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One partner with diabetes raises the other’s risk

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Adult day services help family caregivers' mental health

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

Family caregivers of dementia sufferers who are reluctant to use adult day care services might like to note the findings of a telephone survey. The study involved eight daily telephone interviews on consecutive days with 173 family caregivers who use an ADS on some days.

Brief questionnaire for dementia progression validated

Dementia is a progressive illness, and its behavioral and psychological symptoms are, for caregivers, the most difficult symptoms to manage. While recent research has demonstrated how collaborative care can reduce these symptoms and reduce stress for caregivers, the model requires continuous monitoring of the symptoms. What’s needed is a less arduous way of monitoring changes in symptoms.

Looking after a spouse with dementia greatly increases your own risk of dementia

A 12-year study involving 1,221 married couples ages 65 or older (part of the Cache County (Utah) Memory Study) has revealed that husbands or wives who care for spouses with dementia are six times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s themselves than those whose spouses don't have it. The increased risk is of comparable size to having the ‘Alzheimer's gene’. The researchers speculate that the great stress of caregiving might be responsible for the increased dementia risk, emphasizing the need for greater caregiver support.

New guideline on when people with Alzheimer's disease should stop driving

The American Academy of Neurology has updated its guidelines on when people with dementia should stop driving. While the guidelines point out that this decision is a complex one that should be made by a doctor using the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, they also supported caregivers’ instincts, which have been found to often be correct. For caregivers and family members, the following warning signs are identified:

Chronic stress heightens vulnerability to diet-related metabolic risk

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

A study involving 61 women, of whom 33 were chronically stressed caring for a spouse or parent with dementia, has found that highly stressed people who ate a lot of high-fat, high-sugar food were likely to have:

  • a larger waistline,
  • more truncal fat,
  • higher oxidative damage, and
  • more insulin resistance.

This association was not found among the low-stress women who ate the same amount of unhealthy food.

The findings are consistent with animal studies.

Unmet needs among those living at home with dementia

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

A study involving 254 people with dementia living at home has found that 99% of people with dementia and 97% of their caregivers had one or more unmet needs, 90% of which were safety-related. More than half of the patients had inadequate meaningful daily activities at a senior center or at home, one-third still needed a dementia evaluation or diagnosis, and more than 60% needed medical care for conditions related or unrelated to their dementia.

Alzheimer’s caregivers may benefit from tailored interventions

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

A study involving 206 spousal and adult children caregivers of dementia sufferers (mostly Alzheimer’s) has found that about 84% of caregivers reported a clinically significant burden. Three factors were significant contributors to the burden:

Heart disease risk linked with spouses' social support

Submitted by Fiona McPherson on

A study in which 136 older couples (average age 63) filled out questionnaires measuring their overall marriage quality and their perceived support from their spouse, has found that calcification in the coronary arteries was highest when both partners in the relationship viewed each other as offering ambivalent support (sometimes helpful, sometimes not). When only one partner felt this way, the risk was significantly less.

Overall marital satisfaction didn’t have a significant impact on this cardiovascular risk factor.