Sometimes the Alzheimer’s patient is living in a world previous to the time they met their spouse.  So that person they form an attachment for may remind them of an earlier girl or boy friend or someone they wish they’d dated.  It they had been married before, they might think a person in the nursing home was their first spouse.

When they don’t see their current spouse regularly (or don’t know that they see them), they respond to kind words, holding hands, conversation (as much as Alzheimer’s patients can communicate), with someone they relate to in the nursing home.  This makes their stay there more comfortable, more friendly, and less lonely.

At one point my mom thought another man was my dad, who had passed away several years before.  She didn’t form an attachment.  However, when he did something she didn’t think proper or courteous, Mother would scold him, calling him by my dad’s name.

The nurses asked me if she knew anyone by that name.  When I said it was my dad, they explained what was happening.  In Mother’s case, that soon passed as she went into another phase of Alzheimer’s.

This is just another phase of the forgetting, memory loss or memory transfer that goes along with Alzheimer’s.  It’s something families have to realize, although it’s often difficult to be prepared for this.

We have to admire Sandra Day O’Connor for going public about this story and letting others know that it happens and that it’s okay.  Perhaps, though, ”romantic” relationship may be too vivid a word to describe most of these cases where one Alzheimer’s patient develops a close friendship with another.

(However, it does make a captivating news story when one uses “romantic attachment” or “romance” in the headlines!)

Post from: Blisstree

“Romantic” Attachments Not Uncommon for Alzheimer’s Patients

Also check out Ruth’s post for links to the research sources.

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Alzheimer’s Related Post at Eating Fabulous

It also bears out what I discovered with Mother and Auntie…even though they seemed to have entered a different world, we could bring them enjoyment and enjoy them.  With adjustments, as we all faced this disease we couldn’t control, we could still help them find value in themselves and in life.

I found this article at The Tangled Neuron a most enlightening and encouraging one.  I particularly like one of their conclusions: “See dementia as a beginning rather than as an end.” 

I finally I had to look at Mother’s life that way as I helped her through her Alzheimer’s journey.

 (To learn more, you’ll want to read the post at The Tangled Neuron and see the photo.)

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Patients Still Have “Sense of Self”

             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 education).  Everyone can become afflicted according to the scientists.  Some will be more likely to be stricken, yet others, who aren’t stricken so quickly,  are more likely to disappear into the abyss faster.

The Case of Mother and Auntie

I’m not sure if I can determine one way or the other when considering Mother and Auntie.  Mother went through high school and then attended three years at a teacher training school.  Auntie, her older sister, acquired only an eighth grade education at the local one-room school house.  She had the opportunity to go  to high school, boarding with a family friend in the town five miles away (as Mother later did), but she declined.

After childhood, I wasn’t around Auntie very much until she was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s and came to live with Mother, who was in the beginning stages of the disease.  Soon after that I became responsible for Auntie’s and Mother’s care decisions. 

Mother’s Alzheimer’s symptoms weren’t very noticeable until after my dad’s death. Then she needed someone responsible for her for about 12 years, first in her home, then mine and finally eight years in a nursing home. 

 Auntie lived with a sister-in-law until Aunt Bess couldn’t cope with the wandering.  Then she resided with Mother for about 18 months until requiring more care.

From my unscientific observations of these two ladies I cared for, I don’t see the correlation between education or lack of education with  their Alzheimer’s experiences.  However, if I knew more specifically what I should be looking for (or remembering about them) perhaps some conclusions could be drawn.   A researcher might be able to give some more sophisticated input. 

Do you have any observations on Alzheimer’s and the amount of education a person has or doesn’t have?

Post from: Blisstree

Education (More & Less) Appears to Affect Alzheimer’s…According to Scientists

Recently I read a post, God’s Help Against Alzheimer’s?, on Med Journal Watch.  The writer speculates whether religious rituals and prayer help keep the brain active and memory better.  Or do people with a better memory have a better capacity to pray?

What do you think? Read the complete post and ponder it.

The author mentioned a Canadian study:  “People with Alzheimer’s disease who pray often will less suffer from memory decline than non-religious people.”

