Caregiving - Original Articles

Helping Out in Health Emergencies: What You Need to Know About 4 Chronic Conditions

What to do--and what not to do--in these urgent situations.

Save Your Pet s Life With CPR

Heart failure in pets is not the same as cardiac arrest in humans, but CPR can get your furry friend s heart pumping again. Here s what to do in an emergency.

Long Distance Caregiving: How to Help a Distant Loved One Who s Had a Heart Attack

Yes, you can help a loved one who s had a heart attack even if you don t live near by.

Caring for a Loved One After a Heart Attack

Caring for a heart attack patient can be tough. Here s how to handle it.

On the Horizon: Advances in the Field of Parkinson's

New findings show promise in helping to slow the progression of the disease as well as stop symptoms from developing in the first place.

Someone's Gained Weight: What to Say (and Not Say)

If someone near to you has recently gained weight, you may feel it's your duty to say something, but consider this expert insight first.

How Happiness Evolves

Has your idea of happiness changed over time? Find out more about this phenomenon of life.

Why You Need a Support Network to Face Depression

What benefits come from a strong support network, and where can you find one of your own?

Why Cancer Insurance May Not Pay Off

If you were diagnosed tomorrow, would you be prepared financially? If the answer is "no," you may be tempted to invest in cancer insurance. But read this first.

Top 5 Diet Mistakes

Have you changed your eating habits to shed some pounds but find the numbers on the scale are going up?

Ouch! How to Handle a Paper Cut

It happens to everyone... and it hurts! Here's what to do when you or a loved one gets a paper cut.

Chiropractic Care: Benefits Beyond the Back

Spinal manipulation is a helpful element of ongoing pain treatment for many. Learn what to expect from your visit to the chiropractor.

Acupressure: Give Yourself Relief

You can easily access two pressure points used widely in this ancient form of healing.

Estate-Planning Pointers for Caregivers

Caring for an aging relative? You'll need to secure some legal documents for their long-term care. Here's a useful overview.

5 Best Anti-Aging Supplements

Add these to your diet to help improve memory, reduce inflammation, control blood sugar, and more.

Meal Delivery Services for Seniors: What Are the Options?

Food delivery services may help seniors remain in their homes longer. Here's a rundown of the different types of services.

Clinical Trials: Myths and Facts

You may have concerns about joining a clinical trial for Parkinson's disease or another condition. Here's what you need to know.

6 Tips for Finding a Live-In Nurse

Being a caregiver for a loved one is a demanding role, and you may find you can't do it all on your own. If you're thinking of hiring live-in help, here are some things to keep in mind.

Give the Gift of Pain Relief

If someone you care about is plagued by chronic pain, consider sharing these thoughtful gifts.

How to Elder-Proof a Home

If you have parents or other older relatives living on their own, it may be time to assess the safety of their home.

The Downside of Chemotherapy

Despite widespread use for cancer treatment, chemotherapy (or chemo) does have its downsides.

If You Have Elderly Loved Ones, You Need to Do This

Put these important protections in place to help ensure the safety of your aging loved ones.

Telemedicine: Pros and Cons for You

Electronic communication is changing the way doctors exchange information with their patients and with each other. What does this mean for you?

Reduce the Risk of Serious Head Injury By Doing This

Here are 10 simple steps to dramatically reduce the risk of traumatic brain injury for you or someone you love.

What to Believe When Health Claims Conflict

You hear something's good for you, and tomorrow you hear it's bad. Here's how to solve the puzzle when it comes to health claims.

Is Depression a Looming Crisis for Baby Boomers?

Statistics paint a worrisome picture when it comes to aging Americans and mental illnesses like depression.

Traumatic Brain Injury: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment

It can result from a car accident or even a bad fall. Here's what you should know.

Get the Facts About Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS)

Arm yourself with information about this neurodegenerative condition.

Your Adult Child With Disabilities: A Caregiving Guide

Here's how to find helpful resources and know the right questions to ask.

Consider Visiting Nurses for Elderly Caregiving

A growing number of aging patients are staying out of the hospital by adding a visiting nurse to their home health care team.

Can Loneliness Be Deadly for the Elderly?

It's a real and hidden danger among the older generation. Here are ways to combat isolation.

How an Economic Downturn Affects Your Health

When the downturn boosts death rates, it's time to identify the issues and make changes where you can.

Health by the Numbers: Caregiving

As the average life span continues to increase, more people are requiring caregivers in their later years. Here's a look at the trend by the numbers.

Owning Your Own Future

Planning for your retirement is exciting and perhaps a bit intimidating. Here's what to consider.

Boomers' Vision of Healthy Living

Growing older is no longer the inevitable decline that yesterday s seniors accepted, often with resignation. Today s boomers have rewritten the book on healthy living.

