LOCALWinnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Alzheimer's patient in custody Man who hurt wife last fall questioned for senior's assault By: Carol SandersPosted: 03/26/2011 1:00 AM |2
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Joe McLeod, with his wife Rose, was questioned by police for an assault on a fellow resident of Parkview Place. (FAMILY HANDOUT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
"If it was me and it was my father assaulted, I'd be mortified," Faye Jashyn, McLeod's daughter, told the Free Press on Friday. "The other family must be horrified that their parent is hurt."City police confirmed officers responded to a report of an assault on an elderly man at Parkview Place at about 10 p.m. Thursday. Another elderly man who lives at the care home at 440 Edmonton St. was in police custody and being questioned Friday evening.
"The major crimes unit is investigating," said police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen.
No charges had been laid as of Friday and he wouldn't identify the man being questioned.
"Joe has no recollection of this," said Manitoba Liberal party spokesman David Shorr. "He was interviewed by police and he actually thought he worked at the home. His mental state has deteriorated quite a bit."
Last fall, the Liberals said the McLeod case pointed to the need for governments to put more resources into the special needs of seniors with Alzheimer's.
Jashyn said two of her brothers went to the Public Safety Building on Friday afternoon, but by mid-evening they hadn't been allowed to see their father. She waited anxiously for word from them, and for an update on the victim's condition.
"It is very scary," Jashyn said.
McLeod was arrested Sept. 7 and spent a month in the Winnipeg Remand Centre's medical unit after he pushed his wife Rose at their Transcona home. She received a cut that required stitches.
Rose McLeod said at the time she didn't want her husband of 48 years to be charged or to go to jail. Instead, she wanted him placed in a care home. But he couldn't get bail when his family said it was unable to provide him with the 24-hour care he needed, and they didn't have a personal care home lined up for him.
The Manitoba Liberals shone a light on his situation, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority assessed his condition a few days later. The WRHA found him a temporary bed in Parkview Place downtown, although his family was hoping to have him moved to a home in Transcona once a bed opened up.
He demonstrated aggressive behaviour but there was no way he could've been guarded around the clock at the care home, said Jashyn, noting there is a lack of facilities for some Manitoba seniors who suffer from conditions that can lead to aggression.
"You've got special homes for children. Why can't there be one for adults?" Jashyn said.
As of late Friday night, there was a possibility McLeod would be sent back to the medical unit at the remand centre.
"We are going to do our best," Const. Michalyshen said, adding "... whether we're dealing with an elderly person or anyone, to ensure their placement is the most appropriate with regard to their health and well-being."
The province's persons-in-care watchdog is looking into what happened at Parkview Place. The care home is run by Revera, a North American provider of accommodation, care and services for seniors.
"The Protection for Persons in Care Office has been notified," said WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham. The office receives and investigates reports of suspected abuse.
Graham wouldn't confirm the ages or the genders of the people involved in the incident, citing the Personal Health Information Act.
It was tough for McLeod's family to get much information, said Jashyn.
Members of the man's family and the Liberals are holding a news conference today.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 26, 2011 B1
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Sunday, October 9, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
A Heart-Healthy Diet That’s Good for the Brain...
Now a large new study from Rush Medical College in Chicago provides the strongest evidence to date that a Mediterranean style diet may be good for the brain. Researchers studied 3,790 men and women ages 65 and older, tracking them over many years beginning in 1993. They were given regular questionnaires about the foods they ate, along with tests of memory and thinking skills every three years.
Those seniors who adhered to a Mediterranean diet most strictly scored higher on mental acuity and memory tests than those who didn’t eat much of the heart-healthy foods. Overall, those who stuck most closely to a Mediterranean diet were two years younger in “brain age” than their peers who didn’t follow such a diet. The findings held even after adjusting for risk factors like age, sex, race, years of education and participation in mentally stimulating activities.
The researchers caution that they could not account for all the many factors that may contribute to cognitive decline in old age. Food surveys, in which people fill out what they eat, can be unreliable, though the researchers used scientifically validated methods to analyze the results, and the study involved a large number of people.
