26-09-2011 09:35 This DVD is now available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com This video clip is an excerpt of "The Journey of Dementia", a 3 hour training DVD for Alzheimer's/Dementia Caregivers, with Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA. Preparation and readiness are key to being the best possible caregiver you can be! "The Journey of Dementia" is packed with over 3 hours of essential preparation tips and advice to give you vital information for all situations. You will learn to - make the most of doctor's visits - get proper screenings to determine the stage of the disease and the best level-appropriate care - look for vital legal and financial documents that need to be prepared before the disease progresses - give the best possible support during Emergencies - to determine when and if facility placement is the best choice - find the best End of Life care Join the thousands of caregivers that have made their loved ones feel at ease with Teepa. "The Journey of Dementia" is presented by The Pines Education Institute of SW Florida and facilitated by Teepa Snow, MS, OTR/L, FAOTA. The Pines Education Insitute is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing education, outreach programs, support, resources and counseling to family members and geriatric caregivers. For more information please visit http://www.pinesofsarasota.org. http://www.amazon.com

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What Is Dementia? - Part 1 - Video

20-09-2011 06:44 http://www.alzheimers.org.uk Some viewers may find this distressing. Bruce Bovill gives a brave and moving account of his experience caring for his wife, Jan, in the later stages of her dementia. For a fact sheet on the later stages of dementia please see alzheimers.org.ukThere are more than 750000 people in the UK affected by dementia with numbers set to rise to 1 million by 2021. Alzheimer's Society is the UK's leading care and research charity for people with dementia and those who care for them. Support the fight against dementia. Visit us at http://www.alzheimers.org.uk

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Later stage dementia: Bruce and Jan's story - Video

30-10-2011 18:25 Dr. James Galvin reviews some of the latest research on Lewy body dementias and current treatment options.

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New Insights into Lewy body dementias-20111005 1601-1.wmv - Video

16-12-2011 07:13 Co-author of a report into the standard of care for NHS dementia patients, Professor Peter Crome, and Hannah Clack from the Alzheimer's Society say there is much room for improvement.

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Health: Dementia NHS care quality report 'is shocking' - Video

07-11-2011 11:04 November is National Alzheimer's and Caregivers Awareness Month. Lanie Pope tells her personal story.Tonight at 5pm watch her take a virtual tour to see how it feels to have dementia...

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Tonight At 5PM: Understanding Dementia - Video

16-01-2012 23:21 A 66-year-old Melbourne man with dementia spent a month in the hospital after he was violently arrested in October 2011 by officers from the Melbourne Police Department in Melbourne, Florida. The officers who arrested Albert Flowers charged him with battery on a police officer, but a dash-cam video obtained this weekend by WFTV Channel 9 News in Central Florida shows that Flowers did not assault either officer before being kicked in the stomach, punched repeatedly, choked, and tasered. According to WFTV's report, Officer Derek Middendorf of the Melbourne Police Department was responding to a report that Flowers threatened another man with a knife. Middendorf's arrest report claims that "Flowers walked towards him in an aggressive manner" and that he "refused to stop at a safe distance." This record of the arrest held water in part because Middendorf turned off his dash cam before getting out of his cruiser. But the Melbourne Police Department was since able to retrieve the video from the dash cam hard drive. And that video tells a different story.

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Officer beating man with dementia - Video

04-01-2012 04:27 http://www.alzheimers.org.uk This film gives a overview of the structure and function of the brain. To download a transcript of the film, please click here http Please watch our other videos to see how brain cells function, hear what dementia is, and to hear more about Alzheimer's disease, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto-temporal dementia and other rarer causes of dementia. Alzheimer's Society is dedicated to defeating dementia through research. Our unique research programme funds research into the cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia to improve treatment for people today and to search for a cure for tomorrow. We are the only organisation to work with leading scientists and people affected by dementia to ensure our research influences practice and transforms lives. With the right investment, dementia can be defeated. http://www.alzheimers.org.uk If you have found this tool useful please consider donating to our research programme by following this link http://www.alzheimers.org.ukThere are more than 750000 people in the UK affected by dementia with numbers set to rise to 1 million by 2021. More than half of these have Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Society is the UK's leading care and research charity for people with dementia and those who care for them. Support the fight against dementia http://www.alzheimers.org.uk

