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Caring for people with dementia
Although the elderly are mostly affected by dementia, it is not a normal part of the ageing process. Globally, 35.6 million people suffer from dementia and a new case is diagnosed every four seconds.
In Malta, the numbers are also on the rise. In fact, it is estimated that in three years’ time, 1.25 per cent of our population will suffer from dementia. This counts for approximately 4,892 cases.
Dementia is a degenerative condition which causes deterioration in thinking, memory, behavior and the ability to perform basic tasks and activities of daily living.
It is caused by various types of brain illnesses, the most common being Alzheimer’s disease, which is also a major cause of disability and loss of independence among the elderly.
Other contributing factors may be vascular dementia and dementia with lewy bodies, an abnormal collection of protein that develops inside the brain’s nerve cells.
Full story of caring for dementia at Times of Malta
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Loss Of Balance Is Leading Cause Of Elderly Falls
Accidental falls are one of the leading causes of injury death in people over 65 worldwide, but for a long time researchers have struggled to understand just how they happen.
What they do know is that many older patients have cognitive impairment, and even the most conscientious medical staff can have trouble remembering details of a fall. So a group of researchers in British Columbia decided to use a round-the-clock video in a long-term care facility to observe accidental falls right as they happen.
Their study, published in the The Lancet, found that most of the 227 falls caught on video happened because the patients lost their balance, not because they slipped or tripped.
But what causes this momentary loss of balance?
One simple explanation could be the lack of walkers or wheelchairs, says Stephen Robinovitch, professor of biomedical physiology and kinesiology at Simon Fraser University and lead author on the study. Though 75 percent of patients reported using a walker or a wheelchair to get around, only 20 percent were using one when they fell, he says.
Full story of elderly falls at NPR News
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9 million elderly at risk of empty pantries
About twice a week, when the arthritis in her legs allows it, Judy Slover rises in her one-bedroom apartment at the Rug Mill Towers in Freehold and makes the six-block trek on foot to the food pantry here, Freehold Area Open Door.Sometimes the walk takes a half-hour, sometimes more, all depending on how much pain she feels, she says.
At Open Door, she picks up bread and pasta, apples and oranges, onions and potatoes, maybe some frozen chicken and hamburger; thanks the volunteers; then journeys home. Some days, she can't make the trip at all, says Slover, 60, who also copes with diabetes and depression.
"I've been homeless," she said. "I have no support team. They call me the bag lady, but I gotta do what I gotta do, you know? Nobody's been there for me but Open Door."
Slover is among about 9 million people 50 and older living at risk of going hungry every day, a 79% increase in a decade, according to the AARP.
Full story of elderly health at USA Today
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Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia: For Seniors, a Prevention Puzzle Tougher Than Any Sunday Crossword but Clues, Hope Abound
When it comes to preventing Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, medical science is working on it big time. But so far, all we've got are generalities about averting or minimizing the condition: Get a good education and keep learning throughout life. Don't smoke. Drink moderately. Keep your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers in the desired range. Exercise daily. Don't get fat. Have friends, a social life, a community.
All of these things are linked to a reduced risk of memory loss later in life. But none has the proven cause-and-effect that comes from the gold standard of research, the large-scale clinical trial. That isn't stopping countless makers of computer programs, video games, nutritional supplements and diet programs from trying to sell you assurance that you always will remember your spouse, who the current president is and where you left your reading glasses. So I want to go through the limitations of what we know, what is on the research horizon to treat memory loss and then to point to some lifestyle choices that -- what the heck -- can't hurt and might help.
There is no magic pill to prevent the cruel degeneration of Alzheimer's disease. Two years ago, a scientific panel convened by the National Institutes of Health to examine all the scientific evidence on preventing it ended up struggling with ways to give the bad news to a public eager for breakthroughs. Here's what they came up with:
Full story of dementia care at Huffington Post
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Tricks From the Elderly to Stop Worrying
Recent research into how emotions change with age may be able to help people lead healthier and longer lives and bring about new treatments for depression in the elderly.
Like people's bodies, emotions change over time. Older people for the most part have far fewer negative feelings, such as worry and stress, than do younger people, studies show.
The elderly learn to disentangle themselves from feelings of negativity and seem to focus more on present situations that bring pleasure, rather than on the future, researchers say. They also tend to process negative information less deeply than positive information.
By contrast, positive feelings such as enjoyment and happiness change very little from the time a person is in his youth until old age.
