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THE DODGE PARK REST HOME DECEMBER 2015 A Cheerful CONNECTION Heart is Good Dodge Park Rest Home has been serving the Worcester area since 1967 with the specific purpose to be recognized by the consumer and industry as the most professional, ethical and highest quality care facility for the elderly. We are committed to listening and responding to the needs of the residents, their family Medicine members and our employees. We are committed to going the extra mile when assistance is required by the public, the residents and their family members. We will remain committed to an entrepreneurial spirit, which does not tolerate waste or bureaucracy, but rewards achievement. -Micha Shalev & Ben Herlinger, Administrators /Owners At Dodge Park Rest Home & Day Club memories are created for a life time! Happy Holidays from our family to yours! In the Issue A Rarely Suspected Cause for Memory Impairment Change in Humor A sign of Dementia? A New Prospective On Alzheimer’s Help your Children on how to deal with stress This Month Special Days in December Pumpkins Not just for Jack-o-lanterns Thanksgiving Celebration Pictures from Dodge Park Celebrating Our December Birthdays! Neighborhood Connection is now digital! Calendar of Events Email [email protected] to get it delivered to your inbox Dodge Park Activities & Events each month. Print editions will mail out every other month only. DODGE PARK REST HOME COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER Changes in humor an Bringing LIFE to Those We Serve early sign of dementia Researchers at University College London have revealed that a change in sense of humor could be an early sign of dementia. The findings could help improve dementia A Rarely Suspected Cause for Memory diagnosis, by highlighting changes not commonly thought DODGE PARK REST HOME to be linked to the condition. The study, published in the ImpairmentBy Micha Shalev Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, was funded by Alzheimer’s Micha Shalev MHA Executive Director/Owner Research UK, the MRC, the NIHR Queen Square Dementia It’s long been known that sleep plays a strong role in memory consolidation, but now, research [email protected] Biomedical Research Unit and the Welcome Trust. is showing that age-related changes to the sleeping brain disrupt the normal pathways to memory formation, leading to that forgetfulness we associate with growing older. Ben Herlinger Adminstrator/Owner The research team was particularly interested in how sense The researchers found that people with both bvFTD and Alzheimer’s tended to prefer [email protected] of humor can change in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) slapstick humor to satirical and absurdist humor when compared with healthy people of Sleep and Senior Memory Impairment and Alzheimer’s disease. While Alzheimer’s disease is the a similar age. In fact, friends and relatives reported seeing these changes an average at Once of the exciting recent discoveries scientists have made in the area of sleep and memory Carrie Lindberg RN, BSN Director Of Nursing leading cause of dementia, frontotemporal dementia is the least nine years before the start of more typical dementia symptoms. This highlights that research is that there is a link between poor sleep and memory loss in the aging brain. [email protected] most common cause of dementia in the under-55s. Unlike changes in humor are not only an early feature of FTD, but may also occur in Alzheimer’s. Neuroscientists at the University of California, Berkeley, reported their findings in a recent study in Alzheimer’s, memory difficulties are not an early indicator that compared memory retention in groups of younger adults and older adults. Conducted in 101 Randolph Road of FTD. Rather, people tend to experience behavior and Dr Camilla Clark who led the research at the Dementia Research Centre, University 2012 and released in Nature Neuroscience, the study found that in elderly people, age-related Worcester, MA 01606 personality changes before they develop problems with College London, said: “As sense of humor defines us and is used to build relationships deterioration of the prefrontal cortex region of the brain was associated with a failure to achieve memory. The research team wanted to explore these with those around us, changes in what we find funny has impacts far beyond picking a the kind of deep, slow-wave sleep that helps the brain consolidate memories and information. Phone: 508.853.8180 behavioral symptoms, to reveal early clues of underlying new favorite TV show. We’ve highlighted the need to shift the emphasis from dementia Though it may seem there’s nothing we can do about the inevitable changes that happen in Fax: 508.853.4545 brain changes and aid diagnosis. being solely about memory loss. These findings have implications for diagnosis – not our brains as we