A couple summers ago I did a scrapbooking project with Alzheimer’s patients at the nursing home where my mom resided for eight years.  This was a delightful and very rewarding time as an aide and I helped create scrapbook pages and reminisced with the residents.
Over at Katelyn’s Stamping Mad blog, she discusses rubber stamping projects for Alzheimer’s patients.  One of these is using stamps to help the patients make cheery spring cards.You’ll have fun yourself and bring cheer to the patients.

A five year study conducted by King’s College London (funded by the Alzheimer’s Research Trust) into the use of neuroleptic sedatives for Alzheimer’s patients with behavioral problems has found that these drugs ‘…were linked with a significant increase in long-term mortality – with patients dying on average six months earlier.’
The study involved 165 Alzheimer’s patients in nursing homes who had been given sedative drugs such as Haloperidol (Serenace), Chlorpromazine (Largactil), Thioridazine (Melleril), Trifluoperazine (Stelazine), and Risperidone (Risperdal) for at least three months.
In the Alzheimer’s Research Trust Press Release (April 2, 2007) Professor Clive Ballard, Professor of Age Related Disorders at …read more

Did you know that Alzheimer’s Disease is less common in India than any other part of the world?
Some researchers think that this is because of the everyday use of the spice Turmeric. Tumeric is a powerful antioxident which also has anti-inflammatory powers.
Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine have been using it for centuries to treat inflammatory disorders. But it is only in recent years that scientists have been studying it’s effects on the brain.
Resources:
- Tumeric Shows Promise in Treatment of Alzheimer’s
- Popular Curry Spice is a Brain Booster
- Out of the Spice Box, into the Lab
- Chemical found in Curry …read more

Imagine walking into a room that caters to all your senses. Maybe there is gentle music playing or the sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling. You can smell fresh flowers or lavender. The walls are covered with large murals of forests, waterfalls, and gardens. And there are soft plush pillows and cushions scattered around to sit or lay on. There is nothing harsh or threatening in this room. It is a ’snoezelen room’.
Created in the Netherlands in the 1970s, these multisensory rooms were originally designed for children and adults with serious mental disabilities. The ideas was to provide a …read more

Alzheimer’s in the Family: Would you want to know that you had the disease? – Nordette writes a personal account of dealing with her mother’s disease and wondering about the possibility of her or her children also getting the disease.
Prevent or Delay Alzheimer’s Disease – a daughter of an Alzheimer’s patient searches the literature to find out what could prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Who watches out for the caregiver? Article includes tips for caregivers on how to take care of themselves as well.

Sarasota’s Roskamp Institute Announces Positive Safety Data in Human Clincal Study For Alzheimer’s Disease – The Roskamp Institute announced this month that it has had positive preliminary results in it’s first human clinical study of the drug Nilvadipine. In pre-clinical trials, Nilvadipine was found to decrease the level of beta amyloid, a protein believed to cause the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Head injuries and Alzheimer’s – Looks at the research that has been done on the relationship between head injuries and dementia.
Old study Could Aid Mental Health – Help the Aged, a charity in Scotland, believes that a 60 year old …read more

The American College of Physicians (ACP) have just released ‘Alzheimer’s Disease: A Guide for Patients and Families’. This guide and related DVD provides information for Alzheimer’s patients and their families on Alzheimer’s disease treatment options, how to find support, and planning future care and living arrangements.
The guidebook and DVD is available to ACP member physicians. But anyone can access a free copy of the guidebook here.

The Alzheimer’s Association’s largest fundraising event is the Memory Walk. Since 1989 when the Memory Walk was launched, it has raised over $200 million to help those battling Alzheimer’s Disease.
People choose to walk for different reasons. But the three main ones appear to be to honor someone you love, to raise public awareness, and to help make a difference for people with Alzheimer’s Disease by raising money.
You can walk as an individual or set up a corporate or family team. If you don’t want to walk or prehaps, cannot walk, there are other ways of participating. There is always a …read more

When people learn my mother and aunt developed Alzheimer’s disease, they often ask, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll get it, too…that it’s in your genes?”
 Is Alzheimer’s genetic? 
Did Auntie and Mother develop it because of something in their genes? Then why didn’t their two brothers have Alzheimer’s?  Their minds were alert when they died in their 80’s.  We can’t say it’s because they were males and Mother and Auntie females since other men develop Alzheimer’s.
Although there is testing and research going on by many scientists and institutions, they’ve found no certain cause nor sure cure. The testing continues to see  whether one …read more

Leaning on Everlasting Arms -The recent Harris Interactive survey found that about one-third of those caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s Disease felt the experience made them ‘more religious’. Here’s one persons story…
Alzheimer’s takes away much-loved Aunt – a personal reflection…
Hundreds Walk for Alzheimer’s Cure – South Florida residents take part in 2007 Memory Walk, a national fund-raising event run by the Alzheimer’s Association. See video…
Photo: Alfredo Hisa