1. Dementia

Category Archives: Dementia

Mastodon – Aqua Dementia – Video

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21-09-2009 19:02 An invitation to clairvoyance It's hard to stand around and watch while they ignore us She is dumped on Used as an ashtray At the expense of an organized association I see the stones in the path we laid It's a question of tomorrow We like to breathe the ancient wind that we have followed A perfect fire to burn the land Before they knew it The sun had fallen Boiling the water where the hydra's crawling The righteous go in blazing fury And we cleanse the earth to bring it down Bring it down And God will watch it burn Releasing souls Within the wrath we wait To be dirt again There is a flame I lit I upon high

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Mastodon - Aqua Dementia - Video

Money for new dementia schemes

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Volunteer Pat Gibson listening to a lady at a Norfolk Pabulum Cafe. The cafes are run by Age UK Norfolk and more are to be created thanks to investment in dementia projects.

A million pounds is being ploughed into new dementia care schemes in Norfolk and Suffolk, as the two counties work together to tackle one of the biggest health challenges they face.

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The number of people with dementia is predicted to rise by 51pc in the next 15 years, but in Norfolk the number is

expected to increase by 62pc in that time – pushing the total to above 20,000 – and in Suffolk by 65pc.

Last year the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance was launched in a bid to bring together all the health, education social care, private and voluntary organisations working in this area.

The aim of the alliance is to seek out the best research, technology and training to make East Anglia a leader, nationally and internationally, in dementia care.

By working together, the alliance’s partners hope to cut out duplication, improve pathways of care for people with dementia and reduce any postcode lottery that currently exists by rolling out the most successful schemes across the two counties.

The Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance started out life as a health partnership called the Norfolk and Waveney Health Innovation and Education Cluster (HIEC), which bid for some money from the Department of Health.

It was one of the 17 successful applicants across the country and was awarded £650,000 to use research and innovation, such as assistive technologies, to help the area’s ageing population by improving services.

Now Norfolk and Suffolk county councils have stumped up around £200,000 each, and along with around £350,000 of the HIEC funding the money has now been approved for a series of schemes across the two counties.

These include new dementia cafes, hospital dementia care co-ordinators, a dementia-focused revamp of a hospital ward, reminiscence therapy training, and new physical activity groups for people with dementia.

David Edwards, chairman of the Norfolk and Suffolk Dementia Alliance, said: “This investment makes a major step forward in improving all types of dementia services, both in Norfolk and Suffolk.

“This reflects the powerful alliance of all partners which is so crucial in making significant progress for our population.”

In addition to the £750,000 investment, and funds committed to the ongoing work of creating an integrated ‘whole system’ approach, the Norfolk County Workforce Group, an NHS group aimed at developing the healthcare workforce, is putting in £130,000 of funding for a new postgraduate certificate in dementia leadership at the University of East Anglia over the next two years.

This will enable senior nurses, or health, social or residential care workers at a similar senior level to learn more about how to deliver excellent quality care for people with dementia.

The recent £1m investment is in addition to the £1.2m already invested in dementia related pilot projects such as creating dementia intensive support teams and dementia primary care practitioners funded by the primary care trust.

Willie Cruickshank, of the dementia alliance, said: “Things have got a lot better in the past two or three years in terms of how we recognise dementia but we have a long way to go.

“Times are tight and we need to not just improve what we are doing, but also improve the way we are doing it.

“I firmly believe we need to invest in great crisis prevention.”

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Money for new dementia schemes

Dead Space 2 Dementia Trailer [HD] – Video

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29-04-2010 03:42 Dead Space 2 Dementia Debut Trailer [HD] Developer: EA Redwood Shores Release: 3/31/2011 Genre: Action/Shooter/Horror Platform: PS3/X360/PC Publisher: EA Website: http://www.deadspace.com Follow Machinima on Twitter! Machinima twitter.com Inside Gaming twitter.com Machinima Respawn twitter.com Machinima Entertainment, Technology, Culture twitter.com FOR MORE MACHINIMA, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com FOR MORE GAMEPLAY, GO TO: http://www.youtube.com TAGS: Dead Space 2 Debut Trailer [HD] machinima video game videogame xbox360 xbox 360 microsoft playstation3 ps3 playstation 3 sony computer entertainment scea soe pc steam windows live ea redwood studios new fps first person shooter exclusive 2010 2011 announcement teaser yt:quality=high

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Dead Space 2 Dementia Trailer [HD] - Video

Children, Teens and Dementia – Video

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20-01-2012 11:27 Are you having difficulty talking about dementia with the children and teens in your family? Are you wondering how much you should say? This tele-workshop for family caregivers explains what children and teens need to know to better understand dementia and offers suggestions on how to help them interact with the person.