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An introduction to the brain - Alzheimer's Society dementia brain video - Video

03-01-2012 11:01 http://www.alzheimers.org.uk This film explains and defines what dementia is, and how it affects the brain. To download a transcript of the film, please click here http Please watch our other videos to see how brain cells function, hear what dementia is, and to hear more about Alzheimer's disease, Posterior Cortical Atrophy, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, fronto-temporal dementia and other rarer causes of dementia. Alzheimer's Society is dedicated to defeating dementia through research. Our unique research programme funds research into the cause, cure, care and prevention of dementia to improve treatment for people today and to search for a cure for tomorrow. We are the only organisation to work with leading scientists and people affected by dementia to ensure our research influences practice and transforms lives. With the right investment, dementia can be defeated. http://www.alzheimers.org.uk If you have found this tool useful please consider donating to our research programme by following this link http://www.alzheimers.org.ukThere are more than 750000 people in the UK affected by dementia with numbers set to rise to 1 million by 2021. More than half of these have Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Society is the UK's leading care and research charity for people with dementia and those who care for them. Support the fight against dementia http://www.alzheimers.org.uk

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What is dementia? - Alzheimer's Society dementia brain video - Video

02-02-2012 16:31 More details are slowly emerging regarding the death of Soul Train's Don Cornelius. Shemar Moore who was the former host of Soul Train has revealed that Cornelius, his mentor, might have been suffering from dementia. "I don't know what his health was like," Moore said. "I had heard rumors that it was early [onset] dementia, Alzheimer's, things like that...I'd heard that he was sick." Don Cornelius was found in his Sherman Oaks home by his son. He died from apparent suicide. He was 75.

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Don Cornelius Suffered From Dementia - Video

22-01-2012 19:13 A Melbourne police officer reprimanded for deliberately disabling the dashboard camera in his patrol car, before confronting a 66-year-old man suffering from dementia, could face additional scrutiny as the city prepares for a potential lawsuit. Officer Derek Middendorf's actions — captured on video later salvaged by technicians — are at the center of calls for his dismissal as a lawyer for Albert Flowers says he plans to file suit against the city for false arrest, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. "He should be fired. Anyone who's being pulled over by this officer should be terrified," said attorney Paul Bross, who formally notified the city Tuesday of his intent to sue. "It's clear (Officer Middendorf) tried to destroy all the video in this case. He thought he had turned off the camera, and that's why he acted the way he did." Case to be reviewed: Melbourne City Attorney Paul Gougelman said the city's risk management office and insurance providers will review the case to see what liability the city has for Flowers' injuries. The case also has attracted the attention of the South Brevard branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Flowers was hospitalized for a month after the confrontation with Middendorf. "What I urge everybody to do is stand back and let the dust settle. There is always more to the story. It's always important to have a good working relationship in the community," Gougelman said, adding he planned to review ...

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66 Year Old Man With Dementia Brutally Beaten

WASHINGTON - Alexis McKenzie's mother had mild dementia, but things sounded OK when she phoned home: Dad was with her, finishing his wife's sentences as they talked about puttering through the day and a drive to the store.

Then their phone service was cut off. "I mailed that cheque," McKenzie's father insisted. No, he'd mailed the phone company a bank deposit slip instead. McKenzie visited and discovered spoiling food. Dad the caregiver was in trouble too.

Dementia can sneak up on families. Its sufferers are pretty adept at covering lapses early on, and spouses are sometimes there to compensate. Doctors too frequently are fooled as well. Now specialists are pushing for the first National Alzheimer's Plan to help overcome this barrier to early detection, urging what's called dementia-capable primary care, more screenings for warning signs and regular checks of caregivers' own physical and mental health.

