Man Says Wife, Son Accuse Him Of Dementia To Control Money

Police said the victim appeared to have good memory recall.

  Police responded to a domestic dispute in the 7100 block of Greenleaf Nov. 7 at 9:45 p.m. and a 72-year-old man said his wife and 28-year-old son have accused him of dementia in order to get him to sign documents turning control of his finances over to them, according to the report. The wife told police her husband has been forgetting things and may be in the early stages of dementia, police said. Police interviewed the husband, who they said denied having any memory problems or major health issues. The man appeared very aware of his present and past conversations, police indicated. The husband/father decided to leave the house for the night. Police notified an elder abuse hotline, which will make contact with the family. Mother doesn't …

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Seniors: Walk and Gain Weight … In Your Brain

A new study reveals more exercise leads to more brain mass in older people, which leads to improved memory.

Walking outdoors in Morton Grove this week is not advised – particularly for the elderly – but a recent study has found that, whether indoors or out, walking is a good idea – particularly for the elderly. A group of researchers discovered that heart-pumping exercise, such as brisk walking, pumps up the region of the brain that forms, stores and processes memory. This region, the hippocampus, tends to shrink as we age, ultimately leading to memory loss, and potentially dementia. “We think of the atrophy of the hippocampus in later life as almost inevitable,” said Kirk Erickson, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and the paper’s lead author, in a statement. “But we’ve shown that even moderate exercise for one year can …

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Giving Thanks

A Thanksgiving Family Portrait

With the big holidays coming up, it's hard finding a way to include family members who are not at home.

This week at the Thanksgiving table, we will be missing someone. She isn't gone, she just can't come to our holiday celebration. My mother suffers from dementia and lives in a nursing home, here in town. That makes this and all holidays bittersweet. It is hardest on the grandchildren, who want her there. So I decided this year to include her in a center piece for the Thanksgiving table that will also include her grandchildren too. I took my kids to the nursing home to visit "Baba" and create a memory. The home where she lives has a wonderful arts and crafts room that we used to make this one-of-a-kind centerpiece. I brought a recycled cookie tin, card stock paper, scissors, tape, glue sticks, and photos of my mother with the kids and her …

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