Few medical or scientific addresses have so unmistakeably made history as the presentation delivered by Alois Alzheimer on November 4, 1906 in Tübingen. The celebratory event "Alzheimer 100 Years and Beyond" was organized through the Alzheimer community in Germany and worldwide, in collaboration with the Fondation Ipsen. This volume, a collection of articles by the invited speakers and of a few other prominent researchers, is published as a record of those events.

This groundbreaking explanation of the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's disease rests on the author's belief that Alzheimer's is merely one of several types of dementia—and that in most cases dementia is avoidable. He further explains that the various forms of dementia may well be different manifestations of the same set of underlying problems. Rather than being the inevitable result of aging, the author asserts dementia is primarily the result of bad diet, stress, lack of mental and physical exercise, and other poor lifestyle choices. Dr. Mendelson begins his book with a straightforward explanation of how the brain ages—physically, structurally, and chemically. He then explains the various methods for diagnosing dementia, as well as how it can often be misdiagnosed if a person has suffered a head injury or stroke, has a hormone or vitamin deficiency, or is taking a medication whose side effects can mimic dementia. The remainder of the book is prescriptive, and offers hope to both Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers by recommending scientifically tested herbs, vitamins and nutraceuticals that can help mitigate or delay the effects of dementia. Finally, the author suggests lifestyle changes that might help a person avoid dementia altogether, commonsense health tips that include steps to prevent heart disease and diabetes, treatment for sleep apnea, maintaining an ideal body weight, and even engaging in a more active social life.

This is a literary collection that illuminates the darkness of Alzheimer's disease. It is a unique collection of poetry and short prose about the disease written by 100 contemporary writers - doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, daughters, sons, wives, and husbands - whose lives have been touched by the disease.

With the heartfelt prose of a loving daughter, Patti Davis provides a life raft for the caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients. “For the decade of my father’s illness, I felt as if I was floating in the deep end, tossed by waves, carried by currents, but not drowning,” writes Patti Davis in this searingly honest and deeply moving account of the challenges involved in taking care of someone stricken with Alzheimer’s. When her father, the fortieth president of the United States, announced his Alzheimer’s diagnosis in an address to the American public in 1994, the world had not yet begun speaking about this cruel, mysterious disease. Yet overnight, Ronald Reagan and his immediate family became the face of Alzheimer’s, and Davis, once content to keep her family at arm’s length, quickly moved across the country to be present during “the journey that would take [him] into the sunset of [his] life.” Empowered by all she learned from caring for her father—about the nature of the illness, but also about the loss of a parent—Davis founded a support group for the family members and friends of Alzheimer’s patients. Along with a medically trained cofacilitator, she met with hundreds of exhausted and devastated attendees to talk through their pain and confusion. While Davis was aware that her own circumstances were uniquely fortunate, she knew there were universal truths about dementia, and even surprising gifts to be found in a long goodbye. With Floating in the Deep End, Davis draws on a welter of experiences to provide a singular account of battling Alzheimer’s. Eloquently woven with personal anecdotes and helpful advice tailored specifically for the overlooked caregiver, this essential guide covers every potential stage of the disease from the initial diagnosis through the ultimate passing and beyond. Including such tips as how to keep a loved one hygienic, and careful responses for when they drift to a time gone by, Davis always stresses the emotional milestones that come with slow-burning grief. Along the way, Davis shares how her own fractured family came together. With unflinching candor, she recalls when her mother, Nancy, who for decades could not show her children compassion or vulnerability, suddenly broke down in her arms. Davis also offers tender moments in which her father, a fabled movie star whom she always longed to know better, revealed his true self—always kind, even when he couldn’t recognize his own daughter. An inherently wise work that promises to become a classic, Floating in the Deep End ultimately provides hope to struggling families while elegantly illuminating the fragile human condition.

Alzheimer's, the frightening disease of aging, is treated heroically in a touching book by a woman who left her important position as Assistant Secretary for Management at the U.S. Department of Treasury to care for her mother. After her mother's medical verdict of increasing memory loss was pronounced, Linda Combs resigned her executive post in Washington, D.C., and moved home to North Carolina.Her familiarity with Alzheimer's prompted Linda Combs to write her book, A Long Goodbye and Beyond, as a resource for other parental caregivers, like herself, who must assist a loved one to pass through the stages of unlovely deterioration.To this book of instruction, courage, kindness, sympathy and loyalty to the idea of a new life beyond, artist Tom Novak lends his marvelous illustrations, which are a tribute to brave souls who have the long loneliness of slow disintegration.

This gripping story of the doctors at the forefront of Alzheimer’s research and the courageous North Dakota family whose rare genetic code is helping to understand our most feared diseases is “excellent, accessible...A science text that reads like a mystery and treats its subjects with humanity and sympathy” (Library Journal, starred review). Every sixty-nine seconds, someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Of the top ten killers, it is the only disease for which there is no cure or treatment. For most people, there is nothing that they can do to fight back. But one family is doing all they can. The DeMoe family has the most devastating form of the disease that there is: early onset Alzheimer’s, an inherited genetic mutation that causes the disease in one hundred percent of cases, and has a fifty percent chance of being passed onto the next generation. Of the six DeMoe children whose father had it, five have inherited the gene; the sixth, daughter Karla, has inherited responsibility for all of them. But rather than give up in the face of such news, the DeMoes have agreed to spend their precious, abbreviated years as part of a worldwide study that could utterly change the landscape of Alzheimer’s research and offers the brightest hope for future treatments—and possibly a cure. Drawing from several years of in-depth research with this charming and upbeat family, journalist Niki Kapsambelis tells the story of Alzheimer’s through the humanizing lens of these ordinary people made extraordinary by both their terrible circumstances and their bravery. “A compelling narrative…and an educational and emotional chronicle” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review), their tale is intertwined with the dramatic narrative history of the disease, the cutting-edge research that brings us ever closer to a possible cure, and the accounts of the extraordinary doctors spearheading these groundbreaking studies. From the oil fields of North Dakota to the jungles of Colombia, this inspiring race against time redefines courage in the face of this most pervasive and mysterious disease.

"Reducing the use of psychotropic drugs in the symptomatic treatment of dementia is key to successfully implementing compassionate, person-centered practices in your organization - and this book shows clearly why and how it can be done. The revised second edition of this award-winning resource introduces new research, language, and examples to reinforce the core message that antipsychotic medications are not the solution to ease the distress experienced by individuals living with dementia. Outlined here is the information and inspiration you need to provide alternative solutions for individualized support and care"--Cover.