Attendees will learn how research shapes Parkinson’s disease (PD) treatments and care strategies. Speaker Bradley Hiner, MD, Dignity Health, will share the latest updates about current and breaking research, and attendees can learn more about what research participation can look like for people with PD and their care partners. This program is open to people with Parkinson’s, their loved ones, the senior care community, and healthcare service providers.
Learn more and register at: Parkinson.org/Ventura
Attendance is free. Registration is required.
Join the Parkinson’s Foundation to learn how research shapes Parkinson’s disease CPD) treatments and care strategies. Hear the latest updates about current and breaking research from Parkinson’s experts and learn more about what research participation can look like for people with PD and their care partners.
For questions or for help registering, call 702847-6603 or email [email protected].
Join us on Thursday, June 9th, 2022: Online via Zoom 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
In person from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. PT at the Camarillo Community Center, 1605 Burnley Street, Camarillo.
On May 21, at Boccali’s Pizza and Pasta in Ojai, a fund-raiser was held for the Cabrillo Middle School Music Department. The night included live music, dinner and a silent auction to benefit the award-winning middle school music program.
All funds raised benefit the school’s music program.
This will be the first time the annual event is being held in two years due to COVID-19. It was attended by hundreds who enjoyed the great Italian food and music. They listened to jazz music from both student and professional groups including Cabrillo Middle School Jazz Band A, The Thatcher School’s Jazz Ensemble, Ventura High School Jazz Band and professional jazz musicians.
“This event has always been an important event for our program both from a fundraising standpoint and just a super fun event be able to showcase the students’ hard work,” said Cabrillo Middle School Music Director, Mr. Mario Boccali. “All the groups – professional and student – are delighted to perform, especially after COVID which put a lot of groups off the stage for so long.”
The program provides a positive and fun environment where music students have the opportunity to participate in clinics with music professionals and perform at music festivals and other fun events throughout the community. The school’s top groups perform at nationally adjudicated festivals each year on the annual Spring Tour.
To donate to or learn more about the program, go to: https://sites.google.com/view/cabrillomiddleschoolmusic/.
Presentations offer interactive, compassionate, relevant education on PD.
A community-based support group focusing on sharing relevant information and education about all things Parkinson’s. Meetings are held monthly on the third Tuesday, 10-11am, at Crosspointe Church (5415 Ralston Ave.) The next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 21.
Ventura County Parkinson’s Support Group gets together every month with skilled, experienced professionals who present significant breakthroughs, strategies and related issues surrounding Parkinson’s. The group’s mission is for participants to better understand and talk about how this information impacts their own lives and affects immediate family members. In addition to those diagnosed with PD, caregivers, family members and friends are all welcome to attend free of charge.
More than just a meeting, all discussions/presentations offer interactive, compassionate, relevant education on PD. Topics range from “How to get up off the floor when you’ve fallen,” to “Nutrition and Parkinson’s” to “The benefits of deep brain stimulation and assessing if you’re a good candidate for DBS” to the importance of laughter in life and for healing.
Jon Everhart, retired accountant, US Marine and regular group attendee said, “It’s nice comparing treatments, symptoms, and the challenges we all face living with Parkinson’s.” This caring group empowers people like Jon to be more proactive and to participate in deciding the direction of his treatment, complemented by his team of doctors’ suggestions.
This unique group gives everyone a great opportunity to learn more about current PD research, to gain more awareness about local help and resources, to share relevant experiences with others — and to have fun along the way.
The Ventura County Parkinson’s Support Group was recently resurrected (post-Covid) by Dr. Vanessa White, owner of Ventura County Neurofitness (a local fitness program designed specifically for those with Parkinson’s and other neurological degenerative diseases). The impetus for her assuming this responsibility was after her mother-in-law, Toy White, was diagnosed several years ago with PD. This important, special group was born upon her passing.
Mental disorders early in life increase the risk for dementia and for developing dementia at a younger age, according to a study funded in part by NIA and published in JAMA Psychiatry. Analyzing the health care records of 1.7 million New Zealand citizens over three decades, researchers saw these associations for different psychiatric conditions, and for all types of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. If these associations are causal, these findings suggest that early interventions to treat mental disorders, such as anxiety or addictive behavior, would not only improve the mental health of younger adults but may also reduce the risk of dementia later in life.
Several studies have identified depression as a preventable risk factor associated with dementia. However, less is known about the effects of other mental disorders on dementia risk, as well as the occurrence of these disorders earlier in life and any associations with early-onset versus later-onset dementia.
