Technological innovations in the treatment of Alzheimer’s

Nov 10, 2023

Alzheimer’s – one of the most common diseases in the world, and still incurable. Despite the emergence of new technologies in a wide range of medical fields; We are far from finding the solution that can detect Alzheimer’s in the pre-clinical stage or get rid of the disease. But, there is a wide variety of technological innovations in the treatment of Alzheimer’s;

Innovations that help patients and make their lives easier. This time we will talk about the most useful innovations that can help your loved ones live a better life.

1. Photo phone – one of the simplest, but most exciting innovations in Alzheimer’s treatment.

Alzheimer’s patients face memory loss that increases over time; Phone numbers are among the first things that become confusing for them. A photo phone, like the one in the Alzheimer’s store can be very helpful in these situations.

This useful technology is like the smartphone version of Alzheimer’s patients. Many of the models include the option to save a large number of dialing numbers for emergency services and the numbers of loved ones.

In the case of the phone the memory photos; The numbers have been replaced by large buttons where you can save small pictures of the nearest contacts. The patient can easily make a phone call to the desired number with one click on the picture of the person with whom they want to communicate.

2. Devices for detecting wandering

Alzheimer’s patients develop a tendency to wander in public places; There is a danger that they will get lost if they are not looked after properly.

Devices like Jiobit can be a real help when you need to locate your loved ones; To the extent that they forget their surroundings and get lost. Jiobit is a secure clip device with Bluetooth, GPS and WIFI connection that allows you to keep your loved one at home and outside the home.

This device also allows you to set a geographic limit (GEOFENCE) around a certain location so that you will receive an alert if the wearer of the device crosses this area. Jiobit also remembers the patient’s movement patterns and alerts when there is a change in them.

3. The Alzheimer Master – one of the social innovations for the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s Master is actually an application with the help of which you can record the voice of a familiar and loved person.

By recording your voice you can create a reminder to take medicine, drink water, eat, etc. You can also use these recordings as an alarm clock, so you will prevent your loved ones from a lot of anxiety that can be caused by a normal alarm sound. Hearing the voice of a familiar person can be much more soothing than the sound of an alarm.

Furthermore, the application can record the user’s responses so that you can understand how he is doing by examining the data. Alzheimer’s Master is available for all Android devices at a cost of $10 for full use. You can also download for a free trial period.

4. Amazon’s Alexa (voice activated assistant)

Alzheimer’s patients may reach a point where they feel like a burden on their caregiver or family. Sometimes even simple things like today’s date or time can be regularly forgotten. Dealing with this forgetfulness can create a stressful situation for both the patient and the caregiver.

A voice-activated assistant like Amazon’s Alexa can be very helpful in this regard. A voice-activated assistant can be used for alerts and reminders, playing music, telling jokes and just having an interactive conversation with the patient.

These devices can answer questions non-stop and the questions can be repeated as many times as the patient wants. These advanced technologies can help Alzheimer’s patients feel less alone, and experience more control over their condition.

They can also be used to control things like the temperature in the room and the intensity of the light according to the needs of the patient.

5. Silver Mother (The Silver Mother) – an innovative home sensor for treating Alzheimer’s.

when one of the family members is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease; These are the loved ones who find themselves on the standard of caregivers. They soon discover that caring for an Alzheimer’s patient is a full-time job.

You have to monitor the patient’s activity, keep them busy, take care of their safety, make sure they have taken their medication, help them with their daily chores and many other things besides these. The therapist can’t always keep track of everything; This is exactly the point where Silver Mother comes into action.

This device includes several sensors that can help monitor sleep patterns, medication alerts, activities, etc. of the Alzheimer’s patient. The sensors are small and simple and can be used to recognize the patient’s normal behavior patterns, and to receive an alert when there is abnormal activity.

All the sensors are connected to each other through a mother hub connected to the router.

6. Calendar apps

These apps are intended for caregivers; Apps like Google Calendar can be used to keep track of all the tasks the caregiver needs to complete.

The calendar can create automatic reminders for monitoring one’s medication intake; important visits and doctor appointments; And many things besides. Caregivers can also collaborate using the calendar and share tasks with each other; This way, several people can keep track of the appointments and reminders.

7. Improving the quality of life – Spark Memories Radio

– Music has been proven to calm and relieve anxiety and to help improve the mood of people suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Spark Memory Radio is actually an application that includes a collection of thousands of old songs. Tunes that take us back to the thirties and allow caregivers to schedule a playlist for their loved ones at the push of a button. The app is available for Android and Apple devices and costs $9.99 per month.

