RAISE Family Caregivers Act signed into law – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Care

The Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM), the Association’s advocacy arm, celebrate the passage of the bipartisan Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act. Signed into law this week by the president, the RAISE Family Caregivers Act will address the needs of our nation’s family caregivers through the development and implementation of a coordinated national strategy.

CONTACT: Laura Cilmi, 202.638.8673, lcilmi@alz.org  Alzheimer’s Association media line, 312.335.4078; media@alz.org  RAISE FAMILY CAREGIVERS ACT SIGNED INTO LAW  Alzheimer’s Association and Alzheimer’s Impact Movement Applaud Congress for Supporting  Landmark Legislation  WASHINGTON, D.C., January 22, 2018 ?–? ?The Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s  Impact Movement (AIM), the Association’s advocacy arm, are celebrating the passage of the  bipartisan Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act.  Signed into law today by the president, the RAISE Family Caregivers Act will address the needs  of our nation’s family caregivers through the development and implementation of a coordinated  national strategy.  Introduced in Congress by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and  Representatives Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.), the RAISE Family Caregivers  Act will provide much needed support to family caregivers. The new law directs the Department  of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a national strategy to provide education and  training, long-term services and supports, and financial stability and security for caregivers.   “On behalf of the more than 15 million Americans who provide unpaid care for people living with  Alzheimer’s and dementia, we want to thank Sens. Collins and Baldwin, and Reps. Harper and  Castor for their bipartisan support for family caregivers,” said Robert Egge, Alzheimer’s  Association Chief Public Policy Officer and AIM Executive Director. “The development of a  national strategy will have an immense impact on family caregivers. Enhancing assistance for  family caregivers will result in improved caregiver health and well-being and will result in a  higher quality of care for their loved ones.”   For millions of Americans caring for individuals with Alzheimer’s and other dementias the  emotional, physical and financial costs can be overwhelming. Caregivers of people with  dementia report higher levels of stress, depression and worse health outcomes than those  providing care to individuals without dementia. As a result, Alzheimer’s caregivers incurred  $10.9 billion in additional health costs last year.   The RAISE Family Caregivers Act also directs HHS to create a Family Caregiving Advisory  Council, similar to the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Council. Both the  advisory council and The RAISE Family Caregivers Act was closely modeled after the National Alzheimer’s Project Act. The Alzheimer’s Association and AIM have been strong advocates for the RAISE Family Caregivers Act since it was introduced in Congress. Grassroots advocates and staff held thousands of congressional meetings to secure support for the legislation. The Association and AIM will continue to play an active role in the process as HHS works to develop and implement the national strategy. Alzheimer’s Association ® The Alzheimer’s Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Our mission is to eliminate Alzheimer’s disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health. Our vision is a world without Alzheimer’s. For more information, visit alz.org. Alzheimer’s Impact Movement The Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization working in strategic partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association. AIM advocates for policies to overcome Alzheimer’s disease, including increased investment in research, improved care and support, and development of approaches to reduce the risk of developing dementia. For more information, visit alzimpact.org

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Famous & 65 – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Care – www.OptimumSeniorCare.com

Look Who Is Turning 65

View the celebrities turning 65 in January 2018.

Look Who’s Turning 65

January 1 – Gary Johnson

Gary Johnson ran for president of the United States on the Libertarian ticket in 2012 and again in 2016. He was the Republican Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003, running on a low-tax, anti-crime platform. True to his word, he cut annual 10% growth in the state’s budget partly by using the gubernatorial veto 200 times in his first six months in office.

Johnson founded one of New Mexico’s largest construction companies. It began while he was in college, and helped pay for classes by going door-to-door as a handyman. Big J Enterprises started in 1976 with Johnson as the only employee.

When growth of the company began to explode, Johnson took a time management course in night school to cope. Before he sold the company in 1999, Big J had become a multimillion-dollar company with more than 1,000 employees.

After the 2016 presidential race, Johnson declared he would not run for public office again.

January 10 – Pat Benatar

Pat Benatar dominated the airwaves in the 1980s with hits like “We Belong”, “Love Is a Battlefield”, and “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”. She’s a four-time Grammy Award winner with 15 Billboard Top 40 singles and five platinum albums.

