Daily exercises to keep one’s memory sharp

Memory, or its steady decline, remains as one of the sources of anxiety for aging adults. Many people believe that failing memory is part of old age, and they dread having to experience a condition which could practically render a person helpless. However, researchers have found that there are many methods and activities that adults can do to keep their minds in relatively good condition as they age.

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health.kioskea.net

For instance, experts recommend learning a new activity, like ballroom dancing. Learning something new is generally good for the brain, and it could be about anything. Still, choosing to learn something that also requires some physical activity easily compounds on the benefits to the body and the brain.

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Weaning oneself off dependence on technology may also do the brain some good. Choosing to use a pen and paper over the keyboard may actually be good for the brain as people have been found to be better at remembering the orientation of a new character if they write by hand. In addition, research in children has also showed that writing by hand activates more regions in the brain.

Apart from vigorous activity, periodic breaks are also recommended. Researchers have found that people who take timely breaks during long study sessions recalled more of what they studied.

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Meanwhile, studies have shown that meditation can also produce some changes in the brain. People who take time to meditate have also been found to be more attentive and have more self-awareness and empathy.

Some decline in cognitive function is normal as people grow older, but through simple tasks such as the ones listed above, adults can lessen age-related forgetfulness and avoid unwanted frustration and helplessness.

BrightStar Care provides more advice on staying healthy on its official website.

REPOST: 7 Ways to Protect Your Memory

Health.com shares 7 tips on how individuals can fend off forgetfulness as they age:

How to protect your mind now

It happens to all of us: You stop at the store and forget the one thing you went for. You blank on your co-worker’s husband’s name—Is it John? Jim? And where are those darn keys?!? It’s normal to be forgetful once in awhile, especially if you’ve got a lot on your plate.

But even if you’re years away from worrying about senior moments, research shows that memory loss can actually begin as early as your 20s, and it continues as you age. Thankfully, taking a few easy steps throughout your day can help you stay sharp—and maybe even help you remember where you put those keys!

Step No. 1: Eat toast for breakfast
Skipping carbs may harm your memory. A Tufts University study found that folks who eliminated carbohydrates from their diets performed worse on memory-based tasks than those who included them. Why? Your brain cells need carbs, which are converted in your body to glucose, to stay in peak form, says study co-author Robin Kanarek, PhD, professor of psychology at Tufts.

Pick whole grains and other complex carbs—they’re digested more slowly, so they deliver a steadier stream of glucose. Grab a whole-wheat muffin or slice of toast with a scrambled egg and cup of berries for a breakfast that’ll jump-start your gray matter.

Step No. 2: Take a kickboxing class before work
Exercise increases the blood flow to your noggin, bringing much-needed oxygen and glucose for fuel, explains Sandra Aamodt, PhD, co-author of Welcome to Your Brain.

In fact, you can learn vocabulary words 20% faster if you try to memorize them after doing an intense workout rather than a low-impact activity, suggests a study in the journal Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. Up the ante even more by taking a dance or kickboxing class—anything that requires you to remember a routine.

Step No.3: Change the font on your morning memo
Is Times New Roman your go-to? Try using a different, slightly difficult-to-decipher font—it’s been shown to improve your long-term retention, according to research published in the journal Cognition.

Focusing on a new font may make your brain’s processing center work a little harder, upping your recall. Change to Comic Sans Italicized (the font used in the study) for a quick fix that you may not notice but your brain will.

Step No. 4: Do a Web search during lunch
Spending an hour a day looking online for something you’re interested in (like researching spots for your next vacation) may stimulate the part of your frontal lobe that controls short-term memory, according to a recent study from the University of California, Los Angeles.

"The neural circuits involved in decision-making, visual-spatial, and verbal skills become very active when you do an Internet search," explains Gary Small, MD, lead author of the study. Don’t just mindlessly surf, though: If it’s too easy, Dr. Small says, it won’t be effective. (Facebook won’t do the trick!)

