Movement for Mind & Memory: How Exercise Supports Brain Health in Dementia

Movement for Mind & Memory: How Exercise Supports Brain Health in Dementia Exercise can play a meaningful role in managing moderate dementia, helping both cognitively and physically in several ways: Improved Blood Flow and Oxygenation: Increased oxygenation to the brain can help with cognitive clarity, slowing down the progression of cognitive decline, and maintaining healthy…

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Hospital Acquired Frailty

Hospital Acquired Frailty: A precipitous multi-system decline due to immobility while in a hospital that is often preventable. Motion is Life Frailty Tip Sheet Why is consistent mobility crucial? Muscle activity impacts far more than just our ability to move….it’s a SAFEGUARD Immobilized patients not only experience functional declines, but medical conditions worsen as well.…

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Qualifying for Home Health

Qualifying for Home Health: No, we don’t need to wait for an injury or illness to assist. In fact, being proactive can often reduce this risk. We are often asked, which of our patients would qualify for home health? Recent fall, or new fear of instability: we call any unintended loss of elevation a fall…

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Revising Healthcare Goals for the Older Patient

Revising Healthcare Goals for the Older Patient: And why the therapy goal of ‘previous level of function’ doesn’t go far enough. The decline of older patients is well documented, with each subsequent injury or illness creating a new, and lower baseline. Many healthcare providers are trained to think in terms of helping a patient get…

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50% of seniors in healthcare settings are malnourished

Half of all patients in hospitals and healthcare facilities are malnourished, leading to unnecessary suffering, poorer quality of life, and increased mortality. Despite available solutions, malnutrition is underdiagnosed and undertreated globally. A review in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights this issue and calls for greater use of existing knowledge to address it. The…

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Canary in The Coal Mine

Early warning signs an elderly adult may be declining Throughout much of the 20th century, chirping canaries were used in the coal mining industry as early warning systems for poisonous gases like carbon monoxide. Since carbon monoxide is clear and odorless, miners needed a way to detect it before it became lethal. Canaries, sensitive to…

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3 Key Components of Balance

The essential components of balance: the vestibular system, vision, and proprioception. 1. The Vestibular System: Inner Ear’s GPS Located in the inner ear, the vestibular system senses head movements and position changes. Disruptions, like inner ear infections or vertigo, can cause dizziness and balance issues. 2. Vision: Provides critical feedback to the brain about your…

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Functional Capacity and Levels of Physical Activity in Aging

A recent study aimed to understand the decline in physical function among older adults, focusing on various factors such as gender differences, body composition changes, functional fitness, comorbidities like type II diabetes, and the influence of physical activity. Over a 3-year period, they found that physical function declined with age, particularly in females, and identified…

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Hyperbaric Treatments an Alternative for Dementia

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a treatment that involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room or chamber. There is ongoing research into its potential benefits for various medical conditions, including dementia. We were recently joined on our podcast by Priscilla Romans, RN of Graithcare (www.graithcare.com), a patient advocacy company, to discuss this alternative treatment…

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