Test Your Memory
There is a new test out for Alzheimer’s self exams. It’s quicker, and more effective than previously available tests.The TYM, (test your memory), exam can detect early onset Alzheimer’s in approximately five minutes. The exam goes over several basic skills, including the ability to copy a sentence, basic math, recall, and an understanding of how two things relate. Incredibly, in a clinical trial this exam indentified 93% of early onset Alzheimer’s patients. Links to the TYM, and comparable tests are provided.
“An estimated 24 million people throughout the world have dementia and the number affected will double every 20 years. Early diagnosis is crucial to effective treatment, but there is no available short cognitive test that is quick to use, examines various skills, and is sensitive to Alzheimer's disease.
So researchers at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge designed and evaluated a new cognitive test, the TYM ("test your memory"), in the detection of Alzheimer's disease. The TYM is a series of 10 tasks including ability to copy a sentence, semantic knowledge, calculation, verbal fluency and recall ability.”
AlzCare provides caring treatment for Alzheimer’s patients in Texas.
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Dementia Prevention
The question that everyone asks about cognitive decline is; how can we prevent/slow it? The answers out there are often hard to prove, there are conflicting reports and personal experiences out there. Most often these remedies include supplements. This often includes ginkgo biloba, vitamin e oil, flaxseed oil, and other herbal remedies. The NIH recently organized a large group of scientists, and had them research whether there is actually anything that a person can do to help slow mental decline. Everywhere we look there are articles prescribing and recommending physical exercise or dismissing action in favor of blaming our genes. The panel came to one conclusion about Alzheimer’s prevention, that at the moment we just can’t be certain.
The real challenge is proving, using available epidemiological evidence, that any particular intervention can significantly reduce our chances of ever getting Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, epidemiology is not a precise business when it comes to humans. We all live complicated lives with complicated diets and have no control over who our parents were. Given this, it's no wonder that it is so hard to prove or disprove that Vitamin E is good or that smoking is bad when it comes to altering our future cognitive decline.
The conclusions reached by the NIH's panel of scientists are spot-on; currently, no single intervention can be proven to increase a person's chances of avoiding dementia. However, I predict that one day we will realize that our true goal is to accumulate lots of relatively minor dietary and lifestyle habits and to maintain them for long periods of time. Many years ago cancer researchers learned that multiple exposures to low levels of specific toxins in our environment are required in order to develop any particular carcinoma. I predict that the same approach will work for drugs and nutrients that are beneficial to our health. Long term exposure to daily doses of fruits, vegetables and grains and regular low level physical and mental exercises may together reach a threshold of benefit that will allow us to die of old age before we suffer significant mental decline. That's the point: ultimately, we may not need to prevent Alzheimer's disease, just slow it down.
AlzCare provides caring treatment for Alzheimer’s patients in Texas.
| | | | | Walking Boost
You probably wouldn’t think that something as basic as walking several times a week could have such positive effects on a person. Science Daily reports on the importance of physical activity, and it’s connection to mental health. The brain works as a system, connections between different areas are vital to function properly. As we age, we begin to lose these connections. Physical exercise, even in mild forms can help prevent loss of these connections. Not only is this preventative, it also helps “enhance the connectivity of important brain circuits” and increases performance in cognitive tasks.
“In a healthy young brain, activity in the DMN quickly diminishes when a person engages in an activity that requires focus on the external environment. Older people, people with Alzheimer's disease and those who are schizophrenic have more difficulty "down-regulating" the DMN so that other brain networks can come to the fore, Kramer said."
A recent study by Kramer, Voss and their colleagues found that older adults who are more fit tend to have better connectivity in specific regions of the DMN than their sedentary peers. Those with more connectivity in the DMN also tend to be better at planning, prioritizing, strategizing and multi-tasking.”
Alzcare in New Braunfels. Caring treatment for Alzheimer’s patients in Texas in comfortable, home settings.
| | | | | The Person I knew
“They are no longer the person I knew”. Possibly the most common phrase around Alzheimer’s cases. It’s everywhere, it seems to be a very common statement/sentiment. The problem with this all too common statement, is that it does not bring about a positive mindset. It saps the joy and love out of caretaking. Bob DeMarco challenges this statement, arguing that to say so is to objectify the person affected. In taking on this attitude about the disease, it breeds hate for the disease which could be taken out on those suffering from it.
Bob suggests that a more effective way for caregivers to view their loved ones, is to imagine the having Alzheimer’s is like being in a different world. “You'll need to develop a new set of communication skills that will allow you to deal with the behavior of the person suffering from Alzheimer's, and at the same time allow you to slay the dragon within you.”
Alzcare in New Braunfels. Caring treatment for Alzheimer’s patients in Texas in comfortable, home settings.
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