American journal of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Sep 2013
The unique experience of spouses in early-onset dementia.
To date, few studies have examined the experience of spouse caregivers living with a person with early-onset dementia. Moreover, few support resources are offered to these family caregivers and fewer are still tailored to their unique trajectory. ⋯ Six themes emerged from their caregiver trajectories, namely, difficulty managing behavioral and psychological symptoms, long quest for diagnosis, nondisclosure to others and denial of diagnosis, grief for loss of spouse and midlife projects, difficulty juggling unexpected role and daily life responsibilities, and difficulty planning for future. Results open up innovative avenues for the development of interventions geared to facilitating role transition for these spouse caregivers.
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Sep 2013
Discriminative analysis of mild Alzheimer's disease and normal aging using volume of hippocampal subfields and hippocampal mean diffusivity: an in vivo magnetic resonance imaging study.
Studies discovered that the hippocampal subfields are differentially affected by pathological damage, and magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion tensor imaging parameters might be more sensitive measures of early degeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) than conventional MR imaging techniques. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the significance of the volume of hippocampal subfields and the mean diffusivity (MD) value of hippocampus in discrimination between mild AD and normal aging. ⋯ Atrophy was present in almost all hippocampal subfields at mild AD stage. The volumes of CA1 and subiculum were of the most diagnostic significance in discrimination of mild AD, which can be improved by the combination of volume and diffusivity analysis.
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Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen · Sep 2013
Peer support for carers: a qualitative investigation of the experiences of carers and peer volunteers.
Being a carer of someone with dementia can be rewarding and also challenging. Volunteer peer support schemes for carers are being introduced, little is known about either their impact on carers and volunteers or about volunteers' and carers' experiences. This study investigated peer volunteer and carer recipient experiences of a peer support service. ⋯ Additional carer benefits included opportunities to talk freely about difficult experiences and learning how others cope. Volunteers found their role rewarding, describing satisfaction from putting their own experiences to good use. These findings highlight the isolation and exclusion experienced by current and former carers of people with dementia and draw attention to the benefits of peer support for both the groups.