Re: Nursing Homes Can Accelerate Alzheimer's Decline

June 2, 2007

For at least a limited time, you can read the whole paper here:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug status of these

patients wasn't examined. I think there's a perception in long-term

care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA drug are

" useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also get *VERY* happy

with the antipsychotics, which is associated with decline and

mortality in the demented. I can't believe they didn't attempt to

control for those factors.

Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using more adult day

services have more-involved family members who were encouraging the

use of adult day, and are more involved in the patient care decisions

after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study doesn't provide

enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

E

June 2, 2007

Hello to everyone. I'm new to this group and dont usually write in these groups

but I read alot of the mail to get information. My name is and I recently

retired from Law Enforcement and went back to school. Last year I met a very

nice family who were having trouble with their 57 year old brother who is also a

retired police officer. He also got a masters degree in social work and worked

many years with children and adolesents. He was a genius and from what I have

learned he was a great humanitarian, loved kids and was a real people person.

He is now just a shadow of the person he once was but he is still a good guy

deserving assistance. Anyway he came down with LBD a couple of years ago but

the symptoms were there a few years prior to that. How I came into the picture

was that they tried to get him to go to an adult daycare and he would not do it.

It scared him. So I agreed to start spending time with him during the days and

we grew to be good friends and he

feels safe with me around which helped with his paranoia. And he now thinks I

am his brother. His sisters were doing everything they could to try and help

him and still live their lives and it got too much to handle. They cant afford

In Treatment anywhere and he hasnt done anything to be committed, and from what

I hear he is too young to go into a nursing home environment or assisted Iiving

without them having to pay an exorbant amount of money. And from my experience

in Police work and working at a treatment facility for five years, I agree that

being in a Nursing Home away from family is what makes their decline in life

accelerate. I personally think they lose hope and thats not what we want for

Homer. My role increased to staying with Homer 24 hours a day after he fell one

day a few months back. He was ok, but nobody could tell us what was making him

fall. I thought it was a TIA or a stroke or a seizure but no one can tell us

for sure. Homer is a strong guy and

really hasnt shown the parkinsons effects of the disease. But some days the

right side of his face will lose all expression and form and I think its a

stroke but the next day he is fine. But there are a lot of things that we cant

figure out or know why he does the things he does. And I thought maybe some of

you who have had more experience with this could help. Some of the things he

does is that he wanders continuously, leaving the house and we have to go find

him. And on some occasions he walks into neighbors houses without being asked.

