Treading Dark Waters
— Ray Burow

“No” is the easiest answer to any request. Unfortunately, it’s a caregiver’s go-to, perhaps especially when caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease. I often felt it necessary to tell my mother “no,” but now, I wish…

Years ago, a friend gave me invaluable advice. This friend had lost her father when her children were young. Like me, she was very close to her parents and valued her relationship with them. I asked her at the…

Following Thanksgiving, Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers Month both come to a close. Isn’t it interesting that caregivers are celebrated in the same month set aside to give thanks? It’s appropriate since the…

For caregivers, there are few things scarier than the thought of developing Alzheimer’s disease. We’re empathetic to our loved ones who have Alzheimer’s, yet every day, we face what could be our own future. We start thinking about…

It seems that almost everyone knows someone with Alzheimer’s disease. If you’re reading this column, you’re likely either acquainted with a friend or loved one in the fight, or you’re fighting the battle yourself. About 6.5 million…

Dementia affects communication, and as it progresses, sometimes into Alzheimer’s disease, it can eventually lead to a loss of the ability to communicate. This progression usually begins in the mid-stages of the disease. Aphasia is the…

I live in Florida with my family. As I write this, shortly after Hurricane Ian made landfall, more than a million people at points north and west of us are without power. My thoughts and prayers are with those…

Dementia and Alzheimer’s groups around the globe are now closing out World Alzheimer’s Month. In 2012, when this observance began to bring awareness to the most common form of dementia, only 5.4 million people in the United…

If only there were a magic pill that quelled dementia, ending Alzheimer’s disease and restoring the cognitive ability of more than 6 million people in the United States and nearly 55 million globally. Medical science has advanced…

Pregnancy and dementia are conditions we rarely associate with each other, but sadly, there appears to be a connection. According to a study published in 2019 in the Ethiopian Journal of Health Sciences, pregnancy-induced hypertension is one of…

If your diet includes ultra-processed foods, “you are what you eat” may take on new meaning. By definition, ultra-processed foods have multiple ingredients that help to improve the taste. Ingredients often include food additives and processed raw materials, like…

Between 2015 and 2020, the number of unpaid caregivers in the United States increased from 43.5 million to 53 million, and one in five of those care for family members. According to a Pew Research Center study,…