Scientists researching several diseases have been studying
the effects of a Mediterranean diet on health. The most recent study results
came from collecting the diet information from more than 17,000 men and women
whose average age was 64.
Cognitive ability, which is our interest in this article, was one of several
elements studied. The participants took tests that measured their memory and
thinking skills. During the four year study, seven percent of the individuals
developed problems with cognitive skills.
A recent story in the New York Times reports on new information suggesting that many problems we face as we age, including memory loss, insomnia, depression – even cancer – could becaused by changes in our eyes. Many of us become aware of vision changes in our early to mid-40s,
when we find, as my mother used to say, that “the print in the newspaper
keeps getting smaller.” What’s happening, of course, is presbyopia. As
the eye ages, the lens of the eye gradually loses its ability to focus
on close objects, thus the prevalence of reading glasses in our
mid-years.
Long married
couples are often said to “finish each others sentences.” They work as a
unit, and friends and family members are used to this interaction. This
ability to work as a team is a wonderful thing until one of the team
isn’t functioning well and the other is in denial. When
couples cover up for each other, precious time can be lost. So, adult
children need to be on the lookout for signs that things aren’t going
well.
It's natural for you to want to try to lift your elders' moods, for
their sake as well as your own. Sometimes you'll succeed, sometimes
you'll fail, but trying rarely hurts. Rarely is the key word, here.
Before I offer some suggestions that may help, I'd like to remind you to
be sensitive to signs of anxiety, additional pain or fear. You want to
cheer people up, not force them to pretend to be happy for your sake.
That being said, here are some suggestions that you may find helpful.
In recent years, stories about Alzheimer’s disease have led a significant
number of news broadcasts. Whether the story is about researchers discovering a
promising new treatment or daunting statistics about what Alzheimer’s in the
future will look like without a cure, few adults haven’t heard about the
increasing numbers of people developing the disease.
Often,
whether from physical problems or lack of appetite, eating loses its
appeal to frail elders. Regardless of the reason their loved one has for
not eating well, caregivers can be stressed by the situation. We know
the value of nutrition. We know the feeling of hunger. We want to help
them stay nourished. Professional
caregivers, such as those in nursing homes, also struggle with the
issue. However, nourishment needs to be provided in the right way, which
often depends on why the person has trouble eating.
According to Carol Levine of the United Hospital Fund, a longtime
researcher and caregiver herself, and Susan Reinhard of the AARP Public
Policy Institute, few non-caregivers have any real idea of how much care
an in-the-trenches family caregiver provides. In a story by Paula Span on the New Old Age Blog titled “Caregiver, Plus M.D. or R.N.”,
Carol Levine is quoted as saying, “The public perception is what you
see in ads — people sitting by the bedside, holding hands, making lunch,
smiling at one another…It has that glossy look. That’s not the whole
story.”
Adult children often worry about their aging parents’ eating
habits. Sometimes the elders live alone and don’t feel like cooking or even
going out to buy groceries. They may have pain issues that keep them from enjoying
food, or dentures that make chewing uncomfortable. Depression can be a factor
for some people, as can medication side effects. Loneliness, especially for
people who have lost a spouse to a nursing home or death, can make eating seem
unimportant or unattractive.
January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. To raise awareness of this often symtom free disease, I'm running the following message from the National Eye Institute. Please make sure to get your own eyes checked and see to it that your elderly loved ones do. - Carol
Glaucoma on the Rise With
a 58 Percent Increase by 2030
It’s the first month of the New Year, a time when more than 40 percent of American adults make one or more
resolutions. What are your resolutions for the New Year? Losing weight?
Quitting smoking? How about learning more about glaucoma and how you can
protect your sight?
Glaucoma is a group of
diseases that can damage the optic nerve of the eye and lead to vision loss and
blindness. Primary open-angle glaucoma is the most common form. In this
condition, fluid builds up in the front chamber of the eye, and the optic nerve
is damaged by the resulting increase in eye pressure. This potentially blinding
eye disease currently affects 2.7 million people nationwide, and studies show
that at least half of all people with glaucoma do not know they have it.
“While anyone can develop
glaucoma, we encourage people at higher risk to get a comprehensive dilated eye
exam every one to two years,” said director Dr. Paul Sieving of the National
Eye Institute (NEI) of the National Institutes of Health. “Individuals at
higher risk include African Americans age 40 and over; everyone over the age of
60, especially Mexican Americans; and people with a family history of
glaucoma.”