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Children, Teens and Dementia - Video

Dementia death risk doubles on some antipsychotics

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An analysis of tens of thousands of people in nursing homes in the U.S. suggests that residents who take certain antipsychotic drugs for dementia are at about double the risk of dying compared to residents not taking those specific medications.

All the residents in the study, published Friday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), were over age 65.

The Harvard Medical School study, the largest ever undertaken among U.S. nursing home residents, focused on 75,445 nursing-home residents from 45 states from 2001 to 2005. Their risks of death were looked at during a six-month period.

The study notes that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in 2005 that atypical antipsychotic drugs — also known as second-generation antipsychotics —are associated with an increased risk of death in older people with dementia, but it wasn't know whether the risk depends on the type of drug the person is taking.

In 2008, the FDA expanded that warning to include conventional antipsychotics — also called neuroleptics — a class of drug used to relieve symptoms including hallucinations and delusions, and to calm very aggressive patients.

The Harvard researchers conclude that not all antipsychotic medication carries the same risk of death in older people, and "clinicians may want to consider this evidence when evaluating […] the best approach to treatment of behavioural problems." They also stress the importance of prescribing such drugs in the lowest possible dose, and closely monitoring patients shortly after they start treatment.

As the population ages, dementia — the progressive deterioration in cognitive function, or the ability to process thought — is becoming a very real concern. The Alzheimer Society of Canada, which is lobbying the Canadian government to create a plan to respond to concerns that more than 500,000 people have Alzheimer's or other dementia, with that number expected to double by 2038.

In the U.S., the number of people with some form of dementia is estimated at up to five million.

In the Harvard study, the antipsychotic drugs taken by nursing-home residents included:

Aripiprazole.

Haloperidol.

Olanzapine.

Quetiapine.

Risperidone.

Ziprasidone.

Out of the 75,445 residents, a total of 6,598 died within the six-month study from non-cancer related causes. Patients treated with haloperidol had double the risk of death compared to those taking risperidone, while those taking quetiapine had a reduced risk.

The effect of haloperidol was strongest during the first 40 days of treatment, and that did not change after the dosage was adjusted. Almost half of deaths (49 per cent) were recorded as due to circulatory disorders, 10 per cent due to to brain disorders and 15 due to respiratory disorders.

Besides age, gender and whether a patient had any physical illnesses or lived in a part of the U.S. that may raise their risk of death, the state of the nursing homes they were in — including their size, the occupancy rate, availability of special-care units and staffing levels — were taken into consideration.

The study was partially funded by U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and researchers reported no funding or relationships with any organizations that may have influenced their work.

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Dementia death risk doubles on some antipsychotics

What is the Difference between Dementia and Alzheimer's? – Video

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14-11-2011 21:05 This video answers the frequently asked question-what is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's--by using sketches that bring out the relationship, telling us how dementia is a general group of symptoms related to cognition, and Alzheimers' is a disease that causes it (the most common one). (Video transcript at dementia-care-notes.in English-alz-dem-transcript.pdf ) A Hindi version of this video is available at: http://www.youtube.com Visit us at dementia-care-notes.in

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What is the Difference between Dementia and Alzheimer's? - Video

Prosecutor: Former psychiatrist William Ayres faked dementia to avoid prosecutionAt re, omnos atquonihi, unces pero, C …

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REDWOOD CITY -- A once-respected Bay Area child psychiatrist faked dementia to avoid being prosecuted on charges he molested five boys in his care, a prosecutor said Friday in court.

William Ayres, 80, of San Mateo used his psychiatric knowledge to fool doctors into thinking his mind was so far gone to Alzheimer's related-dementia that he wasn't able to stand retrial on nine felony counts of abusing his patients, Deputy District Attorney Melissa McKowan said at Ayres' bail hearing.

The stunning revelation in the nearly seven-year legal saga comes courtesy of a report from Napa State Hospital, where Ayres had been held since the fall. The July 24 document from state psychologist John McIlnay, however, is under seal by order of San Mateo County Superior Court John Grandsaert.

"I am skeptical of anything the doctor has done up to this point," McKowan said outside court. "Based on the report, we have reason to believe this whole thing was a hoax and we have been duped."

McKowan didn't oppose the judge's order to keep the document sealed, saying that a near emergency need would have been required to successfully argue for the report's public release.