The findings, which appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, bolster a growing body of evidence that a heart-healthy Mediterranean diet is good for the brain. Earlier, smaller studies have reported that healthy people who follow a Mediterranean diet lower their risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. And those with Alzheimer’s who followed such a diet lived longer than their peers who did not. Earlier research has also shown that a Mediterranean diet may cut the risk of strokes, cancer, diabetes and possibly other illnesses as well.
Doctors are not sure why a Mediterranean diet may be good for the brain. One possibility is that such a diet reduces a risk for blood vessel disease, which may contribute to the risk for Alzheimer’s disease. A Mediterranean diet helps cut down on inflammatory substances in the body, too, and inflammation has increasingly been tied to heart disease and possibly Alzheimer’s as well. Fruits, vegetables and red wine are also high in cell-protecting antioxidants.
Key components of the Mediterranean diet include:
- An abundance of fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, cereals, nuts and beans;
- Choosing “good” fats like olive or canola oil, rather than butter or lard, and limiting dairy products like high-fat cheese and milk;
- Eating moderate amounts of fish and poultry, rather than red meat; and
- Drinking a glass or two of red wine a day.
By ALZinfo.org, The Alzheimer’s Information Site. Reviewed by William J. Netzer, Ph.D., Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at The Rockefeller University.
Source: Tangney CC, Kwasny MJ, Li H, Wilson RS, Evans DA, Morris MC: “Adherence to a Mediterranean-type dietary pattern and cognitive decline in a community population.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec. 22, 2010.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Alzheimer's patient Felipe Garcia, at right in above photo, is shown with his sons Marco, left, and Oscar, center.
Part 1 of 2. Read Part 2 here.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.—Felipe Garcia, 79, looks up with a ready smile as his two-year-old granddaughter, Marina, orbits his shuffling legs—her mother Elena keeping a sharp eye on the toddler to avoid any mishaps around the family’s modest home in Silicon Valley. Elena says Marina doesn’t quite understand yet that her abuelo (grandpa) has Alzheimer’s disease and can’t concentrate on her for long periods of time.
Felipe, who migrated from Mexico in his youth, is among 5.5 million Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Of those cases, 588,000 are in California, a number that is expected to double by 2030. The number of Latinos and Asians living with the disease will triple during the same time period, according to a new state plan jointly released by the Alzheimer’s Association, California’s Health and Human Services Agency and the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Advisory Committee.
Yet the plan’s chief recommendation—to meet the projected shortage of caregiving resources by expanding home and community services, thus keeping people out of costly nursing homes—may be in jeopardy. Last Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law the latest round of budget cuts to services the Garcias rely on to manage care for both Felipe and his wife Manuela, 65, who has diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.
Three Garcia Households Under One Roof
California’s new Alzheimer’s plan shows that families like the Garcias provide three-quarters of the intensive care for those afflicted with the illness. Only 6 percent of Alzheimer’s patients are in nursing homes, and many families go to great lengths to keep their loved ones out of institutions.
Three households of Garcias—those of Felipe and Manuela, their son Marco and his wife Elena, and their son Oscar—took the unusual step of pooling their resources to purchase the home the elder Garcias had rented for decades. They rebuilt it with six bedrooms and a basement, enough space to house the entire family.
The two sons and daughter-in-law divide daily labors of love, such as preparing meals, managing multiple medications and getting Felipe and Manuela to doctor’s appointments.
“It gets a little hectic,” says Marco, a Mountain View police officer, who works night shifts. “You’re trying to eat dinner, the kids [are] running around—everyone’s on a different schedule.”
Then, he said, there are those Alzheimer’s moments. Sometimes Felipe “wakes up stubborn,” Marco says. For instance, he may insist on going up to the attic, a potentially dangerous climb for the frail older man. “So I spend 10 minutes going back and forth about why he shouldn’t go to the attic.”
