By Guest Blogger Mary Emma Allen

It’s difficult enough when you family member has no health problems other than Alzheimer’s, but when there are other issues, such as diabetes, their care becomes more complex for family caregivers and for staff at nursing homes.

Here are 7 tips which hopefully will make diabetes care for Alzheimer’s patients a bit easier:

1. Learn about diabetic diets, especially if you’re the one preparing the food.

2. Learn about your family member’s medical needs.

3. When your family member resides in a nursing home, make sure you note this on the forms you fill out. Diabetes should show up in their health records, but be sure you have it documented… every place possible.

4. Coordinate with caregivers at the nursing home and make sure they know your family member has diabetes. Monitor diet at a nursing home or with a caregiver in the patient’s home.

5. You’ll find a diabetic Alzheimer’s patient becomes forgetful about medications and diet. They eventually won’t know why their diet is restricted and may rebel against this. Don’t take it personally when the patient gets upset with you as they lose the ability to comprehend diet and medication.

6. Seek advice from the patient’s physician about their care. Being informed makes it easier to cope.

7. Remember you aren’t expected to know and do everything, only the best you can!

(Guest blogger Mary Emma Allen co-authors Alzheimer’s Notes at the Science and Health Channel, as well as Home Biz Notes at the Business Channel. She writes Quilting and Patchwork at b5media’s Lifestyles Channel. She cared for her mother and aunt who had Alzheimer’s. Her aunt was a diabetic.)

Post from: Blisstree

Guest Poster Mary Emma Allen Shares About Alzheimer’s Patients With Diabetes

Now scientists at Northwestern University have discovered why brain insulin signaling — crucial for memory formation — would stop working in Alzheimer’s disease. They have shown that a toxic protein found in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s removes insulin receptors from nerve cells, rendering those neurons insulin resistant. (The protein, known to attack memory-forming synapses, is called an ADDL for “amyloid ß-derived diffusible ligand.”)

I know I read something similar to this last year. There was preliminary research released stating that there is a direct correlation the way the brain uses, or misuses, insulin and the way that diabetics fight a similar battle.

The most current Northwestern University study is so powerful that they are even coining Alzheimer’s disease as a possible “type 3 diabetes”. What a breakthrough for both diseases this would be! If you want to read the entire article that was derived from a publication released from Northwestern University, check out Science Daily. I warn you, the words are a bit… hard to understand. But you will get the jest. And if you are interested in reading more on Alzheimer’s disease check out a fellow b5 blog Alzheimer’s Notes.

Post from: Blisstree

Alzheimer’s Disease Coined “Type 3 Diabetes”?

Health experts already knew that type 2 diabetes can be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. The evidence has been less clear on whether diabetes is related to a higher risk of mild cognitive impairment, often considered a bridge state between normalcy and Alzheimer’s.

With new research comes new questions. Will there be evidence that shows maintaining a healthy blood sugar will lower the chance of developing mild cognitive impairment like in so many other diseases that are linked to diabetes.? Or will this be viewed as an end result that is inevitable? Will this fuel the fire for non complaint diabetics?

I know, I know, so many questions. This is why I love research, you can set out to answer anything that you could conceivably ponder.

For this study, Luchsinger and his colleagues looked at 918 men and women older than 65 (average age 75.9) who did not have mild cognitive impairment or dementia at the start of the study.

During follow-up that averaged 6.1 years, 334 of the participants developed mild cognitive impairment. And people with diabetes had a higher risk of having mild cognitive impairment, especially amnestic MCI, which affects memory more than non-amnestic MCI.

What was the contributing factor that led to an increased amount of cognitive impairment among the participants?

Diabetes could contribute to plaque build-up in the brain, with such a build-up a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, the study authors said.

All in all, this type of pioneering research is welcomed and applauded. As always though, this is in the very elementary stages and more research is needed.

via Washington Post. com

Post from: Blisstree

Does Diabetes Increase The Risk Of Mild Cognitive Impairment?