A new study suggests that having a big belly in your 40s can boost your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia decades later.Research has found evidence that obesity in middle age raises the chances of developing dementia later, the new work found a separate risk from storing a lot of fat in the abdomen. Even people who weren’t overweight were susceptible.

The abdominal fat, sometimes described as making people apple-shaped rather than pear-shaped, has already been linked to higher risk of developing diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

“Now we can add dementia to that,” said study author Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif.She and others report the findings in Wednesday’s online issue of the journal Neurology.

The study involved 6,583 men and women who were ages 40 to 45 when they had checkups between 1964 and 1973. As part of the exam, their belly size was measured by using a caliper to find the distance between their backs and the surface of their upper abdomens. For the study, a distance of about 10 inches or more was considered high.

The researchers checked medical records to see who had developed Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia by an average of 36 years later. At that point the participants were ages 73 to 87. There were 1,049 cases.

Analysis found that compared to people in the study with normal body weight and a low belly measurement:

_ Participants with normal body weight and high belly measurements were 89 percent more likely to have dementia.

_ Overweight people were 82 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than twice as likely if they had a high belly measurement.

_ Obese people were 81 percent more likely if they had a low belly measurement, but more than three times as likely if they had a high measurement.

Whitmer said there’s no precise way to translate belly measurements into waist circumference. But most people have a sense of whether they have a big belly, she said. And if they do, the new study suggests they should get rid of it, she said.It’s not clear why abdominal fat would promote dementia, but it may pump out substances that harm the brain, she said.Dr. Jose Luchsinger of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, who studies the connection between obesity and Alzheimer’s disease but didn’t participate in the new work, cautioned that such a study cannot prove abdominal fat promotes dementia.

But the study results are “highly plausible” and “I’m not surprised at all,” he said. High insulin levels might help explain them, he said.

Dr. Samuel Gandy, who chairs the medical and scientific advisory council of the Alzheimer’s Association, said the results fit in with previous work that indicates a person’s characteristics in middle age can affect the risk of dementia in later life.

And it’s another example of how traits associated with the risk of developing heart disease are also linked to later dementia, he said.

Source: www.alz.org

Yesterday,The federal government’s top official for Medicare and Medicaid administration encouraged area medical providers to participate in a federal program that will pay providers to adopt electronic medical records.

Kerry Weems, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, spoke to area doctors and medical administrators about the pilot program.

During a five-year period, the government will give financial incentives ranging from $58,000 per doctor to $290,000 per practice to adopt government-certified medical records software.
Medical practices will compete for the money through a proposals process, and 12 communities will be chosen for the demonstration project.

“We are looking for communities like Sioux Falls that have a strong base of primary care physicians and are willing to assist us in educating and recruiting local physician practices for the demonstration,” Weems said.

President Bush has set a goal to have most Americans have access to a secure and interoperable electronic health record by 2014. The government contends electronic medical records will reduce costs and increase quality of care.

Before you send your tax returns to the IRS, make sure you get the tax-savings you deserve as a caregiver. As a caregiver for a loved one, you may qualify for tax deductions and credits.

Tax deductions

Deductible caregiving costs may include:

Medical care, including nursing care
Transportation essential to medical care
In-home care, such as physical therapy
Personal care items, such as disposable briefs and special foods
Nursing home care
Assisted living or other residential care
Home modifications such as grab bars or wheel chair ramps
A caregiver can take federal income tax deductions only if the person with dementia has been certified as chronically ill. This certification must have been made by a licensed health care practitioner within the last 12 months.

Long-term care services must be given under a prescribed plan of care. Be sure to keep records of all your payment for services, and save certifications on the plans of care.

For more details on deducting caregiving costs, see IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.

A new report predicts that an estimated 10 million American baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime, placing strains on the U.S. health-care system and the already burdened network of caregivers. Currently, there are  least 5.2 million Americans that suffer from Alzheimer’s, including 200,000 to 250,000 people under age 65. By 2010, projections say there will be 500,000 new cases of the mind-wasting disease each year, and nearly one million new cases annually by 2050, the report estimates.