For a doctor to ask someone with brewing dementia, "How are you?" isn't enough, says Dr. Laurel Coleman, a geriatric physician at Maine Medical Center who is part of a federal advisory council tackling the issue.

"So often I hear, 'The doctor only asks my mom how she is. She says fine and it's over,'" says Coleman. "That's not dementia-capable, or dementia-aware, primary care."

Family input should be mandatory, she told a recent council meeting. It's the only way to know if the person really is eating and taking her medicines as she claims, and not forgetting to turn off the stove.

The question is how to square that input with patient confidentiality, especially if the person never filed the legal forms clearing family members to intervene, as happened with McKenzie.

Plus, regularly seeking that input takes more time than the typical 15-minute visit and is poorly reimbursed, notes Coleman. But she says more primary-care physicians are starting to be trained in dementia's challenges.

More than five million Americans are estimated to have Alzheimer's or similar forms of dementia, although as many as half may not be formally diagnosed. With the rapidly aging population, the toll is projected to reach up to 16 million by 2050. The Obama administration is drafting a national strategy to try to slow that coming avalanche — with research aiming for some effective treatments by 2025 — plus find ways for struggling families to better cope today.

Step 1 is earlier detection. McKenzie directs an Alzheimer's assisted-living facility in Washington, so she knows about dementia. Still, it took some sleuthing to determine how much her 82-year-old parents, living a few hours away in Maryland, were deteriorating. She says her father refused any assistance in caring for her mother, and together the couple put up such a good front that even their regular physician hadn't realized their shared answers to standard check-up questions — How are you eating? Has anything changed? — simply weren't true.

"It's almost as if they're sharing a brain. That's how they get through a day," McKenzie says.

Sure, dementia patients' stories can be believable.

"It happens in doctors' offices all the time," says Beth Kallmyer, vice-president of constituent services at the Alzheimer's Association. That's why it's crucial that family members are part of the screening process.

The diseased brain may not be able to pull up a recent memory, but longer-term memories remain, she explains. So an intricate description of, say, cooking last night's dinner may ring true because it was a real dinner, just not last night's.

And a long-married couple in a familiar routine and surroundings can appear far more normal than they really are — until something upsets that balancing act, like the caregiving spouse getting sick, adds Dr. Gary Kennedy, geriatric psychiatry chief at New York's Montefiore Medical Center.

How to get around the hidden-dementia conundrum?

—Medicare's new annual wellness visit pays for cognitive screening, simple tests that signal who should be referred for more extensive brain exams. "Even if primary-care physicians don't consider themselves experts at evaluating for Alzheimer's disease, or don't feel comfortable, they can screen," Kallmyer says.

—The government's Alzheimer's advisers want doctors to steer families toward advanced-care planning, including designating a health care power of attorney, as soon as dementia is diagnosed. Montefiore's Kennedy says early diagnosis gives patients a say in how they want to be cared for while they're still capable of making those decisions.

—A health-care proxy won't be used until the person is quite sick. So Kallmyer advises also signing what's called a "release of information" allowing the doctor to discuss the person's care with whoever is named right away.

Such steps are important, Kennedy says, because advancing dementia leaves people so unaware of their deficits that they can take family or doctor input "as an affront." He always asks new patients if he can fill in their loved ones, or invite them in from the waiting room, as a way of starting that conversation.

—Doctors can violate patient confidentiality if they believe the person's decisions or behaviour has become a danger, Kennedy notes.

McKenzie says her father would never discuss naming a health-care proxy and her parents were furious that she'd voiced concerns to their physician. She had to think up non-confrontational ways to get invited back into their doctor visits: "I'll drive you, and then why don't I take notes in case you have any questions later?"

