Q. I love coffee, but my daughter is always after me to quit drinking it at my age (86). In fact she thinks my diet isn’t so great, either, since my wife died. I do the best I can and feel pretty good for an old codger.
As it turns out, the evidence continues to grow showing the benefits of caffeine in fighting Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide and a particular favorite for senior citizens who thrive on coffee, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Here are some interesting findings you can share with your daughter from the report “Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases”:
● Multiple beneficial effects of caffeine to normalize brain function and prevent its degeneration.
● Caffeine's neuroprotective profile and its ability to reduce amyloid-beta production (a characteristic of those with Alzheimer’s disease.)
● Caffeine as a disease-modifying agent for Alzheimer's disease.
● Positive impact of caffeine on cognition and memory performance.
● Studies suggesting that caffeine may be protective against Parkinson's disease
As far as the rest of your diet goes, that’s something you’ll have to work out with your daughter. According to a study conducted for the Home Instead Senior Care network, 57 percent of seniors rarely cook for themselves. And yet, a well-balanced diet is essential to healthy aging. Seniors whose diets are nutritionally lacking are at increased risk for a variety of health problems.
Have you thought about visiting a local senior center for lunch? Such facilities offer nutritious meals at an affordable price with a dollop of companionship on the side. Many older adults don’t realize how much they miss the companionship of dining with others after a spouse has died. You could find that improves your diet as well.
Or, if you’d like to remain in your home for meals, why not invite over friends or hire a caregiving companion. CAREGivers for the locally owned office of the Home Instead Senior Care network, for instance, provide errands for shopping, meal preparation and companionship. And that’s something that your daughter might approve of as well.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County, log on to www.homeinstead.com/627.1. For additional information about research on the benefits of caffeine, link to http://iospress.metapress.com/content/t13614762731/.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Caregivers of Seniors with Dementia at Greater Risk
Q. I have been trying to care for my husband who has dementia and the strain is wearing on me. I love my husband and want to keep him at home with me, but I don’t know what to do. Am I at greater risk as a caregiver myself?
Caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most stressful jobs around.
More than 40 percent of family and other unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high, compared with 28 percent of caregivers of other older people, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report. About one-third of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia also have symptoms of depression, the report noted.
What’s more, new research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has revealed that older married adults whose spouse has dementia are at significantly higher risk for developing dementia themselves, compared with similar older married adults whose spouse never develops dementia.
Dementia caregivers have been shown to provide more assistance, and to report more personal sacrifices and stress, than those who care for physically impaired elderly without dementia. While there are many published studies showing that dementia caregivers are at higher risk for health problems and depression, none have examined risk for dementia in the caregiver.
The 2,442 subjects (1,221 married couples) in the study aged 65 and older from Northern Utah, without dementia at onset, were studied for up to 12 years to monitor for onset of dementia in husbands, wives or both. During this time, 125 cases of dementia only in the husband were diagnosed, 70 only in the wife, and 30 where both spouses were diagnosed (60 people). The results showed that incident dementia was significantly associated with older age, and having a spouse with dementia.
What remains unclear is how much of this association is due to caregiver stress compared with environment. One thing is for sure, you need help. In fact, a little extra help at home can not only make it easier for you to care for your husband, but it could keep him safely at home for a longer time.
CAREGivers with Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County are experienced caring for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Contact your area office to learn more today, and call your local Area Agency on Aging for additional resources in your community.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627.1. For more about the study log on to http://www.americangeriatrics.org/press/id:665
Caring for a loved one with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most stressful jobs around.
More than 40 percent of family and other unpaid caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia rate the emotional stress of caregiving as high or very high, compared with 28 percent of caregivers of other older people, according to the Alzheimer’s Association’s 2010 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report. About one-third of family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s and other dementia also have symptoms of depression, the report noted.
What’s more, new research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society has revealed that older married adults whose spouse has dementia are at significantly higher risk for developing dementia themselves, compared with similar older married adults whose spouse never develops dementia.
Dementia caregivers have been shown to provide more assistance, and to report more personal sacrifices and stress, than those who care for physically impaired elderly without dementia. While there are many published studies showing that dementia caregivers are at higher risk for health problems and depression, none have examined risk for dementia in the caregiver.