Benatar sang her first solo at age eight in an elementary school performance. She grew up in the Long Island village of Lindenhurst. Benatar married her high school sweetheart, Dennis Benatar, at age 19. Born Patricia Mae Andrzejewski, it’s no surprise the singer kept her first husband’s last name after their divorce years later.

The singer had plans to attend the Juilliard School, but opted for the state university instead. Benatar worked as a bank teller while her first husband was stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia with the Army. But she quit her job in 1971 after getting inspiration from a Liza Minnelli concert, starting as a singing waitress, then got a gig singing in the lounge band Coxon’s Army.

Benatar slowly rose up the ladder, performing at amateur nights and singing at Catch a Rising Star when she moved back to New York after her husband was discharged. She was becoming famous when she divorced in 1978 after signing with Chrysalis Records. Benatar is currently remarried with two children.

January 15 – Randy White

Randy White played defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys from 1975 to 1988, earning a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His career began at Thomas McKean High School. Playing defensive end and linebacker, White is still considered the “Best All-Time Player” in the history of Delaware high school football.

White went to the University of Maryland and played fullback his freshman year, where he did nothing to stand out on a team that finished with only two wins. But the next year, new head coach Jerry Claiborne moved him to defensive end. It was a brilliant fit, and by his senior year White won the Outland Trophy, Lombardi Award, and Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, as well as Most Valuable Player in the team’s loss to Tennessee at the Liberty Bowl. In 1994, White was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

White was the second draft in the first round in 1975, spending his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys. He played middle linebacker, and then found his fit as a defensive tackle. The year he turned 25, he was named to his first All-Pro team, his first Pro Bowl and was named co-MVP of Super Bowl XII with teammate Harvey Martin, one of only ten defensive players ever to be awarded that honor. White earned the nickname “The Manster”(half man, half monster).

White was the second draft in the first round in 1975, spending his entire career with the Dallas Cowboys. He played middle linebacker, and then found his fit as a defensive tackle. The year he turned 25, he was named to his first All-Pro team, his first Pro Bowl and was named co-MVP of Super Bowl XII with teammate Harvey Martin, one of only ten defensive players ever to be awarded that honor. White earned the nickname “The Manster”(half man, half monster).

January 19 – Desi Arnaz Jr.

The birth of Desi Arnaz Jr. was the most publicized on T.V. in 1953. He’s the son of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, whose show I Love Lucy featured the pregnancy as part of the storyline. Arnaz Jr. (as “Little Ricky”) and his sister Lucie appeared in the show as the character’s children from 1968 to 1974.

Arnaz Jr. was a drummer in a band at age 12 with Dean Martin’s son and Billy Hinsche. They had two hits: “I’m a Fool” and “Not the Lovin’ Kind”. He continued acting and had many roles in movies and television into the 1980s. In 1992, he had a starring role playing his father in The Mambo Kings, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

From 1998 to 2010, Arnaz Jr. toured with a new iteration of his old band, performing original work and new material.

Now a billionaire, Newmark is still active in Craigslist customer service, outing spammers and scammers. He’s also a devoted philanthropist, operating Craigconnects to publish charitable organizations. Newmark has a special interest in services for military veterans and teachers.

Arnaz Jr. has a daughter from an undisclosed relationship. He was married to Linda Purl, an actress, for a year in the early 80s. In 1987 he married Amy Laura Bargiel. They lived in Boulder City, Nevada, where they owned the Boulder Theatre. Bargiel died from cancer in 2015 at the age of 63.

January 28 – Debbie Steinbach

Steinbach hit the professional tour in 1975 after attending California State University at Fullerton. Her best finish was a T-5 in the Florida Lady Citrus. She’s had a lasting impact as an instructor, teaching more than 5,000 individual lessons and earning a “Top 50” from Golf for Women magazine.

She’s a founder and CEO of Venus Golf clinic for women, and authored Venus on the Fairway, a book that highlights the different learning styles of men and women on the fairway. Her broadcasting experience extends from local radio shows in California near La Quinta to color commentary during national coverage for sports shows on NBC and ESPN.

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Coffee Break – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home – www.OptimumSeniorCare.com

Can Coffee Drinking Help You Live Longer?

Recent evidence shows that drinking coffee can increase your lifespan significantly.

Can Coffee Drinking Help You Live Longer?