It turned out that McKenzie's father had a non-cancerous brain tumour causing his own gradual dementia symptoms, which started becoming apparent with the phone mix-up, unrefrigerated food and eventually delusions. Finally, she had to go to court to get her parents the care they needed in an assisted living facility near their hometown.

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Specialists push family input, more screening to detect early signs of dementia

At 83, Mr. Hockey is still in demand and on the move. Gordie Howe is about to embark on another series of fundraisers to support dementia research.

It’s a personal cause. The disease killed his wife, Colleen, in 2009 and is beginning to affect him.

“He’s a little bit worse than last year, but pretty close to about the same,” son Marty said. “He just loses a little bit more, grasping for words.

“The worst part of this disease is there’s nothing you can do about it.”

While the long-term effects of concussions have been very much in the news lately, the family is hesitant to link the Hall of Famer’s condition to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the degenerative brain disease typically found in autopsies of people who have had multiple head injuries, including more than a dozen former NFL and NHL players.

Concussions weren’t tracked when Howe played, so it is impossible to know how many he sustained. And he didn’t start showing signs of dementia until his late 70s.

“I don’t think anybody can really answer that question,” Marty said of a connection to CTE. “He went for so long without any symptoms whatsoever. You don’t have to be an athlete or in contact sports to get dementia.”

Howe’s dementia is currently mild and his family members haven’t sought a diagnosis of exactly what kind he has. They did that with Colleen, who died at 76 of Pick’s disease. The rare form of dementia is marked by changes in mood, behavior and personality, followed by memory loss similar to that experienced in Alzheimer’s.

Another son, Murray, a radiologist, says his father’s symptoms don’t fit either Alzheimer’s or Pick’s.

“He has what we call mild cognitive impairment,” Murray said. “His brain power is not what it used to be. In terms of the prognosis and diagnosis, it’s still wide open.”

Howe has short-term memory loss, difficulty speaking and some confusion in the evening when the sun goes down. The latter, called “sundowning,” occurs in people with dementia, although the cause is unclear.

“He’s always worse in the evening,” Marty said. “It’s like when the sun goes down, something flips the switch.”

But Howe’s personality hasn’t changed and he continues to recognize his family and friends.

Howe’s stamina and power were legendary during his 33 seasons of pro hockey. Physically, he’s doing well for a man about to turn 84 in March. His sons say Howe likes to do household chores and go fishing, one of his favorite pastimes.

“He’s still Mr. Hockey and that’s what is so great because he’s just such a pleasure to have around,” Murray said. “He’ll wake up first thing in the morning and there’s a bunch of leaves outside and he’ll rake for three hours. He’s so pleasant and upbeat.

“When he first started showing signs of memory loss, we were concerned it was Alzheimer’s and it was just going to go downhill.”

It’s possible Howe’s dementia is vascular in nature. He suffered from heart disease later in his life and required the implantation of a coronary stent about a decade ago.

“He’s had a couple episodes of getting faint or passing out around that time,” Murray recalled. “It’s possible he had a couple of mini-strokes that picked off some of the parts of his brain that you need to be able to retain short-term memory. That’s my theory and what his family physician is thinking.”

Howe had episodes of forgetfulness about six years ago while caring for his wife. The Howe children recognized the signs they’d previously seen in their mother.

The hockey great also was tired and not looking after himself, which made his condition worse. A program of regular physical activity has helped him combat his dementia.

“He can easily walk four miles on very hilly terrain without a problem,” Murray said. “When he first came to us, he couldn’t walk 100 yards up a slight incline without having to stop because of chest pains. It was a complete turnaround for him.”

After Colleen Howe’s death, the Howes were approached by the Toronto health organization Baycrest to put Gordie Howe’s face on a fundraising campaign for Alzheimer’s.

Affiliated with the University of Toronto, Baycrest specializes in mental diseases of the elderly.

Howe, accompanied by Marty, makes public appearances at an annual series of Scotiabank Pro-Am hockey tournaments across Canada. More than $16 million has been raised by the Gordie and Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimer’s.

