Here is a great dementia resource for caregivers and healthcare professinals,
Here is information on being the best caregiver you can be
Here are more interesting dementia brain boosting activities
by Adrienne Carlson
Can You Prevent Dementia?
It’s a sad but true fact of life – even the most brilliant of minds atrophy into nothing when old age and its related ills take over. Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and other mental illnesses are the plague of the elderly, and it’s all we can do to stave them off as long as possible. Why are people affected by these diseases, people who are intelligent and have until then led normal and fulfilling lives? It’s mostly in our genes, so even doctors are not sure if we can prevent dementia altogether, but you can keep it at bay for a good many years if you take good care of your mental health.
• Early diagnosis is the key: If you have a family history of mental illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s, it’s best to keep monitoring your mental health for signs of the disease. You don’t have to be paranoid, just careful enough so you don’t have to suffer the way your ancestors did. Doctors do prescribe medicines to keep you in good mental health, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• An active life helps: Even if you grow old, it’s wise to stay active – go to work every day, work out a little, eat healthy food, and generally prevent your life from slowing down. When you stop doing something, your body becomes accustomed to it and shuts down the parts that are used to do perform that activity. So if you stay in bed without getting up, your legs are bound to atrophy and become useless. Even if you’ve retired, keep yourself busy with volunteer work or activities around your home.
• Mental stimulation works: This is very important if you want to stay mentally healthy until you die – push your brain to take up new challenges. Besides doing crossword puzzles, Sudoku and other mentally challenging activities, try something new like learning a language or how to play a musical instrument. The more active your neurons remain, the less chance they have of becoming vegetative.
• Social networks are important: No, I’m not talking about the ones that exist on the Internet but about the friends and acquaintances who are a part of your life. Instead of staying holed up at home with the television, get out and socialize – make time to hang out with your friends, playing cards or having a drink together and talking about old times. Take a walk together early in the morning or when the sun is going down. In short, continue to meet people and lead an active social life to keep dementia away.
• Move with the times: You may be a baby boomer, but if you don’t keep up with technology, you’re going to feel like a misfit in today’s world. Get yourself a cell phone, an iPod or even a laptop. Use them to stay updated on the latest that’s happening in the world. Not only do you feel young at heart, you also feel young in mind.
By-line:
This guest article was written by Adrienne Carlson, who regularly writes on the topic of pharmacy technician certification . Adrienne welcomes your comments and questions at her email address: adrienne.carlson83@yahoo.com
Showing posts with label Baby boomers and the battle for the mind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby boomers and the battle for the mind. Show all posts
Monday, September 21, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Playing catch-up with Alzheimer's
Chicago Tribune
By Cory Franklin
May 27, 2009
When Pete Townshend of The Who wrote "My Generation," the 1965 Baby Boomer anthem containing the memorable lyric "I hope I die before I get old," he'd probably never heard of Alois Alzheimer, the German physician who described Alzheimer's disease in 1906. Yet today, their worlds have converged.
Alzheimer's is rising in epidemic proportions in the parents of Baby Boomers, and threatens Boomers themselves. Today, more than 5 million people have Alzheimer's, now the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths increased by 33 percent between 2000 and 2004, while mortality from breast cancer, heart disease and strokes all decreased. The number of people with Alzheimer's rose by 10 percent in the last decade and included more than 5 percentof individuals over the age of 65 and 40 percent of those over 85By 2050, the number of cases is expected to triple to more than 16 million.
That figure includes only the official counts, cases diagnosed in hospitals and medical clinics. There are an unreported number of housebound patients who are by themselves every day because their families can't afford sitters. Alzheimer's accounts for nearly $150 billion of health-care costs annually. Medicare spending alone is expected to triple to $189 billion by 2015, from $62 billion in 2000. In addition to workers hired to care for Alzheimer's patients, there are an estimated 10 million unpaid caregivers, primarily families and friends. The emotional toll on these caregivers is incalculable; they suffer extremely high levels of stress and depression.
Despite all this, the epidemic took the medical community, biomedical industry and government by surprise. When The Who's "My Generation" was released, Alzheimer's was barely mentioned in most medical textbooks. A generation later, most physicians still knew little about Alzheimer's. Lacking answers and unable to help patients......read the whole story
Here is a comment
For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here
For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here
For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here
By Cory Franklin
May 27, 2009
When Pete Townshend of The Who wrote "My Generation," the 1965 Baby Boomer anthem containing the memorable lyric "I hope I die before I get old," he'd probably never heard of Alois Alzheimer, the German physician who described Alzheimer's disease in 1906. Yet today, their worlds have converged.
Alzheimer's is rising in epidemic proportions in the parents of Baby Boomers, and threatens Boomers themselves. Today, more than 5 million people have Alzheimer's, now the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths increased by 33 percent between 2000 and 2004, while mortality from breast cancer, heart disease and strokes all decreased. The number of people with Alzheimer's rose by 10 percent in the last decade and included more than 5 percentof individuals over the age of 65 and 40 percent of those over 85By 2050, the number of cases is expected to triple to more than 16 million.
