alzheimer’s

Most of us may be staying at home for everyone’s safety, but that doesn’t mean criminals aren’t still operating in full force. Here are some tips to help keep you safe & secure during these trying times.

• Scammers are out in force trying to use Covid to get into people’s bank accounts. Be particularly wary about clicking links in messages sent to you. Neither the IRS nor any state unemployment will send out random links via text message or email, and they will never ask you for critical identifiers like social security numbers over unsecured lines like that.
• We’re all ordering more online these days, and package thieves are having a field day. And many package carriers simply will not ring doorbells now, even though most of the population is home all day. So you have to take matters into your own hands with a motion detector, which will alert you when a package arrives so you can retrieve it quickly.
• While home break-ins are down, car break-ins are up. Make sure your car is locked and there are no items visible in the cabin.
• Since we’re spending so much more time there, our homes are dealing with added wear & tear. Make sure critical functions – particularly plumbing and heating/AC – are working well. Service techs are also booked more than typical now, so it may take longer to get a service appointment than usual. If you suspect something is wrong, act soon so it doesn’t become a crisis.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

The leaves are turning, snow is on the ground in some places, and thoughts of Christmastime are beginning to percolate. This means it’s (another) perfect time to talk with your senior loved one about their financial health.

● Examine credit card & bank statements for recurring charges. Many seniors have services they signed up for ages ago, which they no longer use. Sometimes they’ve forgotten about the charges or just never found the time to cancel the service. Taking the time to compile a list of these charges, and to cancel the unused ones, will be worth the effort.
● Check credit reports. – Seniors, in particular, are frequently the target of identity thieves. A quick, occasional look at their credit report can help spot identity theft before it gets out of hand. You may want to consider helping your senior loved one to lock their credit. This will prevent new lines of credit from being opened without their explicit OK.
● Assemble & organize their regular payments. – Make a list of their principal, monthly payments, and assemble the most recent bills with their associated canceled checks or charges on a credit card statement. You may be surprised how many bills may slip through the cracks, or possibly be double-paid. Spending a couple of hours making a spreadsheet of these charges can help prevent a financial disaster down the road.

These sorts of financial checkups should be done every 6 months to a year, with more comprehensive checks done every few years.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

And the culprit is: the Epstein-Barr virus.

“The hypothesis that EBV (Epstein-Barr virus) causes MS has been investigated by our group and others for several years, but this is the first study providing compelling evidence of causality,” said Alberto Ascherio, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study. “This is a big step because it suggests that most MS cases could be prevented by stopping EBV infection, and that targeting EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS.”

So the good news is that we know pretty definitively what causes MS. The bad news: EVS is one of the most common viruses on earth – it’s estimated that 95% of adults have it in their bodies – and it’s already associated with a raft of diseases ranging from herpes to mononucleosis to multiple cancers and lymphomas.

But there’s good news here, too. This means that research into EVS – be it detection, vaccination or treatment – will have even more benefit to humanity. A vector to attack this virus could potentially do more to help public health than any treatment in decades.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

From Massive Science, a look at how advances can come from the oddest places.

“In the early 1980s, doctors across northern California encountered patients with curious symptoms. From Watsonville to San Jose, young people were experiencing a combination of visual hallucinations, jerking limbs, and stiffness. Their abilities to move and speak worsened over a space of mere weeks, and by the time they sought medical help they had become totally immobile.

In San Jose’s Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, psychiatrists insisted that their medical mystery patient had a neurological disorder. However, neurologists were adamant that the patient was undergoing a psychiatric episode. Amidst the arguments, Director of Neurology, William Langston, noticed a striking resemblance of the patient’s condition to that of Parkinson’s disease (PD). They were alert, but their body was rigid – with an arm involuntarily raised for long periods of time. PD is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder (behind Alzheimer’s disease), and the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder worldwide, but it is typically associated with old age, and symptoms develop over a period of years – not weeks.”

Basically, before you can test treatments for a symptom, you must be able to simulate that symptom in cells or test animals. For decades scientists had struggled to simulate Parkinson’s Disease in a clinical setting. The discovery that certain synthetic heroin could do that allowed for most of the advances in treatment in the last 30+ years for that disease.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.

Dinnertime can sometimes feel like wartime when caring for the elderly. Dietary & medical needs, cognitive issues, dexterity problems and complex emotional relationships combine to create a minefield which has to be navigated for everyone’s health and well-being. Here are some tips for making sure meal times can be safe and calm for everyone.

Routine, routine, routine. I make this point a lot in these blogs, but I cannot stress enough how beneficial a firm – but not totally inflexible – routine can be. Having a designated time and place for meals not only helps improve seniors’ sense of time, but it also allows their bodies proper time to digest. These routines should not be immutable – if you want to go out with friends, do so, even if it means eating a bit earlier or later – but by keeping to this schedule most of the time, you substantially cut down on meal-related disagreements and flare-ups.

Ergonomic & Safety Tableware. Even the mechanics of eating can be difficult for some seniors. Arthritic hands can’t always hold a knife and fork very well, much less bring a full glass to their lips. There are tools you can use to make mealtime less of a struggle.

• Flatware with ergonomic grips, which are typically larger, rounded & textured.
• Smaller, lighter & shatterproof drinking cups.
• “Move-resistant” plates & bowls. These typically are either heavier or have ‘grippy’ undersides, to prevent them from sliding around the table. This can also be accomplished with textured placemats.
• Plates & bowls with lips. These not only make them easier to grip and lift, but they also give you a surface to push food against.

Make sure they have a diet they can live with – Almost all of us “are on a diet,” and that includes seniors. Dietary restrictions tend to accumulate as one ages, and keeping them all in mind when meal planning can be a daunting task. But a diet which is indistinguishable from prison food helps no one. If your senior loved one has a particularly challenging set of dietary restrictions, you really may want to consult with a nutritionist. They not only can tell you what to avoid, but they can also help select foods to replace those you’ve cut out. Most of us are not professional cooks, and even a little guidance can help make mealtimes fun for everyone in the home.

Do not infantilize your senior loved ones – Reading all of these suggestions, it sometimes sounds like feeding an elder loved one is no different than feeding a child. But it’s critically important to remember not to treat them like children. They see the similarities too and are almost certainly quite sensitive to that comparison. Seniors suffer a lot of indignities, but being treated like an infant by people they very likely raised is one they should never have to deal with. No matter how difficult or frustrating mealtimes become, you must treat them with respect and dignity. In other words: how you would expect to be treated.

Limit alcohol and caffeine consumption. While you don’t necessarily have to cut alcohol and caffeine completely out of all senior diets, their systems are particularly vulnerable to those substances. Alcohol tolerance diminishes greatly as we age, including decision making sectors of the brain. Multiple bodily systems which handle caffeine – including the liver and kidneys – have a harder time dealing with it, and your neurological tolerance similarly changes as you age, so it’s effects seem amplified.

These are just some of the things you can do to help keep peace at the dinner table.

Brought to you by smpltec.com, Technology for Seniors News.