Luckily, he lives in a great neighborhood and all the neighbors know of his

ailment and are very supportive and helpful. But the constant wandering goes on

night and day. Also he will not sleep for any period of time and goes days

walking around like a zombie. Just exhausted. We started giving him benadryl a

few months back to help him sleep but it doesnt work and I think that may be

whats making him faint and fall. And Ive also

read recently that others are having bad side effects from the diphenhydramine

also. So his doctor put him on Trazadone for sleep and it seems to working. He

also takes reperidol. He doesnt make sense when he talks which is expected with

dementia along with hallucinations, but he has good days where he is almost

normal and then days where its real bad. He fell again the other day and I think

it was a seizure. When he falls he knocks himself out cold and we have to send

him to the ER via EMS. But they always send him back rather quickly saying he

is ok. Its like nobody knows what is causing this and nobody is giving the

family any advice to help. In my younger years I worked as an activity

therapist at an In Treatment facility and we worked with Alzheimers patients and

it seemed that by getting them outside and doing things it prolonged their lives

or at least improved the quality of life for them. So thats the approach we are

taking. But here lately he is declining

more rapidly. Some of the things that maybe some of you may be able to give

advice for are as follows. He talks very vulgar on some days saying very

inappropriate things, He constantly sneaks away from the house and I often find

him urinating in alleyways or in neighbors front yards. When he goes on his

walks he inevitably takes things that are not his and brings them home, like

balls, newspapers, and anything he can get in his pockets and yes we've had

several talks with the police who usually are not very understanding. At the

end of the day we have to go through all his pockets and retrieve all the things

he has accumulated throughout the day. Also several times a day he will go in

his room and put all his clothes on and usually wears his underwear on the

outside of his clothes and sneaks out of the house. I understand that he needs

constant re-direction and we are ok with that. Its like he gets into a loop

where he does the same thing over and over and I curb

that by taking him out of the current enviorment he is in and get him away for

a while. But it starts up when we get him back home. He was violent for a

while and has gotten very angry with me at times, but that is starting to go

away. May be something to do with the fact that I'm 6'5 " and 260 lbs, ha. He

also gets up at night and fills all the drinking glasses in the kitchen with

water and sets them on furniture and shelves all over the house. His life

revolves around eating and thats a good thing because he is losing weight very

rapidly. But he is still physically strong. But we're starting to have

problems with getting him to eat. Some of the things I do is to take him on

long rides in the country or down to a lake where we walk and thats when he does

the best and is happy. But when I try to get him to do any cognitive things

like reading or doing simple kids games he gets very frustrated. I try to do

things where he will have to think but thats not working so

we just rely on the nature walks. Anyway I just needed to vent and I apologize

for the length of the email, but if anyone else is experiencing this type of

behavior or if anyone has any kind of advice we would appreciate the input. If

not then thanks for listening.

epthompson wrote:

For at least a limited time, you can read the whole paper here:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug status of these

patients wasn't examined. I think there's a perception in long-term

care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA drug are

" useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also get *VERY* happy

with the antipsychotics, which is associated with decline and

mortality in the demented. I can't believe they didn't attempt to

control for those factors.

Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using more adult day

services have more-involved family members who were encouraging the

use of adult day, and are more involved in the patient care decisions

after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study doesn't provide

enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

E

---------------------------------

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!

Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo! Games.

June 2, 2007

: Your letter has so many things in it that

point directly to the symptoms of LBD. This man is so

young to have this horrible disease start. The

falling, wandering, sometimes vulgarity or sexual

talk/acts, not being able to put clothing on

correctly, eating but losing weight, lots of time they

want lots of sugar, not sleeping, urinating wherever,

not making sense when he talks. All are symptoms that

either my husband had or that I have read of many of

others having. I am wondering if the Respridol is

causing some problems. It has caused a lot of trouble

for many on this site, and my husband did not do well

on it. It is considered an antipsychotic

(neuroleptic) drug and is on the LBD list of drugs not

to use.

Have you looked into getting him on Medicaid? If he

doesn't have many assets and is no longer able to

work, he should be eligible even if he isn't that old.

He also should be able to take SS disability, which I

don't think would be hard to prove in his present

condition. Does he have any family of his own, or is

it just his siblings? I assume he doesn't, or you

wouldn't be the main caregiver. Anyway, you might

explore the above possibilities to see if you can get

some kind of help. It probably won't be long before

he will need full-time care if he is advancing as

rapidly as it appears he is.

You are to be commended for taking on this caregiving

responsibility. It is an extremely hard task, and it

is great that you are willing to do it. However,

caregivers have to be careful in that they can get ill

themselves if under too much stress.

Anyway, I think you are probably dealing with a

classic case of LBD. If you have not seen the

" Phases of LBD " that was compiled by the Caring

Spouses group but is on this site, scroll down to the

bottom of the page and click on the LBD site; then you

can find it in the " Files " section (I believe; if this

is wrong, someone else correct it.) It tells of the

various symptoms that are common to LBD and kind of

when they develop, although they can be in different

order for different persons. It is not a " bonafide "

medical document but compiled from the caregivers'

experiences and should be used only for reference.

Good luck, and keep the group apprised of what

develops for him.

June (Husband Darrell dx'd with AD 1999; probable LBD

2006; died November 2006; autopsy showed both AD and

LBD as well as a possible aneurysm).