As far back as 2006, the New York Times was reporting on the deepening link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease. Now, new results from a study led by researchers from the University of California San Francisco show that there is a link between the risk of cognitive decline and the severity of diabetes.
An article on the UCSF website reports on a 9-year long study by
researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and
the San Francisco VA Medical Center. The Health, Aging, and Body
Composition (Health ABC) Study enrolled 3,069 adults over 70 at two
community clinics in Memphis, TN and Pittsburgh, PA beginning in 1997.
All the patients provided periodic blood samples and took regular
cognitive tests over time.
A study funded by Alzheimer's Society (UK) and led by King's
College London has identified four existing drugs and one drug class which
could possibly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or at least slow
down the progression. The study is part of an ongoing drug discovery project that
aims to accelerate the search for a cure
for Alzheimer’s by looking at existing treatments. The researchers say
that medications used to treat hypertension, diabetes and skin conditions could
be doubling as treatments for Alzheimer's within a few years.
Have you ever entered someone's home and felt good things about it even
if it's cluttered or decorated in a way you find tacky? Most of us have
done so. We find that a home can have an aura of happiness or lightness
about it and we feel comfortable. Conversely, have you walked into a
different home, yet felt the air was heavy and burdensome? Perhaps
unhappiness or even abuse has affected the very walls of the home.
Anyway, there's often something in a home's atmosphere that can affect
us even before we really know the occupants.
Most of us with aging relatives will eventually face the “how do we stop them from driving”
problem. To many people, driving a car equals independence. One reason
for that is the lack of convenient public transportation in much of our
country. Very large American cities such as New York, plus most of
Europe’s large cities, generally have good public transportation, so
people who don’t drive aren’t stranded. But across the country,
accessible public transportation for elders is hard to come by.
My own high
plains state is especially poor at providing affordable public
transportation. There’s an “everyone has his own horse” mentality. True,
the metro areas have elder commissions that often provide senior vans,
but this can be costly for many seniors and doesn’t allow for spur of
the moment trips. For most seniors, taxi rides are financially out of
reach. Para-transit buses for the disabled are available, but like
senior van rides, they often are costly and they must be scheduled. All
of these services are better than nothing, but they are hardly ideal.
In a proposed settlement of a nationwide class-action lawsuit, the
Obama administration has agreed to change the decades-old practice of
denying Medicare coverage for skilled nursing care or physical therapy
unless the patient could be shown to have a likelihood of medical or
functional improvement.
According to a story in the New York Times, “Federal officials agreed to rewrite the Medicare manual to make clear that Medicare coverage of nursing and therapy
services does not turn on the presence or absence of an individual’s
potential for improvement, but is based on the beneficiary’s need for
skilled care.”
Many of us become aware of vision changes in our early to mid-40s, when we find, as my mother used to say, that “the print in the newspaper keeps getting smaller.” What’s happening, of course, is presbyopia. As the eye ages, the lens of the eye gradually loses its ability to focus on close objects, thus the prevalence of reading glasses in our mid-years.What we may not realize is that during our eye exams, our doctors have been doing more than deciding on the prescription we need for our glasses or contacts. They’ve been looking for signs of health problems, as well. Signs of diabetes and cardiovascular disease can be seen during an eye exam, and recently studies in France and Australia have found that eye doctors can be trained to spot early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Often, whether from physical problems or lack of appetite, eating loses its appeal to frail elders. Regardless of the reason their loved one has for not eating well, caregivers can be stressed by the situation. We know the value of nutrition. We know the feeling of hunger. We want to help them stay nourished.
Professional caregivers, such as those in nursing homes, also struggle with the issue. However, nourishment needs to be provided in the right way, which often depends on why the person has trouble eating.
Is it Alzheimer's disease? As people age, the rapid mental recall of youth often fades. Yet most aging adults have wisdom and life experience to share and are cognitively sound. With increased awareness of Alzheimer’s disease, however, has come an increased fear that every mental glitch we experience as we age is a sign of AD. So, what is Alzheimer's disease and what could these disturbing symptoms be if they are not AD?
Alzheimer’s disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that gradually destroys memory and thinking skills. Eventually the ability to carry out simple tasks is also lost, as is the ability to recognize family members and communicate one’s needs.
It is especially important for seniors to get the right vitamins
and minerals, many seniors find it helpful to take a multivitamin.
Geritol Complete® multi-vitamin contains every vitamin and
mineral established as essential in nutrition, plus vitamins
A, C, and E in the antioxidant form.
