For those who have just been diagnosed as well as for those who are living with the illness, depression is a very common additional condition that will befall them. After all, an active patient will have a hard time reconciling her or himself to a lifestyle that involves giving control of finances and basic living decisions over to loved ones. Similarly, since these diseases are incurable, she or he will often have to battle with the finality of the diagnosis. Caregivers may sometimes have a hard time determining if depression has snuck up on their loved ones, but as a general rule of thumb, a prolonged exhibition of some of the symptoms of depression is a good indicator that something is amiss:

Your loved one may suffer from the doldrums for extended periods of time where nothing and nobody will be able to cheer her or him up.

She or he may voice to you concerns of becoming a burden, being worthless, or feeling extremely guilty for “doing this”, meaning getting sick, to you and the family.

Are your symptoms really a problem?

This question may sound obvious – after all, you wouldn’t be at the doctor if you weren’t concerned. However, memory loss can be the result of any number of benign issues, and after discussing it with your doctor you may discover that the symptoms you are experiencing are minor when compared to symptoms of medically specified memory disorders.

Could Alzheimer’s be behind your symptoms?

Alzheimer’s is naturally a person’s first concern when they begin to experience noticeable memory problems. Alzheimer’s is not the only thing that could be causing your problems, and though diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is complex, your doctor, in some cases, may be able to rule it out entirely on your first visit.

What non-Alzheimer’s conditions could be causing your problem?

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s is a matter of ruling out other conditions. Understanding what other conditions your doctor is considering keeps you informed and allows you to be a pro-active patient. Being aware of some of the possible conditions may help alert you to lifestyle changes you can make that may affect your symptoms.

To learn how to obtain patience, you first must understand exactly what patience is. If you are patient, then you don’t need immediate gratification, and you are capable of just sitting back, and waiting for something to happen without experiencing either anxiety of frustration. If you are patient you have the ability to tolerate others, and be more understanding. With patience you’ll be able to hang onto a relationship, even when the going gets tough. Instead of riding on the emotional rollercoaster, you’ll be able to level off the ups and the downs, and wait for what’s coming to you. You’ll be able to relax in spite of the challenges that you face on a daily basis.

How do all of these qualities relate to those with dementia? Well, as we know, dementia patients often need to have something repeated several times, and they may struggle with relatively simple activities. This is no fault of theirs of course, but rather of the disease. If you’re capable of relaxing, and waiting for them to process the information, it will provide a stronger basis for your relationship with them. To start with, you won’t feel rushed for them to accomplish their goal, and neither will they. If you rush the patient, they’ll simply become frustrated, and their self-esteem will drop. You will become frustrated, and even angry, and the relationship between you and the patient will be heavily strained.

Knowing all of these bad things, how does one go about developing patience? Is there some simple method? In short, the answer is no. Developing patience takes time, but there is a method to do it. First, remember to take every day one at a time. When you’re with a dementia patient, take each activity one at a time. Make sure that two activities don’t rely on each other. That way, if the first activity doesn’t work out, you’ll still have the second one to go to. Next, make sure that you’re accepting the reality of the situation you’re in. When you’re with a dementia patient, you have to learn to accept the limitations that the disease has placed on them. Don’t give them more than they can handle. Now is not the time to see how far you can push someone, as you’ll both just end up frustrated.

Before discussing a degenerative disease like Alzheimer’s, you must plan in advance for what the child could feel. You need to be prepared for every possible way the child could take the news, so you’re ready no matter what happens. The first and most common emotion when a child learns of the disease is that of sadness. The child is sad, and uncomfortable with what is happening to the relative. This is followed closely by confusion and fear. Children don’t have a very good grasp on what Alzheimer’s is, and even with the best of explanations they’re still going to be confused about why Grandma has begun to behave differently than usual. After they’ve figured out what exactly Alzheimer’s is, many children will be hesitant to spend time with Grandma, believing they might catch the disease, or that their parents will. You must put that fear to rest immediately, so that the children know they have nothing to fear.

On the other side of the emotional spectrum, some children may begin to develop somewhat darker emotions. These include anger, frustration, guilt and jealousy. The reasons for those are varied. Some will be angry because they have to repeat questions, or will have trouble doing activities with the relative. After that, they’ll feel guilty for being angry, believing that they should know better. Later on, they may even become jealous or resentful of the Alzheimer’s victim, mostly because of the increased time that the rest of the family seems to spend worrying about them.