--- Baucum wrote:

> Hello to everyone. I'm new to this group and dont

> usually write in these groups but I read alot of the

> mail to get information. My name is and I

> recently retired from Law Enforcement and went back

> to school. Last year I met a very nice family who

> were having trouble with their 57 year old brother

> who is also a retired police officer. He also got a

> masters degree in social work and worked many years

> with children and adolesents. He was a genius and

> from what I have learned he was a great

> humanitarian, loved kids and was a real people

> person. He is now just a shadow of the person he

> once was but he is still a good guy deserving

> assistance. Anyway he came down with LBD a couple

> of years ago but the symptoms were there a few years

> prior to that. How I came into the picture was that

> they tried to get him to go to an adult daycare and

> he would not do it. It scared him. So I agreed to

> start spending time with him during the days and we

> grew to be good friends and he

> feels safe with me around which helped with his

> paranoia. And he now thinks I am his brother. His

> sisters were doing everything they could to try and

> help him and still live their lives and it got too

> much to handle. They cant afford In Treatment

> anywhere and he hasnt done anything to be committed,

> and from what I hear he is too young to go into a

> nursing home environment or assisted Iiving without

> them having to pay an exorbant amount of money. And

> from my experience in Police work and working at a

> treatment facility for five years, I agree that

> being in a Nursing Home away from family is what

> makes their decline in life accelerate. I

> personally think they lose hope and thats not what

> we want for Homer. My role increased to staying

> with Homer 24 hours a day after he fell one day a

> few months back. He was ok, but nobody could tell

> us what was making him fall. I thought it was a TIA

> or a stroke or a seizure but no one can tell us for

> sure. Homer is a strong guy and

> really hasnt shown the parkinsons effects of the

> disease. But some days the right side of his face

> will lose all expression and form and I think its a

> stroke but the next day he is fine. But there are

> a lot of things that we cant figure out or know why

> he does the things he does. And I thought maybe

> some of you who have had more experience with this

> could help. Some of the things he does is that he

> wanders continuously, leaving the house and we have

> to go find him. And on some occasions he walks into

> neighbors houses without being asked. Luckily, he

> lives in a great neighborhood and all the neighbors

> know of his ailment and are very supportive and

> helpful. But the constant wandering goes on night

> and day. Also he will not sleep for any period of

> time and goes days walking around like a zombie.

> Just exhausted. We started giving him benadryl a

> few months back to help him sleep but it doesnt work

> and I think that may be whats making him faint and

> fall. And Ive also

> read recently that others are having bad side

> effects from the diphenhydramine also. So his doctor

> put him on Trazadone for sleep and it seems to

> working. He also takes reperidol. He doesnt make

> sense when he talks which is expected with dementia

> along with hallucinations, but he has good days

> where he is almost normal and then days where its

> real bad. He fell again the other day and I think it

> was a seizure. When he falls he knocks himself out

> cold and we have to send him to the ER via EMS. But

> they always send him back rather quickly saying he

> is ok. Its like nobody knows what is causing this

> and nobody is giving the family any advice to help.

