Deans' stroke musings: Changing lifestyle may improve cognitive function in the elderly

Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Changing lifestyle may improve cognitive function in the elderly

Is your doctor going to implement this in the hospital setting to prevent your cognitive decline post-stroke? Or will your doctor DO NOTHING?
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=146490&CultureCode=en
A randomized controlled trial published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics indicates that modifications in lifestyle may improve cognitive function in the elderly. Since a healthy lifestyle may protect against cognitive decline, the authors examined outcomes in elderly individuals after 18 months of a five-group intervention program consisting of various modalities: physical activity, antismoking, social activity, cognitive activity, alcohol drinking in moderation, and leaning about body mass and a healthy diet.
Between 2008 and 2010, a cluster randomized controlled trial assessing 460 community-dwelling individuals aged 60 years and older, was conducted in a geriatric community mental health center in Suwon, Republic of Korea. The intervention program based on the principles of contingency management was developed in a way that could be delivered by ordinary primary health workers. According to the research design, group A (n = 81) received standard care services, group B (n = 80) received bimonthly (once every 2 months) telephonic care management, group C (n = 111) received monthly telephonic care management and educational materials similar to those in group B, group D (n = 93) received bimonthly health worker-initiated visits and counseling and group E (n = 94) received bimonthly health worker-initiated visits, counseling, and rewards for adherence to the program.
The primary outcome was the change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores from baseline to the final follow-up visit at 18 months. Group E showed superior cognitive function to group A (adjusted coefficient β = 0.99, p = 0.044), with participation in cognitive activities being the most important determining factor among several health behaviors (adjusted coefficient β = 1.04, p < 0.01). The study showed that engaging in cognitive activities, in combination with positive health behaviors, may be most beneficial in preserving cognitive abilities in community-dwelling older adults.
http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/360820