A key conclusion of the Alzheimer’s plan for California—one of 26 states to develop a plan so far—is that dedicated families such as the Garcias still need help to manage the labor-intensive challenges of caregiving.
The plan cites one indication of how arduous dementia care is: The cost of nursing home care for Alzheimer’s patients on MediCal (California’s Medicaid program) is 2.5 times greater than that of seniors without the disease.
California Cuts Care, While Other States Expand It
Faced with a fiscal crisis, California has been cutting exactly the kinds of programs the state plan prescribes. Some experts say the cuts actually will drive up costs and unnecessarily force many elders into expensive nursing homes or hospitals.
The new Alzheimer’s plan asserts, “Unless the state takes steps to provide better support in the home and community for those who are affected by this condition, volume [of Alzheimer’s cases] alone will cripple public resources.”
The report emphasizes that programs such as California’s In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) and Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) help keep elders like Felipe Garcia in the family fold.
However, California lawmakers have cut funding for the state’s 310 ADHCs by more than half, to $85 million. That represents a compromise; in his original budget, Brown called for eliminating the program entirely. The new law also would bring federal matching funds, but only by restructuring the program with federal approval, a process that could take months.
“Nothing good can come from 50-plus percent reductions,” says Marty Lynch, executive director of the nonprofit LifeLong Medical Care in Berkeley. “A lot fewer patients and probably fewer services.”
Lydia Missaelides, who heads the California Association of Adult Day Services, adds that even if the transition to the new funding design is seamless—avoiding family disruption and possible center closures for lack of funds—the strict new eligibility rules and huge cuts will leave many families scrambling.
“These are people who the state already qualified as at-risk for a nursing home,” she explains. But because ADHC patients now must be at high medical risk of being institutionalized, a borderline patient—for example, someone at an earlier stage of the illness—would lose the preventive nursing care provided by the center and end up seeking emergency services.
Among numerous other budget cuts are $1.7 billion slashed from MediCal and $486 million from IHSS. Fortunately, Missaelides says, the reductions in home assistance—which already suffered deep cuts last year—will be partly offset by funds from the federal Community First Choice program, part of the health care reform law. But more cuts are on the way, including $2.5 million expected to be cut from the case management program for seniors.
This year’s program cuts would curtail assistance to 400,000 vulnerable Californians, who will be forced to turn to more costly emergency care.
“By limiting the availability of these services to only people who are already at an acute level of need, we erase the tremendous savings potential of prevention,” says Wendy Peterson, director of the Senior Services Coalition of Alameda County.
In fact, 32 states dealing with budget crises have actually chosen to expand home- and community-based care programs to save money in the long term, according to a 2010 survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
But for H.D. Palmer of the California Department of Finance, “These choices are difficult but necessary.” He insists that the state’s $26.6 billion deficit leaves lawmakers little alternative but to reduce funds for many popular programs.
Meanwhile, according to the new Alzheimer’s plan, by 2030, nearly 1.2 million elders in the Golden State will suffer from the incurable disease—with state costs more than doubling from today’s expenditures to $31.3 billion a year.
Alzheimer’s also costs California businesses up to $1.4 billion a year in lost productivity, according to the report, as caregivers miss work, cut their hours or switch jobs.
The report, “California’s State Plan For Alzheimer’s Disease: An Action Plan for 2011-2021,” was ordered by the Legislature to address the looming public health crisis as people live longer with chronic illnesses.
It was the culmination of a two-year effort involving state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and more than 2,500 people ranging from experts to family caregivers and Alzheimer’s patients themselves. Also supporting the project were the California Endowment and the SCAN, Gilbert and Archstone foundations.
Research included an online survey of 1,320 caregivers in English, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese.
Investment in the Middle Class
Oscar Garcia, Felipe and Manuela’s son, is the president and CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Alzheimer’s Association board in Northern California. He says that working professionals, as well as the poor, need the state’s family caregiving assistance.
“When you look at the medical cost for a facility that specializes in Alzheimer’s, it is prohibitively expensive,” he says.
