Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and What to Expect First blanking on a grandchild’s name, then accusing a son or daughter of stealing personal belongings, to eventually not recognizing close family members—this is the heart-breaking long goodbye, also known as Alzheimer’s disease. One of the scariest parts of Alzheimer’s can be the unknown of how it [...]

How to Help Your Kids Understand Alzheimer’s Disease It’s hard enough for you to witness and accept Mom or Dad’s strange behaviors brought on by Alzheimer’s disease, let alone help your children understand why the loving grandparents they once knew now act differently. But it’s important to talk to even the youngest members of the [...]

Join the effort to detect Alzheimer’s early The Home Instead Senior Care® network has joined the Alzheimer’s Early Detection Alliance (AEDA) in a nationwide effort to educate people about the warning signs of Alzheimer’s disease and the importance of early detection.  The AEDA is a group of corporations, nonprofits and government entities under the leadership [...]

Half of Alzheimer’s Could be Prevented, Research Indicates Q.  My mother is terrified of getting Alzheimer’s disease, which her own mother died from. Is there anything encouraging out there to help allay her fears? Yes, indeed. In fact, a recently recently released study that more than half of all Alzheimer’s disease cases could potentially be [...]

Recent research from Rush University Medical Center has shed light on the issue of predicting cognitive impairment. Scientists there discovered that lower, though not necessarily impaired, performance on tests measuring story learning predicted subsequent cognitive decline in a normal population. Other indicators were retention and processing speed in motor tasks dependent on visual control, as well as symptoms of depression.

I love coffee, but my daughter is always after me to quit drinking it at my age (86). In fact she thinks my diet isn’t so great, either, since my wife died. I do the best I can and feel pretty good for an old codger.

As it turns out, the evidence continues to grow showing the benefits of caffeine in fighting Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide and a particular favorite for senior citizens who thrive on coffee, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Here’s some interesting findings you can share with your daughter from the report “Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases”: