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5 years ago
9.22.2008
The Power of Community
"Having close friends and staying in contact with family members offers a protective effect against the damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease according to research by physicians at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study, which is currently posted online in The Lancet Neurology, will be published in the May print edition of the journal."
Community is essential to well being and this is especially true for elders. That said, we are sailing into a historical aberration. In the decades to come, more and more elders will spend more and more time separated from family, friends and neighbors. This is a path that leads to great suffering and it must be undone.
Click here for a handy list of Nine things you can do to prevent Alzheimers.
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The research and the 9 key points for preventing Alzheimer's strike me as being the same mantra heard for prevention of other diseases - with the possible exceptions of "protecting your head" and engaging in mental stimulation. I am curious as to whether there is any statistical correlation between the increase in Alzheimer's disease and other diseases (such as cancer). Since the article expresses concern about separation from families, friends and neighbors, do the authors feel that moves into senior living "campuses" contribute to their concerns? I hope that their is recognition that new friends and neighbors can be made as someone ages.
ReplyDeleteIn the Power of Community, the stated problem is the physical separation our elders experience. While clearly true, I think the incepent problem is the separation we feel from our elders. We largely create the separation, which becomes manifested in theirs.
ReplyDeleteThe Power of Community should grow with age but instead it declines. I don't understand how something could be so backwards. Often family members of elders move away, friends pass away or also move away which limit socialization with others. I am glad that the social model is getting more attention these days. Without socialization people are vulnerable to other cognitive deficits as well as Alzheimer's. I see depression a lot with people that have limited socialization.
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