If you’re worried about developing Alzheimer’s disease, new research suggests that eating more fruits or drinking more tea or red wine might help protect your brain.

People who had the lowest amounts of fruits — like apples and berries — and red wine and tea in their diets were two to four times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or another related dementia, the study found.

“Diet matters. And the good news is you don’t have to make dramatic changes. Modest changes like going from not eating any berries to eating a cup or two a week can make a difference,” explained the study’s senior author, Paul Jacques. He’s a senior scientist and director of nutritional epidemiology at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

Full article at WebMD

Continuing Education for Nursing Home Administrators

JOSEPHINE PASTORE HAS lived in Yonkers, a city of about 200,000 people between New York City and the rest of the Hudson Valley, for 66 years. And up until a few weeks ago, Pastore says she was often out of the house, with weekly church meetings and other social plans.

“I’m the type that always went out in all kinds of weather, even if I am 90 years old,” Pastore says.

Now that Pastore – and millions of other Americans – are under guidance to stay at home due to the coronavirus, it’s become impossible to keep her independence. Pastore’s medications are delivered, but she says grocery store deliveries are often booked up weeks in advance. And because she’s older and at higher risk of complications if she does get sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, her family doesn’t want her leaving the house.

To meet the needs of residents like Pastore, Westchester County, which includes Yonkers, is rapidly expanding its meal delivery services for seniors. About 5,000 seniors are receiving one or two meals every day through initiatives overseen by the county – up from about 1,600 before the virus struck, according to Mae Carpenter, who has led the county’s Department of Senior Programs and Services since 2001.

Full article at US News

Continuing Education for Nursing Home Administrators

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week published a final rule to ban electrical stimulation devices (ESDs) used for self-injurious or aggressive behavior because they present an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury that cannot be corrected or eliminated through new or updated device labeling.

ESDs administer electrical shocks through electrodes attached to the skin of individuals to immediately interrupt self-injurious or aggressive behavior or attempt to condition the individuals to stop engaging in such behavior. Evidence indicates a number of significant psychological and physical risks are associated with the use of these devices, including worsening of underlying symptoms, depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, pain, burns, and tissue damage. In addition, many people who are exposed to these devices have intellectual or developmental disabilities that make it difficult to communicate their pain. Evidence of the device’s effectiveness is weak and evidence supporting the benefit-risk profiles of alternatives is strong.

Full article at the Administration for Community Living

Continuing Education for Nursing Home Administrators