> In my younger years I worked as an activity

> therapist at an In Treatment facility and we worked

> with Alzheimers patients and it seemed that by

> getting them outside and doing things it prolonged

> their lives or at least improved the quality of life

> for them. So thats the approach we are taking. But

> here lately he is declining

> more rapidly. Some of the things that maybe some

> of you may be able to give advice for are as

> follows. He talks very vulgar on some days saying

> very inappropriate things, He constantly sneaks

> away from the house and I often find him urinating

> in alleyways or in neighbors front yards. When he

> goes on his walks he inevitably takes things that

> are not his and brings them home, like balls,

> newspapers, and anything he can get in his pockets

> and yes we've had several talks with the police who

> usually are not very understanding. At the end of

> the day we have to go through all his pockets and

> retrieve all the things he has accumulated

> throughout the day. Also several times a day he

> will go in his room and put all his clothes on and

> usually wears his underwear on the outside of his

> clothes and sneaks out of the house. I understand

> that he needs constant re-direction and we are ok

> with that. Its like he gets into a loop where he

> does the same thing over and over and I curb

> that by taking him out of the current enviorment he

> is in and get him away for a while. But it starts

> up when we get him back home. He was violent for a

> while and has gotten very angry with me at times,

> but that is starting to go away. May be something to

> do with the fact that I'm 6'5 " and 260 lbs, ha. He

> also gets up at night and fills all the drinking

> glasses in the kitchen with water and sets them on

> furniture and shelves all over the house. His life

> revolves around eating and thats a good thing

> because he is losing weight very rapidly. But he is

> still physically strong. But we're starting to have

> problems with getting him to eat. Some of the

> things I do is to take him on long rides in the

> country or down to a lake where we walk and thats

> when he does the best and is happy. But when I try

> to get him to do any cognitive things like reading

> or doing simple kids games he gets very frustrated.

> I try to do things where he will have to think but

> thats not working so

> we just rely on the nature walks. Anyway I just

> needed to vent and I apologize for the length of the

> email, but if anyone else is experiencing this type

> of behavior or if anyone has any kind of advice we

> would appreciate the input. If not then thanks for

> listening.

> epthompson wrote:

> For at least a limited time, you can read

> the whole paper here:

>

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

>

> What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug

> status of these

> patients wasn't examined. I think there's a

> perception in long-term

> care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA

> drug are

> " useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also

> get *VERY* happy

> with the antipsychotics, which is associated with

> decline and

> mortality in the demented. I can't believe they

> didn't attempt to

> control for those factors.

>

> Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using

> more adult day

> services have more-involved family members who were

> encouraging the

> use of adult day, and are more involved in the

> patient care decisions

> after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study

> doesn't provide

> enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

>

> E

>

> ---------------------------------

> Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!

> Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's

> economy) at Yahoo! Games.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

8:00? 8:25? 8:40? Find a flick in no time

with the Yahoo! Search movie showtime shortcut.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#news

June 2, 2007

The “fainting”/passing out/seizures thing sounds like autonomic

dysfunction…. The brain doesn’t control the bodily functions well, like

heartbeat, temperature, blood pressure…. So maybe his BP is dropping,

causing the faint – and it comes back when they check him in the hospital?

E-thinking out loud!

HTH,

Debbie in SoCal

_____

From: LBDcaregivers [mailto:LBDcaregivers ]

On Behalf Of Baucum

Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 2:38 PM

To: LBDcaregivers

Subject: Re: Re: Nursing Homes Can Accelerate Alzheimer's

Decline

Hello to everyone. I'm new to this group and dont usually write in these

groups but I read alot of the mail to get information. My name is and

I recently retired from Law Enforcement and went back to school. Last year I

met a very nice family who were having trouble with their 57 year old

brother who is also a retired police officer. He also got a masters degree

in social work and worked many years with children and adolesents. He was a

genius and from what I have learned he was a great humanitarian, loved kids

and was a real people person. He is now just a shadow of the person he once

was but he is still a good guy deserving assistance. Anyway he came down

with LBD a couple of years ago but the symptoms were there a few years prior

to that. How I came into the picture was that they tried to get him to go to

an adult daycare and he would not do it. It scared him. So I agreed to start

spending time with him during the days and we grew to be good friends and he

feels safe with me around which helped with his paranoia. And he now thinks

I am his brother. His sisters were doing everything they could to try and

help him and still live their lives and it got too much to handle. They cant

afford In Treatment anywhere and he hasnt done anything to be committed, and

from what I hear he is too young to go into a nursing home environment or

assisted Iiving without them having to pay an exorbant amount of money. And

from my experience in Police work and working at a treatment facility for

five years, I agree that being in a Nursing Home away from family is what

makes their decline in life accelerate. I personally think they lose hope

and thats not what we want for Homer. My role increased to staying with

Homer 24 hours a day after he fell one day a few months back. He was ok, but

nobody could tell us what was making him fall. I thought it was a TIA or a

stroke or a seizure but no one can tell us for sure. Homer is a strong guy

and

really hasnt shown the parkinsons effects of the disease. But some days the

right side of his face will lose all expression and form and I think its a

stroke but the next day he is fine. But there are a lot of things that we

cant figure out or know why he does the things he does. And I thought maybe

some of you who have had more experience with this could help. Some of the

things he does is that he wanders continuously, leaving the house and we

have to go find him. And on some occasions he walks into neighbors houses

without being asked. Luckily, he lives in a great neighborhood and all the

neighbors know of his ailment and are very supportive and helpful. But the

constant wandering goes on night and day. Also he will not sleep for any

period of time and goes days walking around like a zombie. Just exhausted.

