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Can Reading and Writing Slow Dementia?
A recent article in the Journal of Neurology added evidence that reading and writing can slow dementia adding more options to the important area of maintaining brain fitness. While certain computer...
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Be on the Lookout for Normal Pressure “Hydrocephalus”
“Normal pressure hydrocephalus” (NPH) sounds complicated, but it’s simply an abnormal build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain’s ventricles or cavities. It occurs if the normal flow of spinal fluid...
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What if an Elder Resists Treatment?
One of the most common complaints I encounter doing elder care house calls is this, “My—father/mother/aunt/uncle/grandmother—will not cooperate with care. We’re just trying to help, and our loved one...
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When Things Get Hard to Swallow
As a geriatrician making house calls throughout the Bay Area, I often must explain to families that toward the end stages of dementia, their loved ones will eventually forget the most basic of physical...
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Is Your Elder Neglecting Their Own Care?
A colleague recently forwarded me an essay from The New England Journal of Medicine about what we call in the field “elder self-neglect.” The essay describes a patient who has piles and piles of paper...
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Don’t Discount the Value of Exercise!
Earlier this month, a large study cast doubt on whether exercise can help nursing home residents with depression. The study, published in BMC Medicine, followed more than 1,000 residents in 78 “care...
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To Walk or Not to Walk?
I often have families of patients express concern about how much mobility a person with dementia should be allowed. Elders with dementia often want to move in ways that seem excessive to the rest of...
View ArticleA Letter from Dr. Landsverk to Sacramento regarding Assembly Bill No. 2171
To: California Assembly Member Robert A. Wieckowski (District 25, Fremont) P.O. Box 942849, Room 4016 Sacramento, CA 94249-0025 California Assembly Member Mariko Yamada (District 4, Davis) P.O. Box...
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Heat is harder on Elders
Heat is not something most in the Bay Area commonly have to deal with. Tips for dealing with heat and elders: * Stay somewhere cool * Drink plenty of water * Wear light clothing and hats outside *...
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Can Patients Remember “Sundowning”?
Recently, on an eldercare professionals group on LinkedIn, a post about a man in Indonesia who describes his “sundowning” received a lot of attention. If you have a loved one who is suffering from...
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Dementia Myth No. 1: You can predict the progress of dementia
No, I’m afraid that you can’t. As I stated in my previous post, we as a society cling to the idea that dementia is simply a gradual fading out, a progressive loss of memories and self-awareness. While...
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Dementia Myth No. 2: Bad Behavior Results from Unmet Needs
I have a bedridden dementia patient who is lucky to be able to remain in her house. She receives 24/7 care from long-suffering, dedicated and kind nurse’s aides. Her family has returned from the East...
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Dementia Myth No. 3: “Just Give Him a Sleeping Pill. Or a Tranquilizer.”
Almost nothing in my practice drives me more nuts than the relaxed attitude both our society and our medical establishment have toward prescribing sleeping pills and tranquilizers to elders, especially...
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Music and Dementia: What’s the connection?
From the movie “Alive Inside” In my practice, as I see patients with dementia in their homes and in assisted living communities, throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, I am often struck by the...
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When Walking is No Longer an Option
When Walking is No Longer an Option In my last post, I wrote about how important I think it is for patients to keep moving, walking, if possible. Of course, for many patients there comes a time when...
View ArticleTough Tasks in Dementia: Toothbrushing and Feeding
One of the best caregiving techniques from Teepa Snow- how to help someone with dementia brush their teeth or feed themselves. So simple (once you know it!) and so effective. Teepa is coming to Davis...
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With a New App, You Can Always Have Your Wishes Known
If you’re one of my patients, or the family of one of my patients, I’ve already nagged you about this: Make out an advance healthcare directive: Figure out whom you would want to make your health and...
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Opting to Die at 75? Is that a good thing?
There’s a lot of discussion on the Internet right now about an essay published in the current issue of The Atlantic Monthly. In the essay, 57-year-old writer Ezekiel J. Emmanuel makes a radical...
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