Pursuing Creative Arts Could Prevent or Delay Alzheimer's
Completing crosswords, making a habit of Sudoku and playing challenging brain games on the Internet have long been suggested as methods of maintaining our cognitive health. These are all fine pursuits, but recent research by Mayo Clinic has shown that creative arts such as painting, drawing, and sculpting may protect the mind against cognitive decline even better than the commonly used forms of brain exercise.
Read complete article on HealthCentral about how creative arts may help prevent Alzheimer's:
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 29, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Pain: How Is It Perceived by People with Dementia?
It’s far too easy for onlookers to view someone with dementia as unable to feel pain. Since the disease eventually renders most people helpless and cognitively inexpressive, they can't articulate what hurts or why they are upset. Caring researchers have now brought new insight to this issue. In an article on altered pain processing in patients with cognitive impairment, Medical News Today states that new research shows how wrong previous ideas about what people with cognitive disorders could feel have been.
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 28, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Want Optimum Health? Changing Dietary Need for People Over 50
Turning 50 is a milestone for many people. The half-century mark comes with new rules for medical tests and often brings a couple of health-related signals indicating that it’s for some dietary changes. Even if you have packed away a healthy 50 years or more, our nutritional needs change over time. Gradual dietary tweaks may be wise in order to ensure your golden years are, well, golden.
Read full article on Agingcare about how to change your diet through the decades:
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 27, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Feeling Useful Integral to Emotional Health and Contentment
Dear Carol: My dad suffers from the effects of poorly controlled diabetes. He’s finally trying to follow the advice his doctors have given him which is helping some, but he’s forgetful. He also has some problems with his feet. I watch his diet and pills so that helps. Even when Dad’s feeling fairly well physically, though, he seems vaguely depressed. He claims to be happy enough, but he says that he's not contributing anything to the family. Dad used to be very physical and now there are so many things he can’t do. I know that he gets bored, but I wish he could just accept that he doesn’t have to do more. H...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 26, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Kathi Koll Foundation Providing Financial Aid to Low-Income Caregivers
Dear Readers: As you know, I rarely use guest posts, but this is one of my exceptions. Financial aid for caregivers is needed. Please forward to other caregivers who may want to apply. - Carol
In 2015, Kathi Koll started a foundation to help caregivers in need. The issue was a personal one for her. A little more than 10 years before, her husband had suffered a massive stroke that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Kathi became Don's caregiver for six and half years before his passing in 2011 and learned firsthand about the many challenges of caregiving, including the emotional ups and downs, the changes to ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 25, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
The Root of Alzheimer's: Could Infection and Inflammation be Part of the Equation?
When it comes to Alzheimer’s disease, a number of researchers think that it’s time to reconsider the idea of infection as a root cause. Scientists are now pointing to studies that reveal the presence of a microbe as a possible trigger for the disease. The theory is that microbes "find their way into the brain via the bloodstream and lie dormant until triggered by aging, immune system decline or by different types of stress…once they are activated, the microbes then damage brain cells - either directly or via inflammation.”
Read full article on HealthCentral about new thoughts on the root on Alzheimer's:
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 24, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Is Validation Therapy for Dementia Calming or Condescending?
People with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia often live in an altered reality that doesn't mesh with ours; yet their perceptions are as real to them as our perceptions are to us. That's a tough concept for many adult children and spouses of people with dementia to absorb. Validation of our loved one's reality is very often the kindest, most respectful response to their altered world that we can provide. In order to offer that validation without coming across as condescending, we need to understand the reason behind "therapeutic fibbing"—as validation therapy is sometimes called.
