How Stress and the Body's Immune Response May Lead to Alzheimer's Disease

This is a really important article about the roles stress (and the attendant emotions of anxiety and depression) play in the development of Alzheimer's Disease. We've known higher incidents of anxiety and depression are associated with dementia for decades. And I've talked about it on this blog a lot. What we haven't understood is the physical aspects of this connection (the immune system response) and whether there is actual cause and effect. Now science is saying there is.

There's a lot to unpack in this article which is why I recommend clicking on the link. My takeaway, however, is that Alzheimer's disease involves multiple systems in the body that work hand in hand to create the conditions that lead to dementia. Chronic emotional states play a BIG role, especially when not mitigated by exercise and social involvement. None of this has been unknown. The news is that now that there is scientific proof maybe we can get more effective non-pharmaceutical treatments to address these factors in addition to whatever medicines can help soothe people and control the symptoms.

So Pfizer Won't Be Funding Alzheimer's Drug Research Anymore? So What!

A column by Michael Hiltzik of the LA Times says that Pfizer Pharmaceuticals is using money they're getting from the Trump-Republican Tax Cut to pay off their shareholders and end their involvement in Alzheimer's drug research. About 300 researchers will lose their jobs as the money is shunted to other projects. Hiltzik was criticizing them for this decision and I normally would agree with him!

But I used to work for the Alzheimer's Association and for a caregiver resource center supporting family members taking care of people with this disease and other dementia-causing illnesses. And, while I know all those wonderful people I used to support who are desperately praying for a drug-cure for this disease might be feeling horrifically devastated by this news right now, I think the end of this relationship might be worth celebrating!

Maybe now the REAL causes and cures for Alzheimer's Disease can be the focus of the Alzheimer's Association instead of looking for a drug cure. Yes, I said it, the REAL causes. My opinion, backed by a LOT of recent research, is that -- except for the genetic version of Alzheimer's which represents a very small % of those who get the disease -- the cause of Alzheimer's Disease and a lot of other types of dementia is almost definitely way too much sugar consumption (eventually crowding out any real nutrition), loneliness and depression. You can add in lack of exercise for those who actually have vascular dementia (you can't get a definitive diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease without an autopsy). And we have known about some of these factors for at least a decade!

We need a societal cure, not a drug cure. And I believe that is one of the reasons Pfizer is withdrawing their research dollars. If the research continues to support the idea that diet and depression are the biggest factors, there's no point in Pfizer continuing their drug-cure based investment. They already make symptom-covering drugs! All the literature, videos and slide shows that Pfizer used to give to the Alzheimer's Association came with "info" about Aricept or whatever other drug they were promoting at the time. In return, the Alzheimer's Association put almost all their efforts into raising money for drug cure research. 

As far as I'm concerned, it's just fine for this symbiotic relationship to end. Have them put the money where it counts.

Alzheimer's Drug Might End the Need for Fillings

News of the weird or something pretty awesome? The Telegraph is reporting on a new study indicating that an Alzheimer's drug based on stem cell research still in clinical trials appears to regrow teeth and repair tooth decay. Not only that, it can do it quickly—within 6 weeks! Sounds awesome to me but, of course, clinical trials need to be done to make sure it's safe.

Sleep Deprivation Linked to Risk for Alzheimer's Disease

Links don't always indicate which came first: the chicken or the egg. Is a tendency not to sleep much at night an indicator of early-stage dementia OR the cause of dementia later in life? Sleep scientists suspect the later!

In addition to Alzheimer's Disease, people who get less than the recommended 8 hours of sleep at night also seem to be at significantly greater risk for cancer, diabetes, obesity and poor mental health. Lack of adequate sleep has a horrific effect on the immune system. It makes it difficult to fully process and heal from emotional upsets, it raises your blood pressure, and leads to problems with anger management and depression. It also impairs a vast array of significant bodily processes including your brain's ability to clear the brain cell killing amyloid plaque build-ups associated with Alzheimer's Disease!

So, if you're reading this late at night, go to bed! Make it a habit to have a nice luxurious guilt-free nap or earlier bedtime part of your every day routine. You'll be SO glad you did!

