Caring Touch as a Way to Communicate

A crying baby elicits a predictable response from its parents or grandparents. An adult swoops in, lifts the baby in their arms, and snuggles, cradles, maybe even rocks the baby as the cries diminish, their breathing settles, the baby calms. As babies become children and even young adults, soothing and reassurance comes by way of hugs, pats on the back, a quick shoulder rub, or a hand laid on a forearm. These seemingly simple touches have enormous effects because they are hard-wired in human development. It should not be surprising then, that physical contact is a vital tool for those caring for loved ones with Dementia.

No matter one’s age, human touch enhances communication by expressing emotion and offering reassurance. In a scientific study, a “sender” was asked to convey a range of emotions - happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, anger, fear, etc. – by touching the “receiver’s” forearm from behind a curtain. Receivers were able to accurately identify the emotion 48 - 83% of the time(1). No words spoken, no facial expressions visible – only variations in touch!

As a caregiver, the suggestion “Let’s get ready to go” may be easier to accomplish if accompanied by a warm hand on a shoulder. A gentle touch by a caregiver can improve compliance with requests, and offer reassurance when fear or concern is detected. Human touch increases the feeling of wellbeing by decreasing cortisol levels (the "stress“ hormone) and increasing oxytocin levels (the “love” hormone). If our goal is to care, comfort, and protect our loved ones with Dementia, the power of simple touch cannot be ignored.

From simple to professional, therapeutic massage intensifies the benefits of simple touch and introduces several more. Regular therapeutic massage lessens physical pain, decreases the physical symptoms of stress, reduces depression symptoms, improves immune function, and enhances attentiveness1. Because of these benefits, therapeutic massage should be on the menu of options for a loved one living with Dementia.

Lastly, we must not overlook the value of social interaction and connectedness delivered by a caring human touch. Humans are, after all, social animals. No matter the advances in technology, it is clear that when human touch is withheld, a void remains that cannot easily be filled with spoken words or digital screens.  

Note 1: Field, Tiffany. 2011. Developmental Review. (30) 2010 367-383. Touch for socioemotional and physical wellbeing: A review.    Accessed May 29, 2020, from https://www.radboudcentrumvoormindfulness.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/artikel-4.pdf

Contributor:  Karen Ogden, DSA Team Member

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse nor guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of content contained within blog posts that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice. Please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

Make a Not-to-Do List for Better Brain Health

A lot of people have a To-Do list loaded with tasks, errands, and projects that they intend to take care of either during the course of that day or at some reasonable time in the future. Most of the people who have lists like this tend to get a few things done, then transfer whatever was leftover to the new list they write up the following day, week, or month. 

Typically, these lists end up getting so filled with uncompleted tasks that they become daunting. It can even get to the point where your bloated To-Do list is a source of stress. If something isn’t getting done it may be due to procrastination, or it’s simply something that just wasn’t important. Leaving trivial items on your To-Do list bogs down your brain capacity and starts causing you to feel things like worry and fear, which are the two most damaging emotions for the brain.

I encourage my clients to keep a Not-To-Do list. This type of list can actually have several different uses. First and foremost, it’s a sort of garbage can where you can dump meaningless tasks that probably shouldn’t have been on your To-Do list in the first place. 

This turns the list into an exercise in prioritizing. It forces you to sit down and think about what you really need to get done, what you should do, and what really isn’t all that important. Then you can sharpen your focus and execute the important tasks in your life with fervor. 

The other aspect of a Not-To-Do list is to serve as a reminder of bad habits you want to avoid. It might be eating too much sugar, having one too many drinks, or keeping up with your efforts to quit smoking. Writing down bad habits that you know you shouldn’t do can be an empowering way to break negative cycles in your life. 

It can also be a tool to help you identify sources of stress in your life. You might include things on the list like ‘I’m not going to get angry in traffic today’, or ‘I’m not going to let my annoying co-worker get to me’. 

When you think about all of these things and how they can all add up, a Not-To-Do list can be a very powerful stress management tool!

Many successful people, like Tim Ferris, are advocating Not-To-Do lists. It allows them to be much more proactive and productive than the actual To-Do-list. At the same time, it also invokes creativity and innovation, because you’re no longer bogging down your brain with things that are seemingly not that important.

Sit down and brainstorm about what is not serving you well on your list and in your life. Then compile a Not-To-Do list. You might find that it will become more important than your To-Do list.  This is a really powerful tip to ramp up your brain for peak performance.

Contributor: Dr. Michael Trayford is a Board-Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and Founder of APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit https://apexbraincenters.com/.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse nor guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of the content contained within blog posts that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice. Please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

Risks Associated with Dementia: Weight

Body weight and risk for Dementia are both a confusing and complex topic. One can find reports that state obesity increases the risk for dementia as well as ones that indicate the opposite –that being underweight is the risk factor. And to make things even more confusing, there is evidence that indicates being overweight may protect some people from Dementia.*

It’s needless to say, these unexpected findings are difficult to explain and generate considerable discussion and controversy both in the media and between researchers.

However, what these seemingly conflicting findings show is risk – the factors that influence the likelihood of having Dementia is difficult to assess. A too high body mass index (BMI), uses an equation to calculate a numerical rating of your health based on height and weight, is only one of many known risk factors.

