Dear Baxter, My sister meditates daily. She told me that, among other benefits, it helps prevent Alzheimer’s. Is this true? Do you know of any research about this? Thanks for your help! Maddy Tayshun — Dear Maddy, A new study has found that intense concentration and relaxation could lead to a growth of new brain […]
How Can I Reduce My Risk of Alzheimer’s?
Q. Several of my relatives on my mother’s side of the family have had Alzheimer’s, including my aunt, my uncle, and both my grandparents. My father’s sister currently has it too. I am concerned for myself and my own children, and I want to do whatever I can to reduce our risk of the disease, […]
A Parent has Alzheimer’s and a Gun. What Do You Do?
Ever since Gregg Schnepp retired, his favorite activity has been gathering with his friends at the shooting range. According to his wife, Joanne, who is a strong believer in the right to bear arms, “shooting is about his only interest in life.” However, as a 70-year old with both mental and physical decline, it is becoming unsafe for Gregg to carry a gun. Joanne knows she has to talk to her […]
Discriminated Against for Having the “Wrong Type of Illness”
Long-term care services, whether provided in institutions or in the community, are essential to the well-being of many elderly and non-elderly people with limitations in performing daily activities. In the United States, in particular, long-term care is disastrously expensive. And, when it comes to benefits, some people are discriminated against simply because they have the […]
Is it Dementia or Adult ADHD?
Ginny is a 58-year-old widow who struggles each day with where she puts her keys, her cell phone, her purse, and even sometimes her coffee cup after she fills it with coffee. She often has trouble following conversations, and after about 15 minutes, she doesn’t remember much of what was said at all. After observing […]
Would a Pet be Beneficial for my Mom with Alzheimer’s?
Dear Angel, My mom has Alzheimer’s and I am thinking about bringing a cat into the house to help calm her down when she gets agitated. Is pet therapy effective for those with Alzheimer’s and do you think it’s a good idea for someone like her to have a pet like you? Thanks, Kat Formamma […]
Alzheimer’s Lost Memories May Be Recoverable
Jennifer was 42 years-old when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. She was heartbroken at first, wondering if she would remember the details of her first love, her child’s wobbly first steps, her overseas travels, or her 20-year career as a pediatric nurse. These things were all significant to the fabric of her life so […]
Bring Your Mom to Work: On-Site Elder Day Care at Workplaces
Karen spent many years in school to get her PhD, followed by years of work to become a tenured professor at a university, and eventually a department head. She and her husband delayed starting a family, and when she was in her mid 40’s and at the peak of her career, she had her […]
How to Stave Off Dementia
Q. I am in my mid 50’s and have a history of dementia in my family. My mother, three of my aunts, and one uncle died from it, and I want to do whatever I can to protect myself from the disease, if at all possible. My cousin lives in Japan, and he told me […]
Top 15 Articles of 2015
From the 50th birthday of Medicaid and Medicare and the 80th birthday of Social Security to the once-a-decade White House Conference on Aging, we covered a lot of ground in 2015. It was a year that included a new act being passed in Virginia to help special needs families, overtime pay for caregivers, and amazing new technological innovations to help seniors age-in-place. At the Farr Law Firm, […]
What Can Be Done with $350 million? (a lot, we hope)
Alzheimer’s research got a $350 million boost last week, when President Barack Obama signed the FY2016 budget into law. This historic amount marks the largest boost ever for federal Alzheimer’s research funding — a nearly 60 percent increase over FY2015 funding levels. Alzheimer’s is the only cause of death among the nation’s top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured, or even slowed. Today, there […]
How to Survive Adult Sibling Conflict Over Elder Care, Inheritances, and More
Q. Last week, my sister, my brother, and I traveled with our families to visit our 82-year old mother for Thanksgiving (I didn’t have to go too far, since she lives ten minutes away!). Although mom says she is “just fine,” we noticed several memory lapses and other signals of her waning health throughout our […]
How Do You Tell Loved Ones That You Have Alzheimer’s?
Greg O’Brien and his family (source: onpluto.org) Fifty-nine year old Greg O’Brien lives a healthy and happy life. He exercises every day, makes a good living, and spends lots of quality time with his wife and three children. Five years ago, Greg started to notice changes in himself. He was forgetting things, and his judgment sometimes seemed impaired. Meanwhile, his own mother was dying of Alzheimer’s disease. Greg […]
Be Very Afraid: Our Top Ten Scariest Articles
With Halloween upon us, now is the time when we present you with this year’s scariest & creepiest stories. From posthumous messages from loved ones to Alzheimer’s being contagious, we uncovered some scary ground. To celebrate Halloween, we’ve ranked our scariest articles for you to revisit (if you dare). As always, thank you for reading […]
Is Alzheimer’s Contagious?
There are currently 5.2 million Americans who suffer from Alzheimer’s, and the number is expected to triple by 2050. It has long been believed that Alzheimer’s is caused only by age and genetics, but new research says person-to-person transmission of the protein that causes Alzheimer’s may be a possibility. So, does that mean that […]
Finding Joy in Alzheimer’s
Photo from everydayfamily.com Q. It’s National Grandparent’s Day on Sunday, September 13. My children want to do something special with their grandpa, who is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, ever since the diagnosis, he has resigned himself to the fact that he is sick, and has not left his house. My children can’t […]
Learning to “Speak Alzheimer’s”
Dear Angel, My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a couple of years ago. She used to be a college professor and is a brilliant woman. I began noticing that when someone hears of her Alzheimer’s, they ask me questions that she could very well still answer for herself. How can I convey to others that […]
Secrets of Centenarians
Q. The other day, I was reading about Susannah Mushatt Jones, who turned 116 last month in New York. She was born in 1899 and retired in 1965. She never smoked or drank, and says lots of sleep is the secret to her longevity. I am in my 80’s and still have lots of energy […]
When Loved Ones Aren’t Permitted to Visit
Peter Falk and his daughter, Catherine. (from dalje.com) Jane and Maria are sisters who haven’t spoken in ten years due to a disagreement over their mother’s care. Jane was a caregiver for her mother, Millie, and served as her guardian and had Power of Attorney until she passed away. Maria lived in another state and […]
$10,000 a month! Why don’t they take it seriously?
Q. My parents are in their 70’s and I am a caregiver for them, while working part-time and raising a family. My father has had Parkinson’s for fifteen years and is no longer mobile. My mother is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. As much as I love them dearly, it is becoming a real […]