Bucks County, Pennslyvania is holding two town meeting this year focusing on Alzheimer’s Disease. The first meeting on February 28th will look at the disease, how its diagnosed, its progression, treatment, and resources. The second meeting, in April, will focus on caregivers and caregiving.
In a lead up to these two meetings, the Bucks County Courier Times is running a series of articles highlighting Alzheimer’s Disease and its effects. The first article Early stage Alzheimer’s: Making the connection looks at Alzheimer’s Disease and offers a personal story about how it affects people.
“She was an incredible cook, always whipping up a new …read more

My mother stuck her head into the basement office of the house I shared with my parents in St. Catharines, Ont. “Don’t tell your father,” she said timidly, “but I can’t remember how to use the washing machine.”
So begins an article that is featured in the February 2008 issue of Canadian Living. Written by Peter D. A. Warwick, it’s a very personal and moving story of dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease. You can read the full text at CanadianLiving.com

Kate Mulgrew and her mother Joan Mulgrew talk about living with Alzheimer’s disease on Lifetime’s Women’s Health in 2002…

Further interview with Kate…
Part One

Part Two

Short film by Michael Sewell exploring Alzheimer’s impact on a young family.

       Mother’s last eight Christmas holidays were spent at the nursing home, which had become her home.  In the earlier days, my family and I attended the Christmas and New Year’s parties there and brought Mother to the activity room for fun and refreshments.  As she began to lose the reality of which day was Christmas, we visited her before or after but often spent Christmas Day with family who might live elsewhere.
If I were home, I did stop by the nursing home in the afternoon to share a gift and visit.  The last Christmas, Mother was unresponsive  and others might wonder why I …read more

The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America is introducing a ‘AFA Teens for Alzheimer’s Awareness College Scholarship’ in 2008. The $5,000 scholarship is designed to be used in the student’s first year of college.
Interested High School students (juniors and seniors) have to write a 1,200 words essay about ‘the impact Alzheimer’s Disease has one their own lives and what they have learned about themselves, their families and/or their community in coping with the disease.’. The application deadline is February 15th and details can be found at the website.
The AFA Teens website is also a great place for teens to visit to learn …read more

A granddaugher’s photographic documentary of her grandmother’s life…

Studies Regarding Alzheimer’s and Education 
             According to recently released research findings, people with less education may be more likely to become afflicted than those with higher degrees of learning.   However, Alzheimer’s appears to accelerate in the  more educated people once they acquire the disease. 
“Higher levels of education delay the onset of dementia, but once it begins, the accelerated memory loss is more repid in people with more education,”  claimed study author, Charles B. Hall, with Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in Bronx, NY. 
Contradictory?
It’s sort of that catch 22…you’re jinxed if you do (have education) and jinxed if you don’t (have higher …read more

Created by The Alzheimer’s Society, the short film ‘About My Grandfather…About My Grandmother’ features the children from two different families discussing what it’s like to have a grandparent with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Did you know that if you googled ‘blogs about Alzheimer’s Disese’ you would have 974,000 results to wade through.
Or if you googled ‘Alzheimer’s blogs’ the you would find over 1,260,000 results.
That’s way to many for anyone to go through in search for information.
So, to make it easier, I thought I’d list some of my favorite ones:
The Mom & Me Journals – an account of one caregiver’s journey in dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease
The Tangled Neuron – information about Alzheimer’s and dementia in easy to read language
Sunshine and Descent – a son’s personal account of his fathers journey into Alzheimer’s disease
Caregiving, Aging, …read more