Category Archives for Mental Health

University Study Seeks to Unlock Secrets of Alzheimer’s

Published in Pawtucket Times on December 8, 2003

 Planning bingo, finding that right word for the crossword puzzle you are working on, reading The Times or the latest bestselling book and even dancing might just be the right mental stimulation to help slow down the ravaging advances of Alzheimer’s.

Boston University researcher Nancy Emerson Lombardo, Ph.D., is seeking Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts research participants to determine if the theory “use it or lose it” is fact or fiction.

“The brain never stops growing, especially in an enriched learning environment,” said Lombardo, who said science has shown the brain can actually replace neurons and grow connections between them.

Lombardo’s current research study is looking to prove that the brain’s ability to adapt, through cognitive training therapies can help persons who are already have Alzheimer’s disease slow down and even regain some of the cognitive losses they are experiencing.

Lombardo said that even with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease, over the last decade researchers have found you can still exercise your brain, reap the benefits of improved short-term memory and experience a better quality of live.

These studies suggest keeping the mind active can help explain how some people can delay the onset of memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease symptoms for years.

In one study, research B.P. Sobel found that playing bingo improved short-term memory, Lombardo noted.  In another study, H. Wang reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology that staying active in social and leisure activities is associated with a decreased risk of memory loss, she said.

An Albert Einstein College of Medicine study even reported in a recent issue of the New England Journal of  Medicine that “reading, playing board games, playing musical instruments and dancing were associated with a reduced risk of [memory loss].”

Lombardo, serving as principal investigator at the Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Center, told All About Seniors about the BEST (Brain Enhancement Strengthening Treatment) study.  This study is currently examining whether fun, combined with a challenging set of cognitive exercises, can be performed in a home setting to sharpen up the cognitive abilities of a person diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s.

The BEST study, based on the work of Lynn Lazarnus Seper, Ed.D. – who serves as the co-principal investigator with Lombardo – is working with early-stage Alzheimer’s participant and their care partners over a six-month period.

Serper used many of these same techniques in her successful self-recovery from a major debilitating stroke. She has also experienced successful results in her clinical practice with persons with Alzheimer’s, as well as those with stroke and other brain injuries.

Lombardo’s study is currently seeking early-stage Alzheimer’s participants in Rhode Island and Southern Massachusetts, ages 58 to 85, who will meet over 26 weeks in their own homes with cognitive educator Ann Lewis.  Lewis has received rigorous training from Serper and other researchers on the BEST team.

Eligible participants, who must have at least a two-year college degree, must have a diagnosis of probably Alzheimer’s disease.  Additionally, they  must be taking one of the three medications – Aricept, Exelon or Reminyl.

Finally, they must reside within a 40-minute drive of Newton, or Billerica, Mass. Or Newport, Rhode Island.

Study participants will work on mental exercises aimed at their prior and current interests/hobbies as well as current local and world news.

The format turns theses everyday activities into brain therapy. The cognitive educators will also assist participants in developing strategies for social and conversational situations.

Walkers Fight Alzheimer’s One Step at a Time

Published in the Pawtucket Times on September 22, 2003

Next Sunday, 87-year-old Ray Bonenfant continues his fight against the devastating Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Greenville resident and more than 1,000 participants are expected to walk three miles to raise money and public awareness regarding Alzheimer’s Disease during the Alzheimer Association’s 2003 Memory Walk in Providence, Newport, and Westerly.

Taking part in the Sept. 28 charitable event- the nonprofit group’s largest of the year – is just a continuation of Bonenfant’s personal fight against the ravages of Alzheimer’s, a disease that afflicts his wife and 25,000 Ocean State seniors. It is projected that in the next decade, 29,000 Rhode Islanders will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

Bonenfant, a former controller at a New Hampshire company, began participating in the Alzheimer’s Associations annual fundraiser eight years ago, shorting after his wife, Eugenie, was admitted to an Alzheimer’s unit at the Village of Waterman Lake.

Participating in this fundraiser was one way he could personally improve the quality of life of caregivers and enhance the care and support services for families of Alzheimer’s patients.

Local news coverage of the impending 1993 Memory Walk caught Bonenfant’s attention and he joined hundreds of Rhode Islanders who came together with the goal of raising funds for the Alzheimer’s Association Rhode Island Chapter.

At this event, he signed up 30 of his family members and friends to participate in the three-mile walk, raising almost $ 700.

For the last eight walks, Bonenfant, who serves as a board member and treasurer of the Providence-based nonprofit group, has been one of the top individual fundraisers. “Walking to raise money gives me a lot of satisfaction,” he said, admitting that he also enjoys the competition of raising money.

Bonenfant also looks at participating in another way. “It is a good family day,” he added.

Last year, Bonenfant and 14 family members and friends raised a whopping $9,000. This year, he expects to ratchet this sizeable amount up to $10,000 with the assistance of loyal family members (two daughters, five grandchildren and their spouses and two great grandchildren). Of course, he’ll have several good friends on hand, too.

Bonenfant told Everything About Seniors he will be back next year to raise money.