Step No. 5: Eye your parking spot
Always forget where you parked your car? When you stop at the grocery store to pick up your dinner, try this exercise: Get out of your car, notice where you’re parked, then move your eyes side-to-side every 1/2 second for 30 seconds while standing in place.

Practicing this simple eye movement may increase your long-term memory by up to 10%, say researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University in England. "That little extra boost might be just what’s needed to help you recall an important piece of information," says Andrew Parker, PhD, the study’s lead author.

Step No. 6: Drink a little with dinner
While being a heavy tippler can lead to memory loss, a new study finds that drinking in moderation may actually lower your risk for memory problems. In an analysis published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, participants who downed seven or fewer alcoholic drinks total per week had the lowest risk for cognitive impairment, compared with women who didn’t drink at all and those who imbibed more.

Researchers believe alcohol’s anti-inflammatory properties may be the reason. Or it could be that people who drink moderately also tend to lead a healthier lifestyle. Cheers to that!

Step No. 7: Floss before bed
It’s good for your smile—but it may also do wonders for your mind. When you don’t floss, your gums become inflamed, making it easier for bad bacteria to enter your bloodstream, explains Jonathan B. Levine, DMD, an associate professor at New York University and author of Smile!

Once in the bloodstream, the bacteria can cause inflammation throughout your body, including in the brain, which can lead to cognitive dysfunction. So floss daily (twice is ideal) to keep the absentmindedness away.

Brightstar Care is a leading provider of homecare and medical staffing services in the US and this blog regularly provides updates on topics related and important to the company. You can follow Brightstar on Facebook for more stories and updates on the health care industry.

REPOST: Early flu season accelerates; no peak yet, CDC says

NBC News reports that flu season is here once again, and it's quickly going from bad to worse:

The nation’s early flu season continued to grow in the U.S. this week, with no sign yet of a peak in the spread of coughing, achy, feverish illness, health officials said Friday.

"I think we're still accelerating," said Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman.

Twenty-nine states and New York City reported high levels of flu activity, up from 16 states and NYC the previous week. Flu was widespread in 41 states, up from 31 states, according to the latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of the week ending Dec. 29, 2,257 people had been hospitalized with flu, and 18 children had died from complications of the illness, CDC reported.

“It’s about five weeks ahead of the average flu season,” said Lyn Finelli, lead of the surveillance and response team that monitors influenza for the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. “We haven’t seen such an early season since 2003 to 2004.”

That’s the year that Joe Lastinger’s 3-year-old daughter, Emily, fell ill with the flu in late January and died five days later.

“That was the first really bad season for children in a while,” said Lastinger, 40, who lives near Dallas, Texas. “For whatever reason that’s not well understood, it affected her and it killed her.”

During that season, illnesses peaked in early to mid-December, followed by a peak in flu-related pneumonia and deaths in early January. It was over by mid-February and was considered a “moderately severe” season for flu, according to the CDC.  Finelli and other CDC officials say it’s too early to tell exactly how bad this year’s season will be.

But over at Google Flu Trends, which monitors flu activity in the U.S. and around the world based on internet search terms, this year’s season has already topped the bright-red “intense” category.

And at Flu Near You, a new real-time tracking tool that’s gaining about 100 participants each week, about 4 percent of the 10,000 users say they’ve come down with flu symptoms.

“That’s huge,” says John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston. “Last year, we never got near this.”

Brownstein is one of the founders of the project coordinated by Children’s Hospital Boston, the Skoll Global Threats Fund and the American Public Health Association. Though it’s still in its early stages, it already has generated new, interesting and, most of all, immediate data about this year’s flu season.

“It’s what we call ‘nowcasting,’” Brownstein said. “It’s a more up-to-date view.”

CDC data, which is based on visits to doctors for influenza-like illness, can lag two weeks or more behind real-time activity.
By contrast, Flu Near You can paint an immediate picture of what’s new with flu.

For instance, Brownstein said his data show that cough is the most frequently reported flu symptom this season, at 19 percent. It’s been followed by sore throat, 16 percent; fatigue, 15 percent; headache, 14 percent; body ache, 10 percent and fever, just 7 percent.