Eliminate Sugar to Greatly Reduce the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

Giving up sugar will not eliminate ALL Alzheimer's Disease but according to a recent study cited in this article in Psychology Today, 80% of all Alzheimer's patients have insulin resistance or type 2 Diabetes. In fact, Alzheimer's Disease is now being called Type 3 Diabetes or insulin resistance of the brain. The Psychology Today article says "preventing Alzheimer's Disease is easier than you think" -- just give up sugar! Well, that's not so easy, especially if you have developed a dependency. Sugar is highly addictive and if you or someone you love is lonely or depressed, giving up that legal sweet comfort can be highly problematic! But well worth doing. Substitute fruit for sugary desserts, whole foods for all refined carbohydrates, go out for a walk, do something with the grandkids or volunteer. And some of my last suggestions are the most important. Science shows that happier people are far less likely to succumb to addiction and have a far easier time letting go of an addiction that has already been installed.

The Science Behind How Sugar Consumption Affects Your Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease

Watching a family member slowly kill his brain function with sugar has brought the sugar - Alzheimer's issue into sharp relief for me! Nearly EVERY Alzheimer's patient wants to eat nothing but sugar and other carbs that easily convert to glucose at some point in the progression of this disease. And the Alzheimer's / diabetes connection is very clear: one frequently leads to the other but it's not clear which comes first—diabetes or early stage Alzheimer's. I think it is excessive sugar consumption either way. This article gets into the latest research.

Fight Against Trump and Paul Ryan's Attempt to Destroy Obamacare and Replace it with Health Savings Accounts

I rarely post on this blog anymore and I once made a vow not to turn it into something political. . .  but I've been pushed over the edge.

I used to work in the field of senior services, helping people who were taking care of a family member with dementia. I heard MANY MANY stories of people inches away from bankruptcy. One major medical emergency sent people over the edge -- and most of these were people WITH health insurance. Medical emergency is the #1 cause of bankruptcy in this country. THIS is the issue I am most able to gather the anger and courage and strength to stand up for: affordable healthcare for all and preservation (if not expansion) of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I'm sharing the next part of this post from a friend because it is essential that people understand what is going down if we don't fight for it. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY!

In case you're not aware of what a Health Savings Account (HSA) is or how it works, please read:

When Trump or Paul Ryan say they want to replace the ACA with "Health Savings Accounts" (HSAs), they are saying they want to replace Obamacare or Medicare or Medicaid with YOU paying for your healthcare. That means YOU pay for chemotherapy... YOU pay for all surgeries and hospitalization... YOU pay for all your family's doctor visits, urgent care, ER visits, and prescription drugs out-of-pocket.

A Health Savings Account is just a tax-free way for you to save up money to pay for your own medical bills. So if you are paying off college loans, or saving for a house down-payment, or simply living paycheck to paycheck, guess what -- a Health Savings Account does you no good, because you have no discretionary funds to deposit into it. And even if you manage to save five grand or ten grand in an HSA, that could all get wiped out in one hospital visit for you or a family member. Then you are back to square zero again.

Even if you can supplement your HSA with affordable health insurance, you will be eating away at money that you should be investing for your retirement or your kids' college tuition. Only the top 3-5% of Americans can save enough for retirement, college AND their own out-of-pocket medical expenses. Therefore, the tax benefits of HSA's only help those people. Please call your Congressperson to protest this. And share the information to everyone you know.

Why We Need to Change Our Approach to Alzheimer’s Disease and How

Do you know somebody who has Alzheimer’s Disease or some other type of age-related memory loss or confusion, inability to take care of themselves? This is known as dementia and, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million people in the United States suffer from it today.

I used to work for the Alzheimer’s Association and I know they spend a lot of time fundraising for a cure for this disease and a lot of the money goes into pharmaceutical research, which is a good thing because anyone who is dealing with this disease desperately wants and deserves a worthwhile treatment and cure! But my job (and the job I had later at Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center) was to work directly with the families, and that work led me to some deep inner questioning because I tended to hear the same three stories (or variations) over and over again.

• “Grandma was perfectly all right until grandpa died.” 
• “Grandpa was perfectly alright until he retired and didn’t know what to do with himself anymore.” 
•  “So and so has never been completely alright—she’s always been somewhat depressed—but now that she's living alone, things have really gone south: she has full- blown Alzheimer’s.”

I worked with hundreds of people over more than 6 years and after awhile I started to think: if this is just a physical illness with a physical cure, why am I hearing these stories so often? In recent years some people have started to research this very thing, and they think we could bat down the incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease by focussing on social solutions that might help people be less susceptible.

