Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, MS, the author of the study, tested the blood of 1,219 people who were determined to be “dementia free.” These people who did not have dementia were all senior citizens and over the age of 65.

Regarding the dementia study’s results, Scarmeas said that “Determining through further research whether omega-3 fatty acids or other nutrients relate to spinal fluid or brain beta-amyloid levels or levels of other Alzheimer’s disease related proteins can strengthen our confidence on beneficial effects of parts of our diet in preventing dementia,” said Scarmeas

The National Institute on Aging funded this study that examined the relationship between beta-amyloid levels and Omega-3 fatty acids. While this study on dementia and diet doesn’t guarantee people will ward of dementia or Alzheimer’s if they eat a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids, it probably wouldn’t hurt to eat this in a well-balanced diet.

The report, “2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” estimates that one in seven people with Alzheimer’s or dementia lives alone, and that up to half of those people have no identifiable caregiver. Most are older women with milder impairment.

In response to these statistics, the Alzheimer’s Association has created an online social network called ALZ Connected, in an effort to provide support, especially for those seniors who are socially isolated or have a hard time getting out for in-person group support meetings.

Though well-intended, the website assumes those seniors with dementia living at home have access to a computer, the Internet—and now how to use both.

Engage As You Age understands that this is a big and often erroneous assumption. Which is why we offer computer lessons for seniors living at home, customized for their needs and tech know-how. And because we know that seniors living alone need more than a computer lesson, we offer engaging and meaningful social visits to stimulate their minds and refresh their spirits. Living alone is hard enough; living alone with dementia is even tougher. With Engage As You Age, it’s made a little simpler.

Five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or dementia and the number is on track to double by 2050; yet the U.S. government spends just $450 million on the disease.

President Obama and the Department of Health and Humans Services today announced the first step in a plan to change these numbers and majorly boost funding for Alzheimer’s research. The decision will provide $156 million in added funds through 2013 if authorized by Congress, including an immediate infusion of $50 million to the National Institutes of Health for clinical research and $26 million for public awareness and support for caregivers. An additional $80 million would be released in 2013.

According to an NIH announcement, the funding will primarily support:

• Researching genes that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
• Testing therapies in individuals at the highest risk for the disease
• Expansion or acceleration of clinical trials

Engage As You Age applauds the increase in funding. But most of the money is earmarked for biomedical research, and would like to see some directed to researching the power of socialization as a way to prevent or delay cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s and depression as a result of social isolation among senior citizens aging in place, often alone.

In talking to our senior citizen clients and their Activity Specialists, and observing both of them over time, we know that socialization improves quality of life, reduces loneliness and even boosts cognitive ability and awareness. The NIH could be a powerful national ally in identifying, testing and proving the impact of socialization on older adults and seniors with dementia, cognitive delays or Alzheimer’s.

Now we just need to get Obama on the phone and tell him as much.

Among the featured topics included in this series is “Caring For Aging Parents Who Cared For You”. This conversation focuses on the challenge of caring for a loved one as they age, a role many will unexpectedly be forced to play. The guests on this topic are author Jane Gross who wrote “A Bittersweet Season- Caring for our Aging Parents and Ourselves” (a novel about caring for her ailing mother), Beatriz Terrazas (author of “My Mother’s Brain”- a blog on a Latino Family’s story about Alzheimer’s), and John Farley who edits and co-writes the Speakeasy column in The Wall Street Journal.

Another great topic covered by the series is on the realities of retirement, titled “Advice For the Golden Years: ‘Don’t Ever Retire Mentally’. A memorable quote that stood out to us was from 83 year old, Krishna Roy, who said “Don’t ever retire mentally. Keep your mind alive.” This is sound advice since a recent poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Yale School of Public health shows that 39% of retirees say their health is worse after retirement compared with 13% of non-retirees expectations for life after work. It is clear that this series is not only going to talk about death but also an active and engaged retirement among several related topics.

Here is an interesting website also put together through NPR; End of Life explores death in America and provides several useful links. The site provides transcripts on various topics surrounding death, resources for people with life-threatening diseases and their families and caregivers, as well as links to selected mediums on death and dying, hospice, death and caregiving, retirement, and much more. Enjoy!

“I plan to continue to be your coach,” Pat Summitt said in a two-minute video statement released by the University of Tennessee’s athletic department.

Summitt is just 59 years old. An icon in women’s basketball, she has led UT to eight national championships and 1,071 career victories, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, regardless of gender. This will be her 38th season coaching at the university.

Summitt explained that she will maintain her role by collaborating even more with the team’s other coaches because “I realize I may have some limitations with this condition since there will be some good days and some bad days,” she said in letter posted on the university’s website.

