The Hur interview with Biden has been leaked

Dr. Anna Loska Meenan reports: "The audio just dropped last night during Laura Ingraham’s show, and she played some of it. I had 2 reactions: sadness and anger. I was sad because Joe sounded so much like my mother did during the worst of her dementia, the way he drifted into imagined stories, and I wondered how people who supposedly loved him could put him through everything he was going through. Then I got angry, because this man who frequently couldn’t put a coherent sentence together was in charge of our country, and everyone around him knew he was not competent and covered for him anyway, telling those of us who saw it that we were right-wing conspiracy nuts who watched Fox News too much, and all along Fox was reporting the truth. They raided Trump’s home and arrested and prosecuted him for keeping documents he was legally entitled to have in secure storage, while declining to prosecute Biden for keeping documents he was not entitled to have in boxes in his garage, just because they claimed he was too mentally impaired to stand trial."

What to know about leaked audio from Joe Biden, Robert Hur interview

Hugh Hewitt on Biden, the media, and the scandal of the year

I'm just catching up on some podcasts. Christmas Eve eve Hugh Hewitt (Dec. 23) was apoplectic over the news of Biden's clemency and pardon list including 37 on federal death row (3 remain). The 3 who still face the death penalty were obvious "DEI"/ political choices.

The three men on federal death row did not get a commutation were Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who along with his brother killed three people in 2013; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018, and Dylann Roof, who killed nine black Charleston churchgoers in 2015.

 
Among those getting some holiday cheer is Thomas Sanders, who in 2010 kidnapped and then shot 12-year-old Lexis Roberts four times and cut her throat in Louisiana — days after the girl watched as Sanders murdered her mother on a road trip near the Grand Canyon." (New York Post) 

I'm sure the families of the other 37 will be thrilled that Biden who claims to be against the death penalty due to his Catholic faith, makes exceptions for race and religion while supporting and advocating for death to the unborn which the Catholic Church definitely condemns.

This news came on top of the Wall St. Journal story on the incompetency and dementia of Biden the entire 4 years and how his family and staff protected him and the media lied. The WSJ story was solid journalism with many interviews with staff and observers and media who weren't allowed to tell what they knew. Conservatives who knew this had been silenced or cancelled or called conspiracy nuts. Because Hugh is a journalist, he was most upset with the media, but he's awfully mad at Jill Biden and the rest of his family. The Scandal of the Year - The Hugh Hewitt Show: Highly Concentrated - Apple Podcasts  

Every Democrat you know should listen to this.

Sitting down too long can hurt you

I came across an article on sedentary behavior in the LA Times, Opinion: Sitting down all day is killing us. The cure is surprisingly simple — and difficult (msn.com) and looked at the original article published in May 2023. Breaking Up Prolonged Sitting to Improve Cardiometabolic Risk: Dose-Response Analysis of a Randomized Crossover Trial - PubMed (nih.gov) My first reaction (and last) was YIKES. Sedentary means time in your car, sitting in meetings at work or organizations, church attendance, computer browsing, checking e-mail and FB, TV watching, sitting with someone you're taking care of or visiting, going out for dinner and then to your friend's for dessert and conversation (which we did last night and I figure counting travel it was 4 hours of sitting), reading a good book, discussing it at book club, attending your grandchild's athletic, musical or drama event, taking classes at university or by Zoom (I'm doing A Christmas Carol class via internet), preparing Christmas cards, drawing or painting from concept to final product, sewing, knitting, crocheting or crafting just about anything, and that's just in the life of an old lady. If you have a desk job with an hour commute and are 40, goodness my dear, you are in trouble! This article recommends five minutes of being up and walking about after you've been sitting for 30 minutes!!!! It looks to me that the only time I wasn't sedentary in my adult life was when I was a fulltime home maker with children running around. An older article I read said exercise (like working out at the gym or walking with friends) doesn't compensate for long hours of sitting. It's 7:40 a.m. and I've already had 2 hours of sedentary behavior! So I'm going to walk around a bit.

