Alzheimer's Diary

Alzheimer's Stages

2015-11-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

One of the most popular searches in the Alzheimer's and Dementia communities is for information on the stages of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's Stages

Unable to maintain balance when walking

2014-03-07T08:34:00.002-05:00

When it comes to the elderly one of the most popular keyword searches on Google and Bing have to do with the issue of balance and walking.

The following keyword search

Unable to maintain balance when walking

leads to this article in the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Problems with Balance, Walking, Falling Can Be an Early Sign of Dementia

Balance and walking problems often present before the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer's or dementia.

Bob De Marco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room Knowlege Base

Dancing hands taps alzheimer's disease

2014-02-27T14:29:00.001-05:00

“Dancing Hands” is a program that uses hand tapping and music to engage dementia patients.

I think providing music in a group setting, combined with the creative outlet of producing “taps”, illustrates that persons suffering from Alzheimer's enjoy engaging in creative activities.

I spent some time studying the reactions and the faces of the Alzheimer’s patients as they engaged in this activity.

Watch the video and read more

Can "Dancing Hands" Help Alzheimer's Patients Be "More There"?

Memory Test for Alzheimer's Online

2013-12-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Memory Tests)

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

Coconut Oil in Alzheimers Treatment

2013-12-10T16:27:00.001-05:00

It is almost like a cult, people extolling coconut oil as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

In the article below Rudy Tanzi discusses the issue and offers possible explanations of the positive affect of coconut oil on Alzheimer's patients.

In response to the keyword seach

coconut oil in alzheimers treatment

Bing search recommended the following article

Is Coconut Oil a Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease?

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room Knowlege Base

Best Nuts to Lower Triglycerides

2013-12-04T14:03:00.001-05:00

A simple change of eating nuts regularly can make a big difference in people’s health.

By +Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room

My mother has suffered from high cholesterol and high triglycerides for as long as I can remember.

I wonder all the time if we had gotten control of this problem if it would have made a difference in her eventual Alzheimer's.

Nothing can be done for her now. However, you and I can do something, and I think we should. These research findings are worthwhile reading and worth considering.

In response to the keyword search

Best Nuts to Lower Triglycerides

Google search suggested this article

Eat Nuts, Lower Cholesterol, Lower Triglycerides, Improve Health

Eating an average of 2.3 ounces of nuts daily (67 g, about 1/3 cup) produced the following healthful reductions: blood total cholesterol was lower by 5.1 percent, LDL (bad) cholesterol by 7.4 percent, the LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio by 8.3 percent, and the total cholesterol/HDL ratio by 5.6 percent. In people with higher than normal blood triglycerides—greater than 150 milligrams per deciliter—nut consumption reduced triglyceride levels by 10.2 percent.

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room Knowlege Base

Alzheimer's and Sugar

2013-12-02T16:16:00.002-05:00

If you are what you eat, then what does it mean that the average American consumes 130 pounds of sugar a year?

In response to the keyword search

Alzheimer's and Sugar

Bing search suggested the following article

Is Sugar Toxic, 60 Minutes

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Huperzine

2013-11-27T13:22:00.003-05:00

This page contains a fact sheet about the herb. Huperzine A may have cognition-enhancing activity in some Alzheimer's patients.

Huperzine A

TRADE NAMES

Huperzine A is available from numerous manufacturers generically. Branded products include Memorall (PharmAssure), Huperzine Rx-Brain (Nature's Plus).

DESCRIPTION

Huperzine A is a plant alkaloid derived from the Chinese club moss plant, Huperzia serrata, which is a member of the Lycopodium species. Huperzia serrata has been used in Chinese folk medicine for the treatment of fevers and inflammation.

Huperzine A has been found to have acetylcholinesterase activity. Huperzine B, also derived from Huperzia serrata, is a much less potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Natural huperzine A is a chiral molecule also called L-huperzine A or (-)-huperzine A. Synthetic huperzine A is a racemic mixture called (±)-huperzine A. Huperzine A is also known as HUP, hup A and selagine. In Chinese medicine, the extract of Huperzia serrata is known as Chien Tseng Ta and shuangyiping. Huperzine A derivatives are being developed for pharmaceutical application.