To examine whether having a mental disorder increases a person’s risk for developing dementia, researchers examined New Zealand’s national health system’s hospitalization records for 1.7 million individuals ages 21 to 60 years at the start of the study and tracked diagnoses for all mental disorders and any subsequent dementia from July 1988 to June 2018. Researchers classified nine broad categories of mental disorders: substance use, psychotic, mood, neurotic (i.e., anxiety), physiological disturbance, personality, developmental, behavioral, and unspecified disorders.
Of the total study population, 3.8% of the individuals were diagnosed with a mental disorder and 2% with dementia. Within these groups, the researchers found that individuals with a mental-disorder diagnosis were more than four times as likely to develop dementia than those without a mental disorder. Notably, the increased dementia risk was stronger for those with prior mental versus physical disorders, similar in magnitude to the risk associated with the APOE4 gene, a well-established genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s. The researchers also found that, on average, individuals with a prior mental-disorder diagnosis developed dementia more than five years earlier than those without.
Importantly, these associations were found for all types of dementia, as well as for all types of mental disorders, including psychotic, substance abuse, mood, neurotic, and self-harm disorders. The analysis also indicated that psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, were associated with a higher risk of developing dementia than neurotic disorders, such as depression and anxiety. All of these findings were consistent for men and women across all age groups, even after accounting for physical disease histories and socioeconomic risk factors.
Researchers acknowledge some potential limitations in this study. For example, the results cannot necessarily be generalized to other nations or health care systems. However, the researchers note that studies in the United States and other countries have also identified associations between some mental disorders — such as anxiety and depression — and dementia. The researchers also recognize that the number of mental disorders or dementia cases in the study population may be higher than reported, as less severe cases treated outside of the hospital or individuals who did not receive treatment were not tracked. Similarly, some of the youngest individuals in the study may have developed dementia after this study ended.
This study’s findings have important implications, including evidence that treating mental disorders earlier in life may reduce the risk of developing dementia. Also, these findings should inspire future research to identify the shared and unique pathways of dementia risk across different mental health diseases. Finally, these findings suggest that psychiatric problems may be an early warning sign of possible future cognitive decline and support the potential inclusion of dementia-prevention strategies in mental disorder treatment across the lifespan.
This research was supported in part by NIA grants AG032282, AG069939, AG049789, and P30-AG066589.
These activities relate to NIH’s Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias Research Implementation Milestones:
After his death she wrote My Husband’s Keeper, a memoir of their journey.
by Jill Forman
When Smith’s husband was diagnosed with dementia, they joined a not-so-exclusive club. 50 million people worldwide are dealing with dementia.
Smith spoke about her knowledge, experiences and loss at the Hill Road Library on May 14.
After his death she wrote My Husband’s Keeper, a memoir of their journey, to share their experiences and help others going through the same struggles.
When her husband, a beloved and respected doctor, exhibited altered behavior and thought patterns, Smith took him to a neurologist, saying “He’s not quite right.” The specialist diagnosed him with Cognitive Impairment. Smith knew nothing about this condition, and went home to research it. When she realized the implications and prognosis of the progressive illness, “I went into denial.”
“It’s a new world,” she says; families become “paralyzed” and don’t know what to do. “Life becomes disorder, chaos and confusion.”
It is in hope that her knowledge and experiences can help others dealing with this life event that she wrote the book.
One aspect she stresses is that the caregivers must learn to care for themselves also. At one point, when her husband was settling into Memory Care and she was temporarily not needed, “I went home and slept for two days straight. You don’t realize how exhausted you are.” There are caregiver support groups; in Ventura County we have many resources. Families are encouraged to contact the Alzheimer’s Association or the Area Agency on Aging for assistance.
The Ventura College Foundation presented scholarships to 240 students for the 2022-2023 academic year during its 33rd Annual Scholarship Awards ceremony, May 13, at the Ventura College Athletic Center. There were 446 scholarships awarded, including nine new scholarships, totaling $756,908. Last year’s distribution amount was $652,758.
Scholarships ranged from an average of over $2,400 for continuing students to an average of $4,200 for students who are transferring to four-year universities in the Fall. Many students received multiple scholarships.
“Students are still feeling the impact of the pandemic and scholarships can make the difference between being able to stay focused on education or having to scale back,” says Ellyn Dembowski, chair of the Ventura College Foundation board of directors. “Ventura College Foundation has over 400 available scholarships. