Alzheimers Foundation

Alzheimers and dementia are not the same thing, but they are very closely related. Most distinction can be observed in the early stages. For instance, in the early stages of Lewy Body Dementia, signs of Alzheimers forgetfulness are not as prevalent as a suddenly diminished attention span, recurrent hallucinations and alarming bouts of lucidity followed by confusion. However, as the dementia progresses, it’s almost indistinguishable from Alzheimers Dementia.

Alzheimers Dementia is characterized by increasing and persistent forgetfulness. Alzheimers patients routinely forget names of loved ones, appointments, words to express themselves, or even entire events. Balancing the checkbook or cooking a meal suddenly becomes overwhelming. Emotional mood swings are common, as the Alzheimers patient struggles to deal with confusing emotions and frustration. Unfortunately, the causes of Alzheimers are not widely understood, although visible brain effects include tau protein tangles and beta-amyloid protein plaques. Inflammation and brain cell death are also triggered in the Alzheimers brain. The average person lives with Alzheimers Dementia for eight years before dying, so it’s important than caregivers and patients seek counsel on coping skills.

Lewy Body Dementia is characterized by the loss of ability to reason, think and remember. Like Alzheimers Dementia, it causes Alzheimers symptoms like confusion, memory loss, decreased awareness, delusions and depression; and like Parkinson’s, it causes physical disturbances like tremors and rigidity. Some people with Lewy Body Dementia even suffer hallucinations. The causes aren’t known but researchers feel it’s somehow linked to Alzheimers and Parkinson’s and they’ve noticed a common protein in patients that may be the key to preventative measures.

In some cases, dementia appears as a symptom of another serious disease. For instance, Huntington’s disease patients often suffer the personality changes and motor impairments most commonly associated with progressive Alzheimers Dementia. Similarly, Parkinson’s disease can cause shaking, speech impairment and cognitive confusion similar to Alzheimers patients. AIDS and the rare Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may all result in dementia.

Although there are thousands who suffer with alzheimers disease, there are available treatments for alzheimers. There is still not a lot of information known about this disease and why it strikes so many people. Scientific research has managed to learn how the brain is attacked once this disease takes hold on a person. The patient will not be able to do simple tasks that they found so easy to do before they developed alzheimers. Making a cup of tea will be so difficult for them, they will no longer be able to cook for themselves, all these things will put them at risk of injury.

Although we keep hanging on for future treatments for alzheimers to be discovered. As yet there still has not been a cure discovered for disease, Yes there is medication what can slow the progress of the disease down, but after all this suffering and watching your loved turn into a empty shell, the sad part is they are probably going to die from this disease.

Everyday scientists are working and new research is been carried out, and yes they might not find a cure in the next ten years, but hopefully they will come up with future treatments for alzheimers disease. It may not be a complete cure but if a persons life can be inmproved, it can only be a good thing.
You might not like this idea but, there is a option for some people who have alzheimers to be used as test patients, now I know this may frighten some people, but if by doing this, the doctors can monitor the affects and changes the patient goes through, this could help future treatment for alzheimers.

Further research into alzheimers disease, or any other disease is often an expensive undertaking. There are organisations that accept funding for research that you could give to if you want. You could take a look in your local yellow pages or there are plenty of places where you can find information online. Without further reasearch, we will have to wait a long time to find a cure for this awful disease.

I think until you are dealing with someone close to you that has been diagnosed with alzheimers you don’t really know how horrific and heartbreaking this disease can be. watching someone you care for going through such an ordeal, and knowing that this person will probably die from the disease, is not an easy thing to cope with. Although funding for future alzheimers have been increased, there still needs to be a lot of work done before a cure can be found for this awful disease.

memory loss

The scary thing about memory loss is that it can happen to anyone, regardless of his or her age. For example you might be at the prime of your life physically, but mentally your memory is like a sieve. Does the thought of losing all your precious memories scare the crap out of you? Then read this article for the top 4 common causes of memory loss and how you can prevent yourself from doing the same mistakes and save yourself from the horror of losing your memory.

1. Diet
Some people scoff at the importance of a healthy diet and base their diet on chips, chips and more chips! An unhealthy and unbalanced diet will just make your mind and body suffer. A good diet will allow good circulation in the body hence, allowing the memory to register past and present information quickly. At the same time, do remember to include a good dosage of exercises to complement the dieting. Exercising will help get the blood flowing throughout your body, but more importantly to your brain and at the same time rejuvenating the body. Also, do note of some of the healthy foods like blueberries, spinach and broccoli, that can help to save you and your memory.

2. Lack of activity

When you are not particularly an active person, then chances are you are going to be mentally weak too. A weak mind will make it harder to process information fast. As the matter of fact, if you keep on with this unhealthy habit, then chances are you are going to suffer from memory loss at a very young age. Keeping the mind active is really simple; practice some mind exercises that involves some kind of brainstorming and thinking along the way. You can also make your memory work by trying out new things for example, learning a new instrument or learning a new language.