Like millions of Americans, Oscar found himself “very, very surprised” to learn that Medicare does not cover long-term care services and that affordable private long-term care insurance was not available for his parents.
“IHSS and adult day care essentially fill in the gap for middle-income people,” Oscar says. “What those programs do is bridge the gap and allow middle America to continue to work and be productive and contribute their taxes, which go back into the economy to be able to fund and provide more. Middle America I view as the engine that pulls this economy.”
Sitting in the Garcias’ living room surrounded by framed family photographs, Oscar chuckles when asked about the collection of carved white elephants on a shelf.
“Dad loves them,” Oscar says. Replying to the next question, he laughs, “No, he’s a Democrat. I’m a Republican, but he’s a Democrat.”
Lost in translation: As elderly Latino population booms, a rush to boost knowledge of Alzheimer's
Lost in translation: As elderly Latino population booms, a rush to boost knowledge of Alzheimer's
DiscussionBy SUZETTE LABOY - Associated Press |
Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:01 am |
Ida and William Gonzalez bring in the laundry at their home in Davie, Fla. When Ida was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, her husband knew little about the scourge that was gradually robbing his wife of a lifetime of memories. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
DAVIE, Fla. ---- William Gonzalez's world collapsed when his wife of more than 50 years was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease four years ago. The 78-year-old Cuban immigrant knew little about the scourge that was gradually robbing his wife of a lifetime of memories.
Today, the Air Force veteran struggles to run his home in Davie, Fla., while serving as sole caretaker for his 74-year-old wife, Ida.
In increasing numbers, Latinos are facing the wrenching prospect of helping a loved one battle the most common form of dementia. The population of elderly Latinos is projected to grow the fastest of all U.S. racial and ethnic groups in coming years, from just under 3 million in 2008 to 17.5 million in 2050, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics.
That has Alzheimer's groups pushing to raise awareness among Latinos who are living longer, into the decades when the risk of Alzheimer's rises dramatically.
The Alzheimer's Association "Know the 10 Signs" workshop in Spanish is being offered at the more than 70 chapters nationwide.
A support group started by The Latino Alzheimer's & Memory Disorders now meets twice monthly in different Chicago locations. In Milwaukee, the Latino Geriatric Center provides screenings for memory loss and support groups.
Complications from Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death for non-Hispanics and 12th leading cause of death among Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Yet the nation's largest, private nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's research ---- the Alzheimer's Association ---- warns that the number of older Latinos with Alzheimer's and related dementias could rise more than sixfold from fewer than 200,000 cases today to as many as 1.3 million by 2050, based on rates of population growth.
"We want to make sure we increase concern and awareness as much as we can and extend our services and support," said Janis Robinson, an association official.
Experts say some Latinos are reluctant to make medical appointments, which means long delays from when symptoms are first noticed until a neurologist is seen. When they do decide to see a doctor, it can be a challenge finding one fluent in Spanish.
Add to that the stigma often attached to mental illness ---- the Spanish word for dementia is "demencia," which roughly translates as "crazy" ---- and Latinos face daunting barriers to frank discussion about such diseases.
"I look at it as what cancer was 10 or 15 years ago. People never talked about it or the c-word," said Serge Morales, 72, a retiree of Mexican descent in Agoura Hills.
He and his wife, Susan, knew little about dementia until she was diagnosed at 58 with early-onset Alzheimer's. Susan Morales, who has a nursing degree, has made Los Angeles-area speaking appearances to raise awareness about a disease normally associated with the elderly.
"She's very young-looking, and we just want to make sure that people understand that it can happen to you at a young age," Sergio Morales said.
Dr. Elizabeth Crocco, an Alzheimer's expert at the University of Miami School of Medicine, recalls one patient who was living in Puerto Rico and whose siblings hid her disease from her grown children in Miami. When her son discovered his mother had problems driving and paying the bills, he moved her to Florida for treatment.
"They got angry at him for taking her away," Crocco said of the older siblings. "It was the professional younger son against the older generation."