I hope that in this post you will read something new and that it will inspire you to make a change in your life or in the life of someone you love. First, I’m going to tell you about how important this is. Then I’ll share just a little about the science related to Alzheimer’s Disease so you understand what drug researchers have been focusing on and then a very famous study that seems to contradict the science. I’ll talk about recent studies that might point to social solutions. And I’ll end with helping you think about how easy solutions like that could be and ask you to start with one simple thing I hope you’ll do with your family or friends tonight.

Let’s start with why this is important.

Alzheimer’s Disease has an enormous impact on our country. 

There's a LOT I could say about this, so I'm going to point you to the latest statistics from the Alzheimer's Association for a start, but here are just a few points that definitely concern me! 

• The likelihood of getting dementia goes up the older we get and, according to the latest statistics from the Alzheimer’s Association, 1 in 3 people have some kind of dementia by the time they die.

That’s scary enough but guess what?

• The elderly population—who is most likely to get this illness—is the largest and fastest growing population in the United States because the Baby Boomers are just starting to hit the age when Alzheimer's Disease and other age-related dementias start to really become an issue. (According to the Alzheimer’s Association, if nothing changes, the number of people with age-related dementia is expected to triple in 34 years.)

• This year, dementia is expected to cost this country 236 billion dollars. Obviously, in the future this number could be going way up!

• And these statistics, of course, do not address the emotional, physical and financial toll on the families trying to take care of loved ones. 

Obviously something needs to be done and there’s a lot of research being devoted to trying to solve the problem. 

So let’s look at that.

The reason why so much of the research is focussed on a physical cure is because there are physical things that seem to be correlated with the disease.

As you can see from this drawing provided by Beaumont Health System and the Michigan Head and Spine Institute, which is doing some of this research, the brain of a person with Alzheimer’s Disease looks different from a healthy brain. There are unusual features—protein deposits and alterations in protein structure called plaques and tangles--that can be seen in the brains of people who died of Alzheimer's and they seem to increase the further along the disease had progressed while the people were still alive. Eventually the brain starts to atrophy and shrink, and fissures and holes start to appear. So the drug researchers want to find something that will either clear up these plaques and tangles or prevent them from occurring in the first place.

And that makes sense as far as drug research goes...but is that the best and only approach to reducing the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease and age-related dementia?

In 1997 an article was published in the journal Gerontologist by researcher David Snowdon about a famous project, still going on today, that we in the Alzheimer's field call “The Nun Study.” At the time of that report Snowdon had interviewed and tested the memory and cognitive skills of 678 nuns over their lives and when they died he did an autopsy of their brains. Lots of interesting things were discovered but here’s the story I found of most interest.

One of the nuns, Sister Mary, lived to be 101 years old. She was mentally sharp and scored incredibly high on all these tests, including the last one she did just a few weeks before her death. But when     they cut open her brain, they found signs of atrophy and more plaques and tangles than anyone else's they had studied up until that point. According to what had been assumed from the science, she should have had full-blown Alzheimer’s Disease but she showed none of the symptoms.

So this opens up a lot of questions about why. What they know about Sister Mary is that she was very upbeat and optimistic, she took an active interest in everything, and she seemed to be extremely social. Since then, some researchers have been focussing on those particular clues.

The Effects of Social Engagement and Life Purpose

For example, researchers at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center in Chicago did a study on the effect of loneliness and social isolation on Alzheimer’s Disease that was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2007. It showed that people who reported being lonely a lot of the time were twice as likely to develop the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease than people who did not and that the incidence of Alzheimer's was NOT related to the amount of plaques and tangles in their brains--it was correlated with a difference in how they warded off the effects of the physical changes those plaques and tangles represent.

An even more recent study published in 2011 by the Rush Center showed that the more social (and less lonely) a person is, the more they ward off these effects. The most social people seemed to be rewarded with a reduction of the incidence of Alzheimer's Disease of as much as 70%!

But loneliness is not the only factor worth considering. The Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center also did a study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 2012, that showed that feelings of life purpose also seem to make a significant difference. Life purpose was defined as anything that gives people a feeling of meaning such as family relationships, church attendance, civic engagement,    music or art—things people really care about doing. On a scale of 1 to 5 in terms of self-reported meaningful activities, participants with a score of at least 4 were almost 2.5 times more likely to be free of Alzheimer's symptoms than people who scored a 3 or lower.

And there was one last study I'd like to mention that was published in 2015 in a peer-reviewed journal called Maturitas by the Women's Health Ageing Project in Australia. It showed that these same protective effects could come from something as simple as babysitting a grandchild one day a week.

