Commun ty Matters Wichita Presbyterian Manor
Lifestyle changes key to Alzheimer’s prevention We now have a prescription that researchers think can delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. It’s not a pill, it’s a list of lifestyle choices. Results from a landmark study announced this summer show that having a healthy lifestyle may be the key. “It’s the first time we have been able to give people a kind of recipe for what is useful,” said Maria Carrillo, vice president of medical and scientific relations at the Alzheimer’s Association. More than 5 million Americans live with Alzheimer’s, and it is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. Millions more will likely develop dementia as the baby boomers age. In the study, researchers looked at 1,260 people in Finland from 60 to 77 years old, who were at risk for Alzheimer’s. One group went on a lifestyle improvement program and the other group received general health advice. The results were dramatic. The lifestyle program included: Eat well: Start by adding fruits and vegetables to your regular diet. Ease out fats and fried foods, and always choose whole grains rather than highly refined bakery products. BRAIN, continued on page 3
November 2014
‘Hurry Back’ Artist advances to first place with painting Nancy Luttrell could see them just sitting there— two dogs, one black, one golden, in a car in front of her neighbor’s house, waiting for their owner to return. The image struck her. “Hurry Back,” a painting by Nancy Luttrell Luttrell snapped a quick photo. Later, she took it to her easel and rendered the scene in watercolor. Her painting, “Hurry Back,” went on to win first in the amateur painting category this year at Wichita Presbyterian Manor’s Art is Ageless competition. Then, Luttrell’s piece placed first overall at the systemwide Masterpiece level, in which winners compete from all 18 Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America communities in Kansas and Missouri. “It was so unexpected,” said Luttrell, who lives in Wichita. “I’m still an amateur, so I still try to make an apple look like an apple. I just wanted to make the dogs look like dogs.” Luttrell first tried her hand at visual arts less than five years ago, first with a drawing class at the Wichita Center for the Arts and then moving on to painting classes. Her profession, however, is in the performing arts. Luttrell was a professor of violin at Wichita State University for more than 30 years, and she served as associate concertmaster in the Wichita Symphony until she retired in 2012. She still performs with the symphony. Her husband, Steve, conducted the Youth Symphony for several years and also taught music at Wichita Southeast and Newton high schools. She didn’t have time for art until retirement, Luttrell said. Now, she said, “I just want to get better.” Luttrell has joined the Kansas Art Guild and showed some of her work this fall in an exhibit at College Hill United Methodist Church. She’d like to participate in more. “I’ve just painted so many things, I needed to get them out of the house,” she laughed.