To discuss Alzheimer’s with a child, you have to keep everything simple, while at the same time preparing them for what’s to come. Make sure you fully understand it, so that you know how to answer questions when they inevitably pop up. Tell them that Grandma is still the same person she always was, but that she won’t remember things that well and sometimes she won’t know what she’s doing. Make sure you mention that the disease is not contagious.

In many cases, dementia can be reversed when an underlying syndrome that is treatable causes it. Dementia caused by hormonal imbalances of the thyroid, parathyroid, or other endocrine system diseases can be cured when the hormonal imbalance is corrected through medication. The same goes for dementia caused by vitamin imbalances or deficiencies – B vitamins are especially important for brain functioning, and pernicious anemia – a lack of vitamin B12 absorption – can cause dementia. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) is another correctable root cause of dementia.

Treating the depression can treat dementia that is present with an accompanying mental illness, like severe depression. Depression can, of course, be difficult to treat, and so the dementia by association also can be difficult to address in this instance.

Some treatable dementia is actually even preventable. Dementia brought on by drug and/or alcohol abuse can clearly be prevented through personal choice. Head injuries that lead to dementia can be made less likely by wearing a helmet when cycling and wearing seat belts while in a car.

Not all kinds of dementia are reversible, however. Alzheimer’s disease is not curable and damage to the brain cannot be reversed. With early diagnosis, some patients with Alzheimer’s disease may be able to slow the progression of their symptoms with the help of certain medications, or a combination of medications. Conflicting evidence exits suggesting dietary supplements, like Ginkgo Biloba or vitamin E, put off the march of the disease, however, doctors are skeptical.

Dementia is defined as a “progressive brain dysfunction that eventually leads to the restriction of daily activities.” Symptoms of this condition include loss of memory, changes in behavior and other skill and orientation problems. Sounds like Alzheimer’s disease, some might say. So what are the differences between the two conditions?

First of all, dementia can develop in a person for a number of reasons. Forms of infection, strokes, head injuries, abuse of drugs and nutritional deficiencies can cause dementia. In addition to those, other medical diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Pick’s disease, brain tumors and even some cases of HIV or syphilis, can lead to dementia. Some diseases that cause dementia are curable, and some symptoms of dementia are least partially reversible with proper treatment.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia. Studies showed that in nearly 70% of people who suffered from dementia, Alzheimer’s disease was the cause. In this disease, abnormal protein deposits in the brain destroy cells in other important areas that control memory and mental functions. People with Alzheimer’s disease also have lost some levels of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which further affects the thinking process. This disease causes not only dementia but also a gradual intellectual deterioration and is not reversible. Despite some foolish claims to the contrary, no cure exists for Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. James Thompson created the first stem cell line using human embryos in 1998 at the University of Wisconsin. He used embryo stem cells to grow healthy, functioning heart cells. This success opened up the possibility of generating healthy cells to replace all kinds of diseased cells in the body, including the ability to replace diseased cells in the brain. Further research has been hindered in a major way because of the federal ban on funding, but the research that has been conducted has only increased the excitement of scientists and doctors more.

One common misconception about stem cell research is that the debate could be stemmed if adult stem cells were used in the research. Adult stem cells do not offer anywhere near the potential for regeneration that embryonic do. Adult stem cells are thought to be “multipotent,” meaning they can only generate certain types of cells. Stem cells from embryos, on the other hand, can be “totipotent” or “pluripotent.” Totipotent cells are embryonic cells in their first few days of development. These cells have the potential to grow into any kind of cell in the human body. Embryonic cells are “pluripotent” after a period of around four days. At this point, the cells can develop into any kind of cell in the body with the exception of the cells needed to create a fetus. Cleary totipotent and pluripotent cells are the most desirable for research because their potential is nearly limitless, allowing scientists to experiment with cures for different diseases with ease.

