3 Caregivers Rob Woman with Alzheimer's and Now She Might Lose Her Home

Three people are accused of trying to exploit an 81-year-old woman with Alzheimer's.

Her husband passed away in 2012, and authorities say they took over as her caregiver.

The police report shows the three used:

• her bank and credit card accounts to pay their own bills
• and stopping the payments on her mortgage.

The woman's home is now foreclosed.

Topic - Dementia Care

A ray of light for Alzheimer's caregivers

I just finished reading an interesting article in the Boston Globe about a program this is designed to help caregivers and their loved after a diagnosis of probable Alzheimer's.

The dementia care consultation program is a joint venture of the Tufts Health Plan, and the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Already, hundreds of families have been referred to the program by physicians.

Experimental Drug Intepirdine (RVT-101) is now being investigated in a Phase 3 clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease

Would People be Happier and Healthier if Broccoli Tasted Like Chocolate?

Could we make people healthier by tricking the brain into thinking broccoli tastes like chocolate?

A group of internationally acclaimed chefs, bench neuroscientists, food scientists and clinical neurologists are confident that they can.

A new science called Neurogastronomy explores brain and behavior in the context of food.

How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters

According to Dan Han, PsyD, a co-founder of the International Society of Neurogastronomy, this isn't about re-engineering food per se, but re-engineering the brain into perceiving food differently.

Alzheimer's Front Row

5 Things Everyone Should Know About Alzheimer's

Understanding Alzheimer's is not easy. These articles demystify the disease and answer many of the most frequently asked questions.

What is the Difference Between Alzheimer's and Dementia?

In this easy to read and understand article you will learn about the difference between Alzheimer's and dementia. When someone is told they have dementia, it means that they have significant memory problems as well as other cognitive difficulties, and that these problems are severe enough to get in the way of daily living.

Test Your Memory for Alzheimer's (5 Best Memory Tests)

This article provides information and links to the five best free tests for Alzheimer's and dementia. These five memory tests are self assessment tests for Alzheimer's, dementia, and mild cognitive impairment.

Answers To Questions About Alzheimer's and Dementia

We have 4,970 articles that address the problems often faced by people caring for someone living with Alzheimer's. How to communicate, How to get them to take medication, How to get them to take a shower - you name it, we have it. Lots of advice and tips on how to understand, cope and communicate with a person living with dementia.

Alzheimer's Association: Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

The national site for the Alzheimer's Association. The website contains information on Alzheimer's disease and dementia symptoms, diagnosis, stages, treatment, care and support resources.

Alzheimer's Disease Fact Sheet | National Institute on Aging

Looking for facts about Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia in older adults. This website is full of information about Alzheimer's, dementia, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and caregiving.

Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World

Once you start to understand how things work in Alzheimer's World you get calm and comfortable. Once you get calm and comfortable you give off a better "vibe" to someone that has Alzheimer's.

By Bob DeMarco 
Alzheimer's Reading Room 

I would find a new way to communicate with my mother who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

I wrote that on my da Vinci pad in 2004. This was at the same time I was coming to another conclusion, something had to change and that something was me.

I did not perceived the changes in communication as being difficult. After all, I had been studying communication and decision making all the way back to college days, and ever since. I figured some practice and I would get the hang of it.

What I did not immediately perceive was how difficult it would be to change all the things I had learned over the course of my life. 


Continue Reading --

Rewiring My Brain and Stepping into Alzheimer's World

Alzheimer's World -- Two Circles Trying to Intersect

By Bob DeMarco Alzheimer's Front Row

Alzheimer's World is difficult to understand and accept. Some caregivers get there, some don't.....

By Bob DeMarco

It takes lots of thought, hard work, and the development of a new mental construct of behavior to understand Alzheimer's disease. It takes time.

Take the relationship between my mother and me as an example.

Advice and Insight -- Alzheimer's Caregiving

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." -- Thomas Moore....

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver
The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I learned a great deal about Alzheimer's disease and dementia--including the science. It helped me understand a very mystifying disease. It helped me to put a frame around something that is difficult if not impossible to describe.

Communication in Alzheimer's World
Let's face it, dealing with dementia is not easy. Understanding Alzheimer's disease is not easy...

Alzheimer's World -- Two Circles Trying to Intersect
When Alzheimer's strikes communication and behavior change abruptly -- overnight. It is up to the caregiver to adjust since the person suffering from dementia is incapable of the adjustment. Understanding this need is the first big step.