Update: This morning in church (traditional service, Lutheran) I thought how healthy--up and down, up and down. We're there a little over an hour but no chance to be sedentary.

Physiology of sedentary behavior - PubMed (nih.gov)

Sedentary Behavior and Incident Dementia Among Older Adults | Dementia and Cognitive Impairment | JAMA | JAMA Network

Disparate Impact and racism

 Black homicides: Remove all deaths caused by police (6 unarmed blacks in 2021) and all deaths of blacks caused by whites, and it would make almost no difference in the rate and percentage. Homicides of black women increased by 33% in 2020. Disparate impact is the odd law that is putting black criminals back out on the street to terrorize more black victims. It's considered structurally racist that crime rates are higher for blacks. That's disparate impact fall out.

Your mother's dementia diagnosis: The MCAT is now considered structurally racist because too many blacks can't pass and get into medical school. So, although it didn't begin in 2020, since the George Floyd riots and the rise in white guilt there's a push to eliminate the standards so more blacks enter medical school. Asian Americans have the highest MCAT scores and black Americans the lowest. The Asian American who didn't pursue a career in Alzheimer's research because the team needed to be racially balanced isn't available to find the cure for your mom because of disparate impact, i.e., all that matters is race.

What would Thomas Sowell say about disparate impact.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5szK1RX0gevURrY2BHCmer

Medical School Acceptance Rates by Race (2023): Does Ethnicity Play a Role? — Shemmassian Academic Consulting (shemmassianconsulting.com)

What the Media Doesn’t Want You To Know About 2020’s Record Murder Spike | The Heritage Foundation

Oral care for tips for caregivers

I get many inquiries to review books and to post items on my blog. Most I don't accept, but this one on dementia and dental care is one I hadn't thought about. Now that we're not looking at mask mouth (I hope), time to look at mouths.

https://www.newmouth.com/resources/dementia/There are several things caregivers can do to help maintain good dental health for people with dementia.

For example:

• Help the patient brush his or her teeth after every meal. If this isn’t reasonable, have them rinse their mouths out with water after eating or a few times each day. Or, consider wiping out their mouth with gauze or a wet cloth, especially after consuming sugary foods and beverages.
• If you’re reminding someone how to brush, offer short, simple instructions. Go step-by-step and be as patient as possible.
• Demonstrate by brushing your teeth. Brushing together is a great way to help people with dementia remember what they should be doing. It also avoids embarrassment in the early and middle stages of the disease.
• Find a dentist who has experience working with dementia or other special needs patients. This makes those twice-yearly visits less stressful. Also, make sure the patient’s dentist has the contact information of other healthcare providers caring for the patient.

If I get dementia, by Anonymous

This was recently posted on Facebook. It's always a sobering reminder. It seems every month or so I see someone who is acting a little differently.  So perhaps it's time for understanding. . .

“If I get dementia, I want my friends and family to embrace my reality. If I think my spouse is still alive, or if I think we’re visiting my parents for dinner, let me believe those things. I’ll be much happier for it.
If I get dementia, don’t argue with me about what is true for me versus what is true for you.
If I get dementia, and I am not sure who you are, do not take it personally. My timeline is confusing to me.
If I get dementia, and can no longer use utensils, do not start feeding me. Instead, switch me to a finger-food diet, and see if I can still feed myself.
If I get dementia, and I am sad or anxious, hold my hand and listen. Do not tell me that my feelings are unfounded.
If I get dementia, I don’t want to be treated like a child. Talk to me like the adult that I am.
If I get dementia, I still want to enjoy the things that I’ve always enjoyed. Help me find a way to exercise, read, and visit with friends.
If I get dementia, ask me to tell you a story from my past.
If I get dementia, and I become agitated, take the time to figure out what is bothering me.
If I get dementia, treat me the way that you would want to be treated.
If I get dementia, make sure that there are plenty of snacks for me in the house. Even now if I don’t eat I get angry, and if I have dementia, I may have trouble explaining what I need.
If I get dementia, don’t talk about me as if I’m not in the room.
If I get dementia, don’t feel guilty if you cannot care for me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It’s not your fault, and you’ve done your best. Find someone who can help you, or choose a great new place for me to live.
If I get dementia, and I live in a dementia care community, please visit me often.
If I get dementia, don’t act frustrated if I mix up names, events, or places. Take a deep breath. It’s not my fault.
If I get dementia, make sure I always have my favorite music playing within earshot.
If I get dementia, and I like to pick up items and carry them around, help me return those items to their original places.
If I get dementia, don’t exclude me from parties and family gatherings.
If I get dementia, know that I still like receiving hugs or handshakes.
If I get dementia, remember that I am still the person you know and love... “

