MSI Press Blog

  Every few months, a headline makes the rounds: “10 Medicines Linked to Cognitive Decline.” Sometimes it’s seven. Sometimes it’s twelve. The number changes, but the anxiety stays the same. These lists spread fast because they hit two of our deepest fears: losing our memory and taking the “wrong” pill. But the truth behind the headlines is both more complicated and far more useful than a tidy list of villains. Let’s slow the conversation down. The Science Is Real — but the Lists Are Not There are medications associated with cognitive side effects. That part isn’t hype. But research doesn’t point to a fixed set of ten pills. It points to drug classes , especially: Anticholinergics — found in some bladder medications, older antidepressants, certain allergy meds, and more. Benzodiazepines — used for anxiety and sleep. These drugs can affect memory, attention, and processing speed, particularly in older adults or with long-term use. But the risk isn’t a switch you flip. It’s a dim...

  Grief may be universal, but widowhood is not experienced the same way by men and women. The words widow and widower describe the same loss — the death of a spouse — yet they carry different social, financial, and emotional realities. Understanding those differences helps us see how gender roles shape life after loss, and how both widows and widowers navigate the long road of rebuilding. Financial Realities: Unequal Starting Points For many women, widowhood brings an abrupt financial reckoning. Even today, older women are more likely to have interrupted careers, smaller pensions, and less access to investment income. When a husband dies, the household’s primary income often disappears, leaving the widow to manage reduced Social Security benefits and rising medical or housing costs. Widowers, by contrast, are statistically more likely to have independent income or retirement savings. Yet they face their own financial strain — not from lack of funds, but from the sudden need to ma...

  Lewy Body Dementia is one of the most complex—and often one of the most misunderstood—forms of dementia. Families usually notice that something is changing, but the changes don’t fit neatly into the patterns they expect from Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. That’s because LBD sits at the crossroads of both: it affects thinking , movement , behavior , sleep , and even the body’s automatic functions like blood pressure and digestion. A Disease of Misplaced Proteins At the heart of LBD are tiny protein deposits called Lewy bodies . These clumps form inside brain cells and interfere with how neurons communicate. Over time, this disrupts memory, attention, movement, mood, and the sleep‑wake cycle. There are two related forms of the disease: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB): cognitive changes—confusion, attention problems, hallucinations—appear first. Parkinson’s disease dementia: movement symptoms come first, with cognitive decline developing later. What Families Often Notice First LBD ...