The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part Two)
It is difficult to describe the range of emotions a caregiver might feel or experience in a single day. Imagine being happy and then sad, caring then angry, focused then frustrated -- an almost endless stream of feelings and emotions that conflict.....

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver -- I Wish
Once I entered Alzheimer's world I did learn something fascinating -- my mother is full of feelings and emotion. I learned that I could connect with her....

The Alzheimer's Hamster Within YOU
I believe changing behavior, understanding what is happening, and a willingness to change the communication dynamic are the first steps to Alzheimer's caregiver happiness.

How We Beat Alzheimer's Incontinence -- A Solution
We are on a three day roll. No pee pee. No pee pee pajamas. No pee pee underwear. No pee pee pants...

How do Alzheimer's Caregivers Think and Feel?
Which of he following apply to you as an Alzheimer's caregiver? Which of these constantly bother you?.....

Dealing with Difficult Behavior Caused by Dementia and Alzheimer's
I often get asked question about how I deal with my mother when she evidences erratic behavior.

Alzheimer's and the Dreaded Bowel Movement
I knew the solution to the dreaded bowel movement problem for years. I couldn't get my mother to cooperate. When she wouldn't cooperate, I would give up. At least three or four times over a two year period. I was finally able to implement my solution for one simple reason -- I was learning new and better techniques as an Alzheimer's caregiver over time.

Alzheimer's Caregiver Lament -- This is Not the Person I Knew
In order to communicate effectively with a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease you need to come to an understanding that they are now living in a new world -- I often refer to this as Alzheimer's world...

Alzheimer's Caregiver Lament -- I can't take her out because she eats with her hands
The positive effects of socialization, initiative, and motivation on the part of Alzheimer's sufferers and their caregiver should not be overlooked. I believe these are as important as the medication......

I promised not to put my parents in a nursing home
The decision to keep a parent home or place them in a facility is never an easy choice, and is usually contemplated for a long time. The horror stories we’ve all heard about nursing homes can make anyone cringe.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Sometimes while looking at all those stars I begin to look at the space between the stars -- I call this the Blue Nowhere...When I look at the Blue Nowhere, I begin to imagine all the persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The Blue Nowhere is very vast.

Alzheimer's Caregiver Love
"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." -- Thomas Moore.....

Random Thought at the End of 2009
Alzheimer's will try to rob the Alzheimer's caregiver of their spirit. It will try and send them into the black hole of depression. Every day Alzheimer's whispers in the ear of the caregiver -- give up.

Alzheimer's and the Thyroid Revisited
People who are hypothyroid feel as though they have mild Alzheimer's and depression all mixed into one bad day. Get your thyroid tested. Nearly one in five people over the age of sixty has some degree of hypothyroidism, meaning a sluggish thyroid. The sympotms include forgetfulness, weight gain, depression, dry skin, intolerance to cold, muscle aches, and fatigue.

Which Drugs Increase the Risk of Falling for the Elderly
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for adults sixty-five and older...

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Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,300 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's Caregiver Love

"The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest." -- Thomas Moore.....

I am receiving more and more email. Over the years, I talk to more and more caregivers.

Most of the interactions have to do with common problems experienced by caregivers. Also, potential solutions to the problems.

Caregivers often lament. Whether they know it or not, its grief. Often an overwhelming sense of grief that is coming to the surface. Often a subliminal cry for help.

Rarely discussed is the most important interaction of them all -- Alzheimer's caregiver love.

Lost in this maze of emotions and confusion is love.

I wonder how much time caregivers spend thinking about how they are affecting the well being of the person suffering from Alzheimer's?

Why are they caring?

What is the effect of the caring?

How close are the Alzheimer's patient and the Alzheimer's caregiver?

How close were they before Alzheimer's struck?

Did the feelings between them change over time?

How close are they years after the onset of Alzheimer's?

If you were scared, fearful, confused and someone provided you with a safe secure environment -- how would you feel? What would you feel?

Love.

There is no substitute for a safe, secure, environment at home. Think about that.

There is no substitute for the love of an Alzheimer's caregiver. If you doubted this in the past, stop doubting.

Take a moment and take a few deep breaths. Think about love. Allow yourself to feel.

