Idaho - Boise and the Treasure Valley

Alzheimers and Dementia Whats the Difference?People often ask, what is the difference between Alzheimers and dementia. Alzheimers is one of many types of dementia. In fact, it is the most common type of dementia. Dementia is the umbrella term for diseases that present as a decline in memory and/or thinking skills resulting in impairment of daily functioning observed over six or more months. Dementia, also called major neurocognitive disorder, can be caused by many different medical and neurological conditions.  Other types of dementia include but are not limited to vascular dementia, Lewy Body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Parkinsons dementia. Alzheimers dementia is due to amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain that cause cell dysfunction and death eventually resulting in loss of daily function. It develops over more than 20 years before it starts to cause symptoms. People often first notice trouble with short term memory. While all of us can experience some difficulty with short term memory as we age, memory loss is worrisome for possible dementia when it interferes with the ability to complete routine daily tasks such as managing finances, medications, driving, or cooking.You should see a health care provider if you are worried about memory loss so they can explore this with you further.  Your health care provider may be able to identify reversible or treatable causes of memory loss that are not dementia such as depression, a sleep disorder or medication side effects.  Your provider may choose to run some blood tests and conduct head imaging (brain scan) to further understand cause(s) of your memory loss. Aside from brain autopsy we do not have one definitive, widely available test for Alzheimers disease.   This means a health care provider will do a series of tests to determine the most likely cause of your symptoms.  There are some recent advancements in blood tests, cerebral spinal fluid tests and head imaging that help us with the diagnosis of Alzheimers dementia, but these are not often covered by insurance. These tests will likely be covered by insurance in the future once we have more effective treatment options for the disease.  Currently there are only a few treatment options for Alzheimers dementia, none of which cure the disease. These medications are only thought to slow the cognitive decline in select group of individuals. One group of therapies are called acetylcholine esterase inhibitors such as donepezil (Aricept) or rivastigmine (Exelon) The other class is NMDA receptor blocker called memantine (Namenda). These two classes of drugs have been around a long time with limited benefit.  Recently a new class of Alzheimers drugs have been approved, anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody infusion therapies; aducanumab and lecanemab.  Aducanumab was the first to be approved which did demonstrate a reduction of amyloid in the brain but studies resulted in no clinical data to support that it provides any observable benefit to the patient. The other medication lecanemab reduced amyloid in the brain as well and demonstrated minimal to moderate slowing of cognitive decline in clinical trials. Neither of these two newer drugs are covered by insurance but they may be covered in the future.  Veterans Administration does currently cover lecanemab for veterans who meet specific criteria.  There are many more anti-amyloid and anti-tau drugs in the clinical trials, and I suspect we will see more diagnostic tests and treatments for Alzheimers gain FDA approval over the next several years. Most importantly, everyone should know that 40% of all dementias can be prevented or the onset delayed by adopting a healthy lifestyle and addressing potentially modifiable risk factors (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, hearing loss).  There is scientific evidence to support that the following are effective ways to reduce your risk of developing dementia; regular exercise, a healthy Mediterranean diet, weight loss, treating heart disease especially hypertension, getting restorative sleep, quitting smoking, avoid excessive alcohol use, early treatment of hearing loss, and stay socially and intellectually engaged.By the end of 2023 Saint Alphonsus will be starting a new state of the art Memory Center where we will provide a thorough multidisciplinary assessment of memory loss, explore access to the latest tests and treatments and offer you enrollment in our comprehensive Brain Health Program. For more information, please continue to check this website. You can however see one of geriatrics teams today for a memory assessment as well. Please ask your primary care provider for a referral to Saint Alphonsus Geriatrics Consult Clinic. By Kara Kuntz, MD, Geriatrician, Saint Alphonsus

Grow Your World and Green Your Community by Joining a GARDEN CLUB As nearly 200,000 men and women of all ages and backgrounds across the nation can attest, the rewards of belonging to a Garden Club go far beyond the pure pleasure of growing things. Joining a local Garden Club is a great way to green your thumb, but a membership also provides an opportunity to expand your interests and build lifelong friendships while bettering your community and the environment. A Garden Club will give you access to people who are experienced in gardening in your locality and you will find their assistance in valuable. Our National Garden Clubs Conservation pledge is: I pledge to protect and conserve our natural resources of planet earth and to promote education so that we may become caretakers (stewards) of our air, water, forest, land and wild life. Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. is a 501 3 nonprofit educational organization and a member of National Garden Clubs, Inc.. Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. is state wide organization associated with the Pacific Region of National Garden Clubs, Inc. and National Garden Clubs, Inc.. Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. has fifteen Garden Clubs and almost 500 members. Seven of the Garden Clubs are located in the Treasure Valley. Activities of our clubs include civic beautification funded through grants, charitable donations, and fundraising. Clubs annually sponsor horticulture education and seminars and regularly organize presentations about landscaping, cultivating and growing a wide variety of plants and vegetation. In addition we award annual scholarships to students for the study of horticulture. Flower Show Judges Schools and Landscape Design Schools are offered to our members. Clubs also compete for State, Regional and National awards on a regular basis. Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. encourages anyone interested in becoming a member of a Garden Club to contact any of the Garden Cubs listed below or the State Membership Chairman, Janet Petersen at janetnpeter@gmail.com. Go on; why not give it a try. Oct. 2013 Southwest District Garden Clubs of Idaho Garden Clubs of Idaho, Inc. State President: Karen Mallon 208-853-6108 mallonkl@gmail.com

