If you are like most of us, you were hard-wired not to lie. Telling a fib, no matter how trivial, makes you uncomfortable. Still, you know that sometimes it is kinder to lie. Like when your best friend who weighs 220 pounds expectantly asks if her new outfit makes her look “hot.” Or when your cousin asks if you enjoyed that great book on the the migrant patterns of whooping cranes that he gave you at Christmas. But what about when the lie that will “protect” is not so small or subjective? (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘memory loss’
When Caregivers Lie
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010Memory Loss? Health Steps You Must Take!
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010Taking care of overall health is essential to sustaining memory and optimal cognitive functioning. For example, hearing loss can aggravate memory loss. Recent studies have shown a connection between dental hygiene and the ability to recall. Yes, gingivitis may ultimately effect your cognitive functioning!
Common sense health care needs for people with memory loss include all the standard preventive care such as prostate/mammogram screenings, flu shots, annual physicals and blood pressure checks–and the following:
Hearing Evaluation
Hearing loss is very common in patients who have impaired memory. People with memory loss have access to a limited set of facts and so often have a difficult time making sense of the world around them. Hearing loss makes it even more difficult to understand and retain what is being said. Hearing loss can significantly aggravate memory loss. Accordingly, it is important to ensure that hearing is adequate, through a professional audiological exam. Just as the person who learns they need glasses for the first time is astonished to see the world come into clarity when they place the lenses over their eyes, never before having realized what they were missing, the person who has insufficient hearing may not recognize that the sounds around them could be more clear. (more…)
Great Bumper Sticker
Monday, January 18th, 2010We spotted this great bumper sticker in Tampa, Florida. It’s funny, and true!
Take Good Care of Your Children.
They Will Decide What Nursing Home You Go To!
Insert space.
to discuss memory loss.
Taking care of your memory is no laughing matter. Choices you make now can change your future later. Learn the Nine Simple Steps to Improve, Sustain, and Retain Memory Power as you age!
Have your own favorite funny bumper sticker about memory loss? Submit it below!
Memory Loss-Funny Story & Video Contest With Cash Prize!
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010The funniest video to hit YouTube in eons is by comedian Mack Dryden as he parodies what it is like to have memory loss. The video is SO funny, and SO easy to identify with, that it has had over 2.6 million views on YouTube.com. Like the incredible performance of Susan Boyle, the video has gone viral! The video has even inspired the folks at WhatsYourNameAgain.com to launch a contest for the funniest memory loss story and video- with a $500 cash prize!
And its no wonder- by the year 2020, there will be over fifty million people who are over the age of 55! What are the young’ns to do??!
It is likely that more than a few will have fun with nana and gramps- or mom and dad-creating a funny video for the contest. And they will likely learn a lot about what a pain in the arsenal it is to experience memory loss! Hopefully they will learn some compassion, too. My bet is that it will be mom or dad or nana or gramps who comes up with the funniest story. Probably about the caregiver from hell. 
Oops. That might be me. I forget.
Stress at Work: The Brain Drain
Thursday, August 20th, 2009
Is Work De-Constructing Your Brain?
Once upon a time work was a 9 to 5 proposition with a paid lunch break in the middle and a few 15 minute breaks at the coffee machine or the water fountain. Then the number crunchers decided that more profit was needed. The work day was expanded from 8 to 5 with an unpaid lunch break in the middle. “Not enough money!” shouted the executive VPs as they collected their bonuses. “Lay some of the indians off!”
And so it came to pass that the average Joe (sephine) found him/her self doing the work of four people. Then five.
But the brain needs rest to regenerate and function properly. And neurotransmitters are blocked by hormones released under stress. (Most infamous: cortisol, the stress induced hormone that also effects weight gain!) The cycle of stress induced hormones block brain transmissions, cause memory loss and inability to retain information. What’s a poor, un-bonused, multi-tasking, sandwich generation, middle aged worker to do??
Kick off the stress with some humor! Read the funny stories of others and submit your own story here!
