General Condition Help

If your loved one with Alzheimer’s still lives at home, take these Alzheimer’s safety steps to prevent wandering.

We are all in denial about something at some point in our lives. The dictionary defines denial as "the refusal to admit the truth or reality." My favorite definition is "the negation of logic."

 Jan's Story by Barry Petersen, the multiple Emmy-award winning CBS News correspondent, is the heart-wrenching account of his wife Jan's Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease.

As a source of information and support, the Alzheimer’s Association provides invaluable services to people with AD and caregivers who are faced with significant challenges on a daily basis and is known for its commitment to educating families about keeping people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia safe, active and independent for as long as possible.

For people with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, the body’s functions degenerate as the brain’s functions deteriorate. Among the most affected are the five senses, but the sense of hearing is usually the first to go. Before hearing finally shuts down, music therapy can be a valuable therapeutic tool to promote interactive communication.

Many a patient (or the family) has asked, “What is Alzheimer’s disease, and what makes it different from dementia?” The term dementia refers to a health condition marked by a progressive loss of cognitive or intellectual abilities. There are many types of dementia, arising from different causes, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease.

Given the seriousness of their symptoms, people with Alzheimer’s often require around the clock care. But their caregivers need assistance, too. 

Dementia is derived from Latin and literally translates into “mind gone,” (de means “gone” while mens refers to “mind”). The most common cause of dementia, accounting for at least 60% of all dementia cases, is Alzheimer’s disease.

Estimates of the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease often vary, but the U.S. National Institutes of Health puts the range between 2.5 million and 4.5 million. One thing is certain — the number of Alzheimer’s disease cases will rise significantly as the baby boomers swell the numbers of the over 65s. It is projected that 10 million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer's disease.

For eleven years I pleaded with my elderly father to allow a caregiver to help him with my ailing mother, but after 55 years of loving each other he adamantly insisted on taking care of her himself. Every caregiver I hired to help him sighed in exasperation, "Jacqueline, I just can't work with your father–his temper is impossible to handle.