Food for Thought on Dementia
 

I just posted this on my other group and thought I'd plant it here too.

Can Too Many Medications Cause Symptoms of Dementia?

Besides everything on this link, for me, picking up bridge after being away from it for 40 yrs has really sharpened my mind. I learned to play this card game when I was about 23 then had to let it go for a lot of years due to work life, then picked it back up when I retired. One of our close friends just passed at 95 and she played bridge for some 50 yrs. She was tops and I learned so much from her too. Another woman at our women's club is heading to 101 and she still comes to play weekly.

I know a lot of people do crosswords, but I never got into them. I did attempt some while in the rehabs recently as my mind felt like it was going.

Dr. Google can most like give a lot of "tips" if one does a search like:

"Remedies for slowing or reversing dementia."

I saw this dementia issue so strong in the rehab situations I was in for about 4.5 months.

Probably foods play a part too. Other thoughts and ideas?

Oh, Vit D could play a role here too. I didn't look it up but so so many are deficient.

Here is a link from AARP and the Vit D deficiency dementia link. Scroll down and you'll see article. THere are many other articles online too:

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Dementia - Alzheimer's Disease - AARP

Some thoughts:

Dementia is a catch-all term. It includes Alzheimer's Disease, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Lewy body disease. A competent neurologist should be able to do a differential diagnosis of these.

Eating in a healthy way is good for everybody, not just those with a form of dementia. It includes minimal processed food intake but lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish (good source of omega-3 fatty acids), whole-grain products (brown rice, whole-grain bread, etc), chicken (ideally free-range), red meat in moderation, pulses, nuts, eggs, etc.

Maintaining high-level cognitive activities like bridge is a good plan.

On a personal note, my partner and I got to care for her mother in the later stages of Alzheimer's Disease. My partner took out an Enduring Power of Attorney so she could make financial decisions for her mother when she became cognitively unable to do so. She also took out an Enduring Guardianship which meant that she could make medical decisions when her mother became incapable of doing that. For example, in the terminal stages her mother showed signs of breast cancer and the doctors wanted to intervene. My partner told them "No." which they had no choice but to go along with.

Finally, caring for somebody with any form of dementia is not easy. If anybody in the NT community is in that position, make sure that you have a good support network set up.