The hour of rest has finally come! It is the holidays, we believe that means NO REST. We at Elderlink think all work and no play makes mom and dad plus grandma and grandpa a bit less happy and a bit more stressed. We understand, you have your normal standard day, wake, food, relax or nap, lunch, get out to meet with friends and family, dinner TV and bed.

This month that changes, wake, food, prepare for family and start cleaning, start baking goodies as presents or for friends and family, go out shopping, lunch (maybe), more preparation possibly more shopping, more stress, dinner, more anxiety TV with all the holiday shows and music and sleep. Or insomnia thinking about what to buy the grandkids, what to cook, what to wear, and the list goes on….

HINT #1: It’s time to refocus on your thoughts!

Plan out the days and make time to relax and play. Remember you live in California with sunshine 350 days a year. In your hectic schedule consider some time at the beach, in the country, in the mountains with your family, or friends, leave stress aside and learn how to enjoy your holidays with Elderlink hints.

HINT #2: Do Not Overload the Holiday

Plan, which means think ahead, identify the days you will shop, another day to cook and bake, and another day to clean and prepare what to wear. MONDAY Shopping for gifts. Wednesday Shopping for food and start baking those delicious cookies, cakes, a ham or something fun to serve or take to a family gathering.TUESDAY, THURSDAY are your full get ready days and FRIDAY (half of the day, pick a simple and easier project around the house to clean) the second half of the day, do what you do on those days off like going out with friends, go to a family amusement park like the Zoo, or and even at a recreation center, possibly a bike ride, read a good book. Whatever you choose, on your days of rest, play and have fun DO NOT DO WORK OR ANY KIND. ß This was HINT #3 BY THE WAY.

HINT #4:

 The risk for many holidaymakers is to overload with activities and to feel frustrated with the idea of ​​not having had time to do everything. In all of the other HINTS, this was the true message. Keep in mind, the holidays are about fun, laughter, excitement, family and friends.

HINT #5:

Read HINTS one throughfour again and from all of us at Elderlink, have a happy and healthy holidayseason.

Caring for someone with Alzheimer’s is one of the biggest challenges a person can face.

One of the most important things you can do as a caregiver is to set reasonable expectations. For many family members caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s is a road too rocky to manage. When possible, a good senior citizens facility that works with Alzheimer’s patients is the best solution for you and your suffering family member. Most require very specialized care and having your loved one in the hands of a professional will help them and give you a sense of calm.

Most of us know Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the memory, judgment and logical thinking of an individual with this disease. These symptoms may intensify as the disease progresses and your loved one’s faculties decline. Although there are treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, doctors still cannot cure it. Life expectancy after a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s generally varies from 6 to 8 years but can reach 20 years for some people.

Stages of Alzheimer

Alzheimer’s has three stages. The first stage is the lightest form, in which the elder begins to have occasional loss of memory or to forget where his belongings are. At this stage of Alzheimer’s, many sufferers have difficulty with more complex reasoning and have prolonged personality changes. Many still work almost normally.

In the second stage, the disease is moderate. At this point, the first symptoms, such as memory loss, personality changes, and confusion intensify. Caregivers now need to help the older adult navigate his or her environment, as he or she may have difficulty identifying where he or she is and thereby putting themselves at risk without realizing it. Moreover, it is at this stage that many begin to confuse their relatives with another, to forget their name or not to recognize them.

The final stage of Alzheimer’s is the phase of severe dementia. At this stage, the older adult is no longer able to follow a conversation or interact with his environment and needs 24-hour supervision. In addition to the declining mental faculties, physical disorders caused by illness begin to manifest themselves. The person may have difficulty walking, their muscles and reflexes may react abnormally, and they may end up unable to feed themselves.

It is essential for a family caregiver to be mentally prepared, to know what to expect, and to resist the temptation to feel guilty as the disease progresses.

Tips to Help You Care for Someone with Alzheimer

The best advice you can give when it comes to caring for a person with Alzheimer’s/dementia is to have patience. Form short sentences the more information they contain, the more likely the individual will become confused and the more difficult it is for him or her to understand what you are telling them. When planning your day, try, as much as you can, to avoid changing their routine.

Another good tip, “Try to maintain their physical appearance as it was before their health status started to decline.” Give them some sense of normality. An Alzheimer’s patient’s health can decline rapidly, watching how they act is important since simple activities like brushing their teeth or showering can become a challenge. You will need to step in and remind or assist the individual, the more they get confused the more agitated they can become.

One thing is certain, the lingering effects of the disease on a family member as a caregiver will be very difficult to manage, especially when the person is close to your heart. However, if you follow these tips and those of the doctors, you and your family will experience the experience with less difficulty.

If you are ready to secure a senior living facility that works with Alzheimer’s patients, then we suggest you start with the best company to assist in your search,  please contact www.elderlink.net  for help finding the best elder care options.

By Judith Graham

In a landmark report, scientists have endorsed three strategies for preventing dementia and cognitive decline associated with normal aging — being physically active, engaging in cognitive training and controlling high blood pressure.

This is the first time experts convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine have deemed scientific evidence strong enough to suggest that preventing dementia and age-related cognitive decline might be possible.

Seven years ago, in a separate report issued by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, scientists said they couldn’t recommend any interventions to forestall or slow cognitive deterioration because state-of-the-art science at that time didn’t offer enough support.

