What If It S Not Alzheimer S Updated And Revised

Although the public most often associates dementia with Alzheimer’s disease, the medical profession now distinguishes various types of “other” dementias. This book is the first and only comprehensive guide dealing with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), one of the largest groups of non-Alzheimer’s dementias. The contributors are either specialists in their fields or have exceptional hands-on experience with FTD sufferers. Beginning with a focus on the medical facts, the first part defines and explores FTD as an illness distinct from Alzheimer’s disease. Also considered are clinical and medical care issues and practices, as well as such topics as finding a medical team and rehabilitation interventions. The next section on managing care examines the daily care routine including exercise, socialization, adapting the home environment, and behavioral issues. In the following section on caregiver resources, the contributors identify professional and government assistance programs along with private resources and legal options. The final section focuses on the caregiver, in particular the need for respite and the challenge of managing emotions. This new, completely revised edition follows recent worldwide collaboration in research and provides the most current medical information available, a better understanding of the different classifications of FTD, and more clarity regarding the role of genetics. The wealth of information offered in these pages will help both healthcare professionals and caregivers of someone suffering from frontotemporal degeneration.

Although the public most often associates dementia with Alzheimer’s disease, the medical profession continues to advance distinctions of various types of “other” dementias. What If It’s Not Alzheimer’s? is the first and remains the only comprehensive guide dealing with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), the most common form of dementia for people under 60 years of age. The contributors are either specialists in their fields or have exceptional hands-on experience with FTD sufferers. Beginning with a focus on the medical facts, the first part defines and explores FTD as an illness distinct from Alzheimer's disease. Also considered are clinical and medical care issues and practices, as well as such topics as finding a medical team, palliative approaches to managing care and rehabilitation interventions. The next section on managing care examines the daily care routine including exercise, socialization, adapting the home environment, and behavioral issues along with end-of-life concerns. In the following section on caregiver resources, the contributors identify professional and government assistance programs along with private and community resources and legal options. The final section focuses on the caregiver, in particular the need for respite, holistic health practices and the challenge of managing emotions. This new, completely revised edition continues to follow worldwide collaboration in research and provides the most current medical information available including understanding of the different classifications of FTD, and more clarity regarding the role of genetics. Additionally, essays written by people living with the disease provide moving, first-hand experiences. The wealth of information offered in these pages will help both healthcare professionals and caregivers of someone suffering from frontotemporal degeneration.

The 36-Hour Day is the definitive dementia care guide.

The beloved best seller has been revised and expanded for the fifth edition. Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger. The new edition of Creating Moments of Joy is filled with more practical advice sprinkled with hope, encouragement, new stories, and generous helpings of humor. In this volume, Brackey reveals that our greatest teacher is having cared for and loved someone with Alzheimer's and that often what we have most to learn about is ourselves.

A guide to more successful communication for the millions of Americans caring for someone with dementia: “Offers a fresh approach and hope.”—NPR Revolutionizing the way we perceive and live with Alzheimer’s, Joanne Koenig Coste offers a practical approach to the emotional well-being of both patients and caregivers that emphasizes relating to patients in their own reality. Her accessible and comprehensive method, which she calls habilitation, works to enhance communication between care partners and patients and has proven successful with thousands of people living with dementia. Learning to Speak Alzheimer’s also offers hundreds of practical tips, including how to: · cope with the diagnosis and adjust to the disease’s progression · help the patient talk about the illness · face the issue of driving · make meals and bath times as pleasant as possible · adjust room design for the patient’s comfort · deal with wandering, paranoia, and aggression “A fine addition to Alzheimer's and caregiving collections.”—Library Journal (starred review) “Promises to transform not only the lives of patients but those of care providers…This book is a gift.”—Sue Levkoff, coauthor of Aging Well

Alzheimer’s disease is an increasingly common form of dementia and despite rising interest in discovery of novel treatments and investigation into aetiology, there are no currently approved treatments that directly tackle the causes of the condition. Due to its multifactorial pathogenesis, current treatments are directed against symptoms and even precise diagnosis remains difficult as the majority of cases are diagnosed symptomatically and usually confirmed only by autopsy. Alzheimer’s Disease: Recent Findings in Pathophysiology, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Modalities provides a comprehensive overview from aetiology and neurochemistry to diagnosis, evaluation and management of Alzheimer's disease, and latest therapeutic approaches. Intended to provide an introduction to all aspects of the disease and latest developments, this book is ideal for students, postgraduates and researchers in neurochemistry, neurological drug discovery and Alzheimer’s disease.

Receiving a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease profoundly alters lives and creates endless uncertainty about the future. How does a person cope with such a life-changing discovery? What are the hopes and fears of someone living with this disease? How does he want to be treated? How does he feel as the disease alters his brain, his relationships, and ultimately himself? Richard Taylor provides illuminating responses to these and many other questions in this collection of provocative essays. Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at age 61, the former psychologist courageously shares an account of his slow transformation and deterioration and the growing division between his world and the world of others. With poignant clarity, candor, and even occasional humor, more than 80 brief essays address difficult issues faced by those with Alzheimer's disease, including the loss of independence and personhood unwanted personality shifts communication difficulties changes in relationships with loved ones and friends the declining ability to perform familiar tasks This rare, insightful exploration into the world of individuals with Alzheimer's disease is a captivating read for anyone affected personally or professionally by the devastating disease. Individuals with early-stage Alzheimer's disease will take comfort in the voice of a fellow traveler experiencing similar challenges, frustrations, and triumphs. Family and professional caregivers will be enlightened by Taylor's revealing words, gaining a better understanding of an unfathomable world and how best to care for someone living in it.

The cultural and medical history of dementia and Alzheimer's disease by a leading psychiatrist and bioethicist who urges us to turn our focus from cure to care. Despite being a physician and a bioethicist, Tia Powell wasn't prepared to address the challenges she faced when her grandmother, and then her mother, were diagnosed with dementia--not to mention confronting the hard truth that her own odds aren't great. In the U.S., 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day; by the time a person reaches 85, their chances of having dementia approach 50 percent. And the truth is, there is no cure, and none coming soon, despite the perpetual promises by pharmaceutical companies that they are just one more expensive study away from a pill. Dr. Powell's goal is to move the conversation away from an exclusive focus on cure to a genuine appreciation of care--what we can do for those who have dementia, and how to keep life meaningful and even joyful. Reimagining Dementia is a moving combination of medicine and memoir, peeling back the untold history of dementia, from the story of Solomon Fuller, a black doctor whose research at the turn of the twentieth century anticipated important aspects of what we know about dementia today, to what has been gained and lost with the recent bonanza of funding for Alzheimer's at the expense of other forms of the disease. In demystifying dementia, Dr. Powell helps us understand it with clearer eyes, from the point of view of both physician and caregiver. Ultimately, she wants us all to know that dementia is not only about loss--it's also about the preservation of dignity and hope.