Health Care

Pictures are a lot like memories, wouldn’t you agree? They take us back to a time and place filled with happy moments.

Do you remember your first camera and the excitement you felt taking your first pictures? You couldn’t wait to get your pictures back and place your memories in a personalized photo album. How proud you were of your snapshots as you gathered family and friends around you, regaling them with the story behind each picture. What priceless memories of special moments those pictures brought back. Perhaps a smile or laugh accompanied your recall of the events the pictures captured.

Everyone had a camera and brought it to important family events recording the moment to be relived and enjoyed again and again; perhaps you’ve taken pictures similar to these with your Kodak Brownie, Cannon SRL, or Nikon Digital camera:

Birth of a child
Birthday parties
Holidays
First Communion
Your first car
Weddings
Prom night
Graduation
Baptism
Sporting events
Army buddies
Your pet
Grandchildren
Your garden
A sunset

Memories are the essence of who we are; they are our history, our values, our character. Memories are what distinguish us as human. (more…)

Diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease may be challenging. A person who has been experiencing some difficulties with their memory may choose to joke about how bad their memory is or brush off their symptoms as nothing to be worried about. If this same person felt a lump in their breast or noticed a strange looking mole on their skin, they would make a doctor’s appointment right away. Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease should be treated with the same respect and caution as other serious diseases. While doctors can make a highly educated guess about whether a person has this disease, only an autopsy is 100 percent accurate. In order to diagnose a patient with Alzheimer’s, the doctor will:

• Ask about the patient’s health including past medical history

• Ask how well daily activities are carried out

• Ask if the patient and family members have noticed changes in the patient’s personality

• Perform tests to determine the level of the patient’s counting, attention and problem solving skills

• Take blood and urine tests

• Perform an MRI and/or a CT scan

• Discuss family history of memory loss and Alzheimer’s itself.

Alzheimer’s disease is a condition in which the brain undergoes shrinkage in key areas, affecting memory, thinking and behavior. The symptoms progress so slowly that the changes are difficult to pinpoint over time, and it usually takes an outsider or a person that is not around the individual to suggest a doctor visit. It is classified as the most common form of dementia, which can interfere with daily life as it causes severe loss of intellectual capability and memory. (more…)