Now there’s a considerably larger body of research to draw upon. And while findings are still far from definitive, “we found encouraging evidence that supports the value of several interventions,” said Story Landis, vice chair of the 17-member panel that prepared the report and director emeritus of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

That doesn’t mean the strategies are guaranteed to protect brain health. “You can do everything right and still get dementia in later life,” said Dr. Kenneth Langa, a panel member and professor of internal medicine, gerontology and health management and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Nor does it mean these are the only interventions that offer promise. Managing depression, controlling diabetes and high cholesterol, engaging in social activities, getting adequate sleep, eating a healthful diet, taking disease-modifying treatments for dementia (if and when they become available) and getting enough vitamin B12 and folic acid also appear worthwhile, though more research is needed before those tactics can be formally recommended, the NAS report said.

Addressing lifestyle factors that raise the risk of cognitive impairment could help prevent more than one-third of dementia cases across the globe, according to a separate comprehensive analysis published in The Lancet on Thursday.

The NAS panel proposed that its findings be shared with the public and physicians, but stopped short of proposing a major public health campaign, citing the need for further research.

Here are insights from the report, based on interviews with panel members and outside experts:

Strategies Work In Some Cases, Not Others

As people age, mental processing becomes slower and memory becomes less reliable — a normal condition known as age-related cognitive decline.

Two of the interventions recommended in the NAS report — cognitive training and physical activity — appear to have the potential to delay age-related cognitive decline. But there’s no evidence that they can prevent dementia or mild cognitive impairment, an intermediate condition that sometimes progresses to dementia.

Managing high blood pressure is the only strategy thought to have the potential to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. But it wasn’t shown to have an impact on age-related cognitive decline.

Once the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s are detected — notably amyloid beta plaques and tau tangles in the brain — some interventions might not be effective, said Dr. Ronald Petersen, a member of the NAS panel and director of the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

Start Early

It’s now known that biological changes associated with Alzheimer’s and related dementias begin a decade or more before any symptoms become evident. So it’s best to make recommended lifestyle changes early and sustain them over time.

“Prevention really needs to start in people who don’t show any sign of the disease — probably when people reach their 40s,” said Jeffrey Keller, director of the Institute for Dementia Research and Prevention at Louisiana State University, who was not involved in the NAS study.

Controlling high blood pressure, a strategy that helps preserve the health of blood vessels in the brain, is most effective if begun in middle age, the NAS report explained. But if you’ve reached age 65 and your blood pressure isn’t well managed, you’re still well advised to bring it under control, Landis said.

The same applies to physical activity: It’s best if you start in middle age, but becoming more active in later life is still good for your health. While it’s not yet known which type of activity is most effective, for what duration and how often it should be pursued for maximum brain benefit, walking briskly for 150 minutes a week or about 20 minutes a day is a good idea, Petersen said.

On Cognitive Training

Probably the best cognitive training you can get is a good education and ongoing mental stimulation. “There’s growing evidence that the ways in which your brain is challenged all through your life matter,” noted Langa, whose research has documented a decline in dementia rates in high-income countries over the past 25 years.

But the impact of education on brain health is very difficult to quantify. So the NAS panel endorsed cognitive training based largely on a randomized controlled trial known as Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly, which studied several thousand older adults over the course of 10 years.

ACTIVE had certified trainers work with seniors in small group sessions on various cognitive exercises for 10 sessions lasting an hour or more over five to six weeks. Feedback was an essential part of the intervention and booster sessions were offered. At 10 years, there was evidence of a positive effect on seniors’ independence and ability to perform daily tasks.

What was responsible for this effect? The training? Social interactions? Feedback? Booster sessions? All or some of the above? It’s not yet clear.

It’s important to note that the panel insisted that commercially sold computer-based brain games can’t be assumed to have the same effect. So far, research about brain games has failed to prove that this type of training improves broad-based cognitive functioning and people’s ability to function independently.

“The data supporting their efficacy just isn’t there,” said Petersen of the Mayo Clinic.

Try Several Things, Not Just One

When scientists examine the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, they find amyloid beta plaques and tangles, but also changes in blood vessels, evidence of microbleeds, and lesions in the brain’s white matter. “It’s mixed dementia, due to multiple factors — not just one thing,” Landis said.

The corollary: Mix it up and try several ways to reduce age-related cognitive decline or dementia, not just one.

“If we think of Alzheimer’s as a multifactorial disease, it makes sense to reduce multiple risk factors simultaneously,” said Rong Zhang, associate professor of neurology and neurotherapeutics at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Zhang is also the principal investigator for a five-year study investigating whether aerobic exercise combined with intensive control of hypertension and cholesterol can help prevent Alzheimer’s. That study, the Risk Reduction for Alzheimer’s Disease trial, is currently enrolling participants at six medical centers.

“The brain is complicated and its response to interventions is complex,” Langa said. “Therefore, the more strategies that you use to try to improve the brain’s health long term, the more likely they’re going to work.”

Don’t Bother

The NAS report found no evidence supporting the use of ginkgo biloba and vitamin E, which are widely marketed to people concerned about brain health. And it questioned the value of other supplements, noting that overall dietary patterns appear more important than any single substance.

KHN’s coverage related to aging & improving care of older adults is supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation.