Staying Sharp: Electronic Games and Exercises to Fight Memory Loss

Did you know that "mental calisthenics," otherwise known as brain games or memory games, can do the same for your mind by slowing down age-related memory loss? There are countless easy and enjoyable activities that can help protect and build brainpower, such as doing daily crossword or Sudoku puzzles or learning to speak a foreign language. See Brain Exercises to Boost Memory and Mental Fitness for more tips.

However, if you'd like to try a more technologically advanced option, consider investing a few dollars in something that's specially designed to strengthen your brain. There are several types of electronic games that challenge your brain, and they are available for computers, video-game systems like the Wii, handheld video-game platforms like the Nintendo DS, and through subscription-based Web sites. Everyday Health

Possible Increased Risk of Bone Fractures With Certain Antacid Drugs

The Food and Drug Administration warns of a possible increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist, and spine if you take certain drugs for heartburn, acid reflux, or ulcers. Everyday Health

Discussion forum on grieving: Loss of a parent and having a hard time

After my stepfather’s death, I immediately jumped into the caretaker role, making sure everyone had what they needed except me. I knew my Mother’s love of her life had just died and making sure she was ok was way more important then dealing with my loss. I guess I just stayed in that role and haven’t made my way through the rest of the grieving process. Join the discussion. CarePages

The latest from Caring Right at Home online newsletter

• "Wandering" in Dementia Patients: the Home Care Perspective
• New Research Demonstrates Connection Between Physical Activity and Healthier Aging
• This Father's Day, Remind Dad About Health Screenings
• Social Security Adds Early-Onset Alzheimer's to "Compassionate Allowance" Program
• Travel Health and Safety Tips for Seniors

Right at Home

Easy Ways to Ease Pain

Finding relief for aches and pains doesn't have to involve piles of prescription meds or surgery. In fact, feeling better can be a cinch. Everyday Health

Get to Know: American Pain Foundation

Founded in 1997, the American Pain Foundation is an independent nonprofit 501(c)3 organization serving people with pain through information, advocacy, and support. Our mission is to improve the quality of life of people with pain by raising public awareness, providing practical information, promoting research, and advocating to remove barriers and increase access to effective pain management. (This is a different site than the APF Network, although the two are related.)

Get to Know: The American Pain Foundation's Action Network

The American Pain Foundation’s Action Network is a grassroots network of people living with pain, caregivers and health care providers, working in collaboration with other advocates, professionals and organizations who share our belief that people in pain have a right to timely, appropriate and effective pain care. This volunteer network and its leadership provide the critical infrastructure for APF’s national and state‐based advocacy efforts and gives a face to the multitude of issues that comes with living with pain or through caring for those in pain.

Still too little relief of pain

Because of our state's legislative activity around improving pain care, Michigan is one of only five states that have received an "A" grade from the University of Wisconsin's Pain and Policy Studies Group. This means, essentially, that many of the regulatory barriers that prevent appropriate pain care in other states are not as much of an issue in Michigan. However, those of us who have struggled to have our pain effectively managed, or who have witnessed the agony of a loved one at the end of his or her life, know that a good grade does not always translate into good pain practice. Unfortunately, many other barriers still exist for health care professionals as well as people who live with pain.

The time has come for our attitudes and beliefs about pain and pain care to be transformed. People with pain and their caregivers, health care providers and policy makers must work together to end this silent epidemic. The technology exists to make people comfortable, so there should be no need for people to want to die because they are in agonizing pain with zero quality of life. Michigan's Patient Bill of Rights states that "a patient or resident is entitled to adequate and appropriate pain and symptom management as a basic and essential element of his or her medical treatment." Detroit Free Press

Related: Dying patients refused pain-relief because UK nurses fear prosecution for assisted suicide (beware of objectionable photos on the site)

“Do Not Cast Me Off in the Time of Old Age”

“Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.” This is the prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 71:9. Like so many before and after him, the Psalmist fears being forsaken when he is old. In our own times, this concern takes on an entirely new magnitude, as the ranks of the elderly and aged grow at an unprecedented rate. The Christian Worldview and the Challenge of the Aged - Part One, Part Two, Audio

Doctors Must Include How To Manage End Of Life Requests And Treatment Refusals

The UK's General Medical Council issued new guidance that says patients should be given the chance in advance to discuss with their physicians what treatment and care they desire towards the end their life. For the first time ever, the GMC has given British physicians guidance on advance care planning for patients nearing the end of life - the guidance includes how to manage advance requests and treatment refusals. Medical News Today

Half of Belgian euthanasia deaths are involuntary

Some rather baffling news about euthanasia comes from Belgium – where euthanasia has been legal since 2002 -- in two articles in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The articles themselves are not yet available, but the press releases are disturbing. From two studies based on anonymous questionnaires, the following information was gleaned: (1) About one death in 25 in Belgium is euthanasia. (2) 2% of all deaths occur after an explicit request to a physician. However, 1.8% -- almost the same number – occur without a request. BioEdge

Liberty Counsel Obtains Emergency Order for Food and Water to Elderly Patient

On May 22 a judge in Brevard County, Florida, issued an emergency injunction ordering a hospital to provide food and water to an eighty-three-year-old woman. Carrie Johnson recently suffered several strokes and was hospitalized. Against the objections of her son and granddaughter, the hospital stopped giving her food and water. Johnson did not execute a Durable Power of Attorney or any directive prior to her hospitalization. Throughout her life, Johnson told her son and granddaughter that she wanted to be kept alive with basic medical intervention and treatment, including artificially provided food and water, if she became unable to care for herself.

On May 18, the hospital terminated food and water to Johnson. She is beginning to show signs of severe dehydration, including severely cracked lips and discoloration. She is in pain. After the hearing, the Judge called the Hospital to advise that the order to reestablish food and water was on its way and the hospital should obey it. The administrator on duty said it would be "passed up to someone higher." When the attorney hand delivered the emergency order to the hospital this afternoon, the hospital authorities escorted him off the property. It is still not clear whether the hospital has obeyed the order. Liberty Counsel

Just the Way I Am: God's Good Design in Disability

Through photographs, Bible passages, and her own story, Krista Horning’s book tells of a wise and sovereign God who turns all things for good, including disability. Born with Apert syndrome that has required more than 60 surgeries and countless hours of therapy, Krista and her family understand the severe pain and suffering associated with disability. Yet they also experience God’s grace and are able to live with hope in God because they are anchored in God’s word. Desiring God

Logic’s Undignified Death: The Fundamental Incoherence Of Assisted Suicide Laws

If there really is a right to die, why should the scope of who is permitted to commit suicide be limited to the terminally ill, or those who are in pain? If one begins with the premise that there is a “right” to die, then it follows logically that all suicide should be legalized. But the assisted suicide camp will never make this claim, because surely they realize that our society would (rightly) not countenance a culture in which doctors are permitted to off anyone who is having a bad day. True/Slant

Logic’s Undignified Death: The Fundamental Incoherence Of Assisted Suicide Laws

If there really is a right to die, why should the scope of who is permitted to commit suicide be limited to the terminally ill, or those who are in pain? If one begins with the premise that there is a “right” to die, then it follows logically that all suicide should be legalized. But the assisted suicide camp will never make this claim, because surely they realize that our society would (rightly) not countenance a culture in which doctors are permitted to off anyone who is having a bad day. True/Slant

Fill end-of-life care gaps: cancer group

Where Canadians live often makes a difference in whether or not they are able to die with dignity where they wish. The Canadian Cancer Society released a special report about end-of-life care with the Canadian Cancer Statistics 2010 report. Canada has a "patchwork approach" to providing care at the end of life, which means some cancer patients and their parents aren't getting the high-quality support they need. The report showed that when palliative care services were available, people were not necessarily using them. It could be that families aren't aware or doctors may not be referring them early enough to take advantage of the services. CBC News

Right-to-die guidance is a sign of a 'culture of death'

Terminally ill patients should be allowed to commit suicide by turning down food and fluids, according to controversial new medical guidance. The General Medical Council’s (UK) guidelines, released today, have alarmed critics who see them as part of a creeping “culture of death.” The guidance requires doctors to obey patients’ wishes even if this means that the patient refuses food and hydration which could prolong their life. But critics have warned that food and water should be considered as care rather than medical treatment. Christian Institute

A mom's love: Woman devotes herself to caring for brain-injured daughter

"As a result of Sara's accident, since day one I've always had to advocate for her for necessary support and services. So I became an advocate. It was not something that I planned on doing. That was not my lifelong dream, but as a result I enjoy what I'm doing because I'm not only helping Sara, but I'm also advocating for people with brain injuries and disabilities." Citizen.com

A mom's love: Woman devotes herself to caring for brain-injured daughter

"As a result of Sara's accident, since day one I've always had to advocate for her for necessary support and services. So I became an advocate. It was not something that I planned on doing. That was not my lifelong dream, but as a result I enjoy what I'm doing because I'm not only helping Sara, but I'm also advocating for people with brain injuries and disabilities." Citizen.com

Obamacare: Nominee to Head Medicare/Medicaid Loves UK’s Socialized NHS

Donald Berwick, the Obama administration’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is running into confirmation resistance because of his love affair with the NHS. Secondhand Smoke

Belgian Euthanasia Numbers Increase, Most Go Unreported

New figures out of Belgium show the number of euthanasia cases is on the rise. Last year, 700 official cases of euthanasia were reported -- a 40 percent increase from 2008, which saw 500 people killed by physicians with their consent or approval. Despite the apparent certainty of the numbers, officials admit they are only estimates and likely represent merely one-fourth of the total cases. Euthanasia is guided by very strict limits and conditions even though Belgium is one of the rare nations in the world to allow it. Just 25 percent of doctors are said to file an official report with the government when a patient is killed. LifeNews

Rethinking Guidelines for the Use of Palliative Sedation

The use of continuous palliative sedation to unconsciousness rests on a consensus that leads quickly to controversy. Although there is consensus that it should be used only for terminally ill patients and even then reserved for cases in which severe symptoms persist despite efforts to find an alternative palliative treatment, authorities disagree about whether PSU is appropriate for existential suffering and about how close to death the patient should be before PSU is introduced. Some authorities stipulate that PSU should be withheld until the patient is within hours to days from death, while others specify no particular time frame. A patient sedated to unconsciousness generally dies from dehydration in two weeks or less unless—as in fact typically happens—they die first from the underlying disease.

There is also a consensus within medicine that PSU is a medical treatment and is therefore not tantamount to active euthanasia. However, the consensus also holds that PSU should be subject to restrictions that do not otherwise apply to medical treatments. In short, PSU is both a medical treatment and subject to restrictions that are extraordinary in medicine. Medical authorities have not articulated a cogent medical and ethical rationale for this seeming contradiction. Hastings Center

Scottish tabloid calls DNR a "death wish"

According to the Scottish Sun, "Terminally ill patients will be left to die if they choose, under new guidelines." They overhype a new DNACR policy (Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) as some sort of lurking euthanasia, when it's similar to DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) orders here in the states, whereby a person in hospice care asserts the right not to undergo extreme measures such as CPR at the end of life.

Here's a saner rendition, from the Scotsman: "Terminally ill get new rights to refuse life-prolonging treatment"

The Website Caregivers Craved Debuts For Free

What if a faithful friend was always there for you whenever you need a little care-giving for yourself? A free new online resource is now doing exactly that—on call 24/7—just like the caregivers it serves. Caregivinghope.com is introducing "Caringcasts"—warmly spoken messages of insight and inspiration to play and replay as often as you need them. You can sample today's Caringcast and have a new one emailed to you every few days simply by asking.

