Driving is a complex activity that requires quick thinking and reactions, as well as good perceptual abilities. For the person with Alzheimer’s disease, driving becomes a safety issue. While he or she may not recognize that changes in cognitive and sensory skills impair driving abilities, you and other family members will need to be firm…
Advance preparations • If your loved one lives in a residential facility, find out about its disaster and evacuation plans. Ask if you will be responsible for evacuating your loved one. • Whether your loved one lives with you, or you are a long-distance caregiver, make sure evacuation plans include his or her specific needs.…
Importance of Regular Eating Proper nutrition is important to keep the body strong and healthy. Regular nutritious meals may become a challenge for people with dementia. They may become overwhelmed with too many food choices, forget to eat or think they have already eaten. If the person is having difficulty eating, ask yourself the following…
Is there a difference between Dementia & Alzheimer’s Disease? Dementia is a general term for a group of brain disorders. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, accounting for 50 to 70 percent of cases. This fact sheet briefly discusses Alzheimer’s and some other dementias. All types of dementia involve mental decline that:…
Is an Assisted Living right for you or your loved one? A consumer checklist of Important Services, Amenities and Accommodations in Assisted Living Communities. Print out this guide and bring it with you as you tour a community. Click here for a printable checklist and questions to ask! What to look for when visiting Assisted…
Bathing is often the most difficult personal care activity that caregivers face. Because it is such an intimate experience, people with dementia may perceive it as unpleasant or threatening. In turn, they may act in disruptive ways, like screaming, resisting or hitting. Such behavior often occurs because the person doesn’t remember what bathing is for…
Alzheimer’s is a brain disease that causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior. Symptoms usually develop slowly and get worse over time, becoming severe enough to interfere with daily tasks. Get more information by visiting our Alzheimer’s experts in your area at SeniorsGuideOnline.com The basics Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia,…
Researchers have observed that having a parent or sibling with Alzheimer’s disease does increase one’s risk somewhat above the general population’s risk of developing the disease, but such a family history should not cause undue anxiety. Nonetheless, some people with such family histories, and some without such histories, wish to have a genetic test that…
Experts have documented common patterns of symptom progression that occur in many individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and developed several methods of “staging” based on these patterns. Progression of symptoms corresponds in a general way to the underlying nerve cell degeneration that takes place in Alzheimer’s disease. Nerve cell damage typically begins with cells involved…
While there is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, there are five prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat its symptoms. Donepezil, galantamine, rivastigmine and tacrine are called cholinesterase inhibitors. Memanatine is classified as an uncompetitive low-to-moderate affinity N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. Both types of drugs help manage symptoms, but…