Continue reading this article

Huperzine A Factsheet (Alzheimer's)

in the Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Ask - cognitive impairment test

2013-11-25T12:28:00.002-05:00

A team of researchers developed a rapid screening test designed to detect this early form of cognitive impairment. Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is often a precursor of Alzheimer's disease.

Asked and Answered

A Simple Three Minute Test Can Detect the Earliest Stage of Alzheimer's Disease

___________________________________
Related Content

___________________________________
+Bob DeMarco

Does stress cause alzheimer's?

2013-11-20T14:11:00.002-05:00

The Alzheimer's caregiver can become the patient. I don't think this is well known by families of caregivers.

A reader searched the following keywords

Does stress cause alzheimer's

and Yahoo search recommended

the following article from

the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Can Stress Cause Alzheimer’s Disease?

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

How well does donepezil work?

2013-11-18T16:11:00.001-05:00

Aricept is not a cure for Alzheimer's disease, and it does not stop Alzheimer's.

When it works well, it is designed to slow the progression of Alzheimer's and improve behavior.

In response to the search quiry

How well does donepezil work

Google returned the following article

Aricept Works For Us

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Eliminating the Mystery of Pandora’s Genetic Box

2013-11-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

IF DNA is destiny, then Anne Wojcicki is in the right business.

She is the co-founder and chief executive of 23andMe, a Silicon Valley start-up that offers a $99 DNA test, as easy as spitting into a tube, that provides detailed genetic information from disease risk to family lineage.

For $99, Eliminating the Mystery of Pandora’s Genetic Box

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Internet Alzheimers Test

2013-11-11T13:19:00.003-05:00

Google Search Recommends

Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Memory Tests)

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

Ask - dr. oz and fiber foods

2013-11-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

Eating high-fiber foods helps you stay fuller longer, keeps you regular, and boosts colon health.

Getting enough fiber can be a challenge, but one certainly worth taking on.

Dr Oz

Lately, I am receiving a lot of email asking me about the use of supplements and all kinds of nutraceuticals** that help prevent or slow down memory loss and Alzheimer's.

More and more people are becoming aware of my great success with Dotty and want to know what I am "giving her". Dotty can still read, get the three letter words in a crossword puzzle, talk, and even play bingo and get all the called numbers even though she can only count to seven.

I did and continue to investigate anything I think might help Dotty's health and brain. However, I want to make it clear that after buying all kinds of "stuff" back near the beginning, I eventually came to the conclusion that it would be best to focus on diet and to identify foods that are high in antioxidants, fiber, and foods that are rich in vitamins.

Near the top of my list are cinnamon, spinach, kale, apples and many of the vegetables and fruits you will see listed below.

Dr Oz has a very good list which you can see below.

Ask Suggests

Dr Oz on Poop and High Fiber Foods

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer and Mental Health Activities

2013-11-04T17:53:00.000-05:00

This platter contains the seven essential daily mental activities necessary for optimum mental health in daily life.

These seven activities make up the full set of 'mental nutrients' that your brain needs to function at it's best. By engaging regularly in each of these servings, you enable your brain to coordinate and balance its activities, which strengthens your brain's internal connections and your connections with other people. -- Dr. Dan Siegel

Seven daily essential mental activities to optimize brain matter and create well-being

Focus Time
When we closely focus on tasks in a goal-oriented way, we take on challenges that make deep connections in the brain.

Play Time
When we allow ourselves to be spontaneous or creative, playfully enjoying novel experiences, we help make new connections in the brain.

Connecting Time
When we connect with other people, ideally in person, and when we take time to appreciate our connection to the natural world around us, we activate and reinforce the brain's relational circuitry.

Physical Time
When we move our bodies, especially aerobically, we strengthen the brain in many ways.

Time In
When we quietly reflect internally, focusing on sensations, images, feelings and thoughts, we help to better integrate the brain.

Down Time
When we are non-focused, without any specific goal, and let our mind wander or simply relax, we help the brain recharge.