Howe is scheduled to attend a Canucks game in Vancouver on Thursday night to promote a Scotiabank Pro-Am in that city later this year.

Marty says his father plans to help kick off the same tournaments in Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto this spring.

He also will also attend a news conference Thursday afternoon in advance of a tribute in his honor at Friday’s Vancouver Giants game.

Howe has his photo taken with fans and signs autographs under Marty’s watchful eye at the events. A speech isn’t an option anymore. Fatigue tends to exacerbate Howe’s condition and Marty doesn’t want his father feeling strained.

“If you see him now, obviously you can kind of tell he’s not firing on all cylinders,” Marty says. “Most people see Gordie and they’re just happy Gordie is talking to them.”

Marty was alarmed by a decline in his father’s condition before an appearance in Calgary last year, but didn’t want his condition made public until the family had a better handle on his condition.

“For people who are dealing with this, you have to have a sense of humor,” he said. “Nobody wants to see their family members go through this. It gets harder. Towards the end, it’s really no quality of life whatsoever. Pretty depressing, but you have to find the humor in some of it. Otherwise, it will kill you, too.”

Marty and Murray are just grateful the dementia hasn’t changed their father’s personality or attitude so far.

“We’re enjoying the times we have now,” Marty said.

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Online

http://gordiehowe.com/

http://www.baycrest.org/foundation.php

http://www.scotiabankproam.com/

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Gordie Howe's dementia fight personal and public

TORONTO - Perhaps it begins with recurring forgetfulness, a struggle to find words or maybe needing repeated reminders about an upcoming event. Or it may be that some everyday tasks, performed over a lifetime with unthinking ease, suddenly seem overwhelming.

Such memory missteps could, of course, be signs of Alzheimer's disease. But specialists say there are many forms of age-related dementia and cognitive impairment, and nailing down the likely cause can ensure early and appropriate treatment.

"It is important to get a specific diagnosis because some medications work for one dementia and not another," says Dr. Tiffany Chow, a behavioural neurologist in the memory clinic at Baycrest in Toronto.

For some, memory and thinking problems could result from what's called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, a sort of mid-step between the waning mental clarity that's normal as we age and the more exacerbated decline of dementia.

The condition is common in seniors, affecting about one in 10 of those aged 65 to 74, then rising to more than 60 per cent of those over 85.

Hockey legend Gordie Howe appears be one of them.

His son Murray, a doctor who specializes in radiology, says his father's symptoms don't fit either Alzheimer's or Pick's disease, a rare form of dementia that led to the death of his mother Colleen at 76.

Howe, now 83 and still active, is doing his bit to raise awareness. The Gordie and Colleen Howe Fund for Alzheimer's has raised more than $16 million.

While the onset of mild cognitive impairment can be frightening, Chow says the condition isn't necessarily the first step on the road to Alzheimer's or any other form of dementia. Some people will progress to that stage, but others never get worse and a few even improve.

Vascular dementia affects about 20 per cent of Canadians diagnosed with dementia, making it the second most common form. The disorder is caused by the death of brain cells, which have been starved of oxygen-rich blood as a result of high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol or diabetes. A succession of mini-strokes can also lead to vascular dementia.

But with early treatment — typically drugs that control these underlying disorders, plus changes to diet and exercise — the progression of vascular dementia can be significantly delayed or even halted altogether.

Certainly, Alzheimer's is the most common form, accounting for almost two-thirds of the 500,000 cases of dementia among Canadians — a figure that's expected to double to 1.1 million within a generation.

The disease, first described in 1906 by German physician Alois Alzheimer, arises from destruction of neurons linked to deposits, called beta-amyloid plaques, and tangled bundles of fibres that form in the brain. Starting in the hippocampus, a key structure involved in laying down memory, cell death eventually spreads to other parts of the brain and breaks down connections between neurons.

