Health : Health Buzz: Nearly 15 Million Americans Are Caring for Someone With Alzheimer's |
| Health Buzz: Nearly 15 Million Americans Are Caring for Someone With Alzheimer's Posted: 16 Mar 2011 09:23 AM PDT The Number of Alzheimer's Caregivers Is Rapidly Rising Nearly 15 million Americans are caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's or another form of dementia—a consequence of a rapidly graying population. That's a 37 percent jump from this time last year, according to a report published Tuesday by the Alzheimer's Association, a Chicago-based nonprofit. About 5.4 million people are currently living with Alzheimer's, an incurable, mind-destroying disease that snatches the ability to do even the simplest daily activities. It is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Last year, these caregivers—typically family members, occasionally friends—provided 17 billion hours of unpaid assistance to Alzheimer's patients, a contribution valued at more than $202 billion, according to the report. Sixty percent of them were women, and most were older than 55. Sixty-one percent reported experiencing high to very high emotional stress, and one-third had symptoms of depression. Nearly 60 percent said they also dealt with significant physical stress. That's why it's important for caregivers to make sure they're taking care of themselves, too, the report authors say. "We are in the early stages of an epidemic," Bill Thies, the association's chief medical and scientific officer, told Reuters. "It is only going to get worse over the next four years, and these costs are going to continue to grow."
Family Caregivers: Exhausted, Stressed—and Abusive? Bearing the responsibility for an aging parent or spouse can become an increasingly thorny task—and not necessarily because of the need for more and more complex care. Caregivers themselves can sustain emotional, mental, and physical blows that may go unattended in the name of duty to their loved one. Sleep is lost; stress mounts steadily; and something just might give. In the case of caring for someone with dementia, says research published in the British Medical Journal, sometimes that lapse comes in the form of psychological—or even physical—abuse. More than half of family caregivers surveyed in the study reported some abusive behavior toward the person they cared for. The burden felt by caregivers is real and can manifest itself in a constellation of ways, U.S. News reported in 2009. Phyllis Brostoff, president of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers, suggested ways to cope with caregiving. 1. Acknowledge what's going on. It's not always apparent to caregivers how they're being affected by their responsibilities or their loved one's changing condition. Particularly in cases of early dementia, when someone's mental faculties may initially wax and wane in and out of lucidity, a caregiver may feel irritated at having to answer the same question multiple times. "Sometimes the person doesn't realize they're being [verbally] abusive," says Brostoff. Adjusting to and mourning the decline of someone you rely on can be very sad and emotionally taxing, she adds. So if you find yourself feeling as if you hate the person you're caring for, says Brostoff, take it as a sign to get some assistance. [Read more: Family Caregivers: Exhausted, Stressed—and Abusive?] HCG Diet Dangers: Is Fast Weight Loss Worth the Risk? Thousands of people are latching onto a diet that promises rapid weight loss—up to 30 pounds a month—and, judging by its recent surge in popularity, actually delivers. But the so-called hCG diet is either a weight-loss miracle or a dangerous fraud, depending on who's talking. The plan combines drops or injections of hCG, a pregnancy hormone, with just 500 calories a day. While some believers are so convinced of its power they'll willingly stick themselves with a syringe, the government and mainstream medical community say it's a scam that carries too many health risks and doesn't lead to long-term weight loss. "It's reckless, irresponsible, and completely irrational," says Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but that's mainly because you're hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last." HCG is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat infertility in both men and women. But its weight-loss roots trace back to the 1950s, when British endocrinologist A.T.W. Simeons realized that giving obese patients small, regular doses of the hormone helped them lose stubborn clumps of fat. It only worked, however, when coupled with a near-starvation diet, U.S. News reports. Simeons began touting hCG as a potent appetite suppressant that would make anything more than 500 daily calories unbearable. And he claimed the hormone could blast fat in key trouble spots like the upper arms, stomach, thighs, and buttocks, while preserving muscle. Save for a few tweaks, the modern-day incarnation is largely as Simeons presented it: Dieters supplement an extremely low-calorie meal plan with daily injections prescribed off-label by medical professionals, or take diluted, homeopathic hCG— typically in drop form—sold online, in drugstores, and at nutritional supplement stores. [Read more: HCG Diet Dangers: Is Fast Weight Loss Worth the Risk?] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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