Five days a week had the opposite effect so you don’t want to take this too far... but think about this. Something that might be helpful to your parents or grandparents could be helpful for you! And it’s not just babysitting—it could be sharing a meal together, going to church together, it could be any number of things that people enjoy doing or things that make them feel useful in the family or in the wider world.

So I’d like you to think about what I shared with you today and start a conversation with your family or friends about it.

• Alzheimer’s Disease is a really big problem.
• The science doesn’t always match up with what actually happens with the disease.
• We know that people who are less lonely and have a sense of life purpose seem to ward off the effects of the illness.
• And there are ways that we might help each other with that. 

Now I know that some of the things I’ve been talking about are not going to work for everyone—the statistics do NOT say that! And not everybody is going to be able to change long-standing patterns and ways of living. And not everyone has such a great relationship with their family that it's terribly appropriate to tackle that. But I’m going to leave you with a few final thoughts.

• There are lots of lonely older people out there.
• Developing new habits that bring us close to other people and things we love to do are way easier to do when we're young and could have a significant impact on our well-being as WE age!
• And mutually beneficial relationships can be good for everyone. 

References

2016 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures. (2016). Alzheimer’s Association. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from http://www.alz.org/facts/#quickFacts 

Buchman, A. S. (2012). Effect of Purpose in Life on the Relation Between Alzheimer Disease Pathologic Changes on Cognitive Function in Advanced Age. Archives of General Psychiatry, 69(5), 499. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.1487. Retrieved April 14,  2016 from http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1151486.

Burn, K., & Szoeke, C. (2015). Grandparenting predicts late-life cognition: Results from the Women's Healthy Ageing Project. Maturitas, 81(2), 317-322. doi:10.1016/j.maturitas. 2015.03.013. Retrieved April 14, 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25891500

James, B. D., Wilson, R. S., Barnes, L. L., & Bennett, D. A. (2011). Late-Life Social Activity and Cognitive Decline in Old Age. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society J Int Neuropsychol Soc,17(06), 998-1005. doi:10.1017/s1355617711000531 Retrieved April 14, 2016 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3206295/

Snowdon, D. A. (1997). Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: Lessons From the Nun Study. The Gerontologist, 37(2), 150-156. doi:10.1093/geront/37.2.150. Retrieved 4/14/16 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9127971

Wilson, R. S., Krueger, K. R., Arnold, S. E., Schneider, J. A., Kelly, J. F., Barnes, L. L., . . . Bennett, D. A. (2007). Loneliness and Risk of Alzheimer Disease. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(2), 234. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.2.234. Retrieved 4/14/2016 from

http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=482179. 

Image of brain:

External Beam Radiotherapy: Beta-Amyloid Plaque Reduction. Provided by the Beaumont Health System for an article by the Michigan Head and Spine Institute.Retrieved April 19, 2016 from http://www2.mhsi.us/Articles/external-beam-radiotherapy-beta-amyloid- plaque-reduction.html

Correcting Andrew Weil's Report on Risk of Alzheimer's Disease and Stress in Women

I really wanted to write directly to him on this one, but I could not find a way to do that without offering up my email address to endless amounts of spam.

Take a look at this article. It's about an important study about how worry and stress DOUBLES the risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease in women. http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401550/Worrying-About-Alzheimers.html

In the last paragraph Dr. Weil said "Please bear in mind that in this study "twice the risk" is relative to the normal risk of developing Alzheimer's. Here's what relative risk means: assume that the normal risk is one in 100 people. Double the risk means that two of 100 people will develop the disease and the other 98 will not."

Fine, but 1 in 6 people in the U.S. have Alzheimer's Disease right now (about 14%) and the percentage rises as people age to 1 in 3 people getting the disease by the time they die (about 33%). Correct me if my math is wrong (that happens) but I believe if you double the risk you will get numbers ranging from 28% for the population as a whole and rising to 66% as people get older. That's a very significant statistic!

It makes a very big difference as people progress through their life cycle, and taking steps to shift these patterns in your life when you are still young, could make a major difference for your life as you age!

