by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 20, 2014 | Alzheimer's and Dementia, Uncategorized
November is designated as National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month. As our population grows older, the number of people in the state of Michigan living with Alzheimer’s climbs higher. So while a person living in the U.S. has a lower chance of developing Alzheimer’s than they would have 30 years ago, the sheer number of older adults in our country is what is driving the increase in the number of people with the disease.
According to the Greater Michigan Chapter of The Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 130,000 people in Michigan live with Alzheimer’s disease.
The Statistics on Alzheimer’s Disease
As one of the leading providers of Alzheimer’s care in Michigan, we thought it was important to share some of the statistics on this growing epidemic.
- Someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s every 68 seconds. By 2050, estimates are that number will increase to every 33 seconds.
- More than 5.2 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease. 200,000 of those people are considered to have early onset Alzheimer’s because they are under the age of 65.
- Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.
- One in three older adults in the U.S. dies from Alzheimer’s disease or a related form of dementia.
- This year alone 450,000 people will die from Alzheimer’s disease.
- In this last decade, the number of deaths caused by Alzheimer’s disease has increased by 68%. This is in stark contrast to a decrease in deaths for nearly every other major disease in the U.S.
- 4 million people provide for a family member or a friend with Alzheimer’s or a related dementia.
- Unpaid family caregivers provide 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care each year. If families had to pay for that care, it would total more than $216 billion a year.
- By 2050, the U.S. will spend an estimated $1.2 trillion providing care for Alzheimer’s patients.
- The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that Medicare paid $107 billion for care for people with Alzheimer’s disease and Medicaid paid $35 billion in 2013.
- Almost 15% of caregivers provide care long distance. Their expenses for caregiving are two times higher than those of local caregivers.
We hope you will share this information with leaders in your local Michigan communities who can help in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
Heritage Senior Communities is pleased to announce that our newest community in Holland, Michigan. The Village at Appledorn West offers adults over the age of 55 one- and two-bedroom independent living apartments. The campus will also be expanded to include assisted living in the spring of 2015.
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by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 14, 2014 | Caregiving, Uncategorized
If you’ve watched the evening news anytime in the past few months, you know that the flu virus made its way across Michigan early this year. Some areas of the state have been especially hard hit. As is always the case, children, seniors and those living with chronic health conditions and weakened immune systems are at increased risk for contracting the virus. Now that the busy holiday season is upon us, we thought it was important to take a few minutes to remind Michigan’s family caregivers how they can best avoid getting bitten by the bug this year.
6 Ways to Avoid the Flu over the Holidays
Most of us spend more time interacting with others during the holidays than almost any other time of year. From holiday shopping to office parties, it isn’t easy to avoid coming in to contact with people who may have the flu. But there are a few things you can do to keep from getting it.
- Get your flu shot. The vaccine is the best way to shoo the flu. If you haven’t had yours for the year, make it a priority.
- Care for the caregiver. During the holidays, already busy caregivers feel even more overwhelmed. A lack of sleep and poor diet are often the result. Both lead to a rundown immune system that makes you more susceptible to the virus. Try to increase the amount of foods you eat that are rich in vitamins A, E, and C, and to take at least a 20 to 30 minute walk each day.
- No hugs or handshakes in public. While avoiding friendly contact can be difficult during the holidays, it can help prevent you from getting the flu. The virus is highly contagious and easily transmitted. Getting a hug or a handshake from a friend or colleague who may not be aware they have the flu can expose you to it.
- Soap and warm water. Washing your hands with warm, soapy water can help kill any viruses you may have been exposed to at work or when you are out in public. Health experts say you should wash your hands long enough to be able to sing a chorus of Yankee Doodle Dandy. Keep hand sanitizers with you for the times you won’t have access to soap and water.
- Stay home when you are ill. Calling in sick to work is something most people hesitate to do. But it is the fastest way for you to rest and recover, and the best way to prevent the virus from spreading.
- Antiviral medications help. If you are one of the unlucky ones who come down with the flu, call your doctor for an appointment as soon as you notice the first symptom. Experts from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say prescription antiviral medications can keep the flu from progressing and shorten the length of time you are sick.
To help consumers learn more about this year’s influenza virus and provide more prevention tips, The Department of Health and Human Services has developed flu.gov. Topics range from flu shot questions to risk factors.
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by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 8, 2014 | Healthy Aging, Uncategorized
As we make plans to honor and celebrate both our veterans and our active duty military members on November 11th, we thought it would be a good time to share ways you can get involved. We have pulled together a list of organizations that serve those who serve and need your support to continue their mission.
Military Service Organizations You Can Support
- Homes for Our Troops. If you are looking for a project for your group or service organization to work on together, this is one to consider. They build homes for injured veterans to help them rebuild their lives.
- Wounded Warrior Project. This organization works to raise awareness about the needs of our wounded soldiers and their families. They help by providing programs ranging from combat stress recovery to health and wellness.
- Military Pets Foster Project. This might be a good organization to support if you are an animal lover. You can become a foster “parent” for the pet of a deployed military service person. The organization helps find temporary caregivers a variety of animals including dogs, cats, horses and birds.
- Honor Flight Network. At no cost to the veteran, this non-profit organization arranges trips to Washington, D.C. to visit the memorials dedicated to their service.
- Operation Gratitude. The mission of this organization is to send care packages to troops deployed in hostile regions. Care packages typically include letters, snacks, books, DVDs and more. Another arm of this organization is Battalion Buddies. They send toys to children of deployed military personnel.
- Operation Paperback. Another non-profit dedicated to our military, this organization collects new and gently used paperback books to send to American troops around the world.
- Operation Homefront. When a family member is deployed, it sometimes creates a financial burden for loved ones left behind. This organization helps provide food, home repair support, moving assistance, car repair, travel help and more to military families.
