Happy Memories: helping people with Alzheimer’s
Everybody looks forward to holidays, weekends and time off. This is because these times are usually happy times when they can do things they enjoy and spend time with people they love. People love to take photos of happy occasions or special events because they want to preserve the feelings of the occasion. Of course you can’t bottle up a good feeling to be used or felt again in a few months or years time. However photos help us to remember these occasions or events so that our brain can recall some of these feelings.
One of the worst things that can happen as someone gets older is to lose their memory. A friend’s father developed Alzheimer’s a few years ago. Even though Sue understood what this disease did to people so became very depressed when her own father didn’t know who she was. It was not her fault and there was nothing she could of done to prevent it. She knew that it was a possible outcome of her father’s condition but nevertheless it is a sad occasion when someone you love dearly cannot remember the happy times you’ve shared together.
Alzheimer’s Disease or senile dementia affects about 10% of adults over 65 years old and 30% of adults over 85. Most sufferers lose their memory gradually over a number of years. Then they lose their reasoning ability, their ability to communicate and, eventually their physical abilities as well. The nerves in the brain degenerating causes a communication break down between the different sectors of the brain and other muscles of the body. A cure for Alzheimer’s hasn’t been discovered yet. Medical science can only slow down the effects of this disease through medication.
People with Alzheimer’s may lose interest in food, forget to feed themselves properly or even forget to eat altogether. This can lead to malnutrition and weight gain/loss. It is important for carers to supervise their diet and eating behaviour to ensure they have proper nutritious meals and snacks.
Lifestyle can also contribute greatly towards prevention or slowing down of memory loss. It is vital to remain socially active and maintain hobbies. The brain needs to be stimulated through interaction with people of similar interests. Also mental puzzles like crosswords, math problems, Sudoku and so on keep the brain sharp. As it says in the Book of Proverbs “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Prov. 27:7 New American Standard Bible). It is important to cultivate spiritual health as elderly people quite often cherish their personal values and seek the real meaning of life. Engaging in philosophical discussions is very stimulating to the mind and soul. Reading and learning new skills broadens ones mind and understanding of the world.
My grandfather and my uncle love to tell stories of their many triumphs over challenges they encountered when they first came to Australia as migrants. The retelling of memories helps us learn about the history of our family and inspires us create new ones for our children. My grandfather lived with us until he passed away at the age of 82. The continuous interaction of family members around him kept him sane. His memory remained sharp because he was able to pass on his wisdom to willing listeners almost every evening.
