It's as good for the caregiver as it is for the (client)," she said.

The "bad part," according to program director and registered nurse Barbara Cartinelli, is having to convince seniors that participating in Adult Day isn't the same as moving into a full-time care facility.

Alzheimer's Reading Room: Free Online Publications Alzheimer's and Caregiving

2008-03-29T23:05:00.000-04:00

clipped from www.niapublications.org

Acute Hospitalization and Alzheimer's Disease

Online Version Only

AD: A Caregiver and Patient Resource List

Online Version Only

Caregiver Guide: Tips for AD Caregivers

Online Version Only

Caregiving Basics: A Resource List

Online Version Only

Unraveling Alzheimer's secrets

2008-03-10T13:41:00.000-04:00

clipped from www.telegram.com

Kerley, 52, has spent much of her life in the shadow of an illness that gradually destroys memory, personality and the ability to think, speak and live independently. Her mother, grandmother and a maternal great-aunt all developed Alzheimer's disease. Her mother, 78, is in a nursing home in the advanced stages of dementia, helpless and barely responsive.

Currently, the diagnosis is not made until symptoms develop, and by then it may already be too late to rescue the brain.

A radioactive dye called PIB (for Pittsburgh Compound B) has made it possible to use PET scans to find deposits of amyloid, an Alzheimer's-related protein, in the brains of live human beings.

It may lead to earlier diagnosis, help doctors distinguish Alzheimer's from other forms of dementia

"PIB is being used today to help determine whether drugs that are meant to prevent or remove amyloid from the brain are working, so we can find drugs that prevent the underlying pathology of the disease."

Unraveling Alzheimer's secrets

Scientists searching for ways to detect disease early

By Denise Grady
The New York Times

For a perfectly healthy woman, Dianne Kerley has had quite a few medical tests in recent years: MRI and PET scans of her brain, two spinal taps and hours of memory and thinking tests.

Kerley, 52, has spent much of her life in the shadow of an illness that gradually destroys memory, personality and the ability to think, speak and live independently. Her mother, grandmother and a maternal great-aunt all developed Alzheimer's disease. Her mother, 78, is in a nursing home in the advanced stages of dementia, helpless and barely responsive.

"She's in her own private purgatory," Kerley said.

Kerley is part of an ambitious new scientific effort to find ways to detect Alzheimer's disease at the earliest possible moment. Although the disease may seem like a calamity that strikes suddenly in old age, scientists now think it begins long before the mind fails.

"Alzheimer's disease may be a chronic condition in which changes begin in midlife or even earlier," said Dr. John C. Morris, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis, where Kerley volunteers for studies.

Currently, the diagnosis is not made until symptoms develop, and by then it may already be too late to rescue the brain. Drugs now in use temporarily ease symptoms for some, but cannot halt the underlying disease.

Many scientists believe the best hope of progress, maybe the only hope, lies in detecting the disease early and devising treatments to stop it before brain damage becomes extensive. Better still, they would like to intervene even sooner, by identifying risk factors and treating people preventively - the same strategy that has markedly lowered death rates from heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

So far, Alzheimer's has been unyielding. But research now under way may start answering major questions about when the disease begins and how best to fight it.

A radioactive dye called PIB (for Pittsburgh Compound B) has made it possible to use PET scans to find deposits of amyloid, an Alzheimer's-related protein, in the brains of live human beings. It may lead to earlier diagnosis, help doctors distinguish Alzheimer's from other forms of dementia and let them monitor the effects of treatment. Studies with the dye have already found significant deposits in 20 percent to 25 percent of seemingly normal people over 65, suggesting that they may be on the way to Alzheimer's, though only time will tell.

"PIB is about the future of where Alzheimer's disease needs to be," said Dr. William E. Klunk, a co-discoverer of the dye at the Alzheimer's research center at the University of Pittsburgh. "PIB is being used today to help determine whether drugs that are meant to prevent or remove amyloid from the brain are working, so we can find drugs that prevent the underlying pathology of the disease."

Though PIB is experimental now, studies began in November that are intended to lead to government approval for wider use.

Currently, for the most common form of Alzheimer's disease, which occurs after age 65, there is no proven means of early detection, no definitive genetic test. But PIB tests might be ready before new treatments emerge, making it possible to predict who will develop Alzheimer's - without being able to help.

Researchers are also using MRI scans to look for early brain changes, and testing blood and spinal fluid for amyloid and other "biomarkers" to see if they can be used to predict Alzheimer's or find it early.

Studies of families in which multiple members have dementia are helping to sort out the genetic underpinnings of the disease.

Finally, experiments are under way to find out whether drugs and vaccines can remove amyloid from the brain or prevent its buildup, and whether doing so would help patients. The new drugs, unlike the ones currently available, have the potential to stop or slow the progress of the disease. At the very least, the drug studies will be the first real test of the leading theory of Alzheimer's, which blames amyloid for setting off a chain of events that ultimately ruin the brain.