We probably have a long time to wait until the day when we wake up to hear about the first cured Alzheimer’s patient. But despite this, with the help of the appropriate technological innovations, we have the ability to make patients’ lives happier, less stressful and as comfortable as possible.

How to deal with a dementia patient, who repeats the same questions?

Nov 10, 2023

Introduction-

One of the most disturbing symptoms of dementia is: the person suffering from dementia repeats the same questions over and over. I will present you 6 ways that will help you maintain your peace in your communication with the patient. In addition, dementia patients will be helped to regulate stress and anxiety.

Why do dementia patients ask repetitive questions?

Most often, the dementia patient repeats the same questions, for two main reasons: a. He just forgot what he asked before. B. He feels anxiety, insecurity and tension which make him ask the same questions to calm the anxiety he is in.

For example: the day before Mom’s doctor’s appointment, Mom asked several times – whose appointment is and when is the appointment? On the day of the appointment itself, she asked the same repeated questions every 20 minutes. Also, a few hours before the actual appointment, she asked every 5 minutes, the same questions over and over again. This is because she became more nervous as the doctor’s appointment approached.

6 tips on how to deal with a dementia patient who repeats the same questions?

1. Live their current reality-

A very common and completely natural mistake is to correct the dementia patient. Also, to remind him that the reality that he forms as correct, is actually not correct.

Below is an example case: Shoshana (pseudonym), lived with her family in Haifa, in 2012, when her room was in the attic. Today, in 2019, her family moved to Nahariya, in an apartment without an attic. Shoshana, now with advanced dementia and asks repeated questions every day about the time when she still lived with her family in an apartment with an attic in Haifa, in 2012.

For example, questions like: “When will Bugs the dog come downstairs to my room?” or “When will you fix the banister on the stairs to my room?”

In the above case, Shoshana got stuck on certain significant events from her past, which causes her to remember them over and over again and therefore she repeats and asks about the same events over and over again.

The response that can be more helpful is to participate in her experience, for example: when she asks questions of the above type, you should respond as if we were still living in 2012 in an apartment with an attic in Haifa.

For example: “The dog is currently on a walk outside with one of the children.” Or one of the children will bring the dog to the attic, to keep you company.”

There can be situations in which the person with dementia will recognize where he is and what year he is living in, and there will be situations where he will not.

Below are interesting books on the subject of dementia:

2. Use white “lies”-

It is recommended to use them, especially in cases where the dementia patients wish to perform tasks that may endanger their lives. For example – let’s take the same lady Shoshana, if she insists on driving a car, because she is sure that she drives well. It is absolutely permissible, in order not to hurt her feelings, to tell her that the vehicle is now in the garage and cannot be used. It is better to give space to their feelings, than to try to explain things to them that they will not understand or remember anyway.

Another reason why you should use a white lie is to prevent them from pain or grief. For example: explaining to Shoshana that her sister has passed away may cause her pain and sadness, which the family members taking care of her will have to deal with. Instead, it’s better to tell her that her sister is out shopping now. Which will cause Shoshana, most likely about 20 minutes later, to forget that this fact has already been told to her and she will ask the same question again.

Using white lies, for the demented person, is a better way than telling him the truth that could hurt him and make him in a bad mood. Especially, when there is a reasonable chance that that person will forget the truth that was told to them about 20 minutes later.

You are invited to join our WhatsApp group – on old age diseases:

3. Distract them-

Dementia patients sometimes have a question stuck in their head and they can’t find ways to get rid of it. The way of action that helps them in these situations is to distract them with an action or a task that needs to be done. For example, let’s take Shoshana’s family, if Shoshana asks the same question over and over again, it is very useful to distract her with a sentence like: “Let’s make the sandwich together”. Or “come fold the clothes with me now” etc.

4. Prepare a white memory board for them –

It is very advisable to prepare a small white board for them, on which they will have a list of what tasks they need to perform during the day. When the tasks are written on the board, the demented person does not need to ask the same questions over and over again, because everything is written in front of his eyes. Even if he asks the same question again, just show him the white board with his tasks for the day and it can calm him down for the next few minutes.

What are the stages of dementia?

Nov 10, 2023

Introduction-

The onset of dementia is not the same in all patients, nevertheless, doctors have managed to divide the typical course of the disease into seven main stages. The duration of the disease ranges from 3-20 years, with the average period of time being 4-6 years from the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s (dementia)Alzheimer’s (dementia) until the patient’s death.

