Information and opinions on OurAlzheimers from Christine Kennard http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548 en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/ http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/27546/nursing-homes Mon May 12 11:02:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Many years ago, when I was still a student nurse, part of the study program I had to undertake related to the work of the sociologist Erving Goffman. It didn't take long for me to appreciate just how profound and timely Goffman's insights were. What I could not appreciate was the timeless nature of his observations and how they would continue to influence my views of the worth of institutional settings like nursing homes.   Goffman... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/27546/nursing-homes http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/27242/ibuprofen-cuts Wed May 07 11:42:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Long term use of the painkiller ibuprofen when taken for more than five years has been found to decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 40 percent. Published in the Journal of Neurology, this large scale study demonstrated that the type of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) was important in risk reduction. They found some NSAIDs less effective than others. Indomethacine only reduced risk of Alzheimer's by 25 pecent and Pfizer's... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/27242/ibuprofen-cuts http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/26665/hallucinations Mon May 05 10:57:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Hallucinations are not uncommon in Alzheimer's disease and usually occur in the middle/moderate stage of the disease. Hallucinations can affect any of the senses, so a person may hear, see, taste, touch or smell things that are not really there. Hallucinations occur without external stimulation and those experiencing them believe them to be real. In Alzheimer's disease hallucinations tend to be visual. They often involve dead relatives, a wife,... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/26665/hallucinations http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/25692/alzheimer-live Tue Apr 22 11:24:15 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard People with Alzheimer's disease who take vitamin E live longer. These are the findings of a study headed by Valory Pavlik, PhD, who followed 847 people for an average of five years. The average age of the sample was almost 74. All had already been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and were in various stages of the disease   About two thirds of the sample were prescribed 1,000 international units of vitamin E twice a day along with an Alzheimer's... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/25692/alzheimer-live http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/25682/activities Tue Apr 22 07:20:20 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Because people with Alzheimer's disease are a diverse group of individuals from different backgrounds and different lifestyles, activities need to be tailored accordingly. However, there are reasons why some activities may be better than others depending on which stage of Alzheimer's the person is experiencing. A way of thinking about this is to consider a ‘reverse childhood' model. Some academics have adapted the highly influential... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/25682/activities http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24937/time-stop-sex Mon Apr 14 10:16:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Intimacy with Dementia: Is There a Time to Stop Having Sex? The issue of expressed sexuality during dementia remains something of a taboo. Within residential settings the complexity of the topic is often compounded by the attitudes of caregivers or even the design and layout of the building. In this posting I fall back on just a couple of my own experiences to illustrate how, with sensitive management, it is possible for couples to maintain... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24937/time-stop-sex http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24529/face-shortage Wed Apr 09 10:54:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard A recent article in the Lancet, a leading UK medical journal, has highlighted the fact that the elderly with multiple health problems do better when treated by teams led by geriatricians. However, the number of geriatricians remains critically low. Currently there are just 7000 in the USA. The American Geriatrics Society has warned that the aging US population faces a critical shortage of geriatricians. But why is this? A hundred years ago,... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24529/face-shortage http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24068/remember Mon Apr 07 11:10:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard At one time working with older people, especially people with dementia, meant providing limited services that only made brief acknowledgement to anything but physical needs. Patients in institutional settings seemed to just exist in the present. There was little understanding of how knowledge of their biographical histories could enhance their care and wellbeing. With an increasingly client centered approach to elder care has come a... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/24068/remember http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/22998/patients Mon Mar 31 10:40:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Over 60 per cent of people with Alzheimer's will, at some time, wander away from their home or place of residence*. Wandering is a common and potentially life threatening aspect of dementia, particularly at times of the year when the weather is bad or if the person lives in an area surrounded by hazards such as fast traffic or open hostile countryside. What exactly is wandering? There is general consensus that wandering describes an... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/22998/patients http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/22720/long-people Tue Mar 25 13:06:00 -0400 2008 Christine Kennard Long distance care coordination for relatives and friends of people with Alzheimer's is becoming more common. The main reason is that over the past few decades the traditional role of women in caring for the sick and infirm in their families has changed as households have become reliant on their work income. This, combined with greater geographical mobility, has meant inter-state and even care coordination from abroad has become much more... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/57548/22720/long-people