Ayres looked pale, bony and grey during the hearing, which he attended shackled and in orange jail clothes. He sat, without reaction, in a wheelchair at the defense table. Grandsaert put off a decision on bail to Wednesday.

When asked outside the court about the alleged ruse,

The defense attorney said he will contest the hospital psychiatrist's conclusions. Grandsaert set an Oct. 1 date for a full hearing on the report that is to include testimony from psychiatrists, nurses and even custodial staff from Napa hospital.

"The burden of proof is on the defense" to show Ayres is not competent, said McDougall.

For Ayres' accusers and their families, the news means the man they thought had escaped justice could still end up in prison. But the road ahead is fraught with opportunities for the case to end without a conviction, said Rinaldo Brutoco, whose son took the stand against Ayres. A conviction would help, but won't repair the damage.

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Prosecutor: Former psychiatrist William Ayres faked dementia to avoid prosecutionAt re, omnos atquonihi, unces pero, C ...

Hope for more patient care for dementia sufferers

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EXTRA care housing for people with dementia could be increased under plans being pursued by Redcar and Cleveland Council.

The authority is looking to attract the interest of care providers in building extra care developments on three sites in the borough.

The councils cabinet has agreed that efforts should be made to boost interest in providing dementia care as part of the developments.

Figures provided to the cabinet showed that the number of people with dementia in the borough could increase by 66% to more than 3,000 in the next 20 years.

Councillor Sheelagh Clarke, cabinet member for health and social well-being, said she did not want to see single dementia care developments and that they should be part of multi-purpose care facilities.

She said: Extra care is an alternative to residential care. In some cases it can delay a move into residential care.

We have to be prepared for the increasing number of people with dementia.

Loftus councillor Mary Lanigan said: In East Cleveland we also need more respite care. Dementia carers have a very difficult job and respite care through the council or the private sector is desperately needed so relatives can have a break.

The cabinet agreed:

:: To look to develop a dementia extra care facility to rent on the former Wheatacres site in Redcar;

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Hope for more patient care for dementia sufferers

Virtual Experience Gives Families Better Understanding of Dementia, Alzheimer's

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Someone in the United States is diagnosed with Alzeimer's Disease every 69 seconds, according to the Alzheimer's Association. While Alzheimer's victims make up the largest category, dementia comes in many forms.

For the past five years, Jo Anne Froelich has been taking care of her mom, who has Alzheimer's. It hasn't been an easy journey.

"I just think it's really important for people to step back and try to step in their shoes," Froelich said.

And now Froelich will get that chance. She's taking part in the Virtual Dementia Tour, along with Jennifer Peterson, whose mother is in the beginning stages of dementia. The tour is designed to provide a personal, hands-on look into the many challenges and frustrations experienced by people with Alzheimer's or Dementia, all in the hope of helping people become better caretakers for their loved one.

First staff at the Grandhaven Living Center in Lansing help get Peterson and Froelich in the right garb: blurry goggles to simulate vision loss, spiked shoe inserts and rubber gloves to mimic arthritis and nerve pain, and headphones with loud clutter and static. They're each given five different tasks to complete in 8 minutes.

Froelich's tasks are to to "put a belt through the loop on the pants, match 6 pairs of socks, clear the dinner table, draw a picture of your family and name them, and find neck tie and put it on."

Led into the apartment set-up, Froelich and Peterson get to work.

"You feel pretty out of control," Froelich described. "When they've given you a list of things to do and you have noise in your ears, your vision is blurred, there's pain in your feet, and you can't necessarily hear what you've been told so you're trying really hard to concentrate because you want to be successful."

But neither one could finish, or even remember, all five tasks. Afterwards, Peterson says she felt shaky, overwhelmed, and in admiration of her mom.

"This totally gives you a new sense for what's going on and builds your compassion level," said Peterson. "You really understand to some degree. I mean, I'm amazed that she functions at all."

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Virtual Experience Gives Families Better Understanding of Dementia, Alzheimer's

KC senior center offers unusual dementia program

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Employees of a senior living community in south Kansas City who work with dementia patients are getting some personal insight into what those people endure every day, thanks to a new program that puts them through a Virtual Dementia Tour.

The program, developed by a geriatric specialist, requires employees to perform simple tasks such as folding towels, putting on a sweater and drinking a half a cup of water within a specific amount of time. But they perform the tasks using spiked inserts in their shoes, blurry goggles, clumsy gloves and headphones that play loud, random noise, The Kansas City Star reported (http://bit.ly/PSUf4X ).