"It's just a neurodegenerative process," explains Dr. Mary Tierney, director of the Geriatric Research Unit at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, whose studies show that brain changes likely begin a decade before symptoms first appear.

"Whatever kick-started it in the first place, that whole cell loss, is just continuing. And that sort of relentless continuation is what we're really trying to stall."

Drugs to slow the progression of the disease and tamp down symptoms include cholinesterase inhibitors, which boost a chemical messenger called acetylcholine that's needed for memory, thought and judgment.

"They've been shown to help a bit with attention, recent memory, but they seem also to have an effect on progression of a decline in autonomy ... the ability to handle daily tasks," says Dr. Serge Gauthier, a neurologist at the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging in Montreal.

"And there are some behavioural effects, so there's less apathy, or lack of interest," he says of the drug class often prescribed for mild to moderate Alzheimer's.

A second medication, memantine, works on a different neurotransmitter and is most effective in the later stages of the disease, in particular reducing agitation and aggressivity as well as improving word recall and allowing a patient to maintain physical functions longer.

Combining the drugs can keep a person with Alzheimer's out of long-term care for many months, even up to a year, Gauthier says.

But there is no cure for Alzheimer's, and pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to come up with compounds that could reverse or halt the relentless brain damage.

"It's such a horrible disease, but nothing is on the horizon yet," says Tierney.

As the birthdays add up, so does the risk of developing one kind of dementia or another.

"So as you get older more of your peers will have mild cognitive impairment and more of your peers will have dementia," says Chow. Between 60 and 65, up to five per cent will have Alzheimer's; by age 70 to 75, maybe 20 per cent will be affected. "And by the time you're in your late 80s, at least a third of the people around you would have dementia."

Among older seniors, those over 75, cognitive decline often results from a mixed bag of conditions — perhaps Alzheimer's, vascular and Parkinson's-related dementia, says Gauthier.

"It's not always black and white."

Still, there is no getting around the reality that Alzheimer's and some other forms of dementia are ultimately fatal.

For those affected by dementia, reactions to the diagnosis are as varied as the individuals themselves, says Marija Padjen, chief program officer at the Alzheimer Society of Toronto.

"Because of the very nature of the disease, some individuals will have much more awareness than others," she says. "So, for example, Mrs. Smith may be diagnosed with the disease, but she may have zero awareness of the fact that these symptoms are happening, that she's having memory lapses, etcetera, because the part of her brain that would allow for her to have a realization is affected."

That lack of insight, a condition known as anosognosia, can be tough on the patient's family, Gauthier points out.

"They're the ones who don't want to go to see the doctor, they're brought in by the family, (saying). 'There's nothing wrong with me. I don't need any medicine. I can drive.'

"But in a way it's less stressful for them."

Others have some awareness, while there are those few who have full insight, and that knowledge can persist as the disease slowly but inexorably chips away at memory, personality and the person's ability to function. "And they're really miserable, with a lot of anxiety," he says.

Common reactions to a dementia diagnosis are grief over the loss of self and control over one's life, adds Padjen. "There's a lot of fear of the unknown — and fear of the known. They may have had a family member diagnosed and know what's in front of them and it can be terrifying."

For family members, and especially those who become full-time caregivers, the diagnosis can be an emotional blow.

"For a lot of people, the grief begins with the diagnosis," says Padjen. "There's so many losses associated with the illness that they begin to g
rieve that individual and the loss of that relationship and the loss of the life that they had together."

"There's a term they use," adds Gauthier, "the unending funeral."

Tierney suggests family members will find it easier to cope if they try to remain rooted in the present, instead of fearing what the future will bring for their loved one with dementia.

"Focus on the person now and what they have."

———

Online:

Alzheimer Society of Canada: http://www.alzheimer.ca

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Cognitive impairment, dementia common in seniors, proper diagnosis key to treatment

Living With Dementia 750000 people in the UK are living with dementia, but what is it actually like to live with the condition?

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Out of the shadows - Living with dementia