Though stem cell research has shown great promise in the quest to cure medical problems like diabetes, spinal chord injuries, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease, it cannot be assumed that stem cell research definitely holds the key to the cure for Alzheimer’s or dementia. Doctors and scientists still must understand much more about the causes of Alzheimer’s and dementia before they can be sure what would offer a cure. In addition to understanding how normal and abnormal cells develop and how to heal abnormal cells, scientists must also develop some way for their stem cell discoveries to be tested in Alzheimer’s patients to ensure they are effective and safe. The patient testing of stem cells generated in the lab might be the most difficult issue facing scientists, beyond the ethics debate.

The first and most agreed upon risk is age. It’s fairly easy for doctors to agree upon this risk factor because the majority of people who have Alzheimer’s are 65 and older. Also, the chances of developing the disease almost doubles for every five years after the age of 65. Once a person reaches the ripe old age of 85, the risk factor reaches almost fifty percent. Age is one of the unpreventable causes of Alzheimer’s disease.

Genetics and family history have always been thought to play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s. However, that may be a misguided. Researchers found that the more individuals in a family who have Alzheimer’s, naturally the greater the risk for the rest of the family members. Also, people who have either a parent or a sibling with Alzheimer’s were two to three times more susceptible to the disease. The researchers were able to find the gene that virtually guarantees that a person will have Alzheimer’s, however, the only gene that is directly responsible has been found in only a few hundred families, and accounts for a small amount of cases. This leads scientists to believe that most Alzheimer’s cases are due to both genetic and non-genetic factors.

Head injuries may play a much bigger factor than expected in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, and thankfully it is one of the controllable risks. From what researchers have gathered, there is a very strong link between a major head injury and being at risk for Alzheimer’s. This means that anyone who has played a contact sport such as football or hockey will be more susceptible to Alzheimer’s. Do not misinterpret this as meaning that everyone who’s played a sport will get Alzheimer’s. It doesn’t really matter how you damage your head, as long as it gets banged up Alzheimer’s will have a higher chance of occurring.

Some Alzheimer’s patients live alone throughout the early stages of their disease, and experience only minor disruption to their daily activities. If you will be living alone, now is the time to sit down with a trusted family member or friend to arrange the house in a way, which will be easy for you to function. Creating a schedule of daily activities can help, and leaving a copy of that schedule with a friend or family member so that they can call you and remind you of the things you need to do that day is also helpful. You might want to carry a journal or notepad around with you to jot down thoughts or things you need to remember as they occur to you. Label your drawers and your cupboards to help you remember where to find things. You can also label photos of people you see often for when you struggle to place names and faces. Put notes to yourself around the house reminding you to do things like lock the doors and turn off the oven. Keep a list of phone numbers by all the phones, and leave a set of keys with a neighbor you can trust.

You will also need to deal with your financial issues. Set up direct deposit of any checks you are receiving if you can, and arrange for a family member or friend to pay your bills for you. A lawyer can help you set up a living trust, so that a person you appoint has the power to make financial decisions for you. You also need to consider the potential costs of your future care in terms of doctors, in-home nurses, and/or treatment facilities, and calculate your ability to pay for them. Your local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association can advise you about any local, state, or federal disability payments available to you. During this time, you can also designate a doctor with whom you feel comfortable to oversee your treatment.

You should also visit a lawyer to deal with legal issues that may arise. You should draw up a living will, which states your feelings about future medical problems, including your feelings about resuscitation and artificial breathing mechanisms. At this point, you can also appoint a person to have durable power of attorney, meaning you would like them to make medical decisions for you when you are incapacitated. When you are deciding who should fulfill that role, keep in mind that person may have to make a decision to switch off life support or other complicated issues.

1. Is your patient in good health? Mouth sores, poor-fitting dentures, gum disease or dry mouth will certainly make eating a difficult task. Intestinal or cardiac problems, diabetes, constipation and depression are also serious conditions that could contribute to a loss of appetite. Regular visits to the doctor or physician might be a good idea to make sure the patient is healthy and enjoying his eating time.

2. A patient should enjoy his eating time. Eating is a pleasure and an enjoyable activity. If a patient is showing signs of distraction or agitation then try and find the source. Remove any distractions in the room and ask the patient if he or she is comfortable. Distractions can even be very small, such as loud tablecloths or colorful patterns on plates.

3. Build routines. Meals be served consistently and at scheduled times. It might help to use visual aids as a reminder for mealtime. A clock with large numbers or a chalkboard listing the scheduled times would be helpful in getting the patient to cooperate.