Yet she didn’t consider retirement. She told The Knoxville News Sentinel that she was encouraged after speaking with Dr. Ronald Petersen, the director of the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. “He’s the one who told me you can coach as long as you want to coach and no one else had said anything like that to me,” Summitt told the newspaper.

With this in mind, a retired nurse and RV regular founded Escapees Care Center in 1997 in Livingston, Texas. It is the country’s only assisted living facility for full-time RVers.

Handing Over the Keys from Our Future Selves, produced by the Columbia School of Journalism News 21 staff, via Vimeo.

For a monthly fee ranging from $800 for singles and $1200 for a couple, residents at Escapees Care have access to the Care Center, where registered nurses are on call 40 hours a week. They take regular blood pressure readings, clean and dress wounds, help residents with their medication and schedule doctors’ appointments. The monthly payment also covers laundry, transportation and three meals a day in the Care Center’s dining room.

There is adult day care for those with dementia and a weekly support group for those with low vision. More important to most of the 50 or so residents, the community provides a social network, with daily activities, bluegrass concerts and Wii bowling.

The centrality of socializing at Escapees promotes exactly the kind of active and engaging relationships Engage As You Age seeks to bring to its Bay Area seniors. Bravo Escapees.

Read More: DIY Ways to Age In Place

Over half of all Alzheimer’s disease cases could potentially be prevented through lifestyle changes and treatment or prevention of chronic medical conditions, said the study. The researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) revealed that Alzheimer’s may be attributable to seven preventable behaviors or conditions: physical inactivity, smoking, depression, low education, hypertension, obesity and diabetes.

The authors found that these behaviors and conditions, all of which can be modified, may be responsible for about half of the roughly 5.3 million Alzheimer’s cases in the United States and 34 million cases worldwide.

So, if people addressed these risks (by exercising, quitting smoking, increasing their social interaction or losing weight, for example) a significant number of Alzheimer’s cases could be prevented. The researchers estimated that reducing the prevalence of these factors by just 10 percent could prevent 1.1 million cases worldwide. Reduce the prevalence of these factors by 25 percent? More than 3 million fewer cases. That’s millions and millions of fewer family caregivers who need to devote their lives to caring for their parents or spouse.

The study confirmed what Engage As You Age already believes and practices: providing social stimulation and human interaction as an avenue to reducing cognitive impairment for seniors with Alzheimer’s and dementia. The number of people with Alzheimer’s and dementia is expected to triple in the next 40 years, making it critical to identify potential causes of these diseases.

Though the researchers stressed that the study is not yet scientific proof that these risk factors prevent Alzheimer’s or the symptoms of dementia (but we hope that follow-up studies will find scientific proof), we think it’s an important first step pushing forward the dialogue about aging. Just as Engage As You Age is trying to do.

Participants of this 6-week class will all receive a free copy the book Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions. A relaxation cd will also be given to participants to keep and it is called Time for Healing.

The class will take place each Monday beginning on July 11th and will be from 1:30 till 4 pm for each of the 6 sessions. The workshops will be at:

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Stanford Healthy Library, South Palo Alto Branch

Oshman Family Jewish Community Center

3921 Fabian Way, Room G106, Palo Alto, CA 94303

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You can sign up for the class by calling 650-498-7826. It will be facilitated by Peggy Simon who works for Stanford University Hospital, Avenidas and also provides coaching services for family caregivers who are taking care of an aging parent as a primary caregiver or who are using caregiving services.

Navigating the maze of senior care can be overwhelming and confusing. But there are solutions – and a May 19 community discussion will offer up dozens.

Engage As You Age, a company that provides social visits for isolated seniors, has organized Senior Care 101: A panel discussion with a range of experts at the Burlingame Recreation Social Hall.

Seniors and their loved ones (spouses, children and caregivers) are invited and encouraged to attend the free event. Participants include a geriatric psychologist, a fiduciary and financial planner, a social worker, ombudsman, therapist and concierge.

Engage As You Age’s founder, Ben Lewis, has led more than a dozen of these panels in Marin and San Francisco. The interactive sessions can be tremendous learning opportunities, he said.

“Whether people chime in during the town-hall style meeting or come up afterward and ask panelists in private for help—everyone gets their questions answered one way or the other,” Lewis said.

The panel will offer those in the audience advice and connect them with community resources, including those that are free. The goal is to provide community people with actionable information to help them address their immediate eldercare, life-planning issues and also learn how to proactively tackle common challenges that people face as they age. Homecare, caregiving and many other topics will be addressed.

DETAILS—

What: Senior Care 101

When: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Thursday, May 19

Where: Burlingame Recreation Social Hall, 850 Burlingame Avenue, Burlingame.