age, there is a hopeful angle to the outcome of this study. The researchers’ only should personality and behavior changes ring alarm bells, but clinicians themselves The Dodge Park Family of Care Services findings may help future studies pinpoint new treatment angles for age-related memory loss. Because sense of humor is such an important part of need to be more aware of these symptoms as an early sign of dementia. As well as Dodge Park Rest Home In fact, scientists are already designing studies to determine whether enhancing sleep in older our personalities and our dealings with other people, providing clues to underlying brain changes, subtle differences in what we find funny The Adult Day Club at Dodge Park adults can improve their overnight memory retention. the research team focused on shifting preferences in could help differentiate between the different diseases that cause dementia. Humor Dodge Park At Home comedy genre in patients with dementia. Using a series could be a particularly sensitive way of detecting dementia because it puts demands on Dusk to Dawn at Dodge Park Can Lack of Sleep Add to Dementia Risk? of questionnaires, they asked friends or relatives of 48 so many different aspects of brain function, such as puzzle solving, emotion and social There is another, more serious reason to tackle the problem of poor sleep in seniors: the risk people with different forms of FTD and Alzheimer’s to rate awareness.” of developing cognitive impairment or dementia later in life. Not only do people get less deep their loved one’s liking for different kinds of comedy. This sleep as they get older, according to the National Institutes of Health, they are more likely to included slapstick comedy such as Mr Bean, satirical Dr Simon Ridley, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: experience disruptions to their sleep schedule, suffer from insomnia or sleep apnea, or develop puzzle. If you do have trouble at night, consult your comedy such as Yes, Minister or absurdist comedy such “While memory loss is often the first thing that springs to mind when we hear the movement disorders like restless legs syndrome that keep them from getting a good night’s physician about the issue. Maybe a visit to a sleep as Monty Python. The researchers also asked those word dementia, this study highlights the importance of looking at the myriad different sleep. Scientists are now finding that some of these sleep disruptions are associated with lab and/or ruling out sleep apnea is needed. completing the questionnaire to say whether they had symptoms that impact on daily life and relationships. A deeper understanding of the impaired cognition and, in some cases, the later onset of dementia. noticed instances of inappropriate humor. As well as full range of dementia symptoms will increase our ability to make a timely and accurate collecting data about current humor preferences, the team diagnosis. We need to see larger studies, following people for extended periods of time, Micha Shalev MHA CDP CDCM CADDCT is the owner Dr. Kristine Yaffe, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Francisco, has co-authored asked the friends and relatives to reflect on the past 15 of Dodge Park Rest Home and The Adult Day Club at to understand how and when changes in humor could act as a red flag for underlying numerous studies looking at the relationship between sleep and cognition in older adults. One Dodge Park located at 101 Randolph Road in Worcester years – well before any of the study volunteers received a brain changes. Dementia diagnosis poses multiple challenges, but through research we of those studies, published in 2011, found that older women with sleep-disordered breathing— as well as the new state of the art Oasis At Dodge Park diagnosis – to identify any shifts in preference. will be able to improve diagnosis and ultimately find treatments that tackle the specific seen in conditions such as sleep apnea—had an increased risk of developing cognitive which schedule to open fall 2015. He is a graduate of causes of the condition. Anyone who is concerned about changes in their behavior should the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners impairment 5 years later. In another 2011 study, older men who experienced incidents of The team found that people with behavioral variant speak to their GP.” program, and well known speaker covering Alzheimer’s waking up at night after initially going to sleep showed poorer cognition than those with normal FTD (bvFTD) – a particular form of FTD associated with and Dementia training topics. The programs at Dodge sleep patterns. In many of these cases, treating the causes of sleep problems like apnea may Park Rest Home specialized in providing care for behavioral changes – had an altered sense of humor Dr Rob Buckle, Director of Science Programmed at the MRC, said: be able to reduce the risk of dementia later on.