Category: Alzheimer’s & Dementia Care

If you notice cognitive changes in a parent, it can be challenging to know how to address this topic with them. Because early detection and diagnosis are essential to slowing the progression of memory impairment and cognitive decline, having this conversation sooner rather than later is important. 

When many people hear the word dementia, they tend to think of memory loss. While dementia and memory loss often go hand in hand, this condition can affect individuals in many more ways than that.

Picture yourself taking a walk through a park; you feel the sun on your face as it shines through the trees and a light breeze in your hair as you listen to the birds chirping and the squirrels scurrying across the forest floor. You feel connected with nature, alert, and more energized. All your senses are stimulated. 

Music plays a special part in our lives. You’ll never forget going to your first concert, the first dance at your wedding, or seeing your own child’s small body twirl on stage at their first ballet recital. Music has an invaluable, intangible, and almost unexplainable presence in our lives; it elicits a feeling of warmth and familiarity. 

Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are complex conditions that many people don’t fully understand, even when it impacts their own family. In fact, many are not aware that dementia is not a disease itself but rather a collection of symptoms that results from damage to the brain. 

If you care for a family member or loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia, you may have noticed that they become more irritable around late afternoon into the evening. This isn’t just in your head; it’s an occurrence called sundowning.