Here is a piece of news I read in the Apple Daily yesterday. A true story between a son and his mother who suffers from dementia. Touching! Following the story is an online article on how to prevent dementia.
http://www.appledaily.com.tw/appledaily/article/headline/20131009/35350590/
孝子套招 失智母樂「都免費」
兒預付給店家 嬤由退縮變開朗
【曾雪蒨、蕭夙眉╱台中報導】「你是誰？我是小傑呀！」近日熱播的失智症電視廣告打動人心。台中真的有一名孝子謝先生呵護八旬失智老母，他和住處附近早餐店和髮廊套招、預付費用，待母親上門消費時，老闆就誇說：「老太太人緣好、免錢！」哄得老母親好開心。《蘋果》昨找到謝先生，他說：「媽媽小時候一口一口餵我吃飯，現在換我一口一口餵她，是天經地義。」
現年81歲的謝老太太是中山附醫神經內科醫師周希諴（諴音同賢）的病患，上月24日，老太太在50多歲兒子陪同下回診。周希諴說，穿粉色上衣的老太太神采奕奕，一進診間就說：「最近大家都對我很好，不跟我收錢。」護士說：「肯定是阿嬤太可愛。」她笑說：「我告訴你們，我連洗頭也免費。」樂得眼睛瞇成一條線。
不會用錢「無路用」
周希諴詢問才知道，老太太失智後對金錢沒概念，分不清百元和千元鈔，常抱怨：「我無路用（台語，我沒用）。」整天足不出戶，謝先生心生一計，和母親常光顧的店家套招，他先預付費用，老闆見母親來消費都要說：「老太太做人真好，免錢。」老太太心情大好，喜歡往外趴趴走。 《蘋果》聯繫上謝先生，才知道老太太昨不小心跌倒骨折、送醫開刀，謝先生守在手術房外焦急等候，他在電話中說，自己是獨子，媽媽生病後走失3次，都靠好心人送到警察局，1年前他突發奇想，找了媽媽常消費的早餐店、髮廊，跟老闆講好預付費用，再請店家跟媽媽說要請客，讓媽媽心情好，又不會忘記付錢，至今都沒再走失。 謝先生說：「我做的一切都只是為人子女該做的，只要她健康平安，再辛苦都值得。」周希諴醫師說，謝先生原本跟太太都有工作，1年前他辭職照顧媽媽，還報名參加失智者照顧者協會課程，是模範生中的模範生。
與人互動減緩退化
周希諴說，失智症患者會自我封閉，家屬應想辦法讓患者與人互動，有助緩和失智退化。台中大里仁愛醫院神經科主治醫師林俊豪說，失智症和腦組織退化、血管循環不好有關，初期出現剛發生的事馬上忘，例如剛吃完飯卻忘記吃過飯，或對自己有興趣的事情變得興趣缺缺、個性變暴躁等，建議家屬讓患者多動手學習，例如做陶藝、植栽，都是減少惡化的良藥。
孝子照顧病父病母 事件簿
★2013/06/12：罹患幽閉恐懼症的黃姓男子，到日本接癌母回台灣治療，卻因自己恐懼無法搭機，最後花25小時搭郵輪返台 ★2013/05/29：南投縣民吳明德開車載八旬病母下山看病，途中坍方路面顛簸，擔心母親受不了，吳先請母親下車，自己開車通過，再回頭背母親走過泥濘的落石區 ★2012/03/02：退休丁姓調查員以花布包巾抱母親到台南奇美醫院複診，被民眾以手機拍下上傳臉書，網友大受感動 資料來源：《蘋果》資料室
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/health/health+advice/how+to+prevent+dementia,17087
How to prevent dementia
BY Lucy Ballinger body+soul
Dementia is associated with old age, and as such, it's something many of us put off thinking about until retirement.
