Have you ever hunted for your car? Keys? Glasses? Have you ever left home without your grocery list? Have you ever had a senior moment? How do you know if it is a sign of future memory loss? Do you live with or care for someone who is forgetful or has memory loss? If so, this workshop will help. Remembering what not to forget is designed for baby boomers, older adults, and caregivers of those with mild to moderate memory loss. After completing the workshop, you will have practical and ready to use strategies for improving memory and protecting your future. You will learn: How memory works. The difference between long-term and short-term memory. How memory normally changes as we age. How to tell the difference between normal aging and memory loss. Stages of change so you can be proactive […]
Archive for October, 2013
Initially, I was excited to see a review article titled, “Efficacy and safety of cognitive enhancers for patients with mild cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis” (Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2013, September 16). However, I was disappointed after carefully reading the paper. I had hoped to gain insight into whether cognitive enhancing medications (Aricept/donepezil, Exelon/rivastigmine, and Razadyne/galantamine – there were no cognitive data for Namenda) help those with Mild Cognitive Impairment but there are too few studies with too many limitations to get a clear answer to the question of benefits. Mild Cognitive Impairment is usually characterized by mild memory/cognitive deficits in those without functional decline in everyday skills. These are persons who do not meet the criteria for Alzheimer’s disease but are clearly at greater risk of obtaining the diagnosis in the future. The question is whether treating […]
One of the most important yet difficult issues we all face with the proliferation of medications available and in development of new drugs, especially those affecting the central nervous system, is how to determine what is a meaningful drug effect. How does one know which drugs are effective and which are not? What is a meaningful treatment effect? How do professionals decide which drugs to recommend? Are newly available drugs better than older medications? We rely on large studies called randomized clinical trials (RTCs) to answer these questions. RTCs are scientifically rigorous studies designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of medications (often compared to a placebo). The problem comes when we try to interpret the findings from these studies. What constitutes a meaningful result depends upon whom you ask (Defining a clinically meaningful effect for the design and implementation […]
