• Simple is best. Don’t look for new high tech gadgets that they won’t be able to use. Instead, consider toys and pursuits from childhood, like simple musical instruments or a paint set.
• Useful items are always a good bet. Clothing that is comfortable and easy to get on and off is a good option.
• Reprinting photos of your loved one’s parents and framing them with unbreakable plastic fronts instead of glass can be a great gift if he or she still has memories of them.
• No matter what you end up buying, don’t give more than two or three gifts total. Too much stimulation is a bad idea.

Do you have any tips for choosing presents for Alzheimer’s patients?

You get to catch up on that scrapbooking project you haven’t had time for, chat with a bunch of creative ladies (I’ve yet to see a man at a crop, but they’re certainly welcome!) and raise money for Alzheimer’s at the same time.

This large trial found that community-dwelling seniors who received cognitive training had less of a decline in certain thinking skills than their peers who did not have training. The study addresses a very important hypothesis that interventions can be designed to maintain cognitive function, says NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, M.D. The challenge now is to further examine these interventions and others to see how they can be employed in real-world settings.

With findings like these, exercising our brains becomes very important. While brain exercises don’t stop dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, the study does show that they slow the progress of the diseases. So, how do we exercise our brains?

• Do logic, crossword and Sudoku puzzles – Just be sure you solve increasingly difficult puzzles as the years pass so you continue to challenge your brain.
• Play chess or checkers.
• Start a new hobby – exploring new hobbies often means learning new terminology, performing new tasks, etc.
• Send the kids (or grandkids) outside and take over the video game controllers for awhile. Simple games like Duck Hunt or Super Mario Brothers make me work on my reflexes and involve a bit of simple puzzle solving.
• Memorize your grocery list, a poem or a Bible verse. Not having success? Take a class on memory skills and put those skills to use.
• Hang out with kids. Sometimes, I can “feel the burn” from stretching my brain to include all those new ideas and ways of looking at things they come up with in a day.

Do you have any ideas for exercising our brains? Please post your tips!

When someone lives near the water, on a steep hill, or right beside a busy highway, the risk of injury for an Alzheimer’s patient gets much higher. Even our best efforts aren’t always enough, especially after we lock the doors for the night, get into bed and fall asleep. If we don’t hear our loved ones getting up, unlocking the door and leaving the house, they can be missing for eight hours or more before their disappearance is discovered. A few tips for keeping them from reaching and opening the front door without awakening you:

• Put a baby monitor in the Alzheimer’s patient’s room. The noises he or she makes getting up and leaving the room will probably awaken you.
• Use an alarm system on your house. It doesn’t have to necessarily plug into emergency services. It just has to go off if someone opens a door that shouldn’t be opening in the middle of the night.
• Use additional security measures, such as childproof locks and back up alarms on doors leading to potential hazard areas, such as the pool.

Finally, consider buying one of the new GPS tracking units. They are small enough to tuck into a pocket and last for five to seven days before they need to be recharged and I’ve seen some nice ones for under $250. Make sure the Alzheimer’s patient is wearing a GPS unit before you go out and if he or she does slip away for a stroll, you will be able to discover the location in minutes.

Here are the Signs of Alzheimer’s from the Alzheimer’s Association website.

1. Memory loss

2. Difficulty performing familiar tasks

3. Problems with language

4. Disorientation to time and place

5. Poor or decreased judgment

6. Problems with abstract thinking

7. Misplacing things

8. Changes in mood or behavior

9. Changes in personality

10. Loss of initiative

For example, if we did a charm bracelet swap, you’d send in 21 charms and receive 20 different charms back. The extra charms would be put on a bracelet and put on eBay. Other options would be a fat book swap with 20/21 pages or a 20/21 Artist Trading Card swap where I’d create a book with pockets for each of the extra ATCs to be auctioned as an ACEO card collection and holder.

Would anyone be interested in this? If so, please sign up to the Stamp Out Alzheimer’s Yahoo Group I’ve created to keep track of things and participate in the poll so I know which art form is the most popular.

The first swap theme will be a fat book on Cherished Memories- something that reminds you of a special day or person.

For up-to-date Alzheimer’s drug information the Mayo Clinic has good references on new drugs.

I know that we were surprised by William’s sudden inability to drive safely and were unprepared for the power struggle over the keys. Although he had a caregiver who would take him anywhere he wanted to go during the day and a son to take him where he wanted to go at night, he would still steal the keys and try to drive off with the car.

Despite the fact that we did try sitting down one on one, explained consequences of unsafe driving and had alternate transportation set up, he felt stripped of power and angry. However, these suggestions for helping the Alzheimer’s victim hang up the car keys for good do work for many people.