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Summer’s bounty: adding brain healthy foods to your diet

Summer’s bounty: adding brain healthy foods to your diet

It feels like summer is finally arriving, and with it, an abundance of fresh and delicious food. It’s finally time for those fresh berries, sweet watermelon, and juicy oranges. Summer is a great opportunity to both take advantage of the less expensive in-season fruits and veggies and try to add some brain healthy food choices to your diet. Healthy food choices not only improve your health all around, they are also beneficial to brain health.

Dr. Alex Mihailidis: the ‘talking bathroom guy’

Dr. Alex Mihailidis: the ‘talking bathroom guy’

When you design assistive technologies to help adults with cognitive difficulties live more independently, you have to know what users need. That sounds simple but we really know so little about this. What social-demographic factors affect their decisions about how to use the technology and when? Does their level of education, age, culture or religion have an effect? These are brand new questions. Most developers aren’t even thinking about this. It’s not surprising then that nine out of 10 devices…

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Art program for people with dementia

Art program for people with dementia

Do you remember the wonder you felt as a child creating your first work of art? It could have been the gooey touch of finger paint or the surprise of creating something out of nothing after pasting a collage. Many lose those feelings over time. That’s why it is so wonderful to hear about the success of the Gather at the Gallery program at the Alzheimer Society of Kitchener-Waterloo. The program allows persons living with dementia to rediscover a love…

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Keith Harvey–carefree husband to caregiver

Keith Harvey–carefree husband to caregiver

Keith Harvey was a typical carefree husband. His wife Mary gave up her career when they got married and looked after the household chores. Keith’s role was to make ‘important decisions.’   He quotes Gordie Howe to put what this meant in perspective: “I was in charge of making all the important decisions, but I haven’t made one this whole time.” But Keith’s arrangement changed drastically in 2007. “I began to notice something was wrong with Mary,” he says. “At first,…

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Why Tanz researcher Dr. Paul Fraser keeps working

Why Tanz researcher Dr. Paul Fraser keeps working

I started out working on multiple sclerosis in Boston in the eighties, but then things began exploding in the Alzheimer’s field and I couldn’t resist changing directions. Harvard Medical School was one of the key places where people were working on Alzheimer’s and the excitement was infectious. The amyloid precursor protein gene had just been cloned and that helped us begin to understand how the disease works. Those were heady days of people thinking they could cure Alzheimer’s in a…

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The Alzheimer Society Research Program: Helping research happen across Canada

The Alzheimer Society Research Program: Helping research happen across Canada

In January and February of this year, scientists from across Canada and the United States descended upon Toronto to participate in the annual peer review meetings of the Alzheimer Society Research Program (ASRP). Their task: to critique research proposals that had been submitted to the ASRP by Canadian students, young investigators and established researchers; and to decide which projects will be funded by evaluating them on the basis of scientific merit, novelty and relevance to Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

Love in the face of Alzheimer’s disease

Love in the face of Alzheimer’s disease

My mom’s 86th birthday was May 8th. She has Alzheimer’s disease and lives in a long term care home in Brampton.  My dad will be 90 soon and lives across the parking lot from my mom in a retirement building.  He is a proud veteran and doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.   What transpired that day brought tears to my eyes. This message was forwarded to me from the Director of Resident and Family Services where my mom lives: “Just…

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Welcome to the Sandwich Generation – extra mustard with mine please

Welcome to the Sandwich Generation – extra mustard with mine please

You never truly experience life, and your true potential for living, until you experience life’s real adventures. These are the moments that, in some ways define you, and in others, stretch you beyond unimaginable limits. I wouldn’t for a moment, suggest that I have overcome unthinkable odds; just watch the recent news and see real people dealing with dire situations. But in the past six months, I have had to face a very real challenge of my generation and it has given me the opportunity to feel that “pain” and immerse myself in some truly important life lessons.

Driving and Dementia: 12 warning signs for knowing when to hang up the keys

Driving and Dementia: 12 warning signs for knowing when to hang up the keys

May 14 – 20 is National Road Safety Week, and now that we are finally seeing a glimpse of spring, it’s a good time to reflect on our own driving habits so that we can be sure that we are all safe on the road.

For people living with dementia, knowing when it’s time to stop driving is difficult. Driving represents freedom and independence and it is not something that anyone wants to give up. Many people in the early stages of dementia can continue to drive safely and competently; however, because dementia is a progressive condition, it can be a challenge to know when to hang up the keys. Here are a few of the warning signs to look for.