Franklin County 101 Lakeview Court Frankfort, KY 40601-8750 (502) 695-9035 franklin.ca.uky.edu FAMILY AND CONSUMER SCIENCES NOVEMBER 2020 Lower Your Risk of Sleep. Aim for 8 hours of sleep Alzheimer’s Disease Maintain healthy numbers, including cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, and Source: Amy F. Kostelic, Adult Development blood pressure. and Aging Specialist Exercise. Today’s researchers are more aware that Alzheimer’s does not just happen. Instead, they Stay connected. are demonstrating that changes in the brain are caused by a mix of lifestyle behaviors, genes, Make music. There is growing research on age, and the environment. the power of playing an instrument and singing. Because people may exhibit brain changes 20 Don’t smoke. to 25 years before signs or symptoms, Dr. Manage stress. Reisa Sperling, a Harvard neurologist, would like for people to treat Alzheimer’s similar to the (Continued on Pg. 2) way in which we treat diabetes and heart disease — two conditions that we can do something about with lifestyle fixes. Her goal is to assess the threats to the brain and identify fixable issues, knowing that some factors that raise the risk for Alzheimer’s cannot be fixed, such as genes, age (the odds of dementia at 85 years old is 50-50) and gender (women are at higher risk). It is believed that up to one-third of dementia cases can be delayed or prevented. Here are some suggestions for doing just that. Diet. Maintain a healthy weight and waistline, eat more vegetables and lean proteins, including fish. 2 Continued from pg. 1, Lower Your Risk worried parent and call every day as if you are of Alzheimer’s Disease in town. Family members and caregivers would know you are gone, but your parent would not. Take time for relaxation. Caregivers also have to take a person’s worry seriously. For example, it is better to accept a Reference: story — that someone is trying to break into Scott, P.S. (2018). Cheater’s guide to beating your parent’s home — because it is real to your Alzheimer’s. Retrieved from https:// parent at the time. If you try to correct the story, parade.com/657576/paulaspencer/the- it creates the potential for more stress. Ronald cheaters-guide-to-beating-alzheimers-new- Petersen, director of Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s research-and-prevention-breakthroughs/ disease Research Center, suggests distractions rather than trying to convince someone that something is not real. He finds that playing a Anxiety and Alzheimer’s person’s favorite music, using “therapeutic fibs,” and sticking to routines can be helpful. Lastly, disease using empathy, flexibility, and humor can go a Source: Amy F. Kostelic, Adult Development long way in trying to keep a loved one with and Aging Specialist dementia comfortable and calm. Approximately 80 percent of people living with Reference: dementia experience anxiety and agitation, Pieters, J. (2019). Anxiety complicates life for according to physicians at the University of dementia patients—and their caregivers. Post California at San Francisco. The brain of a Bulletin, B4. person with dementia, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, processes differently and slower. As a result, they are more easily overwhelmed and stimulated. Little things, such as a cool breeze, feeling hungry, or sun in one’s eyes can cause irritation because they may not be able to communicate the problem or figure out what to do. Stressful events, such as moving, can also trigger anxiety. Some patients may have been lifelong worriers but were able to manage and remain functional until Alzheimer’s shut down such coping skills. Caregivers can try to identify anxiety triggers and smooth them over to help prevent stress. If, for example, you going out of town gets your loved one worked up, you could keep the details from your 3 From the Desk of Tamera A. Magee 4 Ways to spend the holidays While families cannot show their love and affection for others through traditional ways, with grandchildren during the there are other things they can do to make the pandemic season memorable for everyone. Perhaps grandparents would like to write a note to their Source: David Weisenhorn, senior extension grandchild. They can include things like how specialist for parent and child adolescence important they are to them, how much they love education them and how proud they are of them. This will be a keepsake a grandchild can cherish years Since COVID-19 affects older adults more down the road. Grandparents can also start new severely than other age groups, many older traditions like teaching their grandchildren a silly individuals, particularly those with compromised dance they do every year before sharing a immune systems, have been encouraged to holiday meal. Heartfelt conversations are limit their exposure to others. With the holidays always important