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I am a student and as my final year project I am going to create a tool/device to aid older people after a loss and older people with dementia that would be used in the home. With the aim of preventing Dementia if possible. If you could complete this short survey it would be much appreciated. I would like to know your views on recent stress and bereavement. Could this be a factor in causing or enhancing Dementia symptoms? and also in your opinion does music help when caring for dementia patients



https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V2X832F


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I think that this person should really be immersed in the aspects of the study they propose. A computer engineering student is a far cry from someone in the medical field. Why not have a dual degree? Enroll in basic medical course work, which will make your study a lot easier to do and be able to pin point your primary concerns about aging, decline, grief, and loss. Volunteer in hospice, elder care facilities, and start understanding the nature of what you are trying to research. Especially in light of trying to automate correct responses to an inanimate object/voice command to people to take meds or alter behavior with a computer program. People in their 80s and 90s were alive when television was a novelty, air travel a rarified novelty and some may not have had electricity. They may not care to be spoken to by an Alexis type monitor. Heck, I can't get my dementia family member to take their meds on time. There may be a better way to use the computer aspect of this and it's basic data mining. Tedious, long and thankless. Consider maybe one or two primary aspects of decline/dementia you're interested in, then off to the Googles and see what's there. Then with your new, basic medical training, you may have a better idea on how to intergrate your research and basic available data.
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There's another causative factor:  football injuries to the brain.

https://www.bu.edu/articles/2019/football-cte-and-dementia/

In addition, another factor beyond medicines apparently is involved:

"...a hardening of the brain’s small vessels due to cardiovascular disease risk factors like high blood pressure, also contributed to dementia."

Same cite.

Mulhern, I know these causative factors aren't within the parameters of your study, but just thought I'd mention them as medications aren't the only causative factors.
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One last comment. It is true that many studies have linked anticholinergic drugs, specifically diphenhydramine and other antihistamines, to an increased RISK of dementia. There are no drugs, however, that CAUSE dementia.

Mulhern16, I applaud you for wanting to discover some way to monitor dementia patients. I hope it becomes a reality. Maybe this can be the beginning of an advocasy for dementia awareness for you. Thanks for what you do.
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sjplegacy: The researchers found that anticholinergic drugs in general were associated with a higher risk of dementia. More specifically, however, anticholinergic antidepressants, antipsychotic drugs, anti-Parkinson's drugs, bladder drugs, and epilepsy drugs were associated with the highest increase in risk.

https://health.clevelandclinic.org/do-certain-medications-increase-dementia-risk/
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Thanks for all the responses, Sorry for not responding sooner, I am a computer engineering student. Not a medical student so I haven’t much medical experience. The reason I decided to make this project was because my Granda passed last month and now my Granny is on her own. I have done some research but I know I need to do a lot more.

She doesn’t have dementia but I would like that this wouldn’t be the trigger to set it off. I have a lot of audios of my Granda’s voice that I would use for this project, but hopefully this will be helpful to all elderly after a bereavement. I am not fully certain yet of all this project will do, but talking to people that has experience of caring for people with dementia will help me. I know that there can be many things that cause dementia and Alzheimer’s but maybe now you can understand why I’m focusing on this aspect.

I appreciate all the help and the links to the research, I will look into it. The survey is basic, maybe in the future I will further update it with more detailed questions. But a lot of my research will be from your responses and they have helped a lot so far, so thank you.

In my course I work with microcontrollers and I can program them to do certain things, I will hopefully use some sensors and have a monitoring system. As this project will be used in the home, it will monitor the person if they were home alone, as carers can’t be there 24/7 it will send a text to the carer or family member if there hasn’t been any movement in a long time.

I will also program the audios and music to work with the sensors or the push of a button. They would play at certain times of the day like when they are eating or if the person has been sitting about for a while, to lighten up the mood as they could be sitting lamenting or in a daze. I was thinking of having a personalised casing that is memorable to the person that would also strike a memory. Maybe I will also program it to play an audio reminding the person to take their tablets, at certain times of the day, but this would be personalised to each user, as people take tablets at different times such as morning or evening, or none at all.

Thanks again for the responses
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My wife is two years from her initial diagnosis of Alzheimers disease. She has had two MRIs, first as part of the initial diagnosis, then recently to see if she qualifies for the new (and highly over-rated, in my opinion) drug aduhelm. Her memory scores have been 26 and 25, so she remains relatively stable. Our primary care (I'm now getting to the response) recommended "The End of Alzheimers", written by Dr. Beseden, a neurologist from UCSF medical school, undergraduate studies at CalTech. He recommends a process called the "ReCODE Protocol", which strives (by individual) to determine what the cause of excess amyloid plaque buildup is for each individual (includes diet and lifestyle changes). I signed up my wife for a year, cost is roughly 3000 (less than the cost of aduhelm treatment for 1 month or one month in a memory care facility), which includes monthly assessments with an ReCODE practitioner and neurologist (the latter covered by Medicare). Limited clinical trials (difficult to do because the process varies with each person) have shown reversal of cognitive decline in the early stages of alzheimers.

