From the second the door swings open and your senior parent wraps you in a warm hug, through the merry holiday dinner and each timeless family tradition, possibilities abound for not just quality time together, but also to evaluate how your senior loved one is really doing and if any warning flags are observed. In…
The old saying is true: elephants truly do have incredible memories, even in their old age. To illustrate, they can remember and return to very particular locations many years after visiting them, irrespective of age. Just what exactly can we discover from elephants that might lead to increasing our own brain functioning as we age?…
With an impassioned level of debate rivaling the Hatfields and McCoys, it appears insurmountable to come to a resolution around the issue of gun control. Yet in spite of which side of the fence you are on, there’s one little-discussed scenario that will cause all of us to take pause: the frightening mixture of dementia…
Today, Thomas Edison’s words ring true regarding the race to obtain both the main cause and a cure for Alzheimer’s disease: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Each day seems to bring hopeful news of another clinical trial, followed shortly after by the aggravating news that results failed to…
As the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That can easily be applied to the recent increase of corporations offering alternative supplements, dietary programs, and herbal concoctions in order to treat, or at the very least lessen, the ramifications of Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association aims to alert…
Undergoing surgery for older adults always involves some inherent risks, but there’s a little-known effect impacting a substantial number of seniors after surgery that we all should be informed about: POCD (postoperative cognitive dysfunction). POCD occurs in more than 25% of seniors in the days and sometimes even weeks after non-cardiac surgery, and can present…
At an early age, we learn the tale of George Washington’s misadventure with the cherry tree and his bold admittance to his parents, “I cannot tell a lie; I chopped down the cherry tree!” Truthfulness is embedded within our character, and in many cases telling a tiny white lie can wrack us with guilt. But…
For those who follow the latest research in Alzheimer’s disease, we are all too familiar with amyloid plaques, the troublesome buildup thought to be linked to Alzheimer’s. But is it possible that the buildup is, in fact, helpful? Neuroscientists Rudolph Tanzi and Robert Moir, from Harvard’s influential teaching hospital, Massachusetts General, are making breakthroughs with…