zaterdag 27 februari 2016

Strokes + Dementia + The Nun Study





My father is still is hospital after the stroke he sustained on 13 Feb, 2016. He remains very confused and unable to move his left arm or leg. After a short stint in the rehabilitation unit - doctors have deemed him a non-viable rehabilitation patient due to his dementia, which is significantly worse since the stroke.
I have been reading up on the topic of dementia and stroke. It appears that for people with Alzheimer's disease (one type of dementia) the chance of confusion dissipating is much higher than for people who have a vascular dementia. Makes sense since strokes (including TIAs) and vascular dementia are common bed-buddies.
Below is an extract taken from a blogpost about strokes on Welcome Trust - about a study conducted by Dr David Snowdon looking at the brains of hundreds of nuns comparing brains damaged by strokes and dementia. I love this study as it isn't contaminated by additional, uncontrollable risk factors. Actually, the entire post is fascinating and worth reading. References for the Nun Study are available on the original post.
‘Ageing with Grace’
In the 1990s, a landmark US study began to show the power of the interplay between vascular disease and dementia. The Nun Study has followed several hundred School Sisters of Notre Dame, who were originally recruited by epidemiologist Dr David Snowdon. Remarkably, these nuns all agreed to donate their brains to the study after they died. When allied with information from mental and physical tests in life, the post-mortem findings allow the researchers to assess the connections between potential risk factors, signs of dementia and brain pathology.
In a book about the Nun Study, Snowdon wrote: “Strokes can bring on the sudden appearance of dementia symptoms that are caused by the rupture or blockage of a blood vessel. In contrast, the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease usually progress slowly. However, with advancing age, these two diseases may become intertwined and confused. How stroke and Alzheimer’s knot together is far from an academic question. Effective prevention and treatment strategies might result from untying that knot.”
Because the nuns have lived very similar lives in the same environment, the degree of confounding by other factors is minimal. For example, none of them smoked and they all had essentially the same diet and lifestyle. Differences between those who developed dementia and those who didn’t can therefore be picked up more readily than in broader population studies.
The results were startling. In a 1997 paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Snowdon and colleagues presented findings on the links between dementia in life, signs of vascular damage and the characteristic signs of Alzheimer’s disease – amyloid plaques and tau tangles – in the nuns’ brains.
Of those with the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer’s disease but no signs of stroke, 57 per cent had had dementia. But of those with both Alzheimer’s and stroke damage, the proportion with dementia was 93 per cent. “What we found,” wrote Snowdon, “went beyond loosening the knot of confusion regarding how Alzheimer’s disease and stroke interact – it challenged some of the most common diagnostic truisms.”
Stewart says there are two possible explanations for how vascular disease exacerbates the dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease: “Vascular changes in the brain might be directly linked to amyloid plaques and tau tangles – there is some evidence for this in studies where animals with ischaemia in the brain seemed to produce more amyloid.
“Or, and there is more evidence for this, there are two parallel processes combining to cause dementia. Each causes damage to the brain and, as the damage accumulates, the resulting dementia becomes more severe.”
It is also possible that strokes impair the brain in such a way as to reveal undiagnosed dementia. Stewart explains that, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, people can often compensate for signs of dementia such as memory loss for quite a long time. Compensating becomes much harder when the effects of vascular disease are causing problems in other brain functions as well.
Either way, vascular damage caused by strokes, whether detected in life or not, increased the nuns’ risk of dementia, and it was clear that the classic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease were not enough on their own to guarantee dementia.

dinsdag 16 februari 2016

STROKES



My dad is in hospital.  He sustained a hemorrhagic stroke last Friday and has lost movement and feeling on the left side of his body.  Nine months ago I bought my plane ticket so that I could be with him to celebrate his 77th birthday on Saturday.  The stroke happened the day before I was due to leave.  His timing is odd.

Today is day 5 post-stroke for my dad.  Over the past four days he has become more alert although his dementia has become more debilitating.  This means that he doesn't recognise family or follow conversations.  He can't feed himself, dress himself, move from his bed or answer questions.  All the same the medical team have referred him to the rehabilitation unit.  I anticipate some very frustrated physiotherapists and occupational therapists who try to re-teach him lost skills,

Long term we don't know what is going to happen but I want to help my mother prepare by knowing her options.  Today I will make arrangements for her to visit nursing home facilities - because I suspect that my dad will continue needing nursing care in the long term and that bringing him home would be unsafe and unviable for both my parents.  It is a sad time.

Today's link is to an overview on strokes:  overview

donderdag 11 februari 2016

Virtual Retirement Villages




Virtual retirement villages exist in the Netherlands, USA and Australia (Sydney).  These online communities were originally established so that older people can remain in their own homes, regardless of ill-health and poor mobility.  Villagers enlist the help of a network of local people and organisations - when and if they need help.  Membership in the village gives the person access to the network, social opportunities, and ultimately support that meets their own individual needs. Consumer Power!!

Here is a link to an article from the New York Times:  Virtual Retirement Villages

maandag 8 februari 2016

Tracking devices for people with dementia


Recently I have been researching tracking devices available for people with dementia. The idea came about after I saw an article in a local Dutch newspapers suggesting that people with dementia could now freely walk the streets without the risk of becoming disorientated to place - or lost - and unable to find their way home.  Basically the person has a chip placed somewhere in their clothing, shoes or watch that is registered with a track and trace service.  The service is able to remotely read the chip and identify the person's location.
Wonderful technology to prolong independence in people with dementia!  Here is a link to a blog post written by Caitlin Burm for Senior Living Blog

GPS tracking devices for people with dementia

donderdag 4 februari 2016

Safety Issues



Being safe in your own home takes some planning for older people.  Generally adapting to getting older means making life simpler.  Little things like moving objects onto shelves that you can reach without needing to stand on chairs - are important.  An older person falling over is serious - with many older people ending up in hospital due to broken bones and head injuries.
Here is a link to a comprehensive list of safety measures relevant to older people - or younger people with mobility problems from All Seasons HomeCare.


dinsdag 2 februari 2016

End of life issues - a blog post by Louis Profeta

Here is a reposting of a blogpost "I know you love me - now let me die"  written by Louis Profeta M.D.  It covers end of life issues - from the individual, family and medical team perspectives.

https://exopermaculture.com/2016/01/19/how-we-used-to-die-how-we-die-now/