Technology Detecting Dementia

As the digital age continues to progress through its numerous development stages – size, durability, efficiency, etc., we, as the users and consumers, are somehow convinced they (cell phones, laptops, tablets) are objects that we need to operate in society.  We obviously don’t need them, but they are a luxury that provides us with the ability to stay connected with the rest of the world.

Evidently, digital technology has become an interwoven part of life; of which, many have embraced. It’s a form of communication, a gateway that connects you with others, allowing you to explore, share, and immerse yourself into a realm of stories (both fact and fiction), games, and so-on-and-so-forth.

But while we are streaming the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy to our computers, or trying to insert the last few numbers to our latest Sudoku game on the iPad, Cambridge Cognition, a company in the United Kingdom, has developed an app that could essentially, change lives.

The company, which delivers most of the world’s leading cognitive tests, created CANTABmobile – an application that helps doctors detect dementia in its earliest stages, when treatment is most beneficial, Cult of Mac reports.   

The website summarizes the app as follows:

“CANTABmobile provides an easy to use memory test that assesses a patient’s short-term memory using a series of challenges, such as remembering a series of symbols. It takes less then ten minutes, and once the process is complete, the app delivers instant results with suggestions on how doctors should proceed with their diagnosis.”

The system isn’t a doctor, but helps narrow down the course of action doctors can take with their patients so there is less of a chance of a misdiagnosis.  Just because a patient is having memory recall problems, doesn’t necessarily mean they have dementia. 

This new development in technology is a benefit for many individuals who may be suffering from early signs of dementia.  It gives doctors a non-invasive look into how our brains may be functioning.  Technology is great.  Our computers and phones easily store email and text, among other things, on their system hard-drives... but now, technology is being formulated to allow us the opportunity to maintain our own memories, longer.  

How do you feel about this?    

To see more watch the video below:

Seniors helping seniors

There are two things in life that are important to me -- one is education and the other is volunteering… I think it's a privilege to be a teacher and I think it's a privilege to be a volunteer, and both of those activities give me a great deal of joy.

- Isabella Dryden (Winnipeg Free Press)

Sometimes it’s intimidating, never mind frustrating, when we have to learn how to do something new from someone who is younger than us.  You’re left wondering why you are unable to master a skill or technique, when it’s clear that it’s doable.  What tends to get “lost in translation” is that this is true for anyone at any age; someone else will always be better at one thing or another, and so on and so forth.  What you have to be able to do is take away from the experience and learn from them.  As a result, this will allow you to share your newly cultivated skill with others.

Isabella Dryden, 94, and Jean Johnson, 92, know what it’s like to have experienced both the learning and teaching role.  Three days a week, the tag-team spends entire days educating other seniors how to operate the computer: from turning it on, to navigating the web. 

Johnson joined Dryden, who has been teaching for almost 50 years, after she sat in on one of her classes 27 years ago. After the second class, Johnson felt she knew the material well enough to assist her.

"Strangely enough when I sat down with the computer, I knew how to work with it. It just must have been in me. After my second class, I was bold enough to go up and ask (Dryden) if I could help her with the classes and she agreed. We've been together teaching ever since," Johnson told the Winnipeg Free Press.

These women have taken on exceptional roles in their community. By giving back, the dynamic duo can help elevate a level of confidence in the seniors that attend their classes, showing them how they can further their independence while exploring a virtual reality.

A little something more:

4 Tips to Keep Seniors Surfing Safely Online  

Art promotes healing

I believe that we are born artists. Before we can write, before we can read, we can communicate visually… What happens to our creativity when we get older? Do we lose it?

The question, posed by Jeff Nachtigall to The Calgary Journal, is just as quickly answered,  “Maybe we haven’t lost (it), but we have buried it,” said Nachtigall.  “Some of us have buried it deeper than others.”

In the article, Art for seniors and residents of long term care facilities promotes healing, Nachtigall, the artist-in-residence at Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon, and the keynote speaker for the third Creative Aging Calgary Symposium, demonstrated the “results of using visual arts as a way for residents of long-term care facilities to access their own creative potential.”

