Several studies are showing links to our dietary habits and our risk for Alzheimer’s. The Mayo Clinic reports that a hybrid of two diets, the DASH diet that helps reduce high blood pressure and the Mediterranean diet that improves heart health, may protect our brain health.
Known as the "MIND" diet, which is short for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, the diet consists of lots of natural plant-based foods while limiting red meat, saturated fat and sugar. Based on observational studies, research suggests that following the MIND diet can “reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by up to 53 percent as well as slow cognitive decline and improve verbal memory.” One category of food at the top of the list is green leafy vegetables with a recommendation of at least six servings a week in dishes such as salads. The diet also includes one serving of other vegetables daily. MIND’s primary fruit is to eat berries at least twice a week. Red meat is reduced to less than four times a week, cheese to less than one serving per week, while poultry and fish consumed twice or once a week respectively. Other recommended proteins include nuts and beans. Oil should be mainly from olive oil and butter or margarine reduced to less than a tablespoon a day; and fried or fast food eaten less than once a week. MIND includes a glass of wine a day but limits pastries and sweets to less than five times a week. The Mayo Clinic says study results also found you do not have to strictly follow the diet to gain benefits. For example, “adults in the study who followed the diet most closely (an average score of 9.6 points out of 15) saw the biggest drop in their Alzheimer's risk, the ones who scored in the middle (7.5 points) still cut their risk by over a third.” At MorningStar of Beaverton senior living community, our many services and amenities include 5-Star dining. Our delicious meals are prepared largely from scratch and include the freshest, healthiest ingredients. In addition, our nutritional choices include low sodium, sugar free, no sugar added, vegetarian and low fat for residents to self-manage. Our beautiful home offers suites for assisted living in spacious studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom floor plans. Additionally, the Reflections Neighborhood has secure suites devoted to the specialized care of residents with memory impairment. Please contact us for more information. MorningStar of Beaverton proudly provides the very best in senior living with our unique mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.” Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Please visit our website to discover why MorningStar is a step above an ordinary assisted living facility. Source: mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/in-depth/15-simple-diet-tweaks-cut-alzheimers-risk/art-20342112
0 Comments
If the pandemic caused you to gain a couple of pounds or waylaid your efforts to get to the gym or take a walk, now is the time to resume your resolve to be a better you. “Research shows that the start of any new phase — be it the resumption of post-pandemic life, turning a year older or the invigorating days of spring — can serve as powerful psychological motivation to kick-start new habits. It’s called the fresh-start effect.”
In fact according to behavioral experts, anytime we have a change in our lives such as the stage we are now going into is a good time to think about habits we want to change. However they advise many of our actions are habitual and many of us may need more than motivation to create new habits. One tip to healthier habits is to gradually lay the foundation for a new habit by setting realistic and specific goals. For example if a goal is to begin walking, start by putting on your walking shoes every day at a time anchored to something you already do such as right after dinner. From there evolve your habit into actually walking. Professionals say it is easier to adopt a new habit into your routine if it is something you enjoy. Adding a social component like walking or taking an exercise class with a friend can make exercise more pleasurable. Studies find people who team up with an “exercise buddy” have more success, and researchers say it is a probably the combination of enjoyment and accountability. MorningStar at Golden Ridge in Peoria, AZ is a beautiful senior living community offering older adults a lifestyle of comfort, wellness and security. We have 38 Casitas for independent living (quadraplexes with attached garages) and 65 private assisted living suites in a range of floorplans as well as compassionate memory care. Remarkable for our exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities, we are most proud of our dedicated team who understands it is a privilege to serve seniors. Source: aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2021/creating-healthy-habits.html It is important to not only exercise our bodies and our mind for optimal health, but our eyes as well. Experts say daily eye exercises can help to maintain and sharpen our ability to focus, reduce eye strain and irritation, and slow down deterioration that occurs as we age.