to have with loved ones and quickly approaching, that can make spending are not impacted by the pandemic. time with family, especially beloved young grandchildren, trickier than ever. The good This holiday season will be one we will news is older adults do not have to spend the remember for many years to come, so focus on season alone, as options exist to safely connect positive ways to make new family memories. with their family. The safest way to connect to family is through video conferencing. While it may not feel the same, families can establish a set schedule that allows grandparents to interact with their children and grandchildren. Not only does this allow for safe interactions, but it gives each family member something to look forward to. Grandparents can use this time to share holiday traditions like cooking, decorating, storytelling and sharing memories of past holidays or let their grandchildren decide what activity they are going to do together. In-person visiting is possible, if all family members take proper precautions and understand the ground rules beforehand. These rules should include wearing face masks and socially distancing around family members who live in other locations. Discourage family members from touching one another. This includes hugging, kissing or even holding hands. 5 6 7 Cooking with Starches and expand. You should use it also by creating a slurry first to prevent lumping and for one Source: Dr. Sandra Bastin, RDN, LDN, minute to prevent a chalky flavor. It can Extension Professor, Food and Nutrition withstand prolonged cooking and stirring before Specialist it begins to break down. It’s frequently used for Starch is a long chain of sugar molecules linked thickening pastry cream, cream pie and berry together. Starches we commonly use in the fillings, puddings, and delicate sauces. kitchen come from wheat (flour), corn Cornstarch-thickened sauces give a translucent (cornstarch), potato, arrowroot, and cassava shimmer or an opaque quality to sauces. (tapioca). When we add starches to liquids, they Cornstarch does not work well with acidic absorb water. When we apply heat, the starch ingredients or dishes that will be frozen. granules swell and then burst, causing the Potato starch is made from a potato variety with release of more starch molecules into the liquid; a very high starch content. The starch is thickening then occurs. You should not add extracted from potato pulp with tap water. Then starches directly to hot liquids. The edges of the it is dried to a powder. It is naturally white in starch will immediately gelatinize and form color and thickens quickly without a pronounced lumps. Thus, you should make most starches flavor. It is a great fix for too-thin sauces or for into a slurry with a small amount of cool liquid people with a wheat allergy or sensitivity. and then add it into the hot liquid. The root of the cassava plant produces the pure Flour, cornstarch, and tapioca are the most starch of tapioca, also known as tapioca flour. common starches used for thickening sauces, Tapioca pearls are also available. Follow the gravies, puddings, and pie fillings. Starches directions for use on the label for best results. begin to thicken around 140 degrees F. Flour Tapioca-thickened pie fillings are crystal clear and cornstarch have a high percentage of and have a more jelly-like consistency. Because amylose, which must be boiled for three it thickens juices faster than flour or cornstarch, minutes to remove the raw starch flavor. Flour it is great for all fruit pies. Because tapioca continues to thicken as it cools so stop cooking holds liquid, the pie filling will not weep when gravies and sauces at slightly less than their frozen and thawed. Thus, tapioca is great for ideal consistency. Tapioca and other root pies that will be frozen and reheated. starches have a high percentage of amylopectin, which thicken well without boiling. Arrowroot powder comes from the root of a Different starches also start to lose their plant of the same name. Because the starch thickening ability depending on the amounts of granules are very small, arrowroot makes very heat, agitation, and acids, such as lemon juice, smooth sauces when added to hot liquids as a wine, and vinegar, which are added to the slurry. It can withstand long cooking at recipe. Each thickening agent also differs in its moderate temperatures and forms a clear clarity, cooking characteristics, and whether sauce. It thickens at lower temperatures, so it they freeze and thaw well. can be used at the end of cooking. High temperatures may cause it to lose its thickening Flour is the most commonly used thickener. ability. Arrowroot can thicken sauces, gravies, White, all-purpose flour has a higher starch soups, jams, and pie fillings. It creates flaky, content than other wheat flours, so it provides moist, baked goods.