“I am shooting for a decade of fund-raising,” he said, adding that daily exercise keeps him physically fit and will enable him to easily walk the three miles at Rogers  Williams Zoon.

Elizabeth Morancy, executive director of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Rhode Island Chapter, noted her nonprofit group is one of 80 chapters hosting a Memory Walk fundraiser.

Morancy, remembered that only 135 walkers gathered at India Point Park in Providence to walk at the first fundraiser held 11 years ago. The 1993 Memory Walk raised a total of $13,000, she said.

This year, Morancy expects more than 1,000 walkers to gather in Providence at Roger Williams Park Zoo, in Newport strolling down Bellevue Avenue and at the beach in Westerly, who will raise $ 210,000.

“Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that affects the entire family,” noted Morancy. “It is absolutely imperative that we find effective treatments for Alzheimer’s patients while we continue to provide caregiver support to their families,” she said.

Morancy said funds raised by the annual Memory Walk funds the group’s Helpline and supports educational programs for professionals and provides assistance to the affiliated statewide support groups.

Moreover, Memory Walk funds also enable the nonprofit group to translate literature into different languages and to offer workshops in both Spanish and English, Morancy said.

Register today to participate in next Sunday’s 11th Annual Memory Walk and take small steps to ending the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s.

For those interested in walking, ask your family, friends and co-workers to sponsor you. Memory Walk brochures are available by calling 800-244-1428.

The Best Of…Music Reduces Alzheimer’s Patients’ Agitation

Published August 19, 2002, Pawtucket Times

        After not being home for two years, I traveled to Dallas to visit my family and to celebrate my 88-year old father’s birthday party last week.

        My trip was a bittersweet experience for me as I reconnected with my parents and siblings.  It was great to spend time and catch up with everyone, but I saw firsthand how Alzheimer’s Disease had ravaged, both physically and mentally, my 80-year-old mother, and I saw the impact the disease had on my family.

        My mother, who is in the mid-to-late stage of Alzheimer’s was largely unaware of recent events or even to who I was.

         There was no recognition of my brother or sisters, and many times she did not even recognize my father, who has been her husband for the past 60 years.

         My mother could not tell time on her watch,was not aware of what day it was or even where she lived.

         Moreover, the staff warned me of my frequent mood swings and that she could get agitated very quickly.

         However, some say “music calms the savage beast.”

         That may be true, and it’s most certainly true for victims of Alzheimer’s disease — soothing music can reduce agitation.  While Alzheimer’s robs a person of their memory or cognitive abilities, a timeless tune can reduce agitation and can have calming positive effects on Alzheimer’s patients, too.  This point was driven home to me following my visit to my mother’s 28-bed Alzheimer’s unit at Dallas-base Marriott Brighton Gardens.

         On Friday afternoons, Carrie A. Johns of Blue Rose Entertainment keeps things hopping in the Alzheimer’s unit’s television room with her music therapy program.

        Popping CDs into a compact disc player, Johns plays a continuous string of popular tunes from the early 1900s to the 1960s.  That day, about 20 songs were played, ranging from golden oldies to country and western and Broadway tuns.

       Johns chooses from 8,000 songs in her CD collection, and she often selects songs during her one-and-a-half-hour program that reflect memorable happy periods in the residents’ lives.

       Johns, who raises Arabian horses on a 12-acre ranch in Mabank, Teaxa, has a client list of more than 500 nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and senior centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex region.

       Swaying, Johns sings the Andrews Sisters’ 1942 hit “The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company C” into her microphone, residents Rose Grimes, Helen Webb and Francis  Donathan dance up a storm with Ashina Jackson, a personal care assistant, big smiles lighting up all of their faces.

       “It is a joy to make these residents happy when their families are not here,” Jackson tells me.  “I like to see their expressions when they remember the tunes. It’s like I’m going back to their time.”

         To the beat of the 1920s tune “in’t She Sweet,” Activity Director Dave Mandt dances with my mother.

         She belts out the song remembering all the words, not even missing a beat.

          Jane Atobajeun, special care manager, says music helps to calm the residents down.  While residents with Alzheimer’s disease don’t remember recent events — what they ate for lunch, for instance — they will remember songs that were once popular in distant eras, since they can retain long-term memory.

       “Music makes them laugh,” adds Atobajeun, noting that it “touches their very being and also triggers me memories and emotions.”

       According to Atobajeun, throughout the day residents can get frustrated if they can’t remember things.

       But singing makes them very happy because they remember the words.  Dancing can also get the residents up and moving, she adds, noting that even wheelchair-bound residents are assisted to stand and move.

       Throughout the program my father and I traded off dancing with my mother.  Several times, my smiling mother goes up to the microphone, and dances with Johns.

       You guessed it — she automatically knows every word of the song.  When the music ends, I say goodbye to my mother.

       knowing the challenges she faces with Alzheimer’s, I at least know that there is a brief period of pleasure in her life — at least twice a week when she attends the Alzheimer’s unit’s music program.

        Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer covering aging, health care and medical issues.  This article was published in the August 19, 2002 Pawtucket Times.