Thursday, August 19, 2010

Losing your vision doesn't mean you have to put away the trowel

By Healthy Aging Admin Published 04/1/2009 Mental Wellness Unrated
Reward Your Senses by Gardening...even if you are visually impaired
Gardening for people who are blind or have low vision can be challenging, but it can also be satisfying. VisionAWARE.org is a free, not-for-profit online resource that can help them keep their gardens growing.
For the millions of Americans who have problems seeing, the idea of planting and tending to a garden may seem unrewarding. But losing your vision doesn't mean you have to put away the trowel. Maureen Duffy, M.S. CVRT and Editorial Director of VisionAWARE.org, explains that "gardens don't only have to be planted for their visual beauty ... they can be just as pleasing to the other senses, especially the sense of smell."

Duffy suggests choosing plants for more than just their appearance. Roses, lilacs, lavender, and gardenias are all excellent options for their aromatic qualities. Plants like mint and geraniums can be selected for their tactual assets.

VisionAWARE.org offers all sorts of gardening tips for people with vision loss including:

-- Planting in raised beds to help create solid boundaries
-- Using tools with brightly colored handles for easy spotting
-- Calling attention to garden stakes by securing old tennis balls to the tops
-- Marking newly planted areas with large print signs, decorative garden art or landscaping rocks

It is the goal of VisionAWARE.org that every web user, regardless of visual, auditory, or other physical impairment, has access to all information on the site. At VisionAWARE, you can learn how to adapt your computer to make it more accessible, including screen magnification, specialized browsers, and screen reading software.


Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Antiaging protein also boosts learning and memory

Research in mice suggests additional role for sirtuins By Tina Hesman Saey Web edition : Monday, July 12th, 2010 Text Size
Aging and wisdom are supposed to go together, but it turns out that a molecule that prevents one may actually play a role in the other.

Researchers have discovered a new role for the famous antiaging protein SIRT1. It not only fends off aging, but also aids in learning and memory, a new study published online July 11 in Nature shows.

Sirtuins, a family of proteins that includes SIRT1, help to regulate gene activity and have been implicated in governing metabolism and many of the biological processes that lead to aging. In the new study, Li-Huei Tsai, a neuroscientist and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at MIT, finds that SIRT1 also plays a critical role in protecting learning and memory, at least in mice.

Tsai and her colleagues had an inkling that SIRT1 might play some role in the brain from earlier experiments showing that resveratrol, an activator of sirtuins, could help neurons survive a mouse version of Alzheimer’s disease. Resveratrol also improved the animals’ ability to learn and remember. Since resveratrol can act on all seven of the sirtuins found in mammals and also affects other biological processes (SN Online: 6/28/10), the researchers didn’t know what role, if any, SIRT1 played in the process.

Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The Anti-Cancer Diet: Foods to Fight Cancer

Protect yourself from cancer by adding these anti-cancer foods to your diet.
By Eric Metcalf
Medically reviewed by Cynthia Haines, MD

An anti-cancer diet is an important strategy you can use to reduce your risk of cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends, for example, that you eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily and eat the right amount of food to stay at a healthy weight. In addition, researchers are finding that certain foods may be particularly useful in protecting you from cancer. Make room in your diet for the following foods and drinks to fight cancer.

Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Monday, July 12, 2010

Active Lifestyles for People With Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence shouldn't keep you from activities you love. Learning bladder control and other techniques for preventing urine leakage can help calm your worries.

By Katherine Lee
Medically reviewed by Lindsey Marcellin, MD, MPH

Living with urinary incontinence, whether caused by an overactive bladder or compromised bladder control, can cause people to shy away from their favorite pastimes out of fear that they’ll have an accident. However, there are ways to handle your fears, lower your risk of involuntary urine leakage, and stay socially active.

Dealing With Emotional Effects of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence can leave patients feeling a range of emotions, including embarrassment, distress, and helplessness. They may feel isolated and unable to participate in social activities.

One of the most effective ways to deal with emotions related to a condition is to see a doctor for an accurate diagnosis and treatment. However, many people with urinary incontinence ignore warning signs or postpone visiting their doctor. On average, people wait seven years before seeking help.

