Friday, August 30, 2013

Linda Ronstadt Diagnosed With Parkinson's

On of the most iconic voices of our era, Linda Ronstadt, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/arts/music/linda-ronstadt-discusses-her-memoir-and-parkinsons.html

On November 2, Home Instead Senior Care will be joining with thousands of people across the state to participate in Moving Day, a walk to benefit the National Parkinson's Foundation. Join us as we fight this cruel disease.

http://prkorg.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=Moving_Day_NC_Triangle_Event_Page

Thursday, August 29, 2013

New Test Could Prove Effective for Early Diagnosis of Parkinson's

Parkinson's disease, much like Alzheimer's disease, is not diagnosed until symptoms appear. Each year, 60,000 Americans visit their physicians with irritating little symptoms such as a tremble in their fingers or lip only to hear those dreaded words: Parkinson's disease. There is no way to predict who will get Parkinson's disease. There is no way to prevent someone from getting Parkinson's disease. There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease. But new research is now giving hope that there may be an earlier way to diagnose Parkinson's disease. By measuring the amounts of five protein biomarkers in spinal fluid, doctors may be able to identify patients with Parkinson's disease far earlier in the process. "The earlier patients are identified, the more likely that new therapies, including targeted drugs that are designed to replenish waning dopamine levels, can be introduced. The hope is that such treatments might eventually reduce or even prevent some of the disease’s more advanced and debilitating symptoms."
 http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/27/promising-first-test-to-detect-parkinsons-disease/

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Alzheimer's and Red Meat

A recent study published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease suggests that higher levels of iron in the body may contribute to Alzheimer's disease. While the study utilized a relatively small sample size, researchers believe that the iron may trigger a tissue breakdown associated with the disease. There are three things specifically mentioned as a way to address the elevated iron levels. The researchers suggest  that people reduce or stop red meat consumption, reduce or stop iron supplements, or that women have hysterectomies before menopause.

http://www.counselheal.com/articles/6463/20130822/red-meat-linked-alzheimers-disease.htm

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

So You Think You Can Dance



I am not ashamed to say that I am a reality TV junkie. I don't find there to be much programming on TV worth watching these days but I do have several favorite shows and virtually all of them fall into the reality TV category. Near the top of my DVR list is Fox's hit, So You Think You Can Dance.

In the show, pairs of dancers are asked every week to pair with a new choreographer and learn a new dance in a new style. For example, a classically trained ballerina and a hip hop dancer with no formal dance education will be paired together for a Viennese waltz. It is captivating.

While I watch it strictly to "ooh" and "ahh" at the feats displayed each week, there are benefits to dance which go far beyond entertainment. According to an article in yesterday's USA Today, dance offers some incredible benefits to seniors who are struggling with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's.

 Enjoy!


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/19/health-dance-art-alzheimers/2674973/

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

My First Book Report in Many Years

I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with seniors. The generation that Home Instead Senior Care currently serves is aptly described as "The Greatest Generation." While I am sure that each generation can lay claim to its own aspects of greatness, the generation that survived the depression and stormed the beaches at Normandy deserves a special place in history and a title to go along with it.

Yesterday, I finished reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. In it, Brown tells the remarkable story of the men's eight oared rowing crew which stunned the world by winning gold at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Many will choose to pass by this book due to a lack of interest in the topic of men's rowing, they will make a mistake in doing so.

The Boys in the Boat is about far more than rowing or the Olympics. The story of the 1936 team is a microcosm of the story of many young men of that generation. These were not carefully cultivated and well-bred athletes that seem to be emblematic of Olympic athletes today. These were boys coming up through impossibly difficult circumstances in order to triumph over adversity in life and on the water. In the book, Brown does a masterful job of interweaving the thickening plot of European politics of the time and the pilgrimmage of the Husky Clipper, the boat which carried the boys to gold. The rise of Hitler's Germany and the recovery of the United States from the Great Depression both serve as dramatic backdrops to the journey of those nine boys from Seattle to Berlin. Their victory was over more than just impossible odds. Their victory was a knife into the heart of an idea which would soon engulf the world in a horrible war. Perhaps more importantly, their victory blew new wind into the sail of an American dream which for many during those dark years seemed to have disappeared completely.

My favorite part of the book was the epilogue where Brown takes his readers beyond the race and briefly explores the lives each of The Boys in the Boat went on to live. Not surprisingly, the grit and determination they showed in conquering the world was evidenced throughout each of their individual lives as well.

I am glad that I read the book. I am blessed to work with many who belong to that generation and who have similarly remarkable stories to tell.

Monday, August 12, 2013

Beware- New Scam in NC

Crimes are, by their very nature, cruel acts performed at the expense of other people. As a society, we have found ways to excuse certain crimes by pairing them with defensible motivations; crimes of desperation, crimes of passion. Yet there are certain crimes for which no defense can be made. Crimes which victimize the elderly are among those.

Recently, a new wave of scams designed to defraud senior citizens has swept across the nation. The "Med Alert Scam" is nothing incredibly creative yet seniors in Texas, Michigan, Kentucky, New York and North Carolina have been the targets of this most recent con. The Attorney General's office in NC says that they have already fielded more than 100 calls reporting this scam. Imagine how many more are victimized in silence.