Along with eye exercises, it is important for seniors to get regular eye exams to check for changes in vision including glaucoma, cataracts, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A nutritional diet is another part of promoting good eye health as is exercise. Moving your body keeps the blood flowing to every part of the body. Eye exercises are simple to do and can be done in a few minutes. One of the easiest is to blink. Blinking helps lubricate and strengthen the eyes. Start by relaxing the eye and then blinking lightly and rapidly 15 times. If you experience eye strain from too much computer time, squeeze your eyes gently shut, open, and relax. Do ten times in a row. Next, try flexing the eyes by looking up without moving your head, then look down. Now look to the left and then the right also keeping the head still. Repeat 10 times. Palming is a yoga technique used to relieve eye strain. Sit in a relaxed position with eyes closed; place the palms of your hands over your eyes, the base of your palms on your cheeks, and fingers on your forehead. Be sure not to use too much pressure, you should be able be blink your eyes. Hold in this position for two minutes. Another exercise involves refocusing on object both near and far. Start by focusing on an object near at hand. Once you have completely focused, look at something 30 feet away and focus on that object. Next you can try the same thing with something far in the distance. MorningStar Senior Living at Golden Ridge offers seniors a lifestyle of comfort, wellness and community with an array of amenities and services. Our senior living options include assisted living and independent living along with memory care. We are dedicated to creating a true home for carefree retirement years. Please visit our website or contact us to learn more. A garden full of beautiful flowers and/or home-grown vegetables is a gratifying pastime for many seniors. Not only does it offer beauty and wholesome, nutritional food for you and those you share your bounty with, but a healthier lifestyle.
Experts say getting outside to work in the garden is a wonderful way to get exercise and enjoy nature as well as to get a dose of vitamin D. They warn to protect your exposed skin with a sunscreen of 30 SPF or higher, wear light, loose clothing, and sunglasses to protect your eyes. Be sure to take frequent breaks, stay hydrated and don’t overdo it, and avoid working outside during the heat of the day. Gardening is a great way to reduce anxiety and stress and to forget about your problems, at least for a while. Overall even a few hours a week doing something as enjoyable as garden can strengthen muscles, improve mobility and increase flexibility. Growing tomatoes and lettuce or starting a herb garden is a great place for beginners to start and are appropriate plants for container gardening. For flowers, stick to ones appropriate for your particular region. Planning your garden is a big part of the fun and studies show along with the physical aspect of gardening and the critical thinking skills regarding what to plant and how to take care of it may actually lessen your chance of getting Alzheimer's. Another often overlooked benefit of gardening is the social aspect. While working in your garden may be a solitary activity, gardeners enjoy getting together in the forms of clubs, visiting their local farmers market, nursery trips, or joining a community garden project. The MorningStar at Golden Ridge senior living community offers stylish independent living and assisted living as well as compassionate, professional memory care. To ensure the comfort and wellbeing of residents, we offer resort-style amenities and services with beautiful common areas inside and out including two-story great rooms, bistro bar, and restaurant-style dining indoors and on our dining patio. Independent living residents enjoy our community amenities as well as a clubhouse located within their neighborhood. If you have trouble getting to sleep at night or staying asleep, you are not alone. Millions of people report having insomnia at some point in their life, and while it may not seem significant, lack of sleep can negatively affect every aspect of our lives.
Harvard Health Publishing explains sleep cycles change as we age, and for many, it may mean an interrupted night’s sleep. Most common in older men, medical experts say just because we are not getting a full night’s sleep, doesn’t mean we don’t need it. Dr. Lawrence Epstein, associate physician with the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital says, “"Research has shown that your sleep needs stay constant throughout adulthood." He adds, poor sleep has more to do with changing habits, not need. He cautions against routinely using over-the-counter sleep aids as they can quickly lose their effectiveness and do nothing to address the underlying problem. Sleep apnea; restless leg syndrome (RLS) and the need to use the bathroom at night may all be interfering with your sleep. Other culprits include depression, lack of exercise and pain. The doctor offers some tips to improve quality of sleep starting with a bedtime ritual an hour or so before a scheduled bedtime. He recommends relaxing with a warm bath and perhaps reading a book or another quiet pastime other than watching TV. Make sure the room is dark, and run a sound machine if helpful. Don’t get into the habit of napping too long during the day, no more than 20 to 30 minutes, and avoid caffeine and alcohol at least two hours before bedtime, or earlier if it is a problem. MorningStar at Golden Ridge is one of the area’s top senior living communities and has 38 Casitas, quadraplexes with attached garages, for independent living, and 65 suites for assisted living in our main building. For those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, we have 35 secure suites for memory care. We invite you to visit our website for pricing and availability. The John Hopkins Medical Center recently published an article regarding senior cardiac patients that said “those who kept a personal health record enjoyed better health—perhaps because they and their caregivers could better see their health picture.” Doctors say especially in emergency situations, having up-to-date records readily available is extremely helpful for healthcare providers.
