[ad_1]
Caring for a loved one with dementia can consume your life. But when everything revolves around this person, there is no time or energy to take care of you.
It's bad for both of you, said UC San Diego neuropsychologist Guerry (pronounced "Gary"). An exhausted person will not be able to provide the best care, she said. Even worse, the health of the caregiver is at risk, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease or even dementia.
But caregivers can play their part by changing their response to stress, Peavy said Saturday at the annual "Date With A Cure" forum hosted by Alzheimer San Diego.
"There are a lot of things that we do not really have control over, but that (the stress response) is modifiable," said Peavy, who is studying Alzheimer's and other dementias at the Center for Research on Disease. Alzheimer's disease of Shiley-Marcos.
Peavy and other local experts spoke to an audience of about 450 at the University of San Diego, up from 300 last year.
Regular exercise, meditation and other strategies reduce the effects of stress, she said. Learning more about Alzheimer's disease, as well as how to provide care, also helps, she added.
And the simple fact of contacting experts to get answers to questions – as they do at the forum – helps to calm people's minds.
Alzheimer San Diego provides direct assistance to caregivers with its respite program. The free service provides caregiver support to patients with dementia for four hours a week. It's time to go to the movies, see friends, go shopping or just sleep.
Other panel experts called on the public to consider participating in clinical trials of experimental drugs for Alzheimer's disease. Without these trials, no new Alzheimer's drug can be discovered.
These trials require a significant commitment of time from both volunteers and clinicians, said Dr. Michael Plopper, medical director of Sharp Behavioral Health Services.
"The criteria are pretty strict," Plopper said in a pre-forum interview. "We want to be able to involve the right people in the right studies, to determine more accurately whether the drug will work or not."
The most requested people are those who seem to be normal, but the warning signs of Alzheimer's disease are already present, said Dr. Paul Aisen, director of the Institute for Therapeutic Research of the University of Toronto. USC Alzheimer, based in San Diego.
These signs are toxic protein deposits beta amyloid and tau, said Aisen. And these can be detected with new brain scan technologies.
Because brain scans are time consuming and costly, researchers would like to pre-screen people to see if there are any subtle signs that cognition has recently begun to decline. The goal is to treat the disease as early as possible before the brain undergoes irreversible damage.
Aisen said that cognitive screens can be easily made from home by taking an online test. Volunteers aged 50 and over take the test every three months. If their cognition seems to diminish, the volunteers can be examined more closely to see if they are qualified for a test.
This assessment will speed up clinical trials by providing pre-identified volunteers who are ready to start a trial, said Mr Aisen. This can be particularly interesting for family members of people with Alzheimer's disease, who may be concerned if a memory problem is actually a sign of Alzheimer's disease.
More information on online evaluation is available at www.aptwebstudy.org.
Alzheimer's San Diego can be reached at www.alzsd.org, by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling 858-492-4400.
Information on respite care is available on j.mp/alzrespite.
For more information on clinical trials, go to j.mp/dementrials.
For information on caregiver and caregiver advice, visit caregiverSD.com
Related reading
Alzheimer's inside and out
Alzheimer's Association exec urges participation in clinical trials
How to protect your home from dementia
Light but serious about Alzheimer's disease
The website allows you to test the risk of Alzheimer's, to participate in clinical trials
Webstudy Alzheimer's Disease Prevention Trials
Free screenings of Alzheimer's San Diego
A growing record of Alzheimer's disease in life, dollars in San Diego described in reports
Events highlight challenges, hope for Alzheimer patients and caregivers
(619) 293-1020
[ad_2]
Source link