The basis of the con operates in two primary fashions. The most common form which has been observed begins with an automated phone call. The call informs its recipient that either they have won a free med alert system or that someone has purchased a med alert system for them.The call then requests that they enter their credit or debit card information to pay for shipping. The second form that the con is known to have taken is that of free merchandise being delivered. The merchandise is delivered with little to no explanation of where it is from or what it entails. The return instructions and conditions of receipt are confusing and shrouded by legal jargon and fine print. Sooner rather than later, large invoices being to arrive accompanied by letters threatening legal action or worse. Many seniors simply pay the invoices rather than asking for help or attempting to confront the scumbag operation.

Home Instead Senior Care has put together some fantastic and free resources on the topic of senior fraud prevention. While it would definitely behoove everyone to read through the principles of the program, an easy rule of thumb to remember regarding telephone fraud is that you should never give any information out during a phone call that you did not initiate. While the financial toll that this scam may take on many seniors is devastating, the emotional toll is equally as brutal. Seniors who are already struggling to maintain a connection to the rapidly changing world around them, now retreat even further, afraid to even pick up the phone.

Check out the free resources at www.protectseniorsfromfraud.com

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Remember to Have a Cup of Hot Cocoa with Grandma

There is something nostalgic about the image of sitting down and having a cup of hot cocoa with grandma. Even though most of the hot cocoa I have consumed in my life has been done as an effort to stave off hypothermia during Boy Scout campouts, there is still something about the image of grandma fixing a cup of cocoa that is strangely comforting. As it turns out, perhaps my subconscious was trying to send me messages about improving cognitive function in seniors. My subconscious is, after all, very intelligent and concerned with matters of seniors and memory retention. I digress.

A new study has shown that seniors who consume an average of two cups of hot cocoa a day shown a slight improvement in their cognitive function. The sources releasing this study are quick to point out that drawing factual conclusions at this point would be unwise due to the small sample size and the relatively small differentiation they observed between the two groups studied. The scientists expressed concern that this in no way advocates the consumption of hot cocoa and cautioned against the dangers of obesity brought about by the needless consumption of hot cocoa with regards to cognitive function. Killjoys.

We could wait to have a cup of hot cocoa with grandma until the results of the study have been more fully flushed out. As for me and my house, we will take no chances by minimizing our chocolate intake until slow-poke scientists finish their work. Hot chocolate for all!

Below you will find a link to my favorite hot cocoa recipe. I recommend adding in a dash of cayenne and subbing in bittersweet chocolate chips for half of the chips it calls for. Salud!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/semi-homemade-cooking-with-sandra-lee/the-best-hot-chocolate-ever-recipe/index.html

 


Tuesday, August 6, 2013

New Study- Breastfeeding Reduces Risk of Alzheimer's

My wife and I have been blessed with six sons. We have been further blessed that she has been able to breast-feed all of them. The benefits of breastfeeding are multiple. While there are those who may exaggerate those benefits and those who may downplay them, the scientific evidence is fairly convincing. Breastfed babies have been shown to have a reduced risk of ear infections, stomach viruses, respiratory infections, atopic dermatis, asthma, Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, childhood leukemia and a gastrointestinal disease in preterm infants known as necrotizing enterocolitis. There are also many who believe that breastfeeding increases a child's intelligence. For the mother, breastfeeding is reported to reduce the occurrences of postpartum depression, certain types of cancer, hypertension and diabetes. All things considered, breastfeeding is a very good thing.

A new report released in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease shows that breastfeeding may also lower a woman's risk of Alzheimer's disease. While it is a fairly small group that the study researched, the results are eye popping. Women who breastfed at some point in their lives showed a 64% reduction in their risk of Alzheimer's when compared to those who had children but didn't breast-feed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57597014/breast-feeding-may-lower-moms-risk-of-alzheimers-disease/

Friday, August 2, 2013

Let's Talk About Sex...in Nursing Homes.

Sexuality is an exciting topic at any age. Thanks in no small part to the daily dose of sexuality we ingest through television and media, the drugs constantly offering to help us have better sex, and the societal mentality that defines people according to who they have sex with, we think about sex a lot. One place, however, you might not spend a great deal of time thinking about sex in is a nursing home. Times they are a-changing.

Seniors today are far more active than they have ever been before. They are living longer, fuller lives. While many of the senses may dull or fail with old age, the sense of touch remains intact. Seniors have desires and seniors are having sex.

A conversation with any worker in an assisted living community will confirm this fact if you have any doubt. When the families are through visiting, the room swaps begin. This has brought about some difficult ethical questions to answer for administrators in facilities and communities. Do they have the legal power to stop consensual sex between adults? At what point is sex no longer consensual with regards to dementia?

There are examples on both sides of the debate. On the more conservative side is an example out of Iowa where to two seniors with dementia were caught having sex on Christmas day. Administrators and nurses were fired and lambasted as public examples of negligence. Charges were filed by the family against the facility for failing to prevent the rape of one resident by another. Eventually, both of the residents in question passed away as did the lawsuit. The administrators never worked in senior care again; the scarlet letter of a new era. In the Bronx, there is a nursing home with an entirely different take on the issue which is making headlines. At this home, the administrator brags that his staff "actively encourages and supports sex and intimacy among its residents. Our position is very strongly that consenting adults who have capacity, this is a civil right of theirs. They do not give up a civil right simply because they are in need of nursing care in a facility. And that our obligation as a nursing facility is to encourage their civil rights, as we would do with respect to voting."

No matter where you fall on this issue, the reality is that seniors are having sex more than probably ever before. With the rapidly increasing numbers of this demographic and the rise of seniors who are struggling with dementia, this is a conversation that needs to be had.