Copy and paste in Honor of someone you know or knew who has dementia/alzheimer's.....

Tucker on Biden--the composite of clips

 I don't like it when people speak disrespectfully of the cognitively challenge.  Unfortunately, Joe Biden provides too many opportunities.  After protecting him for years, the media seems to turning, but why?

https://youtu.be/fC2rRw_Z7HE

Eggs, meat and dementia

Will researchers ever make up their minds about meat and eggs? This study says it protects us from dementia.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190806101530.htm

“The new study now shows that the risk of dementia was 28% lower in men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine, when compared to men with the lowest intake. Men with the highest intake of dietary phosphatidylcholine also excelled in tests measuring their memory and linguistic abilities. These findings are significant, considering that more than 50 million people worldwide are suffering from a memory disorder that has led to dementia, and the number is expected to grow as the population ages. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia, for which no cure currently exists. The new findings may, therefore, play a vital role in the prevention of dementia. Successful dementia prevention is a sum of many things and in this equation, even small individual factors can have a positive effect on the overall risk, possibly by preventing or delaying the disease onset.”

Needs more study . . .

Women and Brain Health

NEW YORK -- Former First Lady Laura Bush launched the Campaign for Women's Brain Health here on Tuesday evening to empower women with the tools they need to become more knowledgeable about the brain, and to better implement brain care for themselves and their families.

The project is a collaboration between UsAgainstAlzheimer's, WomenAgainstAlzheimer's, and Woman's Day magazine. The campaign's goal is to expand the fight against Alzheimer's to include all aspects of brain health, noted George Vrandenburg, of USAgainstAlzheimer's, and Jill Lesser, of WomenAgainstAlzheimer's.

"To achieve this, the partnership is engaging three key groups: families and communities; providers, payers, and health systems; and policymakers," Vrandenburg and Lesser stated.

Rest of the article   https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/alzheimersdisease/76199?

Diet soda and dementia--the link

"Higher consumption of artificially sweetened soft drinks was associated with an increased risk of both stroke and dementia in an analysis of more than 4,000 participants in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort, researchers found." http://stroke.ahajournals.org/content/early/2017/04/20/STROKEAHA.116.016027

UTIs and the elderly

A friend of ours has recently had a long siege in the hospital then a nursing because of a simple infection--urinary tract infection.

"Elderly people with serious urinary tract infection don't exhibit the hallmark sign of fever because their immune system is unable to mount a response to infection due to the effects of aging. In fact, elders often don't exhibit any of the common symptoms – or don't express them to their caregivers.

UTIs in the elderly are often mistaken as the early stages of dementia or Alzheimer's, according to NIH, because symptoms include:

• Confusion, or delirium-like state
• Agitation
• Hallucinations
• Other behavioral changes
• Poor motor skills or dizziness
• Falling"

 https://www.agingcare.com/Articles/urinary-tract-infections-elderly-146026.htm

My mother always recommended cranberry juice or cherry juice.  And mothers, at least mine, are always right.

 http://www.aplaceformom.com/senior-care-resources/articles/elderly-urinary-tract-infection

Behavior can alter path to dementia

I won't go into detail--if you have a computer you can google it--but I read about 2 exciting advancements for Alzheimer's and dementia yesterday. More and more research points to your behavior assisting your own body systems to fight this scourge. Check out these proteins, BDNF and VEGF. They protect your brain, and are increased with good social support (is this a reason to party?), a lower calorie diet, regular exercise and good heart health. Make 2016 the year you're kind to your brain.

