Alzheimer’s disease is the most frequent form of dementia, and it is both cruel and tragically common. The world’s slowest, most painful disappearing act affects 5.7 million Americans — and with the large boomer generation reaching age 65 and beyond, t… Continue reading
I am dating a married man. His wife doesn’t know. She resides in an assisted living facility, a tragic victim of a brain disease. Like a young child, she can no longer walk alone, needs help being fed, showered and going to the bathroom. She and my fri… Continue reading
The subtitle for Grandpa and Lucy, a book by 16-year-old author Edie Weinstein, says it all: A Story About Love and Dementia. In this charming picture book, the main character, a young girl named Lucy, employs simple and loving gestures to strengthen… Continue reading
In an opinion piece in a recent edition of the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), three neurologists at the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Memory and Aging Center wrote that older Americans are being ripped off and served … Continue reading
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 un… Continue reading
The basics of heart health have been drilled into our brains: Eat less saturated fat. Keep moving. Know your “numbers” for cholesterol, blood pressure and BMI. But what about that brain itself? Although life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900,… Continue reading
Post-Its had become an essential tool for Dale Rivard. As a veteran assistant state’s attorney in Grand Forks, N.D., Rivard found that he was increasingly relying on the sticky notes to track the multiple details associated with his job as a prosecutor… Continue reading
Illustrator Nancy Carlson vividly remembers the spring day in 2007 when she simultaneously felt like “the happiest person in the world” while at the same time experiencing an odd sensation that everything was about to change. “My husband Barry was outs… Continue reading
Faye Kirtley doesn’t appreciate it when store clerks talk down to her and act as if “I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said. “It’s embarrassing, and I don’t know why they think it’s okay to treat an older person like that,” added the 88-year old reside… Continue reading
A multimedia program first developed to help calm children with autism is now proving to be of great help to older adults with anxiety or dementia. Called “LifeMoves,” the sensorimotor program incorporates simple, gentle arm movements with soothing mus… Continue reading