A Poem for the Alzheimer's

Do not ask me to remember

Don't try to make me understand

Let me rest and know you are with me

Kiss my cheek and hold my hand

My confusion is beyond your concept

I am sad, and sick, and lost

All I know is that I need you to be with me 

at all cost...

Do not lose your patience with me

Do not scold or curse or cry

I can't help the way I am acting

Can't be different though I tried

Just remember that I need you

The best of me is gone

Please don't fail to stand beside me

Love me till my life is done...

The Lancet: Depression in old age—the first step to dementia?

When your old parent consistently feels unhappy and depressed, it could be cause for dementia. According to the latest study, people aged 54 or older may have a higher risk of dementia than the others. Only people with depression worsening over time are affected, excluding patients with only once or twice depression experience.

Psychiatrists and gerontologist tend to believe that there is a hidden correlation between dementia and depression, but this is the first research which tried to segment the group according to different levels of depression.

In this study, researchers had collected 3,325 people aged over 55 and traced their health condition from 1993 to 2004. None of the depressed elderlies have dementia at the beginning, but 434 eventually developed dementia and 348 of which had Alzheimer's disease.

Source: The Lancet Psychiatry