June 28, 2017 - Shawn Taylor

Our Veterans and Dementia

June is PTSD Awareness Month. The rapidly surging number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease includes a growing number of military veterans, who may be at increased risk for dementia as a consequence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and brain injuries suffered in service. UsAgainstAlzheimer’s successfully works with and for communities at higher risk for dementia, including women, Latinos, and African Americans. Veterans also face unique risk factors for Alzheimer's as a result of their service. Love of country and support for our military is in my blood, and, sadly, so is Alzheimer’s. So it is fitting that I am spearheading
Read more Aging Daughter Dementia Grandchildren Husbands and Wives Mother People with Alzheimer's People with Alzheimers Spouses and Partners
June 07, 2017 - Virginia Biggar

African Americans are more likely than whites to develop Alzheimer’s. Why?

This June 1, 2017, Washington Post article by Marita Golden focuses on the shocking disproportionate impact of Alzheimer’s on communities of color, specifically African Americans. Older African Americans develop Alzheimer's at a higher rate than any other group of older Americans, and are about twice as likely as non-Hispanic whites to develop it or other forms of dementia. George Vradenburg, UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder, says, “When Trish and I started UsAgainstAlzheimer’s, we wanted to start a movement, a mobilization to find out why women, blacks and Latinos are disproportionately affected.” African Americans are nearly invisible in clinical Alzheimer's trials, accounting for only
May 04, 2017 - Marie Marley

Nursing Home Placement: Damned if You Do – Damned if You Don’t

Caregivers of people living with Alzheimer’s disease must make some extremely difficult decisions. One decision they may face is whether to place their loved one in a care facility of some type. Virtually no one wants to do it and few if any people want to go. This will be one of the most difficult, heart-wrenching decisions you, as an Alzheimer’s caregiver, will ever have to make. What if you have to work full-time and can’t provide the 24/7 care dementia patients require – especially those in the later stages of the disease? What if you can’t afford an in-home
April 18, 2017 - Jill Lesser

WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s Mourns Passing of Adored and Inspirational Founder, Trish Vradenburg

As many of you know, our beloved founder, Trish Vradenburg passed away yesterday. Our hearts are broken. In my grief, I wanted to reflect on her life and what she meant to me and to our community. There are simply no words to fully express my grief and the deep sense of empathy I feel for her husband, best friend, lover and soul mate George Vradenburg. Trish was a rare breed, the perfect combination of consummate lady and inveterate ball buster – she was smart, loving, devoted and most of all, hilarious. She could take even the most serious subject
March 24, 2017 - Jason Resendez

Brain Health & Inequality: Reflections on the Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity

The 2017 Aspen Summit on Inequality & Opportunity brought together a diverse mix of policymakers, thought leaders, social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and practitioners to address the nation’s widening opportunity gap. Tucked between to-be-expected panels on manufacturing and hunger, was a 15 minute talk by Dr. Sarah Enos Watamura, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Denver and Director of the Child Health & Development Lab, on the biology of adversity. (Continue reading on Medium.)
March 15, 2017 - Haley Richman

Kid Caregivers

My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when I was 4 years old. (I am now 9 years old). I wanted to help care for her, so my mom gave me easy puzzles to solve with my Grandma. I felt like I was doing a good thing because when we worked on puzzles we were both very happy. As the years went by, I learned about different ways of helping my grandmother. For example, “Go into her world.” My grandfather passed away, but Grandma asked me, “When will Grandpa come home from work?” If I told her the truth she
March 07, 2017 - Jason Resendez

Out at Sea: Two Stories of Dementia and Caregiving

There are over 15 million family caregivers providing care for a loved one living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia yet these stories are rarely found in the media, particularly the experiences of the black and brown folks that often struggle to access a diagnosis, treatment and care support. (Continue reading on Huffington Post) Jason Resendez is the Executive Director of the LatinosAgainstAlzheimer’s Network & Coalition - a network of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
February 28, 2017 - Jill Lesser and Stephanie Monroe

Heart Health, Black History Month and Brain Health: An Unlikely Connection

Two major advocacy campaigns are underway in February: Black History Month and Heart Health Month. While their connection to Alzheimer’s disease may not be obvious, each is vitally important. ( Continue reading in Morning Consult.) Jill Lesser is president of WomenAgainstAlzheimer’s and has been a caregiver for the past nine years to her mother, Barbara Lesser, who has Alzheimer’s disease. Stephanie Monroe is executive director of AfricanAmericansAgainstAlzheimer’s, the first national network created specifically to respond to Alzheimer’s disease and its disparate impact on African Americans.

I Miss My Sister

My older (by one year) sister, Lucyann, now 60, was diagnosed when she was 58.  She was a well-liked (by peers and students) professor, a great daughter and the best sister anyone could have.  She cared for my dad during the last 10 years of his life, while she was still teaching and/or working at the university, until his death about four years ago.  During the last three years, we started to notice that she was angry a lot, particularly with my mom, for whom she had absolutely no patience.  She would not go to work and claimed headaches and/or migraines. She took a lot of naps and always went to bed early.  She would spend a lot of time watching TV, the same happy-ending movies or tv shows, over and over.  She was a great baker, but her cakes were definitely not the same.  When she stopped paying her bills, we realized something was very wrong and we convinced her to see a psychologist. To make a long story short, the psychologist ordered a lot of tests and referred her to a neurologist, and there it was: frontotemporal dementia (FTD).  She retired from work and applied for Social Security Disability, which was granted about nine months later. She cannot live with my mother, and my mother cannot live alone, so we had to separate them. My mom lives with my brother because she cannot live by herself anymore. Social Security is not enough to cover my mom’s bills, so we are selling her house to pay for her care. Lucy has reached the stage in which she cannot be alone either, so she spends time in Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Massachusetts, where some of my siblings and I care for her. We are still figuring her out. Her diet has changed—sweets, soda, pizza, and hot dogs have become her favorite foods—so she has gained weight, and we had to upgrade her wardrobe. We never know when she will agree to exercise (mainly walk), but she will always agree to go shopping or to the movies. She has lost empathy and there are absolutely no filters, especially between brain and mouth. There is no secret she is able to keep. 

I miss her phone calls, advice, hugs . . . I miss talking to her. I can’t figure out what she is thinking when she is staring into space, and I think that she is actually unable to tell me. I hope she is somewhat happy. I hope she feels safe and cared for.  I hope she feels how much we love her.

February 13, 2017 - Marie Marley

Do You Want to Be Right or Have Peace?

One night I was helping Ed, my Romanian life partner of 30 years, pay his bills. He’d been showing signs of dementia and always needed assistance with that task. Unfortunately, I put the stamp on an envelope a little askew. When Ed noticed, he lost it. “Marie,” he hollered, putting his glass of vodka down forcefully and slamming his fist on the table. “Look what you did. It’s crooked. You r-r-ruined a perfectly good stamp!” “Ed,” I said loudly, caught off guard and angered by his outburst, “It doesn’t matter. The post office doesn’t care if it’s on straight. They
Subscribe to