Last chance to place your order – October 13! South Highland Center Director Alison Walker holds an annual gourmet food fundraiser to support ACA’s annual Walk to Remember. Goodies include two delicious soups by the quart, blueberry scones by the dozen, pimiento cheese by the half-pint, and famous Priester’s pecans by the pound. Pick up on Wednesday, October 29, 3:00–5:00 p.m. in the circle drive of South Highland Presbyterian Church, on Highland Avenue. Contact Alison Walker at 205-933-2232 orbit.ly/4nFEaAJ
Rose Garden Adult Day Care is hosting a fundraiser for ACA, October 18, 10 am – 4 pm. Ms. Hazel Ward Day will honor the center’s founder’s life and legacy. Enjoy food, fun and fellowship. Music, food truck, balloon release and more. 4900 1st Avenue North.
All in for Alzheimer’s Community Event, October 18, 8 – 11 am, Bill Harris Arena, 2340 Complex Blvd. Hear from UAB experts.https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf_tRQZp2SFLm5c9RZ1QTCO1lO4WrigDQPxjnCBv-nLX7ostg/viewform
Alzheimer’s Update with David Geldmacher, MD, November 3, Vestavia Library in the Woods, 1221 Montgomery Highway, 6 – 7:30 pm. A UAB Professor of Neurology, widely respected in the field of memory disorders and Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Geldmacher is the Warren Family Endowed Chair in Neurology and Director of the Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology in the Department of Neurology at the UAB Heersink School of Medicine. He leads UAB’s Brain Aging and Memory Clinic program, which focuses on the interdisciplinary care of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. Free and open to the public.
Celebrating Happy Day, November 8! Join us for ACA’s annual Walking to Remember event, 300 Office Park Drive. Registration begins at 9 am and the Walk gets underway at 10 am. Bring families and friends to help raise money for ACA’s service programs. Walkers donating a minimum of $50 receive a short sleeved t-shirt. Walkers raising a minimum of $75 receive a long sleeved shirt. Walkers donating a minimum of $100 receive a shirt of their choice and a special gift (while supplies last). Music, food, fun and a vintage car show. https://alzca.org/walking/
Alzheimer’s Day of Prayer and Remembrance, November 9. Visit www.alzca.org for a copy of the prayer.
Support Group Meetings:
- ACA’s support group with Miller & Vance, Tuesday, October 14, 11:00 – noon CT. There Call (205) 871-7970 or mpiggott@alzca.org. Join us on zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85247427423
- CJFS CARES, Mondays at 3 pm, contact Pam Leonard, pam@cjfsbham.org.
- St Lukes Episcopal Church on Tuesdays at 10:15. Contact Betsy Smith (smith35213@gmail.com) or Janis Cole (janiscarole3@aol.com).
- West Alabama Area Agency on Aging, Caregiver Support Group, Tuesdays, contact Robin Montgomery, robin.montgomery@westal.org.
- M4A’s Caregiver Support Group, 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month, 10 – 11:30 am, Montevallo. Contact Robyn James, rjames@m4a.org.
- The Oaks on Parkwood, 4th Tuesday’s, 10:00 am, Contact: Karen Glover, karenrglover@gmail.com.
- 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
- Eastaboga, 2nd Tuesday, 6:00 pm. Contact Julie Slagle jslagle@lakesidehospice.org
- Trussville, 3rd Tuesday, 6:00 pm. Contact Julie Slagle jslagle@lakesidehospice.org
- Covenant Presbyterian Church, first Wednesday of the month, 10 am, church parlor, Contact Kristian Hatley at Khatley@covpress.com.
- M4A virtual support group, 3rd Wednesdays 2:00 – 3:00 pm. Contact Chalane Mims, cmims@m4a.org.
- Asbury United Methodist Church 1st and 3rd Thursdays at 1:00, contact Maggie Dunaway at mdunaway@asburyonline.org.
- AFTD support group, second Tuesday of the month. Amber Guy: 251-281-5344.
- Holy Apostles Church, Hoover, 2nd and 4th Thursdays 10:30-noon, contact Michele Elrod: Michelerelrod@att.net.
- St. Mark’s UMC, Vestavia Hills, Fridays at 1 pm. Contact Donna Baird: (205)717-9880.
