You’ve tried to avoid it, but finally the inevitable has happened. You’ve married, changed jobs, or found a house with a one floor layout. Now, you have to move the person with Alzheimer’s that you are caring for to a new home. How do you move with an Alzheimer’s patient?
Well, as you know, the best thing is to stay put. Failing that, you need to try to avoid changing routines as much as possible. If you aren’t moving far, try moving the rest of the house and getting everything organized before moving the patient’s room. Then, have the patient sit in a familiar chair. Put on a favorite show or familiar tune to mask some of the noise and confusion. Then, have the patient’s room moved and reassembled. Be sure to arrange it look as much like the old room as possible.
If you are traveling a long way, you may not be able to set things up this way. For a long distance move, have the movers pack the Alzheimer’s patient’s room last, so that you can pull it out first when the van arrives at its destination. Don’t pack the room while the patient is sitting in it. Move him or her to a quiet, familiar area. If the whole house is in an uproar, go for a drive while you pack the room or take a walk in the back yard.
Don’t be surprised if your loved one is aggitated and upset during and after the move. Even if everything looks like it is the same, it isn’t and he or she will sense that.
Science Daily has published an article linking glaucoma and Alzheimer’s:
UK scientists have shown for the first time that key proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease are also implicated in glaucoma, the major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide.
One good thing about this? Drugs that have been developed to treat Alzheimer’s are also proving to work on glaucoma.
I was reading an article recently on multitasking and realized that it may be something good for most of us, but not for Alzheimer’s patients. It is hard enough to get dressed or eat breakfast without thinking about the next thing on the agenda, or, even worse, trying to get dressed and eat breakfast at the same time. Sometimes, it is difficult to remember that Mom or Dad can’t handle deciding on a trip to the store or the park while she or he is just sitting there eating. It can be really frustrating to realize that even simple multitasking can be too much, but what can you do if a brain simply can’t handle all that mental juggling we take for granted in our own lives?
Multipurpose Rooms
Thinking about multitasking made me think about something else: our tendency to have rooms with many functions. To minimize confusion, each area in the house should have a specific job. For example, the kitchen should be for preparing and eating food, not for creating crafts or wrapping gifts. Imagine wondering into the kitchen and eating that stuff on the plate, only to taste…fun foam and glue.
Of course, if the Alzheimer’s patient has been crafting at the kitchen table for years, you don’t want to change established routines. It is just important to avoid making new and confusing changes. Laundry rooms turning into potting areas, sun rooms becoming the dogs’ bedroom, etc. are all things we take for granted as we expand our interests and repurpose rooms. However, for an Alzheimer’s patient, they can just be another confusing thing in a frustrating world.
According to Diabetes Health:
Diabetes and pre-diabetes are associated with a seventy-five percent increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
…brain scans of insulin-resistant adults reveal reduced glucose metabolism in certain brain regions; the pattern is identical to that seen in people who get Alzheimer’s years down the road.
What does this mean? If you have diabetes, make sure you work hard to manage it properly. Also, there will probably be more work on making people less resistant to insulin, since the study showed that diabetics who received treatment to make them sensitive to insulin were able to improve their memories.
I saw three news articles this morning where authorities are searching for Alzheimer’s patients who have wondered away. Of course, this brings up the debate again - should Alzheimer’s patients be handed a microchip along with their diagnosis? I personally don’t like the thought of injecting someone who can’t rationally give consent for the procedure, but if my loved one was lost and freezing on a cold winter night, perhaps I’d feel differently.
The problem to me is that a microchip can be read by identity thieves, it can be tracked by people who are nosy or collecting information on your movements that you don’t want them collecting and it does seem a very alien idea in a country that is based on freedom. Any technology that has the potential to be misused by power hungry people makes me a bit nervous. So, to microchip or not to microchip? What do you think?
I don’t know if you recall the initial Ampakine trials, which were halted because the government didn’t like the looks of some of the data relating to animal research. Well, the drug seemed promising, so I guess it is good news that the trials are starting again, although I’d like to hear a bit more about why the government stopped the trial in the first place and why they then decided to go ahead with it.
I may just have to rethink my dislike of curry dishes with this new research on the benefits of turmeric for Alzheimer’s patients. Maybe eating more curry makes the taste buds fonder?
US researchers have isolated a compound in turmeric - commonly used in the UK’s national dish chicken tikka masala and other more deadly curry concoctions - which “may help stimulate immune system cells that gobble up the brain-clogging proteins that mark Alzheimer’s disease”, Reuters reports.
I know my friend from India cooks a lot of curry dishes and she says what we call Indian food is just awful. Maybe I can get some recipe suggestions from her. If you have a favorite recipe that uses turmeric, I’d love to hear about it!
Just a reminder - adults with Alzheimer’s can be just as vulnerable as children when it comes to heat waves. If your relative with Alzheimer’s lives alone, try to stop by more frequently than normal to be sure air conditioners are running or fans are blowing. Also, be sure he or she is drinking enough and not becoming dehydrated.
If you go out in hot weather, be sure the Alzheimer’s patient wears a hat and doesn’t walk long distances without taking a break to cool down and rehydrate. Bringing along a washcloth that you can wet and place on his or her neck is a great way to keep the person you are caring for nice and cool.
If you have an American Express card, you can really help make a difference for researchers. There is a new program by American Express that gives money to disease research and the Alzheimer’s Association is asking us to help make sure it gets a big chunk of the money. How awesome is it that we can help such an important cause raise so much money by just giving up a few minutes of our time? Here are the details:
Thanks to hundreds of American Express cardholders who are champions for our cause, the Alzheimer’s Association has been chosen as one of the top 50 projects in The Members ProjectSM, a new initiative from American Express that will award up to $5 million to a project selected by American Express cardholders.
Now is your chance to put your VOICE into action again: Vote from now until July 15 to make sure the Cure for Alzheimer’s Project is selected as one of the top 25 projects!
To cast your vote visit www.membersproject.com/. Users who have already registered can search for CURE for ALZHEIMERS or Project ID 01909. You’ll be directed to the project details page, where you can click “Vote For This Project” at the top of the page. That’s all there is to it!
If you haven’t already registered, have your American Express card number ready and go to www.membersproject.com/ . From there, you’ll be asked a series of questions, and after completing them you’ll be able to vote for CURE for ALZHEIMERS.
Spread the word to make sure we advance to the next round: Forward this e-mail to your family, friends and colleagues and ask them to help move the cause forward today by registering and voting for our project.
Someone new develops this disease every 72 seconds in the United States alone. A few clicks of your mouse can help us move closer to a world without Alzheimer’s - vote today!
In a study guaranteed to make worriers even more worried, a Chicago research team has discovered that if you worry all the time you are more prone to develop cognitive problems that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease…
WebMD.com says:
People who often feel negative emotions may be more likely to develop memory problems as they age, according to a new study.
