New research suggests antidepressants accelerate cognitive decline in dementia. Learn which drugs appear to be less harmful than others. Help your doctor make better treatment decisions.
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK: Caregivers love this pill box, as do patients and professionals. Simply fill it once a month. Roomy, simple, ingenious.
MEMORY & THINKING are activated by acetyl-choline. Alzheimer’s drugs boost acetyl-choline. Other medications, from allergy to insomnia drugs, may be anti-cholinergic, lowering acetyl-choline. This can spell trouble in dementia. Learn which drugs to avoid and what to look out for.
MEDICATION VIDEO + ARTICLE: From allergies to moods, most of us get relief from drugs known as “anticholinergics”. Some raise dementia risk, some don’t. Do we always need them? A study of 300,000 people offers answers to help you and your doctor better weigh the risks and benefits.
In a new Alzheimer’s study, Rexulti (brexpiprazole) significantly reduced agitation. Learn the kinds of agitation it reduced and by how much.
DIAGNOSIS+CARE: Misperceptions in dementia often get misdiagnosed as hallucinations. The result? Harsh, mistaken antipsychotic treatments. Dr. G. Allen Power has fought over-medication for a decade. See practical techniques for rising above this dangerous practice.
“People with dementia living in nursing homes and in the community were prescribed less and we did not detect negative health impacts for these groups.”
BEHAVIOR DRUGS & THE DICE MODEL: Doctors write millions of prescriptions each year to calm people with Alzheimer’s. Learn how non-drug dementia-caregiving works better, while carrying far fewer risks.
MEDICATION VIDEO: Aricept® (generic DONEPEZIL) is the world’s most popular drug for Early-stage Alzheimer’s. Does it help in Advanced-stage Alzheimer’s?
CLINICAL INERTIA is when it’s much easier to start someone on a medication, and keep them on, than to take them off. Find out why most advanced dementia patients receive too many expensive, questionable medications.
U.S. dementia rates dropped 65% in 40 years. Even so, this predicts a 25% rise in total cases by 2050, due to population aging. See the real numbers. Learn why predictions of dementia doubling by 2050 are sensationalized fake news.
Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. (George Washington)
DIET: Years of good research suggests caffeine lowers dementia risk. New research uncovers a subtle twist – AFTER dementia kicks in, caffeine may exert negative effects. Get the facts.
Three important dementia studies focus on HS-AGING, a type of dementia almost as common as Alzheimer’s in the 85+ group. Yet few people have heard of it. Why? What makes it different?
An intriguing study of 120 grandmothers might surprise you. Doctors know socially engaged people have better cognition and less dementia. But can a person get too much of a good thing? What’s the right balance?
Enjoy this great duet between a musician with dementia and his son. A triumph of spirit over Alzheimer’s! Sing-a-long if you like!
It looks like a sneeze cannot give anyone Alzheimer’s. While Alzheimer’s abnormal disease proteins do spread from cell-to-cell, they are not “infectious”. Check out the facts.
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