For many, the older we get means we have accumulated quite an extensive medical history, and keeping it in order may seem somewhat daunting. This is where some tips from the medical community will be welcomed. The first suggestion from John Hopkins’ geriatric medicine physician Alicia Arbaje, M.D., M.P.H., is to create a Doctor Directory of every healthcare provider you see. Record their specialty and why you see them as well as contact information. The next step is to create a current file for this year’s medical records. This should include: summaries of your doctors’ visits; hospital discharge summaries, test results; and pharmacy print outs of medications you are taking. Dr. Arbaje recommends including insurance forms related to treatments as well as a copy of your living will and medical power of attorney. Older records can be stored away and brought out when the need arises. If you have a chronic disease, experts recommend keeping a log of symptoms and side effects. This would include things like blood pressure readings and blood sugar numbers. When taking a new medication, include any information regarding how you are responding to the new drug. To make it easier to update and manage your medical file, take advantage of apps designed for that purpose and check if your healthcare providers offer online medical charts that are available to you. At the MorningStar at Golden Ridge senior living community, we offer a lifestyle of comfort, wellness, and security in the form of independent living, assisted living and memory care. Please visit our website to learn more about availability and pricing. MorningStar at Golden Ridge’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options. Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve. We are in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities. Please visit our website to learn more about trusted independent living & assisted living in the Phoenix area. Source: hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/medical-records-getting-organized Experts suggest that a good way to reduce medical errors regarding your care or that of a loved one is to be an active partner in the process whether in a hospital setting, doctors’ office or the pharmacy. The World Health Organization reports “an estimated 10% of patients in high-income countries are harmed while receiving hospital care.” Also according to a 2021 report in StatPearls, “medical errors result in about 100,000 deaths in hospitals and clinics annually.”
Furthermore, studies show the most harmful errors in primary and outpatient health care settings are related to diagnoses, prescriptions and use of medicines. Mistakes associated with misdiagnoses resulted in delayed treatment for the real problem and having the wrong drugs prescribed. However it is important to keep in mind that some medical errors are a result of patients failing to disclose all of the drugs they take including prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Another problem is the failure to reveal pertinent details regarding a person’s prior medical history as well as lifestyle habits such as smoking, diet and alcohol consumption. Medical professional say to remember the time spent with your doctor is short, so to help prevent errors with care, come prepared to your appointment by putting in writing critical points you wish to discuss. The Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore has a QuestionBuilder app available by AHRQ at Google Play or the Apple App store to help you focus on the questions you need to ask during your appointment. Other things to do before the appointment include putting together a list of medications you take, the dosage, and why you take it. If you worry about forgetting something you were told during the visit, take along a family member or trusted friend. Also ask questions and seek a second opinion if it would make you more comfortable. Most importantly if a medical problem is not getting better; remain persistent in addressing it with your medical team. At the MorningStar at Golden Ridge senior living community, our home is a family that includes residents, their families and team members. Along with 65 suites for assisted living, we have 38 Casitas for independent living and 35 secure suites devoted to the care of residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia. Please contact us to learn more about our amenities, care services, and availability and pricing. MorningStar at Golden Ridge’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options. Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve. We are in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities. Please visit our website for more information on trusted independent living & assisted living in Peoria. If you live in or around Phoenix, you most likely know there are lots of senior living communities throughout the area; but we want you to know you will not find a better one to work for than our MorningStar homes. We believe that every position is essential to the smooth operation of our communities and the wellbeing of our residents. In fact, each of our communities is designed to promote an atmosphere where both residents as well as team members can thrive.
