Tag Archives: bulimia

Stages of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is divided into stages in order to help people understand how the disease might unfold in a loved one. However, not everyone experiences the same symptoms at the same rate! On average, a person with Alzheimer’s disease passes away within four to six years of diagnosis. Some people live on for as long as twenty more years after a diagnosis. In general, Alzheimer’s disease is divided into mild, moderate, and severe stages. Experts have developed a more detailed list, even including pre-Alzheimer’s mental states: Stage 1: No impairment. A person experiences no memory problems that are evident to … Continue reading →

When it’s Time to Stop Being a Caretaker

Everyone has their own personal limits. Their own measuring stick, with a point where they just can’t take any more. My mother — who is now the primary caretaker for my grandmother, who has Alzheimer’s disease (and a host of other health issues) — chose her stopping point a long time ago. She decided that it would be time for my grandmother to go into a nursing home if my grandmother couldn’t recognize members of the family anymore. As long as my grandmother can recognize her children and grandchildren, mom is willing to jump through hoops to keep my grandmother … Continue reading →

The Imaginary Visitor

I did a little research on people with Alzheimer’s disease experiencing hallucinations because of my grandmother. She is progressing from mild into moderate Alzheimer’s disease and has been experiencing hallucinations from time to time. I remember her calling through the house, looking for her mother (who passed away in 1998). She told stories of a little white dog she saw running through our backyard (that no one else ever saw). Lately, the hallucinations have been becoming more frequent. Last week, she told my mother a story about a stranger coming to the door. According to my grandmother, the doorbell rang … Continue reading →

Alzheimer’s Disease: Hallucinations

As Alzheimer’s disease advances, a person may begin to experience hallucinations. These sensory experiences seem completely real to the person with Alzheimer’s disease. The most common hallucinations involve sight (seeing something that isn’t really there) and sound (hearing something that isn’t really there). That doesn’t mean the other senses can’t be involved too. Hallucinations can also involve taste, smell, and touch. What should a caretaker or family member do if a loved one is having hallucinations? Your response can vary depending on several things: What is the hallucination? Is it upsetting the person? Frightening them? When a hallucination is upsetting … Continue reading →

Angry and Helpless as My Mom Loses It

As I wrote in a recent article, my mom is beginning to battle Old Timer’s (a.k.a. Dementia or Alzheimer’s) like her mother did, which makes me angry. But I’m not angry at the disease. I’m angry about a lot of other things. Angry at Losing Her Now As I commented on one of Aimee’s articles about this issue I had to stand by and lose my grandma to this disease before she actually passed. Now it’s happening with my mom. I’m angry about that. Angry at My Mom I’m angry at my mom because she refuses to take steps to … Continue reading →

Here We Go Again…Another Woman in My Family Battles Old-Timer’s

Aimee’s Watching a Loved One Lose Time article really struck a chord with me. In addition to leaving a comment on her article, I also PM’d her to tell her how much it hit home and why. She encouraged me to share my story here, so…I took her up on it. My Grandma My grandma started showing signs of Old Timer’s (a.k.a. Dementia or Alzheimer’s) in 1992. Unlike Aimee did with her grandma, I never lived with mine but I did help with her care as best as I could. You see, at that time I was still going to … Continue reading →

New Miss America Speaks Out About Eating Disorder

What a difference a few years can make… It was just three years ago that newly crowned Miss America Kirsten Haglund was so painfully thin her parents “dragged” her to a doctor who diagnosed the teen with anorexia. This weekend the “recovered” Miss Michigan looked healthy and toned as she strutted her stuff in front of millions. The 19-year-old’s past battle with weight issues hardly seemed to hold her back as she advanced through pageant rounds and eventually walked away with the Miss America crown. It was only after the pageant that the Broadway hopeful, who belted out “Somewhere Over … Continue reading →

Are You a Food Phobic?

Phobias come in many forms and having a phobia about food is no exception. A food phobic is more than a fussy eater, although that would be the tag generally attached to such a person. Food phobia has little to do with more well-known eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. So what exactly are the characteristics of a food phobic? Marcia Pelchat, a Philadelphia-based food psychologist states that a person with a food phobia dislikes the taste of certain foods to an excessive extent and avoids them wherever possible. This also applies to the texture of certain foods. … Continue reading →

A Link Between Alzheimer’s and Glaucoma

British researchers have discovered common protein fragments in people with Alzheimer’s disease and people with glaucoma. This discovery may change how both diseases are treated. These protein fragments are called amyloid-beta. In people with Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid beta fragments form plaques in the brain. In people with glaucoma, amyloid beta fragments seem to cause the death of cells in the retina. The University College of London study focused on testing drugs that blocked pathways normally traveled by the amyloid beta fragments. In animal testing, the drugs reduced eye damage and helped preserve the lives of cells in the retina. The … Continue reading →

How Old Lady Jail Is Helping My Grandmother

This spring, we finally got an official diagnosis for my grandmother’s memory problems: Alzheimer’s disease. The doctor started her on Aricept and encouraged the family to find a Senior Care Center for social stimulation. My grandmother was not happy about this development. She called it the “looney bin” and “old lady jail” and put her foot down: she was not going to go. We coaxed and cajoled; we blamed it on the doctor. Finally, we put our collective feet down. The staff gave us a copy of the schedule, and we tried to get my grandmother excited about upcoming events: … Continue reading →