Brain Health as You Age (eBook)

William E. Mansbach, PhD, is the founder and chief executive officer of Mansbach Health Tools LLC, which supports the BCAT® Research Center. He is also the chief executive officer and president of CounterPoint Health Services, a multidisciplinary behavioral health-care company specializing in geriatrics. For many years, he was the chief operating officer of the largest geriatric behavioral health-care company in the United States specializing in long-term care. Prior to this, he was cofounder and chief executive officer of Comprehensive Geriatric Services, a Maryland-based company providing mental health services to residents in long-term care settings. Mansbach has an international reputation as a researcher, clinician, and consultant in the aging field. He has been a pioneer in the development of memory clinics, and is the creator of the BCAT® system, an integrated approach of cognitive tests, interventions, and dementia prevention programs. Steven P. Simmons, MD, is a board-certified internist. In 1996 Dr. Simmons was selected by his peers to receive the Dr. Annie Yee Johnson Memorial Award for compassion and professionalism. He spent twelve years working in primary and urgent care at Kaiser Permanente before joining DocTalker in 2008, where he has been spearheading the practice's house call program. He is a member of the American Geriatric Society and the Academy of Home Care Physicians, and he presents frequently on providing medical care to the homebound through house calls. Jodi Lyons is an eldercare expert who helps older adults and those with special needs find the care they need throughout the country. An ardent patient advocate, Ms. Lyons helps people navigate the complicated, often convoluted system, identify what they need, and learn how to create an action plan. With more than twenty years' experience in the nonprofit health-care arena, she has been a leader in national and international organizations representing health-care and long-term care service providers. She was on the Executive Committee of the Alzheimer's Association/National Capital Area and an Alzheimer's Association Ambassador to Capitol Hill. Lyons is a writer for and industry advisor to Telemedicine Magazine. She also wrote the award-winning book The Smart Person's Guide to Eldercare to empower and educate consumers, to make sense of a complex system, and to highlight some of the humor that can be found even in the most challenging times as we grow older.

Chapter 1: Why Do We Care About Brain Health?Chapter 2: What Is Your Brain, and How Does It Work?Chapter 3: The Aging Brain: What's Normal, What's NotChapter 4: Warning Signs That Something Is Not RightChapter 5: DeliriumChapter 6: Sudden Confusion: A Case Example of DeliriumChapter 7: Defining the Dementing DiseasesChapter 8: Other Insults to the BrainChapter 9: Lowering Your Risk for Cognitive Decline and DementiaChapter 10: Examples of Specific Cognitive Exercises to Lower Your RiskChapter 11: Managing ExpectationsChapter 12: Sexuality in Normal Aging and DementiaChapter 13: Practical Advice for People with Dementia and Their CaregiversChapter 14: Advice in the Case of Stroke or Other Sudden Onset Cognitive ProblemsChapter 15: Caregiver Survival GuideChapter 16: Tales from the Other Side of the Bed: A Patient's Perspective