Patricia E. Kefalas Dudek
Advocate for Elders, People
with Disabilities
and Their Families

Alzheimer's/Dementia:

Articles & Publications - Organizations, Services & Websites

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(Related to my
practice areas)




Articles and Publications

A Parent's Wish
A touching and poignant slideshow of a parents' wish during their old age. Recommended viewing for children whose parents suffer from old age diseases (Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Dementia, etc.).

Alzheimer News 3/24/2009
Total healthcare costs are more than three times higher for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias than for other people age 65 and older, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Alzheimer's: Understand and Control Wandering (Mayo Clinic)
Alzheimer's causes disorientation, which can lead to wandering. Here's how to curb or prevent wandering, as well as ensure a safe return if your loved one is lost.

Alzheimer's Behind the Wheel: A Medical Test to Determine if People with the Disease Should be Driving (Scientific American - 2/9/09)
Giving Alzheimer's patients a battery of cognitive tests may help predict whether it's safe for them (and us) to get behind the wheel, according to a new study.

Alzheimer's, Dementia & Driving (Hartford)
This is a booklet on Alzheimer's disease and dementia, and how such degenerative diseases affect older person's ability to drive. Also includes a "contract" for the elderly person to complete with his/her family on driving.

Antipsychotic Drugs Double Risk Of Death Among Alzheimer's Patients (Science Daily - 1/11/09)
New research into the effects of antipsychotic drugs commonly prescribed to Alzheimer’s patients concludes that the medication nearly doubles risk of death over three years.

Are Memory Loss and Dementia the Same Thing? (Michigan Dementia Coalition)
This article, other related topics and FAQs.

Be Proactive: Plan for Long-Term Care (L.A. Watts Times - 8/6/09)
It’s not a certainty but odds are high that Alzheimer’s disease could affect you or a loved one at some point in the future. And should that happen, a recent study shows that the cost of long-term care associated with that disease could be staggering.

Brain Study Indicates Why Some Memories Persist (NPR - 1/29/09)
A new study appears to explain why people with Alzheimer's disease often remember events from the distant past — but not things that happened recently.

Brooke Astor's Lasting Legacy (NY Times - 10/7/09)
Remember the Astor trial? The ongoing case raised questions about whether noted philanthropist Brooke Astor, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, understood what she was doing when she changed her will in 2004, diverting millions that had long been promised to charities to her son, Anthony Marshall.

Counseling and Support Benefits Alzheimer's Caregivers Worldwide (Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation - 11/19/08)
A first-of-its-kind international trial of caregivers has shown that counseling and support services can benefit those who are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease when that person is also taking a medication for the disease.

Dementia Increasing Among the 'Oldest Old' (Caring.com - 7/13/09)
Scientists tend to think that dementia and Alzheimer's disease taper off in the oldest, but a new study finds that people over 90 have the highest rates.

Finding Alzheimer's Before a Mind Fails (New York Times - Dec. 26, 2007)
An ambitious new scientific effort to find ways to detect Alzheimer’s disease at the earliest possible moment.

Guidelines Proposed for Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease (Lamson & Cutner - 7/26/10)
For the first time in 25 years experts in Alzheimer’s disease have proposed new guidelines regarding the criteria used for diagnosing the disease. The new guidelines would allow special tests that use brain scans, biomarkers and other new technologies to clinically diagnose the disease even before any symptoms appear. These tests would replace the way Alzheimer’s is currently diagnosed, which is based solely on the detection of symptoms.

How People With Dementia Behave When They Get Lost (About.com)
People with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, can wander away from their home and the prevalence of such wandering incidents is expected to grow as aging populations increase.

Is Dad at the Shelter? (Rick Law's Elder Law Blog)
Recently I was sitting down with some very good friends when a cell phone rang. A look of worry shot across my friend’s brow as he looked at me and apologized, “I’ve got to take this call… my Dad’s missing! He’s gone wandering…”

Keeping Those With Alzheimer's Engaged (New York Times - 3/12/09)
The Museum of Modern Art has started the MoMA Alzheimer’s Project, an initiative to help other museums and professional caregivers develop their own programs for people living with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Medical Treatment of Dementia Patients at the End of Life: Can the Law Accommodate the Personal Identity and Welfare Problems?
Legal approaches to decision-making in the area of the medical care of incompetent persons are generally based on respect for the patient’s autonomy, or protection of her welfare, or some combination of the two. Advance decision-making and the substituted judgment test are the two examples of autonomy-based legal approaches to incompetent individuals. If the incompetent individual was previously competent, her earlier autonomous decisions regarding medical treatment can be projected into the future once she becomes incompetent.