Recent evidence shows that drinking coffee can increase your lifespan significantly.

That morning cup of joe seems to be a healthy habit after all, according to a pair of recent studies that showed drinking coffee can reduce your risk of early death. That reduction increased once people reached the age of 45, indicating that it may be more beneficial to drink coffee as we age.

The two studies involved more than a half million people with diverse backgrounds, dietary habits and health status. They drank caffeinated and decaffeinated brew, in different styles and concentrations. But the research produced the same results: coffee drinkers appear to live longer.

“We looked at multiple countries across Europe, where the way the population drinks coffee and prepares coffee is quite different,” said Marc Gunter, reader in cancer epidemiology and prevention at Imperial College’s School of Public Health in the UK, who co-authored one study.

“The fact that we saw the same relationships in different countries is kind of the implication that it’s something about coffee rather than its something about the way that coffee is prepared or the way it’s drunk,” he said.

People who drank two to four cups of coffee daily had an 18 percent lower risk of death than those who abstained. Coffee has also been shown to cut down on the risk of type 2 diabetes, colorectal cancer, liver disease, Alzheimer’s and skin cancer.

As usual, caveats come with the good news. It’s not easy to rule out the possibility that coffee drinkers are just a healthier bunch to start with, Gunter said. People who avoid drinking coffee might do so because they have poor health. It could be that their higher mortality rate is just a sign that they’re less healthy to begin with.

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Technology – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home – www.OptimumSeniorCare.com

Does the Fountain of Youth Run Red?

Studies on mice show that bathing older rodents in the blood of younger animals yielded astonishing results on cognitive tests. Could humans with Alzheimer’s disease benefit from the same procedure?

Does the Fountain of Youth Run Red?

Studies on mice show that bathing older rodents in the blood of younger animals yielded astonishing results on cognitive tests. Could humans with Alzheimer’s disease benefit from the same procedure?

The first clinical test to see if Alzheimer’s disease in older adults can be reversed by infusions of blood plasma donated by healthy young people failed to yield explosive results. However, the November 2017 release of data involved only a small group of 18 subjects and is the first of many such trials expected to take place as methods are refined. According to CEO Karoly Nikolich of Alkahest, a startup company in San Carlos, California that sponsored the trial, the company is “encouraged” to perform more such studies.

More than 264 gallons of blood pass through the adult human brain every day. Research shows that brain health is impacted by changes in molecules that circulate in plasma, the liquid part of blood, as organisms age.

Experiments from 150 years ago demonstrated that when an old mouse and a young mouse were stitched together to share circulatory systems, after a few weeks the older mouse could perform better on cognitive skills such as mazes. More recently, tissue samples from such older rodents revealed rejuvenated muscle, liver, and other tissues.

Stanford Lab Opens Door to Alzheimer’s Treatment

A few years ago, a team at Stanford led by neuroscientist Tony Wyss-Coray discovered that injections of the plasma portion of blood could achieve similar results in rodents. Plasma is the single largest component of human blood, comprising about 55 percent, and contains water, salts, enzymes, antibodies and other proteins. The straw-colored liquid is easily separated out of whole blood by a centrifuge process.

Ongoing Trial Open to Older Adults

If you have several thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, jet out to Ambrosia LLC in San Francisco or Tampa for a two-day young blood plasma treatment. Founder and graduate of Stanford University medical school Jesse Karmazin says the treatments contribute to heart and brain health.

“I think we now have data showing that it does make people feel healthier and stronger,” says Karmazin. “We see improvements in heart health, in brain health, in inflammation and cancer risk. We’re seeing the same things that were predicted based on the mouse studies.”

The typical Ambrosia patient is near retirement age. Some people come to maintain their health; other patients have an illness such as Alzheimer’s or diabetes. Several people have returned for multiple treatments.

Adults age 35 and older get injections of blood plasma from youngsters aged 16 to 25 for two days, and it will only set you back $8,000, hotel and air not included. The treatment has qualified as a clinical trial, although some are skeptical. Stanford neuroscientist (and co-founder of Alkahest) Tony Wyss-Coray said the trial is “abusing people’s trust” and that there is “no clinical evidence” that supports claims of anti-aging benefits.

