The Benefits of Memory Care

For many people dealing with Alzheimer's or Dementia, the gradual loss of memory can not only be worrisome, but can be downright dangerous. While families try to help loved ones stay as independent as possible, there often comes a time when those suffering with memory loss need more help than loved ones can provide. If you've been trying to decide if assisted living is the right choice for your family, here are five benefits to professional memory care that may help you make your decision:

1.Meals

It's not unusual for those with memory issues to forget to feed themselves. Even if a loved one ensures that the kitchen is stocked, some patients simply forget to eat. On the other hand, some patients forget that they have already eaten, and eat again; often consuming double or triple necessary calories. In either case, eating issues can lead to weight loss or gain, illness and, in the case of weight gain, mobility issues. An assisted living facility will make sure that your loved one is eating three, nutritionally-sound meals each day.

2.Housekeeping

It's an unfortunate occurrence when those with memory care issues live in filth and clutter. Accumulation of dust and dirt can exacerbate respiratory illnesses, and clutter can cause trips and falls. Assisted living facilities have housekeepers on staff that will ensure your loved one's living environment is kept neat and clean. Not only will your loved one's room be kept clean, but their laundry will be washed as well. Having a clean living environment will greatly reduce the risk of illness or injury to your family member.

3.Personal Hygiene

People with memory care issues often neglect their personal hygiene, simply because it doesn't cross their mind to shower. When your loved one moved into an assisted living facility, his or her personal hygiene will never be forgotten. Your family member will receive help with incontinence issues, toileting and bathing. Proper hygiene is essential in maintaining healthy skin, an important part of the overall health of your loved one.

4.Transportation

It can be difficult for even the most dedicated family members to transport a loved one back and forth to scheduled appointments. When your loved one moves into an assisted living facility, he or she will be safely transported to every necessary medical appointment that takes place off-site. Additionally, residents are often transported to field trips of sorts, or scheduled outings designed to keep residents active and involved. In fact, seniors in assisted living facilities are often more active than those who continue to live on their own.

5.Family Support

Caregivers often forget about themselves and their own health when looking after a loved one with memory issues. When your family member moves into an assisted living facility, he or she won't be the only one getting support. Assisted living facilities provide both support and education for family members of residents. If you have questions or need help adjusting, the professional staff will be there for you.

It can be a difficult decision to move your loved one into an assisted living facility. You must ask yourself if your family member, and your family, will benefit more by continued home care or by the transition to assisted living. There's nothing to feel guilty about when considering an assisted living facility for your loved one; the benefits far outweigh any discomfort you're feeling.

Georgia Manor is a freelance writer nationwide. To learn more about safe and fun senior living, check out the several assisted living information sites available on the internet.

Obese 'lose memory sooner'

Those who are obese, and have other health problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, lose their memory and thinking skills almost a quarter faster, found researchers at University College London.

Their study was based on almost 6,500 Whitehall civil servants, whose health was monitored between the ages of 50 and 60.

They were weighed and measured, their blood pressure and cholesterol levels were taken, and they were also asked what medication they were taking.

In addition, they were asked to perform mental tests three times during the decade, which were used to assess memory and other cognitive skills.

Of the 6,401 civil servants in the study, nine per cent (582) were obese. Of those, 350 were also classed as "metabolically abnormal" - meaning they had two additional risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, were taking medication for either condition, or were diabetic.

The researchers found the obese tended to lose their mental powers faster than their thinner colleagues, while those who also had additional conditions lost their memory and thinking skills fastest of all.

The latter group experienced a 22.5 percent faster decline on their cognitive test scores over the decade than those who were healthy.

Archana Singh-Manoux, of the Paris research institute Inserm, who contributed to the study, said their results indicated the idea that people could be obese but still healthy was flawed.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "We do not yet know why obesity and metabolic abnormality are linked to poorer brain performance, but with obesity levels on the rise, it will be important to delve a little deeper into this association.

"While the study itself focuses on cognitive decline, previous research suggests that a healthy diet, regular exercise, not smoking and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol in midlife can also help stave off dementia.

"With dementia figures spiralling towards a million, the findings suggest we should be conscious of our general health throughout life."

By Stephen Adams at The Daily Telegraph

Capture that idea - blogging is about ideas

We know that great things start with a small idea and yet not all ideas that occur to us are able to see the light of day in terms of a considered piece of writing. But if you are into blogging then you will know that once a great idea is there a great blog post is just a little more time away. And we all would have experienced how difficult it can be to come up with an idea on demand. Even for some of the very creative ones amongst us.

Though once we recognize that ideas are of great importance we can learn to respect them and treat them with care so that ideas that occur to us do not evaporate away as other events in our life pile up one on top of the other.

So what can one do to increase our ability to care for our ideas? Well to start with one must recognize that a good idea does not come all fleshed out in great detail, it usually comes along as a seed of an idea that we then build it into a great idea. Once we have a great idea we care for it and perhaps may jot it down, but while it is still a seed we may not be as careful and there would be seeds of ideas that occurred to us but were later forgotten and were never allowed to evolve further. And that is not the best way for a blog writer. A better way is to jot down every seed of an idea as it occurs to us in a fleeting manner. For doing this you can use a pen and paper handy or you could use your cell phone to record a brief line about the seed of the idea which you can use later to refresh your memory.

Later when we have more time we can check out the thoughts that we have jotted down and start to develop them further. This method will allow us to do justice to all ideas that occur to us without worrying about how to remember them.

I often need to write on digital scales and if a fleeting though occurs to me I use my cell phone and speak out the idea briefly. Later I do the research related to the idea and write out the full article. I hope you find this approach useful as well.

Author bio : Mark Floyd has over 15 years experience in the digital scales industry. He has been a part of it, as better products have been launched over the years & have changed how weight is measured around the world. You can know more about floor scale, NTEP floor scale and other scales at his web site www.buyfloorscale.com.