The report , released Tuesday by the Alzheimer’s Association, also notes that the disease is now the seventh deadliest in the nation and that women are at greater risk than men.

Read more at www.alz.org

The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) has set an initiative to eliminate the prescription drug expense paid by poor seniors who live in assisted living communities.

Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-25th TX) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-21st FL) and twelve other House members are sponsoring HR 5604, the Medicare Part D Home and Community Services Copayment Equity Act of 2008. This bipartisan measure corrects an apparent oversight in the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Program by exempting drug co-payments for residents in assisted living and other home and community-based settings who qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. The measure treats these so-called dual-eligible recipients the same as Medicaid recipients in nursing homes.The legislation will provide financial relief to one million seniors, including 125,000 residents of assisted living communities, and cost an estimated $171 million annually.

Prescription drug co-payments can range from $1 to $5 for each prescription.A typical assisted living resident takes between eight and 10 different prescription drugs per month, the same as residents of nursing homes. This legal oversight created hardship for Medicaid recipients whose personal needs allowance is limited to about $55 per month for items, such as clothing, shoes and personal hygiene items. Assisted living providers have been using their own funds to subsidize these affected residents for more than two years.

Source: www.earthtimes.com

A reverse mortgage may be good for some and bad for others. A warning from The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority came out on Thursday to encourage seniors to look into all of their option before making a final decision. Below is the summary of the warning.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority urged senior citizens to weigh their options before using a reverse mortgage for additional retirement income.The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority was formed by a merger of the NASD and some regulatory functions of NYSE Group Inc. They warned that a reverse mortgage, which is an interest-bearing loan secured by the equity in a home may jeopardize their financial futures.

A reverse mortgage allows a bank to make payments to a homeowner instead of the homeowner making payments to a bank. The loan is repaid, with interest, when the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies. Reverse mortgages have very high fees, usually about 7 percent of the home’s value.They can also make it difficult for homeowners to leave the property to their heirs.The warning notes that, in some cases, those who sell the mortgages may profit from the their sale, giving them twice the incentive to talk someone into a loan they may not need.

Still, as foreclosure rates continue to rise amid the subprime-mortgage crisis, some homeowners who have built up equity in their home may consider reverse mortgages their best option against losing it.

Today at the nursing home we had Agnes, an 88 yr old woman with dementia get a hold of one of the menus for lunch. Agnes lives in the secured unit which consists of 21 other residents all living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. We never give our residents in this community a menu because they do not understand what is is and can become very confused. Instead of a menu we offer visual choices at their mealtime. This offers them a variety and the ability to help make their own choice.

Well today Agnes got a hold of a menu early in the morning. She went though the menu and laid out a timeline for each course of the meal. She monitored the time and the menu for a short time before becoming obsessed over each of the courses and the timeline she had laid out for the day. The staff had to take the menu away because she became extremely agitated.

Taking the menu away helped calm her nerves. She couldn’t comprehend why she had the menu. There is really no clear reason why she did this today, maybe because sheloved to plan out her day and orgazine herdaily routines? Who knows. There are many reasons why she could’ve got confused. It is important to learn about the progression of the disease and how small, everyday things in our lives can be very complicated and overwhelming to an individual suffering from such a tragic disease.

—-Mary, RN. Pennsylvania.

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Funding by HUD allows seniors and the disabled to maintain independence. It also gives families access to education and training. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded more than $50 million in grants to assist senior citizens, disabled individuals and families living in public housing across the U.S and Puerto Rico. HUD is awarding nearly $34 million to offer public housing residents greater access to education and employment and another $16 million to help elderly and disabled public housing residents to live independently.

“This funding helps a wide range of people who live in public housing,” said HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson. “It gives families the resources they need to get the education or training they need to find jobs. It also helps our most vulnerable - seniors and the disabled - with supportive services that allow them live on their own.”

