Support Groups without the "Support"

Family caregiving for individuals with Alzheimer's disease instigates numerous changes within the family dynamic that often lead to the prolonged tension, stress, and depression of caregivers. Although many intervention programs have been established to ease these tensions, often times family members do not decide to use them. Andersen, Cairl, and Cohen state in Advances in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease that only about 10% to 25% of caregivers use formal support programs (353). Why so few? What alternative methods can we enhance or establish to relieve tension within the family?

I'm brainstorming the possibilities of the internet. The importance of friends and family. The denial that weighs down on patients and family caregivers alike. I'm certain that there is a better system for addressing both patient's and family caregivers' needs. This system not only has the potential to better the quality of patient care, but improve entire families' quality of life. It's definitely time for the public to seek answers.

Can Anthing Be Done?

After interviewing Robert Sapolsky, a professor of biology, neurosciences, neurology and neurobiological sciences, and neurosurgery at Stanford University, I've been looking into medications that are currently on the market for treating Alzheimer's disease. Today the most commonly used drugs (that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration) for treating the illness are: Razadyne, Exelon, and Aricept, Cognex. Cognex, however, is rarely proscribed today for safety reasons.

I still can't believe how few drugs are available for the millions with Alzheimer's disease!

Furthermore, although such medications may delay an eventual worsening of the disease, we still haven't found a cure. Where are the drugs that actually reverse or prevent the illness's onset?

Perhaps the public will have to turn to other options of facing this deadly illness. Sapolsky concurs that denial is a common reaction to the current lack of treatment. He believes that "denial could be [beneficial] because there are just a handful of drugs" with minimal effects on the market. I definitely believe he has a valid point.

Centenarian marries a 17 year old

"Married life is about love and passion rather than age and beauty" says the Somali centenarian. The centenarian claims he is 112 years old and is marrying his 6th wife. His most recent wife who is still alive is 90 years old but "ailing."

Although in Somalia, marriage traditions are quite different from that of Western culture, I don't know how I feel about a 112 year old man marrying a teenager. My western views I'm sure is playing a role in my concern and discomfort of this news; however I wonder on what level can these two individuals truly connect. The man has lived over a century, gone through various wars, cultural changes, and life experiences in general. The girl or woman is roughly 1/6 of her husbands age. To what extent does age gaps account to true, authentic love? Is there an age where a man or woman crosses the line marrying someone over 80 or 90 years younger than them?

A Dying Man's Anxiety

They come in, individuals to a group, to write about themselves. They are different - and the same; men with their own stories, men with a terminal illness. AIDS. Their stories are their truths.

This is New York City's Gay Men's Health Crisis in action. Professor Rachel Hadas organized a poetry workshop for its members, and published an anthology of their work soon after: Unending Dialogue. Wayne, one of its voices, spoke of "the anger and sadness of the man / there in the mirror."

Poetry is emotion cordoned behind words. What literary form is more expressive? The emotions of a terminally ill man seem to be found mostly in the work of terminally ill (HIV-infected), gay men. Perhaps, society keeps the terminally ill, straight man locked behind the strength and independence of macho-masculinity... a cage the gay man broke merely with his presence.

Sex: +3-5 years to your life

Quick Fixes: some easy ways to add 2-6 years to your life (all but one is about what you do, not your genes which is GOOD NEWS!)

Several scientists believe that people's genetic code is the key secret to one's longevity; however, based on the Danish Twin Studies "less than 20% of how long the average person lives is dictated by genes." In other words, we control how long we live. Some of the "quick fix" tips to add a couple years to your life include:

getting a hobby equals 2+ years
taking a vacation equals 1-2+ years
flossing your teeth equals 6.4+ years
having sex equals 3-5+ years

As random and peculiar some of these "quick fixes" sound (especially flossing teeth) they are all scientifically proven and tested to be beneficial to our lives. It would be interesting to see a list of potential "quick breaks" are, or behaviors that take years off your life. I wonder how many of those are natural things or man-made/artificial things that harm us because I believe a lot of health problems that arise in elderly people are society's fault rather than a natural cause. Longevity has to do with re-evaluating one's life in a positive way. Perhaps examining human creations that harm our health will allow us to re-evaluate society, foods, technology, medicine and so forth.

Jaded Generation [X]

Thanks to the recession, I sure GenX has so much more reason to support their stereotype as the cynical generation. What else does this world have to throw at them? Entering the workforce in a recession, clawing through the dot-com fiasco... it's no surprise that there's significant work discontent during today's recession.

SURPRISE! Generational thinking does make it into the popular news. Front-page-Yahoo! status even!

