Minding Our Elders®

Cancer Drug May Help in Alzheimer's Fight

The anti-cancer drug Gleevec has been shown to disable a newly discovered key protein linked to the development of Alzheimer’s. The protein, gSAP, stimulates production of toxic beta-amyloid which is linked to the development of plaques in the brain typically associated with Alzheimer’s disease.  Dr. Gen He and Dr. Paul Greengard, both of the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, have identified gamma secretase activating protein (gSAP).

Read more about Gleevec and how it may in the Alzheimer's fight:

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Lewy Body Dementia Often Confused With Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's Disease Doesn't Just Affect the Aged

Should You Get Genetic Testing for Alzheimer's Disease?

Alzheimer’s Development Predicted Through Gait

When you are stuck behind an older woman at the supermarket, do you get impatient at her slow pace? Maybe she simply has all the time in the world and no longer must rush through each day as though she needs to put out a fire. Or maybe she has arthritis or another physical illness that is slowing her down. There’s nothing wrong with being more cautious about movements and slowing a bit as we age. However, for some people, a slow gait, particularly an uneven gait, could be a sign of brain disease such as Alzheimer’s.

Read more about how Alzheimer's development can be predicted by changes in gait:

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Lewy Body Dementia Often Confused With Alzheimer's

Green Tea Molecules Interfere With Formation of Plaques That May Cause Alzheimer's

Green Tea Molecules Interfere With Formation of Plaques That May Cause Alzheimer’s

For the second time in less than a month I’ve found myself drawn to reports on the efficacy of green tea extract as a possible prevention or treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. In February, I wrote about a study conducted in the UK using purified extracts from green tea and red wine in early animal studies to interrupt the pathway that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease. The result of this study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Read more about green tea extracts and Alzheimer's prevention:

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Infections May Speed the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

Last December, a team of scientists working collaboratively under the guidance of the University of Bonn and the University of Massachusetts discovered that there was an association between chronic inflammation and the death of brain nerve cells. This discovery led them to theorize that chronic inflammation could possibly lead to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. 

Read more about how infections and immunity may contribute to Alzheimers:

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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 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 research to combat the disease.

Read more about Lewy body dementia and how it's often confused with Alzheimer's:

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Global Attention to Alzheimer's Must Include Educating Public

Alzheimer’s Study Focuses on Knowledge Based Impairment

Alzheimer’s disease studies that focus on the earliest stage of the disease, which is mild cognitive impairment (MCI), have typically focused on short-term memory loss. Now, a study published last month in the American Journal of Psychiatry has concluded that people who develop Alzheimer’s may have shown knowledge based (semantic) impairment prior to memory loss, had they been tested for this cognitive deficit. 

Read more about study focusing on a different impairment as test for Alzheimer's:

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Memantine May Help Prevent Damage from Mini-Strokes

"PhotoVoice Project" Unique Way to Ease Stigma of Dementia

Old Movies, Old Music: Bringing Back Memories Isn’t Just About Nostalgia

Old movies via DVDs, as well as CDs of big band music or other favorites of our elders’ generation have long been used as a diversionary tactic. Now, Artists for Alzheimer’s (ARTZ) is spotlighting a new way that movies can be used to enhance the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease. ARTZ is a nonprofit based in Woburn, Mass. that creates cultural opportunities for people with dementia and their caregivers. 

Their program, Meet me at the Coolidge…and make memories, is an interactive film program for people with memory loss and their care partners.  “Short clips from classic films are shown, followed by audience discussion and reminiscence, guided by a moderator. This program demonstrates how film can be a form of treatment for some of the symptoms associated with memory loss, Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. The cinema has the power to connect us with our deep-rooted emotional memories - the kind that never leave us.

Read more about arts and Alzheimer's:

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Dental Health Linked to Dementia Risk

It’s been known for years that poor dental health increases a person’s risk for heart disease. In the recent past, poor dental health has been mentioned as a possible risk for Alzheimer’s disease, as well.   Now, a large and lengthy study has confirmed a probable correlation between poor dental hygiene and dementia.