Check the link (partial article)

One of the gifts in this research is donation of brains of nuns and priests. The Religious Orders Study enrolls Catholic nuns, priests and brothers, from more than 40 groups across the United States. Participants are without known dementia and agree to annual clinical evaluation and brain donation (some in the Chicago area also agree to donate, spinal cord, nerve, and muscle). Now that's a way to have both eternal life, and to continue to serve in the temporal life.

Do on-line computer game sites help your brain?

Might be fun or relaxing, but so far, the proof isn’t there.  Exercise is probably better.

“In addition to remaining intellectually active, older adults concerned about maintaining their cognition must protect their cardiovascular health. The brain contains multitudes of blood vessels, and lack of physical activity seems to affect the brain negatively, just as it does the heart. Stroke carries its own risks of cognitive impairment and dementia, independent of diseases like AD. The American Heart Association recommends that older adults get at least 150 of moderate-intensity physical activity minutes per week. Time spent playing computer-based brain games might be better spent, when possible, taking a walk.

In summary, brain games have not yet fulfilled their promises of improved brain fitness. This does not mean that computer-based cognitive training will never be able to improve cognitive function, but it does not appear that training with the right amount of intensity and duration is yet available. If such games are enjoyable for their consumers, there is no compelling reason to stop playing, but for those hoping to avoid dementia, a focus on improving cardiovascular health and seeking broader opportunities for mental stimulation may prove more beneficial.
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/42522/title/Opinion--Can-the-Brain-Be-Trained-/

Will you live past 90? New research

Last night's 60 minutes (it's really 42 minutes) had an excellent report by Leslie Stahl on being over 90 years old. It challenged many myths about aging. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/living-to-90-and-beyond/

Some findings were no surprise to me. “People who exercised definitely lived longer than people who didn't exercise. As little as 15 minutes a day on average made a difference. Forty-five was the best. Even three hours didn't beat 45 minutes a day." However, the grim statistics were—over age 65, dementia doubles every 5 years.  Low blood pressure is worse than high blood pressure this age group, and being overweight, or normal weight, is better than being thin. Wine, dessert and coffee are good for long life.  Much of dementia in this age group is not Alzheimer’s, but hundreds or thousands of tiny strokes.  Some people seem to have something that protects them from dementia—this research will hopefully solve that puzzle.

Taking supplements doesn’t provide any protection, but being social does.  So take a friend to lunch, volunteer, go to church, join a book club, help your neighbors (it’s a 2-fer).

You'll need aerobic exercise to benefit your brain

In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences study, "scientists started with 120 elderly volunteers who were relatively inactive but did not have dementia. Half were randomly assigned to begin walking 40 minutes a day, three days a week for a year while the remainder only stretched and performed toning exercises for the same time period. After 12 months, the group that walked showed an average 2% growth in the hippocampus compared with when they began, while the control groups suffered a more than 1% shrinkage in the same region compared with when the study started.

“If you estimate the change at an individual level,” says study co-author Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois, “a yearlong exercise program can turn back the clock about two years with respect to the volume of the hippocampus.” "

"Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory, "
PNAS 2011 108 (7) 3017-3022; published ahead of print January 31, 2011

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/01/31/want-to-improve-your-memory-take-a-walk/#ixzz1Euftky36

Dementia is a leading cause of death in the U.S.

That sounds really scary unless you realize that our research and technology have extended the lives of people who would have died of different diseases, and safer roads and automobiles have prevented thousands of deaths. Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton for instance have both been saved several times of dying of a heart attack. All that means is you live long enough to die of something else. Deaths from heart disease, stroke, prostate and breast cancer all decreased between 2000 and 2006, but Alzheimer's (about 70% of dementia cases) was up 47% in the same time period. And I doubt that too many actually die from dementia, but from something related like pressure sores, kidney infections, or pneumonia from aspirating food.