To gain participation in an art session at the Centre, Nachtigall placed a large piece of canvas paper on the floor of the studio, and finally, attached rags to the bottoms of canes and wheelchairs.  With their chosen colour of paint, the residents would travel across the paper, creating one large painting. 

 Art and dementia appear to go hand-in-hand, as “many studies have linked the participation in some type of artistic work with positive outcomes for people living with” the disease.  The Calgary Journal reported on a 2010 article in the Journal of Active Aging that said, "Artistic endeavors target the healthy parts of the brain – areas untouched by disease, whether the participant has Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia."

Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are common diseases that affect many people, and staying active has become a significant way of delaying the on-set.  Finding a way to stay physically and mentally motivated – be it walking, painting, dancing, etc. – are important activities to engage oneself in.  You can live a full life, despite Alzheimer’s.    

Get involved in the community:

On Tuesday, June 22, SERC is hosting Taste of the Arts day, where everyone is welcome to come out and try a new activity.  We will have a palette of programs, from painting, to singing, to Latin dancing.  So mark that calendar – and we hope to see you soon!

(Picture provided by Center for American Progress)

When in doubt, Ping Pong it out

Photo from The Toronto Star

Sports are a great way to stay active.  They are beneficial for your health both physically and mentally.  It’s a time where you can relieve stress from a hard day’s work, or just go out and have fun.  It’s a social environment filled with like-minded people to connect with.

You may be sitting there reading this thinking, “What’s your point?” or, “Yes, it was great when I was younger, but how does that apply to me now?”  Well, I’m here to answer that for you.

The Hot Docs festival in Toronto has recently brought in an abundance of new movies to showcase, one of which is Ping Pong­ – “a documentary about competitive players aged 80-plus battling it out on the international table tennis circuit,” writes The Toronto Star. 

It’s true.  I’m not making this up.  This inspiring movie follows the journey of eight different players, as they prepare for the World over 80s Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia. 

Hartford, the movie director, told the Star, “One of the things I’ve learned over the last three years spending time with them is they don’t think of themselves as old,” he said. “Their age doesn’t come into play with how they define themselves. It’s about attitude.”

And it is.  So, shine your shoes, blow the dust off the table (if you have one), grab a paddle and start practicing!  There is a world of opportunity out there, for any age; it’s all about finding what’s right for you.

Click below to watch a preview of the inspiring documentary: Ping Pong

Can technology help you on the road?

Let’s  be honest – navigating directions can get the best of any of us at one time, or another.  I don’t know a single soul who has ever claimed they have never had to pull a U-turn, pull over on the side of the road, or find an alternate route in order to reach their preferred destination.  Directions can be tricky and maps can sometimes feel like they are written in another language (… of course, if your map always feels like it was written in another language, you should make sure you’ve picked up the right one!).  Ultimately, many of us get lost. 

Driving is a luxury that allows many individuals to be independent.  As we age, our five senses (tasting, touching, hearing, smelling, seeing) tend to decline and as a result, can sometimes be the reason as to why an older adult can no longer drive themselves around town. 

But, in an article by The Globe and Mail, Phil Blythe, professor of Intelligent Transport Systems at New Castle University, says this is rarely the reason why seniors decide to stop driving.  In fact, “some older drivers give up on driving because they simply don’t feel comfortable behind the wheel.”

Blythe and a team of researchers in the United Kingdom are in the process of developing a new technology to study older drivers, and help keep them on the road longer. The team “outfitted an electric car with eye trackers, bio-monitors and tracking systems in order to help them understand the habits of older drivers. A driving simulator allows the research team to monitor eye movement, speed, reaction, lane position, braking, acceleration and driving efficiency,” The Globe reports.

“Most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30 mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined,” Amy Guo, the leading researcher, said in a press release.

With these findings, the team’s intentions are to look at the benefits of different systems that could help control speed as a way to prevent this issue from affecting the safety of older drivers.

So the question is: Would you feel safer with this innovative idea, or not?