Marijuana for Cancer Care

This drug seems to offer relief from pain, nausea and vomiting, anxiety, and loss of appetite, which are common side effects of cancer and cancer treatments. And there are other possible benefits as well.

How to Improve Your Morning Routine

Mornings are hectic. This checklist has quick and easy ideas you can start incorporating into your routine to day.

7 Early Warning Signs of Alzheimer's

Are you concerned that a loved one may be suffering from Alzheimer's disease? Read on to learn about the most common early symptoms.

8 Tips for Alzheimer's Caregivers

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease can be a challenge. Follow these tips to make it easier.

Depression in Older Adults

It's common for seniors to experience sadness and grief, but when these feelings are persistent, they may be a sign of depression.

4 Easy Ways to Fight the Flu

There are several steps you can take to reduce your risk of infection.

What You Need to Know About Assisted Living

When it comes to assisted living, understanding all of the options available can be a challenge. Here, the most frequently asked questions and answers.

Is It Alzheimer's?

Caregiving expert Jackie Pinkowitz discusses the difference between age-related memory problems and Alzheimer's disease.

After Dark: Sundowner's Syndrome

Elderly patients often get confused or agitated toward the end of the day. Learn about the symptoms known as sundowning.

Tips for Alzheimer's Caregivers

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease can be overwhelming. Follow these tips to help deal with the diagnosis and cope with the holidays and every day.

Caring for Loved Ones Is More Rewarding Than Expected

Study shows that preparedness makes all the difference when it comes to caregiving.

6 Easy Ways to Beat the Heat

Keeping cool on hot summer days isn't only a matter a comfort—it's vital for good health and even survival.

Roadmap for Eldercare Options

Understand your choices for better decision-making.

Sure Shot? Understanding the Flu Vaccine

Are you thinking about getting a flu vaccination this year? Learn about the risks and rewards.

Southern Home Cooking Lightens Up

Sugar, butter, and cream may be one celebrity chef's go-to ingredients, but that doesn't mean you should follow in her footsteps. You can still recreate the cuisine of the Queen of Southern Cooking without doing damage to your health. Let a team of experts show you how.

Many Seniors Leave Hospital Without Their Regular Meds

An alarming number of older patients fail to continue taking their regular medications after they return home, particularly if they spent time in intensive care.

5 Surprisingly Dangerous Jobs for Asthma

With one in seven adults reportedly experiencing occupational asthma, chances are high that work could actually make you sick.

5 Keys to Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids

Strong parenting and emotional well-being are closely connected. Dr. Gerald Newmark, author of the book "How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children," offers his top child-rearing strategies.

Cancer Support Groups: Why and How They Help

One study found that support groups improved cancer survivors' mood, pain, symptom control, and social functioning. Here's what to consider in order to find a support group that works for you.

Become Your Baby's Favorite Chef

Why should you make your own baby food? Let's see, it's generally more nutritious, less costly, and it takes hardly any effort to get started.

Give Back: Volunteer to Help Kids

Giving a little bit of your self can make an enormous difference in the life of a sick child. Here are some ideas to get you started.

What Does the Polypill Promise?

This once-a-day single pill combines aspirin, blood pressure, and cholesterol drugs to reduce heart disease risk and treat the problem once it develops.

6 Sun Smarts for Babies and Toddlers

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. So, when fresh air and sunshine beckons your family outside to play, be sure to pack sunscreen along with your diapers, snacks, and other essentials. Here's all you need to know.

New Food Plate Guidelines: Healthy Eating Made Easy

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has unveiled a new icon that it hopes will make choosing nutritious foods easier for Americans.

Cooking After a Diabetes Diagnosis

Here's how to prepare delicious food that works for the diabetic in your life and doesn't leave anyone feeling deprived.

Different Caregivers: How to Choose

What kind of help is needed, and who is the best caregiver for a particular situation? Do you need a nurse or can you get by with someone with less formal training? Here's a rundown of different types of healthcare providers you may encounter so you can make an informed choice.

In Utero and Infant Exposure to X-Rays

What precautions should you consider when it comes to these radiation risks?

Aromatherapy for Cancer Symptoms

Could it be the smell of relief? Here's how to use essential oils to address pain and anxiety associated with cancer treatment and recovery.

Take the Diabetes Risk Test Today

Twenty-five percent of people with diabetes don't even know they have it and that means they're not getting the treatment they need or taking the important steps necessary to keep the disease in check.

Health Concerns: How to Keep Family Updated

The Web offers many options for staying connected and keeping loved ones updated on your or your family member's health issues. These methods are fast, easy, and efficient, and you'll know your support network is right there with you as a part of your journey.

Radiation from Japan: How Much Is Unsafe?

All eyes have been on Japan as residents struggle to recover from the earthquake and tsunami. Fears of nuclear radiation leaks persist, raising questions and concerns whether radiation will reach the U.S. and how much of a potential danger it would pose.

