One of the great things about the history of medicine is how new ideas and approaches to care replace those that were previously the "gold standard" fall by the wayside and are replaced with newer and more effective treatments.

If one is in medical practice long enough it sometimes seems like that sense one gets when sitting in a waiting room and picking up a years old copy of Time® magazine and not realize that it is years out of date, as many of the stories seem to be the same or very familiar.

It is clear to anyone who has cared for someone experiencing dementia that the issues of memory and recall are not the ones that play havoc with the individual and their caregivers, but the behavioural challenges.

Most health care professionals involved in eldercare have had the experience that some of those we look after seem to be able to recall past experiences with a degree of intensity that may be very disquieting and may even lead to what gets interpreted as agitated behaviour.