"The holidays are a time for friends and family. It’s a time for coming together and for bustling merriment for many. But for families living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, the holidays can be challenging. Take a deep breath. With some planning and adjusted expectations, the next few weeks can still be happy and memorable."
Posts tagged as “AD”
" It is not unusual for an Alzheimer's caregiver to wonder if the person living with Alzheimer's or a related dementia still loves them. Do they? The simple actions that person living with dementia perform each day can lead us to only one conclusion."
"Scientists have found an unexpected use for virtual reality headsets: to help pinpoint people who may later develop Alzheimer’s disease. The devices, widely used by computer gamers, display images that can be used to test the navigational skills of people thought to be at risk of dementia. Those who do worse in the tests will be the ones most likely to succumb to Alzheimer’s later in life, scientists now believe."
"'It's probably too late once the effects of neurodegeneration are manifest,' explains Marc Diamond, Director of UT Southwestern's Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases.
'We need to be able to diagnose the process early and know the specific type of neurodegeneration that is occurring, because that is the best chance we have to intervene with a personalized treatment. This is very analogous to how we currently use tumor genotyping to best diagnose and treat cancer.'"
"Those Sunday crossword puzzles may not prevent the aging brain from slowing down -- but they might protect it in a different way, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at the 'use it or lose it' theory on brain health. The concept holds that mentally engaging activities -- from reading to crosswords to board games -- may help the brain resist dementia later in life. In this study, older adults who said they enjoyed those pastimes were no less likely to show signs of mental decline over time, versus other older folks."
"A Beijing taxi driver who has taken his wife who suffers from Alzheimer’s to work with him every day for the past three years has become an internet celebrity despite saying he wants to be left alone."
"The overproduction of a protein called tau has long been observed in the neuron degeneration that causes Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. But the exact genetic process that causes tau to proliferate has been something of a mystery. Scientists led by the University of California, Los Angeles, say they’re a step closer to understanding the genes involved in the overproduction of tau."
"'There is so much promise in non-pharmacological treatments, like exercise and cognitive training,' adds Yu. 'Ultimately, I want people with cognitive impairment to live longer in the community, with a better quality of life.'"
"New guidelines have been published to help doctors and health care professionals assess and manage when people living with dementia should stop driving...'People with dementia have the right to remain independent for as long as possible. When being assessed for fitness to drive they have the right to be treated in a fair and open way.'"
"They stress that their research does not suggest that disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease are contagious, but it does raise concern that certain medical and surgical procedures pose a risk of transmitting such proteins between humans, which might lead to brain disease decades later."