It's so easy to become frustrated when talking to someone with dementia or Alzheimer's. It's hard to know the "right" way to respond to the repetitive or odd things he sometimes says. You won't be tongue-tied if you keep these simple communication techniques in mind. How to start a conversation When you want to start a conversation or ask a question, get the person's attention in an obvious, direct way. Start by approaching him from the front and saying his name. This will he

Most older Americans take multiple medicines every day. But a new poll suggests they don’t get – or seek – enough help to make sure those medicines actually mix safely. That lack of communication could be putting older adults at risk of health problems from interactions between their drugs, and between their prescription drugs and other substances such as over-the-counter medicines, supplements, food and alcohol. The new results, from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, show

When your head is pounding, your nose is stuffed, and you can't stop coughing and sneezing, you might not care what you have — you just want relief. But it's important to know that a cold, the flu, and pneumonia can all cause those symptoms. How do you tell the difference between the flu and a common cold? It can be difficult to tell the flu and a cold apart since they have very similar symptoms. To find out how to get the relief you need, you need to know exactly what kind o

British neuroscientist Joseph Jebelli first set out to study Alzheimer's because of his grandfather, who developed the disease when Jebelli was 12. In the years that followed, Jebelli watched as his grandfather's memory started to disappear. But Jebelli points out that although a certain amount of memory loss is a natural part of aging, what happened to his grandfather and to other Alzheimer's patients is different. "Losing your keys, forgetting where you put your glasses, is