I can say this with confidence, I admire each and every Alzheimer's caregiver. The more I learn the stronger my belief in them.

"Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul." -- Saint Augustine

Related Articles:
Communicating in Alzheimer's World
Alzheimer's World -- Two Circles Trying to Intersect

Bob DeMarco is the editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room and an Alzheimer's caregiver. Bob has written more than 1,200 articles with more than 9,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

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Original content Bob DeMarco, the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Is it Alzheimer's or the Thyroid?

In the book The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems the authors discuss in detail physical problems that can effect memory. As part of that discussion, they point out that hypothyroidism can present as Alzheimer's or dementia.

While I don't want to hold out false hope, I often recommend to people I meet in person and on the Internet that they get the thryoid checked if they suspect, or are receiving a diagnosis of dementia.

A couple of years ago when I first read about this possible diagnosis, I decided to get my mother's thyroid checked. Sure enough, she was suffering from hypothyroidism. It did not cure her Alzheimer's. The medication did have an unintended positive effect -- she started smiling and laughing for the first time in years.

I suggest you share this information with others.

Here is the original article that I wrote on this topic.

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Articles include information on: Testing Your Memory for Alzheimer's, Wandering, Aricept, Namenda, Dimebon, Dementia, Caregiving, Wii, Alzheimer's Facts and Figures, Walmart as a Caregiver Tool, and more.



Feel free to share these articles with friends, caregivers, support groups, associations, or on you blog/website.

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A Caregiver's Guide to Alzheimer's Disease: 300 Tips for Making Life Easier

Bob DeMarco is an Alzheimer's caregiver and editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for advice and insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob taught at the University of Georgia, was an executive at Bear Stearns, the CEO of IP Group, and is a mentor. He has written more than 775 articles with more than 18,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

Maybe I Should Have Known it was Alzheimer's -- Tip # 1

Looking back, it all started long before anyone knew. The dementia.

Sometimes I wonder how my mother was able to drive herself to bingo at night, do the grocery shopping, and live a semblance of a normal life. All the time living under a dark cloud that not even she could recognize.

I now know the signs of dementia. What to look for. What you should be looking for as your parent, or grandparent, ages into their 80s. I didn't know back in 2003.

Maybe I should have known, when my mother ran her car over a concrete abutment, and scraped off the entire side of her car on a tree.

I was told the car was not that bad. Two days later and on the scene, I found out the car was totaled.

Nobody could figure out what happened. We assumed her foot slipped off the brake. Several people said to me -- she's getting old.

Fortunately, my little tiny five foot tall, 87 year old mother was just fine. At least that is what she and all the doctors told me. Relief.

While I accepted it at the time I just knew something was not right. This was the beginning for us.

Over the next several months as the evidence added up, I kept hearing these fatefully words -- she is getting old. This was the sum total of all the advice I received.

Looking back, I wish someone had said to me, "have you consider getting her memory checked", or a neurological examination.

I thought, erroneously, that her personal care physician would let us know if that was necessary. After she ran her car into the wall they assured us she was given every appropriate test and she was fine.

One out of every two people over the age of 85 suffers from some form of dementia, usually Alzheimer's disease.

I wish I had know that back then. If I had I would have taken immediate action.

Do you know anyone nearing or over the age of 85?

Tip #1 -- if you know someone over 80 consider getting them a simple memory check every one to two years.

Subscribe to Alzheimer's Front Row--via Email

Bob DeMarco is an Alzheimer's caregiver and editor of the Alzheimer's Reading Room. The Alzheimer's Reading Room is the number one website on the Internet for insight into Alzheimer's disease. Bob taught at the University of Georgia, was an executive at Bear Stearns, the CEO of IP Group, and is a mentor. He has written more than 600 articles with more than 11,000 links on the Internet. Bob resides in Delray Beach, FL.

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Living Alzheimer's From the Front Row

Imagine a person you know all or most of your life and their behavior changes--suddenly--and for the worse.

By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room

I often use the term "living Alzheimer's from the front row".

This term describes caregivers and others that watch Alzheimer's develop 24/7.

Once the disease strikes they get to witness the craziness of it all. On one hand, you have the person suffering from Alzheimer's; on the other hand, you have the person responsible for caring for that person. Unless you are an Alzheimer's caregiver it is almost impossible to either understand or comprehend what it is like living in the front row.