Proper Palliative Sedation Not Same as "Terminal Sedation"

The assisted suicide movement is ever about blurring vital distinctions and deconstructing crucial definitions. One target has been the proper pain control technique known as palliative sedation, a rarely required procedure in which patients near death are sedated to control pain or other symptoms such as severe agitation or air hunger that cannot be alleviated in any other manner. Confusion about this–some of it intentionally sown by assisted suicide advocates–induced the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to issue a statement clarifying the proper methods and purposes of sedation as a palliative technique. LifeNews

Ramifications of anti-aging medicine

Research into how to slow down aging is a moral imperative, according to a British expert at University College London. Dramatic increases in longevity will, however, lead to dramatic social changes, ranging from population control to euthanasia to conflict between the youth-rich and the youth-poor. Telegraph

Music and Art Therapy for People With Dementia

Dementia is a disease that affects memory and communication skills. It can be hard to help a loved one with dementia stay connected to the world. Music and art therapy may help revive memories, provide an outlet for expression, and offer enjoyment. MyOptumHealth

• Art Therapy for Alzheimer's and Dementia, Everyday Health
• Art as Mechanism of Expression When Verbal Skills Fail
• The Pablo Picasso Alzheimer's Therapy
• Music Therapy in Dementia Treatment — Recollection Through Sound
• Music as a Tool to Improve Communications Skills in Alzheimer’s Patients
  

Get to Know: PACE

The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a capitated benefit authorized by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) that features a comprehensive service delivery system and integrated Medicare and Medicaid financing. The program is modeled on the system of acute and long term care services developed by On Lok Senior Health Services in San Francisco, California. The model was tested through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (then HCFA) demonstration projects that began in the mid-1980s. The PACE model was developed to address the needs of long-term care clients, providers, and payers. For most participants, the comprehensive service package permits them to continue living at home while receiving services rather than be institutionalized. Capitated financing allows providers to deliver all services participants need rather than be limited to those reimbursable under the Medicare and Medicaid fee-for-service systems.

Editor: It appears that the CMS website is your one-stop shop for all things Medicare-related. Be sure to bookmark it!

Get to Know: Caregiver Media Group

Caregiver Media Group is a leading provider of information, support and guidance for family and professional caregivers. Founded in 1995, we produce Today's Caregiver magazine, the first national magazine dedicated to caregivers, the "Sharing Wisdom Caregivers Conferences," and our web site, caregiver.com which includes topic specific newsletters, online discussion lists, back issue articles of Today's Caregiver magazine, chat rooms and an online store. Caregiver Media Group and all of it's products are developed for caregivers, about caregivers and by caregivers.

Gail Sheehy: "Passages in Caregiving"

More than 50 million Americans are caring for a spouse, parent or relative who has a serious illness. In Passages in Caregiving: Turning Chaos into Confidence, author and journalist Gail Sheehy identifies eight crucial stages of caregiving, drawing on her experience caring for her husband. Diane Rehm show

Busted: 8 Dementia Myths

Perhaps because Alzheimer’s disease and dementia are something of a mystery, there are a number of myths surrounding their causes. A few of these common myths hold some truth, but some are complete falsehoods that muddy the water about the roots of symptoms and how to prevent dementia. Everyday Health

Adult Stem Cells, Not Embryonic, Help MS Patients

A groundbreaking new study published in the last week provides more good news for treatment of multiple sclerosis with adult stem cells. Researchers at the University of Bristol used patients’ own adult stem cells to treat their MS. LifeNews

New health-care law raises concerns about respecting providers' consciences

Deep within the massive health-care overhaul legislation, a few little-noticed provisions have quietly reignited one of the bitterest debates in medicine: how to balance the right of doctors, nurses and other workers to refuse to provide services on moral or religious grounds with the right of patients to get care.

Advocates for protecting health workers argue the new law leaves vulnerable those with qualms about abortion, morning-after pills, stem cell research and therapies, assisted suicide and a host of other services. Proponents of patients' rights, meanwhile, contend that, if anything, the legislation favors those who oppose some end-of-life therapies and the termination of pregnancies and creates new obstacles for dying patients and women seeking abortions.

