CARDIAC ATHLETIC SOCIETY EDMONTON

Heart Murmurs
October 2011

PUB NIGHT

A Darts and Fun night will be held at the Strathcona Legion 9020 51 Avenue Edmonton on Monday, October 24 starting at 7:00 PM.

Please bring your spouse and friends and a designated driver! This event is our tribute to de-stressing and Octoberfest in lieu of our traditional Education program.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Christmas Party is earlier than usual this year, Sunday November 27, due to conflicting dates at the Malmo Community League. You should book your tickets soon by contacting Dave Ingledew at 780-955-2728 or e-mail at dlingledew@hotmail.com . The price is yet to be finalized. As soon as the tickets are printed, they will be available at the exercise classes at Kinsmen from Stuart Embleton.

ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE

At the Education session held a on Monday September 26 at SEESA, we received materials from the Alzheimer Society explaining the disorder and its impact on the brain, thinking ability,memories, moods and emotions. While at this time there is no cure, treatments are available that can slow the progression of the disease.

Alzheimers progresses through a number of stages. In the Early Stage memory loss becomes evident to the patient and those around them.and compllex tasks become more challenging. For the patient and those around them, simplification of the environment and clarifying and slowing the pace of communication can help keep the patient involved with others and the community.

As the disease progresses into the Middle Stage there will be a substantial decline in the patient's ability to perform normal daily living activities. Restlessness and changes in sleep patterns and even hallicinations may occur. Family and caregiverr involvemen will increase dramatically. Additional home care or even moving to a care facility may be needed. At this stage the patient behaviours may offer a clue to what they are wanting to communicate. When communicating with a stage 2 patient, one may need to offer added clues to help them remember the context. For example you may need to remind the patient who the people visiting are, even if they were close family members.

The Late Stage of Alzheimers will require full time support to maintain the highest quality of life possible. Verbal communication from the patient will become minimal but comfort can be given through the senses of touch, taste, hearing smell and vision. Music may sooth as may hearing familiar voices.

The End of Life stage will come, most often in a care facility. Soothing talk assuring the patient of safety, care, and love will help them deal with uncertainty and fear.

At every stage family members need to be mindful of their own health and emotional needs during the progress of the disease. Maintaining ongoing and loving communication with the Alzheimer patient through every stage of the disease can do much to sustain quality of life as long as is possible.

This communication can be verbal, non-verbal using body language, or even "para-verbal" which involves the tone, pacing and volume of our voice. As the disease progresses, use of all these approaches will become important in sustaining communicadtions. Person-centered communication focusses adapting the caregiver's communication on the abilities of the patient, reassuring the patient and being positive.

The Alzheimers Society offers a number of tips to caregivers regarding communications:

·      Reduce distractions: Turn off competing sources of information such as TV's and radios.

·      Gain attention: Make eye contact and even remind them who you are if needed.

·      Be aware of your tone of voice and body language.

·      Be clear and concise: Talk slowly and use short sentences. Ask questions that can be answered with a yes or no rather than ones needing an explanation in response.

·      Be respectful: Use the patients name, don't talk over the patient or about them as if they are not there.

·      Listen carefully: Try to understand verbal and non-verbal clues and do not interupt them.

·      Be patient: Communication will probably be slow.

·      Encourage exchange of information: Avoid assumptions if you do not understand and check back to see if you understand them.

·      Show and talk: Use actions as well as words to communicate.

·      Encourage humour and laughter respect sadness:

·      Do not forget to account for hearing or vision problems: It may not be Alzheimers alone that is creating confusion.

EVEN ANOTHER REASON TO EXERCISE FOR HEART HEALTH...

Heart Health Linked to How the Brain Ages

Here’s yet another reason to follow a smart diet and get plenty of exercise. Keeping your heart healthy just might slow down the aging of your brain.

A study released Monday found that people whose hearts pumped less blood had smaller brains—a symptom of aging—than those with the strongest blood flow. This was true even in people with no obvious signs of heart disease.

As the brain ages, it begins to shrink and lose some volume. More severe brain shrinkage occurs in those with dementia, including Alzheimer’s.

The results, published in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, came from a survey of 1,504 people ages 34 to 84—54 percent of them women—in the decades-long Framingham Heart Study, a multi-generational research project.

Angela L. Jefferson, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, led a team that recorded each study participant’s cardiac index, a measure of heart output. The team then used MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) to measure each person’s brain volume.

In the study group, 30 percent met the criteria for low cardiac index, and their brain volume on average was significantly lower than people whose cardiac index was the healthiest. “Lower cardiac output means there is less blood leaving the heart and circulating through the body, including the brain,” Jefferson says. “With less blood flow to the brain, the brain may be compromised.”

Because brain volume slowly declines with normal aging, Jefferson and her colleagues could estimate that the brains of people with poor cardiac output were more aged—by about two years—than those with the healthiest blood-pumping capacity. Surprisingly, people in the middle group—who had low but still normal levels of blood pumping from the heart—also showed almost two years more brain aging than those with the healthiest cardiac index. “That’s a little concerning,” says Jefferson.

While abnormal brain shrinkage is associated with mild cognitive impairment and dementia, Jefferson says, more studies are needed to determine “whether or not cardiac output is a risk factor for dementia and whether or not this is something we should be modifying or assessing.” That caution is echoed by William Borden, M.D., a cardiologist with the Perelman Heart Institute at the Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, who pointed out that cardiac output is only one measure of heart fitness.

“The take-away from this is there’s a suggestion that poor heart function can potentially lead to poor brain function,” Borden says. “It gives more motivation to patients to pay attention to their diet and exercise and work with their physicians to control the risk for cardiovascular disease.”

by: Michael Haederle | from: AARP Bulletin | August 3, 2010

Source: http://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-08-2010/heart_health_linked_to_how_the_brain_ages.html

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

Event	Date	Time	Place
Regular Exercise Classes	Every Tuesday and Thursday	4:15 P.M	KSC
Executive Meeting	Mon. Oct. 17	9:00 AM	SEESA
Social Breakfast	Wed. Oct. 26	9:00 AM	SEESA
Pub and Darts Night	Mon. Oct. 24	7:00 PM	Strathcona Legion
Executive Meeting	Mon. Nov. 14	9:00 AM	SEESA
Social Breakfast	Wed. Nov. 23	9:00 AM	SEESA
Christmas Social	Sun. Nov. 27	4:30 PM	Malmo

Notes: SEESA: (The South East Edmonton Seniors Assoc).            address is 9350 82nd Street, Edmonton

            Malmo: (Malmo Community League)                    address is 11525 48th Avenue Edmonton

            Mazankowski Heart Institute                                 address is 8840112 Street, Edmonton

            Strathcona Legion                                                address is 9020 51 Avenue Edmonton

            KSC:    Kinsmen Sport Centre                              address is 102- 9100 Walterdale Hill Edmonton