After ‘Top Kill,’ Few Options to Cap Well

clipped from dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com The “top kill” procedure for choking off the gushing seabed well in the Gulf of Mexico was not quite the last best chance, but close. Now that it has failed, BP, with authorization from the Obama administration, is moving to cut away the tangle of pipe from the well and install a small containment cap, called the “lower marine riser package.” Statement by the President on the Latest Efforts to Contain the BP Oil Spill | The White House whitehouse.gov Today, I’ve spoken with National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, as well as Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and senior White House advisors John Brennan and Carol Browner regarding the ongoing efforts to stop the BP oil spill...

About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

At the Alzheimer's Reading Room (ARR), we discuss solutions to common problems that Alzheimer's caregivers face each day.

On ARR, we discuss : caregiving, dementia, communication, wandering, incontinence, cleanliness, patient symptoms, anxiety, loneliness, nursing homes, behavior, and what to expect as the disease progresses.

We discuss issues that are important to Alzheimer's caregivers.

We provide specific insight, advice, and solutions based on real life experience.

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More About the Alzheimer's Reading Room

Alzheimer's Reading Room (In Case You Missed It Edition)

“You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.” --Aristotle.....

Bob DeMarco
Alzheimer's Reading Room
Editor



The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part One)
The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I learned a great deal about Alzheimer's disease--including the science. It helped me understand a very mystifying disease. It helped me to put a frame around something that is difficult if not impossible to describe.

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part Two)
It is difficult to describe the range of emotions a caregiver might feel or experience in a single day. Imagine being happy and then sad, caring then angry, focused then frustrated -- an almost endless stream of feelings and emotions that conflict.....

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver -- I Wish
Once I entered Alzheimer's world I did learn something fascinating -- my mother is full of feelings and emotion. I learned that I could connect with her....

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Communication in Alzheimer's World
Let's face it, dealing with Alzheimer's is not easy. Understanding Alzheimer's disease is not easy. Some people can't do it...not ever...

Alzheimer's Caregiver Lament -- I can't take her out because she eats with her hands
The positive effects of socialization, initiative, and motivation on the part of Alzheimer's sufferers and their caregiver should not be overlooked. I believe these are as important as the medication......

How We Beat Alzheimer's Incontinence -- A Solution
We are on a three day roll. No pee pee. No pee pee pajamas. No pee pee underwear. No pee pee pants...

Alzheimer's Caregiver Lament -- This is Not the Person I Knew
In order to communicate effectively with a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease you need to come to an understanding that they are now living in a new world -- I often refer to this as Alzheimer's world...

Which Drugs Increase the Risk of Falling for the Elderly
Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and nonfatal injuries for adults sixty-five and older...

I promised not to put my parents in a nursing home
The decision to keep a parent home or place them in a facility is never an easy choice, and is usually contemplated for a long time. The horror stories we’ve all heard about nursing homes can make anyone cringe.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Sometimes while looking at all those stars I begin to look at the space between the stars -- I call this the Blue Nowhere...When I look at the Blue Nowhere, I begin to imagine all the persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The Blue Nowhere is very vast.

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Alzheimer's Action Plan: The Experts' Guide to the Best Diagnosis and Treatment for Memory Problems

Worried About Alzheimer's? You Should Be

Regardless of age, you should be worried about Alzheimer's disease.....

Worried About Alzheimer's? You Should Be
Regardless of age, you should be worried about Alzheimer's disease. A Harris Interactive poll showed that 100 million Americans are touched by Alzheimer's. The same poll showed that more than 33 million Americans are worried about getting Alzheimer's.
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Worried About Alzheimer's? Tip #1 Exercise
If exercise can have this kind of dramatic effect on my mother who already suffers from Alzheimer's, you really need to start wondering to yourself -- is this the way to beat or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease?
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Worried About Alzheimer's? The Holy Grail of Exercise
In graduate school I studied risky decision making and statistics. I can say with confidence, if you are not exercising you are making a risky decision, and you are increasing the odds that you might suffer from Alzheimer's, heart disease, or any number of diseases that are catastrophic in the long run.
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Worried about Alzheimer's? Five Ways to Protect Yourself
Protect yourself against Alzheimer's or roll the dice? Here are five good ways to protect your brain and put the odds in your favor.
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Worried About Alzheimer's? Using Google Search Promotes Memory and a Healthy Brain
A brain study conducted by Dr. Gary Small, a UCLA expert on aging, found that people who search the Internet using Google use more of their brain while engaging in this activity. This suggests searching on the Internet may train the brain -- that it may keep it active and healthy.
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Worried about Alzheimer's? If You are a Baby Boomer You Should Be
I'm standing outside FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue in New York City. In fifteen minutes I see about 100 people coming and going. I ask myself? Did I just see 8 people that are going to suffer from Alzheimer's during their lifetime?
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Worried About Alzheimer's? Yoga for Your Face
There are a long list of scientific articles that indicate exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer's, dementia, heart disease, diabetes, and lowers LDL cholesterol. You might chuckle when you see the yoga exercises for you face. They work.
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Worried About Alzheimer's? Nintendo Wii Hula Hoop
You'll notice you don't actually need a hula hoop. You just mimic the movement. In the case of my mother, I would have her hold on to a high backed chair. The combination of the music and video turns this into a game -- and lots of fun.
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Kindle Amazon's Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation)

Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

Is it really Alzheimers or something else?

clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com Many people assume that if an older person becomes forgetful and can no longer deal with some of the basic activities of daily living, he or she must have Alzheimer’s disease. This is not always the case. I cannot tell you how many times I have recommended to someone to go beyond their personal physician and get a neurological consult. They rarely follow through which never stops amazing me. Dementia (Alzheimer's disease) like symptoms can be caused by numerous factors. The following can present as a false positive for Alzheimer's. They can only be ruled out by appropriate testing. These include: Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

The Metamorphosis of This Alzheimer's Caregiver (Part One)

clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com My name is Bob DeMarco, I am an Alzheimer's caregiver. My mother Dorothy, now 93 years old, suffers from Alzheimer's disease. We live our lives one day at a time. I'm fortunate in two ways. I picked great parents, and God and my parents blessed me with an ability to read fast, and absorb information. My brain is wired to view everything as a system. This allows me to see all the parts when I encounter something new, or when I am trying to figure things out. When I first learned my mother was suffering from dementia, I quickly learned you could put everything I knew about dementia and Alzheimer's in a thimble. So, I started reading. The more I learned the more I wanted to know. I learned a great deal about Alzheimer's disease--including the science. It helped me understand a very mystifying disease. It helped me to put a frame around something that is difficult if not impossible to describe. Original content Bob DeMarco, Alzheimer's Reading Room

(R)evolution in Alzheimer's Related Caregiving

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clipped from www.alzheimersreadingroom.com One of my greatest fears is the day I might have to place my mother in an Alzheimer's care facility. I say might because I pray that I'll never have to do it. I receive emails all the time from people that experience the guilt, angst, and remorse of having place their loved one in a Alzheimer's care facility that provides little care, and is a horrid environment for their loved one. It doesn't have to be that way........... Perhaps what’s going on here is actually miraculous: nearly every one of them has been liberated from the nightmare of antipsychotic drugs. And virtually all of them will never be readmitted to a hospital behavior unit, a nursing home--or shackled to a restraint and left alone to die.--Laurence Harmon, et al