Alzheimer’s News:
Today is World Mental Health Day! A report from the Family Caregiver Alliance found that 40%-70% of caregivers have symptoms of depression.. Caregivers spend an average of more than 24 hours a week assisting their loved ones. While that time can be deeply rewarding, it can also leave you vulnerable — if you put your own health and well-being at the bottom of your to-do lists. Neglecting your needs can have serious consequences. We don’t know the exact cause of the illness — genetics, brain chemistry, and life experiences all play a role. Depression can be treated, often with medication, psychological counseling or both. Other non-conventional treatments also may help. When people experience episodes of depression, they may suffer through:
- Sadness, unhappiness, or an emptiness feeling
- Sleep disturbances
- Severe lack of energy where even the smallest tasks require extra effort
- Loss of interest in hobbies or normal daily activities
- Changes in appetite (some people may eat less and lose weight while some may overeat and gain weight)
- Anxiety or restlessness
- Fogginess, confusion, and slowed speaking or body movements
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, frequent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts, or suicide
October is Lewy Body Dementia Awareness Month! Lewy body dementia (LBD) is the 2nd most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. LBD is not a rare disease. It affects more than a million people in the United States alone. Because LBD symptoms may closely resemble other, more commonly known disorders like Alzheimer’s disease, it is widely under-diagnosed. As time passes, people with LBD diagnoses will develop very similar cognitive, physical, sleep, and behavioral symptoms. The earliest symptoms of dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease dementia are different, but both are due to the same underlying biological changes in the brain. The most common symptoms of LBD include:
- Impaired thinking, such as loss of executive function (planning, processing information), memory, or the ability to understand visual information
- Fluctuations in cognition, attention, or alertness
- Problems with movement, including tremors, stiffness, slowness, and difficulty walking
- Visual hallucinations (seeing things that are not present)
- Sleep disorders, such as acting out one’s dreams while asleep
- Behavioral and mood symptoms, including depression, apathy, anxiety, agitation, delusions, or paranoia
- Changes in autonomic body functions, such as blood pressure control, temperature regulation, and bladder and bowel function
https://www.lbda.org/what-is-lbd/
Poor sleep quality has been linked to accelerated brain aging, potentially driven by inflammation, new research showed. Middle-aged and older adults with poor sleep were more likely to have brains that looked older than their chronological age. Since sleep is modifiable, it may be possible to prevent accelerated brain aging and perhaps even cognitive decline through healthier sleep. There is growing evidence of a link between poor sleep and a heightened risk for dementia. However, the investigators noted that it remains unclear whether poor sleep quality contributes to the development of dementia or is a result of prodromal disease, highlighting the need to better understand the link between sleep and brain aging. However, the investigators noted that it remains unclear whether poor sleep quality contributes to the development of dementia or is a result of prodromal disease, highlighting the need to better understand the link between sleep and brain aging. Poor Sleep Tied to Accelerated Brain Aging
Broadway actress Natalie Toro opens up about the toughest role of her life: caring for her mother, Luz, who lived with Alzheimer’s, in the new issue of Alzheimer’s TODAY. Here are her care tips for caregivers:
- Keep a planner for every year with written doctor appointments, the trips you took, your clocked hours, the hours for aides. Save your receipts for everything, organized, even if it’s for a coffee or a candy bar. Medicaid asked me to prove every hour of my mother’s care for the years she lived with me, with receipts to back that up.
- Maintain a journal of behavioral changes about your loved one and even yourself. Remember that you are also a part of this journey, and this will certainly change you.
- Try not to “fluff off” the advice of others when they tell you to take care of yourself. You will not feel like you’re the important one, and you’ll say that you’re fine. The bottom line is that you are not fine, and you need respite and breaks. This will break you.
- Advocate and ask questions even if you think they are absurd. My favorite poet, Rainer Maria Rilke says, “Live the question.”
- Tell your loved one that you love them a million times, kiss them a million times, smell their hair, their clothes, hold their hands, look into their eyes. It will never be enough.
https://alzfdn.org/my-journey-with-mom/
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has released an updated guideline for preventing and treating delirium, providing clinicians with evidence-based strategies to improve detection, management, and patient outcomes for a condition that affects tens of thousands of hospitalized adults each year. Delirium — a sudden decline in attention, awareness, and mental function — develops rapidly, often over hours, and typically lasts 2-3 days. It can arise from numerous factors, including advanced age, prior episodes of delirium, medical conditions such as pneumonia or urinary tract infection, psychiatric conditions like cognitive impairment, medications with anticholinergic properties or opioids, metabolic disturbances, vitamin deficiencies, sensory impairments, and sleep disruption. The condition affects roughly 1 in 4 hospitalized adults and up to three quarters of ventilated ICU patients. However, these estimates are likely inaccurate because delirium is frequently underdiagnosed. Often underrecognized, delirium can prolong hospital stays, increase complications, and impose significant costs and psychosocial burdens on patients and their families.
APA Overhauls Delirium Guideline After 25 Years
Long-term exposure to high levels of the industrial degreasing chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) was associated with an increased risk for Parkinson’s disease (PD), a new study showed. Using data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Air Toxics Assessment, researchers found that individuals exposed to higher TCE concentrations in outside air were 10% more likely to be diagnosed with PD than those exposed to the lowest TCE levels. Exposure to the chemical is common, researchers said, citing a 2000 EPA report that found TCE in up to 30% of drinking water supplies across the US. While the increased risk was modest, the sheer number of people exposed to TCE in the environment means the potential public health impact could be substantial. This underscores the need for stronger regulations and more monitoring of industrial pollutants. Exposure to Commonly Used Chemical Tied to PD Risk
Food insecurity was linked to higher risks for dementia, cognitive impairment with dementia, and cognitive impairment with no dementia (CIND), especially in adults younger than 65 years, a new US study showed. Researchers analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study, for more than 5800 participants aged 50 years or older (mean age, 67 years; 59% women) without baseline dementia or memory problems. About 423 participants developed dementia during follow-up, 972 developed CIND, and 1215 developed cognitive impairment with dementia. Individuals with low food security had a higher risk for dementia than those with high food security.