Arturo Flores, 38, a technician, is the youngest of four children and lives with his parents in Culver City. His Mexican father, Ricardo, has Alzheimer's. Flores, who is single, said caring for his father has affected his life more than he expected, but he feels a duty to the father who raised him.
"I can't really talk to him about certain things in my life I wish I could," said Flores, who has cried many times since his father's diagnosis. "He can't get his ideas out anymore. I see him more as my son now."
In South Florida, Gonzalez's wife was diagnosed four years ago after someone noticed she was speaking English to a Spanish-speaking friend. Now he's struggling with the toll of coping with her disease, vexed when she barely noticed the Christmas ornaments he put up at their home for the holidays.
"That's kind of frustrating, but it's not her. It's the disease," said Gonzalez, who sought relief at weekly support meetings with others who care for Alzheimer's patients.
Fighting back tears, he recalled how he asked his three grown children for their support shouldering the load his wife's disease has placed on him: "You better keep me alive, or try to. Because if I'm OK and here, I can take care of her," he said.
___
Online:
Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/report_alzfactsfigures2010.pdf
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10_signs_of_alzheimers.asp
Copyright 2011 North County Times - The Californian. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Health-med-fit on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:01 am | Tags: Health, News,
Sunday, April 3, 2011
by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE Mobile phones may help reverse Alzheimer's disease When it comes to health, who dare to say he or she does not...
by PhOtOnQuAnTiQuEMobile phones may help reverse Alzheimer’s diseaseWhen it comes to health, who dare to say he or she does not care?Almost all of us have a moblie phone and we find it more and more difficulty to live without it.Today I would like to share all of you a good news:Mobile phones may help reverse Alzheimer’s disease.Despite the debate that radiation from mobile pho nes can cause brain cancer a new study has found a possible health benefit that the eletromagnetic waves may protect against and even reverse Alzheimer’s disease.The debate has raged for years on the dangers of mobile phones and whether the radiation emitted from the devices cause brain tumours.But researchers at the University of South Florida found mobile phones might be good for users after conducting a study that exposed 96 mice, most of whom had been genetically altered to develop the Alzheimer’s disease as they aged, to electromagnetic waves generated by mobile phones.The mice were zapped with 918MHz of frequency twice a day for one hour each time over a period of seven to nine months – the equivalent of several decades in humans.
In older mice with Alzheimer’s, long-term exposure to the electromagnetic fields caused deposits in the brain of beta-amyloid, a protein fragment that accumulates in the brain of Alzheimer’s sufferers to form the disease’s signature plaques, to be erased. Memory impairment in the older mice disappeared, too, the study showed. Young adult mice with no apparent signs of memory impairment were protected against Alzheimer’s disease after several months of exposure to the mobile phone waves, the study showed.
And the memory levels of normal mice with no genetic predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease were boosted after exposure to the electromagnetic waves.The study was the first to look at the long-term effects of mobile phone exposure in mice or humans and its findings took even the researchers by surprise.”Frankly, I started this work a few years ago with a hypothesis that the electromagnetic fields from a mobile phone would be deleterious to Alzheimer’s mice,” lead author Gary Arendash, a professor at the University of Southern Florida, said.Based on the findings in mice, the researchers hoped electromagnetic field exposure could be an effective, non-invasive and drug-free way to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease in humans.Believe it or not,you can just have a try!
If you want to be more healthy, take your best golf clubs or buy a golf iron set and join the hot golf sport.
Tags: Alzheimer's, Disease, HELP, Mobile, Phones, ReversePosted in Alzheimer's Disease
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Alzheimer's patient in custody !
