Full Description
Caregiving for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or dementia is hard but with this book, you and your family will successfully face the challenges that these diseases present.
Dementia is a very common neurological disease of aging affecting millions of people in complex ways. There are multiple forms of the dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, Lewy Body Dementia, Frontotemporal Dementia, and vascular dementia, among others, and many share features of slowly progressive and profound changes affecting memory, thinking, behavior, and personality. The disease often introduces personal and even financial strains, which can be at times hard to understand. Unfortunately, most forms of dementia have no definitive treatments to prevent, slow, or stop the progression, but there is a concerted effort in the scientific community to change this. There is a consistent hope that there will soon be a new era of scientific breakthroughs impacting dementia. Now, and in the future, patients with dementia, their friends, and their families need resources to successfully face the challenges introduced by the disease.
Navigating Life with Dementia is designed as a handbook including tools to manage both day-to-day issues and to anticipate the long-term impact of the disease for dementia patients as well as their friends and families. This volume will help families in all stages of dementia care, beginning with the earliest hints of cognitive problems through advanced stages. In easily understood language, the book thoroughly covers the complexities of the dementias, the establishment of a diagnosis, what to expect throughout the stages of disease, and how to best anticipate and manage common problems.
Contents
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Dementia, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Normal Changes of Aging-What's the Difference?
Chapter 2: Diagnosing Dementia
Chapter 3: The Stages of Dementia
Chapter 4: Where, Why, and How Dementia Affects the Brain
Chapter 5: Alzheimer's Disease
Chapter 6: Dementia with Lewy Bodies
Chapter 7: Frontotemporal Dementia
Chapter 8: Vascular Dementia
Chapter 9: Less Common Causes of Dementia
Chapter 10: Treatment of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia
Chapter 11: Treatment of Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia
Chapter 12: Lifestyle Management and Nonpharmacologic Therapies for People with Dementia and Their Caregivers
Chapter 13: Dementia Care Support
Chapter 14: Monitoring and Maintaining Independence, Safety, and Mobility
Chapter 15: Advance Care Planning
Epilogue
Appendix A: Nuclear Medicine Imaging
Appendix B: The Lumbar Puncture
Appendix C: Resources
Appendix D: Clinical Trials and Other Research Study Opportunities
Glossary
(Index)
