A study by Dr. Leyla de Toledo-Morrell discovered that people who have a lower density of tissue in certain areas of the brain are more susceptible to developing Alzheimer’s.

De Toledo-Morrell says that these individuals have typical mind functions, as measured by MRI scans at the study’s onset, but are twice as likely to develop the degenerative brain disease than those with an average brain matter density. Their susceptibility to the disease increases threefold when compared to those who have a thicker-than-average brain makeup.

De Toledo-Morrell next wants to focus her efforts on developing medication that fights the thinning of brain tissue. She believes this may aid in preventing the development of Alzheimer’s in some patients.

Another study by Dr. Bryan James found that people who don’t venture beyond their regular surroundings are at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

By following 1,300 people who initially showed no signs of cognitive problems, James determined that individuals who stayed at home and never traveled beyond their own yards were twice as likely to develop the disease than those who regularly left their homes.

James notes that prior research has demonstrated the advantages of encountering new people and learning new things.

“Don’t get too complacent and sit on your couch all day,” James recommends.

Rush University studies hone in on sources of Alzheimer’s disease | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

She burned her foot pouring boiling water over an ant hill in her driveway. She would wander for hours searching for aluminum cans. The effects of Alzheimer’s disease had taken hold.

Minorities such as Terrazas are at greater risk for the degenerative disease, according to an Alzheimer’s Association report released Tuesday. It found that African-Americans are about two times more likely and Hispanics are about 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.

The reasons why minorities are at higher risk are unclear but not believed to be genetic.

The disease is indiscriminately devastating, robbing memories and personality as brain cells deteriorate.

But Alzheimer’s for minorities presents unique challenges. Socioeconomic disparities can prevent access to health care, early detection or proper management of other conditions linked to the disease such as high blood pressure or diabetes, said Angela Geiger, the chief strategy officer for the Alzheimer’s Association.

“African-Americans and Hispanics are less likely to know they have Alzheimer’s and dementia,” she said. “That has significant impact on the quality of life.”

Some families ignore the symptoms, such as behavioral changes and memory loss, because their culture respects the elderly so much that they try to conceal their flaws, said Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Minorities may not get early treatment, when medications are more likely to be effective and when patients are more capable of making plans, according to the report. At doctor’s offices, some can encounter language barriers and difficulties navigating a complicated health care system.

Beatriz Terrazas sees this dichotomy in her family. Both her mother and her mother-in-law have the disease, and sometimes she feels as if she is “drowning in Alzheimer’s.”

Her white, well-educated mother-in-law has more financial options and insurance, Terrazas said; she lives in a residential care facility.

In contrast, Terrazas’ 80-year-old mother, who has a sixth-grade education, relies on Medicaid and lives with her younger daughter in El Paso, Texas. She requires constant supervision. She goes to adult day care and has a Medicaid-funded home companion or a relative help with her care. When there is no one to care for her, Francisca Terrazas follows her daughter to work.

It’s as if her mother has been “rebirthed to infancy,” Beatriz Terrazas said.

The Alzheimer’s Association‘s report estimated that 11 million Americans provide 12.5 billion hours of unpaid care for loved ones.

Beatriz Terrazas, who lives near Dallas, Texas, occasionally relieves her younger sister, who is the primary caregiver for their mother. But she and her siblings were on the same page after learning about their mother’s Alzheimer’s in 2007: They did not want her in a nursing home.

“My family is still very Mexican in at heart,” she wrote in her blog, My Mother’s Brain. Putting her mother in a nursing home “would feel like giving up a part of my cultural and family history.”

In Mexico, the extended family lives in the same neighborhood. When an elderly member became ill, the entire family — aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins — pitches in to take care of the afflicted, Beatriz Terrazas said.

But Terrazas’ extended family members are scattered across Mexico and the U.S., making home care more of an individual’s responsibility rather than that of an extended family.

In addition to the cultural beliefs, Terrazas’ family members can’t afford more upscale facilities and worry that ones covered by Medicaid would not meet their standards.

Minority families often feel a filial obligation to take care of their elderly at home, said Gallagher-Thompson, who is also director of the Stanford Geriatric Education Center.

“There are very strong cultural taboos against nursing home placement or assisted living,” she said. “The idea is that the family is everything. You have to keep the person at home, no matter how hard it is to take care of them.”

But the stress of caregiving is enormous, as many family members (often called “the sandwich generation”) work full-time and raise their own children.

“They feel that they’re being traitors,” said Betty Marquez, an owner of New Horizons Adult Day Care, an El Paso center for the elderly that has mainly Hispanic clients.

“They feel, ‘I’m letting down my mother, father or both parents,’ ” Marquez said of families who leave their loved ones at the day care. “They’ve sacrificed so much, and they can’t give them the time of day since caring for Alzheimer’s, it’s 24-7. On top of that, they’re working, and it’s impossible.”

Some days are harder than others.

Francisca Terrazas sometimes stares blankly at her eldest daughter and asks who she is.

“Lord, I’d give anything to have one day to ask her advice, share a family story that she no longer remembers, have a good laugh or cry over it,” Beatriz Terrazas said. “Every once in a while, she’ll remember something out of thin air. The synapses are firing, and then they’re gone again.”

Read the original article from CNN Health.

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CHICAGO (CBS/AP) –

Graham died Saturday morning in his sleep at his Hobe Sound, Fla., home of complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a Monday news release from SCC Grossman, a Chicago-based public relations firm hired by Graham’s family.