The Great Unlearning Which is Alzheimer's

 I found this article about deep philosophical and spiritual questions related to Alzheimer's Disease to be very comforting. I see the importance in emotional processing and life review in various elderly people, not just Alzheimer's patients. Lots of examples and ideas in this: http://www.crosscurrents.org/webb.htm

Purpose in Life Wards Off the Effects of Alzheimer's Disease

A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry Division shows that people who score high on tests measuring one's feeling of having a purpose in life are less likely to get Alzheimer's Disease and are far less likely to exhibit cognitive signs of the disease even when the telltale physical changes associated with Alzheimer's are present. Previous studies have indicated similar things (the famous Nun study, for instance), but specifically studying purpose in life is new and noteworthy.

Add that to studies that show that feeling isolated, lonely and unloved tremendously increases the likelihood of Alzheimer's, and those that show correlations between the disease and depression, and I think we're starting to get a much clearer picture of how Alzheimer's Disease manifests in the elderly population. I imagine this is especially true in Western culture of the current generation!

Let People Know How To Manage Your Care If Unable To Speak for Yourself!

If something should happen to you and you are unable to speak for yourself does your family know your wishes as to how to manage your care? And will they have the legal right to act on your behalf? Are you thinking about whether you may be called on to do that for someone else? You can do something about that. Fill out Health Care Proxies, print them out, and make sure everyone who might need to be involved has their own copies. http://www.doyourproxy.org/webtool.php

More on Alzheimer's and Type 3 Diabetes

I'm not in the field of dementia care anymore but two close family members with these symptoms keep me needing to pay attention. My dad is in a nursing home right now, and my mother reports that all the patients seem to want to eat is sugar. The family caregivers I used to work with would report the same thing. Long before the scientific evidence started to pile up, those of us working in the field knew there had to be some correlation between memory loss and confusion and these bizarre sugar cravings. Patients lose their appetites for anything else. It is now thought that a lot of what we call Alzheimer's Disease is most likely insulin resistance in the brain caused by excessive sugar consumption, lack of exercise and — this is something scientists do not say — whatever it is that causes people to substitute sweets for what the rest of us consider to be the "sweetness" in life.

I feel I must go out on a limb with this a bit. Too many Alzheimer's patients have spent many years being isolated and lonely, have suffered the trauma of losing their spouse or significant other, have few if any hobbies, or otherwise feel like they have little to live for except watching endless amounts of TV with a bowl of ice cream or plate of cookies close at hand.

There is also sufficient evidence to suggest that early stage Type 3 Diabetes (and therefore most Alzheimer's Disease) can be easily reversed if caught soon enough with exercise, insulin and more moderate sugar consumption. Going for a walk three times a week is enough to make a big difference in someone who is excessively sedentary. Making it a rule never to eat sugar on an empty stomach or substituting more protein and fat and fewer carbohydrates can make a big difference right away regardless of the amount of exercise. And try arranging it so your loved one takes that walk and eats that meal with someone who loves them! That could make the biggest difference in quality of life for both the patient and all concerned.

Scientific articles:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22810099

Layman's articles:
http://dealingwithdiabetes.org/type-3-diabetes-attacks-your-brain/
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/25/bittman-is-alzheimers-type-3-diabetes/

Diabetes and Dementia

If you work for very long in the field of elder care you eventually hear the following concern: my dad / my mom is wasting away and all he/she wants to eat is sugar. The answer: Get your loved one tested for diabetes!

There is a very strong correlation between the inability to utilize blood sugar and dementia. Cravings for sugar often occur because the body (and brain) relies on having adequate amounts of glucose. Most of us gain weight by eating sugar. If a person is eating too much sugar and is losing weight that is a serious symptom. If it has gotten to the point of them losing their appetite or feeling nauseous after eating, it's even more imperative to get the blood sugar levels checked. It can mean that the body has become insulin resistant or is not capable of producing enough of the insulin it needs to make use of the sugar the person so obviously craves.

People with diabetes over the age of 60 are twice as likely to have dementia. People with dementia who have uncontrolled diabetes are much more likely to show a worsening of all dementia symptoms when blood sugar levels are out of balance.

Click here to read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2039401/Over-60s-Type-2-diabetes-twice-likely-end-dementia.html

NEW BOOK: Waking Up In the Great Recession Mormon Desert

Going through a Great Recession crisis in addition to family caregiving has got to be so intense... I don't want to think about it! But the one thing that makes it better is banding together in family and community. I'm announcing my latest book today. It's not about family caregiving or Alzheimer's Disease or dementia at all! But it IS about the great importance of going beyond differences to band together to heal our deepest, most critical concerns.

