Includes "Foreword. Social Theory and Educational Gerontology: Themes and Future Perspectives" (Phillipson); "Can There Be a Cultural Sociology of Ageing?" (Blaikie); "Consumers, Identity and Old Age" (Vincent); "Population Ageing: Critical Gerontology and the Sociological Tradition" (Phillipson, Biggs);…

An association between weight loss and Alzheimer's disease has been established in the general population but little information is available regarding this association in people with intellectual disabilities. A 4-year longitudinal study of adults with Down syndrome with and without Alzheimer's disease was undertaken. Age-associated weight loss…

Most studies of vision in persons with Alzheimer's disease either exclude those with advanced dementia or are unable to assess their vision adequately, and therefore, improperly report these persons' visual acuity status. In this study, visual acuity was assessed using the ETDRS Snellen-type acuity chart and Teller Acuity Cards. The Teller Acuity…

Background: Numerous studies have documented that persons with Downs syndrome (DS) are at an increased risk of Alzheimers disease (AD). However, at present it is still not clear whether or not all persons with DS will develop dementia as they reach old age. Methods: We studied 506 people with DS, aged 45 years and above. A standardized assessment…

Analyzes caregiver burden in relation to Alzheimer patients' awareness of their own deficits. Results suggest that caregiver burden was associated with impaired patient awareness of memory deficit independent of disease stage and dementia severity, suggesting that impaired awareness may be an important mediator of caregiver burden. (RJM)

Provides psychometric data on two tools used to identify pleasant activities for Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Results indicate that both tools had good reliability. Depression and decreased cognitive functioning were associated with reduced frequency of enjoyable activity; the reduction was greater in depressed AD patients when compared with…

To control wanderers' exiting, the view and light through a window were manipulated using visual barriers: window blind, cloth barrier, and a combination of the two. The closed blind decreased exiting by 44% while the cloth barrier was 96% effective. Combining the blind and cloth barrier lessened exiting by 88%. (RJM)

Examined 3 conceptually distinct dimensions of family conflict in relation to depression and anger among 555 caregivers of Alzheimer patients. Found that conflicts involving family members' attitudes and actions toward caregiver were associated with increased risk for depression among caregivers, whereas conflicts stemming from family members'…

Examined effects of factors on support group attendance among family caregivers to frail elderly relatives. Found that attendance by primary caregivers was greater for those who were older, who had secondary informal caregiver involved in providing care, or who had significant health problems. Attendance was greater for those caring for…

Examined ways cultural values and norms influence experiences of Hispanic American caregivers (n=86) for relatives with Alzheimer's disease. Found depression being related to stronger adherence to norms of filial support. Factors associated with increased burden included lack of time for oneself, dependency needs of patient, and belief that one…

Individuals with the apolipoprotein E e4 genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD) show deficits in olfactory function. The purpose of the present study was to examine longitudinally odor identification (odor ID), odor threshold, picture identification, and global cognitive status in allele positive (e4+) and negative (e4-) persons.…

This study examines the processing of a specific linguistic distinction, the mass/count distinction, in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Fourteen AD and 10 MCI subjects were tested using a sentence grammaticality judgement task where grammaticality violations were caused by determiner--noun…

This study examined agreement between recipients and providers about social support and personality. One hundred daughter caregivers of a parent with Alzheimer's disease and each caregiver's most important support provider independently reported supportive behaviors provided to caregivers, the perceived supportiveness of the provider, and…

Interviewed 11 caregivers for early-stage Alzheimer's patients to investigate changes in relationships concurrently with onset and progress of disease. Over 18 months, intimacy declined in both spouse and parent-child relationships. Caregivers were saddened at loss of reciprocal aspects of relationship and had difficulty coping with uncertain…

Assessed efficacy of home-based program of cognitive stimulation for functional status of patients with Alzheimer's disease and their caregivers. Compared treated caregiver/patient dyads with nontreated dyads. Results suggest that treated patients exhibited maintenance levels of cognitive and behavioral functioning and improved emotionally while…