Education

How Diet and Exercise Relate to Alzheimer’s

November 25, 2019Filed Under: Education, Elder Law, Long Term Care, Misc Advice, Senior Health and Wellness

Concerns about your memory or that of a loved one should never be ignored. There are many resources available through a simple internet search, and professional associations that provide education and guidance through a maze of questions you may have regarding how to approach someone you suspect may be experiencing memory loss, or how to ask for help if that someone is you. There is even a free online memory test you can take in the privacy of your own home. But, did you also know that through many years of research, there is a link between diet, exercise and Alzheimer’s disease? It is never too late to start making proactive changes to your diet and lifestyle now to help lessen the risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Even if you have been given an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, a study published in late October by Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, noted that it is possible to improve cognition with modifications to diet, exercise, and sleep.

This study, summarized by the Wall Street Journal, acknowledged that the methods tested would not prevent Alzheimer’s, but through their findings, healthy individuals, as well as those with mild cognitive impairment who followed personalized recommendations over the 18 months of the study, did show improvement in cognition. The study included 157 participants who varied in age from 25 to 86 and who all had a family history of Alzheimer’s. A small group in the study had mild cognitive impairment and were asked, after going through certain measurements and many tests, such as blood, genetic and cognitive function, to adhere to a little over 20 recommendations of food selection, daily vitamins and personalized exercise plans. Those who followed at least 60% of the recommendations showed significant improvement from their baseline in cognitive testing. Participants who followed less than sixty percent of the recommendations experienced cognitive decline similar to the control groups. Cognitive decline is a precursor to memory problems.

The larger group of participants studied were healthy individuals who had no memory loss though some in this group had less than ideal cognitive testing. After 18 months of following recommendations, all participants showed improvement in cognitive testing compared to their baselines and the control group, even if all the recommendations were not followed. Results showed that younger participants did better in general than those who were over 60 years old. Some of the measurements that went into developing a personalized plan included body fat and muscle mass, since the memory center of the brain, the hippocampus, is known to shrink as belly fat increases. Because cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and blood pressure are linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s, these values were monitored throughout the study.

In reviewing sites such as the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, a free memory test was found that will test how quickly and accurately you recognize repeated images during a timed test. On the Alzheimer’s Association website, one can find many recommendations for diet and lifestyle modification to follow, which are also listed in the Wall Street Journal article. Some examples of diet modification include limiting red meat, adding foods to your diet that are high in omega 3’s, such as a certain type of fish, and foods high in antioxidants, such as strawberries and blueberries. A mix of aerobic exercise and resistance training/weight lifting was recommended for good brain and heart health. Hours of sleep and quality of sleep were other factors that can affect mood and memory. It is generally recommended that a person try to get at least 7.5 hours of sleep each night and reduce caffeine consumption and ‘screen time’ well before bedtime to improve the quality of sleep. As for general brain health, meditation for stress reduction and learning a new skill, such as a foreign language were recommendations to keep you mentally sharp. There are many other ways to start now to improve or maintain your brain health with numerous online resources to help.

If you have a family history of Alzheimer’s, don’t let another day go by worrying about what may happen. Educate yourself and take steps now that could minimize your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Contact our Cincinnati office today by calling (513) 771-2444 and we can help you plan for you or a loved one’s situation.

Sources:

Warning: An Alzheimer’s Tsunami is Coming and We Must Prepare

April 24, 2017Filed Under: Education, Elder Law, Long Term Care, Medicaid Planning, Senior Health and Wellness

Warning: An Alzheimer’s Tsunami is Coming and We Must Prepare

That’s the message from Andrew Tisch, chairman of Loews Corporation, co-founder of the

political reform group No Labels, and Vice Chair of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition.

In a recent article, Mr. Tisch describes how we are unprepared for the enormous costs we will

soon be facing from a huge upswing in our aging population and the resulting number of

Alzheimer’s patients.