The funding is provided by HUD’s Resident Opportunities and Self Sufficiency (ROSS) Program. ROSS grants are awarded to public housing authorities (PHAs), resident organizations or non-profit organizations acting on behalf of residents to encourage self-sufficiency among public housing residents. HUD awarded $33,395,701 to 105 grantees in ROSS Family and Homeownership grants, which links residents with supportive services, including education, job and computer training and homeownership counseling that put families on the track to self-sufficiency. Another 60 grantees received $16,651,799 in ROSS Elderly and Persons with Disabilities, which links senior and disabled residents with resources that permit them to live independently longer, such as health and wellness programs, meal services and transportation to medical services.

The grants will be distributed to states in this way:

Alabama	$2,050,000.00	Â	Missouri	$718,699.00
Alaska	$991,185.00	Â	Montana	$302,139.00
Arizona	$1,268,445.00	Â	North Carolina	$2,382,744.00
California	$4,073,126.00	Â	North Dakota	$599,963.00
Colorado	$599,444.00	Â	Nebraska	$396,771.00
Connecticut	$598,223.00	Â	New Jersey	$1,588,659.00
District of Columbia	$450,000.00	Â	New York	$3,091,384.00
Florida	$1,894,925.00	Â	Ohio	$1,536,038.00
Georgia	$2,400,000.00	Â	Oklahoma	$350,000.00
Hawaii	$375,000.00	Â	Oregon	$250,000.00
Idaho	$250,000.00	Â	Pennsylvania	$2,171,886.00
Illinois	$1,727,253.00	Â	Puerto Rico	$250,000.00
Indiana	$850,000.00	Â	Rhode Island	$560,260.00
Iowa	$204,000.00	Â	South Carolina	$750,000.00
Kansas	$250,000.00	Â	South Dakota	$250,000.00
Kentucky	$3,500,000.00	Â	Tennessee	$1,669,804.00
Louisiana	$250,000.00	Â	Texas	$1,748,042.00
Maine	$1,108,306.00	Â	Virginia	$1,575,000.00
Maryland	$1,706,429.00	Â	Washington	$1,849,915.00
Massachusetts	$1,200,000.00	Â	West Virginia	$250,000.00
Michigan	$249,000.00	Â	Wisconsin	$1,160,860.00
Mississippi	$600,000.00	Â	Â

Source: www.hud.gov

One out of every nine senior citizens in America is going hungry, according to testimony last week at a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which was called by the ranking member, Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR). Smith said 35 million Americans are going hungry and senior citizens are “disproportionately affected.”

A major reason for the hearing was to showcase the release of findings by the Meals on Wheels Association of America (MOWAA) Foundation, which quantifies the problems and causes of hunger that seniors face and how these trends will continue into the future as our society ages.

“Hunger is a disease that is affecting our country, but unlike other diseases we have a cure for hunger today. Because of Senator Smith’s leadership on this issue, we now have a national forum to present these findings,” said Enid Borden, President and CEO of MOWAA.

Key findings included:

● In 2005, over five million seniors, 11.4% of all seniors, experienced some form of food insecurity (i.e., are marginally food insecure).

• Of these, about 2.5 million are at-risk of hunger (i.e. are food insecure), and about 750,000 actually experienced hunger (i.e., very low food security) due to financial constraints.

● Seniors are more likely to be at-risk of hunger if they are ages 60 to 65, poor, African-American or Hispanic, divorced or separated, living with a grandchild and/or renters.

● In 2025, an estimated 9.3 million senior Americans will experience some form of food insecurity, almost double the number in 2005.

● In 2025, an estimated 3.7 million senior Americans will be at-risk of hunger.

● In 2025, almost one million senior Americans will suffer from hunger.

Source: www.seniorjournal.com

Resources on aging: The city of Los Angeles Department of Aging lists local services for the elderly and a calendar of events: www.lacity.org/doa.  The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging provides resources for communities on preparing for an aging population: www.n4a.org

The AARP has information on housing, home design and care-giving: www.aarp.org

The U.S. Administration on Aging provides resources for all aspects of aging, including various housing choices in old age, assistive technology and home remodeling: www.aoa.gov
The International Longevity Center- USA, which educates people on how to live longer and better and advises society on how to maximize the benefits of today’s age boom, offers information on care-giving and finances in old age: www.ilcusa.org

The California Department of Aging provides a home modification fact sheet and home safety checklist: www.aging.ca.gov