A wrap-up of some of the highlights of recent weeks follows... Words that resonate: I’m not afraid December 16th, 2020 I don’t worry. I’m not afraid: “I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I want my life to look like as I age. Two of the most important [...]
“People without dementia are not used to enforced isolation, or social and physical distancing, whilst people with dementia experience it from the day we dare to share our diagnosis.” – Kate Swaffer Do you ever wonder about stigma and where it begins? Have you ever experienced it? How does stigma [...]
Here's a useful tool that lists the 10 best (and 10 worst!) foods for your brain's health. Renowned neurologists Ayesha and Dean Sherzai, both MD's, have helped tens of thousands of people to boost their brain health and wellness. Now they've condensed highlights from their decades of research into a [...]
On the best of days, caregiving for a family member with dementia is difficult. Watching the decline of a loved one is hard. Having to help them with things that are basic and personal makes it even harder. The commitment - 24 hours a day - offers little time for [...]
Family care of an older adult has emerged as an essential element of the US health care system, with 83 percent of long-term care provided to older adults coming from family members or other unpaid helpers. As the population of older adults grows, so too does the expectation of family [...]
Low diastolic pressure can arise as a result of medication use, heart failure or other health complications. But, in most people, it is simply a matter of the heart not pumping out enough blood with each stroke; in other words, low cardiac output. And low cardiac output occurs when not [...]
I was offered a “pass.” It was a routine appointment approximately one year following Mother’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s in late 1997. The physician quietly handed over to me a written order saying, “Admission to nursing home.” And then he waited silently for my response. Having toured the area nursing homes [...]
2002-2003 Those were the SARS years, but communications were so different in the early 2000’s! The internet was still quite new – and most hospitals did not yet have websites. Our regional television networks and newspapers reported on the threat of the SARS pandemic and we learned that older people [...]
"Some experts worry that a long-standing shortage of palliative care professionals ― who focus on the physical pain and mental and spiritual distress caused by serious illness — could leave many COVID-19 patients in distress... 'There is already a shortage, which will only worsen as demand goes up because of [...]
Harvard professor Dr. Arthur Kleinman asks, “How do we strengthen caregiving? How do we do those things that will make it recognized as important as it is? It’s going to take a radical rethinking. Our health care system is focused on entirely the wrong issues. Economics is not the most [...]