Nanotubes may be used to treat Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Special Nanotubes May Be Used as a Vehicle for Treating Neurodegenerative Disorders

(PhysOrg.com) -- Electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have demonstrated that magnetic nanotubes combined with nerve growth factor can enable specific cells to differentiate into neurons. The results from in vitro studies show that magnetic nanotubes may be exploited to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease because they can be used as a delivery vehicle for nerve growth factor.

Where is our moral compass: nursing home abuse

I was reading about the case of teenagers who are being charged with abusing elderly nursing home patients under their care. Two of the teens were arraigned on Thursday and the newspaper dubbed them "mean girls". I am disturbed by the headline because it inappropriately sensationalizes the story.

Brianna Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Larson, 19, reportedly spit at, poked and rubbed the genitals of at least seven residents at the Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minn., according to a criminal complaint filed in December and obtained by ABCNews.com.

And there's more - more teens involved, some of whom failed to report the incidents. Allegations of patting of a patient's buttocks, spanking a patient with a cane on the buttocks, lying in bed with a patient and inserting a finger into a patient's rectum, poking a patient in the breasts and taking videos and pictures of patients.

The abuse allegedly went on between January and May 2008 and happened to patients with Alzheimers and dementia, a vulnerable population that can't even speak up. If they do, people assume they are imagining what is seen as a bizarre story.

The case is also being called an "abuse for thrills" case, continuing the theme that this is more about those who abused, than those who were abused. It is as if our desire to understand the "why it happened" exceeds our interest in looking at ways to prevent it again. There is no information in the article about any changes made in the level of supervision of nursing assistants who work with such a vulnerable population at this nursing home or any other.

The director of the nursing home is quoted as saying

"Our hearts are in the right place. We're moving forward. Our heads are held up high."

Not so fast. Let's rewind the tape here. It's time for society, for all of us, to own our accountability when the most vulnerable among us are treated this way, especially when we fail to enact change so it doesn't happen again.

Prosecutors say that those charged put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. The aides allegedly called the abuse “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

This story is not just about those who are being tried for these allegations. It is about those in nursing homes and institutions who remain vulnerable. We need to ask the tough questions here before we move on. In order to do that, we need to get past "mean girls" headlines. We need to figure out why there is more supervision and accountability in jobs at Best Buys and McDonald's, where if an employee walked up to a customer and violated boundaries like this, the police would be called and there might be a store camera filming it too. But that's different, some might say. It's a public place.

Exactly. Which is why there need to be more protections in place for those who are isolated and away from the public view. For those who may not even be able to speak. We need a higher level of accountability and transparency when dealing with caregivers of vulnerable populations, not a lower one.

The question asked by a watchdog group "Where is the moral compass of these employees?" needs to become where is our society's moral compass? What importance do we, as a society, give to the care of those who are most vulnerable? Is their safety our responsibility and, if so, how do we provide ways and means to ensure that? Is their dignity important to us? Is their well being our responsibility?

And, if we answer yes (and I hope we do), what can we do? Can the fact that our government monies go toward paying for this care be used to set in place better protection and advocacy for patients and their families? Shouldn't we scrutinize the level of supervision set in place? Should we have cameras in institutions for better oversight and accountability?

These questions aren't easy ones. But let's not move on until we at least ask them.

Psalm 139, Alzheimer's version

I found this poem in Banner, sent via the NJCIM list serv. It begins:

Listen, Dad,
God sees you, he knows what’s happened,
he knows you.
He knows when you sit and when you sleep.
He knows your tangled thoughts; he knows them straight.


please click above to read the rest...

and while you're over there, check out the article Church Life on Wheels and a new book dealing with inclusion of people with disabilities in church.

Decrying Baroness Warnock's remarks on Alzheimer's patients

Ethicist Dr. Jonathan Groner of Ohio State has spoken up in response to remarks by the baroness that Alzheimer's patients have a duty to die to minimize their burden on society and family.

First, there were the moral implications of the comments that 84-year-old Baroness Mary Helen Warnock shared with the Church of Scotland's Life and Work magazine last week, in which she stated, "If you're demented, you're wasting people's lives -- your family's lives -- and you're wasting the resources of the National Health Service."

