The Alzheimer’s Association’s 2021 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report [PDF] shares that currently, six million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, a number that has increased 145% since the turn of the century. Around the world, there are 50 million people living with Alzheimer’s disease or related dementia. Only a quarter of would-be patients… Read More »
With a growing recognition of the toll that dementia takes on individuals, families, and communities, there is a movement to prepare our society to better meet the needs of people living with dementia. This movement is referred to as becoming “dementia friendly,” and it can reduce stigma, increase inclusiveness, and improve care. A family example… Read More »
John bowled in a Friday night league for 20 years. It was often the highlight of his week – a chance to spend time with friends, blow off some steam, and enjoy some friendly competition. Now 75 and living with dementia, John has tried more than once to walk to a bowling alley that no… Read More »
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) affect about 5.7 million people in the US. Although most of those affected are covered by Medicare, many of the medical costs are not covered by insurance and must be borne by patients and their families. Total costs of care for ADRD have been estimated at more than $277… Read More »
This post is the final one in our 4-part series focusing on presentations that were delivered at a special panel session at APHA16 on the childhood roots of health inequity [part 1, part 2, part 3]. Our fourth presenter, Dr. Jennifer Manly, is Associate Professor of Neuropsychology in Neurology at the Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the… Read More »
I’ll never forget the time Granddaddy tried to eat my hand. At least that’s how it seemed to me at age six. In reality, he’d simply confused my hand with the straw sticking out of the milkshake we’d brought to him at the nursing home. By that point in his early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, the Granddaddy… Read More »