Healing From Alzheimers

By Charly Smithy

Alzheimer's disease involves the gradual destruction of brain cells and this eventually results in sufferers losing their memory and thinking ability. Being a progressive disease, the patients will experience personality changes and will do less and less as it progresses. In the final stages of the disease, the victims are helpless, usually bedridden and cannot even feed or speak.

As you can imagine, it is a challenge to take care of these patients especially for close family members. Though the victims do not experience any physical pain at the onset, the disease can cause a great deal of emotional pain to their loved ones considering that the victims eventually fail to even recognize even their loved ones. Alzheimer's care thus deserves the caregivers to have patience and empathy for the sufferers.

Alzheimer's care for the sufferer's should be geared to maintaining the sufferer's dignity. According the book 'Alzheimer's - Caring for Your Loved One. Caring for Yourself', the author Sharon Fish gives very practical ways of assisting those who are affected. She says, "Find easy things to do together that are meaningful and productive." This could be anything such as washing utensils, cooking a meal, sweeping the floor etc.

This ensures that their self-esteem is preserved by doing the things that they are still able to do since the loss of their abilities is gradual. Make the sufferer feel useful and let him or her get the satisfaction out of life by doing what they are able to do. Alzheimer's care demands that the caregiver offer constant reassurance and commendation. Help them feel that they are doing alright and this will usually give them relief and an inner satisfaction.

When handling embarrassing situations caused by the sufferer, do not berate the sufferer by all means, especially in public. Remember that the sufferer is not deliberately aggravating. In fact, by remaining calm and firm it will make them more cooperative. By all means do not let such embarrassing situations get in the way of your relationship with the sufferer. Alzheimer's care also means that a sufferer will say things that are incorrect. They may hallucinate and see things that are only in their minds. How should you handle such a situation? Usually, it is best not to keep correcting the sufferer as this may result in him or her getting depressed or getting aggressive. Remember that they had known independence before the disease progressed and constant correction will only exasperate them. Alzheimer's care is challenging but nevertheless appreciated by both the sufferer as well as their loved ones. - 31803

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How The Problem Of Hypertension And Alzheimer's Is Interrelated

By Scott Davis

You are going to get astonished to know the truth that the American Heart Association reports that 73 million, which is about one third of adult Americans, suffer from hypertension. Two million children and teenagers are also suffering from high blood pressure. When the force of blood flow circulates abnormally through the arteries, the person is said to be suffering from high blood pressure. Genetic inheritance, high salt consumption or thickenings of arterial walls are the major reasons behind this.

The risk of heart attack, stroke, and aneurysm are more for high blood pressure affected people. Modern medical science has found that high blood pressure is also responsible for Alzheimer's disease, as one of the reasons for this disease is reduction of blood flow in the brain. And that could happen due long time complain of hypertension.

Dr. Cyrus Raji of the Pittsburgh University, who is co-author of the research paper regarding this, explains that high blood pressure does not directly cause Alzheimer but the way it harms the brain that increases the chances of developing it. In a way, hypertension prepares a stage for this deadly ailment to appear.

The experiments were conducted taking the help of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The instrument measured the blood flow in brain for number of people. Hypertension affected participants were found to be having less amount of blood flow to the brain. It was even lower in case of patients with complains of both hypertension and Alzheimer's. This established the fact that the two are interrelated.

Researchers came to this point that good vascular health is good for the brain as well. As described by co-author Dr. Oscar Lopez, of Pittsburgh University, it is essential to detect and treat blood pressure for Alzheimer's patients.

Dr Raji also confirms that the reduction of blood flow in brain due to high blood pressure is somewhat a catalyst for Alzheimer's. Whether you are treating hypertension or not, it will contribute to the problem.

It has more damaging impact on brain by resulting in to loss of memory, problems with speech and mental stability. This leads to thought that the root cause which is sometimes ignored by people could bring hugely complicated problems.

Hypertension and Alzheimer's diseases are the effects of modern lifestyle and environment. It does not mean you live in ancient style. Taking some small care from teenage years, any one can avoid this old age diseases. Disciplined life can help in this case.

It is noted that Americans are fond of fatty and sodium enriched food. They are equally fond of processed food. But in the processed food the source of sodium is the highest. If you want to fight, start with a healthy breakfast. Instead of taking lot of animal protein try to take fruits and vegetables with less animal protein. Take lot of water. It is a good habit to avoid processed food and cook one's own.

Regular exercise is the only way to stay healthy. One needs to get in to physical, mental and spiritual workouts in a regular basis. For this you don't need to go for extensive programs or spend huge. It is recommended to exercise intelligently and to a definite plan. Following special schedules and specific exercise for hypertension and Alzheimer's would make one live a long and healthy life. - 31803

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Tips For How To Help A Loved One Through Alzheimer's

By Jen Pursens

Alzheimer's is a painful disease to suffer through for the person with the disease and also for loved ones near the patient. It is a degenerative disease of the brain that gets progressively worse and can affect millions of people. Though it already affects many people, that number is expected to double in the next twenty years.

When you realize exactly how many people are already suffering from this disease, it can be a scary thought. That's why it is so important that people who may be affected by Alzheimer's find a solution to provide care, like senior home care, or other methods to manage the disease.

