Things are changing on the dementia front, and we might say they’re changing for both the better and the worst. On the one hand, the overall rate of dementia is (according to most projections) rising rather rapidly. On the other, though, scientists are finally starting to make some real headway in their understanding of this… Read More »
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This Holiday, Honor Caregivers with Random Acts of Kindness
The news is filled with horrifying headlines. As comfort, we remind ourselves that the world knows more kindness than tragedy, even if the former never earns the lion’s share of the coverage. Though we seldom hear about them, millions of acts of kindness unfold on Earth every single day, big and small. I see some… Read More »
Even for Dementia Patients, There’s No Place Like Home
NBC paved yet another yellow brick road to ruby-red-hot ratings with their latest live musical event this month, The Wiz LIVE! The Wizard of Oz holds a special place in our cultural consciousness, with the 1939 MGM version standing out as perhaps the most-watched movie in the whole history of cinema. Nearly every American has… Read More »
A Change in Your Sense of Humor Could Mean Dementia
The things that make you laugh may have caused plenty of arguments about which movie to see at the theater over the years, but they’ve never been of much clinical interest to doctors… until now. As The Wall Street Journal reports, a new study conducted by University College London and published in the Journal of… Read More »
Married with No Estate Plan But Too Busy to Make One?
Fact: 64% of Americans do not have a will. Fact: 1/3 of America’s married couples are without life insurance. Fact: Even among those couples that do have life insurance, 43% still say they would be in financial trouble if one of the spouses passed away. This month, NerdWallet and USA Today are teaming up with… Read More »
November Is National Family Caregivers Month
Every November, the Caregiver Action Network (CAN) gives a formal, month-long salute to elder care’s unsung heroes: the unpaid, volunteer, in-home family caregiver. They call it National Family Caregivers Month. More than 90 million Americans currently provide some sort of unpaid care to a loved one dealing with disability, disease, chronic illness, or simply the… Read More »
One Woman Learns She’ll Live Longer and Responds Hilariously
I wanted to share an article I found that adopts rather a humorous perspective on old age, written by a woman who mirthfully admits she’s knocking on that door herself. Columnist Betty Coutant reflects on a recent revelation in which she learned that, even at the age of 60, she should prepare herself to live… Read More »
Can Banks Help You Care for Aging Parents?
Did you know that the fastest-growing group in the United States is seniors aged 85 and older? Or that in the next two to three decades, America will have more than 75 million people who are 60 or older? Those statistics appear in an intriguing new article in Barron’s, which makes a claim you might… Read More »
Cancer Medication May Improve Parkinson’s, Dementia
Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other forms of dementia all share certain key traits. Now, it seems, we might add leukemia to that list too. NPR reports that nilotinib, a medication long used to treat leukemia, may confer significant health benefits for seniors diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia as well. Lewy body… Read More »
How End-of-Life Discussions Can Save Your Life
Amy Berman is a nurse and a nationally recognized expert in senior care. She’s also a cancer patient with Stage 4 inflammatory breast cancer. In a recent Washington Post editorial, she explains that advance planning and end-of-life discussions have saved her life, even as she faces a terminal prognosis. For Berman, that began with a… Read More »