Ambrosia’s informed consent form won’t guarantee results or improvement in regards to age-related diseases. Health risks are basically dependent on the safety of the blood product, which is collected and screened by blood banks in the United States. Karmazin himself is 32 and thus ineligible for treatment.

When Wyss-Coray was in his 20’s and 30’s, he didn’t care about his own ageing. “You have no understanding of what the problems are,” the 50-year-old says. “Now I see that the brain starts to slow down. I’m not as quick any more at grasping things, or remembering faces. I used to see a person for a few minutes and I’d remember their face. I couldn’t understand how they’d not remember who I was. And now it happens to me. It annoys the crap out of me.”

Wyss-Coray was encouraged enough by his research in 2014 to co-found Alkahest, a biotech company with a mission “to enrich the health and vitality of humankind through transformative therapies that counterbalance the aging process.” The startup’s first effort was to see if young plasma could help people with Alzheimer’s.

Led by Sharon Sha, MD, a clinical associate professor of neurology and neurological sciences at Stanford, the trial established the safety, tolerability, and feasibility of plasma treatment in humans. Sha wasn’t surprised by those findings, since blood products from the United States are among the safest in the world. However, she was intrigued by hints of subjects’ improvement on tests of functional ability such as performing tasks of independent daily living, like remembering to take medications, paying bills, and preparing meals.

Early-Phase Trial Protocol

Nine patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer’s got four weekly injections of either a saline placebo or plasma from 18-to-30-year-old male donors, followed by a six-week break. Then, injections were switched so the patients who had gotten saline received plasma, and those who previously had plasma injections were switched to saline. Nine other patients received young plasma only.

Patients who completed the young plasma treatment did no better on objective cognitive tests given by medical staff. But a caregiver survey assessing how much help patients needed with activities of daily living revealed improvement: 4.5 points on a 30-point scale. Another survey given to caretakers also showed modest improvement in patients’ ability to perform tasks such as getting dressed and shopping.

Cautious Optimism Going Forward

The study results are “interesting” but raise many questions, such as what cellular process in the brain is targeted, according to Howard Feldman of the University of California, San Diego. Neuroscientist Zaven Khachaturian, retired from the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Maryland and current scientific advisor to the Alzheimer’s Association, concurs.

“They need to explain the potential mode of action,” he says. “(Patients) could feel better because somebody paid attention to them.”

Wyss-Coray agrees further tests need to be run. Still, he says, “It’s tempting to feel hopeful about the improvement in functional scores.”

Because the treatment appears safe, Alkahest now wants to implement a trial using only the part of plasma that contains growth factors, eliminating coagulation factors and other components that may inhibit successful treatment. Animal studies showed this plasma fraction was more successful at improving cognition than whole plasma in mice with a condition similar to Alzheimer’s. The company plans to test a range of doses and include patients with more advanced disease symptoms.

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Choosing a Nursing Home – Alzheimer’s – Optimum Senior Care – Chicago In Home Care – www.OptimumSeniorCare.com

Finding the right nursing home can be an emotional decision at a time when careful evaluation is required. Here are the tools to help you make the right choice.

Choosing a Nursing Home

Finding the right nursing home can be an emotional decision at a time when careful evaluation is required. Here are the tools to help you make the right choice.

Placing a loved one in a nursing home can be a gut-wrenching choice, no matter the cause. With more than 15,600 facilities in the U.S., picking the right nursing home is often a daunting task. But there are several resources which can make the decision easier. Here, we give our top tools, along with a few considerations of our own.

Before You Visit

Nursing homes go by many names: skilled care facilities, nursing facilities, and nursing/rehab facilities. Nursing homes generally provide a higher level of care than assisted living facilities, which are also known as assisted living communities, adult family homes, and board and care homes. All Medicare/Medicaid certified nursing homes undergo unannounced on-site inspections by state health professionals such as registered nurses and licensed social workers. They assess compliance with federal standards of care.

The information can be used in a couple of ways. First, you can eliminate facilities with more severe violations, staffing shortages, and/or patient care problems. Second, make a copy of the report for facilities that you want to consider. Bring it to your first visit to the nursing home and ask questions about issues that concern you, such as: What changes were made to come into compliance? Why is this a recurring problem? Why did it take so long to correct this problem?

