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Preparing ahead of time
Prepare contacts. Make a written list of contacts, including the primary caregiver and other family members or friends who help with care, wh...
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Adult daycare offers valuable respite to caregivers of patients who have Alzheimer's or other dementia, while also providing the patient with important cognitive and social...
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Depression is a health threat you don't want to ignore. Growing populations at risk include caregivers looking after frail elders, people with dementia, and people living a...
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"Brain training" (also called "cognitive training" and "cognitive rehabilitation") is getting lots of buzz. But can brain games slow cognitive changes? The jury's still out...
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Many overweight adults can't seem to lose weight no matter what they try. The problem may not lie in their calorie counts but their very cells: Increasing numbers of Americ...
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The words "caregiver" and "unsung hero" go together in countless ways -- not least, their role in healthcare. A new report from the Family Caregiver Alliance calls caregiv...
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It's probably not your imagination that a loved one with severe dementia appears increasingly fragile over time. Weight loss is common at this stage, even among individuals...
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Include music in your holiday plans with ailing older relatives and you'll all feel a bit better for it. A growing body of research indicates that music really does have h...
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Alzheimer's disease can't be diagnosed with one test. Instead, doctors rely on a detailed medical workup known as a clinical assessment to diagnose Alzheimer's and other ca...
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Read my lips: 36 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss -- and many are in denial about it. Only a fifth of those who would benefit from help for hearing troubl...
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Many families have had this experience: An older loved one comes home from the hospital seeming mentally different from before he or she went in. Is it just normal aging? ...
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Holiday Trouble Spot #1: Flying
Realize that even someone with early dementia shouldn't travel alone.
Stay together in the airport at all times.
Remain calm ...
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If exercising to reduce stress or ward off diseases feels a little abstract to you, how about this incentive: Exercise can make you live longer.
Adults who do some moderat...
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Vacations are often a time when the earliest symptoms of dementia become more obvious. The reason: The onset of dementia is so gradual that the person ordinarily simply com...
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If your holidays include some movie-going, consider seeing a little picture with a big name, "The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez". It's interesting even aside ...
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President George H.W. Bush, 88, copes daily with effects of mild Parkinson's disease -- but it was a garden-variety bug that sent him to a Houston hospital. Bronchitis, inf...
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It's never fun to deal with an angry person, whether we're talking about a hothead who's quick to anger or a chronically angry grouse. Unfortunately, none of the natural re...
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Don't be too surprised -- or too disappointed -- if you hear some uncharacteristic fabrications, fibs, and outright lies from your loved one with Alzheimer's or some other ...
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Two tough conditions often lurk behind the lights and tinsel of the holiday season: grief and depression. They often share many of the same symptoms. But are they the same ...
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Where will your parents live when they can no longer set up house independently? Though multiple generations have long lived together under one roof, that hasn't been the A...
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Nobody's thinking about danger while relaxing in a warm shower. Yet potential danger, even the fatal kind, is all around you in a bathroom. According to a 2007 research rep...
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Worried about a loved one falling out of bed? Don't rely on bed rails to keep him or her safe, says a new report in Biomedical Safety & Standards, a newsletter for medi...
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Coping with a loved one's dementia symptoms can be stressful beyond belief. Whether symptoms are caused by Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, knowing what to expect a...
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One detail stands out in the sad news about the death of "Dallas" actor Larry Hagman from throat cancer: He's survived by his wife of 60 years, Maj, who has Alzheimer's dis...
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The post-Thanksgiving "Cyber Monday" is all about shopping; but in the eldercare world, the day kicks off the season of shopping for senior care options for relatives.
Tha...