Alzheimer's was first recognized 100 years ago, and in all that time science has been completely unable to change the course of the disease. Desperate families spend more than $1 billion a year on drugs approved for Alzheimer's that generally have only small effects, if any, on symptoms. Patients' agitation and hallucinations often drive relatives and nursing homes to resort to additional powerful drugs approved for other diseases such as schizophrenia, drugs that can deepen the oblivion and cause severe side effects such as diabetes, stroke and movement disorders.

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia (artery disease, Parkinson's and other brain disorders can also lead to dementia). Five million people in the United States have Alzheimer's, most of them over 65. It is the nation's sixth leading cause of death by disease, killing nearly 66,000 people a year and probably contributing to many more deaths. By 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Association, 11 million to 16 million Americans will have the disease.

"Sixteen million is a future we can't countenance," said William H. Thies (pronounced thees), the association's vice president for medical and scientific relations. "It will bankrupt our health care system."

The costs are already enormous, $148 billion a year - more than three times the cost of chronic lung disease, even though Alzheimer's kills only half as many people.

To a great extent, increases in dementia are the price of progress: More and more people are living long enough to get Alzheimer's, some because they survived heart disease, strokes or cancer. It is a cruel tradeoff. The disease is by no means inevitable, but among people 85 and older, about 40 percent develop Alzheimer's and spend their so-called golden years in a thicket of confusion, ultimately becoming incontinent, mute, bedridden or forced to use a wheelchair and completely dependent on others.

"It makes people wonder whether they really want to live that long," Klunk said.

The potential market for prevention and treatment is enormous, and drug companies are eager to exploit it. If a drug could prevent Alzheimer's or just reduce the risk, as statins such as Lipitor do for heart disease, half the population over 55 would probably need to take it, Thies said.

If new drugs do emerge, they will come from studies in patients who already have symptoms, Thies said. But he said the emphasis would quickly shift to treating people at risk, before symptoms set in. Many researchers doubt that even the best preventive drugs will be able to heal the brains of people who are already demented.

Researchers are especially eager to study people like Kerley, because the children of Alzheimer's patients have a higher-than-average risk of dementia themselves, and tracking their brains and minds may open a window onto the earliest stages of the disease.

Alzheimer's Activities: Hundreds of Activities for Men and Women With Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders

Assisted living costs for Alzheimer's patient is tax deductible

2008-03-05T15:53:00.000-05:00

clipped from www.usatoday.com

Q: My mother just went into an assisted living facility due to Alzheimer's. It costs over $4500 per month. Are any portion of these expenses tax deductible?

Answer from AICPA member Kenneth J. Strauss: Sorry about your mother but the good news is that the entire $4,500 is fully tax deductible as a medical expense.

The rules can get pretty complicated but it is clear that Alzheimer's disease is a severe cognitive impairment which is the threshold for determining if the taxpayer is entitled to a full medical deduction.

Like all medical deductions the total amount of medical deductions is an itemized deduction. The medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of her adjusted gross income are deductible.

Depending on how high her income is will determine the full tax benefit. This might be a year to take some extra money from her retirement account. If your mother does not have the resources and you or another family member is paying then you should see if your mom can qualify as a dependent.

Financial Ties to Parents and Children Affect Boomer Retirement

2007-12-13T14:07:00.001-05:00

This was extracted from a good and interesting blog-- Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna. This blog is worth visiting and adding to the reader.

clipped from generationsandwich.blogspot.com

Boomers, though arguably the most prosperous generation in American history, face mounting demands on their financial resources from both their adult children and their aging parents. In fact, one in six Boomers surveyed is "sandwiched," providing assistance to both their parents and adult children, according to Ameriprise Financial’s Money Across Generations study.

Boomers are torn between helping their adult children pay off debts and get started, and helping their aging parents with necessities. This help often comes at the expense of funding their own retirement.

My husband and I have very different perspectives on this. His parents provided everything for him through college, and were generous until their deaths. My parents provided nothing. I paid for college, grad school, and all expenses from junior high forward. Yes, it was very hard and I missed out on a lot. But I learned to be independent and make my own way.

Sometimes I Feel Like a Piece of Bologna

A Blood Test for Alzheimer's?

2007-12-12T16:50:00.001-05:00

clipped from www.healthandage.com

Apparently there are 18 'signaling' proteins in plasma that can be used to help diagnose the presence of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study reported in Nature Medicine.

Scientists assayed plasma from 85 Alzheimer's disease and from 79 non-Alzheimer subjects, looking for 120 known signaling proteins. Using half the samples, they found 18 signaling proteins that distinguished the Alzheimer's plasma samples from the others.

hen they tested the remaining samples to see how well the chosen proteins were able to select the Alzheimer's. They found the testing procedure recognized 90% of the Alzheimer's plasma and 88% of the non-Alzheimer's.

In another test, the signaling proteins were able to identify patients with mild cognitive impairment who went on to develop Alzheimer's in the next 2-6 years with 91% accuracy, and achieved 100% success in recognizing mild cognitive impairment subject who didn't develop Alzheimer's.