What is Dementia

What is dementia? The short answer is that it is any deterioration of the brain that causes regression into perhaps a childlike or unpredictable state of mind. This article will present a laymans observations of the condition.
1. Overview:
Dementia can be caused by a number of different diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Pick's disease or simply aging. This article will mainly cover Pick's disease, as close observance was made of a patient suffering from this condition, with the observations starting 10 years before the onset of the disease, when the patient was in perfect health, and continuing until his death. Many of the symptoms and behaviour caused by the disease are similar across all types of dementia.
2. Physical causes and effects.
Pick's disease is a deterioration of the frontal lobe of the brain. Alzheimer's apparently affects the back of the brain. Certain areas of the brain seem to break down into a fluid. This is a process, during which more and more of the brain's functions are impaired or destroyed. Depending on the individual, this could first affect his emotions, memory and inhibitions, and as the disease progresses, it starts affecting the involuntary functions such as bladder, renal, breathing, heart and so on. Eventually adult nappies have to be worn. Weight gain can occur unless his eating is closely controlled, but in a home situation this can be almost impossible. Even with controlled eating, the changes in the body also cause weight gain.
3. Early symptoms.
Short term memory loss is an early symptom, coupled with out of character behaviour. May take twice as long to go to the store up the road. A man gives the impression of "having an affair" as he may disappear for quite a few hours and have no explanation as to where he was. Will find it gradually more difficult to tackle familiar everyday tasks like fixing a kettle or sorting out the garden.
4. Behavioural changes.
Pick's disease is closely related to Alzheimer's disease, but with slightly differing symptoms. The patient is usually less aggressive. He regresses to childlike behaviour where he likes to "go for a ride," finds boyish things like big buses and trains fascinating. he has no sense of responsibility and does not worry about finances or traffic fines. Driving rapidly deteriorates to a dangerous and reckless level. Spends money with gay abandon. Chats up ladies with no inhibitions, even though married. Totally forgets anniversaries and shows no interest in them. Has little or no emotions, especially loving or kind acts towards his spouse, but is otherwise happy and carefree. Will wander off and get lost within minutes if not watched. Develops compulsive behaviour: the patient incessantly combed his hair.
5. How to care for the patient.
The patient must, of course, be treated with respect, but since they are childlike, a very firm approach must be used towards them. They must be told in no uncertain terms what to do, and the threat of removal of privileges seems to help in controlling their behaviour. They must be kept busy with things that they can do, such as polishing shoes, making beds, painting - one needs to try them with a task and see how they manage, bearing in mind that their abilities are constantly changing with time. Don't let them drive if they are unable to.
6. Outlook.
Sufferers of Pick's disease usually live for 4 to 7 years after diagnosis. Alzheimer patients can live for up to 28 years after diagnosis. If the cause is simply aging, it appears to shorten the lifespan, but it's hard to tell if it is the dementia or simply the natural course of old age. Great strides have been made in the medication available to treat these diseases, and a large amount of government money has been allocated to research.
5. Help and Support groups for carers.
As this sort of disease is quite widespread and common, there are numerous support groups and helpers, wherever you may live. Often a search of the phone book or a Google search will yield results. Assistance is definitely needed, as the person caring for a patient of this nature can become totally exhausted, especially as the disease can last for 10 or 15 years. There are institutions where the patient can go for the day, where they are cared for and given things to do to occupy them happily. This gives the carer time to recover and gather their thoughts, and take care of themselves.
Dementia is quite a sad situation, as loved ones feel they have "lost" their family member even though he is still with them. But there are lighter moments, and with the help of friends, family and support groups, the burden is a lot lighter. Life does go on!
Duncan Kelly

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A compelling video featuring caregivers of people living with dementia appealing to their fellow caregivers to seek support and take respite.
By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Caregivers speak movingly based on their own experiences directly to others like them on the importance of finding information, obtaining home care and other types of in-house assistance, joining support groups, and accessing respite through day programs and overnight guest houses.

Caregivers appeal to their peers to obtain assistance, and not wait for a crisis to occur.

This is really an excellent video that is worth watching and sharing. If you take the time to let it get rolling you will start to recognize the value.

