Does anyone have any great gift ideas for someone with vascular dementia (similar to Alzheimer’s)?
My mother has vascular dementia – the symptoms are similar to those of Alzheimer’s, except that the rate of progression of symptoms is different. My mother can no longer speak, and she is in a wheelchair. She does not/can not read anymore. She remembers things and ideas, but often gets them confused. For instance: she remembers how to play checkers, but often moves pieces of the wrong color during the game, or starts going the wrong direction. I read somewhere that items like a bag of buttons to sort are good ideas. However, she often flushes small items like that down the toilet. For many months she enjoyed coloring, but no longer takes an interest in it…I think she has too much difficulty with the fine motor skills.
I would appreciate any gift ideas anyone might have.
One of our writers at the Gilbert Guide, Ami Icanberry, just wrote a blog piece about gift ideas for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s. Here are some gifts from her her Top 5 lists that may be good for your mother. It sounds like your mother is in the mid- to later stages so I have only included those items. In the lists below many items are available at The Alzheimer’s Store, a company owned by Ageless Design, which provides “unique products and information for those caring for someone with Alzheimer’s disease.”
Picks for Middle-Stage:
1. Conversation and Song (which are video tapes available from The Alzheimer’s Store)
2. Activity Apron (which is good for tactile stimulation–and is big enough not to get flushed)
3. Photograph albums (pleasant to flip through and can help with reminiscing)
Late-Stage Picks:
1. “Someone To Care For” Baby Doll from the Alzheimer’s Store
2. Garden Delights DVD from the Alzheimer’s Store
3. Photograph albums
4. Visits with animals (well-trained animal visitors can be quite soothing)
5. Hand and arm massage from a masseuse.
Hope a few of these ideas catch your eye, and are able to offer some level of peace, comfort and fun for your mom and you during this holiday season.
Gilbert Guide
Alzheimer’s Protest
|
|
The Nurse Explains: How to Choose a Care Home, A Nursing Home Or A Residential Home For An Elderly Person (2012 Edition) $0.99 This bestselling book reached the top spots for books on “Aging Parents” and “Nursing Home Care” on the bestselling books list on Amazon in 2011Finding the best care home to live in can be one of the biggest decisions of your life. It can also be an extremely difficult one. Often people do not know where to start or what questions they need to ask. Just how do you tell a good care home from a bad … |
|
|
Ginkgo extract or cholinesterase inhibitors in patients with dementia: what clinical trials and guidelines fail to consider. (Review).: An article … Journal of Phytotherapy & Phytopharmacology $5.95 This digital document is an article from Phytomedicine: International Journal of Phytotherapy & Phytopharmacology, published by Urban & Fischer Verlag on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 3950 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can … |
|
|
25-hydroxyvitamin D, cognitive function, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and depression in elders receiving home health services. $49.99 This thesis research explores the relationship between vitamin D, neurocognitive function, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and depression in older adults. In a cohort of elders receiving home health services in Boston, MA we found that low vitamin D status was associated with cognitive dysfunction, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, and depression. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone well known for its role in calcium homeostasis and bone mineralization. Vitamin D can be obtained from the diet or synthesized in the skin following sun exposure. The hormone is biologically inert until it is enzymatically converted to the active form. Recently, catalytic mechanisms necessary to convert vitamin D to the active form and receptors specific for the active form of vitamin D have been identified in the brain. In vitro and animal data suggest that vitamin D may impart neuroprotective benefits through antioxidative mechanisms, neuronal calcium regulation, immunomodulation, enhanced nerve conduction and detoxification mechanisms. In addition to these functional attributes, vitamin D may preserve cognitive function through protection against cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular disease. Despite these potential benefits, there has been little research of vitamin D, cognitive function, and cerebrovascular disease. In the largest population based cohort to evaluate vitamin D and cognition in elders to date, vitamin D was significantly associated with cognitive function, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and clinical and radiographic indicators of vascular brain disease. Our findings suggest that vitamin D is inversely associated with the presence of large vessel infarcts and white matter disease. Additionally, we found that vitamin D was associated with depressive symptomatology and that the association was more pronounced in subjects with underlying cognitive impairment. Although these findings are cross-sectional and, therefore, cannot prove cause and effect, they |
