Updated June 2025 People diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease are urged to stay active. They’re told that engaging in physical and mental exercise may be their current best hope to slow the effects of the plaque, tangles, and cell degeneration the disease causes in their brains. Yet perversely, there are few activities designed to meet their […]
People who suffer traumatic illnesses or injuries often exhibit some new and uncharacteristic behaviors afterward. Part of that may be due to the shock and strain of confronting a potentially life-threatening event, as well as the frustration of embarking on an often slow and painful process of rehabilitation. But there are also often physical and […]
A stroke is basically an attack on the brain. It occurs when a blockage or hemorrhage disrupts the flow of blood to the brain, the control center of the nervous system, cutting off the vital supply of oxygen and nutrients. The very name “stroke” underscores it acts quickly, causing the average person to lose about […]
You know it when you feel it—even if you only feel it fleetingly: that calm fulfilling sensation you have at work or play when you seem to be running on all cylinders, doing your best, and doing it effortlessly. Robert Kriegel calls it simply “being in the zone,” and defines it as “a breakthrough performance […]
“It’s a well-documented human rights violation—and yet it persists in the 16,000 or so nursing homes throughout the U.S.,” says Hannah Flamm, author of a report, “How Nursing Homes in the United States Overmedicate People With Dementia.” The report was undertaken for Human Rights Watch, an international research and advocacy organization that expanded its focus to […]
Updated July 2025 Website data breaches, defined as “cybersecurity mishaps” in which sensitive information is accessed and retrieved without the consent or authority of the owner, have been much in the news of late. Records maintained at the common consumer sites of Target, Uber, Netflix, and Yahoo were all invaded. Perhaps the most potentially embarrassing […]
Not all people afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease seem to need to wander, but according to the Alzheimer’s Association six out of ten of them will do so at some point. And most of those wanderers will do it repeatedly before family members or caregivers recognize the behavior as the problem it poses. Those who wander […]
Updated May 2025 When questioned about what loss in life they feared or found most devastating, most seniors give the selfsame answer. It’s not what you might expect: the loss of a job or the death of a parent, spouse, partner, or sibling. It’s the loss of their own independence. Exploring the Issue Several years […]
A nonprofit that began with the dream of helping Holocaust survivors has expanded its sights to help stamp out the growing epidemic of social isolation. Selfhelp Community Services originated in 1936 with one goal in mind: to help people who were fleeing Nazi Germany forge new lives in their new homes in America. The group’s […]