Those with Alzheimers or anoher dementia AND Type 2 Diabetes should not eat unhealthy meals

If an older adult has Alzheimers or a related dementia pay attention to this article:

Older adults with type 2 diabetes who eat unhealthy, high-fat meals may experience memory declines immediately afterward, according to new research. But, the study found this can be offset by taking antioxidant vitamins with the meal.
There is already growing evidence linking diabetes to cognitive complications in humans. Adults with type 2 diabetes are especially vulnerable to acute meal-induced memory deficits after eating unhealthy foods.
This latest study, led by Baycrest, an academic health sciences center associated with the University of Toronto, suggests that taking high doses of antioxidant vitamins C and E with the meal may help minimize those memory slumps.

It is published in the July issue of Nutrition Research.

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Tea Drinking May Help Protect Against Cognitive Impairment and Decline(Alzheimers)

News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
Disclosures

Release Date: July 14, 2008; Valid for credit through July 14, 2009 Credits Available

July 14, 2008 — Regular tea consumption was associated with lower risks for cognitive impairment, cognitive decline, and Alzheimers, according to the results of a study reported in the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Laboratory research suggests that tea has potential neurocognitive protective effects, but this is not established in humans," writes Tze-Pin Ng, from the University of Singapore, and colleagues. "In recent decades, experimental and epidemiologic studies have associated tea with a wide variety of health benefits, such as the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and mortality. Although the findings are somewhat inconsistent, most appear to support tea's favorable effects."

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Family Physicians - up to 0.25 AAFP Prescribed credit(s) for physicians

Dementia patients need to be engaged citizens

BY JESSE F. BALLENGER Jesse F. Ballenger is a historian of medicine who teaches in the Science, Technology and Society Program at Penn State University. He is the author of "Self, Senility and Alzheimer's Disease in Modern
July 20, 2008
Advocates of federal funding for Alzheimer's and related dementia research have argued since the late 1970s that unless effective treatment or prevention is found, the health care system will be overwhelmed by the coming explosion of victims from the Baby Boom generation. As a model, they frequently have invoked the eradication of polio."In 1935, a March of Dimes was started. In 1961, less than 30 years later, the last polio epidemic occurred," said Robert Butler, founding director of the National Institute on Aging and a leading advocate of Alzheimer's research, in 1983 congressional testimony. " ... Senility could fall the way polio did, if we invest now." In light of the monumental personal losses and social burdens of Alzheimer's, medical research came to seem a moral imperative. The country's hope was fixed on the inevitability of a medical triumph.But it has been 25 years and about $8 billion of federal money for research since Butler testified.
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The Sanwich Generation and Caring for Persons with Dementia

Advice for the Sandwich Generation: a Mini Q&A with an Expert
Geoff WilliamsJul 14th 2008 at 10:30AM
Filed under: Dementia
When I first heard of the phrase, sandwich generation, I naturally thought I was a member, just as I would have figured people were talking about me if they had said the Pizza Generation or the Ice Cream Generation... Sigh, I really do need to drop a few pounds. Anyway, as many of you likely know, the sandwich generation refers to the time of your life when you're probably still taking care of your kids to some degree -- maybe they're finishing high school or starting college -- and the time of your life when you're taking care of your parents -- like running errands for them, helping them fill out insurance forms or finding them a new place to live. If they have Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia, it can be most difficult.

This interview may help you find the answers you need
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New System Detects Alzheimer's and Related Dementias Risk Among Highly Educated Older Adults

ScienceDaily (July 16, 2008) — A different cutoff point on an existing mental function assessment may more effectively assess the risk of Alzheimer's and other dementias in highly educated older adults, according to a new article.

The authors suggest that use of this new cut point may help facilitate early detection of Alzheimer's and related dementias in highly educated individuals. Timely treatment may be particularly important in this population, since individuals with more education tend to decline and die more quickly after they are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the authors note.

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Elder Law: Plan needed to help deal with Alzheimer's

William Edy • Special to news-press.com • July 13, 2008

Clients, and often their spouses and children, raise two issues that affect elder law and the preservation of their assets. First, they ask if those with diminished capacity can still sign a last will or trust, power of attorney and health care surrogate designation. Second, they ask if they should plan for a nursing home placement and depending on their assets and income, whether they should begin to think about Medicaid for nursing home placement. Elder law attorneys can help clients and their families with these concerns.

Generally, when a person is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, or other dementia type illness, they do not realize their problem and are the worst assessor of their condition. Often those who live close to the person suffering from dementia are also not good assessors. Fortunately, there are doctors who specialize in memory problems and there are 13 Memory Clinics throughout Florida, one of which is at Lee Memorial Health System.

Care-partners (a better term than care giver) may make an appointment at one of these clinics if they suspect a memory problem. They do not need a referral from a physician. Costs should be covered by Medicare.

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Advanced dementia and hospice care

7th Space interactive
July 11,2008

There is increasing interest in improving the quality of care that patients with advanced dementia receive when they are dying. Our understanding of the palliative care needs of these patients and the natural history of advanced disease is limited.

Many people with advanced dementia have unplanned emergency admissions to the acute hospital; this is a critical event: half will die within 6 months. These patients have complex needs but often lack capacity to express their wishes.

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