Alzheimer's Blogging:

I keep reading literature about Alzheimer's even though my father in law has passed away, I am a baby boomer and who knows if this disease can creep up on me or my husband. Alzheimer's Weekly has some good articles in it this week. One is called 'Close Relationship with Caregiver Slows Alzheimer's. This research monitored 167 patients with Alzheimer's for three years. It was found the higher level of closeness with to one caregiver showed a slower decline in both cognitive & functional domains, especially ones with spouse caregivers.

Another article called 'Caregiving Can Prolong Your Live'. Elderly people who spent at least 14 hrs a week taking care of a disabled spouse live longer than others. Taking care of their spouse meant eating, dressing, bathing, preparing meals for a starter. The study showed beneficial health effects of caregiving, helping and altruism. Stephanie Brown is the researcher and she states she doesn't know exactly how caregiving motivation might influence health , but maybe by helping another person, especially someone you love, releases some of the harmful stress effects of seeing that person suffer.

One more article called 'Nursing Homes Accelerate Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer's Patients'.
This article states that moving your loved one to a nursing home speeds up the decline of the disease. It suggests that the transition from a community to a nursing home is particularly difficult for people with Alzheimer's.

Pleases read Alzheimer's Weekly for these and other great topics. http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/

Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint of James A Rock Pub., Co.
http://www.mariefostino.com/
http://www.mariefostino.blogspot.com/