We started giving him benadryl a few months back to help him sleep but it

doesnt work and I think that may be whats making him faint and fall. And Ive

also

read recently that others are having bad side effects from the

diphenhydramine also. So his doctor put him on Trazadone for sleep and it

seems to working. He also takes reperidol. He doesnt make sense when he

talks which is expected with dementia along with hallucinations, but he has

good days where he is almost normal and then days where its real bad. He

fell again the other day and I think it was a seizure. When he falls he

knocks himself out cold and we have to send him to the ER via EMS. But they

always send him back rather quickly saying he is ok. Its like nobody knows

what is causing this and nobody is giving the family any advice to help. In

my younger years I worked as an activity therapist at an In Treatment

facility and we worked with Alzheimers patients and it seemed that by

getting them outside and doing things it prolonged their lives or at least

improved the quality of life for them. So thats the approach we are taking.

But here lately he is declining

more rapidly. Some of the things that maybe some of you may be able to give

advice for are as follows. He talks very vulgar on some days saying very

inappropriate things, He constantly sneaks away from the house and I often

find him urinating in alleyways or in neighbors front yards. When he goes on

his walks he inevitably takes things that are not his and brings them home,

like balls, newspapers, and anything he can get in his pockets and yes we've

had several talks with the police who usually are not very understanding. At

the end of the day we have to go through all his pockets and retrieve all

the things he has accumulated throughout the day. Also several times a day

he will go in his room and put all his clothes on and usually wears his

underwear on the outside of his clothes and sneaks out of the house. I

understand that he needs constant re-direction and we are ok with that. Its

like he gets into a loop where he does the same thing over and over and I

curb

that by taking him out of the current enviorment he is in and get him away

for a while. But it starts up when we get him back home. He was violent for

a while and has gotten very angry with me at times, but that is starting to

go away. May be something to do with the fact that I'm 6'5 " and 260 lbs, ha.

He also gets up at night and fills all the drinking glasses in the kitchen

with water and sets them on furniture and shelves all over the house. His

life revolves around eating and thats a good thing because he is losing

weight very rapidly. But he is still physically strong. But we're starting

to have problems with getting him to eat. Some of the things I do is to take

him on long rides in the country or down to a lake where we walk and thats

when he does the best and is happy. But when I try to get him to do any

cognitive things like reading or doing simple kids games he gets very

frustrated. I try to do things where he will have to think but thats not

working so

we just rely on the nature walks. Anyway I just needed to vent and I

apologize for the length of the email, but if anyone else is experiencing

this type of behavior or if anyone has any kind of advice we would

appreciate the input. If not then thanks for listening.

epthompson <ericbls@spintellige <mailto:ericbls%40spintelligentlabs.com>

ntlabs.com> wrote:

For at least a limited time, you can read the whole paper here:

http://ajp.psychiat

<http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910>

ryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug status of these

patients wasn't examined. I think there's a perception in long-term

care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA drug are

" useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also get *VERY* happy

with the antipsychotics, which is associated with decline and

mortality in the demented. I can't believe they didn't attempt to

control for those factors.

Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using more adult day

services have more-involved family members who were encouraging the

use of adult day, and are more involved in the patient care decisions

after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study doesn't provide

enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

E

---------------------------------

Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!

Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's economy) at Yahoo!

Games.

June 3, 2007

,

I wish i had some words of wisdom.

It sounds like you are already doing your best

LBD is so un predictable, decline on some is

very quickly and loss of weight is sometimes

not a good sign as far as comparing to other

cases similar. From talking to many nurses

on LBD.

