MY MOTHER’S VOICE: Stolen by Alzheimer’s by Donna L. Scrafano Painting featured by Judith Carlin The medical consensus believes that Alzheimer’s disease has purely biological causes. I feel, however, that traumatic events can also trigger this dreadful disease. This belief is based on my personal experience watching my mother battle Alzheimer’s. The first trauma came Read more
Did you know that married couples are less likely to develop dementia than other adults? According to Drs. Liu, Zhang, Choi and Langa, all unmarried groups of people (i.e., divorced, widowed, single, etc.) had significantly higher odds of developing dementia than their married friends. The researchers from Michigan State, University of Michigan and Texas Tech Read more
Knowing that your loved one has dementia is difficult enough, but when that person refuses to accept their changing needs and abilities, it creates an even greater burden on the family. Sometimes it’s the caregiver who refuses to accept the declining behavior of a loved one, but more often, it is the person with dementia who fails to see the warning signs. Read more
Dementia and Alzheimer’s Caregiving: Facts & Figures Most patients that are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s are commonly first diagnosed with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) or Dementia. The symptoms are often similar at the onset, so diagnosing is more difficult. The numbers surrounding caregiving are as shocking as the diseases themselves. Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of Read more
How to Get an Aging Parent Off the Road by Tracy E. Hill, Ph.D. I think at some point we all have the nagging suspicion that our mother or father isn’t safe to drive anymore—unsafe not just for the parent but for other people on the road as well. Over the past several months, I’ve Read more
National Institute on Aging recently released Spanish language versions of some Alzheimer’s materials for caregivers. Copies are available online or hardcopy. For any questions about ordering hard copies please call the Alzheimer’s Disease and related Dementias Education and Referral Center at 1-800-438-4380. Monday through Friday, 8:30am- 5:00pm (EST). Read more
Kevin & Avonte’s Law by Tracy E. Hill, Ph.D. Kevin and Avonte’s Law is a bipartisan bill that was initially introduced in 2014 and passed in the spring of 2018 in memory of two boys who drowned after wandering off from school. Kevin Curtis Willis (9 years old) and 14 year old Avonte Oquendo both Read more
Return to Memories by Timothy Niedermann Originally published in March 2017, Ottawa Review of Books “The House on Selkirk Avenue” by Irena Karafilly Guernica Editions, $20.00 It is late September 1998, and Kate is back in Montreal to help her daughter, Megan, move in to the “student ghetto” next to McGill University, where Megan is Read more
How to Talk to a Loved One with Dementia by J’Nel Wright Does the following sound familiar? Bill always looked forward to greeting his grandmother after school. But when Grandma no longer recognized him and even threatened to call the police, Bill and his family realized they needed to change the way they communicated with Read more
A Cure for Alzheimer’s? Although Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia in older adults, there is yet, no cure. However, the world is eagerly awaiting the results of a promising new drug called BAN2401. Silver Sage originally posted on this in early July, but even in the last few weeks, BAN2401 has made Read more
