What is non-government-related that will potentially bankrupt the Social Security system? What is being experienced by an estimated 60 million people? What will 70% of people over age 85 suffer with? What easy action can people in their 60s take to help prevent it? This 6-minute Ted Talk by John Denoer, Disrupting Dementia, is an eye-opener to helping ourselves and our older loved ones.
Tag Archive for dementia
Update on Yesterday’s Dementia Study
Not everyone reads comments I receive. I think this one from Theresa Rieve is important, so I’m passing it on here as an addition to yesterday’s blog. She says,
The study confirms something that was known at least 20 years ago. A prior study was done with the Sisters of Notre Dame in the Motherhouse at Mankato, MN. (My Aunt, Sister Rosalyn, lived there and I have a book describing the study). The population is perfect for a study, because the subjects have 60 to 80 years of detailed medical records readily available and their lives are very similar in many ways. One of the things they found is that a particular woman could have massive plaques and tangles in her brain, but if she had lived a healthy life with proper diet and exercise, so that there was also no blockages that might cause strokes or heart attacks, there would be no symptoms of dementia. The theory was that your body will do workarounds to keep you symptom-free if you give it the chance.
[Interesting and even more hopeful.]
Good News for Senior Citizens
Sometime studies have happy results. The New England Journal of Medicine reports results from a Framingham Heart Study that spans 40+ years with 5200 people over age 60. Dementia, which was expected to rise, is actually declining in the U.S.–a 24% decrease over the past ten years in 64 or older people. They note that heart-disease related dementia has shown the largest decline. That is leading them to the hypothesis that maybe better diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke may be the reason for these promising results. They aren’t sure.
Anyway, it’s excellent news for our older citizens–and for us who love them.
Read more HERE.
Hope for People with Alzheimer’s
Although teenage music may drive you up a tree, if you have Alzheimer’s–even late stage–the right music can do wonders for you. It can stimulate your memory, make you active or quiet you down, redirect your attention when you become agitated, and lead you to situations in which you feel comfortable with the human touch.
Read the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America’s fascinating article, Education and Care/Music. It gives hope to anyone who has a loved one suffering from not only Alzheimer’s but any form of dementia.