Meet Max Wallack, Age 13. Max is a Caregiver to a Wide World of Alzheimer's and Dementia Victims. You Can Help Him.
PuzzlesToRemember is a section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that collects puzzles and distributes them to facilities that care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. Max founded this organization after the death of his great-grandmother, who suffered from dementia.

Needs of Alzheimer Population Addressed in Healthcare Reform Legislation (Alzheimer's Assn.)
While the Association did not endorse any specific healthcare reform legislation, the Association did work to ensure that all bills under consideration contained the strongest provisions possible to address the particular challenges and concerns of the more than 5 million Americans with Alzheimer’s. Several provisions in the final measure would deliver substantial benefits to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and to their caregivers.

Nutrient Cocktail Helps Improve Brain Function in Those With Early-stage Alzheimer's
During clinical trials, a three-nutrient cocktail of B vitamins, phosopholipids and antioxidants was found to promote the growth of certain brain synapse connections that typically erode during the early stages of Alzheimer's, according to the MIT report.

O'Connor, Gingrich, Satcher Discuss Alzheimer's (NPR - 3/25/09)
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and former Surgeon General David Satcher discuss efforts to combat Alzheimer's disease. They're on a task force studying the disease, which may overwhelm the U.S. health care system as baby boomers age.

O'Connor's Husband, Afflicted with Alzheimer's, Has New Love (ABA Journal - Nov. 13, 2007)
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor visits her husband at a Phoenix Alzheimer’s facility even though he no longer remembers her and has fallen in love with another woman.

Practice Guideline for Treatment of Alzheimer's and Other Dementias (APA)
Developed by psychiatrists who are in active clinical practice.

Rapid Cognitive Improvement in Alzheimer's Disease (Journal of Neuroinflammation - Jan. 9, 2008)
This report details rapid cognitive improvement, beginning within minutes, using this same anti-TNF treatment modality, in a patient with late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

The Changes of Aging (Discover Magazine - 2/12/10)
If you ask people over 60 what they dread most, dementia is almost always in the top three on their list of health concerns. After all, it is memory that makes us who we are; without it we are forever trapped in the moment, with no window on the past or the future.

The Expensive Cost of Caring for Alzheimer's Patients (Newsday - 10/8/09)
The costs of long-term care for Alzheimer's patients can easily deplete even the deepest bank account. Because the disease lasts so long - anywhere from two to 20 years, depending on the stage at diagnosis - and because the type of care needed often falls beyond the scope of government health care programs, families find themselves scrambling to find the money needed to maintain care for their loved one.

The Nun Study
Like some 4 million Americans, Sister Ada (not her real name) is suffering from Alzheimer's disease; as the years go by, she'll gradually lose her memory, her personality and finally all cognitive function. Also see more info from the University of Minnesota.

When the Mind Falters, is Sex a Choice? (Washington Post - 9/09)
Some organic brain changes of old age are characterized by increasingly sexualized behavior. The disability rights community has grappled with issues of consent and intimacy. But issues relating to sex in old age, whether consensual intimacy, or sexual assault, or the nettlesome netherworld in between, receive scant attention.

Will Alzheimer's Be Tomorrow's Top Long Term Care Insurance Claim? (Emax Health)
Every 72 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer's and an estimated 5.1 million Americans suffer from the disease.

Zen and the Art of Coping with Alzheimer's (New York Times - April 4, 2008)
The number of alzheimer's patients is expected to increase dramatically in coming years, straining the health care system.

Organizations, Services and Websites

Alzheimer's Association
The leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer care, support and research.

Alzheimer Resource Center
A non profit organization located in Orlando dedicated to providing education and support services for those families (and professionals) who care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Ethnic Elders Care
A site designed specifically for people who are or will be caregivers to ethnic elders with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.

Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation
The world's largest research team leading the battle against Alzheimer's.

Leeza's Place
A program of the Leeza Gibbon's Memory Foundation. An intimate and safe setting where caregivers and those diagnosed with any memory disorder can gather to prepare themselves for the challenging journey ahead.

MedicAlert + Alzheimer's Association Safe Return (Alz.org)
A 24-hour nationwide emergency response service for individuals with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia who wander or have a medical emergency. We provide 24-hour, nationwide assistance, no matter when or where the person is reported missing.

This Caring Home
Provides tips and tools to enhance home safety for persons with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia.

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