Alzheimer

HIS FATHER stood 6-4, weighed 250 and was respected throughout his West Philadelphia neighborhood as a strong man, so Raymond Holman Jr. was startled when his dad phoned to say that a female stranger had come into his home and robbed him. "My father's friends called him 'Big Ray' and his friends were big guys," Holman said. "Everybody in the neighborhood knew daddy. I mean everybody. So it was really a shock that someone would have the nerve to come into daddy's house like that and steal from him. " But that shock back in 1997 was mild compared to what would follow.

Sixty years ago when two young women studying to be nuns were about to take their final vows, they were required to write an autobiography. "Sister A" wrote: "I was born in Eau Claire, Wis., on May 24, 1913 and was baptized in St. James Church. " "Sister B" wrote: "The happiest day of my life so far was my First Communion Day which was in June nineteen hundred and twenty when I was but eight years of age, and four years later in the same month I was confirmed by Bishop D.D. McGavick.

An experimental drug that works to calm brain activity could help patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease just as they lose the ability to care for themselves, researchers said yesterday. The drug, Memantine, slows over-excited brain cell signaling and, in doing so, it slows the progression of the disease, which gradually robs patients of their ability to remember, to find their way around, and to care for themselves, researchers told the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry in Orlando.

Caring for an Alzheimer's patient completely changes every phase of your life, according to area residents who have relatives suffering from the disease. "I've had to learn to do a lot of things. I have to do everything. My husband is at the point now where he needs help all of the time," said Marilyn Falls, 66, whose 67-year-old husband, Bob, was diagnosed as having Alzheimer's four years ago. The sessions last month at the Devon Manor Retirement Home and those taking place weekly this month at the Squire Adult Day Care in Newtown Square focus on the major problems caregivers face when a family member is diagnosed with the disease.

NEW YORK - Country-music luminary Glen Campbell has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and plans to put out his final album this summer. Campbell's representative Bobbie Gale made the announcement yesterday. He said the disease was in its early stages. The 75-year-old's wife, Kim, also talked with People magazine and said she and her husband wanted to go public with Campbell's illness so fans would know the reason if he manifests any trouble onstage. Campbell's CD "Ghost on the Canvas" is scheduled for release Aug. 30. He also is set to go on the road on what was already titled "The Glen Campbell Goodbye Tour.

There are more than 5 million Americans living with Alzheimer's disease. Years from now that number could be smaller, thanks to the work of a high-achieving senior at Conestoga High School. Felix Zhang, 17, of Berwyn, was selected by USA Today as one of 20 members of its All-USA High School Academic Team. Zhang has devoted a large chunk of his free time over the last year and a half to interning at Thomas Jefferson Hospital, assisting in research on Alzheimer's disease. He won an award from the American Academy of Neurology for his research and presented his findings at its awards luncheon in Boston on May 2. Zhang will attend Harvard University in the fall and plans to study international affairs and pre-medicine.

I'm just waiting to get the OK from one doctor. . . . I want to have the doctor say, "Yes, I feel it's worth the chance. Yes, I'll prescribe it. " - Marlyn Weisberg, daughter of Alzheimer's disease patient Mae Weil About five years ago, the family began to notice strange changes in Mae Weil. When her grandson got married, she showed up wearing a dress definitely not suitable for the grandmother of the groom - especially one who had always dressed fashionably for special events.

Bobby Womack has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer tells BBC music program host Gilles Peterson . "The doctor said, 'You have signs of Alzheimer's,' " Womack, 68, says. "He said it's not bad yet but it's going to get worse. " He adds, "How can I not remember songs that I wrote? That's frustrating. " Womack last summer made a big comeback with the critically acclaimed The Bravest Man in the Universe , his first studio album in nearly 20 years.

Eddie Robinson, college football's winningest coach, has Alzheimer's, his wife said. "He's pretty bad," Doris Robinson said yesterday. "He gets a little bit worse every day. He comes to the table for breakfast, but after that he wants to go right to bed. " During his 57 years at Grambling, a career which spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement, Robinson compiled a record of 408-165-15. His teams had only nine losing seasons and won 16 conference titles and nine national black college championships.

The patient turned 40 over the summer and was already having symptoms that made her neurologist wonder whether she had Alzheimer's disease, the deadly, mind-killing dementia that usually attacks far older people. She and her husband went to the Adler Institute for Advanced Imaging in Jenkintown on a recent morning after 70 tests over the last year failed to explain her worsening symptoms. She was going to try yet another: a newly approved test developed by a Philadelphia biotech firm.

