Fulton Community Matters December 2015

Commun ty Matters Fulton Presbyterian Manor

COMING UP IN COMMUNITY MATTERS:

Everyone has a story to tell

What’s your secret artistic talent?

An upcoming edition of Community Matters will focus on Art is Ageless®. The Art is Ageless® program encourages residents and other area seniors to express their creativity through an annual art competition and exhibit, musical and dramatic events, educational opportunities and current events discussions. What talent have you discovered?

If you’ve got a story about what inspires you to create, contact Keri Edwards, and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.

December 2015

Residents share memories of New Years past 2016 is right around the corner, so we asked residents to share with us their fondest memories of New Years past.

“The way to begin a NewYear was to go out. Several couples would get together and go to the dance at the VFW Hall.” – Mildred Greenburg

“We would stay home and relax after putting the Christmas stuff away and cleaning up after the holidays.” – Frances Dungan

“We tell each other we’re glad to start a new year together. Then we’d do all the things that needed to be done on the farm, called the neighbors and went to church if they had it that day.” – Helen Epple

“We would make a NewYear’s resolution and had family in.” – Kathleen Biswell

“Family would get together and butcher a hog. I enjoyed listening to all the joking, carrying on, and eating fresh pork loin.” – Janet Nelson

Send an angel this holiday season.

Special angels will be adorning holiday displays at every Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America (PMMA) senior living community.

Are you keeping your talent a secret?

Share it with us.

The “angels” are ornaments that will arrive throughout the holiday season along with gifts to the annual Christmas Angel Appeal, which raises funds for the Good Samaritan Program for Benevolent Care.

If you would like to participate in the Angel Appeal, please email Development@pmma.org or call 800-336-8511.

Potential treatments ahead for Alzheimer’s Disease

By Rita Rubin for Next Avenue

Dr. Howard Fillit has directed the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, which supports the search for effective treatments for the disease.

“I’ve seen in my lifetime amazing progress,” Fillit said. “We have caught up… to understanding as much about the biological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease as we know about cancer and heart disease.”

No cure as of now Alzheimer’s disease affects an estimated 5.1 million Americans 65 and older.

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Community Matters is published monthly for residents and friends of Fulton Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of 501(c)(3) organization. Learn more at PresbyterianManors.org.

Dawn Smith, executive director Keri Edwards, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact kedwards 2@pmma.org.

Telephone: 573-642-6646 Fax: 573-642-2202 Address: 811 Center St., Fulton, MO 65251-1922

Our mission: We provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.

FultonPresbyterianManor.org

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COMMUNITY MATTERS DECEMBER 2015

And since aging is the leading risk factor for Alzheimer’s, the numbers of affected Americans will only explode as boomers get older.

Much of the research focus has been on drugs to rid the brain of amyloid plaque, deposits of a protein whose role in Alzheimer’s has been widely debated.

According to a 20-year-old hypothesis, the build-up of amyloid in the brain causes memory loss in Alzheimer’s.

However, anti-amyloid drugs have failed in large clinical trials, raising questions about the role of amyloid plaque in Alzheimer’s.

The forces at play Together, aging, genetics, inflammation and amyloid trigger the degeneration of neurons in Alzheimer’s disease, said Dr. Frank Longo, chair of neurology and neurosciences at Stanford University.

New medications One of the drugs developed by Longo and his colleagues is expected to begin Phase II safety and efficacy testing in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s in the second quarter of 2016, Longo said. Phase I safety tests in healthy people found no significant side effects, he said.

To make sure that what they were seeing wasn’t related to the fact that the mice were genetically engineered to develop severe Alzheimer’s, he said, they also tested the drug in normal mice. With normal aging in both humans and other mammals, the numbers of certain types of nerve cells in the brain shrink, but the drug was able to reverse the decline in the aged mice that did not have Alzheimer’s, Longo said.

Treatments in the Pipeline Other promising research that Fillit’s foundation is funding includes:

Thinkstock photo

Foundation announces promising research in the fight against the illness

Alzheimers: ‘It's a highly robust disease.You can’t just chip away at the edges.’

“Repurposing” a low-dose form of an epilepsy drug called levetiracetam to treat amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). MCI causes a slight but noticeable decline in memory and thinking skills, and aMCI predominantly affects memory. People with MCI are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. In a phase II trial, the drug significantly improved memory in elderly aMCI patients.

Using a fat-soluble form of vitamin B1, or thiamine, to increase glucose (sugar) metabolism and slow cognitive decline associated with aMCI or mild Alzheimer’s disease.

The brain uses more energy in the form of glucose and oxygen than any other organ, and if it doesn’t get enough, cells will degenerate, Fillit said. “Thiamine itself doesn’t get into the brain very well,” he said. “This is basically sort of a better vitamin.”

Testing a drug in patients with mildto-moderate Alzheimer’s that stimulates the clearing of amyloid from the brain, reduces inflammation and improves cognition. None of the other anti-inflammatory drugs that have been tested in Alzheimer’s have worked, Fillit said.

Halloween costume contest winners

Staff had a great time dressing up and residents enjoyed judging their creativity at our annual Halloween costume contest.

First place was Jared and Jill Boese, children of Bessie Boese, LPN Medical Records.

Barbara and Don Franzen with Debra Bates, Human Resource Director, and Fabio.

Second place was Lowe Cannell, Environmental Services Director.

Third place was Maria Olivarez, CNA.

Lowe Cannell dressed as “Jake, from State Farm.”

Jared and Jill Boese Jackie Spencer and Sausage

Dawn Smith, Executive Director, and her dogs Ranger and Peanut

Other great cOstuMes incluDeD:

Barbara and Don Franzen with Debra Bates, Human Resource Director, and Debra’s dog, Fabio

Dawn Smith, Executive Director, and her dogs Ranger and Peanut

Jackie Spencer, LPN Assisted Living Supervisor and her pet pig, Sausage

Chelsey, Julie and Annie

Annie Meyer, Frances Dungan, Debra Bates and Fabio

Chelsey, Julie and Annie with Rehab Care are dressed as the Spice Girls Annie Meyer, Frances Dungan, Debra Bates and Fabio

FULTON PRESBYTERIAN MANOR 3

Tis the season for giving

We are having our annual resident Christmas breakfast/party on December 23 at 6 a.m.

Anyone who wants to donate an item for a resident, male or female, can drop the wrapped gift off at Fulton Presbyterian Manor, 811 Center Street, Fulton, MO 65251

by December 4. If someone wants to donate a Christmas gift for a resident but doesn’t know what to get, call Keri Edwards at 573-642-6646 for ideas.

We're also in need of iTunes gift cards to support our Music & Memory program.

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Fulton Presbyterian Manor 811 Center St. Fulton, MO 65251-1922

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Vehicle donations help others

The season of giving is here. Wouldn’t it be great to know that your donation helped seniors who have outlived their financial resources? Turn that unneeded vehicle into holiday cheer and receive a tax deduction!

We accept many donations types including cars, RVs, boats, planes and more. Donating your vehicle will help seniors who have outlived their financial resources at a Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America campus in so many ways. Call us at 844-490-GIVE (4483) or visit FultonPresbyterianManor.org/vehicle_donations and fill out the form. We will take care of the rest.

Tis the season, give for a reason.

4 COMMUNITY MATTERS DECEMBER 2015

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