The results of this study conducted by researchers at the University of California have shown that people who brush their teeth less than once a day were up to 65 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who brush daily. The study, led by Annlia Paganini-Hill and published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, followed nearly 5,500 elderly people over an 18 year period.

Read more about dental health and dementia risk:

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Loneliness May Increase Dementia, Heart Attack and Stroke Risk

A recent study published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry has found that people who feel lonely are significantly more at risk for developing dementia.

The study, headed by Tjalling Jan Holwerda of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, found that participants who reported feeling lonely, no matter how many friends and family surrounded them, were more likely to experience dementia than those who lived on their own, but didn’t feel lonely. The team focused on approximately 2,200 older adults living in Amsterdam, ages 65 to 86. None of the participants exhibited signs of dementia and none of them lived in facilities such as nursing homes. The researchers visited the elders two times over the course of three years. About half of them lived alone, with 20 percent reporting feelings of loneliness.

Read more about lonliness and dementia, heart attack and stroke risk:

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Unexpected Fees In Assisted Living: Understand the Contract

Assisted living facilities provide a safe environment with convenient meals and social opportunities in their base package. They are generally set up so that an elder can obtain help if he or she falls or has another emergency. Many also offer transportation by bus or other means for group outings or to specific locations.

But what about the basics of personal care? Many assisted living facilities don't provide in the "base" package, help with dressing, bathing, keeping track of prescription refills, setting up daily doses, injecting medications such as insulin, and a companion for trips to doctor appointments. So make sure you understand what services they do and don't offer per the contract, and what services may be available, but would cost extra. You might get some services you are expecting, but not all.

Read more about assisted living, terms and costs:

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Rebuilding Life After Your Care Receiver Dies

Brain “Pacemaker” Device Moves Forward in Alzheimer’s Studies

...In this first surgery, Anderson implanted the pacemaker-like device into the area of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease, providing deep brain stimulation. The stimulator has already been used in thousands of people with Parkinson’s disease with good effect, though for Parkinson’s disease it is implanted into the specific area of the brain affected by that disease. What’s new is the realization that any number of diseases originating from the brain can be helped with deep brain stimulation by placing the stimulator in a specific area.  Other researchers are testing deep brain stimulation to control seizures, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder resistant to other therapies.

Read about brain "pacemaker" to reverse memory loss in Alzheimer's:

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Know Your Hospitalization Codes or Risk Medicare Denial

Your mom has fallen in her home and you’re now sitting with her in the hospital. Nothing is broken, they said, but she suffered a back injury they want to monitor. They’d like to keep her in the hospital for observation. You say sure, why not? She stays several days and then is released to a rehab facility for follow-up care.Medicare pays for the first 20 days a patient is in a rehab facility only if the patient is admitted and remains in the hospital for three days prior to treatment. But, according to AAPR, hospitals are increasingly leaving Medicare hospital patients “under observation” without officially admitting them.

Read more about the Medicare "observation trap":

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Vitamin D, Mediterranean Diet Help Lower Risk of Alzheimer’s

Two different studies have highlighted natural weapons we may have at our disposal in our fight against developing Alzheimer’s disease. One is Vitamin D and the other is our diet.

We’ve long known that vitamin D, generally absorbed through sun exposure but often supplemented, is necessary for bone strength. During the last few years, evidence has been accumulating showing that a low level of vitamin D likely contributes to cardiovascular disease, some cancers, strokes, depression and some metabolic disorders.

Read more about Vitamin D3 and a Mediterranean Diet as weapons against Alzheimer's disease:

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Tai Chi shown to boost brain size, increase memory in Chinese seniors

Could non-aerobic exercise help prevent Alzheimer’s and other dementia? Possibly. A recent article in The Atlantic reported on a study involving a group of seniors residing in Shanghai, China and the practice of the ancient art of tai chi as a way to prevent Alzheimer’s.

Tai chi, as described by the Mayo Clinic website, is “… a noncompetitive, self-paced system of gentle physical exercise and stretching. To do tai chi, you perform a series of postures or movements in a slow, graceful manner. Each posture flows into the next without pause, ensuring that your body is in constant motion.”

