Incontinence Drugs May Hurt Memory

Several years ago I refused to allow my mother to be medicated with depression drugs. Instead, I decided to work very closely with her to try to bring her out of her "funk". Exercise, a good diet, lots of patience and fostering a "secure environment" worked.

Later I discussed my mother's incontinence with her doctor. He told me he could "prescribe" something. With Alzheimer's as a variable in the equation I decided against it. I tired to get my mother to visit the toilet as often as possible. While this was very trying and difficult, I was eventually able to get her into a pattern of going even when she did not feel it was necessary.

It takes lots of patience and perseverance to accomplish these goals. I am not saying its easy. I do believe its possible to improve situations if you can get a new pattern of behavior established.

I did get lots of communication tips from The Validation Breakthrough: Simple Techniques for Communicating with People with 'Alzheimer's-Type Dementia'

. The book among a long list of others did help.

clipped from blogs.wsj.com Lots of systems deteriorate in the aging body; sometimes in trying to fix one thing, you end up making another thing worse. For example, popular drugs for urinary incontinence may speed age-related memory loss Prompted by anecdotal reports of patients having memory problems after going on a class of drugs that includes Pfizer’s Detrol LA Over the course of several years, those who took the drugs lost their memory faster than those who did not The drugs act on a class of chemicals used to transmit messages in the nervous system “Our message is to be careful when using these medicines,” neurologist Jack Tsao, who led the study, told the AP “It may be better to use diapers and be able to think clearly than the other way around.”

Prescription drugs found in drinking water across U.S.

clipped from www.cnn.com A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows. the presence of so many prescription drugs -- and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen -- in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health. Officials in Philadelphia say testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water. The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water. The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.