Dementia Can Cause Lose of Taste
Flavor is the spice of life. The idea of eating and enjoying a meal without taste is unthinkable. But even this very ordinary part of our experience can be diminished with dementia. Knowing this give us even more compassion for our elder friends who, along with losing their memory, may be losing their ability to taste.
New research has revealed evidence that these behaviors are linked to a loss of meaning for flavors, as reported in the June 2010 issue of Elsevier's Cortex.
Dr. Katherine Piwnica-Worms from Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, together with Dr. Jason Warren and colleagues from University College London, investigated the processing of flavor information in patients with semantic dementia, a degenerative disease affecting the temporal lobes of the brain.
Alzcare in New Braunfels. Caring treatment for Alzheimers patients in Texas in comfortable, home settings.
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Music Aids Alzheimer's Patients' Memories
We’ve all noticed how easily we remember things if they are tied to music. If we hear a song on the radio we haven’t hear in twenty years, we can still sing along. This is because the part of our brains that deals with music has some unique abilities with regard to memory. Researchers are discovering that Alzheimer’s patients perform remarkably well if memory is tied to music.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have shown that patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are better able to remember new verbal information when it is provided in the context of music even when compared to healthy, older adults. The findings, which currently appear on-line in Neuropsychologia, offer possible applications in treating and caring for patients with AD.
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| | | | | More can be done to help
Falling can be devastating for senior citizens. The problems go far beyond simple broken bones. The emotional trauma that comes from a fall, coupled with an extended recovery time can be serious enough to cause a fatality. The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research says that we can do more to help seniors keep from falling.
Researchers looked at data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey to see how seniors followed up with medical care after a fall. In 2007, 14.5 percent of Californians age 65 and older fell to the ground more than once, according to the brief. About 21 percent of people age 85 and older had multiple falls. Those at even higher risk of falling included women, people with low incomes and people with disabilities and chronic conditions. More than half a million seniors in California fell more than once in 2007, a jump of about 100,000 from 2003. Seniors who suffer one fall are at greater risk for more falls.
Though 91 percent of the state's seniors saw a doctor in the last year, falls were not often the reason they went. A little less than half of seniors who had more than one fall said that was the reason they visited the doctor.
Read more at the Centre Daily Times…
AlzCare in Texas. Treatments for Alzheimer’s Disease in comfortable, familiar home settings. New Braunfels, San Antonio, Victoria, Waco, San Marcos, Victoria.
| | | | | The First Signs
A very interesting compilation of stories from Alzheimer’s caregivers involved with the “Alzheimer's Reading Room” blog. These caregivers share the first “red flags” they had noticed in their loved one’s behavior. Also, a list of the most common indicators of the onset of a detrimental mental disease, including driving, erratic behavior, misuse of money, hoarding and walking/balance problems.
Looking back, there is little doubt in my mind that if I had the proper education or information I would have realized my mother was suffering from dementia sooner.
Most people like me tend to ignore the symptoms at first believing they are simply signs of "old age". Anyone who ends up in my shoes knows and understands that a person in the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer’s can function with some normality -- even drive a car. It is not until they deteriorate or until some "event" takes place that we wake up to reality.
Mother's Day weekend is a good time for family and friends to get together and talk about any new and different behaviors they are noticing in an elderly spouse, parent, or friend.
My rule of thumb is clear and straight forward. If you think there is something wrong there probably is something wrong. Letting it go until things worsen is often a mistake. Waiting usually leads to greater heart ache, stress, and anxiety. Sometimes guilt.
Alzheimer's caregivers understand what I am saying, and what I mean. We have been there.
Here are a few things that come up over and over when talking to Alzheimer's caregivers. These are behaviors they noticed well before any diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia was made..
Read More at Alzheimer’s Reading Room
Alzcare in New Braunfels. Caring treatment for Alzheimer’s patients in Texas in comfortable, home settings.
| | | | | Increased Risk
A twelve year study through John Hopkins University has concluded that wives or husbands who care for a spouse with dementia are approximately six times more likely to develop the disease themselves. This factor is said to be on par with the effect of having susceptible genes.
This increased risk is comparable to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease associated with a well-studied gene variant known as APOE ?4, the researchers report. The findings held up even when the researchers accounted for other factors that might influence the risk of developing dementia, such as socioeconomic status.
Norton says the long-term nature of the new research makes the results different from earlier “snapshot” studies showing memory loss in spousal caregivers. “We know that the declines in memory we saw were real and persistent, not just a point in time where they weren’t performing well on tests,” she says.
A strength of the Cache County Study, Rabins notes, is the findings are highly representative of the community since the vast majority of residents age 65 or older are participating in ongoing research. Earlier studies have often relied on results from patients of memory centers and their caregivers, a sample that might not typify the community at large.
Rabins, Norton, and their colleagues speculate that the stress of caregiving might be responsible for the increased dementia risk for spouses, although more research is need to identify what that mechanism might be. If their hunch is correct, Rabins says, doctors who treat dementia patients should pay more attention to efforts to decrease stress for spousal caregivers.
“Caregiving has positive aspects, as well as negative ones. If we can boost the positive aspects and reduce the negative ones, we may be able to reduce a caregiver’s risk of developing dementia,” Rabins says.
Researchers have long been interested in how taking care of a spouse with dementia affects caregivers. Most previous studies have focused on the emotional distress caretakers often experience, rather than how their cognitive abilities might be affected.
Read more at Alzheimer’s Reading Room
Alzcare in Texas. Caring help for Alzheimer’s patients in home settings.
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