Sleep Time
When we give the brain the rest it needs, we consolidate learning and recover from the experiences of the day.

The Healthy Mind Platter Overview

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently replaced its food pyramid with a needed revision, a "choose my plate" pictorial example of a dish of food groups to remind us of what a daily diet should consist of to optimize physical health. What would be the equivalent of a recommended daily diet for a healthy mind?

With an obesity epidemic rampant in the US, this change is welcome and hopefully will inspire people to be aware of how they compose their day’s food intake. Our mind, embodied in our extended neural circuitry and embedded in our connections to others and even the way we relate to our planet, is also in need of careful attention to establish and maintain mental health. Poverty, hunger, and homelessness threaten the essential needs of many throughout the world. War and natural disasters fill many lives with fear and suffering. And even for individuals in more stable environments, modern life can be filled with an overwhelming focus on the outer world and an experience of being isolated from meaningful connections with others. Multi-tasking with its fragmented attention and the sense of becoming overwhelmed with information overload frequently fracture a sense of wholeness. In each of these conditions, the embodied and socially embedded requirements for a healthy mind are not being created in daily life throughout the world. Many are deficient in a daily regimen necessary for mental well-being.

So what would be included in The Healthy Mind Platter?

In the field of interpersonal neurobiology, we define a core aspect of the mind and also propose that a healthy mind emerges from a process called “integration”— the linkage of different components of a system. That system can be, for example, the body as we connect upper and lower regions to one another. Integration can also include how we connect with others in a family or a community, honoring differences and promoting compassionate linkages with each other.

If we embrace interpersonal neurobiology’s proposed definition of a key facet of mind as an embodied and relationally embedded process that regulates energy and information flow, how can we make a practical definition of mental habits that can help people with their diet of “daily essential mental nutrients”?

How can we use the focus of attention to strengthen integration in our bodies and in our relationships on a daily basis? What would the fundamental components of such a health-promoting daily regimen of mental activities be?

To address these questions, my friend and colleague, David Rock, a leader in the organizational consulting world, and I got together and created what we're calling The Healthy Mind Platter. Here is how we describe the elements of this plan for a healthy mind.

The Healthy Mind Platter has seven daily essential mental activities necessary for optimum mental health. These seven daily activities make up the full set of “mental nutrients” that your brain and relationships need to function at their best. By engaging every day in each of these servings, you promote integration in your life and enable your brain to coordinate and balance its activities. These essential mental activities strengthen your brain's internal connections and your connections with other people and the world around you.

We're not suggesting specific amounts of time for this recipe for a healthy mind, as each individual is different, and our needs change over time too.

The point is to become aware of the full spectrum of essential mental activities, and as with essential nutrients, make sure that at least every day we are bringing the right ingredients into our mental diet, even if for just a bit of time. Just as you wouldn't eat only pizza every day for days on end, we shouldn't just live on focus time alone with little time for sleep.

The key is balancing the day with each of these essential mental activities. Mental wellness is all about reinforcing our connections with others and the world around us; and it is also about strengthening the connections within the brain itself.

When we vary the focus of attention with this spectrum of mental activities, we give the brain lots of opportunities to develop in different ways.

One way to use the platter idea is to map out an average day and see what amounts of time you spend in each essential mental activity. Like a balanced diet, there are many combinations that can work well.

In short, it is important to eat well, and we applaud the new healthy eating plate.

As a society we are sorely lacking in good information about what it takes to have a healthy mind. Since the mind is both embodied and embedded in our connections with others and our environment—both natural and cultural—these seven essential times help strengthen our internal and relational connections. And since the brain is continually changing in response to how we focus attention, we can use our awareness in ways that involve the body and our connections to create a healthy mind across the lifespan!

We hope that The Healthy Mind Platter creates an appetite for increasing awareness of how to nourish our mental well-being each day too.

The Healthy Mind Platter was created by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute and Clinical Professor at the UCLA School of Medicine in collaboration with Dr. David Rock, Executive Director of the NeuroLeadership Institute.

Source of Information: http://drdansiegel.com/resources/healthy_mind_platter/

Thanks to Wantland J Smith for sending this information to us.