Alzheimer's patient in custody
Man who hurt wife last fall questioned for senior's assaultBy: Carol SandersWinnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Joe McLeod, with his wife Rose, was questioned by police for an assault on a fellow resident of Parkview Place. (FAMILY HANDOUT / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
A Winnipeg man with Alzheimer's disease who was locked up for a month last fall is back in police custody and a fellow resident of his downtown care home is in critical condition after an alleged assault Thursday night.The family of 69-year-old Joe McLeod, who was questioned by police on Friday, is worried about the man hurt in the incident."If it was me and it was my father assaulted, I'd be mortified," Faye Jashyn, McLeod's daughter, told the Free Press on Friday. "The other family must be horrified that their parent is hurt."City police confirmed officers responded to a report of an assault on an elderly man at Parkview Place at about 10 p.m. Thursday. Another elderly man who lives at the care home at 440 Edmonton St. was in police custody and being questioned Friday evening.
"The major crimes unit is investigating," said police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen.No charges had been laid as of Friday and he wouldn't identify the man being questioned.
"Joe has no recollection of this," said Manitoba Liberal party spokesman David Shorr. "He was interviewed by police and he actually thought he worked at the home. His mental state has deteriorated quite a bit."
Last fall, the Liberals said the McLeod case pointed to the need for governments to put more resources into the special needs of seniors with Alzheimer's.
Jashyn said two of her brothers went to the Public Safety Building on Friday afternoon, but by mid-evening they hadn't been allowed to see their father. She waited anxiously for word from them, and for an update on the victim's condition."It is very scary," Jashyn said.McLeod was arrested Sept. 7 and spent a month in the Winnipeg Remand Centre's medical unit after he pushed his wife Roseat their Transcona home. She received a cut that required stitches.
Rose McLeod said at the time she didn't want her husband of 48 years to be charged or to go to jail. Instead, she wanted him placed in a care home. But he couldn't get bail when his family said it was unable to provide him with the 24-hour care he needed, and they didn't have a personal care home lined up for him.
The Manitoba Liberals shone a light on his situation, and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority assessed his condition a few days later. The WRHA found him a temporary bed in Parkview Place downtown, although his family was hoping to have him moved to a home in Transcona once a bed opened up.
He demonstrated aggressive behaviour but there was no way he could've been guarded around the clock at the care home, said Jashyn, noting there is a lack of facilities for some Manitoba seniors who suffer from conditions that can lead to aggression."You've got special homes for children. Why can't there be one for adults?" Jashyn said.
As of late Friday night, there was a possibility McLeod would be sent back to the medical unit at the remand centre."We are going to do our best," Const. Michalyshen said, adding "... whether we're dealing with an elderly person or anyone, to ensure their placement is the most appropriate with regard to their health and well-being."
The province's persons-in-care watchdog is looking into what happened at Parkview Place. The care home is run by Revera, a North American provider of accommodation, care and services for seniors.
"The Protection for Persons in Care Office has been notified," said WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham. The office receives and investigates reports of suspected abuse.
Graham wouldn't confirm the ages or the genders of the people involved in the incident, citing the Personal Health Information Act.
It was tough for McLeod's family to get much information, said Jashyn.Members of the man's family and the Liberals are holding a news conference today.Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 26, 2011 B1Related articles
- Dealing With Hallucinations and Delusions in Alzheimer's
(everydayhealth.com)
- Strategies to Deal With an Alzheimer's Patient Who Wanders
(everydayhealth.com)
- Sources of Information and Support for Alzheimer's Disease
(everydayhealth.com)
- Home Safety in Alzheimer's Care
(everydayhealth.com)
- Video 62 - Living with Alzheimer's - Rick Phelp's
(alzheimersspeaks.wordpress.com)
- For those who can - Winnipeg Free Press
(ddmacc5022.wordpress.com)
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Thursday, March 10, 2011
Lost in translation: As elderly Latino population booms, a rush to boost knowledge of Alzheimer's
DiscussionBy SUZETTE LABOY - Associated Press |
Posted: Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:01 am |
Ida and William Gonzalez bring in the laundry at their home in Davie, Fla. When Ida was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, her husband knew little about the scourge that was gradually robbing his wife of a lifetime of memories. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
DAVIE, Fla. ---- William Gonzalez's world collapsed when his wife of more than 50 years was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease four years ago. The 78-year-old Cuban immigrant knew little about the scourge that was gradually robbing his wife of a lifetime of memories.