Continue reading http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-report/urinary-incontinence/active-lifestyles-with-urinary-incontinence.aspx

Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Osteoporosis Awareness

Help Slow Bone Loss as You Age

Making a few easy lifestyle changes can help protect against bone loss as you get older. Find out about osteopenia, the first stage of bone loss, and how to keep your bones strong to lower your chances of developing more-serious osteoporosis. Avoiding carbonated drinks and engaging in weight-bearing exercises such as weight training and walking are two simple lifestyle changes that can help prevent osteoporosis. Learn how to slow bone loss. Continue reading at everyday health


Everyday Health



Verlia Caldwell, Pres.

Visit us at icareforyouhomecare if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Stress of Caregiving Hurts Boomers’ Health, Jobs

‘Triple-decker-sandwich generation’ seeing higher rate of depression than earlier generation
By Cindy Chan
Epoch Times Staff


Related articles: World > North America


OTTAWA—Between caring for elderly parents, raising children, and looking after their own busy lives, baby boomers have a higher rate of depression than the previous generation, says an expert.

Dr. Richard Earle, managing director at the Canadian Institute of Stress, describes the world’s boomers as a “triple-decker-sandwich generation,” a term generally referring to those born during the approximately two-decades of strong employment and economic growth in the post-World War II era.

“What we’re noticing at the Canadian Institute of Stress and throughout the research literature is a significant rise in mood disorders, including depression, in that baby boomer age group, which is 46 to 64,” said Dr. Earle.

In Canada, about 10 percent of baby boomers are still raising children while looking after—or just beginning to look after—elderly parents, he said.

“Then it’s not just a sandwich generation—it’s a triple-decker sandwich because they’re looking after husband or wife and job and the rest of it.”

Research shows that as many as 4 in 10 boomers are experiencing an unusually high level of stress, which can lead to depression, Dr. Earle said.

About 32 percent say they’ve had to cancel travel plans, 34 percent have dropped personal hobbies and interests, and well over 70 percent say the balancing act is interfering with their ability to fulfill responsibilities at work.

There are emotional impacts as well—a feeling of not being able to find pleasure from things they used to enjoy, Dr. Earle explained, “and within that, not being able to concentrate, to focus on what they’re doing, making decisions, and certainly sleep disturbance.”

In Canada, boomers are defined as those born between 1947 and 1966. They number more than 8 million and make up about a quarter of the population.

Statistics on American boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are almost identical, except that the United States has about 80 million baby boomers and they are reporting slightly higher impact on their jobs than Canadians due to stress from home, Dr. Earle said.

He noted that baby boomer issues and the increase in the rate of depression are much the same worldwide, including in such diverse places as Japan, the Middle East, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, India, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Everywhere, “the core of the problem is very similar”—juggling the demands of caring for parents and children are causing stress.

In particular, Japan has an extremely low birthrate and a significantly older average age than almost any other country, Dr. Earle said. “You have fewer younger people to take care of more older people.” Japan has also been dealing with the boomer depression issue longer than other countries.

As the first wave of boomers turns 65, their needs have been prompting services and research interest in every area from health and lifestyle to leisure and travel, from art and technology to financial services, and economic planning.

A recent study by the U.S.-based Hartford Financial Services Group, a major provider of employee-assistance programs, found that more than 80 percent of boomers report feeling moderate to high levels of stress from providing care or support to children, spouses, and/or parents.

Moreover, 46.6 percent said they felt worried about how caregiving is impacting their job, with 68 percent saying they missed work or left work early due to caregiving duties in the last six months.

University of Waterloo and Royal Bank of Canada launched a retirement research center last month, noted as the first collaborative approach of its kind between academic researchers and the financial services industry aimed at providing solutions and advice to boomers for retirement planning and living.

At last week’s 2010 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held at Montreal’s Concordia University, University of Montreal professor Jacques Légaré presented a paper showing that aging boomers will have to either pay for their own care or find support from sources outside their immediate family circle.