The clear message is that no caregiver to loved ones with dementia is a superman or superwoman.

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Produced by the Champlain Community Access Centre (www.champlain.ccac-ont.ca) the Alzheimer Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County (www.alzheimer.ca/ottawa) and the Champlain Dementia Network (www.champlaindementia.org). Directed by the Peabody Award-winning Director Firdaus Kharas of Chocolate Moose Media (www.chocmoose.com).

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The purpose of this article is to provide 25 tips to help you survive as an Alzheimer’s caregiver, and to help you avoid some of the negative health effects that are often associated with stressful caregiving.
By Marie Marley
Alzheimer's Reading Room
The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that there are more than 15 million people serving as caregivers to people with Alzheimer’s.

The Family Caregiver Alliance states that caregivers are at increased risk for declines in physical and mental health. Furthermore, the Alliance states that women experience worse health effects than men.

Finally, an article originally published in the American Journal of Nursing says that caring for someone with dementia causes worse health effects than caring for people with other diseases.

The purpose of this article is to provide 25 tips to help you survive as an Alzheimer’s caregiver and avoid some of these negative health effects.

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25 Tips for Surviving as an Alzheimer’s CaregiverLearn what community resources are available: Know where you can get help from the community.Become an educated caregiver: Some useful sites for educating yourself are the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Reading Room. Also, attend any caregiving seminars presented in your community.Ask for help – and accept it: Don’t be too proud to ask for help. Getting help can make a major difference in your life.Take care of yourself: Try to eat well and exercise regularly.Manage your level of stress: Consider taking a stress management course.Accept changes as they occur: Go with the flow. Your loved one’s condition will change frequently.Give yourself credit – not guilt: Make a list of all the things you are doing correctly and look at it frequently.Make legal and financial plans before they are needed: Put your loved ones affairs in order now. Don’t wait until it’s too late.Visit your doctor regularly: Go to the doctor when you don’t feel well and be sure to have all of the recommended health screening tests done.Understand what’s happening as early as possible: Read up on Alzheimer’s disease so you understand what’s happening.Consult a geriatric care manager: Geriatric care managers are specialists who help families care for elderly relatives. They can provide valuable information and resources you will need to help you through these difficult times.Contact the Alzheimer’s Association for help: The Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org) has a 24/7 help line. Just call 1-800-272-3900.Contact the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America for help: This organization (www.alzfdn.org) has a help line operated between 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Call 1-866-232-8484.Study and put into practice “The Caregiver’s Bill of Rights:” You can find this document here.See a psychotherapist: If your stress level is very high or if you are feeling depressed, a therapist might be able to help you.Consult with your spiritual leader: If you are a religious person your spiritual leader might also be able to help you.Join a support group: Support groups can be helpful for Alzheimer’s caregivers, even if you just listen in.See a family therapist if there is conflict in your family: If there is a lot of conflict among family members consider seeing a family therapist.Keep a journal: Writing about your experiences and feelings every day can also be therapeutic.Learn how to get along better with your loved one: Here are three quick tips: Don’t contradict or argue with them, Don’t bring up subjects that might upset them, and if they do get upset quickly change the subject. Following these tips will lead to a better relationship.Take up a hobby about which you become passionate. It’s important to have time to yourself. Find a hobby you love. It can make a big difference.Overcome Denial: Quit making excuses for your loved one’s memory and functioning problems. Admit to yourself that they have Alzheimer’s.Make peace with Alzheimer’s: After you admit to yourself the person has dementia it’s important to truly accept that fact. Learn to love the person just as he or she is.Make peace with God: If you are a religious person, make peace with God for allowing your loved one to have this disease. Pray and, again, consult your spiritual leader.Spend time with people you love: Being with people you love can help recharge your batteries and will improve your quality of life.

Marie Marley is the award-winning author of the uplifting book, Come Back Early Today: A Memoir of Love, Alzheimer’s and Joy. Her website (ComeBackEarlyToday.com) contains a wealth of information for Alzheimer’s caregivers.