Therefore the big challenge is how to determine the combined effects of having multiple risk factors, such as diabetes, insufficient exercise, and smoking. Does having additional factors make having dementia three times more likely than being overweight alone? Or perhaps the risks compound and put people at 10 times the risk for Dementia?

Is it possible that having a high BMI becomes protective when combined with habits and activities known to reduce risk? As you can see, the number of environmental, behavioral, health-related and genetic influences is huge and the combinations of risk factors are infinite.

Another challenge is separating associative risks from those that cause the outcome. For example, obesity is associated with increased risk for diabetes, but in itself does not cause diabetes. What causes diabetes is the inability of the pancreas to produce sufficient insulin. And, as it turns out, having diabetes is a risk factor associated with having dementia later-in-life.

Therefore, based on what we currently know about BMI and risk for Dementia the best answer is, “it depends.” This means, at this time, the best we can to reduce risk is to make a lifelong commitment to what current clinical research shows are health-promoting habits. 

*The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, http://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(15)00033-9/abstract), Accessed: September 2016.

Contributor: Janet Yagoda Shagam, Ph.D., is a freelance medical and science writer and the author of “An Unintended Journey: A Caregiver's Guide to Dementia.” Available through Amazon.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse or guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of the content contained within blog posts that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice. Please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

Don't Let Them Get to You

Modern life is filled with everyday nuisances that we all have to deal with. It might be someone cutting you off on the road, rude people in a store, or whatever the case may be. These nuisances that plague us on a daily basis, have the ability to influence our stress level.

This could manifest itself in many different ways; it could be anger it could be anxiety, fear, or worry. 

When it comes to stress, we’re adding elevations of certain hormones in our body that cause our body to work a certain way. Somebody cuts you off on the road, our blood pressure goes up, breathing changes and your emotions can change very rapidly. 

There are all these consequences and cascade of events that occur simply because somebody decided they wanted to get in front of you on a line or on the road. Some people can let that go pretty easily, but most people tend to get caught up in it. 

Of course, letting go of some of these things is easier said than done. It takes practice. There are countless stressors you can encounter on a daily basis that can get to you; be it a rude cashier, somebody cutting you off on the road or a boss that’s yelling at you. Any one of these things can increase your stress level, which can affect a wide range of systems in the body, especially those related to brain health.

Activities like meditation, exercise and other forms of stress management can help you deal with the feeling of stress, fear and worry that has gotten too far out of hand due to these accumulated stressors. This is especially helpful for anger that has gotten too far out of hand. Neurofeedback is another great tool that can help people become aware of their stress reactions and to help them gain control over them. 

There are many different tools and techniques to manage this immediate stress reaction. It takes practice and the first step is awareness.  Simply being aware of your reactions to potentially stressful situations is enough to get you started on finding the method that works best for you.

Contributor Author: Dr. Michael Trayford is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and Founder of APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit www.ApexBrainCenters.com/memory.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse nor guarantee products, comments, suggestions, links, or other forms of content contained within blog posts- that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice, please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org

The Chaos Theory

Organization is important for several different reasons. When you stop to think about it, the opposite of organization is chaos and chaos is synonymous with stress. When we look at the pillars of effective brain training, cognitive, physical, metabolic, and lifestyle factors, we see how stress relates directly to lifestyle factors. Many of these come with at least some level of personal control.

Organization is an important factor for managing stress and making sure your brain experiences as little unnecessary distraction as possible. If you’re living by the seat of your pants and organizing your day by countless post-it notes or digital notes, it can bog you down. Also, when you’re not accomplishing things it gives you a sense of fear and worry, because you’re not completely doing the things you feel you are supposed to be doing.

A lack of organization can be a significant challenge in your life. Simply crossing things off of your to-do list doesn’t mean that you are organized. To a certain degree, it might make more sense to sit down and write a 'to-not-do list'. Sometimes you can look at your current to-do list and find things that have been on there for months, if not years. If you’re not doing those things, then it probably means they are not all that important.

Getting control of your thoughts and energies by having a to-not-do list can actually be quite liberating. It can even start to eliminate some of the fear and worry that comes from not getting everything done.

There is a great deal of research that shows us how fear and worry are the two most damaging emotions to the human brain. They contribute to the production of significant amounts of stress hormones. These hormones circulate through the body and can actually cause damage to certain parts of the brain that allow us to learn. They can even damage connections that have been made in the brain. The more we do to eliminate those two emotions, the better off our brains will be.

Some people might find that taking 10 or 15 minutes on Sunday evenings, to organize their week, can be incredibly powerful. You don’t have to go into minute detail. Simply prioritizing and putting your top tasks for the week in order can take a great deal of stress out of the week ahead. It can also help you think better, sleep better and interact more efficiently with friends, family and coworkers.

Contributor Author: Dr. Michael Trayford is a Board Certified Chiropractic Neurologist and Founder of APEX Brain Centers in Asheville, NC. For more information, please visit www.ApexBrainCenters.com/memory.

The opinions expressed by contributing authors are not necessarily the opinions of the Dementia Society, Inc. We do not endorse nor guarantee products, comments, suggestions or other forms of content contained within blog posts- that have been provided to us with permission, or otherwise. Dementia Society does not provide medical advice, please consult your doctor. www.DementiaSociety.org