Several behaviors that are common with dementia

This is The Truth: Lies and Alzheimer's Show, brought to you by Global Media Network LLC and Passionate World Talk Radio. Passionate World Talk Radio is a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Media Network LLC, and our motto is to educate, enlighten, and entertain. I'm Ken Poglia, and I'm here to introduce our host. She is an Alzheimer's and dementia expert. A best-selling author and a world-renowned public speaker. She is Lisa Skinner, and we have a fantastic episode planned for you today. Today Lisa will be telling a true story from her book, Truths, Lies Alzheimer's: Its Secret Faces. The title of the chapter or story is called Face Value, and it exemplifies several behaviors common with dementia. Including agitation and combativeness, wandering, nighttime walking, trailing, hoarding, collecting, and painting. Now I know that's a mouthful, we said a lot, but hang on and before the end of the show Lisa Skinner will explain to you what all that means. Also in her What's New segment, Lisa Skinner will be talking about a new study finding that Alzheimer's risk is reduced among women who follow the DASH diet in their 40s. I'm really looking forward to hearing about it, so Lisa, why don't you take us away for today's show?

Thanks, Ken. Hi everybody, welcome back to a new episode of the Truth, Lies Alzheimer's show. I'm your host, Lisa Skinner. I am going to narrate for you on today's show one of the stories from my book that really helps illustrate some of the common things that arise with people living with Alzheimer's disease. So, here we go. I don't take those behaviors at face value. Something else could be contributing to them, said Donna. I felt relieved. "I was hoping you'd say that," I replied. I was trying to place Esther, a difficult resident to say the least, into a new residential care home. She had already been turned down by two board and cares. Esther was a night wanderer. In the current facility where she lived, She had walked into several of the other residents' rooms in the middle of the night, scaring them half to death. She continually collected their belongings and hid them in different places in her room. She was also known as what is called a painter, and this was certainly not because she requested a canvas and acrylics from the staff. Several times in the last couple months, she had taken off her diaper and smeared feces on the wall. Her caregivers also reported that she was verbally combative and would lash out when staff tried to redirect her. The facility where she lived said it just wasn't equipped to handle these behaviors, so S2 Esther's son called me to find her a new home. Now, Donna, an expert in dementia care who also owns 6 boarding care facilities, saw the same thing I did when reading Esther's chart— several issues that could be influencing her behaviors other than just the brain disease. First, she realized that Esther had been prescribed and was on an antipsychotic medication. Now, while the medication itself wouldn't necessarily have caused these extreme behaviors, it was possible that she was experiencing unpleasant side effects and was acting out in an effort to communicate her discomfort. Second, Esther did have a history of urinary tract infections, and Donna saw that it had been a while since she'd been to see her doctor. So this was also possible, that she was experiencing pain from an infection, and that her behavior was an attempt to communicate that. Thirdly, Donna and I both knew that the staff at Esther's current facility not only had very little dementia training, but for the most part at this particular facility, English was not their first language. So again, it was possible that a gap in communication and training was increasing Esther's confusion and frustration. I'm gonna accept Esther, said Donna. I honestly do believe we can turn some of these behaviors around once she sees her physician again and she's in the right environment. And that's exactly what Donna did. But before admitting Esther to her facility, she did schedule an appointment with Esther's psychiatrist and with her primary care physician. The psychiatrist adjusted Esther's meds, and it turned out that she did have another urinary tract infection. So, 2 weeks later, I did a follow-up visit, and I went to check on Esther in her new home. I walked into the facility and started to ask for her, but then I saw her. She was sitting on the sofa in the living room with another female resident, and both of them sweetly had their hands folded gently across their laps and were calmly observing some of the other residents playing a game. She's actually doing quite well, said one of the caregivers. She still has a little bit a bit of incontinence problems, but there hasn't been any nighttime wandering or any of the other behavior she came in here with. On the contrary, she continued, Esther now has a problem of her own. The caregiver described how Esther's new friend, the one seated next to her on the sofa in the living room, had taken quite a liking to her and followed her everywhere she went. This is what we call trailing. Esther's son was also visiting very often, and it seemed like they were now having a very nice time when they got together, the caregiver also told me. This story was told from my perspective as a professional elder care advisor. But we all eventually find ourselves in a place where loved one's behavior just seems difficult or even quote unquote crazy. Esther's story is really an example of how we must, with the help of professionals, look for extenuating circumstances before drawing conclusions about how to manage symptoms that arise. We really need to get to the root of the cause of the symptoms. There usually is something going on. So, the reason why I really wanted to share the story with you, because— well, for a couple reasons. The story, as Ken said, the story does exemplify several behaviors that are common with dementia. Including agitation and combativeness. We heard about her wandering and her nighttime walking. Her friend who started trailing her. The hoarding and collecting, which is very common with dementia. And painting, a little more uncommon, but it is really bound to happen in some people— with some people. So, that said, it is important to understand that as Alzheimer's disease continues to destroy memory and mental skills, it also begins to alter emotions and behaviors. Approximately 70 to 90% of Alzheimer's patients eventually develop behavioral symptoms. That's huge. And another reason why you really need to be aware of these behavioral symptoms and know to recognize them and then eventually know how to effectively react or respond to them. Agitation is one of the most common behaviors that we see with dementia and can be displayed in a variety of ways, including restlessness, pacing, fear, changes in their body language or in their facial expressions. Agitation can easily escalate to aggression if not responded to appropriately. We call those catastrophic reactions. Individuals suffering from dementia will exhibit behaviors within a range of extremes. The ones I described to you in Esther's story are extreme, but they do happen. This is because the brain is attacked in different places and at different rates of speed, so each person's behavior will be different, although a variety of identifiable behaviors are commonly seen. A behavior should be considered a problem if it has a negative impact on the person afflicted or on others around him or her. The behaviors can be triggered by one or more of several contributing factors, such as environmental issues like sensory overload, too much noise going on around them, or even an uncomfortable temperature in the room. It may be too hot, it may be too cold. It could also occur if a task that is given or an activity that is given to that resident is too overwhelming for them or they feel it's too complicated and they get very frustrated. It could also be a physical or emotional reason, such as a communication disconnect between the person and the caregiver. There are so many underlying reasons why a person might be reacting. The important thing is to keep in mind that the reactions or behaviors are the only way a person with dementia may be able to communicate that there is a problem that needs to be addressed. That said, one of the most important principles of this chapter at face value is just that. You have to be careful not to take the behaviors at face value or rush to a judgment about what's causing them. Trust me, through the process of elimination, the underlying reason can be uncovered. You know what, you just need to know what causes these reactions and the trigger of the reaction and the underlying cause. It is equally important to remind yourself that the mind of a person with dementia is continually weakening and can no longer manage all the information that it's receiving and therefore causing increased confusion. I'm sure that makes total sense to you. Confusion then produces discomfort and insecurity, which then triggers the behaviors we see that are common with the cognitive decline. Our normal thinking abilities that allow us to control our emotions, that allow us to adjust our responses, that allow us to judge the difference between something being a big deal and a little deal, enable us to do that. But with dementia, that ability, as you heard in Faith Value, is gradually lost. So that is the story I wanted to share with you. It's very important to recognize that these are the behaviors that accompany living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia. And I will continue to discuss with you in past episodes, as I have, and future episodes, as I will, how to effectively respond to these types of behaviors that occur. And also discuss with you some of the other underlying root causes of these behaviors. Like we heard with Esther, she had Urinary tract infection. That can really exacerbate these behaviors that we see. And if you don't get it treated, it can really become a serious medical problem. So, now I'm going to share with you a new study that I found recently. It was published October 26th, 2023, so very recently, just a few days ago. And the name of the study is is Alzheimer's risk is reduced among women who follow the DASH diet in their 40s, which this study found. It had found— it found that plant-focused diet, the DASH diet, has been shown to lower blood pressure, which they know improves brain health. Experts Say. Melissa Rudy from Fox News wrote the article about the study, and I'm just going to tell you a little bit about it right now. Women over age 40 who adopt the DASH diet could have a lower risk of cognitive decline as they age, according to a new study published this this week in Alzheimer's and Dementia, the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. Researchers from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that women who followed the DASH diet— and that stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension— during middle age were about 17% less likely to experience memory loss and other signs of cognitive decline later in life, according to a press release from the university. The DASH diet, interestingly, focuses on plant-based foods that are rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean protein. So, it is very similar to a complex carbohydrate diet like the Mediterranean diet, which is also a recommended diet for lowering one's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life because these diets limit saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. And the beast we know as sugar. So, here's a study that just reinforces the importance that you are what you eat. We know this. And I also maintain, because I've done so much research on this topic, that— The diet and lifestyle choices that you make, especially when it comes to food and exercise, really can reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease starting at the age of 65. So, if you're 30 years old and listening to this broadcast, you can start it tomorrow and avoid developing Alzheimer's disease in 35 years. That's how significant these findings really are to lowering a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. So food for thought, no pun intended, but I thought it was a really, really important study to share with you, and it just really supports and backs up some of the other risks factors that I discussed before and how a person can lower their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease just by making changes in their lifestyle choices. So, with that said, I'm going to turn the mic back over to Ken. He has a couple of announcements for everybody, and then I will be back to say goodbye. For today's episode. Ken?

