The Caring Corner®

It’s Not the Cure, It’s the Care

November 16, 2013

Why do we bother to find out if we have Alzheimer’s?  After all there is no cure for it.  While this is a personal issue to be decided by oneself with the counsel of loved ones, there are benefits.  Nowadays, doctors are able to diagnose Alzheimer’s with 80 percent or better accuracy.

Elderly Senior Home Care Elderly Man & AttendantAlzheimer’s cannot be cured, but there are many good things one can do to care for it.  Some drugs will slow the progression of the disease, and it has been shown that improved diet and exercise, along with adequate sleep are helpful to mitigate Alzheimer’s.

Of course, a healthy diet, exercise and rest are good things to do anyway, so if we embrace this lifestyle only because of a diagnosis of A.D., so may say that it’s too late.

Knowledge is power.  By acknowledging the disease, we raise awareness about it.  This may not help us, but it can help others.   Understanding dementia (of which Alzheimer’s is a subset) is very valuable, because as the disease progresses family will need to provide more care and will need to understand how best to provide care.

Aside from drug therapies, the care one provides a loved one with dementia is virtually the same.  So if we need to understand the care, we must open the “Pandora Box” of dementia.

And some cognitive problems are not due to dementia.  Loss of memory, mental confusion, agitation, etc. may be due to problems with the thyroid or could be a deficiency of vitamins.  In this case, finding out could correct a reversible condition.

 

Filed in: News

What's On Your Mind?

Trackback URL | RSS Feed for This Entry