Dementia Care, Are You a Good Cop or a Bad Cop?
If you are a bad Dementia cop, you are probably upset all the time by the behavior of your Alzheimer's patient. If you are a good Dementia cop, you probably learned that your Alzheimer's patient is not guilty of a crime.
By Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
It is pretty easy to blame Alzheimer's patients for everything they do. It is not unusual for caregivers to tell me that their loved one is mean or a real challenge to manage. Most often when I ask, have you given any serious thought to why they are mean or hard to deal with they answer no.
The bad cop might conclude that Alzheimer's patients are...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - May 15, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Nurse practitioners should be released from their arbitrary bondage
As of early April, you can walk into Walgreens in 18 states (plus D.C.), and along with a gallon of skim milk, a pair of photo mugs, a six-pack of toilet paper, and a flu shot, you can meet your new primary care provider, get your cholesterol checked, pick up your statin, and schedule a return visit. That primary care provider will not be a physician but a nurse practitioner (or a physician assistant, but that’s for another article). Those states, and now Walgreens, have recognized that nurse practitioners can handle a lot more than antibiotics for urinary tract infections: They can practice primary care just fine withou...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - May 8, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Tags: Physician Primary care Source Type: blogs
Urinary Incontinence -- How We Beat Alzheimer's Disease Incontinence -- The Solution
Dealing with urinary incontinence is difficult, more so when the person suffers from Alzheimer's disease.
By Bob DeMarco
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
My mother suffered from urinary incontinence long before I moved to Delray Beach to take care of her.
My sister Joanne was the first to notice the problem.
Urinary Incontinence (UI) is a stigmatized, underreported, under-diagnosed, under-treated condition that is erroneously thought to be a normal part of aging. One-third of men and women ages 30-70 believe that incontinence is a part of aging (National Institute of Health, NIH).
You could put everything I knew abou...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - May 5, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
The Seven Stages of Alzheimer's
describes the progression and pattern of symptoms that typically occur in individuals living with Alzheimer’s dementia.
+Alzheimer's Reading Room
What is Alzheimer's Disease
It is important to note that not everyone living with Alzheimer's or a related dementia will experience the same symptoms or progress at the same rate over time. As a result, the Seven Stages of Alzheimer's should be look at as guidelines to expectations.
People with Alzheimer’s typically live an average of 8 years after diagnosis, but may survive anywhere from 3 to 20 years.
The framework for this section is a system that outlines key symp...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - April 19, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
The Montessori Method for Alzheimer’s Care
Dr. Montessori believed devoutly (as do we) that every person deserves to be treated with respect and compassion. She encourages us to celebrate each person’s individual gifts.
By Tom and Karen Brenner
Alzheimer's Reading Room
He first stacked the pink tower cubes from the largest to the smallest, very slowly and carefully placing the smallest cube right in the center on top. He leaned back and smiled at this accomplishment. Then the pink tower was carefully dismantled and, to our amazement, reassembled upside down!
This time the smallest cube became the supporting base as the painstaking task of building the tower u...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - April 7, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
First-in-Class Drug for Type 2
By Diane Fennell
On March 29, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the diabetes drug Invokana (generic name canagliflozin) for use, in conjunction with a healthful diet and physical activity, in adults with Type 2 diabetes. It is the first drug in a new class of medicines known as sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.
In the process of filtering the blood, the kidneys typically reabsorb all the filtered glucose and return it to the bloodstream. One of the main proteins responsible for this reabsorption is SGLT2. By inhibiting the action of SGLT2, Invokana blocks the reabsorption of glucose by ...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - April 5, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Diane Fennell Source Type: blogs
Healthcare's Dumping Ground?
I couldn't really blame the social worker. He was just doing his job. The SNF unit connected to the hospital was full of flailing patients. So he thought he would ask for a palliative care consult (after getting an okay from the primary team). It was his third request of the day. He spoke slowly as he tried to untangle the twisted path the patient had taken.
Dr. X was managing poor old failure to thrive before he came to the hospital. But then Dr. Y, the hospitalist, admitted him and treated the urinary tract infection. Dr. Z was covering Dr. W on the cardiology side. A...
Source: In My Humble Opinion - April 2, 2013 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Jordan Grumet Source Type: blogs
FDA Approves a Highly Questionable New Diabetes Drug, Invokana
The FDA just gave its approval to the first drug in a new class of diabetes drugs, Johnson & Johnson's canagliflozin, which will be marketed in the U.S. as Invokana.New York Times: FDA Approves a New Diabetes Drug From J.&J. (May require subscription)Reuters: U.S. FDA approves Johnson & Johnson diabetes drug, canagliflozinThis class of drugs, the sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors, lowers blood sugar by blocking reabsorption of glucose by the kidney and increasing its excretion in urine. The manufacturer also claims that it causes weight loss--always a potent selling point for a diabetes drug.As...