Post from: Blisstree

Does Prayer Slow Memory Loss?

Some topics considered are:

*What causes memory loss?

*Resources for coping

*Alzheimer’s disease

*Mild cognitive impairment

*Other diseases that cause memory loss

*Can memory loss be prevented

Post from: Blisstree

New Alzheimer’s Resources at FDA

It seemed very strange the first time Mother looked at me and thought I was someone else.  It wasn’t simply a mistake because of poor lighting or her waking from a sound sleep.  Mother thought I was a total stranger and this lasted most of the day, until I left her house on an errand.  When I returned, I was myself in her mind.

However, I had to accept that our roles had changed and our lives could no longer go back to the usual mother/daughter one with each of simply being older. 

                         People have asked me why that didn’t devastate me.  I don’t know, but I felt there was no choice.  I couldn’t desert Mother; someone had to care for her (in her home, then mine, and finally in the nursing home).  Apparently God had chosen my husband and me.

Looking back, I can see we gained from it…in insight, in love, in understanding…so hopefully now I can help others find their way midst the frustrations of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s who no longer knows them.

                                                           Yet the love of mother and daughter remains in some form.

Post from: Blisstree

When Your Alzheimer’s Parent No Longer Knows You

I wrote about this in a previous blog, “Continuing to Learn May Slow Down Alzheimer’s,” and found caregivers and those who want to ward off possibilities of developing this disease responded. 

At the Alzheimer’s Association’s page on maintaining brain health, you’ll find information about ways to remain physically, socially, and mentally active, as well as eating a healthy diet.  There are some factors we can’t control (particularly heredity or genetics and aging).  However, many people are interested in trying to remain as healthy as possible…mentally, emotionally and physically…if there is a possibility this might help prevent or slow down the development of Alzheimer’s.

Also, as Kristen King, of Lively Women, remarked about my previous post. “And even if it [being mentally active] turns out not to help slow the progression or development of Alzheimer’s, it still will make for a richer life, so there’s nothing to lose!”

Post from: Blisstree

Brain Health Information at Alzheimer’s Association Site

It’s not been absolutely proven.  However, since keeping the brain active may help slow down Alzheimer’s, why not be involved in activities and exercises that will keep you mentally alert?  Several books give you ideas about this for people who have developed dementia and those who simply want to be “on the safe side.”

Post from: Blisstree

Continuing to Learn May Slow Down Alzheimer’s

However, you soon realize there is something different about these instances of memory loss.  These concern situations he/she should recall…a child’s marriage, a grandchild’s birth, a friend’s visit yesterday, lunch with a colleague a day or so ago, the color of their car in the driveway.

Eventually you mention it to the family member, who refuses to believe anything is wrong.  “Everyone forgets,” they say. 

When this persists and you suggest checking with the doctor, you receive a resounding, “NO!” from the forgetful person.  “There is nothing wrong with my memory.”

If you forget where you placed your keys when you came inside with the groceries, the mail, and a grandchild, you’re greeted with, “See!  You forget, too.”

Sometimes, too, family members who aren’t living with this person doesn’t see the forgetfulness…at least not at first.  They may not want to see it.  Or the forgetful person is good at covering it up when others are around.

What do you do?

*If they do have visit the doctor for another reason, alert the doctor so he’ll check this situation out.

*Mention to the forgetful person that you don’t think the problem necessarily is Alzheimer’s.  It may be tia’s (which definitely be treated) or some other condition which could get worse without medication.  They may agree to checking this out. 

*Keep a journal with the forgetful incidents recorded.  Not that you’re spying on this person or invading their privacy.  However, you do need to validate these instances if the situation gets worse.

*Have other family members and friends, who will take you seriously, develop an awareness of what is going on.

*Learn all you can about dementia and Alzheimer’s.  I found the book, Alzheimer’s, A Caregiver’s Guide and Sourcebook, by Howard Greutzer, very helpful.  However,there are many others.

The 36-Hour Day, by Nancy L. Mace and Peter V. Rabins, published by Johns Hopkins University Press has long been regarded as a helpful sourcebook about Alzheimer’s.

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When You Suspect a Family Member is Developing Alzheimer’s