The book is called WAKING UP IN THE GREAT RECESSION MORMON DESERT and people who reviewed an advance copy of it have given it some wonderful reviews. For example, David Spangler who was the previous director of Findhorn and has sometimes been called the father of the New Age movement had this to say:

This book is a winner. It has everything a good book should have: suspense, excitement, pathos, joy, laughter—-lots of laughter—and great characters you care about and can genuinely root for! And it's non-fiction! But what it has most is love and wisdom. Profound, heart-opening love and wisdom. It is hands down one of the best books on spirituality and its role in meeting the challenges of our time that I have read. And did I say that it's funny, too? Be good to yourself and read this book. Be good to your friends and buy them a copy. ~ David Spangler, author of FACING THE FUTURE and SUBTLE WORLDS: AN EXPLORER'S FIELD NOTES.

My partner Paul and I are the "great characters", by the way. The book is a memoir and it follows our path from our original home in the beautiful New Age, ultra-progressive town of Santa Cruz, CA to a predominantly ultra-conservative Republican Mormon community in the eastern Arizona high desert. The timing is immediately after the election of Barack Obama and the passage of Proposition 8 (the law repealing gay marriage in California). The result is at turns poignant and funny and eventually leads to a spiritual wake-up call that shows the importance of connecting the political and the personal in our task of developing spiritually on the planet.

Read more about it, read excerpts and reviews,  and get your copy here.

It's available as an inexpensive instant pdf download or as an autographed physical book, both directly from us. It is also available on the Kindle and soon other places as well.

TED Talks on Aging

Do you know about TED? TED talks are wonderful 15 minute introductions to all kinds of intellectual subjects. They're almost always fun, interesting and informative. This blog has an article with links to several TED talks on aging, including a couple about Alzheimer's Disease and related neurological illnesses. Take a look!

Reverse a Stroke by Taking Action Fast

A Facebook friend, Gary W. Bourbonais, wrote this as a service in honor of this month being Stroke Awareness Month. He says "it's worth it if it saves just one life."

Hi Folks....

Back on 12/27/07, I had a clot type stroke in the cortico-spinal area of my brain....I was left with a paralyzed right side, a vague awareness of what was going on, and a face out of a B-rated Horror
Movie.... Because of the extent of the paralysis, I was told I faced the prospect of assisted living...

That scared me more than anything....

Today, I am existing independently, though I need a brace and cane to get around.....My right hand (the prior dominant one) has maybe 20% function, with no fine motor control to speak of...Everything is
harder to do, essentially one handed, and I do get tired easily....

I'm not griping....I'm glad to be alive, and an independent Survivor....My cognition was essentially unaffected....My face is normal, as is my speech....I'm one of the luckier survivors.....

The thing is....had I recognized what was happening to me, I might have none of these affects.... For a clot type stroke, there's a 3-4 hour window when it can be reversed.....I got to the hospital too late to reverse it, but soon enough so I lived...

How common is stroke? It's the third most common cause of death in the US.....Eighty percent of all strokes are the clot type....There are over *6 million* stroke survivors in the US alone....

How to ID a stroke.......S....T....R.......

*REMEMBER* the 1st Three Letters.... S...T...R...

S.....Ask the individual to SMILE.

T.....Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE
    (Coherently). Example....It is sunny outside today....

R.....Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If the person (or you), have a problem with any of these tasks, it's time to call 911...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

They've recently extended the window to 4 hours in some cases...

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

Hopefully this bit of knowledge will help some folks in the future.......

Surviving a stroke takes a lot out of a person, both physically and mentally.....

How successful one is depends a lot on the support they have, and believe me, I can personally attest to the need for that support...And thank the folks that provided it to me, from the bottom of my heart...

I found a great online resource for Stroke Support.....It's a free site, started, run by, and for, Stroke Survivors and Caregivers....If you are a Stroke Survivor, or Caregiver, or know someone who is, give
them this link..... http://www.strokeboard.net/

I suspect they'll thank you....It puts you on the Forum discussion page, and you will meet folks who are walking the talk......As a guest, you can read the posts, to get a feel for what the site is about....

http://www.strokeboard.net/

***

F.A.S.T.

Another Anagram is F.A.S.T (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) If they have trouble smiling or something is not "right" with their *Face* (F), if they are unable to hold their *Arms*(A) out in front of themselves at equal height, if their *Speech*(S) is affected or if the words come out Slurred(S), then you need *Time*(T) to be on your side by responding quickly. Don't hesitate. It's better to be wrong than sorry.