Seniors Blue Book Article Fall 2014 Edition Stephanie Bender-Kitz, Director, Friends in Action Family Caregivers Matter! Do you know that there are more than 40,000 Treasure Valley family members-- spouses, adult children, parents and grandparents who provide care and support to ill, disabled, or frail loved ones at home? These family caregivers are de facto care coordinators, medication managers, personal and medical care providers, fiscal and legal managers, planners and decision-makers for tens of thousands of chronically ill or disabled people in our community. Our health care and social services rely heavily on family caregivers to provide care but don't address caregivers needs for training, information and support. As a result, family caregivers experience stress, depression, anxiety, and often become isolated; they have to leave jobs or reduce their work hours; they spend much of their own money to care for others; and most sobering, they can die before the person they care for. Family caregivers are the backbone of our community's health care, and they deserve to be informed, prepared, and supported! Do you know someone who is a family caregiver? A great way to help is to encourage that person to say I am a family caregiver, and I deserve to be supported! Caregivers who self-identify are much more likely to seek information and support that can help them provide care AND they are more likely to take care of themselves too. Where can a family caregiver turn for information and support? A great resource is the Seniors Blue Book. Another great resource is a nonprofit agency called Friends in Action (FIA). FIAs services help family caregivers build a "toolbox" of resources, skills and strategies to navigate the challenges of caregiving, reduce stress, connect with resources, and build confidence in their abilities. FIAs education programs (Powerful Tools for Caregivers and Living Well in Idaho) teach caregivers how to manage stress and feel less overwhelmed. Our in-home support services (Legacy Corps Caregiver Support Program) gives regular breaks to veteran and military families. The JumpStart program works with caregivers one-on-one to connect them with quality information and resources to meet their unique needs and concerns. FIAs 4th Annual Family Caregiver Conference (January 31, 2015) is a one-day education event to connect caregivers with great information, community resources, and mutual support. Many of FIAs services are provided by amazing volunteers (more than 160 of them), who extend the expertise of professional staff and allow FIA to cost-effectively serve many more caregivers. Don't hesitate to reach out to FIA and ask how we can help any family caregiver you know. We believe family caregivers matter!

How many times have you been to the doctor this past year? Did you see your primary care physician for your regular check-up? Perhaps your cardiologist? Your dentist? For most people, health care is extremely fragmented. This means that the information discussed or obtained from each of these visits is not shared with any other provider. This can result in duplicate tests being performed and perhaps delayed diagnosis or treatment. Even for the very healthy, the burden of keeping different doctors apprised of what youre experiencing is typically on you. Electronic medical record systems in Saint Alphonsus hospitals and clinics are helping to make a difference in sharing important medical data between Saint Alphonsus providers, and making great strides in resolving the fragmentation of your care. We are working diligently to extend this same benefit and communicate to independent medical providers in your life who should know whats happening with you. However, for now, you or someone you trust should be the center point of your care. Here's what you can do.When you get a test result or have a procedure,get the summary in writing, and send copies to all your other healthcare providers with a simple note: Wanted to keep you up- to-date on my health status. Please put this in my chart. Be sure to bring up the data orproblem at your next visit.Keep a list of all your medications in your wallet or purse and update it any time a healthcare provider adds or deletes a drug or changes a dosage.Dont leave your dentist or your eye doctor out of the loop. It will help them diagnose and treat any issues they may identify with you.If you have a test or procedure and you do not hear the results soon afterwards, do not assume the results were normal. Call the healthcare provider who ordered the test and ask them to send you a written copy of the test summary.If you are hospitalized, it's okay to ask all your caregivers questions about what is happening. Be sure you understand what tests youre getting and why. If you are being discharged from the hospital ask for the results of any tests or procedures you had in the hospital.Editor's Note: This article was submitted by Saint Alphonsus. To find a Saint Alphonsus primary care or specialty physician, call (208) 367-DOCS (3627).