Health Expert Carol Bradley Bursack shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/62/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/62/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/62/index http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/150091/studies-alzheimer Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:07:52 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack Recent news that the path Alzheimer’s disease travels in the brain may finally have been nailed down has created a lot of excitement. Researchers believe this discovery may lead to a new direction in developing a way to prevent or cure the disease. A New York Times article reports on two independent studies, both of which concluded that Alzheimer’s disease seems to spread like a viral or bacterial infection by a... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/150091/studies-alzheimer http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149951/health-caregivers Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:10:23 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack February is Heart Health Month. With this in mind, Dr. Travis Stork, co-host of the award winning talk show The Doctors, generously donated some time for a small conference call that allowed four writers to ask specific questions about heart health. Dr. Stork is a practicing ER doctor and faculty physician in the emergency department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.   The takeaway from the call was much the same... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149951/health-caregivers http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149530/chronicles-taste Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:32:16 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack The saying that we can’t really understand another person’s experience until we’ve “walked in their shoes,” has always felt right to me. Intelligent people can be educated to the brim and be able to give excellent “book” advice. However, it frequently takes someone who has endured an experience similar to ours in order to make us feel thoroughly understood. This is where real "hands on" advice differs... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149530/chronicles-taste http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149368/reminiscing-drug Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:08:19 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack I love stories. When I was a teenager, I’d encourage grandparents to relate stories of their young years struggling to survive on the wind-swept prairie. When I grew older, I was fascinated by the stories my parents and in-laws told of their early years of growing up during the Great Depression. Little did I know at the time that peoples’ stories would become the springboard for my life’s work. Now there is mounting evidence... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149368/reminiscing-drug http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149222/afa-antipsychotic Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:32:32 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack   We’ve addressed the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients a number of times on these pages. In one article, I wrote about my dad’s terrifying experience after he was given one of those antipsychotic drugs after failed brain surgery and my fight to get him off the drug.   Though I’ve long known that most Alzheimer’s organizations are fighting against the inappropriate use of... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/149222/afa-antipsychotic http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148955/coping-criticism Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:27:58 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack Caregivers frequently turn their lives inside out in order to care for their loved ones in decline. I know, because I've done it. The number of elders who depended on my help increased throughout the years, to a total of seven, though the most I cared for at one time was five. I also had two children and work part time writing as a freelancer.   Each care situation was different. I started with an aged neighbor, then moved on to a... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148955/coping-criticism http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148619/studies-alzheimer Tue, 27 Dec 2011 09:44:48 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack Why some elders develop Alzheimer’s disease and others do not remains a medical puzzle, but researchers are coming closer to understanding the process. An article on The Alzheimer’s Forum website reports on the results of two new human studies connecting loss of oxygen to the brain with Alzheimer’s. Recently, researchers led by Henrik Zetterberg at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden, reported that cardiac... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148619/studies-alzheimer http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148449/christmas-stories Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:32:08 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack No matter how well we plan, most of us have some loose ends to tie up Christmas Eve day, just before going to church or having the family gather at our home. The present that was ordered early and then delayed remains in question. Will it arrive in time? The fruit tray reserved at the grocery store. Will it be there when we arrive to pick it up?   Probably more worrisome for caregivers is how their aging loved ones will make it through... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148449/christmas-stories http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148150/alzheimer-nature Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:43:16 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack It’s been several years, now, but I’ve never forgotten the story. A then 58-year-old Minnesota woman had been diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer’s. She was, in most aspects, still doing well. But one day she got in her car and drove west on the Interstate. No one will ever know why. She got stuck off a road in Wyoming, left her car and set out on foot. She didn’t get far. Searchers found her body not far from her... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/148150/alzheimer-nature http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/147887/made-management Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:57:00 -0500 Carol Bradley Bursack A recent Huffington Post article on what we’ve learned about Alzheimer’s disease during the last 30 years caught my eye because it’s easy to think there’s been no progress. We can’t reliably prevent the disease, though lifestyle seems to work into the prevention strategy for many health ills. We can’t cure the disease, though we have some medications available that can slow the progression of cognitive decline... http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/147887/made-management