I think we can only show them we care, but

so far no cure for this horrible disease.

We all try to be supportive and hear you

out anytime you want to vent.

Wish i had the answer.

Give us update as soon as you can.

Maggie

--- Baucum wrote:

> Hello to everyone. I'm new to this group and dont

> usually write in these groups but I read alot of the

> mail to get information. My name is and I

> recently retired from Law Enforcement and went back

> to school. Last year I met a very nice family who

> were having trouble with their 57 year old brother

> who is also a retired police officer. He also got a

> masters degree in social work and worked many years

> with children and adolesents. He was a genius and

> from what I have learned he was a great

> humanitarian, loved kids and was a real people

> person. He is now just a shadow of the person he

> once was but he is still a good guy deserving

> assistance. Anyway he came down with LBD a couple

> of years ago but the symptoms were there a few years

> prior to that. How I came into the picture was that

> they tried to get him to go to an adult daycare and

> he would not do it. It scared him. So I agreed to

> start spending time with him during the days and we

> grew to be good friends and he

> feels safe with me around which helped with his

> paranoia. And he now thinks I am his brother. His

> sisters were doing everything they could to try and

> help him and still live their lives and it got too

> much to handle. They cant afford In Treatment

> anywhere and he hasnt done anything to be committed,

> and from what I hear he is too young to go into a

> nursing home environment or assisted Iiving without

> them having to pay an exorbant amount of money. And

> from my experience in Police work and working at a

> treatment facility for five years, I agree that

> being in a Nursing Home away from family is what

> makes their decline in life accelerate. I

> personally think they lose hope and thats not what

> we want for Homer. My role increased to staying

> with Homer 24 hours a day after he fell one day a

> few months back. He was ok, but nobody could tell

> us what was making him fall. I thought it was a TIA

> or a stroke or a seizure but no one can tell us for

> sure. Homer is a strong guy and

> really hasnt shown the parkinsons effects of the

> disease. But some days the right side of his face

> will lose all expression and form and I think its a

> stroke but the next day he is fine. But there are

> a lot of things that we cant figure out or know why

> he does the things he does. And I thought maybe

> some of you who have had more experience with this

> could help. Some of the things he does is that he

> wanders continuously, leaving the house and we have

> to go find him. And on some occasions he walks into

> neighbors houses without being asked. Luckily, he

> lives in a great neighborhood and all the neighbors

> know of his ailment and are very supportive and

> helpful. But the constant wandering goes on night

> and day. Also he will not sleep for any period of

> time and goes days walking around like a zombie.

> Just exhausted. We started giving him benadryl a

> few months back to help him sleep but it doesnt work

> and I think that may be whats making him faint and

> fall. And Ive also

> read recently that others are having bad side

> effects from the diphenhydramine also. So his doctor

> put him on Trazadone for sleep and it seems to

> working. He also takes reperidol. He doesnt make

> sense when he talks which is expected with dementia

> along with hallucinations, but he has good days

> where he is almost normal and then days where its

> real bad. He fell again the other day and I think it

> was a seizure. When he falls he knocks himself out

> cold and we have to send him to the ER via EMS. But

> they always send him back rather quickly saying he

> is ok. Its like nobody knows what is causing this

> and nobody is giving the family any advice to help.

