WINNEMUCCA - Aug. 8 from 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. at HGH. Mark your calendars now for the program "Memory Loss, Dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease" presented by Dori Ward. Winnemucca is fortunate to have this special update. Our regular Winnemucca Support Group meeting will begin at noon and then we'll transition to Dori's program. With any luck we will be completely overwhelmed with community desire to learn more about AD and other dementias. RSVP your planned attendance to Dori at (775) 786-8061 or me at (775) 304-2899. Bring your loved one along if you'd like. We'll have volunteers to help as needed. And sometimes being a part of such a meeting brings meaning to the Alzheimer's victim.
Research suddenly appears brighter concerning Alzheimer's. Several studies are about to publish results on pre-early detection (I made that phrase up). We know the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease but there is much to learn about how the disease manifests itself far before any signals of its existence appear. Watch for the Massachusetts study results.
Paul Harasim, writer for the Las Vegas Review Journal, has a stirring tale of his mother who at 88 spent her last days in the hospital suffering from pneumonia that forced her from her Alzheimer's care home. Terrified, confused and distraught Mom had been removed from safety and comfort to a new, horrifying environment. While sometimes family could erase the fright, at other times she agonized. An article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine June 2012 explained her fear.
Investigators state that individuals with AD experience "accelerated decline and increased risk of going into a nursing home or dying" after hospitalization. Those who undergo delirium (drowsiness, disorientation and hallucination and/or a sudden inability to focus attention, sleeplessness and severe agitation and irritability) appear prone to the onset of Alzheimer's. Why cannot be answered at this time, but because of possible AD presence in a loved one who has been hospitalized and the general lack of training for medical professionals to recognize the core features, especially in the elderly, it is vital that you are equipped with adequate knowledge.
Warning signs may include: disturbance of consciousness (reduced clarity or awareness of the environment, with reduced ability to focus, sustain or shift attention); change in cognition (problem-solving or memory impairment) or a perceptual disturbance; behavior that is either overactive or underactive with sleep disturbance; thinking that is slow and muddled but often contains complex content; intrusive abnormalities of awareness such as hallucinations or inappropriate emotional states. These, too, are common to delirium.
What an upsetting list of possibilities! Surgery and hospital stays are scary enough without needless panic. Harasim continues, "...for those who experience delusions the chances of a poor outcome, including death, increases by 12 percent." Dr. Bernick of the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas adds, "But care outside of a hospital is not always possible... Hospital staffs are generally not trained to deal with people with cognitive impairment. Sleep medications, narcotics and anti-anxiety drugs actually make some with Alzheimer's more confused and more agitated." That happened with Harasims's mother who could not get well because she could not relax and rest or receive items like breathing treatments because of her overwhelming terror.
Many times family does not speak up for a loved one (I know I did not speak for my sister Carole as I should have because I had no legal authority in the eyes of the hospital and I did not want my anger to have her kicked out of care). Prescribed medications for the average patient do not have the positive affect intended when given to a victim of AD. With 77 million Boomers retiring the Alzheimer's crisis grows with the expected number of victims to exceed 16 million by 2050.
This is where your ideas and input count. As Nevada Task Force proceeds with an initiative for legislation on Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias, I am here to transport your concerns. As the leader for the work group "Access to Services," I want to know what you know and think. If you would like to complete a questionnaire or to share your insight, please call or e-mail me. Detection, diagnosis, treatment, transportation, needs of younger versus older onset, rural needs, socialization and support systems, and cultural issues all fall under my work group umbrella. Let your voice count! Knowledge is power and we need yours.
See you Aug. 8 in the Sarah Winnemucca conference room of Humboldt General. And hope to hear from you as well.
Gini Cunningham is the facilitator for the Alzheimer's Association Support Group, which meets the second Wednesday of each month at noon at Humboldt General Hospital. Her column appears the second Tuesday of each month in the Humboldt Sun. She can be reached via e-mail, gini.cunningham@sbcglobal.net.
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