CARE AFFAIRS
Know your risk of Alzheimer’s and stay sharp The start of a new year is an ideal time to take action to help stave off diseases such as Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia, writes KENDALL MORTON.
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id you know that age is the single biggest risk factor for having Alzheimer’s? In fact, with every five years, post-65, the risk doubles. Age is something you can’t alter but there are other risk factors for cognitive decline that you can do something about. Knowing some of the risks may help motivate you and your loved ones to get mentally fit this year. Risk 1: High Blood Pressure Many Australians are unaware that their blood pressure is dangerously high because you don’t get symptoms to warn you. According to the Heart Foundation, nearly six million Australians have high blood pressure. Without treatment, this puts them at high risk of a stroke, heart attack or kidney disease. Doctors in Canada found that patients over the age of 80 who participated in a stroke
prevention program that combined blood pressure medication and lifestyle changes, reduced their incidence of dementia by up to 15 per cent. So, remember to get your blood pressure checked regularly. To reduce stress, block out time for yourself each week where you do something just for fun. Risk 2: Diabetes In general, the risk of developing Alzheimer’s is 10 per cent but for someone with diabetes, the risk is 20 per cent, Alzheimer’s’ Australia advises. High blood glucose levels and high insulin levels can damage the blood vessels and cells in the brain. If your waistline is more than 80cms for women or 94cms for men, you are in the risk category for diabetes. So see your doctor, examine your diet and get some regular activity. Risk 3: Depression Being depressed is not a normal
part of aging. However there are many reasons this condition can sneak in and get a foothold in your life. Your loved ones may become ill and die. Your social circle can shrink. Depression can come on after an illness or the loss of mobility or can accompany chronic pain. If untreated, depression will increase your chances of getting Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia. Be open to making new friends as you get older. Join a group that interests you this year.
For loved ones with limited mobility, volunteer associations can arrange social visitors. Stay alert to your own moods and seek help if needed. Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 can help. Risk 4: Exposure to pollution The air around roads and power plants contains microscopic particles that seep into your blood stream and lungs. These super-fine polluting particles, known as particulate matter, are the result of combustion. When they enter your body,
they cause oxidative stress and free radicals are formed. Many studies have shown that this overload of free radicals contributes to a range of diseases, including heart failure, depression and Alzheimer’s. Research from the University of Southern California found older women who lived in areas where they were exposed to high levels of fine pollution particles had a 92 per cent higher risk of developing dementias including Alzheimer’s. Limit your time near highways and power plants. When choosing somewhere to live, consider the nearby roads and traffic density. On busy roads, drive with your windows up and air-conditioning on. Keep this in mind and boost your mental fitness in 2019. Kendall Morton is the director of Home Care Assistance. Email kmorton@ homecareassistance.com
Hearing and understanding are not the same thing We need to have patience with people with hearing loss to be sure that the words spoken have been clearly understood. PETER LINDLEY explains.
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an you hear me?” is a common question from a hearing person to someone they know to have impaired hearing. Unknowingly, they are asking only one question instead of two, when it is more complex than that. Our auditory system is very complex. However, to reduce that complexity, consider these two fundamental areas of understanding. First, the word “hearing” refers to the sounds we hear. Second, the word “processing” refers to our brain making sense of those sounds and organising the sounds in a coherent format that we can understand. Thus, we have two questions to ask: “Can you hear me?” and “Can you give me feedback as to what you have heard”. This will confirm understanding or misunderstanding. Being in hospital is a very stressful experience for those with a hearing loss. The stress is exacerbated for the person who is deaf or hearing impaired through not knowing what is
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going on – what is to be done to them and why? So, ensuring that the deaf or hearing-impaired person is well aware of what is going on serves two purposes: Reducing the stress on the patient and reducing the possibility of errors occurring. Person-centred care includes effective communication through recognition that hearing loss is a significant disability that, if not identified, creates a risk situation and can lead to unsafe practices impacting on the hearingimpaired person, and those involved in their care, and also on the hospital itself. After working for 33 years in the rehabilitation wards of a large public hospital, and after seeing a purely clinical focus, I am convinced that recognition of the patient as a person, and ensuring that the approach to healing is kind and respectful, will encourage their involvement in their own care and have a significant impact on recovery and rehabilitation outcomes.
People with a hearing impairment are usually provided with a cochlear implant or a hearing aid – or both. The device provides us with the sounds we need to hear. It does not process those sounds in an identifiable context. The auditory centre in our brain is still that part of our being which is responsible for enabling us to understand what we are hearing. Therefore, the common misconception that the technology enables us to hear and immediately understand what we are hearing – is incorrect. To one degree or another, depending on the individual and the part of the hearing pathway which is damaged, they assist us in the hearing process, but understanding is the challenge that we all must deal with. Effective communication requires appropriate strategies to assist the process of understanding. It is essential that you face
the person/s who have a hearing loss, speak clearly and modify your rate of speech in order to give the hearing impaired person/s time to process what you are saying. Further, “can you hear me?” is likely to elicit a “yes” as they may think they have heard – and understood – but in fact
may not have received the correct message. Asking for feedback is also a very important strategy. Peter Lindley, is a life member of Deafness Forum of Australia, a hearing impaired consumer, and a committee member of Be Heard – Redlands.
PATIENCE IS KEY Consider the analogy of providing a wheelchair to a person who has lost the use of their legs. The wheelchair enables the user to move about but it does not give them back the use of their legs. So, hearing aids and cochlear implants give some degree of hearing but they do not restore the hearing which has been lost and therefore not the understanding of the spoken word being heard. Just as we make room for a person in a wheelchair to move about between us and have patience as they catch
up with us as we walk, we need to have patience with the person with hearing loss to be sure that the words that we have spoken have been clearly understood. We do this by facing them; speaking clearly (not shouting) and waiting for a response, to be sure that we are all on the same page. It is a very real and frustrating situation for the person with hearing loss to deal with each and every day; tiring and dispiriting as we are often thought of as being unintelligent. This is certainly not the case.
Brisbane
23/01/2019 10:07:23 AM