Sharpen Your pencils

September 2010

Dear Wellness Member,

This is the time of year that children and young adults return to school. You too can strengthen your cognitive skills-sharpen you pencils, join a club, enroll in a class, tap into your creative passions and challenge your mind.

This series, Sharpen Your Pencils, is dedicated to Cognitive Health. Learn about the cognitive changes sometimes seen in Parkinson’s (and aging) and what you can do about them.

● What are the cognitive changes in Parkinson’s? Dr. Shaw reviews the cognitvie changes associated with Parkinson's disease.

● Is it Lewy Body disease? This condition can mimick Parkinson’s but specific criteria do exist for the diagnosis.

● Abrupt changes in motor and cognitive functions require a different focus of treatment. Learn what to do if this happens to you.

● Treatment of cognitive dysfunction and hallucinations. This article reviews medications and other treatments designed to help dementia and hallucinations.

● Take the Cognitive Challenge. Take an inventory of your ‘cognitive activities’ and make a change.

Join us next month as we usher in the Fall season and explore the topic of adaptation in Time for Change.

Engage your mind,

Monique L. Giroux, MD
Medical Director, Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation

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