Read my latest Gerotalk column on the ADVANCE web site: The Psychology of Pain.

This morning, Good Morning America ran a segment about a program that allows patients with Alzheimer's or dementia to stay active all night long. The program, which is billed as the first of its kind, takes place in the Hebrew Home for the Aged, Riverdale, N.Y.  It addresses the insomnia that often occurs with Alzheimer's or dementia and ...

Pain management is a prominent issue in long-term care. For many years providing pain medication on a regular basis was irrationally feared based on risking a potential addiction to the resident. As we have become more enlightened, the fear of addiction has abated and our focus has become more rationally directed toward maintaining ...

My book club recently started reading Still Alice, a novel by Lisa Genova. The book chronicles a 50-year-old woman's experience with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.   In doing some research on the book, I came across the author's Web site, and found the Still Alice blog. It's here that Genova shares some of what she's learned ...

The hippocampus is a region of the brain located in the medial temporal lobe, which is that area located on each side of person's head. If you look at your head and take the region where your ears are located, and pass an imaginary line into your skull from your ear region inward, you would pass through the hippocampal formation where the ...

A Penn State researcher is looking the role of adult day care in helping family caregivers deal with stress. The National Institute on Aging awarded a $3 million grant to Steven Zarit, professor and head of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State, to study the effects of caregiving on family caregivers, according to ...

Many individuals often refer to the underlying genetic basis of Alzheimer's disease. The inference that many individuals make is genes are destiny.  In other words, once a person holds the given genetic makeup they ultimately assume or infer the underlying quality that the gene has coded for will undoubtedly manifest itself in the ...

Fishing is one of those experiences that connects our mind, body and nature.  We all have at least one memory of going fishing with our father, having friends who told tall tales about fishing or at the least we are interested by the unique equipment and techniques fishermen use to catch that lunker!  It is so much fun to go on a ...

People frequently ask, ''How could I find out if I am going to get Alzheimer's Disease?''  Scientists are working hard to find ways to detect biomarkers that indicate who is at risk for developing Alzheimer's. The earlier Alzheimer's can be diagnosed, the more effective treatment can be to slow the progression of the disease. A ...

Nursing assistants in long-term care are at a high risk for injuries due to job related activities. This is why it is vitally important to ensure that staff members are trained in safe lifting, transferring, body mechanics and the skills to prevent people with dementia from becoming aggressive or combative.  We have found, here at the ...