Eldercare, Aging and Long Term Care

Study: Positive outlook, sociability decreases dementia risk - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

The recent study finds that seniors who are less prone to worrying are up to 50% less likely to develop dementia than their more fretful peers. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, also found a similar rate of dementia protection for more socially mobile individuals. According to study authors, previous research has found that chronic stress can affect parts of the brain, possibly resulting in dementia.

Alzheimer's - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People with Alzheimer's Disease.

There are many gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people (LGBT) who have Alzheimer's disease , but it is often difficult to access even the smallest piece of information on the needs of this community. Books or other sources that are very informative about all other aspects of care services and provision seem to omit or skim over this aspect. The internet is doing its bit to address this imbalance and now anybody can be better informed about LGBT issues. LGBT people with Alzheimer's disease, and their caregivers, have finally found a voice and their needs are beginning to be addressed more fully.  

Alzheimer's - Urinary Tract Infections and Alzheimer's Disease.

For people with Alzheimer's disease, urinary tract infections (UTIs) can present particular difficulties. Later stage Alzheimer's disease is associated with increased difficulties in communication. Therefore, someone with a UTI, might be experiencing pain and discomfort yet be unable to articulate this. However, sudden changes in behavior, such as aggression , anxiety, violence, may be an indication that something is physically wrong. People with Alzheimer's get sick too, but far too often, their change in behavior is attributed to dementia rather than from a physical cause.

Medical News: Forget Ginkgo Supplements for Dementia Prevention 

For older adults, ginkgo did not reduce the odds of developing dementia overall (hazard ratio 1.12, P=0.21) or Alzheimer's disease specifically (HR 1.16, P=0.11), reported Steven T. DeKosky, M.D., of the University of Virginia, and colleagues in the Nov. 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Spotlight on Alzheimer's Disease - U.S. News & World Report (usnews.com).

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive disease that damages nerve cells (neurons) in parts of the brain involved in memory, learning, language, and reasoning. As the disease progresses, communication among the neurons breaks down. In early stages, short-term memory begins to fail. Over time, functions such as long-term memory, language, and judgment decline. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in older adults. Dementia is a loss of mental functions-such as thinking, memory, and reasoning-that is severe enough to interfere with a person's daily functioning.

At the End of Life, a Delicate Calculus - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com.

On Tuesday, Washington state joined Oregon as the second in the nation where physicians are allowed to prescribe lethal doses of medication to terminally ill men and women who want to hasten their own deaths. But the remedies available to suffering patients have expanded dramatically in the 11 years since the Oregon measure took effect, one expert recently noted, and the question of whether doctors should help patients die is far more nuanced than it once was.

Medical News: Depressed Patients Have Dysfunctional Pain-Processing Network - in Psychiatry, Depression from MedPage Today.

During exposure to a painful heat stimulus, depressed patients had decreased activity in the area of the brain responsible for pain modulation, Irina Strigo, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego, and colleagues reported in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

Study: Good oral hygiene reduces risk of pneumonia in nursing home residents - McKnight's Long Term Care News.

Good oral hygiene can help prevent pneumonia, a leading cause of death among nursing home residents, according to a recent study.

Medical News: Physical Exertion May Mask Toll on Health from Caregiving - in Geriatrics, 

Physical activity may protect older adults from some negative health effects of caregiving, researchers found. Action Points   Explain to interested patients that the study found negative health effects from caregiving among older adults. Explain that physical activity improves health outcomes for all ages, including older caregivers. Note that the study could not determine the level of stress caregivers experienced or what their caregiving activities included. Increased rates of mortality and loss of mobility among caregivers were mediated by physical activity across most race and gender groups, reported Lisa Fredman, Ph.D., of Boston University, and colleagues in the Oct. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Things to Know About Assisted Living - The New Old Age Blog - NYTimes.com.

Assisted living, a popular solution for elderly people who cannot live independently, is a “myth,” Dr. Woodson said, “a place for people who don’t exist.” Families often believe these facilities will meet all of their loved ones’ needs, enabling caregivers to focus on jobs and family, only to find this isn’t the case. 

Before long, the elderly resident will require more than “meals you don’t have to cook, grass you don’t have to cut and socialization,” Dr. Woodson said. At that point the elderly resident is in trouble, since assisted living facilities are not permitted by law to provide medical care and consider it to be the family’s responsibility.