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NOTE: Tips 1 – 10 are based on a list from the Alzheimer’s Association – 10 Ways to Become a Healthier Caregiver; tip 25 is from Caregiver.com.

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By Marie Marley
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Sometimes we suffer more than the person with Alzheimer’s. That’s because, in part, people with Alzheimer’s disease typically live mostly in the present.

They don’t live that way because of any particular wisdom, though. It’s because of the disease. They usually don’t fret over yesterday simply because they can’t remember it.

That’s one of the less dreadful things about this disease. People with dementia typically quickly forget unpleasant things that happen to them and upset them terribly. And they forget it quickly – sometimes by the next day if not in a matter of hours or minutes.

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Yet caregivers who experience a patient’s extreme distress over some issue or another tend to keep the patient’s suffering clearly in their minds, and they themselves can suffer greatly because of it.

Caregivers don’t easily and quickly forget painful things that happen to their loved one. They suffer because they think their loved one is still distressed, and they feel even more pain because there’s usually nothing they can do about it.

Caregivers can be deeply troubled about the patient’s reaction to hurtful things for days, weeks or even years later. Unless they observe their loved one very carefully they may not realize he or she has forgotten all about the incident and moved on to other things.

Here’s the critical question all Alzheimer’s caregivers should ask themselves when they are upset about something related to their loved one:

“Is the issue bothering my loved one?”
If not, that’s what’s important. We shouldn’t let it bother us either. We need to think about and accept their feelings more than we focus on our own.
Here are some examples that illustrate my point.

I have a friend who told me that one Christmas day she brought her mother, who was living in a nursing home, to her own home for the day, thinking this would be a special treat for her mother. Once at the house her mother became deeply distraught and kept asking to go home.

As my friend was telling me about this event it was clear that she was still upset about it. And the shocking thing was that this event that had occurred three years earlier.

I’d be willing to bet that her mother forgot all about it the next day if not the moment she arrived home. In other words the incident no longer mattered to her.

In addition to forgetting bad things that happen to them, people with dementia might adjust to change more easily than their loved ones do.

That’s because they may forget that any change has occurred. They don’t remember how things were before the change. Thus they’re not aware any change has taken place.

Another incident involving wanting to go home occurred when Ed was moved to another room in the nursing home where he was living. Like my friend’s mother he, too, wanted to go “home” – back to his old room.

When I arrived to visit him a few hours after the move took place I found him sitting on a little bench in the hallway outside his room. He kept saying over and over in a plaintive tone to voice, “I want to go home.”

He made this mournful request to every single person who passed by. And he repeated it to me several times. In fact, it’s the only thing he said to me that day. I was distressed because Ed was suffering.

My heart was broken as I drove home. Much to my surprise, however, when I arrived to visit the next day he had forgotten all about it. He was delighted to see me – as always – and he didn’t once ask to go home.

He was functioning as though he hadn’t been moved at all. Nonetheless that urgent plea reverberated in my mind and caused me great emotional pain for days afterward.

Again, I was the one who was suffering – not he. He was living only in the present and he obviously felt as he would have had he not been moved.

Another example is that my cousin was angry with her mother’s facility because they sometimes dressed her in sweats during the daytime. Her mother would never have previously done that.

But as it turned out once she was in a nursing home it didn’t bother her at all. To put it simply something the person may not have liked before getting Alzheimer’s may be quite okay with them after developing the disease.

We need to let it be okay with us, too.

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Mr. Williams was given a clinical diagnosis of PD and treated for motor symptoms. The report confirms he experienced depression, anxiety and paranoia, which may occur in either Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies.
By Alzheimer's Reading Room
The recent release of the autopsy and coroner reports on Robin Williams has raised questions about his state of health at the time of his tragic suicide earlier this year.

Some news reports indicate that Mr. Williams had dementia at the time of his death.

The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) provides information about what can – and cannot – be concluded from these reports.

The autopsy indicated the presence of ‘diffuse Lewy body dementia’ in the brain of Mr. Williams. 

This is more commonly called ‘diffuse Lewy body disease’ which reflects the biological disease process in the brain.