It’s easy to obtain inspection results from nursing homes in your area. Below, we’ve highlighted two ways to get information: an inspector tool and a government analysis. Both are simple to use and provide results that are easy to compare.

Nursing Home Inspector Tool

To easily search inspection violations, use the Care Pathways Nursing Home Inspector tool. Start by entering a state, then refine your search by area code, zip code, county, or facility. You’ll get a list of facilities, and you can check out each nursing home’s most recent assessments.

The assessments are arranged by date, with the latest one first. Each covers three topics: the facility itself, staffing levels, and the condition of residents. Issues that earned a deficient rating are listed, along with the scope, harm, and severity of the issue, and what date the problem was corrected. Staffing levels and patient condition are compared to averages in that county and state.

Star Rating System for Nursing Homes

Comparative information is also available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Their Five-Star Quality Rating System assigns each nursing home an overall star rating of one (low) to five (high) that denotes overall quality. There is also a separate star rating for the facility based on health inspections, staffing, and quality measures.

The health inspection rating takes into account the last three years of onsite inspections, with more weight given to the most recent year. Staffing stars are based on hours of care per resident, with additional consideration for the level of care in that facility based on the severity of need. Residents with higher needs would be expected to get more hours of care. Quality of care measures how well nursing homes are addressing the physical and clinical needs of their residents, and includes the prevalence of antipsychotic medications.

Website Tour

Before you visit, take a virtual tour of the nursing home. Is the setting more institutional or homelike? Are rooms private or will your loved one have a roommate? Is it part of a continuing care retirement community? Is there anything on the site that raises a question you want to ask on your visit?

Long-Term Care Ombudsman

A CNN investigation found one drug company making hundreds of millions of dollars a year by targeting frail and elderly care facility residents for whom the drug appears unnecessary or unsafe.

Every state is required to have an Ombudsman Program to address complaints and push for improvements in the long-term care system. Click here to find an ombudsman in your state.

The Long-Term Care Ombudsman program is overseen by the Administration on Aging, and provides advocates for adult care facility residents to resolve problems and bring about change to improve residents’ quality of life.

Ombudsmen visit nursing homes and speak with residents to make sure their rights are being protected. They are trained to resolve issues you may have, including financial concerns. They can discuss general information with you about nursing homes, resident’s rights, and care. Finally, ombudsmen can answer your questions about the number of complaints a specific nursing home has received, what those complaints were about, and whether the issues were resolved quickly.

Touring and Evaluating Facilities

Once you’ve narrowed your list to a few candidates, it’s time to set up an initial tour with each of them. You’ll get a lot of information about each facility. It’s a good idea to use a checklist at each nursing home to make sure you don’t forget to ask a question. Having a completed checklist also helps you make comparisons later on.

A checklist will remind you to look at how clean the bathroom is and if grab bars are present. It will remind you to note how friendly staff are both to you, and when they interact with patients. You’ll remember to check if there is a window in every bedroom, and how residents call for help in the event of an emergency.

Several nursing home checklists are available online. Here are three of our favorites, in no particular order:

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  (checklist for nursing homes starts on page 35)
• Care Pathways
• American Association of Retired Persons

Other Considerations

Ideally, you’ll have time for a visit following the first tour. Drop by unannounced so that you can see how everything looks when visitors are not expected. If you can, make the surprise visit in the evening when staffing levels may be lower.

Choosing a nursing home is a personal decision, and many considerations go into your final decision. You may decide that the home with the best physical therapy arrangement is better for your loved one than another with gourmet food. A facility with specialty care for dementia may beat out another that has a garden. A nursing home that offers a doctor who makes “house” calls might serve your needs better than another with free transportation.

Don’t underestimate the importance of convenience. How many times will you visit your loved one at the facility in town, versus the fancier place 20 minutes away? If you work, it may be preferable to find a nursing home near your office so it’s easy to stop by on your way home. Seeing your loved ones often may be the most important piece to make both of you comfortable with your decision.

Finally, if you have a complaint about a nursing home, try working with management to get it resolved. They may be unaware of the problem. If you still feel the matter needs attention, you can contact a long-term care ombudsman (see sidebar) or your State Survey Agency. Click here for a directory. The State Survey Agency not only conducts inspections but they also investigate and validate complaints.

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