06-19-2024 Primetime - Flipbook - Page 5
A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 19, 2024
your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol level, quit smoking, eat healthier meals,
reduce the risk of diabetes, limit alcohol
consumption, maintain physical activities
and get your heart rate up, and maintain a
healthy weight. For those last two, walk. You
don’t need any special training or equipment and aim for a 20-minute mile. Think
about yoga or Tai Chi, exercises that could
lower your blood pressure and help prevent
falls.
Beef up your brain by exercising it, gaining new knowledge. It’s called cognitive
reserve, that more education and experiences help reduce the risk of impairment or
dementia. Recommendations include learning a new language and learning new skills.
Experiences that help you look at the world
differently could also contribute.
With age, people become more sedentary, so they are not using their muscles,
which means there’s a higher risk of a fall.
We – and those around us – need to familiarize ourselves with the early warning signs
of dementia and distinguish between them
and normal aging. There are too many other
things that mimic dementia such as urinary
tract infections and dehydration.
Maintain your social networks or build
new ones. “Loneliness and social isolation
in older adults are serious public health risks
affecting a significant number of people in
the United States and putting them at risk
for dementia and other serious medical
conditions,” says the CDC.
Drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated
is even more important with age because
we’re not as thirsty. Water consumption
helps to keep your blood flowing through
your body (it’s mostly water), prevents dizziness, UTIs, kidney stones, kidney failure and
possible seizures. Keep water with you at all
times and sip constantly. Dehydration, not
getting sufficient water, is one condition that
can mimic dementia and cause falls.
Getting enough quality sleep is important to maintaining your health. According
to the Alzheimer’s Association, “A third of
American adults report that they usually get
less sleep than the recommended amount.
How much sleep do you need? It depends
on your age.” Adults need between seven
and nine hours of sleep each night. However,
if you are tired when you wake up or experience multiple disruptions, you may want to
talk with your health care professional or a
sleep disorders specialist.
Some medications can also cause
problems. The American Geriatrics Society
Beers Criteria is a list of potentially inappropriate medications for use in older adults.
You may want to speak with the health care
professional who prescribed your pills to
see if a specific medication is on the list, to
discuss potential side effects, and maybe
find an alternative.
The CDC says, “The truth is dementia
is not a normal or inevitable part of typical
brain aging. It is also important to remember
that as we get older, it is common to experience some cognitive decline with typical
brain aging, such as subtle changes in
memory, thinking and reasoning.”
If you are concerned, you can be
assessed. “A health care provider can perform tests on attention, memory, problem
solving and other cognitive abilities to see
if there is cause for concern,” the CDC
explains. “A physical exam, blood tests and
brain scans like a CT or MRI can help determine an underlying cause.”
The advantage is that, once completed,
you will have a baseline to which future tests
can be compared. And if you are diagnosed
Have confidence in
every conversation.
Do you find it difficult to use a standard phone? Do people ask you to repeat yourself
during telephone conversations? Do you miss important calls because you can’t hear
the phone ring? The Maryland Accessible Telecommunications (MAT) program is
here to help by giving Maryland residents the opportunity to apply for State-provided
telecommunications equipment to independently make and receive calls. Once you
qualify, a skilled evaluator meets with you to determine the best device to support your
day-to-day communications. The MAT program has a variety of equipment solutions to
support clearer communication, including:
•
•
•
Amplified phones
Tablets
Ring signalers
•
•
•
Phones with large and/or high contrast buttons
Captioned Telephones
And more
For more information:
800-552-7724 | 410-767-7253 (Voice/TTY)
410-801-9618 (Video Phone) | MDMAT.org
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with cognitive impairment, there are now
medications, exercises, clinical trials, and
a lot more.
The CDC points out that “many older
adults live their entire lives without developing dementia. Normal aging may include
weakening muscles and bones, stiffening of
arteries and vessels, and some age-related
memory changes that may show as:
• Occasionally misplacing car keys.
• Struggling to find a word but remembering it later.
• Forgetting the name of an acquaintance.
• Forgetting the most recent events.
Normally, knowledge and experiences
built over years, old memories, and language would stay intact.”
Today’s Status
Age is the biggest risk for Alzheimer’s
Disease. “The older you get,” says Nowrangi,
“the higher the incidence of dementia. And
Alzheimer’s today,
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