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Did Robin Williams Have Dementia?Lewy Body Dementia Association clarifies information from autopsy

“The use of the term dementia in the neuropathology report should not be inferred to mean that dementia was observed during life,” warns Dennis Dickson, M.D., Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. and member of the LBDA Scientific Advisory Council.

Lewy bodies are misfolded protein deposits found in the brains of individuals with several different disorders including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

According to his wife, Robin Williams was battling “the early stages of Parkinson's disease” before his death. In early PD, Lewy bodies are generally limited in distribution, but in DLB, the Lewy bodies are spread widely throughout the brain, as was the case with Robin Williams.

Dr. Dickson, who has reviewed the autopsy and coroner’s report, further states,

“Mr. Williams was given a clinical diagnosis of PD and treated for motor symptoms. The report confirms he experienced depression, anxiety and paranoia, which may occur in either Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies.”

Is it Dementia with Lewy Bodies or Parkinson’s Disease?
Both Parkinson’s disease with dementia and DLB are considered Lewy body dementias because of the presence of Lewy bodies in the brain. Collectively, Lewy body dementias are the second most common form of dementia and affect an estimated 1.4 million Americans.To receive a diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies, a person must have significant problems with thinking and memory that interfere with everyday life. There is no mention in the media or in the autopsy report that Robin Williams exhibited these symptoms.It is not uncommon, however, for early signs of dementia to go undetected. The Mini Mental Status Exam – a common screening test for cognitive impairment and dementia used by many physicians – is not able to detect cognitive impairment in early DLB.

“Further research is needed to better understand why some individuals with diffuse Lewy body disease do not show symptoms of dementia,” according to Dr. Dickson. “In particular, we need to learn how dementia with Lewy bodies differs clinically from Parkinson’s disease when they both share the same underlying disease process.”

DLB and PD share many symptoms, but have different patterns of onset, progression and symptom severity. The most prominent and problematic clinical symptoms in early PD are related to movement, while in DLB they are more likely to be cognitive and psychiatric.

However, over the course of both disorders, the symptoms become more and more alike. (See LBDA’s comparison chart for details.)

To learn more about Lewy body dementias, visit lbda.org.

About Lewy Body Dementia Association
The Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness of Lewy body dementias (LBD), promoting scientific advances, and supporting people with LBD, their families and caregivers. LBD, a complex disease that can present with a range of physical, cognitive, and behavioral symptoms, is a “family disease.” .

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Lewy body dementia (LBD) is a progressive neurological disorder. Lewy body dementia is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses - Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

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The seamless process has been used before in investigations of potential treatments for cancer and heart disease, but the DIAN-TU trial is the first such trial for Alzheimer's disease.
By Alzheimer's Reading Room
The trial, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is known as the DIAN-TU trial, for the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network Trials Unit.

The National Institute on Aging of the NIH has awarded $5.5 million in funding to continue and expand the trial, which is focused on dominantly inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease.

In all, the National Institute on Aging will provide an estimated total of $26 million in funding over the next five years to support the groundbreaking trial.

"This approach, called seamless adaptive trial design, enables us to condense the stages of the trial so it finishes three years earlier than the decade it normally would take. Thanks to the support of this grant, the current DIAN-TU trial may lead to approved preventive treatments for dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease." -- Randall Bateman

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New funding speeds identification of drugs to prevent Alzheimer's
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has boosted funding for the first large-scale clinical trial aimed at identifying drugs to stop or slow Alzheimer's disease in people destined to get the debilitating illness.
The trial, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is known as the DIAN-TU trial, for the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network Trials Unit. The National Institute on Aging of the NIH has awarded $5.5 million in funding to continue and expand the trial, which is focused on dominantly inherited forms of Alzheimer's disease. In all, the National Institute on Aging will provide an estimated total of $26 million in funding over the next five years to support the groundbreaking trial.With the new funding, patients enrolled in the trial can remain on the drugs they receive in the trial's initial stage, known as the biomarker testing phase, as the trial shifts to the final stage, known as the cognitive endpoint phase. The study is currently in the initial biomarker phase, which looks for early indications that the medication is having the desired effects in trial participants; in the cognitive endpoint phase, researchers will evaluate the drug's long-term ability to prevent or delay disease.The last phase provides the critical data regulators such as the Food and Drug Administration consider when reviewing an investigational drug.