Today, the Air Force veteran struggles to run his home in Davie, Fla., while serving as sole caretaker for his 74-year-old wife, Ida.
In increasing numbers, Latinos are facing the wrenching prospect of helping a loved one battle the most common form of dementia. The population of elderly Latinos is projected to grow the fastest of all U.S. racial and ethnic groups in coming years, from just under 3 million in 2008 to 17.5 million in 2050, according to the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics.
That has Alzheimer's groups pushing to raise awareness among Latinos who are living longer, into the decades when the risk of Alzheimer's rises dramatically.
The Alzheimer's Association "Know the 10 Signs" workshop in Spanish is being offered at the more than 70 chapters nationwide.
A support group started by The Latino Alzheimer's & Memory Disorders now meets twice monthly in different Chicago locations. In Milwaukee, the Latino Geriatric Center provides screenings for memory loss and support groups.
Complications from Alzheimer's is the sixth leading cause of death for non-Hispanics and 12th leading cause of death among Hispanics, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Yet the nation's largest, private nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's research ---- the Alzheimer's Association ---- warns that the number of older Latinos with Alzheimer's and related dementias could rise more than sixfold from fewer than 200,000 cases today to as many as 1.3 million by 2050, based on rates of population growth.
"We want to make sure we increase concern and awareness as much as we can and extend our services and support," said Janis Robinson, an association official.
Experts say some Latinos are reluctant to make medical appointments, which means long delays from when symptoms are first noticed until a neurologist is seen. When they do decide to see a doctor, it can be a challenge finding one fluent in Spanish.
Add to that the stigma often attached to mental illness ---- the Spanish word for dementia is "demencia," which roughly translates as "crazy" ---- and Latinos face daunting barriers to frank discussion about such diseases.
"I look at it as what cancer was 10 or 15 years ago. People never talked about it or the c-word," said Serge Morales, 72, a retiree of Mexican descent in Agoura Hills.
He and his wife, Susan, knew little about dementia until she was diagnosed at 58 with early-onset Alzheimer's. Susan Morales, who has a nursing degree, has made Los Angeles-area speaking appearances to raise awareness about a disease normally associated with the elderly.
"She's very young-looking, and we just want to make sure that people understand that it can happen to you at a young age," Sergio Morales said.
Dr. Elizabeth Crocco, an Alzheimer's expert at the University of Miami School of Medicine, recalls one patient who was living in Puerto Rico and whose siblings hid her disease from her grown children in Miami. When her son discovered his mother had problems driving and paying the bills, he moved her to Florida for treatment.
"They got angry at him for taking her away," Crocco said of the older siblings. "It was the professional younger son against the older generation."
Arturo Flores, 38, a technician, is the youngest of four children and lives with his parents in Culver City. His Mexican father, Ricardo, has Alzheimer's. Flores, who is single, said caring for his father has affected his life more than he expected, but he feels a duty to the father who raised him.
"I can't really talk to him about certain things in my life I wish I could," said Flores, who has cried many times since his father's diagnosis. "He can't get his ideas out anymore. I see him more as my son now."
In South Florida, Gonzalez's wife was diagnosed four years ago after someone noticed she was speaking English to a Spanish-speaking friend. Now he's struggling with the toll of coping with her disease, vexed when she barely noticed the Christmas ornaments he put up at their home for the holidays.
"That's kind of frustrating, but it's not her. It's the disease," said Gonzalez, who sought relief at weekly support meetings with others who care for Alzheimer's patients.
Fighting back tears, he recalled how he asked his three grown children for their support shouldering the load his wife's disease has placed on him: "You better keep me alive, or try to. Because if I'm OK and here, I can take care of her," he said.
___
Online:
Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org/documents_custom/report_alzfactsfigures2010.pdf
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_10_signs_of_alzheimers.asp
Copyright 2011 North County Times - The Californian. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in Health-med-fit on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 12:01 am | Tags: Health, News,
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