In her twenties, Morella Kayman wanted to become an opera singer, only to have her dreams dashed when she developed cancer. After battling through the disease, her husband Lawrence was then diagnosed with pre-senile dementia at the age of 51.Frustrated that so little information about the condition and so little support was available, Morella wrote to every national newspaper in Britain. Within a week, she had been flooded with mail.One letter was from a fellow carer, Cora Philips, and the pair joined forces in 1979 to form the Alzheimer's Disease Society. From very humble beginnings, the charity, now called the Alzheimer's Society, has more than 20,000 members and Morella has worked tirelessly to raise funds to help people living with dementia, their families and carers.Morella's rich and colourful life story will be a support to anyone who has lived through the challenges of Alzheimer's disease or cancer. Her incredible determination and chutzpah continues to inspire, and in 2012 she was awarded the MBE for services to the Alzheimer's Society.A percentage of profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the Alzheimer's Society.

‘Many assume that living with dementia is one long term steady decline. Jennifer’s insightful book debunks that myth.’ – Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive, Alzheimer's Society Jennifer Bute was a highly qualified senior doctor in a large clinical practice, whose patients included those with dementia. Then she began to notice symptoms in herself. She was finally given a diagnosis of Young Onset Dementia in 2009. After resigning as a GP, she resolved to explore what could be done to slow the progress of dementia. The aim of this practical book is to help people who are living with dementia and to give hope to those who are with them on the dementia journey. Jennifer believes that her dementia is an opportunity as well as a challenge. Her important insights are that the person ‘inside’ remains and can be reached, even when masked by the condition, and that spirituality rises as cognition becomes limited. ‘The observant physician shines through in Dr Bute's book, while her practical advice reveals the resourcefulness of an inventor. Alzheimer’s disease has surely met one of its toughest ever adversaries!’ – Peter Garrard, Professor of Neurology, University of London

When Nula's husband James becomes forgetful they put it down to the stress of his work. But his behaviour becomes more erratic and inexplicable, and he is eventually diagnosed with Pick's Disease, early onset and aggressive dementia. Their lives change from comfortable middle-class creatives through the shock of diagnosis, coping with the ongoing illness, not coping with the illness, to the indignities of care home life. The Longest Farewell is a moving description of James' utter mental and physical deterioration, and the effect that it had both on him and on the people from whom he was involuntarily retreating, particularly Nula. Her life is completely taken: her frustration at trying to cope, her guilt at handing over his care to professionals, are just part of her at times harrowing story.With seemingly little to do but wait for his death, Nula meets Bonnie, another resident at the care home suffering from the same condition. In turn she meets Bonnie's husband, the broadcaster John Suchet and the similarity of their positions becomes a bond between them. After the deaths of James and Bonnie, and some guilt-induced false starts, Nula's story takes a bitter-sweet turn: they become partners, and eventually marry. The Longest Farewell is a heartfelt yet inspiring account of dealing with dementia, and of unexpectedly finding a happy ending. "Moving, heart-breaking and terrifying. But best of all, from beginning to the best of endings, it's a book about love." – Sally Magnusson

Psychiatric disorders like dementia and depression are very common among older people. Written by experts in clinical practice, this handbook provides an easy to use and comprehensive account of what is known about these conditions, how clinicians can respond to given situations, and how services can be best organised.

The twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. His courtly romances fathered the Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England as well as on the continent. Yet because of the difficulty of capturing his swift-moving style in translation, English-speaking audiences are largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems. Now, for the first time, an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides a translation of Chrétien’s major poem, Yvain, in verse that fully and satisfyingly captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original. Yvain is a courtly romance with a moral tenor; it is ironic and sometimes bawdy; the poetry is crisp and vivid. In addition, the psychological and the socio-historical perceptions of the poem are of profound literary and historical importance, for it evokes the emotions and the values of a flourishing, vibrant medieval past.

A New York Times Bestseller Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist and leading Alzheimer’s advocate Meryl Comer’s Slow Dancing With a Stranger is a profoundly personal, unflinching account of her husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease that serves as a much-needed wake-up call to better understand and address a progressive and deadly affliction. When Meryl Comer’s husband Harvey Gralnick was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 1996, she watched as the man who headed hematology and oncology research at the National Institutes of Health started to misplace important documents and forget clinical details that had once been cataloged encyclopedically in his mind. With harrowing honesty, she brings readers face to face with this devastating condition and its effects on its victims and those who care for them. Detailing the daily realities and overwhelming responsibilities of caregiving, Comer sheds intensive light on this national health crisis, using her personal experiences—the mistakes and the breakthroughs—to put a face to a misunderstood disease, while revealing the facts everyone needs to know. Pragmatic and relentless, Meryl has dedicated herself to fighting Alzheimer’s and raising public awareness. “Nothing I do is really about me; it’s all about making sure no one ends up like me,” she writes. Deeply personal and illuminating, Slow Dancing With a Stranger offers insight and guidance for navigating Alzheimer’s challenges. It is also an urgent call to action for intensive research and a warning that we must prepare for the future, instead of being controlled by a disease and a healthcare system unable to fight it.

What would you do if both parents were diagnosed with Alzheimer's?At the time of their diagnosis, Ed Church struggles to his feet, yelling, "How dare you use the A. word with me," while Ibby wags her finger at the doctor scolding, "Shame on you."They protect each other, Ibby by asserting, "We're not leaving our home," and Ed reassuring, "We're just fine."About his driving Ed defends, "I'm an excellent driver, I've never had an accident." When their daughter, Rosie, finds dings in Ed's car, he dismisses, "Someone must have bumped into me."After Rosie moves them to assisted living, convinced they are on a second honeymoon, they break the news, "We've decided not to have more children."In the late stages, they politely shake Rosie's hand, inquiring, "Now, who are you?"In ALZHEIMER'S DAUGHTER readers journey with Rosie Church from her first suspicions that something is awry to nearly a decade later as she is honored to hold Ed and Ibby's hands when they draw their final breaths.