Source: Diabetes Update - March 31, 2013 Category: Diabetes Authors: Jenny Source Type: blogs
Secondary (and Tertiary) Effects of Multiple Sclerosis
Living with multiple sclerosis doesn’t just mean living with MS, living with its symptoms and with the side-effects of disease modifying drugs; living with MS also means coping with the things that happen to our bodies because of MS.
I mentioned my musculoskeletal complaints in our last “How’s your MS Today?” blog. These have been caused by poor gait caused by the way MS has weakened my left leg. It might also be partly caused by the right hip replacement (due to steroid treatment for MS), but MS defiantly has a hand in it. I throw my leg out, use my hip to lift the leg and I’m sure the days I try to get away wi...
Source: Life with MS - March 25, 2013 Category: Other Conditions Authors: admin Tags: MS symptoms secondary multiple sclerosis symptoms Source Type: blogs
FDA Urged to Take "Small Steps" in Developing Final Guidelines for Mobile Medical Apps. Good Advice for Social Media Guidelines As Well
In July 2011, the FDA proposed regulating mobile medical apps as medical devices (see "FDA Issues Long-Awaited Guidance - for Mobile Medical Apps").FDA has reserved the term "Mobile Medical App" (MMA) to mean a medical app that meets its medical "device" definition. Which mobile health apps will qualify as true MMAs requiring FDA approval?That is a question left open by the FDA's draft guidance. At least that's the view of most of the experts who testified yesterday before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. The session was titled "Health Information Technologies: Harnessing Wireles...
Source: Pharma Marketing Blog - March 21, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Tags: Guidance MMA mobile medical app FDA social media Legal/Regulatory Source Type: blogs
How Big a Loophole is “Wellness”?
The medical app and regulatory pot is being stirred as products continue to appear, including those with questionable FDA credentials, or lack of credentials.
As discussed in our earlier posts on apps regulation (here and here), an app is a medical device if its meets the congressionally mandated and FDA enforced definition of a medical device as something whose intended use “is for the diagnosis of disease or other conditions, or the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or is intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man”. As stated in the FDA’s Draft Guidanc...
Source: Medical Connectivity Consulting - March 18, 2013 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: William Hyman Tags: Business Planning Standards & Regulatory Source Type: blogs
Urinary Tract Infections Can Hasten Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Patients
Researchers have found a link between common infections, such as a cold, stomach bug or urine infection and an increase in inflammation like reactions in the brain which lead to an increased rate of cognitive decline. Study results show that people who got an infection had twice the rate of memory loss as people without infections. By Bob DeMarco Alzheimer's Reading Room Bob DeMarco My name is Bob DeMarco, I am an Alzheimer's caregiver. My mother Dorothy lived with Alzheimer's disease.This week my mother had her second urinary tract infection of the year. Urinary Tract infections are a ...
Source: CareGiver, The - February 28, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Urinary Tract Infections Can Hasten Memory Loss in Alzheimer's Patients
Researchers have found a link between common infections, such as a cold, stomach bug or urine infection and an increase in inflammation like reactions in the brain which lead to an increased rate of cognitive decline. Study results show that people who got an infection had twice the rate of memory loss as people without infections. By Bob DeMarco Alzheimer's Reading Room
Bob DeMarco
My name is Bob DeMarco, I am...
This is a content summary. Full text and more on I am an Alzheimer's Caregiver. (Source: I am an Alzheimer's Caregiver)
Source: I am an Alzheimer's Caregiver - February 28, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Side Effects of Medications Can Mimic Alzheimer's
Linda learned that her mother's doctor was prescribing "Xanax for anti-anxiety – a drug known to cause confusion, memory loss and balance problems among the elderly".
By Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
I just finished reading an excellent article written by Linda Rhodes - Side Effects of Medications Can Mimic Alzheimer's Disease.
In the article Linda describes an urgent call from her mother's health care nurse. The nurse told Linda, "your mom is acting very confused, is having short-term memory problems and had been losing her balance more than usual". This required Linda to hop on a plane a...
Source: Alzheimer's Reading Room, The - February 20, 2013 Category: Dementia Authors: Bob DeMarco Source Type: blogs
Leaks
This study is a retrospective review of over 70,000 low anterior resections, nationwide, from the years 2006-2009.
Results The AL rate was 13.68%. The AL group had higher mortality vs the non-AL group (1.78% vs 0.74%). Hospital length of stay and cost were significantly higher in the AL group. Laparoscopic and open resections with a diverting stoma had a higher incidence of AL than those without a stoma (15.97% vs 13.25%). Multivariate analysis revealed that weight loss and malnutrition, fluid and electrolyte disorders, male sex, and stoma placement were associated with a higher risk of AL. The us...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - February 20, 2013 Category: Surgeons Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD Source Type: blogs