More telling, for people who reported both flu symptoms and vaccination status, of those who got the flu, three out of four were not vaccinated, while a quarter had gotten their flu shots.

Brownstein cautioned that can’t be used as a true measure of this season’s vaccine efficacy because of variables in reporting. But the CDC says that in the 2010-2011 flu season, vaccine effectiveness was about 60 percent for all age groups combined.

The agency has received reports that people who were vaccinated still developed laboratory-confirmed strains of flu. CDC officials said it’s not possible to know whether that’s happening more this season than usual and that the agency is “watching the situation closely.”

Overall, this year’s vaccines appear to be well matched for the two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B that are circulating this year, CDC officials have said.

The dominant strain this year is the H3N2 strain, which can cause more serious illness. Flu seasons can vary widely, but some years are severe, with hospitalizations of up to 200,000 people and between 3,000 and 49,000 deaths during a season.

As of December 14, the latest CDC figures available, about 127 million doses of flu vaccine had been distributed, from about 135 million doses produced for this season.

Joe Lastinger was one of the first to sign up for the Flu Near You tracking program after its test phase. The health care executive and father of three surviving children said it gives participants information they can act on about flu in their communities.

“I’m always excited about getting ahead of it,” he said. “This is a tool you can use. If everybody starts reporting these symptoms, you’re ahead.”

Information about vaccination is particularly important, said Lastinger. Flu vaccinations weren’t routinely recommended for healthy children Emily’s age back then, and Lastinger and his wife weren’t worried about it.

“For us, vaccination was the thing we should have done, had we known,” he said. “Flu needed to be up there on our parent radar of things to worry about. We think it should be on every parent’s list.”

As a trusted provider of caregiving and medical staffing services, Brightstar Care continues to help families care for the ones they love.  Stay updated on health care news and find more stories of families and caregiving by following Brightstar on Twitter.

Family care and fighting the winter blues

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Winter is hardly a season of joy for the elderly who are confined at home or at the hospital because of an illness. Their inability to join in the celebration could result to an intensified feeling of loneliness and loss, often leading to cases of winter depression. Accordingly, one of the best means to fight the winter blues is by interacting with family members and other loved ones.

The winter blues involves more than just being sad or upset. It cannot be likened to a mood change that passes within a short period of time. Known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), it affects millions of people, young or old. There are many theories as to what causes the condition, but the reality of the disorder and its effects cannot be discounted.

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There have been reports of old people brought to the hospital because of SAD. The winter blues can cause people to lose appetite, which can then result to malnutrition, weakness, and dehydration. This nutritional imbalance could cause further incoherence in behavior and worsen the depression.


To fight the blues during winter, experts advise sufferers to socialize. Spending time with family and friends can help lighten the mood and lift them from the clutches of anxiety and depression. Interacting with kids is especially effective for elderly people going through SAD. For others, mere company is enough to keep their spirits up. Even care professionals from various agencies like BrightStar Care are now trained to give their wards companionship during the time when they need it the most.

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BrightStar Care provides assistance to its patients and their families for them to enjoy the holiday season. For more information about how the agency can help you and your loved ones, visit this website.

Exercise and memory improvement for older individuals

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The importance of daily or constant exercise to a person’s wellbeing has been stressed enough by health experts on journals and publications. It contributes to the preservation of youthfulness in a person and is, therefore, one of the activities that aging adults must add to their daily routine. Exercise not only keeps them mobile and their bodies strong, but it also boosts their mood and enhances their memory. Both effects are important to maintain a high quality of life in old age.

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However, as professional caregivers from companies like Interim HealthCare or BrightStar Care can confirm, the lack of knowledge on how much physical activity is required to get those health benefits can lead to unnecessary dependence on medication to improve or maintain cognitive function in aging individuals.


This is why a group of researchers from the University of California, Irvine sought to find out just how much exercise was enough to get the memory boosting effects of exercise. It turned out that even a brief exercise routine was enough for an older adult to gain boosts in memory function.