Villa Ventura employees who went through the program recently said it was frustrating and difficult, and many of them didn't make it through the eight-minute trial.

"I couldn't remember anything I was supposed to do," Robert Minton, a van driver at the center, said after recently going through the Virtual Dementia Tour. "I didn't like it. Eight minutes? Seemed like 30. I wanted it to end. I had to get out of there."

Villa Ventura thinks it is the first senior community in the Kansas City area to use the system. It plans to eventually offer it to family members of its dementia patients.

"Our employees see the pacing and frustration and exasperation every day," said Sarah Miller, the center's assisted living director who helped lead Tuesday's session. "If this helps them understand it a little better, then it's a good thing."

During the program, the employees wear plastic inserts with little sharp spikes into their shoes to create the "needles and pins" and neuropathy that many seniors experience. Rubber gloves with cloth gloves over them mimic arthritis, goggles give everything a yellow tint, and a dot in the middle simulates macular degeneration.

They also wear headphones playing static-filled radio, car horns, door slams.

Minton gave up after forgetting what he was supposed to do and being unable to read the instructions, which had missing words and some letters bigger than others. Many others on the tour also quit early.

They included Diamond Acklin, a medication technician.

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KC senior center offers unusual dementia program

Doctor likens dementia to diabetes

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DEMENTIA needs to be approached in the same way as diabetes, including changing the fatalistic attitudes of doctors who feel they can't do anything for patients, a Gold Coast psychiatrist said on Wednesday.

Professor Philip Morris appeared before a House of Representatives inquiry into early diagnosis and intervention on dementia.

According to the latest government data, nearly 175,000 Australians had dementia in 2003 - a figure expected to rise to 465,000 by 2031, partly due to Australia's ageing population.

While there was no cure for dementia, Prof Morris said the nation's approach to the disease should emulate the approach taken on diabetes to help more patients be able to live well.

But he said a crucial hurdle in changing the approach to dementia was to change doctors' negative attitude in treating the disease.

"I take the view that there is a lot we can do - in diabetes, certainly, there's a lot you can do," Prof Morris said.

"Now (doctors are) expected to know what are you going to do for the education of the (diabetes) patient, the rehabilitation for the individual, the potential for their vocational career.

"I think that's where we need to move to on dementia."

Prof Morris said some, but not all, doctors' attitudes to dementia also meant the medications that were available to help patients live with the disease may not be prescribed to all patients who could use the medicinal help.

He said another perception, that dementia and Alzheimer's disease was a part of ageing, was also hindering attitudes to the problems.

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Doctor likens dementia to diabetes

Prosecutor: Ex-shrink faked dementia to avoid trial in sex abuse case

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REDWOOD CITY -- A once-respected Bay Area child psychiatrist faked dementia to avoid being prosecuted on charges he molested five boys in his care, a prosecutor said Friday in court.

William Ayres, 80, of San Mateo, used his psychiatric knowledge to fool doctors into thinking his mind was so far gone to Alzheimer's related-dementia that he wasn't able to stand retrial on nine felony counts of abusing his patients, deputy district attorney Melissa McKowan said at Ayres' bail hearing.

The stunning revelation in the nearly seven-year legal saga comes courtesy of a report from Napa State Hospital, where Ayres had been held since the fall. The July 24 document from state psychologist John McIlnay, however, is under seal by order of San Mateo County Superior Court John Grandsaert.

"I am skeptical of anything the doctor has done up to this point," McKowan said outside court. "Based on the report, we have reason to believe this whole thing was a hoax and we have been duped."

McKowan didn't oppose the judge's order to keep the document sealed, saying that a near-emergency need would have been required to successfully argue for the report's public release.

Ayres looked pale, bony and grey during the hearing, which he attended shackled and in orange jail clothes. He sat, without reaction, in a wheelchair at the defense table. Grandsaert put off a decision on bail to Wednesday.

When asked outside the court about the alleged ruse,

The defense attorney said he will contest the hospital psychiatrist's conclusions. Grandsaert set an Oct. 1 date for a full hearing on the report that is to include testimony from psychiatrists, nurses and even custodial staff from Napa hospital.

"The burden of proof is on the defense" to show Ayres is not competent, said McDougall.

For Ayres' accusers and their families, the news means the man they thought had escaped justice could still end up in prison. But the road ahead is fraught with opportunities for the case to end without a conviction, said Rinaldo Brutoco, whose son took the stand against Ayres. A conviction would help but won't repair the damage.

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Prosecutor: Ex-shrink faked dementia to avoid trial in sex abuse case


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