Potty Training 101: What's Normal and What's Not?

What to expect when you're expecting your little one to get out of diapers and onto the potty.

Hospice Care: When Is it Time?

What exactly is hospice care and how does it differ from hospital care? And how do you make the decision to place your loved one into hospice?

When Should You Keep Them Home?

It's never fun when your child has to stay home sick, but here are some interesting findings about when it might be better to build up immunity. And a cheat sheet for when they need to be home.

How to Keep Track of Multiple Medications

Are your daily doses making you dizzy? Handy help is here.

How Do You Know If You're Having a Stroke?

It's the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Learn the warning signs and symptoms for you and for those you love.

Just Got Over Being Sick? What to Keep and What to Toss

Germs thrive in saliva, mucous, stomach acids, and other body fluids. Regardless of how good you are about personal hygiene when you're sick, chances are you're going to spew a few germs.

How to Make End-of-Life Decisions

It's important to take control and define the type of medical care we want, or don't want, at the end of our life.

The Sandwich Generation: Balancing Your Kids and Parents

Does a typical day for you include work, shepherding children to activities, overseeing homework, and taking your parents to the doctor? You're part of the so-called sandwich generation, "sandwiched" as you are between the responsibilities of kids and elderly relatives.

How to Eat Enough While on Chemotherapy

Cancer treatment side effects can make it difficult for cancer patients to consume sufficient calories and adequate nutrition, but there are ways to make it easier to get the nutrition you need.

Key to Better Balance in Elderly: Move to the Music

A program of "eurhythmics" shows results in promoting physical coordination and mental acuity in older adults.

Overlooked Antidepressant Risks for Seniors

There's no question that antidepressants can be a tremendous help to depressed seniors. However, antidepressants, in combination with other medications, can cause adverse reactions, or drug-drug interactions.

Diabetes: Possible Long-Term Consequences

Educate yourself on what can happen so you can take the steps now to change your outcome for the better.

Celebrate Being a Cancer Survivor

From the moment you are diagnosed with cancer, you become a survivor. And you are in good company. In 2010, the number of people in the U.S. living with cancer exceeded 11 million.

4 Tips for Caring for a Depressed Senior

Have you noticed changes in your aging parent or another elderly adult you care for? It may be depression. Depression in seniors is prevalent and often overlooked.

How to Cope When You Have No Health Insurance

If you've lost access to insurance, you may be wondering how you'll survive. Is there a way to get good health care even if your finances are unstable?

Measuring Physician Quality

The Internet has made it possible for us to weigh in and share our opinions on just about everything. It makes sense then that we'd expect to also rate our healthcare providers.

Does Spanking Leave Emotional Scars?

While a high percentage of U.S. parents admit to regularly spanking their children, this practice is actually illegal in 24 countries. What's in the best interest of kids?

How to Save a Child's Life

Here is choking first aid that everyone should know.

Coping When Your Child Has Cancer

The news that your child has cancer can be overwhelming. Here's where to start.

Help Your Child Deal with a Critically Ill Sibling

When one of your children is critically ill, his sibling may need some extra love and attention, too.

Palliative Cancer Care versus Hospice Cancer Care

You may be familiar with hospice, which supports people with life-limiting illnesses. However, you may not be as familiar with palliative care, a related concept that is invaluable to people with cancer or other serious illnesses.

Reiki Healing: Benefits for Cancer Treatment

There is considerable anecdotal support of the value of Reiki for cancer patients. Scientific support for Reiki as an adjunct therapy for cancer and other serious diseases is also accumulating.

How Diabetics Should Treat Cuts and Bruises

Have diabetes? Simple measures can keep your skin fresh and beautiful.

How Is the Recession Affecting Your Health?

When the downturn boosts death rates, it s time to identify the issues and make changes where you can.

Bathroom Safety and Arthritis

Simple adjustments can increase bathroom safety when you have arthritis and reduce your risk of falls and injury.

Seniors and Depression

From causes to treatments, learn more about this common problem.

Programs for Family Caregivers

The National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Foundation honored innovative programs for caregivers.

Home for the Holidays: Stories to Remember

It's important to begin capturing memories to pass along to the next generations of your family. The holidays are the perfect time to get started.

Understanding Dementia

As life expectancy increases, so, too, does the prevalence of dementia. Here, a look at the disorder, from symptoms to treatment.

10 Ways to Boost Your Memory

Follow these tips to enhance your recall and make your mind more nimble.

10 Ways to Stop Worrying

Everyone worries from time to time, but too much worrying can affect your health. Here, 10 ways to stop stressing.

5 Holiday Tips for Long-Distance Caregivers

Follow these steps to make the holiday season easier for you and a loved one who lives far away.

It's Alzheimer's: Now What?

Caregiving expert Jackie Pinkowitz explains what families need to know when a loved one has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
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