But wow. What a way to be portrayed. Why must all these generations be seen in such a negative light? It does nothing for the generation's morale, I'm sure. I, for one, would not be happy to be labeled a jaded curmudgeon (even if it is only a label). I wonder: does this generational labelling inspire rebellion in the ranks or do its members resign themselves to their labels through action and thought?

How We Sabotage Young Girls

Girls are encouraged to be nice, quiet, perfect, polite -- at the expense of their authenticity and sense of self.

Is this possible? Today, this force called 'Girl Power' is ripping through cultures, schools, and families, pushing girls towards academic and social success. Traditionally, the males took all the leadership and power roles, but today, we transcend that. Girls currently have higher high school graduation rates than boys, and represent the larger percentage of college and graduate students. Girl Power seems to demand perfection in all aspects of a girl's life. However, this force inherently demands selflessness and prevents self-expression. This modesty is said to carry on as a girl ages, which will allow her to continue her success, but cost her her authenticity. The author refers to this as "The Curse of the Good Girl."

The Curse of the Good Girl erects a psychological glass ceiling that begins its destructive sprawl in girlhood and extends across the female life span, stunting the growth of skills and habits essential to becoming a strong woman.

So is the author suggesting that being a strong woman is different from being a leader? She suggests that this issue stems from a culture that seems to desire gender equality, but is still confused about the true meaning of balancing gender roles.

A Clear Explanation of the Quarter-Life Crisis

While I was talking to a few of my friends this weekend about my research paper, I realized that not many young people know what the quarter-life crisis is. My own sister, whose move to New York and subsequent difficulty finding a job, inspired my research project and she didn't even know what it was.

I can't remember the first time I heard the phrase mentioned--it seems ingrained in my mind right now. But I was thinking back to this movie I really enjoyed over the summer, called Post Grad, which I think offers the best explanation of the crisis in a film-friendly format.

The movie stars Alexis Bledel (of Gilmore Girls and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fame) and focuses on her trials and tribulations post-graduation (hence the title Post Grad). Moving back home with her parents, trying to define relationships with guys, searching for jobs constantly, this movie explains all the elements of the quarter-life crisis.

So for those of you who are still confused about what the quarter-life crisis entails, watch the trailer and I'm sure you'll understand.

Quarter-Life Crisis Becoming a Quarter-Life + 10 years crisis?

In the midst of editing my research-based argument, I took a Yahoo break and happened to stumble upon this article that claims the real generation facing a crisis are Gen Xers, who are 33 to 44 years of age. The article describes how Gen Xers are facing discontentment as the recession is hitting them the hardest. Apparently, companies are more eager to hire young, enthusiastic members of Generation Y than the "mobile" and "disloyal" (as they have come to be stereotyped) workers of Gen X.

This article was particularly surprising to me because I've spent the past month or so researching the current quarter-life crisis, and have found plentiful evidence on member of Generation Y who are experiencing extreme difficulty finding jobs right now because of the economy. That's why the lede of this article, "A good number of them are just waiting for the economy to pick up so they can hop on to the next job, find something more fulfilling and get what they think they deserve" is so striking because it sounds like a description of Generation Y.

Generation X, which has often been described as the "jaded" generation, doesn't come up in news as much as the Baby Boomers or Generation Y. It was interesting to read this article because it calls attention to the fact that there is no age limit for discontent, particularly in the workplace. Young adults and middle-aged Americans aren't the only ones facing crises.

15 Going On 50: How Gossip Girl is Killing Youth Culture

The writer of this article basically says the message of Gossip Girl is one of misery, a "truly insidious influence." This is not exactly my opinion, but it did force me to analyze the characters and plot in a different way. The show focuses on tech-savvy teenagers of today – constantly texting and updating blogs to spread, well, gossip. Despite their modern, inter-connected ways, these adolescents play adult roles. The writer describes one of the scenes perfectly:

At one point, Queen Bee Blair is lying in a dark bedroom with Nate, her boyfriend-since-kindergarten. Nate has cheated on Blair; she's just found out. The scene is one of dark marital alienation as she lies with her back to him. He wears a suit and a huge Rolex; she dons a dress of thick nunnish lace and a mask of make-up. He talks of working out their problems; she resigns herself to a pragmatic reconciliation.

Marital alienation. The Rolex. A mask of make-up. Pragmatic reconciliation. Now, this definitely does not sound like it takes place in a teen drama... Or does it? What happened to the “carefree golden years”? Is this generation of television killing youth culture? The writer argues (vehemently) that Gossip Girl tells us that teens can be adults before middle age, thus there is nothing more to look forward to. We are doomed, trapped with the adult role as soon as we hit puberty.

