Ray's posts
New readers catch-up 2: Causes/contributory factors
In my effort to try and understand the disease, I’ve looked so far at three possible causes/contributory factors. Unlike some of the stuff that you can find online, these have all been discussed and researched by perfectly reputable scientists, and …
Continue ReadingWhat are, and what aren’t, symptoms of dementia?
This is the title of a section of John Zeisel’s ‘I’m still here’. It’s all very obvious once you’ve read it, but it’s really helpful to have all this set out so clearly. Zeisel differentiates between the primary symptoms of …
Continue ReadingPeople with dementia have a lot in common with people who don’t
This may sound obvious, but it’s interesting to realise that many of the things that people with dementia do, and which sometimes attract comment, are things that people who don’t have dementia also do. Two recent examples that I’ve come …
Continue ReadingTamoxifen again
I’ve blogged about the possible link between Tamoxifen and memory/dementia: here and here. This is a link to an interesting article on this topic: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091305701006566. Another interesting article – see the abstract at the start: http://www.faceblind.org/social_perception/papers/zbasseda/zbasseda-Tamoxifen.pdf Perhaps most interestingly, Tamoxifen appears …
Continue ReadingBeacons of hope
This is the title of my latest post. It lists links to other posts which discuss positive and even inspirational things I’ve come across in my search: http://adventureswithdementia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/beacons-of-hope.html +1141
Continue ReadingLife on hold
On online forums carers, and not just carers for people with dementia, complain about their life ‘being on hold’. It’s pretty obvious really – life is never on hold. The sun rises and sets, you get a day older, your …
Continue ReadingAccentuate the positives
On the journey from mild cognitive impairment and on through various stages of dementia, discussions with professionals, at which patients are very often present, tend to focus on deficits. I have been very aware of this recently after help from …
Continue ReadingIs a diagnosis necessarily a good thing?
A neurologist is quoted on an online forum as saying to someone who was impatient about the fact that it was taking her so long to obtain a diagnosis: ‘no diagnosis is better than a wrong diagnosis’. So here we …
Continue ReadingIt’s not all about suffering……….and imaginary conversations needs to be properly investigated
The admiral nurse pointed this out to me and it fits in so well with the person-centred approach to dementia. She was responding to my saying that S’s ‘conversations’ with the people she imagines are now quite often calm and …
Continue ReadingThe lucky one
I’m sure that this is a common experience for people in situations similar to mine. I’ve actually lived alone at various points in my life and mostly I’ve found it O.K. My current situation is not remotely like that, because …
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