Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks

Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks is Lela Knox Shanks’s personal account of caring for her husband, Hughes, in their home after he was stricken with Alzheimer’s disease. Lela describes her initial denial, her discovery of coping skills, her eventual acceptance of his illness, and her ultimate recognition that the key to successful caregiving lies in never losing sight of the patient’s humanness. The book outlines twenty coping and survival strategies to guide caregivers to untapped inner resources and shows caregiving’s intangible rewards of increased self-respect and self-knowledge.

Historian Jesse F. Ballenger traces the emergence of senility as a cultural category from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s, a period in which Alzheimer's disease became increasingly associated with the terrifying prospect of losing one's self. Changes in American society and culture have complicated the notion of selfhood, Ballenger finds. No longer an ascribed status, selfhood must be carefully and willfully constructed. Thus, losing one's ability to sustain a coherent self-narrative is considered one of life's most dreadful losses. As Ballenger writes "senility haunts the landscape of the self-made man." Stereotypes of senility and Alzheimer's disease are related to anxiety about the coherence, stability, and agency of the self—stereotypes that are transforming perceptions of old age in modern America. Drawing on scientific, clinical, policy, and popular discourses on aging and dementia, Ballenger explores early twentieth-century concepts of aging and the emergence of gerontology to understand and distinguish normal aging from disease. In addition, he examines American psychiatry's approaches to the treatment of senility and scientific attempts to understand the brain pathology of dementia. Ballenger's work contributes to our understanding of the emergence and significance of dementia as a major health issue.

Although Hendershott has spent many years teaching and writing about the sociological aspects of aging, she writes that none of this could have prepared me for the overwhelming challenge of caring for my own mother-in-law in my home. She introduces baby boomers as the unexpected caregivers of the coming decades. The process of family denial about symptoms, work-family conflict, and the unique problems of children of caregivers are explored in an effort to find solutions to the caregiving challenge. Social science research is made accessible and is coupled with anecdotal information gleaned from interactions with other caregivers and personal experience. Throughout the book, Hendershott shows family caregivers that by gaining insight into their motivations for caregiving and by drawing from family support and help from the community, they can move beyond maladaptive caregiving coping styles, to a rewarding reality-based caregiving experience.

Betsy Peterson spent fourteen years caring for her husband who was suffering from dementia, an experience that put her in touch with others inside the struggle to have or to care for someone with the disease. A combination of contributions from patients, their families, friends, and caregivers, Voices of Alzheimer's gathers the poignant stories, funny quotes, and priceless encouragement that Peterson heard and that helped her along the way. Capturing the many dimensions of the Alzheimer experience-the challenges, the struggles, the humor, and even the rewards-aVoices presents a varied, and realistic, look at what it's like to be affected by the disease. With compassion, humor, and grace, it offers the simple advice, wisdom, and understanding of others who have traveled the same uncertain path.

A leading Alzheimer's expert presents a comprehensive program to help prevent and slow the progress of memory loss. There are currently more than four million Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's, and an estimated 14 million will have the disease by 2050. The good news is that everyone can make lifestyle changes to increase the odds that they will live well into old age with their mental faculties intact. Dr. Devi's groundbreaking program can help prevent the disease from developing and slow memory loss in those already suffering from the illness. By taking an active role in the management of the disease and through a combination of medication, natural hormone therapies, mental exercises, cognitive rehabilitation, and nutritional and herbal supplements, it is possible to slow the effects of this debilitating condition and improve the quality of life.

This much-needed bibliography and filmography brings together lists of books about Alzheimer's and caregiving, including biographies, poetry, and even fiction, as well as in instructional and dramatic films.

Alzheimer's can have a devastating impact on a patient's close relationships and all too often, family members and friends feel so uncomfortable that they end up dreading visits, or simply give up trying to stay in contact with the patient. This book offers a wealth of practical things you can do to stay connected with the Alzheimer's patient in your life. It offers straightforward suggestions and invaluable do's and don'ts, with advice on everything from dealing effectively with the inevitable repetition that occurs in conversations with an Alzheimer's patient to helpful strategies for saying no to unrealistic demands. It also includes thoughtful tips to remind you to take care of your own feelings and suggestions for helping children become comfortable with visiting an Alzheimer's sufferer.

This book reviews the neuropsychology of common and a few rare neurodegenerative conditions. The mild cognitive impairment prodrome of each condition is highlighted. Chapters include an autopsy-confirmed case presentation from the authors' files, current diagnostic criteria, epidemiology, neuropathology/neurophysiology, genetics, neuroimaging, associated clinical features, differential neuropsychological features and possible interventions.