3. Lack of thinking

Thinking is not a very hard process. Everyone can think, but perhaps what puts most people off from it is the fact that they lack the ability to do it effectively. Just like when you carry weights consistently, you will find that your body gets toned up over time. The similar analogy applies to the brain. When the brain is flexed and put to work, it gets fit and healthy. This is why a lot of schools encourage amongst their students brainstorming sessions so as to make their brain work and hence strengthening the power of the memory.

4. Old age

Memory loss is a phenomenon associated with old age. The true scientific explanation regarding old age memory loss is not known but some have speculated that the brain cells decrease over time and thus adversely affects the mind’s ability to retain memory as we age. Others said that our brain cells are not communicating very well and hence memory and other information cannot be stored effectively. Be it short term memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease, suffering from memory loss can be heartbreaking news for some.

It is time for you to use this as a guide and don’t let the memory loss stop you; instead it is YOU who should stop the memory loss.

natural medicinal herbs

Ever heard that green tea improves your memory? Scientists have managed to prove that certain types of foods are indeed fundamental in improving our memory. Besides natural medicinal herbs such as ginseng or gingko biloba, fruits and vegetables too have memory improving purposes.

A main component in fruits and vegetables is sugar which is broken down in our body into glucose. Glucose is the main food for our brain as it is required by our brain to be able to function properly. So by increasing our consumption of fruits and vegetables, we indirectly increase our amount of glucose in our body, this means an improvement in our brain’s performance. Yet, like everything else requires moderation, we need not consume excessive amounts of fruits and vegetables too. Excessive glucose levels are known to be damaging to the mind causing memory impairment. Nonetheless, some of the fruits and vegetables you can consider to boost your memory are blueberries, watermelons, red cabbage and sweet potato.

Blueberries not only contain a high amount of sugar content as fruits, but they also contain antioxidants which slows the aging process of our brain. Oxidation causes aging and a healthy intake of antioxidants can ‘delay’ the aging process and fight the free radicals. These radicals are very much associated with some fatalistic diseases and some of them have direct relation with memory loss problems as well, like stroke.

Another food that is great for improving memory is sardines, which are rich in omega-3 fats. As some of the important parts in our brain are made up of fats, fish oil is also good to help improve our memory and our mental health. Fish oil can help prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and has long been connected with better memory and much clearer thinking. Not only is fish oil good for the brain, it can also improve the health of your heart as well.

Another memory boosting food is soy! Tofu when eaten on a regular basis can help improve our memory and our brain functions. Given the variety of soy products we have on the market, it is almost impossible to find that you dislike them all. You can drink soy milk, eat soy beans, and season your food with soy sauce, practically anything soy-based can help you improve your memory!

You need not resort to medication to cure or prevent memory loss; you just have to know the right combinations of food, lifestyle and you can enjoy having a life with improved memory!

Most people will not take kindly to the word funeral and will often cringe or even cry at the very thought of it. It is a topic that few will want to chat about. Any topic would be better then those that are related to death and dying. No doubt everyone misses the the person that passed; but for all the tears being shed, the main thoughts would be about those who are still alive.

Funerals A Taboo Subject

It is easy to see that a funeral is a topic that is generally not talked about too much, possibly because most people fear death and they would rather think about better and happier things. There are after all many beliefs attached with this term. Nevertheless, it is important to spend some time and think about what a funeral would be like; even if it is something that you hope will happen sometime in the distant future.

A number of considerations as far as planning for a funeral goes is to have a garment prepared to clothe the dearly departed-deceased one. It should be something nice though not necessarily formal. Next, you would need to have a camera to take a last picture or two of the dearly departed-deceased one and also of the funeral. Perhaps, you should also give some thought to having some music that can be played at the funeral.

Also, you may want to have a poem or two read out loud on that very sad day. Choosing the appropriate poem is sure to be a challenge – and an intriguing one at that. There are however, a couple of factors that can help you arrive at the proper decision – how you felt about the deceased as well as what the deceased desired. A funeral poem can help make things easier – provided the right words are spoken.

Another meaningful aspect to the funeral is the funeral flower arrangements. It is after all never an easy task consoling a grieving person or family. There is no doubt that this is a very emotionally testing time and there are many time constraints that need to be addressed when making your funeral plans.

Everyone does their best to stay healthy and alive; however, destiny is not something that man can control and a life can be taken away at any time. It is therefore not a bad thought to plan for your funeral while you are still living happily and joyfully.

To cover the costs of your funeral you may want to take out an insurance policy that will cover you for this event so as not to be a burden on your loved ones.