Battling Alzheimer

I feel guilty. Here I’m writing for a blog called “Battling Alzheimer’s” and instead of telling you about the newest drugs, or the latest theories, I’m telling you about washing dishes with my grandmother.

But when I look at the research into new drugs and new preventions, and when I remember my grandmother, I keep thinking that a lot of the researchers are all wrong. They look at Alzheimer’s disease as if it were an infection that you can vaccinate against or take a pill for. Most of the solutions they’re promoting require you to put something into your mouth. I don’t think the mouth is the key to Alzheimer’s. I think the mind is.

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Robert T. DeMarco at I am an Alzheimer’s Caregiver says he missed the early signs of Alzheimer’s in his mother. He says that if he had known sooner, “This would have allowed me to get her in an exercise program, get her proper nutrition, and insured that she was taking her medication as prescribed. I learned in the last four years how important these factors are in the quality of her life.”

What should you do if you knew that Alzheimer’s disease was developing in you or a loved one?

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Alzheimer’s is a disease of fragility. A mind can handle all sorts of problems, but when the brain has too many stresses, it starts to show symptoms. For goodness sake, you and I show mental weakness when we’re sleep-deprived, don’t we? Or food-deprived, or feverish, or overly-worried? For someone who already has plaques and tangles and brain damage from a stroke, it may take less to push them into confusion and delusions than it would for you and me.

Even soft drinks aren’t safe. In Life without Memories, I read that sugared drinks seem to make laboratory mice more forgetful and increase the amount of “amyloid plaque deposit” in their brains, the most typical physical evidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Read the article in the Journal of Biological Chemistry if you don’t believe it. My grandmother drank a lot of decaf sodas, which we hoped would keep her from losing weight. But later she usually asked for plain water.

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Alzheimer’s disease involves pride and self-esteem - and not just for the elderly. I heard of a study, perhaps not scientific, where teenagers were treated like elderly people (ignored, disrespected, you get the picture) and began showing signs of mental confusion. When you lose self-esteem, you lose more than that.

But the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease can hurt your pride (pride is bad) as well as your self-esteem (self-esteem is good). Patients ask, “How could this have happened to me?” and a million other questions. Loved ones ask, “How could she say that to me?” They mean that what’s happening doesn’t fit the exalted view they have of themselves.

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By Linda J Bruton

There are some exciting results from clinical trials and recent research that shows that individuals can reduce their risks of Alzheimer’s disease by following a healthy diet regimen.

There is still no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. However, some of the clinical studies are so positive that there seems to be a consensus that individuals can control their destiny.

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By Linda J Bruton

The research for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is actually accelerating. This neurodegenerative disease that adversely affects millions of older Americans is receiving continued assistance from the Alzheimer Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading national advocate for Alzheimer’s disease. The National Alzheimer’s Association provides ongoing support and funding for research and education for Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s Disease affects the higher cortical functions of the brain. The functions that are compromised include memory, thinking and orientation. The Alzheimer’s Association in conjunction with the pharmaceutical industry provides ongoing testing and facilitation for research that will stop the progression of this disease.

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By Linda J Bruton

There are some exciting results from recent clinical trials and research that shows that you may be able to reduce the risks of Alzheimer’s disease by following a heart healthy diet regimen.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s but recent studies indicate that prevention of Alzheimer’s disease may be possible by including nutrient rich foods in the diet.

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By Alvaro Fernandez

Exciting new research, conducted by neuropsychologist Robert S. Wilson at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago, suggests new ways to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease as we age.

- “The study found a cognitively active person in old age was 2.6 times less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease than a cognitively inactive person in old age.
- “Wilson says the study also found frequent cognitive activity during old age, such as visiting a library or attending a play, was associated with reduced risk of mild cognitive impairment, a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia, and less rapid decline in cognitive function.”
- “If you want your mind to stay healthy into your golden years, don’t worry, be happy.

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By Harriet Hodgson

Coping with my mother’s forgetfulness was easy in the early stages of her dementia. Things changed after she started to hallucinate. I was taking my mother back to her apartment in an assisted living community when she described one of her hallucinations.

“Last night four people came into my apartment and asked to live with me,” she began. “I told them it was my apartment and they couldn’t stay. I could see them clearly and then they slowly disappeared. It took me a while to realize they weren’t real.”

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