In the first stages, it is very difficult to notice the existence of dementia. After that, the patient begins to forget small things, such as people’s names, the location of objects that have always been placed in a fixed place. After that, he forgets what he wants to say. Reads a story chapter and forgets that he read the chapter at all. Later, he forgets what he ate for breakfast. Begins to lose interest in hobbies that he used to engage in enthusiastically. Also, also loses interest in the environment in general. Does not recognize people in his immediate vicinity and from here the situation only gets worse.

In this article, the 7 stages of dementia will be detailed for you, so that you can identify which stage of the disease your family member/patient is in. This is in order to make a diagnosis and start treatment on time and also to know how to prepare for each stage.

Sad dementia patient.

Stage 1 of dementia – before the disease –

At this stage, there are no noticeable symptoms of the disease. The patient looks and sounds perfectly healthy. The disease cannot yet be diagnosed at this stage. After that, small symptoms, begin to give their signals. However, these symptoms still seem relatively normal and cannot be associated with dementia.

Also, some symptoms may develop gradually and go undetected for a long time.

Stage 2 – mild forgetfulness that is still associated with age and not dementia.

A slight forgetfulness begins, which does not yet cause the environment to suspect that it is dementia. The patient forgets things such as: forgetting where objects are, locking the door. At this point, it is still difficult for a geriatrician to diagnose dementia.

Stage 3 – mild cognitive impairment that begins to hint at dementia.

The environment begins to notice that a mild cognitive disorder begins, the cases of forgetfulness become more frequent. For example: forgetting where the keys are, finding them and after a few minutes forgetting where they are again. Placing objects in inappropriate places. For example, putting a garment in the kitchen cupboard. The patient tends to forget names, fails to learn new names, has difficulty functioning in society or at work, has difficulty reading and generally has difficulty organizing and planning in advance. This stage lasts between two and seven years.

Stage 4 of the dementia disease – stage of moderate dementia –

A stage where the patient begins to lose orientation in time and space. This is the stage where the geriatrician must give a diagnosis, because the symptoms start to become clear to the environment. Examples of this stage: forgetting what the patient saw and heard on the news. Forgetting what he ate for breakfast that day. Inability to concentrate on one thing for a long time. Losing interest in activities that the patient previously liked to do.

Damage to the ability to think abstractly in complex tasks, damage to the ability to plan activities or perform complex cognitive operations (such as managing a bank account). Also, difficulty remembering personal events from the past, and physical weakness.

Stage 5 of dementia – noticeable cognitive decline that requires getting help.

At this stage the patient suffers from a noticeable cognitive decline, which requires getting help. For example: forget what the address is. Forgetting exactly where the patient is and whether it is morning, noon or evening.

The patient is confused, his ability to perform complex actions deteriorates. In addition, his ability to decide and adapt his behaviour to social norms and rules is impaired.

Nearly 50 million people were diagnosed with dementia in 2017, worldwide. Most of them live in developing countries. The number is expected to double in 20 years.

Stage 6 of dementia – severe cognitive decline.

This is a stage where it is already very difficult for the patient’s family to take care of the sick person alone and in need of help. The signs are: forgetting the identity of his relatives and the people closest to him. Completely forget how to perform daily activities.

At this stage, the patient has difficulty sleeping, begins to lose control over the sphincters, becomes more suspicious, suffers from false thoughts, hallucinations and compulsive behaviors. Also, at this stage, many of the patients tend to go wandering, when they very quickly forget the purpose of going out and may get lost and endanger themselves.

Stage 7 of dementia – most severe cognitive decline –

The patient at this stage loses his ability to communicate and speak. He needs daily help with very simple tasks. He needs help with everything because his muscles and reflexes become inflexible – he cannot get to the bathroom in time, has difficulty walking, sitting and even holding his head and swallowing. This condition usually lasts a few months, but sometimes also long years of inability to function and the need for constant nursing.

In conclusion-

There is an estimate that 75 million people may suffer from dementia by 2030 and 131.5 million in 2050. In any case, only 20-50% of cases in developed countries are identified in statistics. In developing countries the situation is much worse, with the majority of the population remaining undiagnosed during their lifetime. Spreading awareness of the disease and its various stages can significantly reduce the pain and costs required to treat the disease. It’s all up to you, share the important information in the article and spread awareness of the disease today!