As he points out, in 2010 there were 11.4 million Americans over the age of 80. By the year

2050, due to the power of modern medicine, there will be over 32 million. But amid that laudable

success is a glaring problem: One in two people who reach their 80s will get Alzheimer’s, and

the American health care system isn’t even remotely prepared to deal with that.

The annual cost to care for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias is already $226 billion,

with Medicare and Medicaid picking up 68% of the costs. If recent trends continue, he states, the

annual cost of Alzheimer’s could reach $1 trillion, in current dollars, by 2050, costing Medicare

and Medicaid almost $700 billion—about one-fifth of the federal government’s current budget.

Mr. Tisch calls for Washington to dramatically increase the amount of federal money going to

Alzheimer’s research. While disease research of all kinds is worthy and important, he states,

Alzheimer’s stands apart for the destruction it wreaks on families and finances. Five million

Americans currently have Alzheimer’s and the disease’s impact spreads far beyond those who

have it. Every person with Alzheimer’s requires three people—children, spouses, friends and

health care workers—to serve as caregivers. This can be a full-time job, and it often takes a

financial, emotional and physical toll on the caregivers and their families.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocated almost $1 billion to Alzheimer’s research last

year, but funding is behind what researchers need and what other diseases already receive. The

treatments available now only treat symptoms and do not prevent, slow or reverse the disease.

Researchers believe a significant boost in funding could lead to breakthroughs in the coming

years. Dr. Greg Petsko of Weill Cornell Medical College states that “if NIH doubled research

funding for Alzheimer’s tomorrow, it would kick the whole machinery of grant making and

academic and pharmaceutical company research into a higher gear.”

President Trump’s budget proposal includes an 18% cut to the NIH budget as part of a broader

effort to slash discretionary spending. However, a bipartisan group of a dozen senators have

written a letter to President Trump asking him to increase funding for Alzheimer’s research. As

Mr. Tisch puts it, a potential cure for Alzheimer’s should not go undiscovered for lack of a few

billion dollars in a $4 trillion-dollar annual budget.

Preventing Dehydration in the Elderly

December 5, 2016Filed Under: Education, Long Term Care, Senior Health and Wellness

Preventing Dehydration in the Elderly

Our bodies become dehydrated when we lose more water than we take in. Staying hydrated allows the body to regulate temperature through perspiration, maintain blood pressure and eliminate waste. Dehydration may show only small signs outwardly, but it can have dire consequences on the body, especially in the elderly.

Severe dehydration can lead to confusion, impaired cognition, falling, urinary tract infections, constipation, pneumonia, bedsores in bed-ridden patients, and even death. It can accelerate or cause emergency hospitalization and/or increase the length of hospital stays.

Why Dehydration is Common in the Elderly

As we age, the amount of water in the body decreases.
The elderly are often less thirsty, which leads to consuming fewer fluids.
They may be on medications that act as diuretics or cause them to sweat more.
As we get older, our kidneys are less able to conserve fluid, especially during water deprivation.
Specific conditions can contribute to dehydration. These include comprehension and communication disorders, reduced capacity and incontinence.
Frail seniors, and those with decreased mobility, may have a harder time getting up to get a drink when they are thirsty. They may rely on caregivers who don’t sense they need fluids.
Illness, especially if it involves vomiting and diarrhea, can quickly cause an elderly person to become dehydrated.

How to Spot Dehydration

Outward symptoms of dehydration can include confusion, difficulty walking, dizziness or headaches, dry mouth, sunken eyes, inability to sweat or produce tears, rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, low urine output and constipation. Urine color should be light and clear; dark urine or infrequency of urination is a common sign of dehydration. You can check for dehydration by pulling up the skin on the back of the hand for a few seconds; if it does not return to normal almost immediately, the person is probably dehydrated.