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The researchers link the improvement in recall after exercise to the release of the brain chemical called norepinephrine. While the connection is still speculative at present, researchers are optimistic that the results of the study may open up new avenues for more appropriate intervention methods to prevent individuals from succumbing to the effects of dementia and cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s.


For more information on professional care for aging adults, visit www.brightstarcare.com.

Offering Thanks for Caregivers

In this article, the author shows gratitude for the receptionists, nurses, and nurse practitioners who help cancer patients survive the unendurable.

Written by: Susan Gubar 
Article re-posted from: nytimes.com 


“I want to write a hymn to caretakers,” I inform my dear husband.

“They can be resented,” he responds. “They’re seen as takers — they take away your privacy, your independence, your responsibilities, not just infringing on your body, but also on your space. To add insult to injury, they’re healthy!”

Astounded by the volubility of this quiet and gentle man, I have to ask: “Is this a gendered issue? A fear of loss of control — just a tad?” I pick up my knitting.

“Think of your mother,” he instantly replies. “She thought the nurses were stealing the stuff in her room. And how did Mary-Alice feel seeing a stranger in her own house, telling her where to sit, when and what to eat, putting everything away in the wrong places?” He is mourning the losses incurred by his first wife during her untimely dying.

In the pause that ensues while I honor his grief, I untangle the wool around the circular needle, start pushing the stitches toward the tips, and Sally comes to my mind.

“You are a hard stick,” Sally said when she managed to push the needle into a vein that she called “tiny and a roller.” The only name large enough to read on her tag was Sally. Though I have miserably small veins, Sally never “blew” one. With extraordinary patience, she warmed my left arm, strapped on a tourniquet, and tapped her fingertips over the narrow blue channels. I was so relieved that there wouldn’t have to be a second or a third stick and many black-and-blue bruises. People like her make cancer patients as comfortable as we could possibly be under frightful circumstances.

For me, it started with a nurse named Eunju, at least I think that is her name. I was coming out of a major abdominal operation and not quite “with it.” Eunju did not merely give me ice chips in a plastic foam cup. She also sat with me through many hours of that long night, sharing her concerns about her family. I could feel myself becoming not just a wounded thing, but also a human spirit with curiosity and compassion for someone else, a stranger who was so kind and caring.

How indebted I am to the tact and dexterity of countless other caretakers. Their names will mean nothing to you. They became lifelines for me.

What would I have done without Annetta, who phoned back when the surgeon was too busy so she could explain where to park beforehand and afterward how to circumvent the answering service in case of an emergency. How would I have survived without Yvonne, faxing instructions to a hospital on the upkeep of a PICC line (a catheter on my arm)? At our first meeting, she sighed, “Oh, my dear, you have really been through it!” Where would I have been without Alesha, giving me a hug with a schedule of the anti-nausea pills that had to be taken in decreasing amounts after the chemotherapy? Alesha is the only person in the world who I do not correct when she calls me “Sue.”

These receptionists, nurses and nurse practitioners are actually caregivers, not caretakers, I silently rebuke my husband (though I know he would agree with me). They come into our lives without second names, but their dedication helps innumerable cancer patients endure the unendurable. I salute Sally Jordan, Enju Campbell, Annetta Jenkins, Yvonne Kiefer and Alesha Arnold, wanting to say, quite simply, thank you. And though you are legion, I will keep on trying to learn your full names.

Amid this unspoken rumination, I drop a stitch. Then it dawns on me as I fish for it. My husband was thinking about people entering into one’s private space. Even if they do an excellent job, such aides are a constant reminder to the sick of their own incapacity, their inability to care for themselves. But I had brought up the subject out of illimitable appreciation for him!

Though my husband has flushed every drain implanted in my body, though he has injected me with countless medicines, though he has filled multiple prescriptions, though he has driven me to and from each operation, infusion and test, he does not think of himself as a caretaker or a caregiver. Because of him, I don’t need to learn the name of a stranger taking care of me in my house. And speaking of the house: while I am too fatigued to do more than recline on a blue couch, he takes care of the busted water pipes, the electrical outages, the broken washing machine and all the other home ills.