Both sides acknowledge that the scope of any new conflicts that might arise under the legislation will become clear only as the implications of the overhaul unfold. But both agree that clashes are probably inevitable. Washington Post

A 'duty to die'?

Talk about "a duty to die" made me think back to my early childhood during the Great Depression. One day, I was told that an older relative was going to stay with us for a while, and I was told how to be polite and considerate towards her. Aunt Nance Ann moved around from relative to relative, not spending enough time in any one home to be a real burden. At that time, we didn't have things like electricity or central heating or hot running water. But we had a roof over our heads and food on the table — and Aunt Nance Ann was welcome to both.

Poor as we were, I never heard anybody say, or even intimate, that Aunt Nance Ann had "a duty to die." I only began to hear that kind of talk decades later, from highly educated people in an affluent age. It is today, in an age when homes have flat-panelled TVs, and most families eat in restaurants regularly or have pizzas and other meals delivered to their homes, that the elites— rather than the masses— have begun talking about "a duty to die." Thomas Sowell

Belgian Doctors Euthanized Disabled Patient and Harvested Her Organs

Secondhand Smoke references an article in which Belgian doctors took organs from a disabled patient. The woman in question was not terminally ill, but in a “locked-in” state, that is, fully conscious and completely paralyzed. She wanted to die–a desire accommodated by her doctors. Just prior to being killed, she decided to donate her organs.

Article proposes Organ Donation Euthanasia

"It is permissible to withdraw life support from a patient with extremely poor prognosis, in the knowledge that this will certainly lead to their death, even if it would be possible to keep them alive for some time. It is permissible to remove their organs after they have died. But why should surgeons have to wait until the patient has died as a result of withdrawal of advanced life support or even simple life prolonging medical treatment? An alternative would be to anaesthetize the patient and remove organs, including the heart and lungs. Brain death would follow removal of the heart (call this Organ Donation Euthanasia (ODE)). The process of death would be less likely to be associated with suffering for the patient than death following withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment (which is not usually accompanied by full anaesthetic doses of drugs). If there were a careful and appropriate process for selection, no patient would die who would not otherwise have died." Bioethics

Editor: Dr. Jack would be proud.

Website claims to present the Christian case for euthanasia

Christians Supporting Choice for Voluntary Euthanasia does not even take acknowledge "thou shalt not kill" in it's "Bible Facts" section. It says "the term 'sanctity of life' appears nowhere in the bible," yet affirms "that God has created human beings" and people are "made in the 'image' of God," but it's only so they can "make their own decisions and to accept responsibility for themselves and their neighbours." Yet, the sanctity of human life is a doctrine derived from these very truths!

One proponent goes on to claim, "It's not 'playing God' to seek freely to control the direction of my life, and it's not 'playing God' to seek freely to control the mode of my dying. For a Christian, God is not honoured by a person (made in the 'image' of God) abdicating her autonomy and freedom of will and passively submitting to 'fate'." So, by doing the very opposite of what God says, we somehow honor Him? "Submitting to fate"? No, we submit to a sovereign God.

Shopping for Healthy Foods

You're tired, you're in pain, and you have nothing in the refrigerator. Don't fret: If you have rheumatoid arthritis, these 10 tips can make grocery shopping for healthy foods a lot easier. Everyday Health

7 things to remember when you visit someone with dementia

A good visit makes your family member or friend feel loved, valued and cared about (not just cared for). A good visit also provides you with comfort and reassurance. Here are seven things to remember for a good visit. Inglewood Care Center

Elderly Dehydration: Signs, Symptoms, and Prevention

Dehydration is a common condition that afflicts many people over the age of 65. Because the symptoms of dehydration are masked by the aging body, patients and caregivers typically overlook the warnings signs until it is too late. But, dehydration can be avoided if you are careful and know what the symptoms are. In-Law Suite

Suicide pill available now?

