There is nothing more remarkable, then understanding how longevity has increased through the years. Even more so, how some are aging gracefully in a cognitive sense. Can certain measures be taken in order to delay future decline in memory to progressive dementia? Most doctors recommend aging patients to read or complete word searches in an effort to keep the mind active for as long as possible. In Mary Ziegler’s book, Adult development & aging, she stated “Good healthy habits contribute to longevity” (Ziegler, 2014, para. 1).
In 2012 the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, had an article titled: Lifestyle activities and memory: Variety may be the spice of life. The women’s health and aging study II. By: Carlson, Parisi,
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289). In part B, the person was given 420 seconds to connect randomly distributed numbers and letters in alpha-numeric sequence (Carlson et al., 2012, p. 289). Through the Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R) would reveal both immediate learning and delayed recall. In this case the total possible number of words answered is 36, the person was then given 15 minutes to remember as many words as possible, most remembered 12. Carlson et al. employed Cox proportional hazard model, “to examine the frequency and variety of activity predicted time to cognitive impairment on each of the four cognitive outcomes” (TMT A, TMT B, HVLT immediate, and HVLT delayed recall) (Carlson et al., 2012, p. 289). Over the 9.5-year interval, the percentages were the following: TMT, Part A > 81 s; TMT, Part B > 225 s; HVLT Intermediate recall < 16 words; HVLT Delayed recall < 4 words; and MMSE score < 23 (Carlson et al., 2012, p. 289). The study found that indeed variety in cognitive activities can reduce the risk of impairment such as: dementia and cognitive aging by 8%-11% (Carlson et al., 2012, p. …show more content…
Also in participating in various cognitive activities, the individual has better organizational and coordination skills (Carlson et al., 2012, p. 292). Also it suggests that the previous suggested manner to delay the progression of memory loss or dementia although it may help is not the most effective and is outdated. Some weaknesses are that it focuses on only 1 gender, what may be effective for women may not be as effective in men. Also the study only focuses on the healthy and high functioning women therefore, it does not represent the opposite population. In terms of women responding to questionnaires, leaves room for false information to be
The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles every year and recent studies have found that women are more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s then men (Medicine).
In times past many people thought that memory loss was a normal occurrence for elderly people. This thinking was major reason for why Alzheimer’s disease was not caught until very later in the stages. Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging. After heart disease, cancer, and strokes, Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of death in adults in the Western world. “It is estimated that 4.5 million Americans over the age of 65 are affected with this condition. After the age of 65, the incidence of the disease doubles every five years and, by age 85, it will affect nearly half of the population” (Robinson).
The goal was to investigate the three different cognitive training areas: memory, reasoning and speed. The authors started with a baseline of participants of an average of “73.6 years old, had 13.5 years of schooling and 26% were African American.” After five years, they found that training effects with OTDI did not influence the subjects observed in the study and after the preliminary study they did a study on subjects with no diagnosis of dementia and no ADL limitations (bathing, dressing, and personal hygiene). After eliminating three of the 2,082 they worked with 2,799. The ODLT was measured by cognition and the response to verbal prompts every day and whether it led to better performance in the older
Even late-life activity influence reduced risk of dementia, so it is never too late to initiate intervention enhancing cognitive factors. Still intervention at earlier life period might more beneficial because of greater exposure to cognitive reserve-enhancing factors lower risk of dementia. Finally, cumulative exposure to reserve-enhancing factors over the lifespan equally effective both individuals with and without genetic
Because of family’s unhealthy lifestyle both parents and children suffered from memory loose. Children especially had time learning and understanding language, resulting in poor academic performance. The husband
No one wants to lose their mind. But the reality is that the risk of dementia doubles every five years after the age of sixty-five. Is there anything that can be done to prevent this age-related loss of brain function? Are There Ways to Reduce Dementia Through Lifestyle Changes? European researchers analyzed 1,433 people over the age of 65 to determine what lifestyle factors would reduce the risk of dementia the most. After getting a complete medical history on the participants, they tested their cognitive function at intervals over a seven year period. What did they find? According to this research, the two best ways to reduce the risk of dementia is to eliminate diabetes and depression - both of which are dementia risk factors. If both of these factors were eliminated and more people were encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables, the number of new cases of dementia would drop by 21%. There 's some controversy as to whether depression actually increases the risk of dementia - or whether it 's simply an early sign of the disease. This study suggests that depression probably does increase the risk of the disease - and isn 't just a symptom. It 's not surprising that diabetes is a risk factor since it 's associated with insulin resistance. Some studies show insulin resistance increases the risk of dementia. Another way to reduce dementia risk is to encourage people to be literate and educated. This study showed that the number of new cases of dementia would drop by 18% if
Dementia is the loss of cognitive functioning which affects an individual’s daily life. Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that slowly destroys memory and thinking and the ability to perform simple tasks. There is some research that suggests cognitive training may slow the progression of dementia. Cognitive training challenges a variety of cognitive functions such as attention, memory and speed, which is different to general brain training that people may come across in their daily life (Kanaan et al., 2014). Various limitations
An estimated 47.5 million people suffer from dementia. Every 4 seconds one new case of dementia is diagnosed. Dementia is a term that describes certain symptoms such as impairment to memory, communication and thinking. It is a group of symptoms and not just one illness. Even though one‘s chance of getting dementia increase with age, it is not a part of aging. Dementia is usually diagnosed after a series of assessments that includes a physical evaluation, memory tests, imaging studies and blood work. It affects three aspects of one’s mental function, cognitive dysfunction (Problems with memory, language, thinking and problem solving), psychiatric behavior (changes in personality, emotional control, social behavior and delusions) and difficulties with daily living activities (driving, shopping, eating and dressing). “The median survival time in women is 4.6 years and in men 4.1 years” (Warren, 2016).