|
|
25-hydroxyvitamin D, cognitive function, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and depression in elders receiving home health services. $49.99 This thesis research explores the relationship between vitamin D, neurocognitive function, dementia, cerebrovascular disease, and depression in older adults. In a cohort of elders receiving home health services in Boston, MA we found that low vitamin D status was associated with cognitive dysfunction, Alzheimer’s disease, cerebrovascular disease, and depression. Vitamin D is a steroid hormone well known for its role in calcium homeostasis and bone mineralization. Vitamin D can be obtained from the diet or synthesized in the skin following sun exposure. The hormone is biologically inert until it is enzymatically converted to the active form. Recently, catalytic mechanisms necessary to convert vitamin D to the active form and receptors specific for the active form of vitamin D have been identified in the brain. In vitro and animal data suggest that vitamin D may impart neuroprotective benefits through antioxidative mechanisms, neuronal calcium regulation, immunomodulation, enhanced nerve conduction and detoxification mechanisms. In addition to these functional attributes, vitamin D may preserve cognitive function through protection against cardiovascular diseases and cerebrovascular disease. Despite these potential benefits, there has been little research of vitamin D, cognitive function, and cerebrovascular disease. In the largest population based cohort to evaluate vitamin D and cognition in elders to date, vitamin D was significantly associated with cognitive function, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, and clinical and radiographic indicators of vascular brain disease. Our findings suggest that vitamin D is inversely associated with the presence of large vessel infarcts and white matter disease. Additionally, we found that vitamin D was associated with depressive symptomatology and that the association was more pronounced in subjects with underlying cognitive impairment. Although these findings are cross-sectional and, therefore, cannot prove cause and effect, they |
|
|
Multi-infarct dementia $48.99 High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Multi-infarct dementia, also known as vascular dementia, is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer disease (AD) in older adults. The term refers to a group of syndromes caused by different mechanisms all resulting in vascular lesions in the brain. Early detection and accurate diagnosis are important, as vascular dementia is at least partially preventable. The main subtypes of this disease described at the moment are: mild cognitive impairment, multi-infarct dementia, vascular dementia due to a strategic single infarct (affecting the thalamus, the anterior cerebral artery, the parietal lobes or the cingulate gyrus), vascular dementia due to hemorrhagic lesions, small vessel disease (which includes vascular dementia due to lacunar lesions and Binswanger’s disease), and mixed Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. |
|
|
Thinking about Cognition: Concepts, Targets and Therapeutics $200 100 Years after the discovery of Alzheimer’s disease, neurological diseases and psychiatric disorders represent the largest and fastest growing unmet medical market with 2 billion affected people worldwide. Life expectancy of humans continues to increase, and the world population is aging. Advanced age may lead to deterioration of cognitive functions of the brain. There seems to be consensus that on the background of aging, several factors may render humans prone to dementia. Psychiatric and neurological disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or Parkinson’s disease may contribute to development of dementia. More people today are looking for help regarding their learning and memory capabilities. Although increasing knowledge on neuronal networks is transforming our view of the human brain and its function and we understand psychiatric and neurological diseases better today than ever before, novel therapies are needed to respond to the growing demand of patients for assistance with memory loss and learning impairment. In fact, it is expected that novel therapies aiming at the processing of amyloid, or at activation of glutamatergic or nicotinergic systems will demonstrate adequate efficacy in improving learning and memory disturbances. This publication stands as a comprehensive overview of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the development of cognitive impairment. It integrates discoveries concerning dementia, such as mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease associated dementia, vascular dementia, retardation syndromes, and psychiatric and neurological disorders related cognitive impairments. This book will be useful to physicians, biologists, and thosepursuing an interest or concerned with memory impairment. |