What I'm Learning About Senior Health, Part One

Some of this information may not be new, but I decided to blog about it anyway, both for the lovegiver's health and the loved one's health.

A University of Massachusetts-Lowell clinical trial showed that drinking apple juice significantly improved mood and behavior among a group of patients diagnosed with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. Cornell University research also suggests that quercetin may be the compound in apples that protects brain cells against oxidative stress associated with Alzheimer's.

This was reported on The Alzheimer's Reading Room. Of course actual apples have more fiber than apple juice has. My husband regularly gets applesauce.

Get the proper rest you need according to a study here.  Research suggests:

1. Avoid going to bed and getting up at different times.
2. Don't do games and social networking before bed. These keep your mind racing.
3. Don't read or watch TV in bed.
4. Keep the light in the bedroom low. I do think that the Alzheimer's patient does need some light, however, so they can identify things at night.
5. Sleep helps fight off infections by releasing hormones in the body.
6. Energy is restored.
7. The brain is working to create new pathways. You know the expression, "Let's sleep on it."
8. While we sleep the heart rate and blood pressure are reduced.

I also wrote earlier on this blog about rest here.

How we process our food is important according to Kimberly Snyder. I have also pinned some of her health ideas on my Pinterest Board which you can follow by clicking below. Our loved ones need fiber from vegetables, fruits and whole grains. According to Kimberly, artificial sweetners aren't absorbed by our bodies, so they pull water into the intestines leading to loose stools. Stevia is the most acceptable artificial sweetner and I use a combination of real sugar and stevia for my husband. Murky pee could be a uninary track infection that caregivers are so concerned about for their loved ones; patients can go downhill with these infections but not complain I read on The Alzheimer's Reading Room (see link on side). So we need to check their pee.

The older we get, the less thirsty we feel and then the more tired. I have a friend, Shirley, who sends me wonderful e-mail and I discovered from that e-mail a strategy for drinking our water.
Drinking water at a certain times maximizes its effectiveness on the body:

• 2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs  
• 1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
• 1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure  
• 1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack

We also know that we wake up in the middle of the night and get a cramp in our leg because we needed more water or maybe the potassium in a banana. Older people need potassium, but I have heard that potassium pills need careful monitoring and the banana is as easier way to obtain that potassium. On Weight Watchers I can count a banana as zero points (as long as I limit them).

I also found out that a person needs to take CoQ10 with a stanine such as Lipitor or Crestor. Our chiropractor also recommended it as I wrote here.

Oh, and walk carefully so you or your loved one don't fall. My husband and I usually hold hands. Slows me down, but oh well! I get my exercise separately from my husband.

In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for ... ... It is of no use for you to get up early, and to go late to your rest, with the bread of sorrow for your food; for the Lord gives to his loved ones in sleep.  Psalm 127:2  

Adrenal Fatigue, Google and the Doctor



Ah, doctor. Google begs to differ!



We are hoping that future generations will not have to deal with Alzheimer's as more information comes to light. The Alzheimer's Reading Room and other sites hold promise for unlocking the mysteries of Alzhreimers.  You can google these discoveries. Tell your doctor about them. I told my husband's doctor about the coconut oil and so far he is not concerned about the extra fat in coconut oil.

When I went to my doctor this week, she was so pleased with my weight loss. P.B. was 122/80 for this 67 year old. Just exercise more, Carol. Today's exercise is gardening--which needs to be done. Hubby didn't want me to go to the gym when we were out this morning.

7 AM today I went to my weekly Weight Watchers meeting where I made a benchmark goal and got to walk the red carpet. I learned what a "Jolie" is as the leader encouraged me to do that on my red carpet walk. When I substituted this week, a student at a middle school where I sub often asked if I had lost weight and I said yes. The class clapped for me.

                                                                            

A few evenings ago,  DH, Sally and Jake and I attended a health workshop at their church. The presenter shared this quote.

75% of the disease prevalent in western society

today are . . . related to the stress mechanisms

of the body. The Standard, Vol., 3, No. 1

I asked questions at the end of the presentation. The doctor agreed that over-dependence on meds and preservatives in our foods can trigger a whole lot of other problems down the road. It is so easy for doctors to just prescribe pills. So I did some Google research on the topic of Adrenal Fatigue.  In turns out that you can have saliva tests to determine your cortisol/DHEA levels during the morning, afternoon, evening and at night.  It is possible to test your cortisol levels and then use a compounding pharmacy to have just the right mimimum prescription for your needs. This way you don't overmedicate.


Without adequate cortisol levels the sleep/rest and recovery cycle is not restored.  We sleep well and restore our CORTISOL levels in the first  hours of the night, and then need four more hours to restore the rest of our functions. Here are two of my Google finds:


Adrenal Fatique in Women
Another DHEA


"One of the main goals of every caregiver should be finding a way to have enough rest. Everything depends on it," writes Gary Leblanc in Staying Afloat in a Sea of Forgetfulness: Common Sense Caregiving, Expanded Edition (p. 110)

Here's to a good night sleep, you all!