***

Care to All....

Get "The Spiritual Journey of Family Caregiving" as an E-Book download

Times are changing and they're changing fast! A few short years ago e-books were a ridiculous notion. Then they became popular and people were encouraged to keep the price of an e-book close to the price of print books so as not to hurt print book sales. Well, not so fast. What's the point of offering an e-book if not to promote the ideas they have to offer at a doable price for people who won't spend the cover price of a brand new book, especially the price of one done on a print-on-demand basis?

So I'm making my book available as an e-book download for just $4.99. What? Will she make any money at that price? I hope so! Especially if you tell your friends. Here's the link to my shop at Healing Communication Press. I hope to have it available for the Kindle as soon as I can, too and other venues as well. Watch this blog for updates.

Home for the Holidays -- Omigod!

I haven't written in this blog for months. My life is in great transition and writing anything just hasn't been on my priority list. But I suddenly noticed that, despite my lack of activity, hits to my blog suddenly jumped. Huh?

Oh yeah, people just got back from the Thanksgiving holiday. And, like millions of other people, they saw a beloved parent or other older relative they had not seen in a long time and were shocked.

Grandpa made a speech at the holiday feast thanking God that the family was "together for the first time in forty years!" Um...nobody said a thing but everyone knows the entire family had come together for his birthday just a few weeks before and many family gatherings over the years!

Nana seemed perfectly okay but then went shopping and brought back nothing but cookies, lettuce and pizza. So? Well, there was already too much lettuce in the frig, a cabinet full of the same cookies and a freezer full of frozen pizza. And Nana's response when she got home? "Oh look, dear! The children already bought pizza! Isn't that sweet?" But it wasn't true.

Auntie Anna's kitchen was filthy and she didn't seem to notice. Her bills were piled up on the dining room table, about four month's worth, and yet she denied that there was anything wrong.

So people came home and went to work. Is this dementia? What can we do?!!!

Yup, tis the season...

Okay, so first things first: calm down and breathe. And remember the most important things. Does something need to be done? Yes. Does it need to be done by you and you alone? Not likely.

Your first step: educate yourself. If your relative lives alone you will need to do something. Is there an Alzheimer's Association in his or her area? Contact the closest Area Agency on Aging. Or find the ones in your own community. They can direct you to any resources your relative might need. You don't have to figure this out alone!

In fact, you shouldn't. If there are any other family members involved check in with them. Compare notes, compare possibilities, educate yourselves and then decide on a plan of action.

And guess what? If your relative does not live alone there may or may not need to be anything done at all. If no one is in physical danger and there is someone taking care of the absolute necessities (the bills, for instance), the most important thing might be taking care of your own emotional upset. Yeah, it doesn't look good from the outside but, more often than not, people living together overcompensate for each other's difficulties, they overlook the little slips and idiosyncrasies, they do what has to be done and let the rest slide. It's shocking if you haven't seen Nana for a long time but if grandpa still seems to be handling it alright... Do check in but don't freak out if he says they don't need anything.

At least not what they'll accept for now. But they most likely will need help if not outright intervention as things continue to decline. So get help to know what kind of things to look out for, what resources may be nearby, and how you as a member of a larger group (family, community resources, etc.) can prepare for the time to come.

Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study

Image via WikipediaAre you or a family member experiencing the early signs of memory loss? Would you like to participate in research looking to put an end to Alzheimer's Disease?

The newest thinking in the future of Alzheimer's treatment is to be able to detect changes in the brain in the earliest of stages, long before full-blown Alzheimer's symptoms appear. Reversing these brain changes -- or the behaviors or predisposing physical conditions that cause them -- is thought to be the best way to stop Alzheimer's. But the only way to recognize what these changes are and learn more about who is at risk is through the participation of volunteers.

“We cannot end this terrible disease unless we know more about it,” says Dr. Paul Aisen, M.D., director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study (ADCS). “That is where the amazing volunteers, their friends and their families can make the difference in our success.”

If you, a friend, or a family member is experiencing early signs of memory loss, you may be eligible to participate in a groundbreaking ADNI GO study. Please visit http://adcs.org/Studies/ImagineADNI.aspx or call the Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral Center at 1-800-438-4380 for more information on study sites in your area.

Related articles

• Hope for Treating Alzheimer's Progression (psychcentral.com)
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• Researchers Trace Alzheimer Process, Hope To Find Effective Treatment (consumeraffairs.com)