The February 10 issue of JAMA has an article on using feeding tubes with nursing home residents with "advanced cognitive impairment" i.e., dementia [Hospital characteristics associated with feeding tube placement in nursing home residents with advanced cognitive impairment," vol 303, no.6, p.544-550]. Using feeding tubes in patients with advanced dementia does not improve survival. So why is it done and why do the rates vary from hospital to hospital? That's what this study was supposed to explain. I'm not sure I understood all the details, but I did see that only 5.8% of hospitalized nursing home residents had an order to forego artificial hydration and nutrition despite the fact most nursing home residents say they would rather die than live in dementia with a feeding tube. (I'm not referring to people like Terri Schiavo who didn't actually need a feeding tube and wasn't dying--she was inconvenient for a husband who had received a very large monetary settlement and had started another family.) Also, I didn't see a distinction between hydration and feeding in this article. (Dehydration is an extremely painful death.) Also, it appears that feeding tubes don't solve any of the problems like pneumonia or pressure sores, which actually are the cause of death. The research also demonstrated that practices vary widely among hospitals and that black and Hispanic nursing home residents were more likely to undergo a feeding tube insertion. So is that more aggressive care or a reflection of how indigent people are treated?

As the authors of this study comment, the results raise more questions than they answered. For instance, the rates decreased during the 8 year study. But one thing I know, conservatives unhappy with Obamacare shouldn't use reluctance to use feeding tubes or counseling about preferences as a sign of an attempt to dispatch the elderly. There doesn't seem to be any evidence that feeding tubes help those suffering the end stages of dementia.

Therefore and However

A very important word in the New Testament is THEREFORE. It's a sign you need to go back and reread the paragraphs that come before. That is usually (if you're reading Paul who wrote most of the NT) the death and resurrection of Jesus. Lots of peace and justice Christians miss the whole point by not checking. An important word in medical studies is HOWEVER. What often follows that word in medical studies are phrases such as "such optimism has been tempered," "there are questions about safety and utility," "more refinements are needed," "some have questioned," "seem to be unrealistic expectations," and "further studies are required to clarify the underlying mechanism." That's the part they don't mention when they breathlessly report something in 30 seconds on the evening news.

However, that being noted, there's a very interesting article in the April 15 JAMA (Vol. 301, no. 15, p. 1565-1572), "Hypoglycemic episodes and risk of dementia in older patients with type 2 Diabetes Mellitus."

Now I didn't know that people with diabetes were at increased risk of dementia, or that insulin can cause hypoglycemia or that there was no research evaluating hypoglycemic episodes in older patients who have diabetes. I found the results and conclusions very interesting. They certainly had a wealth of evidence to work with--27 years of records of 16,667 patients with a mean age of 65 years who are members of Kaiser Permanente in California.

Small waist, heavy hips

We're not in great demand as movie stars or models, but I've never seen any medical studies attributing cardiovascular disease, psoriasis, breast cancer or Alzheimer's to my body shape (the classic pear). Yes, there's more bad belly news, according to the latest issue of Neurology. Large amounts of belly fat are associated with declining cognition. Just being over weight or obese nearly doubles the risk of dementia in old age, according to this study by Rachel Whitmer which looked at 6,583 who were middle age between 1964-1973. Central body fat increases the risk even more, and normal weight people with high belly fat have an elevated risk of dementia.

"What that tells you is the effect of the belly is over and above that of being overweight," Whitmer said. "One of the take-home messages is it's not just your weight but where you carry your weight in middle age that is a strong predictor of dementia."

But here's a bright spot: it's much easier to lose belly weight than those dimpled thighs or buttocks. So cut those calories and start exercising--it's the only way.

WaPo story which has been reprinted in most major newspapers.

There may be something different in this latest study, but this information also appeared 3 years in BMJ: Whitmer RA, Gunderson EP, Barrett-Connor E, Quesenberry CP Jr, Yaffe K. "Obesity in middle age and future risk of dementia: a 27 year longitudinal population based study." BMJ 2005;330:1360.