That figure includes only the official counts, cases diagnosed in hospitals and medical clinics. There are an unreported number of housebound patients who are by themselves every day because their families can't afford sitters. Alzheimer's accounts for nearly $150 billion of health-care costs annually. Medicare spending alone is expected to triple to $189 billion by 2015, from $62 billion in 2000. In addition to workers hired to care for Alzheimer's patients, there are an estimated 10 million unpaid caregivers, primarily families and friends. The emotional toll on these caregivers is incalculable; they suffer extremely high levels of stress and depression.
Despite all this, the epidemic took the medical community, biomedical industry and government by surprise. When The Who's "My Generation" was released, Alzheimer's was barely mentioned in most medical textbooks. A generation later, most physicians still knew little about Alzheimer's. Lacking answers and unable to help patients......read the whole story
Here is a comment
For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here
For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here
For more interesting dementia articles and activities, click here
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Boost Your Memory with Brain-Boosting Supplements
NaturalNews.com
by: James J. Gormley, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) Where did I leave my keys? Who am I supposed to call again? What did I mean by that scribbled note, anyway? Everybody experiences these incidents of forgetfulness.
As we get older, these kinds of memory lapses can become routine, and are casually attributed to "advancing years" by many baby boomers, according to Dr. Heidi White, assistant professor of geriatric medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
Age isn`t the only factor in memory loss, however, says White. She notes that among possible causes for cognitive decline are medications (such as sedatives, which can dull the mind), depression (which affects concentration), and hearing or vision impairment.
Baby boomers and the battle for the mind
Keeping the brain healthy much longer is a goal of many of us, especially people who, as of this writing, were 45 to 63 years old - otherwise called baby boomers. If you consider that a baby boomer turns 50 every 7.5 seconds, by the year 2024 there will be 115 million people over age 50 in the U.S.
Today, approximately 78 million people, about 26 percent of the total U.S. population, were not only born between 1946 and 1964 but are, say demographers and researchers, greatly concerned about loss of memory and the aging of the mind.
True failing memory is different from the forgetfulness of a busy person or the stereotypical absentminded professor. Clinically speaking, failing memory is often accompanied by a person`s declining sense of well-being, and is often described by symptoms such as a lack of mental clarity (brain fog), altered mood (as in depression), decreased mental abilities, worsening sleep patterns, and declining overall energy.
Age of Information Overload
Whence the brain drain? Some researchers believe our brains are overtaxed today. Not many would disagree that we`ve moved beyond the Information Age into the "Age of Information Overload." It`s believed that our cognitive processing, and maybe even our memory storage capacity itself, can become overburdened as we age.
To one extent or another, there`s little doubt that all of us are bombarded by work and personal e-mail, Internet spam and junk mail, faxes, magazines, 24-hour news, digital pages, telemarketer calls, cell phone voice-mail and even the arcane logistics of play-date scheduling for the kids after school!
Cognition is sensitive to a wide variety of..........read the whole article
For more dementia information, click here
For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here
For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here
For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here
by: James J. Gormley, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews) Where did I leave my keys? Who am I supposed to call again? What did I mean by that scribbled note, anyway? Everybody experiences these incidents of forgetfulness.
As we get older, these kinds of memory lapses can become routine, and are casually attributed to "advancing years" by many baby boomers, according to Dr. Heidi White, assistant professor of geriatric medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
Age isn`t the only factor in memory loss, however, says White. She notes that among possible causes for cognitive decline are medications (such as sedatives, which can dull the mind), depression (which affects concentration), and hearing or vision impairment.
Baby boomers and the battle for the mind
Keeping the brain healthy much longer is a goal of many of us, especially people who, as of this writing, were 45 to 63 years old - otherwise called baby boomers. If you consider that a baby boomer turns 50 every 7.5 seconds, by the year 2024 there will be 115 million people over age 50 in the U.S.
Today, approximately 78 million people, about 26 percent of the total U.S. population, were not only born between 1946 and 1964 but are, say demographers and researchers, greatly concerned about loss of memory and the aging of the mind.
True failing memory is different from the forgetfulness of a busy person or the stereotypical absentminded professor. Clinically speaking, failing memory is often accompanied by a person`s declining sense of well-being, and is often described by symptoms such as a lack of mental clarity (brain fog), altered mood (as in depression), decreased mental abilities, worsening sleep patterns, and declining overall energy.
Age of Information Overload
Whence the brain drain? Some researchers believe our brains are overtaxed today. Not many would disagree that we`ve moved beyond the Information Age into the "Age of Information Overload." It`s believed that our cognitive processing, and maybe even our memory storage capacity itself, can become overburdened as we age.
To one extent or another, there`s little doubt that all of us are bombarded by work and personal e-mail, Internet spam and junk mail, faxes, magazines, 24-hour news, digital pages, telemarketer calls, cell phone voice-mail and even the arcane logistics of play-date scheduling for the kids after school!
Cognition is sensitive to a wide variety of..........read the whole article
For more dementia information, click here
For Alzheimer's and dementia activities, click here
For information on being the best caregiver you can be, click here
For a great resource for those with dementia, caregivers and healthcare professinals, click here
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