A leader in the modern era of architecture, Graham designed the 110-story Sears Tower, renamed the Willis Tower last year. The skyscraper opened in 1974 and was the world’s tallest until 1996 when the Petronas Twin Towers opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The 1,451-foot tower at 233 S. Wacker Dr. remains the tallest building in the U.S. It is composed of nine bundled steel tubes which rise to varying heights.

Graham also designed the 100-story John Hancock Center, a black, X-marked structure at 875 N. Michigan Ave. that was completed in 1970.

“He was one of the giants of his era and so inventive,” said Donna Robertson, dean at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture. “He raised generations of architects … who were highly talented and went on to perpetuate his creativity.”

Both skyscrapers continue to be staples of tourism in the city, with the Willis Tower a designated highlight of architecture river cruises that sail down the Chicago River, according to the Chicago Architecture Foundation.

Graham, a native of Bogota, Colombia, was a senior architect at Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill from 1951 to 1989.

He became known for his bold style, particularly that based on steel-framed construction.

Aside from the two famous skyscrapers, Graham helped design the Inland Steel Building, 30 W. Monroe St., which has been heralded by other legendary architects, including Graham’s close friend Frank Gehry. The 1950s skyscraper in downtown Chicago features translucent green glass.

“He explored things and experimented with things that you wouldn’t expect to have happened in the corporate world of architecture,” said Gehry who described Graham as “gruff and cantankerous,” but also generous.

He was also involved in designing the expansion of McCormick Place in 1986.

Graham also undertook more ambitious city planning projects. He is often associated with the planning for the failed 1992 World’s Fair, which was called off about seven years before it was supposed to happen, Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin reported.

But Graham also helped create the controversial, but visionary Chicago 21 plan in 1973, Kamin reported. The plan helped create the Museum Campus and spurred development in the South Loop.

Graham moved to Florida after retiring, but taught a course at IIT in Chicago in the mid-1990s.

A private funeral will be held in Florida, followed by a memorial service in Chicago. Dates had not been set, according to SCC Grossman.

Graham’s wife, Jane Graham, died in 2004. He is survived by three children and six grandchildren.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Willis, Hancock architect dies | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.

Today’s full day Alzheimer Awareness Family Caregiver Conference is geared towards care partners, friends and family of individuals with memory loss disorder. Tuesday’s conference Alzheimer’s Disease & Related Disorders is for Alzheimer’s professionals to focus on “Synchronizing Science and Support.”

“With the numbers rising of people suffering from Alzheimer’s, there is a greater demand for caregivers, said Illinois Department on Aging Director Charles D. Johnson.  “To address this and other related issues, the state presents the conferences each year to look at the challenges and ways to better help.”

The conferences, at the Crown Plaza in Springfield, are sponsored by the department in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association – Greater Illinois Chapter, the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders.

Alzheimer’s is an incurable neurological disorder that destroys the brain’s memory cells.  It is the most common form of dementia.  It also causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior and can be severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life.

Alzheimer’s gets worse over time, and is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States. There are more than 35 million people in the world with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.  And the number of people with Alzheimer’s disease is predicted to nearly double every 20 years.

Here in Illinois there are estimated to be more than 210,000 with the disease.

There are many organizations, like the Alzheimer’s Association, that help seniors and family members cope with and combat the disease.  The Alzheimer’s Association provides supportive programs and services to people with Alzheimer’s and their caregivers.

In addition, they offer special programs such as assistance to individuals with Alzheimer’s who live alone, people living with early-onset Alzheimer’s, rural and/or multicultural outreach, care coordination services, and training programs for families and professionals.

Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 1-800-272-3900 or by contacting their local chapter at alz.org.

In addition to observing November as Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, it is National Family Caregivers Month.  In recognition, Illinois Department on Aging Director Charles D. Johnson thanks caregivers for making an extra effort to help family members.

“Caregiving is fundamental to families because the assistance of caregivers can define the quality of life for families.  This month is Family Caregivers Month which is a good time to educate family caregivers about available resources,” said Director Johnson.”

The Illinois Department on Aging has set up more than 100 Caregiver Resource Centers across the state.

Through partnering with the 13 Area Agencies on Aging and local service providers, family caregivers receive information, assistance, training, counseling and respite care through the Family Caregiver Support Program.

Family caregivers serve as a critical component in providing the long term care for older adults. Caregivers may need to help their loved ones with a broad range of activities, such as bathing, dressing, cooking and eating.

In addition, caregivers may have to assist with legal and financial matters, such as making medical decisions, paying bills, handling investments and budgeting accounts.

Director Johnson also notes this is the beginning of the holiday season. As the holidays provide more time for families to spend time together, the Department encourages taking the time to look for signs that could indicate that older relatives might need assistance.

Some of these signs include:

• Decreased mobility, forgetfulness
• Neglected personal hygiene
• Change in appetite
• Unfilled and/or unopened medical prescriptions
• Lack of home maintenance
• Unusual display of unopened mail

They may also notice that their loved one seems to be mishandling their finances, for example not paying their bills or losing money.

For more information about program services to assist older adults in Illinois and their caregivers, call the Department on Aging Senior HelpLine at 1-800-252-8966 or for TTY (hearing impaired use only) call 1-888-206-1327.

State Promotes Awareness About Alzheimer’s Disease, Thanks Caregivers and Offers Resources for Support | Chicago Press Release Services - Chicago's leading press release newswire service; professional press release services, press release distribution and newswire services.