According to a latest research it was discovered that pain in elderly with dementia are often undetected.
The researchers discovered that the elderly who suffer from dementia aren’t able to say when something hurts or is sore.
They may demonstrate their pain through behaviours like rocking or striking out, and we often dismiss these actions as symptoms of the dementia instead of pain, which is usually from a different problem.
The researchers revealed arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, fractures, muscular contractures, bruises, abdominal pain and mouth ulcers are among the list of common ailments that go undetected.
The family of elderly suffering from dementia need to be vigilant since studies show the pain suffered by these people often goes undetected.
The research team explained it is important for those who live or work with persons with dementia to know how to identify when an elderly person is experiencing pain and receive treatment sooner rather than later.
The University of Alberta’s Cary Brown, PhD, has a new tool to help.
She has developed an on-line workshop and toolkit for caregivers, health-care providers, family members and friends of people with dementia.
The researcher from the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine created an evidence-based website with a narrated presentation on pain and dementia, a downloadable resource pack for family members, a downloadable pain log and a facilitator’s toolkit with background material, a planning guide, promotional material and supplemental information for organizations who wish to put on a workshop.
According to a latest medical study middle aged people who smoke, have high blood pressure or diabetes are far more likely to develop dementia in later life.
With the result, researchers hoped that people could modify their lifestyle in mid-life to avoid developing dementia.
Based on medical facts, dementia is a growing public health problem affecting older people in developed countries.
It is perceived that one in six people older than 70 have dementia.
Based on this number it is expected that the number of people with dementia will grow threefold by 2050, compared with 2000.
Earlier research have shown that the presence of cardiovascular risk factors including high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and smoking increase the risk of developing subsequent dementia, but have often failed to show the relationship.
Researchers from the universities of Minnesota, North Carolina and John Hopkins and the University of Mississippi Medical Center studied more than 11,000 people aged 46-70 who were participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study in 1990-92.
In their study, people underwent a physical examination and cognitive testing at that time and they were followed up until 2004 to see how many were hospitalized with dementia.
Middle age people should live a healthy lifestyle to avoid suffering from dementia later in their adult life.
After following their progress, the researchers identified 203 cases of hospitalization with dementia.
Smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes were all strongly associated with dementia in white participants and African-Americans.
The results showed that rates of hospitalization with dementia increased exponentially with age in men and women and in different ethnic backgrounds.
Overall, African-Americans had a two and a half times higher rate of hospitalization than white people and African-American women in particular had the highest rates of all.
Current smokers were 70% more likely than those who had never smoked to develop dementia, people with high blood pressure were 60% more likely than those without high blood pressure, and people with diabetes were more than twice as likely than those without diabetes to develop it.
No association was found between people who were obese/overweight and dementia in later life.
The researchers explained the results suggest that smoking cessation and prevention or control of high blood pressure and diabetes starting in midlife may have the added benefit of decreasing dementia hospitalization risk.
The researchers added the results emphasize the importance of healthy lifestyle modification and risk factor treatment to prevent dementia.
Here is a piece of good news to those persons suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
A recent study has shown that a group of chemicals found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, cocoa and red wine could protect the brain from Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating, progressive disorder affecting an estimated 15-20 million people worldwide.
Over the past four decades, through worldwide research efforts, it is now known that in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease there are abnormal cellular processes which lead to neurodegeneration and dementia. Understanding these disease processes at the molecular level will allow the development of pharmacological agents to block these processes, and lead the way for effective therapies in Alzheimer’s disease.
Central to the development of Alzheimer’s disease is toxic beta-amyloid peptide, a substance that is normally produced in the brain but, in this disease, is deposited abnormally as amyloid plaques.
Dr. Robert Williams, a Biochemist working at Kings College London revealed that while much more research needs to be done, there is mounting evidence that certain flavonoids chemicals found in plants and food derived from plants - might provide therapeutic benefit for Alzheimer’s sufferers.
Williams told the media in a recent interview that there have been some intriguing epidemiological studies that the consumption of flavonoid-rich vegetables, fruit juices and red wine delays the onset of the disease.
He said these reports, while not as powerful as controlled, randomized clinical trials, have encouraged a number of research groups, including our own, to investigate the biology of flavonoids in more detail.
The medical expert revealed a lack of good research and clinical trial data meant this field of research had suffered from a lack of scientific credibility, not helped by early positive health claims for flavonoids that cannot access the brain or are broken down too rapidly by the body to be of any benefit.
The medical expert added skepticism also persists because flavonoids are known antioxidants and yet clinical trials with other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, showed no reported benefit on either symptoms or disease progression in dementia.
Williams said a new concept is emerging that suggests flavonoids do not act simply as antioxidants but exert their biological effects through other mechanisms.
To all those persons suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease it is time to consume tea, cocoa and red wine since they contain flavonoid which could treat your sickness.
He said a small number of recent studies carried out in models of Alzheimer’s disease have found that oral administration of green tea flavonoids or grape flavonoids reduces brain pathology and, in some cases, improves cognition. Dr Williams and colleagues have focused their own cellular studies on a flavonoid called epicatechin, which is abundant in a number of foodstuffs, including cocoa.
Furthermore, Williams said he and his team found that epicatechin protects brain cells from damage but through a mechanism unrelated to its antioxidant activity and shown in laboratory tests that it can also reduce some aspects of Alzheimer’s disease pathology.
Williams said their findings is very interesting because epicatechin and its breakdown products are measurable in the bloodstream of humans for a number of hours after ingestion and it is one of the relatively few flavonoids known to access the brain suggesting it has the potential to be bioactive in humans.
He said flavonoids can protect brain cells against the toxic actions of beta-amyloid.
He adds: "Although our findings support the general concept that dietary intake of flavonoid-rich foods or supplements could impact on the development and progression of dementia, they are clearly insufficient to make any sort of nutritional recommendations at this stage.
Williams said the challenge now is to identify the single flavonoid or combination of flavonoids that exert the most positive effects and to define the mechanisms of action and optimal quantity required before embarking on clinical trials to treat their effectiveness in dementia.