Thanks, Lisa. It's always a good reminder that diet is probably the most important foundation to good health, so I enjoyed listening to you talk about that research in that article. So for our listeners, thank you for listening to the Truth, Lies Alzheimer's show with your host, Lisa Skinner. This program can be found on our website at passion@worldtalkradio.com under the shows tab. You can also search for us on YouTube, and if you're on Facebook, you can search under Lisa Skinner Author. If you're interested in Lisa's books and training programs, you can go to truthliesandalzheimers.com, and in an upcoming episode, Lisa will be telling you more about her, her soon-to-be-released training programs. And all of Lisa's books are available on major bookselling platforms including Amazon and Apple Books. And with that, why don't you take us home, Lisa?

Thanks, Ken. Yeah, let me just give you another reminder. I announced it last— on last week's show. I am in the process of organizing a global summit. The date, so you can save the date and put it on your calendars, but it's not until January 23rd and January 24th of 2024. I am in the process of assembling a top-rate lineup of expert speakers on the topic of Alzheimer's disease and dementia from just every topic possible that hopefully you will find so helpful and so valuable and so important in helping you make this journey with your loved one or the person that you're caring for so much easier on a day-to-day basis. As I said last week, I am launching my brand-new training program at that summit. So, stay tuned for more details. We'll be sending them out as we continue to organize this epic event. It will be broadcast over the entire world, and I have an amazing lineup of speakers for you from all over the world. So, you really don't want to miss this. It's a one-stop shop of just unbelievable information from all walks of life experts on the topic of Alzheimer's disease and Dementia and How to Live Better with It, a More Productive, More Meaningful, Purposeful Life. And we are just going to share a plethora of information with all of you. So, save the date, save the date. Okay, so that's our show for today. Thanks again for joining us and tuning in. Both Ken and I look forward to bringing you another new episode next week, same time, same place. And hope you all have a wonderful week. Thanks again for being here. We look forward to seeing you, hearing you again next week. Bye-bye.