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Category: Diagnosing Dementia

Getting a diagnosis
Getting a dementia diagnosis – where do you start?

Getting a dementia diagnosis – where do you start?

It can start with something simple, like having trouble following your favourite recipe, or putting your car keys in the fridge. Maybe you’ve noticed small changes in your memory that are affecting how you do things day-to-day. If you can’t quite remember things that should be straightforward for you, or if you notice changes in your mood or ability to communicate, make an appointment to see your family doctor right away. Diagnosing dementia is a complex and difficult process. The…

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Driving with Dementia

Driving with Dementia

Follow us, as Elizabeth Murray tells the moving story of her mother’s battle with dementia. In this blog series, Murray explores every part of the experience of caring for someone with dementia, sharing her memories and insights from it all. Her words serve as a great reminder of the many ways dementia affects our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.” Driving had always been an important part of my mother’s life. She loved to tell stories about her…

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Missing the Signs

Missing the Signs

Follow us, as Elizabeth Murray tells the moving story of her mother’s battle with dementia. In this blog series, Murray explores every part of the experience of caring for someone with dementia, sharing her memories and insights from it all. Her words serve as a great reminder of the many ways dementia affects our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.” 25,000 Canadians are diagnosed with dementia each year yet families often dismiss its symptoms as part of the…

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Forgetting an Unforgettable Recipe: Mamie’s Butterscotch Raisin Cookies

Forgetting an Unforgettable Recipe: Mamie’s Butterscotch Raisin Cookies

Follow us, as Elizabeth Murray tells the moving story of her mother’s battle with dementia. In this blog series, Murray explores every part of the experience of caring for someone with dementia, sharing her memories and insights from it all. Her words serve as a great reminder of the many ways dementia affects our lives, and the lives of our loved ones.” When I was growing up, my mother’s raisin cookies were a family favourite and making them was a…

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Wendy & David Hughes
It’s not always Alzheimer’s: One couple’s story of getting the ‘right’ diagnosis

It’s not always Alzheimer’s: One couple’s story of getting the ‘right’ diagnosis

David, a kind, quiet and intelligent man, connected to his family, with lots of friends, and very active in his community, started to become withdrawn and apathetic. His wife Wendy knew something wasn’t quite right. The Hughes sought help early, but much time passed before they found out that David has Lewy body dementia. Wendy became an advocate for her life partner. David was initially diagnosed with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. As she did more research, she wondered about the…

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Research Video Series: Introducing Dr. Rahel Rabi

Research Video Series: Introducing Dr. Rahel Rabi

At the University of Toronto, Rahel Rabi’s research focuses on diagnosis and detection, where she is working hard to identify the cognitive biomarkers of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this video, Rahel describes her research funded by the Alzheimer Society Research Program in her own words. Scientists have made remarkable strides in understanding Alzheimer’s disease, and with recent advances in research involving novel techniques, we can work towards finding a cure. -Rahel Rabi Rahel Rabi Rawlinson Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Alzheimer’s…

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Left to right: Bill Heibein, Senator Kelvin Kenneth Ogilvie, Phyllis Fehr, Bea Kraayenhof, and Senator Nancy Greene Raine.
The Ontario Dementia Advisory Group challenges us to think differently about a diagnosis

The Ontario Dementia Advisory Group challenges us to think differently about a diagnosis

In February 2016, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology started investigating the issue of dementia in Canada , with the aim of producing a final report by November 30, 2016. They’ve met with myriad witnesses representing many aspects of the complex network of health agencies, experts and researchers who can lend  insights into the state of dementia. Executive directors, doctors, and other professionals helped to guide and inform the course of the study as Witnesses.  But…

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Why I work to support people with Alzheimer’s

Why I work to support people with Alzheimer’s

Beth Haas, Behavioural Support Worker for the Alzheimer Society of Oxford, shares her connection to Alzheimer’s disease. Can you share what your personal connection to Alzheimer’s disease has been? First it was my grandmother who had Alzheimer’s disease. It was still called senility in the 1970s.   At an early age,  I had to travel every other weekend to support her as she struggled to remain in the farmhouse where she had spent all of her married life. And then, years…

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I have what? Frontotemporal dementia?

I have what? Frontotemporal dementia?

As I drove us to the 9:00 a.m. meeting with Dr. Didyk a geriatrician, many thoughts ran through my head. Here we go, another appointment with another doctor. One more stupid test. I hate when they ask me to write down the clock time because I know what time it is. I’m looking forward to my Timmy’s coffee. Once Dawn and I arrived at the hospital, we grabbed a coffee and headed off to the waiting room of the gerontology…

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Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

Questions for your doctor when seeking a diagnosis

My mother is 82 years of age and she is becoming much more forgetful. She constantly repeats herself and forgets everything that I say. She is also more argumentative lately and when I ask her what is wrong, she gets upset and says she is fine. What can I do? Many families are forced to confront difficult situations like this when their aging parents display signs of dementia.  It’s best to see your doctor for help and a diagnosis. According…

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