The 2,442 subjects (1,221 married couples) in the study aged 65 and older from Northern Utah, without dementia at onset, were studied for up to 12 years to monitor for onset of dementia in husbands, wives or both. During this time, 125 cases of dementia only in the husband were diagnosed, 70 only in the wife, and 30 where both spouses were diagnosed (60 people). The results showed that incident dementia was significantly associated with older age, and having a spouse with dementia.
What remains unclear is how much of this association is due to caregiver stress compared with environment. One thing is for sure, you need help. In fact, a little extra help at home can not only make it easier for you to care for your husband, but it could keep him safely at home for a longer time.
CAREGivers with Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County are experienced caring for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease. Contact your area office to learn more today, and call your local Area Agency on Aging for additional resources in your community.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627.1. For more about the study log on to http://www.americangeriatrics.org/press/id:665
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Medication Mismanagement Can Lead to Falls
Q. My 85-year-old mother has had several incidents of falls recently. What’s causing this and how can I ensure she remains safe at home?
Falls could be caused by a number of aging-related issues so it’s important that your mother sees her doctor as soon as possible. A medical professional will be the best person to make an accurate diagnosis. If your mother is on multiple medications, here is one possibility:
Older adults increase their chances of falling by not taking their medications as directed, according to an article in the latest edition of the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences. This new information comes from a recent study of Boston-area residents over age 70, which found that those who sometimes neglected their medications experienced a 50 percent increased rate of falls compared with those who did not.
Sarah D. Berry, MD, MPH and her co-authors at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Senior Life in Boston, are the first investigators to study the association between falls and medication adherence.
A study participant was characterized as having low medication adherence if he or she answered “yes” to any of the following questions:
● Do you ever forget to take your medications?
● Are you careless at times about taking your medications?
● When you feel better do you sometimes stop taking your medications? Sometimes if you feel worse when taking your medication, do you stop taking it?
High adherence was defined as a “no” answer to every question. In total, 48 percent of the respondents were classified as having low medication adherence.
Those in the low-adherence group experienced falls at an annual rate of 1.5 times that of the high adherence group.
Be sure your mother shares all her medication information with her medical professional when she visits her doctor. No matter what your age, sometimes it helps to have a second set of eyes and ears when visiting the doctor’s office. If you can’t go along with your mom, why not call a trusted friend or a CAREGiverSM from the locally owned office of the Home Instead Senior Care® network. CAREGivers are screened, bonded, insured and trained in a variety of non-medical home care tasks including medication reminders.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627.1. For more information about the study, log on to http://www.geron.org/About%20Us/Press%20Room/Archived%20Press%20Releases/72-2010-press-releases/681-irregular-medication-use-puts-seniors-at-risk-for-falling.
Falls could be caused by a number of aging-related issues so it’s important that your mother sees her doctor as soon as possible. A medical professional will be the best person to make an accurate diagnosis. If your mother is on multiple medications, here is one possibility:
Older adults increase their chances of falling by not taking their medications as directed, according to an article in the latest edition of the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences. This new information comes from a recent study of Boston-area residents over age 70, which found that those who sometimes neglected their medications experienced a 50 percent increased rate of falls compared with those who did not.
Sarah D. Berry, MD, MPH and her co-authors at the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew Senior Life in Boston, are the first investigators to study the association between falls and medication adherence.
A study participant was characterized as having low medication adherence if he or she answered “yes” to any of the following questions:
● Do you ever forget to take your medications?
● Are you careless at times about taking your medications?
● When you feel better do you sometimes stop taking your medications? Sometimes if you feel worse when taking your medication, do you stop taking it?
High adherence was defined as a “no” answer to every question. In total, 48 percent of the respondents were classified as having low medication adherence.
Those in the low-adherence group experienced falls at an annual rate of 1.5 times that of the high adherence group.
Be sure your mother shares all her medication information with her medical professional when she visits her doctor. No matter what your age, sometimes it helps to have a second set of eyes and ears when visiting the doctor’s office. If you can’t go along with your mom, why not call a trusted friend or a CAREGiverSM from the locally owned office of the Home Instead Senior Care® network. CAREGivers are screened, bonded, insured and trained in a variety of non-medical home care tasks including medication reminders.
For more information about Home Instead Senior Care of Carroll County, visit www.homeinstead.com/627.1. For more information about the study, log on to http://www.geron.org/About%20Us/Press%20Room/Archived%20Press%20Releases/72-2010-press-releases/681-irregular-medication-use-puts-seniors-at-risk-for-falling.
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