We hope this list gives your family, youth group or service organization a few ideas for supporting our veterans and military service members.
Have we missed a worthwhile organization you know needs help? Please share their information in the Comments section below!
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by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Nov 2, 2014 | Caregiving, Dear Donna, Uncategorized
Dear Donna:
My father’s hearing loss has gotten very bad over the past few years. While I want him to be able to stay independent for as long as possible, I worry a lot about his ability to be safe. I’m especially concerned because, despite our best efforts to convince him to stop, he still smokes. I was at his house one day when the smoke alarm in the dining room went off while he was cooking and he didn’t even hear it! I’m not sure what to do with him.
Alysha in Holland, Michigan
Dear Alysha:
You are right. Smoking and hearing loss are a tough combination. I’m sure it is does create a lot of anxiety for you.
There are definitely smoke detectors and alert systems that can help with your father’s situation. They are specifically designed for those living with a hearing impairment. I’m sure they can help to ease some of the fears you have about your father’s safety. Most of the major smoke detector manufacturers make them. What is different about these products is that they flash a strobe light and/or send out a strong vibration to alert those living with a hearing impairment of the danger. Many also have an alert that will actually shake the bed in case the home’s resident is sleeping when the smoke detector goes off.
Thank you for sharing your concern with us, Alysha. It provides us with an opportunity to help raise awareness about National Fire Prevention Week which begins on October 4th. Seniors are twice as likely to be harmed or fatally injured in a fire. After the age of 85, that risk goes up to four times more likely.
There are a variety of ways you and other adult children in Michigan can to decrease a senior loved one’s fire safety risk. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) has a library of resources that can help. They range from kitchen safety tips to escape planning.
I hope this information is helpful, Alysha!
Donna
“Dear Donna” is an aging expert from Heritage Senior Communities, a family-owned company serving seniors across the state of Michigan for 67 years. Older adults in the greater Holland area will soon have the opportunity to tour our nearly completed Village at Appledorn West community. It will be home to 88 independent senior living apartments. Construction is projected to be completed this month. An assisted living community will also open on the same campus in the late spring of 2015.
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by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Oct 30, 2014 | Alzheimer's and Dementia, Healthy Aging, Uncategorized
As part of our commitment to keeping our readers updated on the latest research and findings on Alzheimer’s disease, we are sharing a study from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health. While exercise is known to be a critical factor in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, there is growing evidence to indicate it may also be good for the brain.
Exercise May Be Linked to Improved Brain Health
The study by Dr. J. Carson Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. It is the first research trial to demonstrate how exercise can be used as an intervention technique for older adults who live with a mild cognitive impairment.
The trial showed that exercise not only improves memory recall but also improved brain function. Physically inactive older adults ranging in age from 60-88 years old were divided in to two groups. The average age of study participants was 78. One group was comprised of older adults living with mild cognitive impairment and the other with normal, healthy brain function. Each group followed a 12-week program of regular treadmill walking. Exercise was supervised by a personal trainer.
By the end of the study, both groups had improved their cardiovascular fitness by about ten percent. They also improved their memory performance and showed improvements in neural efficiency when involved in memory retrieval tasks.
The Bottom Line on Exercise for Alzheimer’s Prevention
The bottom line is that the amount of exercise participants engaged in during the trial isn’t overly aggressive. It is the same recommendation most physicians are already making to patients. That is, you should get 30 minutes of moderate exercise (that which raises your heart rate but allows you to maintain a conversation) five days a week.
Just one more reason to lace up your sneakers and head out for a walk each day!
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by trevor@addfuelfire.com | Oct 22, 2014 | Caregiving, Healthy Aging, Uncategorized
Falls continue to be one of the leading causes of fatal injuries for older adults in this country. It is why finding ways to prevent them continues to be a focus of so many aging-related researchers. One study that might be of interest to our readers was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June. The article, Effect of Structured Physical Activity on Prevention of Major Mobility Disability in Older Adults, explored how walking might help seniors beat or decrease their odds of being injured in a fall.
What Role Does Walking Play in Fall Prevention?
The goal of the project was to evaluate the potential link between older adults levels of physical activity and the role exercise could play in preventing disability. While seniors are often afraid a more active lifestyle will increase their odds of experiencing a disabling fall, this study took the opposite approach. Researchers posed a different question. Could higher levels of daily physical activity be considered a sound fall prevention practice?
The two-year long study was made up of 1,635 people between the ages of 70 and 89 years of age. Older adults chosen to participate in the project were considered to be sedentary by scoring low on a senior fitness scale. Each of them was able to walk one-quarter of a mile unassisted when the study began.
During the trial:
- Participants came to a research center once a month for education on a variety of topics related to healthy aging.
- A sub-group of participants was randomly assigned to also participate in a twice-weekly fitness program at the center. This group underwent supervised stretching activities and walks. In addition to the organized exercise activities, members of this sub-group also exercised on their own three hours each week.
- Every trial study member was assessed twice each year during the study to see if they could still complete a quarter-mile walk.
At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that those who were also enrolled in the exercise subgroup were 18% less likely to have suffered any short-term physical disability during the trial and 28% less likely to have had a permanent disability.
Talk with Your Primary Care Physician First
If you or a senior loved one lead a sedentary lifestyle, the results of this study should be motivation for making a change. Talk with your primary care physician first. Ask them for their help in determining the safest way to begin increasing your level of physical activity.
Heritage Senior Communities is pleased to announce that our newest community is set to open this month in Holland, Michigan. The Village at Appledorn West will offer adults over the age of 55 one- and two-bedroom independent living apartments. The campus will also be expanded to include assisted living in the spring of 2015.
