News & Blog

The recent news of Robin William’s autopsy results has shown that he might have had Lewy Body dementia in addition to the diagnosis of Parkison’s disease.  Though not as prevalent as Alzheimer’s, dementia with Lewy Bodies is the third most common form of dementia.   As the news reports have highlighted, confusion and hallucinations are both symptoms of this form

Read more

I am writing to express concern for those living with Alzheimer’s disease as well as those people caring for them.  We need help stopping this epidemic that is threatening to bankrupt our country.  According to the 2014 release of Facts and Figures from the Alzheimer’s Association, there are currently 5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s. In Illinois alone the number of

Read more

Last week I discussed appropriate, meaningful gifts for someone with dementia, so this week I want to focus on the caregivers.  In 2013, it was reported that roughly 15 and a half million people were providing personal care for someone with Alzheimer’s/dementia.  Anyone who knows a personal caregiver also knows how hard they work and how much time they devote

Read more

For most Americans, Thanksgiving is the official kick-off of the holiday season and, as we have seen on the news, millions travel the country to be with their relatives.   For those with older family members, these trips provide an excellent opportunity to make a checklist of their physical and mental health. The holidays are a time of joyous celebration.

Read more

Recently, a presentation was given at a Chicagoland hospital by a highly regarded neuropsychiatrist and educator on the topic of dementia.  His objective was to explain a particular type, vascular dementia, and how it differs from Alzheimer’s or other dementia.  It was informational and engaging.  At the conclusion, a member of the audience raised his hand to make an extensive

Read more

With the Super Bowl over, so is football season.  For anyone who follows the game, they know that over the past several years, rules and regulations have been established to lower the chances of head trauma injuries as well as  increase the immediate detection of concussions.  During media week, leading up to the Super Bowl, the NFL announced that concussions

Read more

Apps, apps and more apps!  It’s impossible to keep up with all of them.  You can pretty much find an app for anything.  The most popular, of course, are the games.  I think it’s safe to say that most people have heard of Angry Birds by now, whether they have actually played it or not.  In a way, this lead

Read more

Many of us remember Marcia, Greg and the rest of the Brady kids happily singing about a sunshine day, but for anyone living in the Midwest, sunshine days are few and far between in the winter months.  The positive affects of sunshine, as well as the negative, have long been understood by scientists as well as doctors and at this

Read more

If you aren’t familiar with texting acronyms, BFF stands for Best Friends Forever.  If you are reading this, you probably remember using or seeing those same letters written in your yearbooks.  Regardless, the meaning is the same….a declaration that you will remain best friends, forever.  For a few, this holds to be true, but for most of us, our childhood

Read more

Seven hundred and sixty five billion dollars!  That is the estimated amount of money that Medicare will spend on Alzheimer’s care in 2050 if an effective treatment isn’t discovered.  This number is staggering, even by today’s standards.  Alzheimer’s is already the 6th leading causes of death in the US (5th leading cause for people 65 and older) and left unchecked,

Read more