"It seems to be essential for our emotional well-being to not look back in anger and to focus on the positive when we are older," Stefanie Brassen, a researcher at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, said in an email.
Full story of elderly tips at The Wall Street Journal
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Caffeine Boosts Muscle Performance in Elderly
Drinking coffee may boost power in older muscles, according to researchers who suggest that the caffeine could help older people maintain their strength and reduce their chances of falling and injuring themselves.
As people age, their muscles naturally change and become weaker, making everyday tasks more difficult, but a new study, due to be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting, finds that caffeine helps muscles produce more force.
Sports scientists at Coventry University looked for the first time at whether caffeine could also give elderly people more strength by studying mice.
Researchers tested the strengthening effects of caffeine, a stimulant found in coffee and a number of soft drinks, by isolating muscles from mice ranging in age from juvenile to elderly.
Full story of caffeine for the elderly at Medical Daily
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The Pharmacology of Aging
Within the next two decades, the number of people aged 65 and older will double in the United States. Aging is a complex physiological process that can affect how bodies process and respond to medication, and clinical data increasingly suggest that when it comes to prescribing, one drug regimen does not fit patients of all ages. Older individuals have the highest disease burden and are prescribed the most medications, yet they are often left out of standard-setting clinical trials that put drugs on the market. At The Pharmacology of Aging: Why Age Matters symposium, presented by the Biochemical Pharmacology Discussion Group and the New York Chapter of the American Chemical Society, representatives from industry, government, and research communities met to discuss how to improve drug development strategies to better serve the geriatric population.
Seongeun Cho from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration introduced the day's topic by pointing out that clinical drug trials typically recruit relatively young, adult patients. We know that aging matters for drug response, but there is still much to learn concerning the mechanisms of how it matters. The day's symposium sought to open a dialogue about how to deliver patient-centric drug development for the elderly.
Full story of pharmacology of aging at The New York Academy of Sciences
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Geriatric Patients Show Greater Cognitive Decline after Hospitalization
A new report that suggests cognitive function tends to decline substantially when older patients are admitted to the hospital could be an opportunity for hospitalists to be proactive in developing interventional therapies to combat the deterioration.
"Cognitive Decline after Hospitalization in a Community Population of Older Persons," published last month in Neurology, found that patients' global cognitive score declined a mean of 0.031 units per year before the first hospitalization, compared with 0.075 units per year thereafter, a more-than-twofold increase. Similar declines were seen in episodic memory (a 3.3-fold increase post-hospitalization) and executive function (a 1.7-fold increase post-hospitalization), according to the survey. More severe illness, longer hospital stay, and older age were associated with even faster cognitive decline after hospitalization.
Games can train seniors’ brains
By Tim Damos
With a thud, the clay pigeon shot into the air.
Jackie Bodette focused, took aim, and pulled the trigger. Another direct hit.
Bodette didn’t do her shooting in a field with a gun. She did it with a Nintendo Wii video game controller aimed at a high-definition television inside the Baraboo Civic Center.
“It’s fun and it puts a smile on your face,” said Bodette, the director of the Baraboo Area Senior Center Organization. “It also gets your competitive juices flowing.”
Some say there’s another reason to play video games that demand a range of cognitive skills: brain health.
The Alzheimer’s Association says about 5.4 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease. And many people have turned to brain training and games, such as the ones available on the Wii and websites like Lumosity.com, to keep their minds sharp.
UCLA Launches Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care Program
By Patti Davis
Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 5.4 million people in the U.S., some 480,000 of them in California. Nearly half of all people 85 and older will be stricken with the disease. The overall burden of dementia is still higher, with Alzheimer's accounting for only 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases.
Yet as devastating as these disorders are to the afflicted, they also have a tremendous impact on family members, friends and caregivers. And while many health systems provide excellent care, and community-based organizations offer supportive services, no comprehensive programs exist to meet patients' health needs and the needs of those around them.
Family members are often at a loss to find appropriate care and services for their loved ones, and they typically have few, if any, resources to help them navigate their way through the complex health care system.
"UCLA already has top-notch geriatrics, neurology, psychiatry and primary care clinical services," said Dr. David Reuben, chief of UCLA's geriatrics division. "But we do not have a comprehensive, coordinated dementia care program. As a result, the many needs of UCLA patients with dementia and their families are commonly unmet."