Caring for Alzheimer's

Posts Tagged ‘Alzheimer’s Disease’

The tragic dilemma of Alzheimers By Derek Humphry Since the day that I started the Hemlock Society USA in 1980, the question of persons with Alzheimer’s Disease and assisted suicide has been my nemesis. How can a person who has lost their cognitive function make such a critical decision as hastening their end? Moreover, having someone help them? People have put this question to me scores of times. It’s the toughest one to answer. For example, a French friend of mine, who had been working for years in the right-to-die movement — thus her philosophy was unquestioned — developed Alzheimer’s and asked me if I would help her die when she was ready to go. As she was a trusted friend of 20 years duration, I agreed. But then I went one day just to see how she was doing. On my arrival, she asked: “Who are you?” That was that. She never asked me again for help and if she had, I would not have been comfortable aiding her now that she had lost her mind. She died in a nursing home ten years later. Chiefly because we all live longer, some five million people in America suffer from this terrible disease. I also became acquainted with a California family where the father had contracted Alzheimer’s and did not want to put his loved ones through the long ordeal which is usually inevitable. He knew that he could only kill himself if he acted quickly. Fortunately, his two grown daughters fully understood his wishes and agreed to stand by him. They talked it out between themselves, and …

Alzheimer’s Training: Our insightful 60-minute webinar can help you address challenges by introducing a model of care that has improved function and quality of life for countless individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Watch now: bit.ly Kim Warchol, OTR/L, is the president of Dementia Care Specialists, a CPI specialized offering that empowers therapists and other care professionals with a positive approach like no other. How? In situations in which it’s easy to get overwhelmed about all that’s going wrong, we focus instead on what’s working right. It’s about giving individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias the respect they deserve— helping them thrive and not just survive. The goal: to bring out the best in an individual’s abilities—improving his function, safety, and quality of life, one day at a time. With a person-centered approach and effective proven methods, our compassionate Instructors help therapists and care partners work together more efficiently. Our approach helps deliver more effective care and create more rewarding, productive workplaces in the process.

Dr. Jan Lundberg, PH.D., executive VP science & technology and president Lilly research labs, shares his personal story first-hand about Alzheimers and underscores PhRMA (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America)and Lilly’s sentiment that new treatments for this fatal disease are needed to help patients and their caregivers, as well as lessen the burden on the healthcare system.

Much as I hate it, maybe the doctor’s recommendation for med levels is better for Lizzie. today she is quite calm and relaxed, although she won’t go anywhere outside the house. This drug has a side-affect of “the shakes”, and I hate seeing her shake like a Parkinson’s type shake, but maybe it makes for a better quality of life for her. We shall see how the day unfolds.

Marc. L. Gordon, MD, Chief, Neurology, Zucker Hillside Hospital, Litwin Zucker Research Center at Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, discusses Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which affects about 30 million people worldwide. By the year 2050, that number is expected to increase to about 115 million. Topics include: defining dementia, early signs and symptoms, types of dementia, describing plaques and tangles, current medications, new drugs in the pipeline, new guidelines, and biomarker research.

University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Center’s Jeff Burns, MD discusses the amyloid approaches.

on 12-23-11 eric and i celabrated our 1 year anniversary…this is a video i made of our memories

Please dont judge until you have watched the whole video.I done this video to bring to the attention of the many what a dredful disease Alzheimers is….Our once proud mum is left as a shell of her self.

Drugs developed to treat Alzheimer’s disease produce only fleeting memory improvements and do not slow the overall course of the disease. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors such as Aricept, Razadyne, and Exelon and NMDA receptor inhibitors such as Namenda have very limited value. There is a new experimental drug called J147 that at least in mice enhances memory in both normal and ALzheimer’s mice and also oprotects the brain from loss of synaptic connections. It is many years from reaching the market, and that is if it reaches it at all. There are other approaches that could be used clinically today that are underappreciated. New research shows that Alzheimer’s disease is akin to an electrical brown out. Neurons simply cannot use glucose to make enough energy and they gradually die. It is possible to provide an alternate form of energy using saturated fats that are metabolized to ketone bodies. These ketone bodies provide an alternate source of ATP production. This along with niacinamide, choline, B12, and curcumin may help delay the progression or even improve the status of Alzheimer’s disease.