Dementia-Friendly San Antonio

Coffee with Mom by Mike Glenn Sometimes, life takes you places you don't want to go.    Dementia and Alzheimer's is a journey no one wants to take, yet  life doesn't give us a choice. Author Mike Glenn's mom didn't want to be sick, and while she couldn't overcome the devastation of disease, she wasn't going down without a fight.   She fought the illness, denying its presence. She fought the doctors, "Who were these idiots anyway?" And she fought him, "How come you think you're in charge now?"   Coffee with Mom is a book about a mom's fight with dementia and the struggle of a son who wanted to help but didn't always know how. Most of their conversations--and sometimes battles--happened during morning coffee.   This book isn't about knowing all of the answers. It is one son's journey with his mom--a mom with Alzheimer's and a son who did the best he could, and who wrote this story in hopes that you'll find a few laughs for your journey, realize you're not alone, and find the courage to do the best you can.   So, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and join us on the journey. You'll find yourself in the laughter and tears of not knowing what to do next and making a decision that you hope works out, knowing it's the best you can do in the moment.   In the end, that's all that matters. "Do the best you can" is all love requires.

Dementia Reimagined by Tia Powell In demystifying dementia, Dr. Powell helps us understand it with clearer eyes, from the point of view of both physician and caregiver. Ultimately, she wants us all to know that dementia is not only about loss-it's also about the preservation of dignity and hope. The cultural and medical history of dementia and Alzheimer's disease by a leading psychiatrist and bioethicist who urges us to turn our focus from cure to care. Despite being a physician and a bioethicist, Tia Powell wasn't prepared to address the challenges she faced when her grandmother, and then her mother, were diagnosed with dementia-not to mention confronting the hard truth that her own odds aren't great. In the U.S., 10,000 baby boomers turn 65 every day; by the time a person reaches 85, their chances of having dementia approach 50 percent. And the truth is, there is no cure, and none coming soon, despite the perpetual promises by pharmaceutical companies that they are just one more expensive study away from a pill. Dr. Powell's goal is to move the conversation away from an exclusive focus on cure to a genuine appreciation of care-what we can do for those who have dementia, and how to keep life meaningful and even joyful. Reimagining Dementia is a moving combination of medicine and memoir, peeling back the untold history of dementia, from the story of Solomon Fuller, a black doctor whose research at the turn of the twentieth century anticipated important aspects of what we know about dementia today, to what has been gained and lost with the recent bonanza of funding for Alzheimer's at the expense of other forms of the disease.

The End of Memory by Jay Ingram It is a wicked disease that robs its victims of their memories, their ability to think clearly, and ultimately their lives. For centuries, those afflicted by Alzheimer's disease have suffered its debilitating effects while family members sit by, watching their loved ones disappear a little more each day until the person they used to know is gone forever. The disease was first described by German psychologist and neurologist Alois Alzheimer in 1906. One hundred years and a great deal of scientific effort later, much more is known about Alzheimer's, but it still affects millions around the world, and there is no cure in sight. In The End of Memory, award-winning science author Jay Ingram writes a biography of this disease that attacks the brains of patients. He charts the history of the disease from before it was noted by Alois Alzheimer through to the twenty-first century, explains the fascinating science of plaques and tangles, recounts the efforts to understand and combat the disease, and introduces us to the passionate researchers who are working to find a cure. An illuminating biography of "the plague of the twenty-first century" and scientists' efforts to understand and, they hope, prevent it, The End of Memory is a book for those who want to find out the true story behind an affliction that courses through families and wreaks havoc on the lives of millions.

Mayo Clinic on Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias by Jonathon Graff-Radford; Angela M. Lunde Around 50 million people around the world have dementia. Each year, nearly 10 million new cases are reported. By some estimates, the number of people living with dementia could triple by 2050. This book offers an update on what experts know about Alzheimer's and related dementias, including the latest research into treatment and prevention, ways to live well with dementia, and recommendations for people who care for someone with dementia. By some estimates, the number of people living with dementia could triple by 2050. Although the diseases that cause dementia have long been considered unrelenting and incurable, recent advances offer hope.

The Problem of Alzheimer's by Jason Karlawish A definitive and compelling book on one of today's most prevalent illnesses. In 2020, an estimated 5.8 million Americans had Alzheimer's, and more than half a million died because of the disease and its devastating complications. 16 million caregivers are responsible for paying as much as half of the $226 billion annual costs of their care. As more people live beyond their seventies and eighties, the number of patients will rise to an estimated 13.8 million by 2050. Part case studies, part meditation on the past, present and future of the disease, The Problem of Alzheimer's traces Alzheimer's from its beginnings to its recognition as a crisis. While it is an unambiguous account of decades of missed opportunities and our health care systems' failures to take action, it tells the story of the biomedical breakthroughs that may allow Alzheimer's to finally be prevented and treated by medicine and also presents an argument for how we can live with dementia: the ways patients can reclaim their autonomy and redefine their sense of self, how families can support their loved ones, and the innovative reforms we can make as a society that would give caregivers and patients better quality of life. Rich in science, history, and characters, The Problem of Alzheimer's takes us inside laboratories, patients' homes, caregivers' support groups, progressive care communities, and Jason Karlawish's own practice at the Penn Memory Center.