Read more about Tai Chi and increased memory capacity:

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Elder Care Needs Can Change Quickly

...The moment is frozen in time for me when, just hours after I left his house, my phone rang. It was the dispatch center telling me that Joe had punched the help button and wasn’t answering his phone. I immediately ran across the yard and pushed through the door. Joe was lying on the floor, with one leg at an unnatural angle. In agony, he just said “help me.” Joe had broken his hip. I called 9-1-1 and we rode in the ambulance to the hospital. A few days later, Joe was moved to a nursing home, but he died within weeks.

Read about how quickly an elder's needs can change and how to plan:

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Time to examine Medicare Plans

DEAR READERS: Whether for yourself or to assist your parents or other elders, it’s time to review Medicare options if you want to make changes from the 2012 policies. Medicare annual open enrollment begins Oct. 15 with new benefit choices taking place Jan. 2013.

During the Medicare annual enrollment period, which is Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, all Medicare beneficiaries may change their Medicare coverage for the coming year. This includes anyone enrolled in traditional Medicare, Medicare D (prescription drug coverage) or Medicare Advantage. No action is necessary if you are happy with your coverage as it stands.

Read more about open enrollment and your Medicare plans:

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Study Shows Rate of Mental Decline in Elders After Hospital Stay Doubles

Years back, my dad came out of the hospital with severe, irreversible dementia. True, he’d had brain surgery. The surgery was meant to correct the effects aging was having on scar tissue from his WWII brain injury. Still, the change in my dad post-surgery was dramatic, to put it lightly. At the time, medical people were not aware – or were not acknowledging – the risks of surgery and hospitalization for elders. 

Through the years, I’ve answered anguished questions from readers telling their personal tale of a mother or father coming home from the hospital dramatically changed. I could empathize and tell them I understood their pain. But until the last couple of years, there’s been little scientific evidence to back up what many family members have witnessed firsthand.

Read more about hospitalization and elders:

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Alzheimer’s Awareness Campaign Goes Global

September marks World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. Friday, September 21, 2012, is the day when Alzheimer’s organizations around the world, as well as caregivers and families with people who have the disease, will concentrate their efforts on raising awareness of Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, a group of disorders that impairs mental functioning. Families are looking for answers to cope with their own or a loved one’s illness. While most of these people are aware that for now Alzheimer's disease is progressive and irreversible, they continue to hope that something will soon come along to help them or their loved one. 

Read more about efforts to spread Alzheimer's awareness during September:

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Is Alzheimer’s disease the default diagnosis for confused elders?

Alzheimer’s organizations have worked diligently to raise public awareness of the disease. Their efforts are paying off handsomely. I’d challenge nearly anyone to find a friend or neighbor who hasn’t heard enough about Alzheimer’s disease to give some type of description of the symptoms. The downside of this awareness, however, is that even doctors can jump to possibly faulty conclusions when they see an elderly person showing signs of memory loss or significant confusion. 

A recent article in the Detroit Free Press features Peter Lichtenberg, Ph.D., head of Wayne State University's Institute of Gerontology. In a paper for the journal Clinical Gerontology, Lichtenberg, according to the article, “highlighted two case studies: in one, a man's bouts of confusion and agitation in his late 70s were caused by illness and painful cellulitis, not Alzheimer's; in the other, an 87-year-old woman, who seemed suddenly confused, was suffering from depression.”

Read more about getting a proper dementia diagnosis:

National TV talk show looking for siblings who have conflict over caring for aging loved one. If  you are interested, please contact me.

http://www.healthcentral.com/alzheimers/c/62/153255/alzheimer-default

Is Anesthesia Worth the Risk for Elderly?

...When sharing my personal opinion,, I made it very clear that an informed decision includes information on what anesthetics can do to the aging body. Several studies have been done on the effects of anesthetics on the aging body; however the one I often go back to was done by researcher Roderic Eckenhoff, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Eckenhoff was especially suspicious of one commonly used anesthetic, isoflurane, as a possible culprit in pushing some elders over the edge into dementia.

Read more about the risks of anethesia for the elderly:

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