"This approach, called seamless adaptive trial design, enables us to condense the stages of the trial so it finishes three years earlier than the decade it normally would take," said principal investigator Randall Bateman, MD, of the School of Medicine. "Thanks to the support of this grant, the current DIAN-TU trial may lead to approved preventive treatments for dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease."

The added support also will help the researchers enroll 300 to 400 additional participants in the trial and establish 10 to 15 additional sites for the study, which is treating volunteers in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Search more than 4,900 original articles for 
Successful treatments for dominantly inherited Alzheimer's, a disease that typically strikes in a person's 30s, 40s, or 50s, one day may be used to slow or stop the much more common forms of Alzheimer's that occur later in life.

Nearly half of all late-onset Alzheimer's disease cases are linked to a particular form of one gene, Apoe4. But having one or two copies of this form doesn't guarantee a person will develop Alzheimer's.

In contrast, in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's, a single copy of one of the critical mutations, identifiable through genetic screening, means a person is almost certain to develop memory and other cognitive problems that may lead to Alzheimer's dementia.
Scientists have developed a detailed timeline of the brain changes Alzheimer's causes in the years before symptoms appear. The DIAN-TU trial is testing two treatments in patients with inherited Alzheimer's to see if the drugs can slow or stop the disease's progression and the onset of symptoms. DIAN-TU researchers continue to work with pharmaceutical companies to identify a third drug for testing in the trial.Bateman, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor in Neurology, compares conventional clinical trials to putting people on a train that appears to be headed toward a desirable destination: successful treatment of a disease. As the train moves down the track and patients are treated with the trial drug, scientists check to make sure the train is still headed in the right direction.Normally, the clinical trials process requires researchers to stop the train at some point, take all the passengers off and conduct a detailed assessment of their progress. (This is the end of what's known as a phase 2 clinical trial.)To complete the journey to a new, approved treatment, researchers have to assemble a second, larger train (a phase 3 clinical trial), board the passengers and start that train moving. Building and starting a new train take a great deal of time and money.

"This new grant lets us keep the train rolling as long as it still seems to be moving toward the goal," Bateman said. "As long as we have a treatment that appears to be safely doing what it's designed to do, we can continue to treat and monitor DIAN-TU trial participants."

Regulators gave the DIAN-TU researchers the leeway to test new drugs in this fashion based in part on the urgent need for treatments for inherited Alzheimer's.

The seamless process has been used before in investigations of potential treatments for cancer and heart disease, but the DIAN-TU trial is the first such trial for Alzheimer's disease.

As other Alzheimer's medications pass initial tests for safety and effectiveness, Bateman and his colleagues will consider evaluating them in the DIAN-TU trial. 

"By providing us with this grant, the National Institute on Aging has made it possible for us to safely accelerate the journey toward a new era of preventive treatment for inherited Alzheimer's disease," Bateman said. "We can't say now if any of these new drugs will be successful, but we're looking forward to working at a faster pace with pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies to find effective treatments."

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_____________________

Additional supporters of the trial have included the Alzheimer's Association, which provided a $4.2 million grant, and pharmaceutical companies, which gave financial support and donated treatments. Private companies also donated a brain plaque imaging agent and a computerized cognitive skills test.

This research is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers R01 AG046179 and U01 AG042791.

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Adaptive Interaction is based on an approach used by those coping with communicative impairment caused by a stroke, learning disability or severe autism, known as Intensive Interaction. This technique is based on developmental theory that traces how all human beings learn to talk by building on the non-verbal communicative abilities with which they were born.
By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
The Alzheimer's Reading has 100s of articles about the use of nonverbal communication, tactile communication, and how to communicate more effectively with a person living with dementia.

We often suggest that being a "guide" is more effective than being a "boss" or a parent. We always suggest starting with a smile; and then, waiting until you receive a smile in return.

We have article on how to use your hand, how to touch, how to attach your head, and long list of suggests on how to build a communication bridge to a person living with dementia.