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 24, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Anxiety May Speed Onset of Dementia When Paired with MCI
Many studies have shown that stress, and anxiety which is often at the core of our stress, can lead to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Now, a recent study has shown that anxiety and stress can increase the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) turning into Alzheimer’s disease, as well. People with mild cognitive impairment are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than the general population. Therefore, these findings suggest that while lowering stress is good for all of us, it’s vital for those who have MCI to keep stress levels low in order to decrease their risk of developing full-blown Al...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 23, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Alzheimer's Sleep Issues Challenge Exhausted Caregivers
Exhausted caregivers often say that one of the hardest things for them is that they can’t get quality sleep. Even caregivers who have loved ones outside of their homes can have problems since they are still on call day and night for frequent emergencies. However, it’s the Alzheimer’s caregivers who have the hardest time since Alzheimer’s disease can cause severe sleep disruption. Experts still aren’t sure about all of the reasons for the poor sleeping patterns of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Doctors feel that there may be some change in the brain, perhaps the same as with other aging people but ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 22, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Delirium Leading to Dementia One Surgery Risk
As people age, surgery becomes a greater risk to their overall health than the same surgery would be for younger people. Older people often have less robust immune systems so they are more at risk for general infections and they are more at risk for pneumonia. However, one of the most frightening risks for older people is post-surgical delirium. Delirium is described as an acute state of confusion that often affects older adults following surgery or serious illness. A recent study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has found that inflammation most likely plays a key role in the onset o...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 20, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Missing the Moment of Passing Can Make Some Family Members Feel Guilty
Dear Carol: My dad had been fighting cancer for years. Eventually, there was no more hope for a cure, so we agreed to ask for hospice care to keep Dad comfortable during his last weeks of life. He surprised us by doing well under hospice care, living beyond the doctor’s expectation, but, of course, he eventually died. What bothers me is that I wasn’t with him at the moment he passed. He was in a nursing home at the time and the staff was wonderful. They called the family together when it was determined that Dad was close to the end. My siblings and I sat with Dad for two days around the clock. We brought in food ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 18, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Lewy Body Dementia Often Confused With Alzheimer ’s
When most people think of dementia they probably think of Alzheimer’s disease. Since Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, and one of the biggest risk factors for developing AD is age, new developments to combat the disease are often in the news. There are, however, other types of dementia that are just as devastating as Alzheimer’s disease and they are not necessarily rare. The type of dementia we’ll focus on in this article is Lewy body dementia. I frequently hear from spouses or adult children of people who have developed LBD. It saddens me that there’s little news to relate to them about rese...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 17, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
The Challenge of Going Public with an Alzheimer ’s Diagnosis
Sadly, even after years of work to educate the public about any illness that affects the brain, a stigma remains. No matter that most, if not all, mental illnesses have a biological basis. No matter that people aren’t any more responsible for a brain illness than they are for other illnesses. The fact remains that whether the disease affects the brain occurs at a younger age in the form of depression or bi-polar disease or an older age in the form of Alzheimer’s disease or another dementia, people with brain illnesses are often reluctant to acknowledge their illness for fear of being treated differently than others.�...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 16, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Aging in Place or Assisted Living: It ’s About Choices
According to an AARP survey, the vast majority of boomers have stated that they want to stay in their current homes rather than move to another setting for their later years. This attitude has been the springboard for many aging in place advocates as well as businesses like contractors and high-tech companies. It’s not hard to understand why 60-year-olds would say that they want to remain in their home for life rather than move to assisted living or a nursing home. These are generally people who are relatively healthy and feel that they can hire help for whatever they need down the road.
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Source: Minding Our Elders - March 15, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Granny Flats: Is the Investment a Good Idea?
Whether known as Granny flats, in-law flats or intergenerational apartments, there is a small trend in real estate toward families living together. They may be adding onto homes or even installing or building separate dwellings on their property so that their elders can live with them yet both generations have significant independence. I reviewed the book ‘In-laws, Outlaws and Granny Flats’ Beautiful, Practical Guide to Intergenerational Living in the past and have been revisiting the topic lately to see how the trend is holding.
Read full article on HealthCentral about whether an in-law apartment is the best investmen...
Source: Minding Our Elders - March 14, 2017 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
