Posted on 01/17/2010 7:09:51 PM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
A hot new trend in fitness is hitting retirement communities in Minnesota, but this is a workout for your brain.
As one ages, one of the things that can sometimes begin to fade is the memory. But now there's a workout for the brain that really gets the wheels turning. It's new and now part of the wellness program at Friendship Village in Bloomington.
Bob, 91, and Mary Morris, 89, have made the Dakim Brain Fitness program part of their weekly workout. Mr. Morris goes for it five days a week.
It's hooked into the internet and set-up like a game show, complete with a host. But the memory quizzes often include familiar movie clips or old songs.
Mrs. Morris says she's bad with phone numbers, and while her Sudoku habit helps, the Dakim really reminds her to simply concentrate.
Karen Lloyd is the director of wellness programs at Friendship Village. She says brain fitness is a trend that popped up just a few years ago and she researched various programs for three years, before deciding on Dakim. She says it's not too scientific looking, there's no mouse, no keyboard, it's fun and it works.
“I’ve had residents come to me and say when I don't use it for a week, I feel a difference,” said Lloyd.
Friendship Village has four of the systems, but the Dakim Brain Fitness Program is now also available for home use as well.
Video at link.
I have also heard that having Alzheimer’s patients perform tasks that they loved doing when younger stimulates the brain.
AFAIK....My Mother doesn’t have AZ....She’s 92 and has some short term memory issues....
Talk to her growing up on the farm in the ‘20’s....she’s as sharp as a tack.
She does all of the crossword puzzles in the daily papers....in INK!!
I’d say that cards, chess and checkers could be great for these folks...because you can do it over and over...and it’s social besides being stimulating. I thinkj it’s important to stimulate both of these functions.
My mom is 86 and remembers so many things in stunning detail, both long ago and recent...like why haven’t I gotten her the afghan she’s been asking for?
She emails and reads conservative sites.
Drink 6 cups of coffee a day, 4 beers, a half pint of whiskey, and smoke a pack of cigarettes...and you’ll never get alzheimers.
Good for her!!!
And good for you....
This link works
Thanks....
Not sure what happened with the original link....
bttt
Mom had AZ for many years before she passed. I’m getting on in years myself now and have started doing Soduko and the crossword from the paper with my morning coffee every day.
Since I live alone, I’m counting on my fellow FReepers to let me know when it stops working for me.
I work at a facility where we care for seniors with Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
I’ve read a lot of articles about the improvements in research .. and one of the latest which is still in trials is a retinal scan - making the determination of Alzheimer’s detectible more than 20 years in advance.
While a lot of people may not want to know that early .. this breakthrough could mean better drugs to delay the disease even further.
What a lot of people don’t understand is that Alzheimer’s is not a mental disease .. it’s actually a destruction of the brain itself. The plaque actually eats the brain. When a senior with Alzheimer’s cannot remember who they are or who their loved-ones are, it’s because that portion of the brain is no longer there and when they go to search for that information, the file cabinet is empty. This causes them to be confused, angry, frustrated, paranoid, etc.
Dementia is like a very large umbrella .. with 70 different types. Alzheimer’s is just one type of dementia. A person can have several different types of dementia.
We have a psychiatry student working as a caregiver in our facility because he wants to study the Alzheimer’s condition to learn how to distinguish it from mental illness. He’s a very bright young man; here’s hoping young people like him will help to make the necessary changes in caring for Alzheimer’s.
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