My heart clinches at my own stupidity, clenches with adoration of him. I’ve recovered the dropped stitch. He doesn’t imagine being thanked. I tighten the yarn around my fingers and cherish his name.

Reblog: Caretakers of Wounded Soldiers

We found this short article on Time on how a foundation that sought to honor injured service members also took time to honor the caregivers that supported the war veterans:

When soldiers are injured in combat, the healing doesn’t stop in the hospital. After they return home, the reality sets in. Whether they suffer physical injuries or the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), their caretakers and loved ones share their struggle.

Bob Woodruff’s wife Lee knows understands this all too well. Less than a month after he was named anchor of ABC World News in January 2006, her husband was critically wounded by a roadside bomb in Iraq. During the recovery process, the Woodruffs formed the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which has hosted the Stand Up for Heroes benefit in New York for the past five years to honor injured service members.

The annual event features performances by musicians and comedians, but this year’s run offered something extra for the attending veterans’ caretakers. On November 8 and 9, fashion consultant and commentator Mary Alice Stephenson teamed up with the foundation to provide full makeovers and styling for 50 women, who were also outfitted in clothing donated by Sears.

Stephenson has attended the benefit every year, but decided to amp up the celebration after last year’s benefit, when she spent time extended time with some veterans and their families.

“This is about having fun and taking that worry off of them that there’s a red carpet,” Stephenson said. “It’s a world-renowned event—Bruce Springsteen’s singing, Jon Stewart’s performing—and now they don’t have to worry about how they look.”

Woodruff’s wife Lee added, “We weren’t sure how it was going to work or if they were going to respond to it, because these are women stepping out that don’t always feel so beautiful. No one is taking care of them.”

The organization sent out 50 invitations to vets who had been selected to participate in the makeover event. Unsurprisingly, all responded “yes.”

Stephenson and her assembled team of 25 stylists, makeup artists, assistants and design team members from Sears to give the servicewomen their special treatment. Each woman—48 caretakers and two servicewomen—met with a personal stylist, picked an outfit and accouterments on the first day and received a full makeover courtesy of L’Oreal and Dior on the second day.

Nikki Stephens, one of the primped-and-pampered women, grinned as she exited the conference room-cum-fashion studio in the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, clutching a long, black garment bag.

Stephens’ husband John was in Fallujah in 2004 when a chunk of mortar fell behind him. The Marine Corps immediately diagnosed him with PTSD, but his traumatic brain injury (TBI) and subsequent vision impairment went unnoticed for five years. Nikki cares for her husband and tries to lead a normal life while raising the couple’s three young children, who do not always understand the side effects of PTSD.

“It’s very hard to be around someone who can’t remember things, or has mood swings, or can become extremely depressed or angry,” she said. “I have to explain some of these behaviors to the kids when they witness it.”

Stephens’ emotional support is common among caretakers.

Carla Marie Martin, who received a makeover alongside her military vet sister Bernadette, lives 1,000 miles away from her sister but feels the weight of Bernadette’s injuries.

“She’s my sister and it’s just what you do, you take care of family,” Martin said. “So I’ll laugh with her and say, ‘Well, you don’t need to remember anything, sissy, because I’ll remember for you.’”

It’s these caretakers—who mostly shun the term—who often go unnoticed or unappreciated, Woodruff said. So it might come as no surprise that some of the women greeted the prospect of a makeover with apprehension.

“A few have said they’re nervous or ‘Oh God, this is overwhelming!’ But a good pair of high heels and a statement necklace changes everything,” Stephenson said.

The women who streamed in and out of the room—which was brightened with fluorescent lights and jam-packed with racks full of clothing—didn’t notice or care about their difficult job as caretaker. It’s an understood responsibility.

Stephens underscored the sentiment that the makeover event only added to the overall positive feeling of the benefit.

“I’m looking forward to laughing,” she said. “But also being with other veterans and their spouses, who understand what we go through.”

Article source: http://nation.time.com/2011/11/11/community-service-lending-a-beautifying-hand-to-caretakers-of-wounded-soldiers