> In my younger years I worked as an activity

> therapist at an In Treatment facility and we worked

> with Alzheimers patients and it seemed that by

> getting them outside and doing things it prolonged

> their lives or at least improved the quality of life

> for them. So thats the approach we are taking. But

> here lately he is declining

> more rapidly. Some of the things that maybe some

> of you may be able to give advice for are as

> follows. He talks very vulgar on some days saying

> very inappropriate things, He constantly sneaks

> away from the house and I often find him urinating

> in alleyways or in neighbors front yards. When he

> goes on his walks he inevitably takes things that

> are not his and brings them home, like balls,

> newspapers, and anything he can get in his pockets

> and yes we've had several talks with the police who

> usually are not very understanding. At the end of

> the day we have to go through all his pockets and

> retrieve all the things he has accumulated

> throughout the day. Also several times a day he

> will go in his room and put all his clothes on and

> usually wears his underwear on the outside of his

> clothes and sneaks out of the house. I understand

> that he needs constant re-direction and we are ok

> with that. Its like he gets into a loop where he

> does the same thing over and over and I curb

> that by taking him out of the current enviorment he

> is in and get him away for a while. But it starts

> up when we get him back home. He was violent for a

> while and has gotten very angry with me at times,

> but that is starting to go away. May be something to

> do with the fact that I'm 6'5 " and 260 lbs, ha. He

> also gets up at night and fills all the drinking

> glasses in the kitchen with water and sets them on

> furniture and shelves all over the house. His life

> revolves around eating and thats a good thing

> because he is losing weight very rapidly. But he is

> still physically strong. But we're starting to have

> problems with getting him to eat. Some of the

> things I do is to take him on long rides in the

> country or down to a lake where we walk and thats

> when he does the best and is happy. But when I try

> to get him to do any cognitive things like reading

> or doing simple kids games he gets very frustrated.

> I try to do things where he will have to think but

> thats not working so

> we just rely on the nature walks. Anyway I just

> needed to vent and I apologize for the length of the

> email, but if anyone else is experiencing this type

> of behavior or if anyone has any kind of advice we

> would appreciate the input. If not then thanks for

> listening.

> epthompson wrote:

> For at least a limited time, you can read

> the whole paper here:

>

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

>

> What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug

> status of these

> patients wasn't examined. I think there's a

> perception in long-term

> care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA

> drug are

> " useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also

> get *VERY* happy

> with the antipsychotics, which is associated with

> decline and

> mortality in the demented. I can't believe they

> didn't attempt to

> control for those factors.

>

> Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using

> more adult day

> services have more-involved family members who were

> encouraging the

> use of adult day, and are more involved in the

> patient care decisions

> after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study

> doesn't provide

> enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

>

> E

>

> ---------------------------------

> Boardwalk for $500? In 2007? Ha!

> Play Monopoly Here and Now (it's updated for today's

> economy) at Yahoo! Games.

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Shape Yahoo! in your own image. Join our Network Research Panel today!

http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7

June 3, 2007

Good thinking ! That's true. Had to request numerous times that

my mom receive Exelon once she moved into the NH. Their first

response was " no " (basically, what's the point.) At least mom's NH

wasn't pill happy -- but know other places that were, e.g. the

hospital where my mom was for observation and received the

antipsychotic + numerous other meds. Good point you've made!

>

> For at least a limited time, you can read the whole paper here:

>

> http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/164/6/910

>

> What I find *REALLY* interesting is that the drug status of these

> patients wasn't examined. I think there's a perception in long-term

> care that the cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA drug are

> " useless " in late-stage AD, for starters. They also get *VERY*

happy

> with the antipsychotics, which is associated with decline and

> mortality in the demented. I can't believe they didn't attempt to

> control for those factors.

>

> Here's my wacky hypothesis - those who were using more adult day

> services have more-involved family members who were encouraging the

> use of adult day, and are more involved in the patient care

decisions

> after the LTC placement. Just a hunch, but the study doesn't

provide

> enough data to make that clear or rule it out.

>

> E

>

June 3, 2007

,

In the " lists " below we have a special lock that I used with Mom. It is very

safe as needs no key, but Mom couldn't open it. It is a " Guardian Lock " and

they have them at Home Depot if you have one in your area.

They cost about $20. each.

They are very simple for most to work, but anyone with dementia can't figure out

how to do it. Mom would try and give it up. That saved a lot on the

wandering. It takes 4 simple screws to put it on if you have wood doors.

Hugs,

Donna R

Caregave for Mom (after I brought her from WI to MI) for 3 years and 4th year in

a nh.

She was almost 89 when she died in '02. No dx other than mine.

Re: Re: Nursing Homes Can Accelerate Alzheimer's