It is an umbrella term for a number of symptoms, including memory loss and confused thinking. Some sufferers have Alzheimer's, the most common form of the disease. Alzheimer's Australia estimates 280,000 people currently have dementia, with the number set to hit 981,000 by 2050 as our population ages.
Although little is known about why some people suffer from dementia, scientists have discovered ways of reducing the risk of developing it.
Combating the causes
Dr Michael Valenzuela, a senior research fellow at the University of New South Wales and the author of Maintain Your Brain (HarperCollins), says high blood pressure contributes to the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer's disease: vascular dementia. This can be caused by a stroke, heart problems, high cholesterol or diabetes.
He says, "Given the importance of vascular disease to dementia, anything we can do for better heart health can translate to better brain health too.
"If you have high blood pressure in your 40s and 50s, you are two and a half times more likely to get dementia in your 60s and 70s."
Dietary factors
Research published last year in the British Medical Journal found eating fruit and vegetables and taking up full-time education also helps the brain stave off dementia.
Jane Verity, CEO of charity Dementia Care Australia, adds, "We also need a lot of water every day."
It is believed that studying, playing memory games or doing crosswords improves the brain's ability to offset the symptoms of conditions such as Alzheimer's.
"The brain is like a muscle – if you don't use it and learn new things it gets sluggish and dementia risk increases," Valenzuela says. "It's a case of use it or lose it. People should look for activities they haven't tried before."
Move it or lose it
Valenzuela believes exercise is also important in reducing the risk of developing dementia, as it gets the blood pumping around the brain, staves off vascular diseases and can help prevent diabetes, which is another risk factor for dementia.
He adds, "Physical exercise affects the brain in unique ways. It leads to the generation of new brain cells, in rats at least. In humans, researchers have found that physical exercise can increase the size of the hippocampus, the brain's memory centre."
Researchers have also found significant links between diabetes, depression and dementia.
To combat depression, experts say it is important to have an active social life.
Verity says, "If a person is depressed, lonely and isolated it will affect their immune system and the immune system has an impact on the manifestation of dementia symptoms."
A positive outlook
"The most important thing to prevent dementia and Alzheimer's is that we keep focusing on staying as happy as possible, we keep having reasons to get up in the morning, knowing that we can make a difference in the world," Verity says.
A strong social network is also a powerful ally against dementia. Recent research by the Université Victor-Segalen in Bourdeaux and the University of Michigan Center on the Demography of Ageing found people who have good friends have a lower risk of developing the disease.
Valenzuela says, "Social activity has numerous benefits. If you do mental activities with other people, it seems to have a better outcome than if you do them alone. Similarly, if you do physical activity with others, it seems to be better for the brain than doing it alone."
Dementia fighters
- Mental activities which challenge the brain and learning new things throughout life.
- Physical exercise for overall body health and better brain health.
- Social activity with friends and meeting new people.
How I'm preventing my own dementia
Author Sue Pieters-Hawke, 54, knows about dementia. Her mother Hazel Hawke, former wife of former prime minister Bob Hawke, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2001. Pieters-Hawke has started taking steps to reduce her risk.
She says, "The evidence and statistical averages make it clear that risk factors include a sedentary lifestyle, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and cardiovascular health risks. For me it makes sense to bring my cholesterol down, as we have high cholesterol in my family. I'm trying to do this with a mixture of exercises and using medication, the latter of which I hope is a temporary measure.
"I also watch my diet and take care of myself. I have a socially engaged life and I try to keep my brain challenged.
As a writer, I have a sedentary lifestyle, so I am seeing an exercise physiologist to work with me on blending certain types of exercise into my lifestyle. There is, for example, evidence that weight-lifting can be beneficial in making new links in the brain.
"Sometimes it feels daunting, but the incentives to make lifestyle changes are really powerful: dementia is horrible. If you can try to reduce the risk or delay the onset, then I think these things are really worth doing. Even though there are no guarantees it will reduce the risk, it is a way of breaking through the sense of powerlessness around dementia."
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