Tag Archives: tethering

Dementia and the Flu

Seems like an odd combination, no? Dementia and the flu. Researchers from the Tufts University School of Medicine found that there may indeed be a connection between dementia and the flu… and it’s not a good one. Seniors with dementia seem to be diagnosed with the flu less often. They have shorter hospital stays if they are diagnosed with the flu, and are more likely to die from the flu or complications of the flu than seniors without dementia. The research team looked at five years of data from the U.S. Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. That data included … Continue reading →

Caretaker Stories: Feeling Guilty

I’ve been composing this post in my head since I read about the Utah State University study on the relationship between caretakers and Alzheimer’s patients. I was one of the primary caretakers for my grandmother — who among other health issues has Alzheimer’s disease — for the better part of three years. It’s hard, frustrating, stressful, exhausting work, and eventually I had to stop. I packed up and moved across the country to have a fresh start in a new place, surrounded by friends. And left my mother doing the majority of my grandmother’s care. When I was still there, … Continue reading →

Relationship between Patient and Caregiver Makes a Difference

A study from Utah State University took a look at the relationship between Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers — and how that relationship can impact the patient’s mental and physical decline. Since 1994, researchers from Utah State University have been following more than five thousand people in order to look at risk factors for dementia. All participants were age 65 or older at the start of the study. Out of the initial five thousand, close to two hundred developed dementia and were being cared for by a spouse or (adult) child. Researchers interviewed the caregivers about their relationship with the patient … Continue reading →

Tabloid Reporter Nabs Brooke Shields’ Mom

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Talk about taking it too far! Brooke Shields is angered that her mother was checkout out of the New Jersey facility she lives in by a reporter and photographer allegedly from the National Enquirer. Sheilds’ mother, Teri, is 75 years old and suffers from dementia. It seems like I remember reading an article not long ago in the National Enquirer in which Teri was lamenting the fact that she rarely saw Brooke or her children. Reports are that the reporter posed as a friend and took Teri out of the facility to get a story. The Old Tappan police were … Continue reading →

Exercise More Forget Less

A new study says adding even a few minutes of exercise to your daily routine can help improve your memory and brain function by a measurable amount. We all know exercise can help us lose weight, relieve stress and boost energy, but this particular study set out to prove that engaging in moderate exercise (“moderate” being the operative word here, and I will explain why in just a bit) may also be used as a weapon in the fight against diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. The study included more than 1,700 adult participants aged 65 and older who didn’t … Continue reading →

Pre-Dementia is on the Rise

A study from the Mayo Clinic looked at a mild type of memory loss that may precede Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers looked at approximately sixteen hundred adults between the ages of seventy and eighty-nine living near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. All of the study participants had normal mental and memory function when they joined the study; within a year, more than five percent had developed some impairment. Men in the study were twice as likely as women to develop memory impairment. However, women often live longer and therefore have more time to develop memory issues. Researchers called this … Continue reading →

Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Tests Well

A new drug for Alzheimer’s disease called Rember is being praised by the National Institute on Aging. This drug is only in the earliest stages of testing, but is showing amazing results. The National Institute on Aging — one of the National Institutes of Health here in the United States — helped fund early research that led to the development of drugs like Rember. These drugs are designed to target tau proteins in the tangles that form in the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s disease. For decades, medical research on Alzheimer’s disease has focused on a different kind of … Continue reading →

He Stepped Up When It Mattered Most, Part 1

As I wrote about over in Pets, my mom’s battle with cancer and dementia ended last Thursday when she passed away peacefully in her sleep. I hate that this is my first blog back after my long absence from the Marriage Blog. I have some happier, snappier articles planned for the future, but given the circumstances this one seems most fitting. After all, regular readers know I was at a very low point because of all of this. So low in fact I thought I was facing a marriage crisis. The Crisis Defined But it turned out to be more … Continue reading →

Five Tricks for Navigating My Mom’s Dementia-Filled Days

When my mom had her mini-stroke a few weeks back, it negatively impacted her dementia in a major way. She went from exhibiting mostly mild symptoms with a few moderate ones thrown in, to exhibiting mostly moderate symptoms with a few severe ones thrown in. If I was gulping about being a caregiver before, I’m triple gulping about it now. I had hoped some of this was related to the stroke and that in time she’d come back to me. But she’s not shown any improvement. If anything, she gets a little worse each day. This has presented major challenges … Continue reading →

Humor Helps with Dementia Homecaring Duties

Earlier today I wrote “GULP! I’m a Caregiver!”. I admitted how scary that was and how clueless I sometimes am about it all. The Humor of It All However, that leaves a lot of room for humorous incidents. Luckily, both my mom, husband, and I have pretty good senses of humor. Which is nice, because as my fellow bloggers Aimee and Beth have both written in previous articles, laughter is good medicine. (And not just my mom could stand a large dose of that at this point!) Humor had a chapter all its own in Keeping Busy: A Handbook of … Continue reading →