When I’d say something to Mother, she would reply, “I don’t see any sense wasting time lying there if I can’t sleep.”

Mother probably did get adequate sleep over the course of 24 hours.  Often she’d nap in a chair between chores, errands, and in the earliest years, operating her country grocery store. 

I have no idea whether there was a connection between Mother’s requiring relatively little sleep at one stretch and her developing Alzheimer’s.  Or was this just Mother’s personality.  Many people, when they can’t sleep, lie in bed tossing and turning and then complain because they can’t sleep.  Mother didn’t see the sense of wasting that time, so arose and did something she enjoyed. 

Many of the letters she wrote me (I lived 275 miles away) were composed in those sleepless hours.  I’ve discovered, as I’ve gone through Mother’s odds and ends of papers, that she wrote poetry at that time.  When she had her grocery store and baked for customers and made brownies, bread, and other goodies from 3 AM on.

According to this article, “Older women with memory problems are more likely have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep than those without memory loss a U.S. study [Univ. of California, San Francisco] finds.” 

So….if you can’t sleep and are in the “older” category, are you likely to develop Alzheimer’s?  I don’t think that’s always the case.  And it may have been simply coincidence that Mother required less sleep than Father.  Eventually, perhaps  research will be able to give us a definite answer. 

I find myself not wanting to waste those hours the relatively few times I can’t sleep, so get up and work on some writing or quilting projects.  Then daylight comes and I don’t see the sense of going back to bed.  If I’m tired, I’ll “cat nap” as Mother called it.  

Oh!  Oh! But I usually still can find my keys. 

Post from: Blisstree

Loss of Sleep Possibly Associated With Alzheimer’s

An article recently published in the Archives of General Psychiatry documents a study by the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago that looked at the correlation between smell and mental impairment. The study tested nearly 600 people ranging in age from 54 to 100 over a period of five years on their ability to identify 12 familiar odors (onion, lemon, cinnamon, black pepper, chocolate, rose, banana, pineapple, soap, paint thinner, gasoline, and smoke)

The results:

“The people who made at least four errors on the odour test were 50 per cent more likely to develop problems than subjects who made no more than one error. Difficulty identifying odours also was associated with a higher risk of progressing from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s.”(reference)

Further reading and previous research:

Bad sense of smell may be first Alzheimer’s sign (2007)

Alzheimer’s Smell Test (2004)

Loss of Smell Linked to Key Protein in Alzheimer’s Disease (2004)

Odor Identification Test May Help Predict Alzheimer’s Disease (2000)

Post from: Blisstree

Can problems identifying common odors predict Alzheimer’s Disease?

Identifying depression in someone suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is difficult as dementia itself can create many of the signs and symptoms commonly associated with depression.

Doctors, therefore, have to rely heavily on nonverbal clues such as:

- apathy
- expressing feelings of worthlessness and sadness
- change in sleeping patterns
- loss of appetite and losing weight
- extreme emotional reactions (ie inappropriate or unusually emotional crying, anger, or agitation)
- refusal to participate in their own personal cares (ie getting dressed or taking medications)
- increased wandering

Want to know more:

Facts: About Depression and Alzheimer’s Disease

Stress, Depression and Alzheimer’s, Part 1

Stress, Depression, and Alzheimer’s, Part 2

New Diagnostic Tool Validates Alzheimer’s-Syndrome Depression

Post from: Blisstree

Depression and Alzheimer’s Disease.

You’ll discover additional information about the possibility of Alzheimer’s symptoms arising from mutant genes at: www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/09/19/hscout534916.html

Don’t be discouraged if you don’t understand articles and research that gets fairly detailed or scientific.  I’m trying to find information for readers with a variety of knowledge and interests and caregiving levels.  I’m pleased we’re beginning to find so much research going on with this disease.

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Information on Genetics & Health Blog

What is that? I’m asked.

In late afternoon or evening, Alzheimer’s symptoms often seem to become worse.  The person with Alzheimer’s may become more restless, confused, disagreeable, agitated, and paranoid late in the day.  Doctors don’t know exactly why it occurs and what causes it; however, it exists, more pronounced in some people than others, or more intense at one stage of Alzheimer’s than another.

Doctors wonder if the dimmer light has something to do with it. Or is it tiredness, too busy a schdeule, overstimulation and other situations?

My mom’s roommate seemed to associate late afternoon to the time of day her children used to come home from school.  She often said to me, “I’ve got to get home.  The children will be coming back from school.  I’m always there.”  Then she’d want me to take her home.

Some instinct told her this was the time of day her children, when young, arrived home from school.  She was back living in that era, so became agitated if she thought she wouldn’t be at home when they got there.

My mom wanted to go outside in late afternoon to “feed her chickens.”  I finally realized that years ago, when I was a child on the farm, this was the time of day Mother fed the chickens for the night and gathered eggs.  As the sun went down and the day grew darker, Mother knew it was time to see to the chickens.

More information about sundowning is available at the Alzheimer’s Association web site: www.alz.org and the Mayo Clinic site: www.mayoclinic.com/health/sundowning/HQ01463  as well as other web sites related to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Post from: Blisstree

Q & A – What is Sundowning?

Visit the Aricept site (www.aricept.com) and go through the check list or screening to learn more about Alzheimer’s symptoms.

Post from: Blisstree

The Alzheimer’s Screener for Checking Alzheimer’s Symptoms

A – Unfortunately there isn’t an absolute answer or diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.  However, if these symptoms persist and aren’t something occasional, check with your doctor, an organization like the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org  (for further information), or other Alzheimer’s specialists.

My mother at first exhibited absentmindedness which my father recognized as something different than merely forgetting.  Because I didn’t live with her and saw her about once a month at that time, I simply thought it was the forgetfulness of a very busy 80-year old woman.  (She took care of my dad who had physical disabilities, cared for her sister who had Alzheimer’s, and took are of managing their rental properties.) 

However, after my dad died and I became responsible for helping Mother, I realized this was more than occasional forgetting.  I also saw that she exhibited some of the symptoms of my aunt.  So I then consulted her doctor.

One of the most difficult realizations family members face is the fact that their loved one may have Alzheimer’s or some type of dementia.  So they tend to ignore the symptoms, even when numerous symptoms are present.

Not all forgetfulness leads to Alzheimer’s.  This book, What If It’s Not Alzheimer’s?, discusses other dementia symptoms.

Post from: Blisstree

Q & A – Alzheimer’s Symptoms

The Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org) has information regarding these warning signs on their web site, as well as in brochures you can obtain.

I’ll briefly mention ten of the warning signs or symptoms the Alzheimer’s Association has listed.  Check them out more fully on their site.

*More than normal memory loss

*Experiencing difficulty performing familiar tasks

*Having problems with language and remembering words

*Disorientation regarding time and place

*Increasingly poor judgment

*Difficulties with abstract thinking or complicated tasks

*Misplacing or putting things in strange places

*Mood and behavior swings or changes

*Personailty changes

*Developing passive behavior or exhibiting loss of initiative

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Warning Signs