You will need to think broadly, but I believe you will find the research summary below of great interest. Also, take a look at the linked articles at the bottom of this article.

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Communicating with individuals with advanced dementia in their own terms can have a profound effect on the lives of those living with the illness, according to a specialist in the subject.

Dr Maggie Ellis, of the University of St Andrews, says that working with an individual’s non-verbal ‘language’ can allow families to connect with loved ones in powerful new ways.

The researcher says the method is a simple but effective means that relatives and professional caregivers can use to retain or create an emotional bond with individuals with advanced dementia.

Alzheimer’s Scotland say the approach, which will be discussed at a special event in St Andrews tonight (Monday 10 November), ‘holds great promise’.

Dr Ellis, a dementia specialist, developed the method of ‘reaching’ individuals in advanced stages of dementia with fellow psychologist Professor Arlene Astell. The researchers found that people with advanced dementia respond more readily to reflections of their own communication behaviours than to speech.

Working closely with local nurses, individuals living with advanced dementia and their families, Dr Ellis and Professor Astell have witnessed first-hand the ‘transformative’ impact of the intervention they call ‘Adaptive Interaction’.

Dr Ellis says their discovery is an important insight as rates of dementia increase.

She said, “It really is a case of going back to basics. At first people find it strange or awkward to communicate with an adult using non-verbal communication such as hand movements or facial expressions. It requires time and effort, but the important thing is that it really does work.

“I've witnessed some really profound reactions to this type of communication. For some families, it’s the only way they have left to engage in meaningful interactions and retain a close connection to their loved one. They often describe the discovery that they are able to stay in contact as ‘an amazing feeling’.”

For professional caregivers, the approach provides them with the means to connect with individuals they care for in a way that may have been previously impossible.

The lecture is hosted by the organisation connected baby, recently founded by Dr Suzanne Zeedyk, an Honorary Fellow of the School of Psychology at the University of Dundee. Dr Zeedyk, who has trained 20,000 people in the science of connection in the last three years, said,

“It is fantastic that this lecture will allow us to highlight how non-verbal capacities remain central to our ability to thrive as human beings, from the moment of birth and throughout our lifespan. It is too seldom that our understanding of dementia is framed from a developmental perspective.”

The lecture, which 200 people have signed up to attend, will also serve as the launch of a new book co-authored by Drs Ellis and Zeedyk and published by connected baby. Entitled ‘Rethinking Communication: The connected baby guide to advanced dementia’, the book is aimed at family members and professional carers of people affected by advanced dementia.

Henry Simmons, Chief Executive of Alzheimer’s Scotland, will speak at the sold-out launch event in St Andrews. He said, “Adaptive Interaction holds great promise. Yet the connected developmental theory that explains its effectiveness is in danger of being misunderstood. This book does a superb job of showing us how we can overcome this and truly honour each person's humanity”.

The research has profound implications for the way individuals with advanced dementia are treated, not just by nursing staff, but their families who may feel their loved one is ‘gone’.

Those utilising the techniques developed by Dr Ellis and Professor Astell talk of seeing their loved ones ‘glow’ and laugh and engage in ways they hadn’t seen for a long time, and the comfort they feel from this connection. Tonight’s event will also feature those with real life experience who will speak about its effectiveness, and what they have learned about dementia through its use.

Dr Zeedyk added, “Cutting edge science is now showing us that many of the symptoms attributed to dementia can be traced back to emotional attachment patterns established in early in life. This link surprises people, but it makes perfect sense when you understand the science of connection.

“Those early experiences shape how the brain functions, and especially how it self-regulates stress. Dementia generates a great sense of stress. If we recognise that, then we can help carers to reduce that stress, rather than be confused by it.”

Adaptive Interaction is based on an approach used by those coping with communicative impairment caused by a stroke, learning disability or severe autism, known as Intensive Interaction. This technique is based on developmental theory that traces how all human beings learn to talk by building on the non-verbal communicative abilities with which they were born.

The research carried out was made possible thanks to the award of a £5000 Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher.

Ref: Tapping into dementia http://bit.ly/1xdyvp9

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