The topic I am writing about is memory loss or more specifically: Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Modern medicine has improved significantly in the last decade and the average human lifespan has been extended. However, since humans are living longer, there is also an increased susceptibility for chronic diseases as opposed to infectious diseases. A chronic disease that is slowly on the rise is Alzheimer’s, as it is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. This topic is important to me because I’ve had numerous encounters with patients with dementia and have seen the impact it has on many families and friends. Additionally, the brain is arguably
The brain is a muscle that has to have continuous exercise to stay keen and quick with speed. People in their later years have a harder time remembering things and have trouble applying simple tasks to their lives because of the damage the brain suffers when not being commonly trained and kept taken care of. This is a major cause in many mental disorders and diseases diagnosed in later years such as alzheimers, as well as its stronger partner, dementia, and depression or anxiety. Studies show that elderly patients showed a much higher percentage of life expectancy for those who gave their brain a daily challenge such as crossword puzzles and daily brain teasers, compared to their counterpart of those who did not focus on opening time to practice using their brain to stay lively and aware. Another major role in keeping the mind young is for the brain to stay social. The ability to interact with people everyday allows the brain to work a great deal of an exercise. The vocal conversations and the audial persistence as well as the movement used when going out and walking around with friends (Healthline Media,
A topic I learned more of this semester in regards to the older population was dementia. Some loss in memory function is an inevitable consequence of aging, and as one ages, it takes more time to process information and retrieve memories. However, "Dementia is a general term that refers to progressive, degenerative brain dysfunction, including deterioration in memory, concentration, language skills, visuospatial skills, and reasoning, that interferes with a person's daily functioning" (Mauk, 2014, p. 377). This loss of mental skills affects the ability to function over time, causing problems with memory and how one thinks, impacting these individual's overall quality of life.
Research has proven that physical activity improves cognitive function and can also improve brain function throughout a lifespan. Moreover, staying physically active has so many benefits as well. For example, doing exercise and fitness activities help build cells and natural pathways to help reduce changes in memory loss or dementia. Also, it has so many health benefits including long-term improvements to the cognitive function as the young adult reaching mid
Smith et al. (2013) took a less studied approach to improving cognitive decline by testing the effects of aerobic exercise on adults (60-88 years old) already suffering from cognitive impairment. After 12 weeks of moderate exercise there was an improvement of memory and neural efficiency across all subjects.
Cognitive aging is commonly labeled strictly as memory and only found in “some people”. However, this is not true. The knowledge of cognitive aging has grown immensely, but there is still much to be learned. The surface has only been scratched with many more questions to be answered. Cognitive aging is worthy of study and effects everyone, but there is also much more is still to be learned.
As individuals age, they are more at risk for cognitive impairments. Although there are multiple forms of these impairments, they mostly affect an individual’s life overall. Some aspects of these cognitive impairments are natural, whereas the course of aging may increase an individual’s likelihood of progressing to Alzheimer’s or dementia. On the other hand, some aspects, such as physical activity and social engagement, are able to be controlled by the individual which may decline the rate of cognitive impairments, such as memory loss. There are three types of memory: working memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. Short-term and working memories are similar in the fact that they have the smallest time span of seconds to minutes