Daily Dementia & Alzheimer's News: May 15, 2009

Groundbreaking Drug Helping Alzheimer's Patients

After 11yrs in the game, hoping for a cure, I have seen many a news story like this one, so am always a little sceptical now. I wish they wouldn't title the articles so positively, because it usually leads to disappointment. It would be better for the heart if instead of 'Groundbreaking Drug Helping Alzheimer's Patients' they said 'So far so good seems to help a bit'....~:oP

Also much to my frustration I could not find any mention of the name of the drug being trialled (please let me know if you see something that I overlooked)...so I have emailed the Assistant Professor featured in the video clip above and hopefully will be able to post her answer in the next few days. Stay tuned....

P.S. If you are searching for clinical trials, the U.S. National Instite on Aging clinical trials search function is a very handy tool (it even lists some trials being conducted in countries other than the U.S.). Click here to access it.

Gladiator proves he's smarter than a ten year old

Woohoo! £100,000 is nothing to be sniffed at, and the U.K. Alzheimer's Society has just won that amount thanks to a television gladiator star. Well done! Well worth a round of applause...

Coping with Caregiving: Elder Care & Elder Rage

Many of you will have heard of Jacqueline Marcell's best-seller book, Elder Rage. I was fortunate enough to have Jacqueline stumble across my web-page and she has very kindly provided the article that I have linked to above. Although Jacqueline's parents were older than my own parent who has dementia (my father has young onset) I could completely emphasis with the situations Jacqueline describes in the article and also agree with the advice and information that she provides in it.

Jacqueline has done a lot to raise awareness with regards to the issues that caregivers face, and has also experienced these issues herself so can truly understand the realities. For more information about Jacqueline you can visit the Elder Rage website, you can also listen to her radio interviews with carers and experts at the Coping with Caregiving website or if you want to find past radio shows by topic, click here.

You can get her book at the following webstores:

U.S. Amazon Link

U.K. Amazon Link

Canadian Amazon Link

Fishpond Australia

Alzheimer's Disease: What you should know

Some interesting facts and figures about Alzheimer's disease, and I was pleased to note that the first 'fact' listed was that the disease is not simply about forgetting....

Care Improvement Program Saves Nursing Homes Millions, MU Researcher Finds

A program that saves money AND improves the care provided to nursing home residents, now that's something worth applauding...

Music helping dementia patients

It took a long while for me to track down a page that would provide me with the code that I could use to allow me to post this video to this page, but I am glad I got it. It also has some additional links that appear at the end of the video to older stories.

Great story, and uplifting to see such a positive program being developed...

Utah study links atrial fibrillation to Alzheimer's

A linkage between heart disorders and dementia interests me greatly as Dad (who has dementia) has a heart that skips a beat, and my mother who has suffered to 24hr amnesic attacks but does not have dementia (yet!) has the heart condition discussed in this story...

Smoking Interferes With Recovery From Alcohol-related Brain Damage

For those dealing with dementia caused by excessive alcohol consumption this may be important....

Alzheimer's Association Memories in the Making

Video posted to YouTube today which describes a great program run by the Alzheimer's Association....the title above links to a website which also describes the program.

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Study seeks mechanisms that treat disease and reduce aging

Video posted to YouTube today, that describes studies being done into the benefits of resveratrol, a compound found in grapes and berries (not to be confused with risperdal which is an anti-psychotic drug that isn't recommended for use with dementia patients although some times it is used as a last resort)...

Old News Still in the Spotlight

These stories have already been posted over the last few days, but for those that missed them....

Can Dementia Be Predicted?

A "Light Bulb" Moment For People With Dementia

John Suchet backs dementia music project

Video: John Suchet talks about his wife who has dementia

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Cognitive Impairments and Frontotemporal Dementia in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

I found this article truly intriguing as, as I mentioned in a post below my father suffers from aphasia (inability to speak) and it is this and the fact that he cannot move his limbs voluntarily that are his most obvious symptoms these days. Aphasia is often seen as a type or a part of frontotemporal dementias...