Alzheimer's: Mementos Help Preserve Memories

(CNN - October 29, 2009) The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research suggests in this article that mementos are extremely important for re-introducing "life" back into a person suffering from Alzheimer's disease. When caregivers interview the one they love suffering from the illness, they preserve a special moment in time. That moment is so fleeting -- so precious -- in the life of an individual who suffers from memory loss. As the state of that individual progressively worsens, there may be no turning back to cohesive conversations. The Foundation presumes that by writing in journals, keeping important documents, and creating scrapbooks, family members can help jog the memory of individuals suffering from the disease.

However, I'd like to emphasize how important it is for the family caregivers themselves to keep these mementos. Although they indeed might help "restore" the memory of an affected individual, they also may serve as an incredible means of comfort for family members in the future. They could even serve as the highest form of education by portraying the true nature of the disease.

A True Education

I can walk down the aisles of Barnes and Noble and choose from a plethora of autobiographies written by individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Reading through these books, I could get a fairly good background on the "structure" of the illness: the symptoms, the statistics, the history. I could google "Alzheimer's disease" and read about the complex relationship between plaques and tangles in the brain that leads to memory loss. I could watch "The Notebook." Maybe shed a tear...

But isn't there something missing in this picture? Where are the true voices of the individuals suffering from the disease? Where are the voices of the families, the voices of those that tiptoe through the pressures and provide care for the ailing ones they love?

Autobiographies and movies are scripted. The very nature of these resources hides the meaning of the words they contain. I want the truth.

Any good ideas on how to find answers? How to truly educate the public regarding Alzheimer's disease?

The SAT: Is it all that matters?

Any high school junior or senior will tell you that, either currently or within the past year, the SAT (or ACT in some cases) has controlled his or her life. With college admissions getting more competitive every year, and grade inflation which makes a 4.0 look merely mediocre, students are under more and more pressure to perform on these standardized tests. Many take the tests over and over and over in order to "prove their talent." The Perfect Score provides a satire of sorts highlighting the ridiculous lengths students will go to in order to get the elusive 800. In this movie, these lengths include elaborately coordinated cheating, trespassing, computer hacking, etc. While this movie obviously primarily intends to entertain its presumable audience (young people), it actually provides substantial insight into the SAT-obsessed college admissions culture teens currently face. The characters are absolutely desperate to do well on a single test, which they are convinced will determine the rest of their lives. Is it good that society places such pressure on young people? Will there be long-term ramifications on this generation of young people from the amount of academic pressure they are under? No one can know for sure, but something about teens being driven to cheat as massively as they attempt to in this movie cannot be healthy.

As You Wish...

SWASHBUCKLING PIRATES! KIDNAPPERS! PRINCESSES IN DISTRESS! HEROES SAVING THE DAY! A LOT OF EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!

The Princess Bride, what isn't there to say about it? It's the classic tale of love and loss, youth and maturity, and... men in black with immunities to poison and with a giant sidekick? As you wish...

The Princess Bride, a movie about a whole lot of things that are decidedly unclassical. Where else can you learn about growing up and finding your true priorities but by going through the evilest swamps or dueling with your arch enemies or surviving the Pit of Despair for your true love?

This movie is the only movie that can teach us about the realities of aging because it's so dramatically real. It teaches us the power of our hopes, dreams and wishes and inspires us to hold on to it even as the world conspires against us and grows old around us. It is all about what you wish...

The Alzheimer's Brain and Its Ethical Dilemma

This image, provided by the Alzheimer's Society, depicts a cross-section of both a healthy brain and one with advanced Alzheimer's disease. So what is actually occurring in the shriveled and broken right side of this brain?

The brain's cortex, hippocampus, and ventricles are the main areas affected. While the cortex and hippocampus shrink, the ventricles expand, causing memory to deteriorate. Plaques, or proteins, and tangles, or dead nerve cells, suffocate the healthy tissue of the brain and reduce the brain's size. (See this image for a magnified picture of healthy brain cells and ones infected by plaques and tangles).

Although often thought to only impact the memory of an afflicted individual, however, these plaques and tangles have a variety of adverse effects. Symptoms of the disease include disorientation in time and space, poor judgement, and sporadic changes in personality.

After considering many of the potentially dangerous effects that an unsupervised, affected individual may have on others, I'm still debating when and to what extent one should intervene in making decisions for an individual with dementia. How will society ever determine when it is appropriate to take basic freedoms, such the ability to drive, away from an individual with Alzheimer's disease? What role must the family play in preventing disaster?