A pro-life speaker held up a vial and shook it. Inside, she said, was a suicide pill, obtained on a recent trip to the Netherlands. At least, the impression she left with her audience is that once a person reaches the age of 70 in Holland, they're given a pill to use at will. That's how far the Dutch euthanasia movement has come.

Not so fast. A quick Google search turned up a lot of wistfulness on the part of "self-determination" advocates for such a thing as "a peaceful pill" or "last will pill," but none in reality. And certainly not as something be handed out along with social security checks.

Both pro-death and pro-life sources bear this out. The first rumblings of such a pill date from 2001; this item from 2007 still speaks of it in future terms. Let's be careful with our facts. We don't do our cause good by over-dramatizing threats.

What Would You Ask Your Pharmacist?

No need to make a trip to the drugstore — just send your questions to our team of pharmacists and you'll get an answer back in your inbox. Drugs A-Z on Everyday Health

Family Threatened for Use of Terri Schiavo's Name

Michael Schiavo has threatened to sue the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation for using his wife's name, to which he claims to have an exclusive right. He also accused the Schindlers of profiteering off Terri's name. The Terri Schindler Schiavo foundation, led by Terri's brother Bobby Schindler, is dedicated to "helping persons with disabilities, and the incapacitated who are in or potentially facing life-threatening situations." It was founded in 2001 originally to aid in the fight for Terri's life. David Gibbs, attorney for the Schindler's, pointed out that "Terri Schindler Schiavo is now a public figure. Any objections Michael Schiavo may have to his wife's family serving the disabled in this manner have long since passed their expiration date with regard to any legal right to challenge the use of her name." LifeSiteNews

Sweden joins euthanasia brigade

Sweden has officially joined the list of countries that allow euthanasia under certain circumstances. Sweden does not allow active euthanasia and that stance remains, but a patient who wants to terminate treatment has the right to do so, provided that he or she understands doctors' information about the consequences. Health24

Alex Schadenberg, the Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, told LifeSiteNews.com that despite media reports to the contrary [such as the one above], Sweden is not permitting passive euthanasia by allowing a respirator to be turned off, “but rather allowing a medical condition to cause the death of the person. The confusion that continues to be generated by the improper use of the term euthanasia only creates a further confusion about what euthanasia is and why it always represents a threats the lives of vulnerable people.”

The Art of Living With MS

Multiple sclerosis leaves holes; some large some now so. How to fill them? For me, writing, gardening, and volunteer work with the National MS Society (along with the extra time everything seems to take with MS) have filled much of the time I used to spend working; but not all of it. I’ve learned that many people with MS have turned to art (in many forms) to not only fill the void of available time but to help either express or escape. Everyday Health

The Art of Living With MS

Multiple sclerosis leaves holes; some large some now so. How to fill them? For me, writing, gardening, and volunteer work with the National MS Society (along with the extra time everything seems to take with MS) have filled much of the time I used to spend working; but not all of it. I’ve learned that many people with MS have turned to art (in many forms) to not only fill the void of available time but to help either express or escape. Everyday Health

Multiple Sclerosis Management and Your Diet

For people living with multiple sclerosis, diet is one everyday component of managing their symptoms and the progression of the disease. Nutritionists recommend adopting as healthy a lifestyle as possible, and alter the way you approach food. Everyday Health

Chinese accused of vast trade in organs harvested from religious dissidents

China's hidden policy of executing prisoners of the forbidden quasi-Buddhist group Falun Gong and harvesting their organs for worldwide sale has been expanded to include Tibetans, "house church" Christians and Muslim Uighurs. Washington Times

Minnesota man coaxed others to suicide

A former Minnesota nurse was charged on Friday with persuading a British man and a Canadian woman through an online chat room to commit suicide, lying to some prospective victims that he would die with them. Reuters

The First Christian Voices Against Euthanasia

According to its advocates, euthanasia is morally neutral or even a positive good within the framework of ethics, including Christian ethics. But is euthanasia really moral? Orthodoxy Today

Editor: The clear teaching of Scripture should be enough, but this review of the writings of some early Church leaders is also helpful.