Hello,
Each Labor Day we celebrate the contributions American workers have made to the prosperity, strength and well-being of our country. Unfortunately, too many of the workers who strove for those ideals now suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. If possible, make the effort to include them in your festivities during this long weekend.
Although some people who suffer from Alzheimer’s can’t verbally communicate, they still benefit from the attention, conversation, light games, mental stimulation and good, healthy food served up at barbecues, picnics and other family get-togethers. Try to help them engage in Art Therapy. For those loved ones or acquaintances living in an institutional setting, getting them away from the boredom and loneliness that defines those environments greatly increases their pleasure and quality of life including using art as a way to express themselves.
Labor Day also marks the end of summer and the start of fall. Use the beginning of the new season to take care of your own health. In one of this week’s stories, researchers found that people who have risk factors for heart disease in middle age face a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia later in life.
Our second story outlines the need for more research into whether toxic particles of air pollution, typically dispelled from car and train engines and brakes in congested areas, could be tied to Alzheimer’s.
There is still no cure for the disease, but studies and research like these could eventually lead to one. It will take a lot hard work, but the result will clearly be something we will celebrate.
I hope you will find these stories helpful. If you need more information, please visit our website www.alzinfo.org.
I wish you all a healthy and happy Labor Day.
Be safe and all of my best.
Kent Karosen
President & CEO