HIS FATHER stood 6-4, weighed 250 and was respected throughout his West Philadelphia neighborhood as a strong man, so Raymond Holman Jr. was startled when his dad phoned to say that a female stranger had come into his home and robbed him. "My father's friends called him 'Big Ray' and his friends were big guys," Holman said. "Everybody in the neighborhood knew daddy. I mean everybody. So it was really a shock that someone would have the nerve to come into daddy's house like that and steal from him. " But that shock back in 1997 was mild compared to what would follow.

HERSHEY, Pa. - There was no military honor guard. No flag-draped casket. No politicians pontificating. Instead, the life of Pennsylvania's 36th governor, George M. Leader, was celebrated Thursday with family memories, a haunting rendition of "We Shall Overcome," and lines of his own poetry - as he had scripted his own funeral, years ago. Every living governor except William W. Scranton, 95, whose family said he was too ill to attend, filled the...

By Tedford J. Taylor No topic is a less likely conversation-starter than our eventual deaths. Still, there is a lot to talk about. When polled, about 90 percent of people presented with end-of-life scenarios prefer the prospect of dying at home with family and a plan for treatment for comfort, rather than unlimited care in an intensive care unit (ICU). Does that surprise anyone? Nearly 40 years ago, the parents of Karen Ann Quinlan, distraught as they watched machines keep their daughter alive, launched a court battle in New Jersey to discontinue care they believed only prolonged their family agony.

The cost of caring for dementia patients has reached $109 billion annually, exceeding that for heart disease and cancer, and will double by the time the youngest baby boomers reach their 70s, according to a study. Dementia is characterized by a group of symptoms that prevent people from carrying out the tasks of daily living. Reduced mental function makes it impossible for them to do things like keep track of medications or finances. In more severe cases, patients lose the ability to handle basic tasks like bathing and dressing.

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Tuesday proposed an effort to map the brain's activity in unprecedented detail, as a step toward finding better ways to treat such conditions as Alzheimer's, autism, stroke, and traumatic brain injuries. He asked Congress to spend $100 million next year to start a project to explore details of the brain, which contains 100 billion cells and trillions of connections. That's a small investment for the federal government - less than a fifth of what NASA spends every year just to study the sun - but it's too early to see how Congress will react.

Carleen Hamilton wrote the first poem on a napkin, sitting in a coffee shop in Bermuda, on their honeymoon, Oct. 29, 1974. Oh, how I glowe   and grew to inconceivable brilliance in his loving fire. And we were called Sun and Moon. Complete life. Virtually every workday for the next 29 years, she wrote a poem on a napkin and packed it in her husband's lunch. And George Hamilton, director of the Fels Planetarium at the Franklin Institute, inspired by his new wife, her poetry, her devotion, and his own happiness, returned the kindness.

A Southwest Philadelphia man has been sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for stealing the life savings of an elderly woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Antar Thomas, 32, will also serve 5 years probation after his sentence and pay $35,000 in restitution. The District Attorney's Office said that events began in early 2009 when Thomas befriended Lillian Drake, and an 82-year-old member of his church. Thomas eventually moved into her home, and her health began to decline.

Frank and Dolores Ciaccio dance in the living room of the Norristown twin they have shared for 57 years. They are the picture of an old and comfortable love. "They don't do this in nursing homes," he says. "That's why I'm going to keep her here forever. " Frank knows about persevering. For decades, the 89-year-old has been better known by the nickname "Hank Cisco," Norristown's cheerleader-in-chief and honorary ambassador. About 10 years ago, Dolores, now 84, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

Shortly after the end of his legendary coaching career at Camden High, Clarence Turner left South Jersey. Turner has lived in Chicago with his wife for the last few years. Turner, who is in his early 80s, has been battling Alzheimer's disease, but his condition has stabilized, according to his son, Eric. "He's pretty much stopped declining," Eric Turner said. "He's eating a much healthier diet, and that's helped him. " Turner was Camden's coach from 1970 to 1998 and 2003 to 2008.

THE ST. LOUIS Rams have decided not to hire Rob Ryan as defensive coordinator and stepped in a new direction by hiring Frank Bush as linebackers coach. Bush replaces Blake Williams, son of Gregg Williams, who was briefly defensive coordinator with the Rams last winter before being suspended indefinitely for his role in the Saints bounty scandal. The team announced earlier this month that Gregg Williams won't return next season. Bush was with the Titans the last two seasons.