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alternativen zu donepezil (Alternative to Donepezil)

2013-11-04T13:23:00.001-05:00

How much does it cost to buy the generic form of Aricept? The generic name of Aricept is Donepezil?

Google Search Suggests

Generic Aricept Alternative Cost Pricing (Donepezil)

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

AOL Search - Mom in late stage alzheimers and now intestinal blockage

2013-11-02T05:00:00.000-04:00

This article is about implementing a solution to a problem with someone living with Alzheimer's disease, and problems with bowel movements.

I knew the solution to the dreaded bowel movement problem for years. I couldn't get my mother to cooperate. When she wouldn't cooperate, I would give up. At least three or four times over a two year period.

I was finally able to implement my solution for one simple reason -- I was learning new and better techniques as an Alzheimer's caregiver over time.

AOL Search Recommended

Alzheimer's and the Dreaded Bowel Movement

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

2014 Alzheimer's Education Conference - Call for Proposals

2013-11-01T11:44:00.005-04:00

The target audience of the 2014 Educational Conference is family caregivers and health, legal, and human service professionals working with patients and family caregivers.

Up to 8 contact hours for Continuing Education Units (CEUs) offered for specific disciplines.

For Additional Information

2014 Alzheimer's Education Conference - Call for Proposals

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's, Never Forget, the Stop Sign, and Butt-in-skis

2013-10-31T16:07:00.001-04:00

Somehow they pop out of the woodwork, from time to time, and actually try and tell you what you should be doing. Its okay by me if you tell em where to stick it. I don't blame you. But, did you ever try to give them the stop sign.

By +Bob DeMarco

From time to time, I read stories on the internet where Alzheimer's caregivers devise all kinds of ways to help Alzheimer's patients remember.

Most frequently this includes post it notes and white boards. Now in some cases I can understand why this might be necessary. For example, the patient stays at home and the note is to remind them to take their medication. Or, go take a pee. Just kidding on that one.

Alzheimer's, Never Forget, the Stop Sign, and Butt-in-skis

Google - alzheimer's refusing to bathe

2013-10-27T09:00:00.000-04:00

Doctors recommend older adults shower or bathe a minimum of twice a week to reduce the chance of infection including urinary tract infection.

Google Search Recommends

How to Get An Alzheimer's Patient to Take a Bath

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

AOL Search - 90 year old with dementia is it possible to read with corrected eyewear

2013-10-26T20:03:00.000-04:00

I now believe that the entire regimen and routine that I developed for Dotty helped slow the progression of Alzheimer's in her.

+Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Let them Do It

2013-10-05T17:03:00.002-04:00

Several months after my great Alzheimer's caregiver experiment, I received one of the biggest shocks of my Alzheimer's caregiver life. A shock that sent me into a tailspin like I had never experienced previously in my life -- it sent me to the edge of total despair.

Almost every day I am reminded of one of the most important things I learned about Alzheimer's caregiving --

Just let them do it.

In my case, this referred to my mother Dotty. Dotty was deeply forgetful.

Continue Reading

Just Let Them Do It

+Bob DeMarco , +Alzheimer's Reading Room

To learn more about Alzheimer's and Dementia visit the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Dotty Taught Me a Lesson

2013-09-02T15:37:00.000-04:00

Read the complete article --

You Learn Something New Every Day as an Alzheimer's Caregiver

Dotty Says, I Did? I Was?

2013-08-05T15:58:00.001-04:00

By Dorothy DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room

Bobby says I wrote on this so called blog before. I did?

He says my fans want to hear from me. They do?

Then he shows me all these nice comments from people that read this so called blog. Well, thank you for your kind words and prayers.

I'm hungry.

Continue Reading

How to Reduce Memory Loss

2013-07-10T08:30:00.000-04:00

Conclusion: more frequent cognitive activity, and keeping your brain active, helps slow memory loss as you age.

By +Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room

New research suggests that reading books, writing and participating in brain-stimulating activities at any age may preserve memory.

Continue reading in the Alzheimer's Reading Room