Professor Légaré said that about 70 percent of elderly care currently comes from spouses or children. However, today’s boomers have fewer children to care for them. In addition, the rise in divorce, common-law unions, and blended families means that many boomers may not have a partner to rely on within a stable relationship as they age.

Meanwhile, average life expectancies are rising, putting further demands on society and boomers to create new support systems for tomorrow’s seniors.

The Canadian Institute of Stress is a charitable organization founded 30 years ago by Hungarian-Canadian Dr. Hans Selye, known as “the father of the stress field,” who published the world’s first scientific paper to identify and define stress in 1936.

The institute tracks trends in research literature and provides education to the public, health care professionals, and workplaces in Canada, and other countries on earlier detection of stress problems and methods for controlling stress.

“There are so many things that catch our attention, quite challenging, disturbing things happening in this world,” said Dr. Earle. “[But] the world will work out well to the extent that we look after ourselves and our families in a more informed way.”

He recommends that baby boomers “get refocused back on one’s own family situation and basically on ourselves—not in a selfish way, but in a self-maintaining way.” Continue reading at

Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Caffeine May Slow Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias, Restore Cognitive Function, According to New Evidence

ScienceDaily (May 18, 2010) — Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

of Alzheimer's Disease, "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases," sheds new light on this topic and presents key findings.
Guest editors Alexandre de Mendonça, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, Portugal, and Rodrigo A. Cunha, Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of Coimbra and Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra, Portugal, have assembled a group of international experts to explore the effects of caffeine on the brain. The resulting collection of original studies conveys multiple perspectives on topics ranging from molecular targets of caffeine, neurophysiological modifications and adaptations, to the potential mechanisms underlying the behavioral and neuroprotective actions of caffeine in distinct brain pathologies.

"Epidemiological studies first revealed an inverse association between the chronic consumption of caffeine and the incidence of Parkinson's disease," according to Mendonça and Cunha. "This was paralleled by animal studies of Parkinson's disease showing that caffeine prevented motor deficits as well as neurodegeneration "Later a few epidemiological studies showed that the consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine was inversely associated with the cognitive decline associated with aging as well as the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Again, this was paralleled by animal studies showing that chronic caffeine administration prevented memory deterioration and neurodegeneration in animal models of aging and of Alzheimer's disease."
Key findings presented in "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases":

Multiple beneficial effects of caffeine to normalize brain
"Epidemiological studies first revealed an inverse association between the chronic consumption of caffeine and the incidence of Parkinson's disease," according to Mendonça and Cunha. "This was paralleled by animal studies of Parkinson's disease showing that caffeine prevented motor deficits as well as neurodegeneration "Later a few epidemiological studies showed that the consumption of moderate amounts of caffeine was inversely associated with the cognitive decline associated with aging as well as the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Again, this was paralleled by animal studies showing that chronic caffeine administration prevented memory deterioration and neurodegeneration in animal models of aging and of Alzheimer's disease."
Key findings presented in "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases":

Multiple beneficial effects of caffeine to normalize brain function and prevent its degeneration
Caffeine's neuroprotective profile and its ability to reduce amyloid-beta production
Caffeine as a candidate disease-modifying agent for Alzheimer's disease
Positive impact of caffeine on cognition and memory performance
Identification of adenosine A2A receptors as the main target for neuroprotection afforded by caffeine consumption
Confirmation of data through valuable meta-analyses presented
Epidemiological studies corroborated by meta-analysis suggesting that caffeine may be protective against Parkinson's disease
Several methodological issues must be solved before advancing to decisive clinical trials
Mendonça and Cunha also observe that "the daily follow-up of patients with AD has taught us that improvement of daily living may be a more significant indicator of amelioration than slight improvements in objective measures of memory performance. One of the most prevalent complications of AD is depression of mood, and the recent observations that caffeine might be a mood normalizer are of particular interest."
The supplement was funded by the Associação Industrial e Comercial do Café, while leaving full scientific independence to all contributors. The entire issue has been made available on a no-fee basis at http://iospress.metapress.com/content/t13614762731/.

Visit us at http://www.icareforyouhomecare.com if you need home care in Charlotte and Greensboro, N.C..

I Care For You Home Care, L.L.C.
1(800) 383-0520