How to Prevent Dehydration

Not everyone needs to drink eight glasses of water every day. Generally speaking, larger people need to drink more fluids than smaller ones, and it doesn’t have to be just water. Many fruits (especially watermelon), vegetables and soups are mostly water-based. Coffee, tea and flavored waters also count. Some seniors may need to be encouraged to drink even when they’re not thirsty. Include drinks at mealtimes and offer them throughout the day. Keeping a water bottle next to the bed or a favorite chair can help those with mobility problems.

Information borrowed from ElderCounsel (with permission).

Tips for Teacher Parent Relationships after a Divorce

October 29, 2013Filed Under: Child Custody, Education, Misc Advice, Post Divorce/Custody Issues

1. Teachers, private or public, are not in the business of enforcing custody or domestic relations disputes.

You would not believe how often this is a problem. School is the focal point of most children’s days from age 5 to 18. Almost every scheduling matter and activity revolves around it, and nearly every decision made by the child during those years, from the type of clothes they wear to the friends they choose to the activities they engage in, is shaped by its rules and boundaries, boundaries enforced for the most part by teachers. Because so much of a child’s life focuses around school and related activities, disputes in the domestic relations arena frequently arise in the school context. Examples of such disputes include what classes the child takes, what activities they participate in, and how the child spends their time after school ends. Where disputing parents frequently deviate from rational thinking is when they imagine school teachers and administrators wearing black robes and holding a gavel.

Teachers and administrators do not dress this way. They do not dress this way because teachers are not judges. Judges enforce custody arrangements, not teachers. You can shout at Billy’s science teacher until you are blue in the face, but they are still probably not going to do anything when your ex picks Billy up. If your child(ren)’s other parent is not abiding by a court order, talk to your attorney and file for contempt, don’t go after the home-ec teacher managing the crosswalk.

2. Always present a united front when it comes to your child’s education.

I know this is WAY easier said than done, but at the very least read the above caption sixteen more times before continuing with the article… Now that that’s done, here is a tip on how to accomplish this.

Schedule a time to speak with your ex about you child(ren)’s school/wellbeing at least once a week. You might be thinking “good, we already do that,” but most exes don’t actually schedule such conversations, only speaking when some issue/incident comes up. Having a regularly scheduled time, even for just 10 minutes, can lend objective perspective. Also, you all will consistently know where each other stand, rather than waiting for a conflict to arise from different opinions on how to respond to an incident (i.e. poor grades, inappropriate behavior, etc.). You will already know how you and your spouse plan to respond, and do not have to worry about a divided discipline situation. Sitting down for a coffee or a conversation at an extracurricular you both go to (sports practices, art classes, etc.) would be ideal, but sometimes that can be very uncomfortable. In those circumstances, talking to your ex over the telephone after a conversation with your kids can work equally well.

3. Establish your Child(ren)’s Teachers as Neutral Masters of their Respective Universes

Two big things here: First, nothing can jeopardize your child’s academic success like undermining their teachers. If you disagree with a teacher’s teaching, curriculum, behavior towards your child, discipline techniques, etc, speak with the teacher and/or the appropriate administrator. If none of these avenues prove productive, you may need to look at the option of switching schools or electing private education.

The second part of this is to not attempt to enlist your child’s teachers in a dispute with your ex. Not only will this almost certainly make the teacher uncomfortable in general, but it will make them less comfortable/likely to share their opinions on what is best for your child, fearing you will use it as ammunition in your dispute with your ex. Also, saying things to your child like “your teachers agree with me, but we can’t do X because of your Mother/Father” only discredits you and your ex as parental figures. Do enough of that and get ready for your children to try to play you and your ex off one another.

Conclusion

Having a perfect relationship with your child’s teachers is hard enough when you and your ex were one legal entity, and ending a marriage can make a united front of mom, dad, and teacher very difficult, but if you follow the advice listed above, it should be a little easier.

How Diet and Exercise Relate to Alzheimer’s

Warning: An Alzheimer’s Tsunami is Coming and We Must Prepare

Preventing Dehydration in the Elderly

Tips for Teacher Parent Relationships after a Divorce

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