Such a policy could put society on a slippery slope, he said. And he noted many of the potential moral pitfalls accompanying the suggestion that those suffering from dementia should make a decision to end their own lives.
...
Groner is not alone in his opinion. Ethicists and Alzheimer's advocacy groups alike are expressing outrage over Warnock's comments last week, which echoed the opinion she put forth in an article she authored for a Norwegian periodical, titled "A Duty to Die?"

"The suggestion made by Baroness Mary Warnock is ignorant, insensitive and cruel, and denies the humanity of people with Alzheimer's and dementia," the Alzheimer's Association said in a statement issued Wednesday.

And Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said he was "shocked" by the comments when he read them.

"No one has a duty to die," he said. "The notion that society should 'expect' someone to end their lives because they fear being a burden upon others is simply ethically repugnant. via abcnews.com

It is a fallacy to say that the lives of Alzheimer's patients lack quality, Dr. Groner says, whose own father lived with Alzheimer's before passing away in January.

And legal scholars note that placing those with Alzheimer's and dementia in this situation "amounts to murder".

To read the rest of the article, please click here.

Free program for caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's

The Copper Ridge Institute, affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University, is a leading provider of dementia research, care and education. The Institute has developed the first training resource of its kind for caregivers, providing a step-by-step method for caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. Available as a DVD and webcast, the FREE program (www.alzcast.org) recreates many of the daily situations that caregivers may encounter and provides coaching for each of these activities based on best practices developed by The Copper Ridge Institute.

In the arena of Alzheimer's disease the overwhelming emphasis has been on finding the cure. Little emphasis has been placed on researching effective care and teaching best practices for persons with memory impairment. The Copper Ridge Institute has taken a leadership role in the care arena. Fourteen years of clinical work and collaboration has enabled The Copper Ridge Institute to establish a program of care and treatment that brings dignity and a quality of life to those persons and families struggling with Alzheimer's disease. Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer's Disease is a breakthrough program that will help many of us faced with the daunting and emotionally charged task of caring for those we love with dementia.

You can obtain a copy of the free DVD at their site here.

via NJCIM list serv

Music and the Brain

Oliver Sacks gave the above presentation at the World Science Fair and one attendee wrote about it here. Sacks explained the effect music has on various parts of the brain, referring to patients with Alzheimers and Parkinsons whose motor disorders were positively affected by listening to music.

"I suspect that you will not hear from many of my fellow caregivers directly ... simply because they do not have the resources to take time away from their loved ones in order to come before you."
Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, while testifying on Alzheimers and how it has affected her family since her husband's diagnosis before Congress

Over at Pitt Rehab....

Greg has posted a very interesting video on quality of life techology.

Blue Roof Technologies has designed robotic houses in an area right outside of Pittsburgh that assist in the care of Alzheimer's patients and the video shows how a family will use the technology to live independently. The caregiver has a spinal cord injury, her son has cerebral palsy and her mom has Alzheimer's. The "quality of life" technology used is interesting: it's been developed to watch how an Alzheimer's patient goes about his/her day and then tracks the activities to monitor things such as taking medication. Robots can take care of the monitoring and notify the caregiver if needed to intervene. Several universities are involved in the project.

This is just a brief explanation - go on over and check out Greg's links about this fascinating project.

NY Times on Alzheimers

..and how cases of dementia will be increasing.

".. the numbers are staggering: 4.5 million people in the United States have Alzheimer’s, 1 in 10 over 65 and nearly half of those over 85. Taking care of them costs $100 billion a year, and the number of patients is expected to reach 11 million to 16 million by 2050. Experts say the disease will swamp the health system.

It’s already swamping millions of families, who suffer the anguish of seeing a loved one’s mind and personality disintegrate, and who struggle with caregiving and try to postpone the wrenching decision about whether they can keep the patient at home as helplessness increases, incontinence sets in and things are only going to get worse.
....
It is telling, maybe a tacit admission of defeat, that a caregiving industry has sprung up around Alzheimer’s. Books, conferences and Web sites abound — how to deal with the anger, the wandering, the sleeping all day and staying up all night, the person who asks the same question 15 times in 15 minutes, wants to wear the same blouse every day and no longer recognizes her own children or knows what a toilet is for."

Via NY TImes

In my caregiving post yesterday, I received several comments from those who deal with the caregiving industry in this area - with very different points of view. You can read the post by scrolling down.