I work as a CNA in the dementia unit of a nursing home, and I'm sorry to report that I see no difference in the morning whether I serve our men regular coffee or decaffeinated. On our guys it doesn't even seem to have the normal stimulant effect associated with coffee.

I'm glad you found something that works for your Dad, but I don't think those results are typical, at least not for those in the advanced stages of the disease.

Thanks for the feedback. My sister's also a CNA and she said they do try to give the dementia patients caffeine, though I didn't ask her in detail about the effects. But even if the results we've seen with my father aren't typical, we've seen very clearly that caffeine can work--and it's so easy to try that there's no reason not to. If it can help even one other person, it will have been worth posting this.

This is extremely interesting. Thomas, how much caffeine would patients get where you are? It seems like it's possible they may not be getting enough to test this.

I'm a medaid who works with Alzheimer's patients as well. I'm glad to hear John's father is responding so well, and caffeine is worth a shot, but I hope people will not be too disappointed if someone they doesn't respond at all. Alzheimer's is a very unpredictable disease. John is quite right to point out that there are all kinds of dementia that causes memory loss: just a stroke can cause loss of memory. So it's best to get the most definitive diagnoses as you can.

What the general population may not know is that
Alzheimer's is reaching epidemic proportions. The people who worked long in the field tell me that the disease has increased a least 8 fold in the past 25 years. Why? They speculate: This is the first elderly generation since the wide use of food preservatives and synthetic fertilizers. Or, another factor, modern medicine is causing people to live longer; that is, modern medicine is causing less degeneration to all the organs, except for the brain.

My dad's cognitive problems actually started with a multiple bypass operation--he was never the same after that (which is apparently a very common reaction). So it's possible he doesn't have Alzheimer's...though as I say, the symptoms look just like it and his doctors treat it that way. I also don't know if the excessive sleep is a symptom or a cause; part of it may be that giving him caffeine is preventing him from sleeping as much, so his brain stays more active. It's difficult to disentangle these kinds of issues (but I'm sure many other people are in the same boat).

Also, I should make it clear that while it's a marked and obvious improvement in many areas he definitely still has cognitive issues--but he goes from asking which suit is trump on every single play of a card game to asking once at the beginning and remembering it throughout, for example (this for a game he's played for 70 years, by the way, so it's all but muscle memory for him).

John, your dad's improvement is wonderful news, and doubly great that it's cheap, safe, and non-pharmaceutical. Thanks for sharing--I'll remember it.

I smell a book deal on this topic, were you so inclined...

The brain is phenomenally complicated, and even really top-of-the-field neurologists don't understand lots of brain biochemistry. In general a medication is prescribed because it works most of the time for most similar patients according to a study that has been done and made its way to practitioners. If the med doesn't work they don't know why and just try something else. If something works, be glad for such blessings.

Alzheimers is a hard and cruel disease that wasn't good to my mother, but fortunately cancer saved us from the worst of its ravages. For me, that about sums up how nasty that disease is. I'm glad coffee is helping Caruso's dad with it, and thanks to all you folks who work with its victims. You guys are the best.

On a lighter note, I drink so much coffee that I don't even have blood, and yet . . .

That's so awesome.

Cognitive impairment after heart-lung bypass use is so common it has a slang term - pumphead.

My grandmother had dementia, but her doctor thought it was due to many ministrokes. My mother's mental acuity never deteriorated because she died of cancer at an age younger than I am now. My dad did show some decline, but he lived to 96 with most of his marbles (though he did give up bridge in his last years).

I'd like to end this comment with a relevant and funny joke. You can't always get what you want.
---------

How's your mental status?
Compared to what?

Thanks for mentioning that, mistah charley, since I didn't know the slang and it gives higher-quality hits on Google. I've always felt conflicted about the heart surgery. At least we didn't lose my dad, but he was never the same afterward (it affected his walking as well as his mind--all at once he went from a normal stride to an old man's shuffle). But I have a friend who lost his father the night before heart surgery, so I'm thankful for the extra time we've had.

The nutritional supplement DMAE can also perk up someone with Dementia.

As can Tylenol. A plain olkd Tylenol tablet will help even the more advanced Alzheimer patient.

It should also be pointed out that vittamin B 12 injections can help some forms of dementia. Some elderly people no longer absorb Vitamin B 12, and the normal blood serum tests don't help doctors determine the levels available to the patient.
(Examining cere-spinal fluid tells a doctor more, but that can be so invasive it is probably more advisable just to offer the erson the B 12.)

There are more than a few documented cases of people with dementia who "came back" from that state of being, once they have ample B 12 levels, with weekly or twice mnthly B 12 shots.

The brain is the most complex replicated object we know of in the universe. It should astonish us every time something that helps one person with brain trouble helps another. Most psychoactive chemicals are tested on cats. We may not be certain whether any licensed therapeutic compound is safe for humans, but we can be confident that our cats could handle them all with aplomb.

Last year I was having strange memory troubles. One ordinary antidepressant (but not others tried before it) fixed things right up. Unfortunately I have to keep taking it.

Mistah charlie's couplet reminds me of another:
"Does this make my butt look too big?" "Too big for what?"

>thanks to all you folks who work with its victims. You guys are the best.

Appreciate that N.E. By far, most family members are gracious and grateful. They understand that CNAs and CMAs are swamped,...overworked and underpaid, and that we don't have magic wands to make everything better.

one of the best comments sections i've ever read