Dementia & Photography

The above is a link to photographer Stephen DiRado's portfolio page of phots of his father who has Alzheimer's disease. Below is an interview with Stephen that was posted to YouTube today.

I have marked this post with a question mark as I am always a little uncertain about photography and dementia. So often I want to take photos of Dad, to bolster my memories of him when he is gone in the future, I have also posted photos of him on this website, because I think a big problem with getting the public to do anything about this disease, is due to the fact that it is hidden away from society's view. Nevertheless, I am always uncertain about whether it is ethical to not only take photos of Dad, nor show them, when he cannot give his consent. And even if he seems consentual, I don't know whether he truly understands what I am doing. So I post photos, but I am not completely comfortable with the idea. I am surprised Stephen doesn't mention such thoughts in the interview below, I hope he shares his thoughts on it some time in the future.

U.K. Dementia expert Banerjee urges funding push

Sube Banerjee, professor of mental health and ageing at King's College, London and co-author of England's National Dementia Strategy, urges social workers to push for funding in the article linked to above. Here also is an interview with Professor Banerjee from February this year when the strategy was finally launched after several delays:

Sube Banerjee on the National Dementia Strategy

My goodness I must be getting old, or Professors are getting young!

OCEANSIDE: Local man chronicles life with Alzheimer's

I've had a link to Joe's blog for a quite a while now on this site (you can find it in the list of blogs on the right hand side of the page), although again due to my being Australian I wasn't aware of his recent fame as a result of the HBO documentary aired this week in the United States, 'The Alzheimer's Project'. The article linked to above, discusses Joe's reaction to this new famedom and also the reasons why he and his family decided to share their story with a nation (and a few of us in the know in the rest of the world).

Here also is the segment of the documentary in which Joe features (11 minutes) with others...

Postscript: Oh my god, I finally got to watch the whole video and I think my heart got ripped out. So many echoes of my father, I thought I had grown immune to the pain, but its still sitting there obviously just underneath the surface. Bawled my eyes out, the last few clips were so what I have seen and experienced, god I still miss him, even though he's here.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck Promotes Alzheimer’s Association

When I saw this article, I thought, 'Oh cool, another celebrity increasing Alzheimer's awareness', even though as an Australian, and potentially because I am too old at 34, I have no idea who Ms. Hasselbeck is. However, when I read the comments below the article, I see that she is not necessarily the most popular of celebrities. What do you think? Is it a good or bad thing to have someone like Elisabeth representing the Alzheimer's Association?

Are You the Filling in Your Family's Sandwich?

This article looks at the sandwich generation and why looking after parents and children at the same time is harder today than it was a generation ago. It also suggests some strategies you can employ if you are struggling to stay in touch with your parents but worry about their well-being...

Dementia & Aphasia

I always get excited when I find an article about aphasia as it is not a very common topic of discussion, but one that is very close to my heart as my father hasn't been able to 'speak' now for many years.

As a result I can't tell how bad Dad's dementia is, is he still aware of all his old knowledge, aware of his situation but just can't tell me? Is his main problem just the control of his body, but inside he is still there, the same as ever? This is made doubly hard to be certain of when Dad sometimes reacts as you would expect a person with out late stage dementia too, appears to clearly understand something that has been said, but then at other times doesn't react at all. It's like living with someone who is there, right next to you, but in a soundproof room, where occasionally you hear something that sounded like a word, and other times it looks as if they heard you. Dementia is heartbreaking, dementia with aphasia is I think another kind of heartbreaking.

I remember sitting beside Dad when he lived in a nursing home (he lives at home again now) for hours on end, me talking to him, him sometimes making noises, sometimes appearing to understand, but him never being able to talk back. I'd look at the other people around me and sometimes wish that he would say something even if it was complete crazy talk or swearing, just to know who he was in that moment, what he was feeling, that was what I wanted. That said, I haven't lived with the other side of dementia, and am aware that it often isn't very pleasant either, and maybe if it had been that way, I would wish that my Dad had the peace of not saying things he didn't want to....

Anyways the article linked to above discusses the difference between dementia and aphasia and also looks at what happens when the two combine. An interesting read...