Stay warm this weekend & don’t forget to set your clocks forward Saturday night!
Join us for Ales & Tails, at Cahaba Brewery, Saturday, March 26, noon – 5. Help ACA’s Jr. Board raise money for the Lindy Harrell Pre-Doctoral Scholars Program in Alzheimer’s research at UAB. Crawfish plates with all the fixings are $25. Help us get the word out!! Here’s the link for images for social media and sponsorship info:
https://alzca.org/ales-materials/
Free, confidential Memory Screening, March 15, 9 – noon, Ensley Park & Recreation. Contact Dee Haywood, 205-960-8282.
March 17, Dementia Caregiver Lunch & Learn, 10:30 – 1:45, All Saints Episcopal Church, $10, scholarships are available. Presenter: Amanda Bulgarelli, COO of Teepa Snow’s Positive Approach to Care. Sponsored by Founders Place Respite at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama and All Saints Episcopal Church. RSVP by March 14: https://saintlukes.shelbynextchms.com/external/form/8005a662-0fee-4dd5-9b54-00617fa3b647
In-person and zoom Support Groups:
ACA’s Coffee Talk with Miller & Vance, Tuesday, March 15, 11 – noon CT. Call (205) 871-7970 or mpiggott@alzca.org. Join us on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86450491838
- Pell City group, February 22, at 6:30. Going forward this group will meet on the first Thursdays of the month at 6:30; and the third Tuesday’s of the month at 6:30. Contact Bit Thomaston, ethomason50@gmail.com
· CJFS CARES, Mondays at 3 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
· Founders Place at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Tuesday’s at 10 am, contact Susan Logan, susanlogan65@gmail.com
· West Alabama Area Agency on Aging, Caregiver Support Group, Tuesdays, contact Nikki Poe, nikki.poe@westal.org.
· The Oaks on Parkwood, 4th Tuesday’s, 10:00 am, Contact: Karen Glover, karenrglover@bellsouth.net.
· CJFS CARES, Tuesdays, 7:00 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
· United Way Area Agency on Aging of Jefferson County, 3rd Tuesday of each month 11:30-12:30, contact Valarie Lawson, vlawson@uwaaa.org
- M4A, 2nd Thursday’s, noon – 1 pm. Contact Crystal Whitehead, cwhitehead@m4a.org
- M4A, 3rd Wednesday’s 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Contact Crystal Whitehead, cwhitehead@m4a.org
- Asbury United Methodist Church 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 1:00, contact Maggie Dunaway at mdunaway@asburyonline.org.
March Webinars from Alabama Lifespan Respite (https://alabamarespite.org/events2/):
- The Compassionate Side of Caregiving, March 12, 10 am
- Communicating Difficult Feelings, March 13, 6 pm
- Caregiver & Agency resource Exchange, March,18, 10 am
- Taking Care of Yourself as a Caregiver, March 19, 10 am
- Maintaining Your Identity as a Caregiver, March 20, 6 pm
- End of Life Issues, March 25, 10 am
- Recognizing Caregiver Burnout, March 26, 10 am
- De-Stressing, March 27, 6 pm
- BREAK, March 29, 10 am
Alzheimer’s News:
On March 13, most of the United States and Canada will advance the clock an hour to be on Daylight Saving Time. Why are so many of us annoyed by the semi-annual resetting of clocks? It turns out that there are biological reasons for our discomfort with time changes. Each of us has a biological master clock keeping track of where we are in our 24-hour day, making ongoing time-of-day-appropriate physical and neurologic adjustments. We refer to those automatic adjustments as “circadian” rhythms — from the Latin, for “around a day” rhythms. Michael Merzenich, PhD, co-inventor of the cochlear implant, explains the chemical changes in our brain brought on by the time change and reminds us if you are annoyed by the upcoming 1-hour time change, you might just look around at what’s happening out there in the world and decide that your troubles are very small by comparison, and that you should delight in the “extra” hour of sunshine each evening! Daylight Savings: How an Imposed Time Change Alters Your Brain (medscape.com)
Local advocate, author and physician, Renee Harmon, offers some inspiration on observing Lent, the Christian season leading up to Easter that is considered a time for personal reflection, fasting, and prayer. Instead of giving something up for Lent a friend decided to write about her memories of her mother, one thought per day. It became a journal of thanks for all the ways her mother had impacted her and the world. This practice transformed their relationship and she was able to remember her mother as the person she had always been before the diagnosis, and the burden of caregiving morphed into a deeper commitment to the woman who had nurtured and cared for her as a child and beyond. She remembered that she loved her mother but hated the disease. “Sometimes, conjuring memories of a loved one from before their time with dementia can be painful because it can be a realization of all that has been lost. But when we can focus, with gratitude, on their lives—their love of us, their contributions to their worlds, and the amazing lives they have led—the heaviness can lift, and our load feels lighter”. Read her weekly blog: A Lenten Practice of Gratitude – Renee Harmon
UsAgainstAlzheimer’s applauds the House-passed bill to fund the federal government that includes significant funding increases for Alzheimer’s research, screening, prevention, and treatments. The bill represents several major victories for Alzheimer’s patients and those who love them. The package represents the highest investment in research to end Alzheimer’s to date and includes multiple priorities: screening tools, diversity in clinical trials, funding for the NIH, public health promotion and funding for the CDC, tools for measuring cognitive impairment with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). UsAgainstAlzheimer’s and other advocacy groups urge the U.S. Senate to approve this robust proposal.https://www.usagainstalzheimers.org/press/new-federal-spending-bill-includes-robust-investments-alzheimers-prevention-and-research
Encore, a respite ministry at Canterbury United Methodist Church shared a very insightful video (15 minutes) from Teepa Snow that encourages us to better understand the loses a person with dementia experiences so we can better focus on the positive that remains. https://youtu.be/Z6UVjp_y8HY. Check out her website www.teepasnow.com.
Maintaining a healthy or stable weight throughout your lifetime may help to curb your chances of developing dementia, according to two new studies. One of those studies, a large new analysis of data recovered over a period that spanned almost four decades, found that your 40s may be a particularly risky time of life to put on extra pounds. After age 70, though, being overweight may lower your risk of dementia. How Your Weight May Affect Your Dementia Risk | Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (alzinfo.org)
Cognitive complications are common in the acute phase of COVID-19. However, the long-term consequences of COVID-19 on cognition remain unclear. A study out of China found 21% of people with severe COVID-19 had progressive cognitive decline, suggesting that COVID-19 may cause long-lasting damage to cognition. These findings imply that the pandemic may substantially contribute to the world dementia burden in the future. COVID-19 Predicted to Boost Global Dementia Rates (medscape.com)
The amyloid plaques that build up in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s disease may result in part from disrupted sleep. The study found that interruption of our circadian rhythms, the roughly 24-hour daily cycle that regulates our sleep and wakefulness, may interfere with the ability of immune cells in the brain to clear the proteins that clump together to form these plaques. The study involved mouse cells, but it builds on earlier research showing the importance for people of sound sleep in maintaining brain health. Why Poor Sleep May Be Linked to Alzheimer’s | Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (alzinfo.org)
BrainGuide by UsAgainstAlzheimer’s was released one year ago this month to empower people with knowledge and resources to take the best next steps in managing their own or a loved one’s brain health. To celebrate this anniversary, consider putting brain health at the top of your priorities by pledging to take the BrainGuide memory questionnaire. Check out this free resource available in English and Spanish: https://mybrainguide.org/ 855-272-4641.
Support ACA by using AmazonSmile! Designate Alzheimer’s of Central Alabama and Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases. smile.amazon.com