I would suggest the student get a copy of Dr. Breseden's book as a starting point for his project. Dr. Breseden has given a TED talk on the subject and appeared on Dr. Oz. I'm not trying to sell anything, just reporting that the information I have read gives me hope that my wife can stay in her current state, maybe even get better. I'll know more in a year from now, can generate another post.
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Yes, Loss can bring on depression and depression can bring on dementia Grief groups should be encouraged and, if caring for someone, caregiver support groups. They keep an elder actively engaged. Other wise, there is not much that can be done to prevent dementia other than the MIND diet and 30 minutes daily aerobic exercise. Keep up with medical appointments and vaccinations.
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Sjplegacy, I recall reading an article addressing the effect of sugars on development of dementia.   Most of the articles I read are indexed in a database; I'll see if I can find it.    I do recall drastically curtailing my sugar intake after reading that.

I think though that causes are still under investigation and subject to research, just as other illnesses, plagues and other medical conditions  have been.

There's another issue with research and investigation; we only read what's printed in (and sometimes translated to) English.  Unless someone comprehends and reads research in other languages,  there may be research taking place of which we're completely unaware. 
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sp19690: There are no meds that cause dementia.
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Why don't you research medications that cause dementia.
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I think the survey is too simplistic. I'm not sure that you'll get much relevant information from it. I don't believe stress or bereavement can CAUSE dementia, but can cause pseudodementia, symptoms that mimic true dementia, and for the most part, can be reversed or cured. One of your questions asks if stress can cause dementia- no. Can it cause pseudodementia- yes. Chronic stress may increase the risk for dementia, but I don't think it can be a cause. The only known CAUSES of AD are the PSEN1, PSEN2 and APP genes. To date, I know of no way to prevent the onset of either dementia or Alzheimer's. Even clinicians do not agree on a single cause of AD. It could be a multifaceted disease which, if true, makes it difficult to find a single remedy, or to attribute the cause to a single factor.

As for music, I do believe that it helps patients recall old songs and contributes to their recalling old events. The memory of music seems to stored throughout the brain and can be accessed with the help of generational music. View “Alive Inside”, a video on YouTube which shows the impact of music on an Alzheimer;s patient.

Good luck with your project.
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Mulhern16 I wish you every success in your studies. I would also like to thank the site moderators for verifying your survey to reassure us forum users - some of us are happy to encourage students engaging in elder care studies and those who aren't are of course free to ignore appeals like this one.

The reason you will (I expect) get a mass of "neither agree nor disagree" answers on your survey is that you have not taken into account that dementia is only an umbrella term for brain disorders caused by dozens of different diseases, sometimes in combination with one another or with other forms of ill health, sometimes with exacerbating social factors such as those you mention, including bereavement, isolation, and stress.

So one size cannot possibly fit all. Take this sentence to heart: "when you've met one person with dementia, you've met one person with dementia."

Aiding older people after a loss... what, by playing them voice recordings of the late lamented? Oy.

What is your degree in, by the way?
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I took the survey too, IMO it looks like a pretty simplistic attempt to prove an already formed theory.
But I think people here on the forum tend to expect too much of the students that post here, comments on the forum demonstrate that there are plenty of doctors, nurses and CNAs/PSWs who have worked with older people and dementia that have no clue and seemingly are not interested in learning anything either.
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"...create a tool/device to aid older people after a loss and older people with dementia that would be used in the home. With the aim of preventing Dementia if possible."

Thanks to the forum's Administrator, I did check out your survey, but don't really feel that you're on anything but the edge of potential dementia factors.   Assuming you're aware of research, some food substances have been linked to dementia, as well as other causes.   

I'm not really sure what kind of device you have in mind, but it seems to include music and some type of in home monitoring system.

Personally, I think your focus is too limited and too shallow and limited.   You might want to research some of the existing dementia results and upgrade your survey.

But I also think "hands-on" experience is the best.  You might consider volunteering to assist in care homes, or do some work for a care company or the VA as a visitor (after appropriate training of course) to experience and acquaint yourself more with the realities, and the vast scope of manifestations.
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The AgingCare team has verified the authenticity of this user as a student at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. If you would like to participate in this research survey, please copy the link to the survey and paste it in any browser.
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Class project survey. Reporting

Not on this site to be a students guinea pig.
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