prevention – Page 4 – Designing for Aged Care

Ageing & Culture, Caregiving, International Campaigns, International Policies, Research & Best Practice, The Built Environment

Dementia Language Project

Posted on December 13, 2015December 13, 2015 by Joanna Sun

Read an awesome ad inspiring news piece about Lingo Flamingo, a social enterprise in Glasgow that provides individualised lessons and workshops that aid cognitive function with the aim of tackling dementia. The founder Robbie Norval founded Lingo Flamingo to help his grandmother who was living with dementia.

There’s been a sea of research recently reminding us that being bilingual or multilingual has it’s benefits, everyone from the Singapore Management University, Georgetown University Medical Centre, Northwestern University, the University of Houston and even the American Heart Association.

The research states that being bilingual or multilingual can

improve our ability to process information
gain more grey matter than monolinguals
better cognitive functions post-stroke than monolinguals
be a constant challenge to the brain

A dementia language project such as Lingo Flamingo is an inspiration. It not only aid cognitive function, it helps to support engagement and movement, it gets people into the community and builds an inclusive environment. Most of it, it’s people coming together to learn and to have fun learning.

Hopefully, more of these initiatives will be set up globally, certainly would love to see a programme such as this in Asia as well. Though a large number of Asian are bilingual, it’s always not a bad thing for your brain health to pick up another language.

Reference:

Govan dementia language project launched – BBC News

Bilingualism and the Brain

Bilinguals of Two Spoken Languages Have More Gray Matter Than Monolinguals

Speaking multiple languages linked to better cognitive functions after stroke

Caregiving, International Campaigns, Research & Best Practice

Dementia Research Institute in Asia

Posted on December 13, 2015December 12, 2015 by Joanna Sun

Prime Minister announces funding for UK’s first National Dementia Research Institute – UK’s first Dementia Research Institute receive up to £150m of investment.

in 2006, it was announced that Dementia will be the next epidemic sweeping through Asia. Almost a decade on and numerous publications by academics and global organisations such as the World Health organisation and Alzheimer’s Disease International, little has been done in the areas of preventative measures of the condition. The condition now costing Asia billions of dollars and much suffering among caregivers is still seen to be a distant cousin of health issues such as diabetes, cancer and heart disease. Healthcare publications in Asia can still be seen making claims that dementia is reversible, and numerous clinicians are unaware that dementia is a terminal condition. Resulting in a large focus in the quantitative aspects, such as rehabilitation, life-prolonging procedures instead of focusing on qualitative; such as the maintenance of a person’s independence, dignity and overall quality of life.

More research is required in Asia to help find the balance between challenging cultural issues especially in the areas of prolonging life in dementia and maintaining a person’s quality of life. Perhaps in this technological age, Asia should come together to look into setting up collaborative research centres to work cohesively to find answers to culturally difficult care components for people with dementia and eventually find us a cure.

Reference

Prime Minister announces funding for UK’s first National Dementia Research Institute – Alzheimer’s Society

Dementia in the Asia Pacific Region: The Epidemic is Here

Looming dementia epidemic in Asia

Dementia in the Asia Pacific Region

International Campaigns, Research & Best Practice, The Built Environment

Exercise may enhance plasticity of the adult brain

Posted on December 10, 2015December 13, 2015 by Joanna Sun

The Cell Press journal reported that a small study from the University of Pisa and the Neuroscience Institute, National Research Council (CNR) have found that exercise may improve the plasticity of the adult brain, which was thought to decline with age.

Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change | EurekAlert! Science News

Learning, memory, and brain repair depend on the ability of our neurons to change with experience. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on December 7 have evidence from a small study in people that exercise may enhance this essential plasticity of the adult brain.The findings focused on the visual cortex come as hopeful news for people with conditions including amblyopia (sometimes called lazy eye), traumatic brain injury, and more, the researchers say.”We provide the first demonstration that moderate levels of physical activity enhance neuroplasticity in the visual cortex of adult humans,” says Claudia Lunghi of the University of Pisa in Italy.”By showing that moderate levels of physical activity can boost the plastic potential of the adult visual cortex, our results pave the way to the development of non-invasive therapeutic strategies exploiting the intrinsic brain plasticity in adult subjects,” she adds.The plastic potential of the cerebral cortex is greatest early in life, when the developing brain is molded by experience. …

###This research has received funding from the European Research Council.Current Biology, Lunghi and Sale: “A cycling lane for brain rewiring” http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.10.026Current Biology (@CurrentBiology), published by Cell Press, is a bimonthly journal that features papers across all areas of biology. Current Biology strives to foster communication across fields of biology, both by publishing important findings of general interest and through highly accessible front matter for non-specialists. For more information please visit http://www.cell.com/current-biology. To receive media alerts for Cell Press journals, contact press@cell.com.

Source: Physical activity may leave the brain more open to change | EurekAlert! Science News

Caregiving, International Campaigns, Research & Best Practice, The Built Environment

Stress from negative beliefs about aging is associated with Alzheimer’s disease

Posted on December 9, 2015December 13, 2015 by Joanna Sun

Summary: A new study that emerged from Yale school of public health has indicated that stress from negative beliefs about aging is associated with Alzheimers disease.

From source: Alzheimer’s Disease Photo credit: Dreamstime

Negative Beliefs About Aging Predict Alzheimer’s Disease in Yale-led Study | Yale School of Public Health

Read full article here: Negative Beliefs About Aging Predict Alzheimer’s Disease in Yale-led Study | Yale School of Public Health