As a service professional, you will become an expert on understanding our residents’ unmet needs, reading body language, nurturing connections, and knowing life stories and preferences. You will know the best ways to surprise and delight our cherished residents as well as appreciate the intrinsic value of your service and the effect you have on the lives of seniors. To build a united team that serves with wholehearted distinction, we have followed the directives of our mission statement, which reads to “invest generously in our team’s ability to serve well.” Thus, all employees are provided with meaningful training and support from directors, supervisors and fellow team members so they can excel in their role. We are also proud to support our team members with some of the most generous benefits in the industry. Compensation starts with competitive wages, and bonus or incentive opportunities (depending on position). In addition, employees are eligible for paid holidays, paid vacation, paid sick time, birthday appreciation day, 401k plan availability, health savings account availability, uniforms, and advancement opportunities. At MorningStar, we strive to make sure our team is paid well for the valuable services they provide our company. If this ignites your passions, please visit our website’s Career page to search open positions at our communities in Phoenix, Glendale, Fountain Hills, and Peoria, AZ. While you are there, visit our communities’ home pages to learn more about us. At MorningStar’s Arcadia, Arrowhead, Golden Ridge & Fountain Hills communities, our unique mission statement: “to honor, to serve, to invest,” sets us apart from other senior living options. We are committed to a foundation built upon honoring God and valuing all seniors, and are currently recruiting staff with a felt calling to serve seniors. If you would like to serve, we invite you to visit MorningStar’s Career page for information on a range of positions including housekeeping jobs in Phoenix. John Hopkins published a study that found mild hearing loss doubles the risk for dementia. The nearly 12 year study included 639 adults and further reported that a moderate hearing loss tripled the risk, and people with severe hearing loss were five times more likely to develop dementia.
The study was headed by Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., who explains that the problem may come from the fact that many people who experience hearing loss deliberately avoid being around others and socially isolate. A hearing loss makes it difficult for the person to follow conversations and they don’t like to put themselves in social situations that make them uncomfortable. Another problem is it actually makes our brain’s work harder as it mutes some of the subtle sounds our ears intuitively use to help us safely walk. Dr. Lin says his group has another study planned to determine if hearing aids help to mitigate some of the negative effects of hearing loss including the higher risk of dementia. He does add that hearing aids certainly help individuals get back into the conversation and to enjoy being around their friends and family again. Statistics show that while almost 27 million Americans age 50 years and older have some level of hearing loss, only one in seven people use a hearing aid. If you think your hearing may be diminished, you should make an appointment with an audiologist for a complete hearing check. Doctors also encourage individuals not to fall prey to the many myths involving hearing aids including worrying about looking older by wearing one as today’s hearing aids are less conspicuous and smaller than ever. And yes, doctors do say there is a breaking in period for a hearing aid but most doctors and hearing centers offer a trial period to make sure it is the right fit for you. MorningStar of Beaverton proudly provides the very best in senior living with our unique mission statement of “to honor, to serve, to invest.” Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing all seniors and selecting staff with a felt calling to serve. Please visit our website to discover why MorningStar is a step above an ordinary assisted living facility. Source: hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-hidden-risks-of-hearing-loss Sometimes a senior experiences a fall or anther medical emergency that precipitates the need for a change in their living circumstances such as a move into assisted living. Other times, the situation is not so clear-cut and is more a case of a senior slowly losing the ability to attend to their daily care needs. We know it is upsetting for families to see their loved one lose a step, which is why experts offer advice to help determine if an assisted living setting would be an improvement in their lifestyle.
One way to decide if assisted living is right for your parent or another loved one is to take an inventory of the things they are having trouble doing for themselves and if assistance would improve their quality of life. For instance, are they having a hard time preparing and cooking meals or need help bathing, toileting, and dressing? Have they stopped driving and spend a lot of time alone? Is your normally tidy mom now letting the household tasks go and even mail is stacking up unopened and bills not getting paid? Other factors that indicate the need for more help includes recent falls or burns from using water that is too hot or from trying to cook. Warning signs also include a history of medication mismanagement or worsening chronic health problems, which could all benefit from the care received in an assisted living community. At MorningStar at Golden Ridge, our vibrant campus is on 8.8 acres and includes assisted living as well as independent living and memory care. We make it easy for your retirement years to be carefree with a full range of amenities, care services, wellness programs and activities as well as our hospitality and care team who feel called to serve seniors. Please visit our website for availability and pricing. MorningStar at Golden Ridge’s distinct mission statement “to honor, to serve, to invest” sets us apart from other senior living options. Our foundation is built on honoring God, valuing our seniors and hiring staff with a felt calling to serve. We are in a warm, loving environment with exceptional architecture and resort-style amenities. Please visit our website to learn more about trusted independent living & assisted living in lovely Peoria. |
At MorningStar Senior Living we strive to create a true home where you can enjoy your retirement years as carefree as possible. Offering a lifestyle of comfort, wellness and community, our care team is committed to giving residents a quality of life that other senior living communities simply cannot match. Archives
September 2023
Categories
All
|