Alzheimer's is a common disease, but many are unaware of its symptoms. Being aware of the symptoms can be very helpful because if you can catch the warning signs early, you can start developing a proactive approach for how to manage and deal with it. Catching the symptoms early can also help you decide if you will need senior home care.

Some of the most common symptoms are (but are not limited to): memory loss that seems to get worse over time, various speech impairments, and an impaired ability to make decisions or a tendency to make decisions that are completely out of character. Of course, these symptoms may be more pronounced if someone has had a serious head injury or has had a history of Alzheimer's in the family.

If you are starting to suspect that one of your loved ones is in the early stages of Alzheimer's, you should immediately seek out a formal diagnosis from a reputable doctor. This physician will have to begin monitoring the person to spot any of the behavioral symptoms and whether or not it is impairing their daily functions and cognitive abilities.

Depending on the prognosis, you may decide that senior home care is your best option. You might even decide that this is the right time to assign Power of Attorney in case the patient suddenly can't make independent decisions. The doctor should also set up regular appointments for new evaluations.

The best advice you can get for taking care of Alzheimer's patients is to formulate a plan and be proactive about it. There are some drugs on the market, but before you turn to them you can actually start by using some other methods, like selecting appropriate activities and joining an early stages Alzheimer's social group. This is also the time to start reorganizing their environment to make it more safe and comfortable.

You should always try your best to keep the patient actively involved with their own treatment, and try to discuss all the legal and financial matters that have to be resolved. Many senior home care services will offer a lot of help when you need to get everything sorted out. - 31803

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Eat the Right Foods To Prevent Memory Loss

By Sean Davids

The thought that you could lose your memory is scary to many individuals. Sadly, this very thing happens to many people around our world each day. Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses that cause dementia steal the memories of thousands of individuals on a daily basis. They may forget past events, family members and even how to meet their own basic needs. Fortunately there might be some changes to your diet that you can use to prevent memory loss.

There's still much we have to learn about Alzheimer's disease, but we do know that brain plaque is an important forerunner to this issue. The more brain plaque that's built up, the more likely we will have the problem. Plaque eventually will destroy brain cells.

One way to reverse the effects of plaque and prevent memory loss is to increase your consumption of antioxidants. Antioxidants help the brain cells to have the ability to communicate with each other and to diminish the buildup of plaque in the brain. This is key to improving brain memory.

The antioxidants that are required are a component of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and by eating these forms of food, plaque can be reduced in the brain. Purple foods are some of the best. This group of foods consists of cranberries, grapes and blueberries. The antioxidants also help the brain to build new cells, a key to preventing memory loss.

Furthermore, you might want to boost your intake of foods like yellow curry and foods rich in the B vitamins including folic acid and niacin. Some of those foods include fish and other lean meats in addition to legumes. Many other foods are rich in the B vitamins so be sure that you get plenty of these nutrients for an improved memory.

While it might be appealing to endeavor to get all these nutrients in supplements, some researchers feel that you are better off getting them from the foods themselves. By increasing the amount of highly colored fresh fruits and vegetables in our diet, we might not need the supplements at all.

Here is one other extra bonus; the foods that are great for your brain and that may help to prevent memory loss are also great for your heart. In addition to increasing the amount of antioxidants in the diet, it has been found that restricting trans fats will also protect both your brain and your heart. - 31803

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Are Toxins to Blame for Alzheimer's and Other Dementias?

By Christian Goodman

While emerging investigation has taught us much about the effects of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias on the brain, what causes Alzheimer's is an altogether diametric story. In a nutshell, not enough oxygen is getting to the brain cells. But why is this happening?

Dementia and Alzheimer's are often used interchangeably but Alzheimer's disease is really a progressive disease who's effects lead to dementia.

The symptoms of the syndrome known as Dementia include, memory problems, difficulty speaking, orientation disturbances and problems with judgment.

While Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia, Parkinson's disease, head trauma, and strokes can also cause dementia. Most of the time, like Alzheimer's, dementia is permanent.

Emerging evidence suggests that there are triggers for the disease, although an exact cause isn't known for Alzheimer's. One of these triggers is toxins in food and in the environment.

Lead toxicity has been connected to both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. This is not just in lead based paint found in older homes but can also be found in some household's tap water.

Parkinson's has also been known to be linked to pesticides. In one study, those whose job required them to use pesticides had a 50% higher chance of developing Alzheimer's.

Air pollution is bad for more than just the lungs. Studies have shown that those who live in highly polluted cities versus cleaner cities have a higher rate of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Diet is also a factor. Diets high in saturated fat increase one's chances for developing dementia.

While we can't influence everything about the environment, there are ways to help lower your chances of developing Alzheimer's. For starters, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids , nuts, vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains has shown to reduce the occurance of Alzheimer's. Foods to avoid are the aforementioned high saturated fats, sugar and alcohol.

Another key is avoiding harsh chemicals and pesticides. Search out cleaning products that are marked "green."

Exercise, in addition to diet, has shown great promise in hindering or preventing Alzheimer's and other dementia's. In fact, studies have indicated that exercising regularly while approaching midlife can decrease Alzheimer's onset by 50%.

Last but not least, "Use it or lose it." Performing mental exercises such as crosswords keeps the brain functioning and helps to ward off Alzheimer's.

I am also very excited about my new Alzheimer's program (coming soon!). It's an all natural way to deliver necessary oxygen to the brain to keep it healthy and high functioning!

EL331004 - 31803

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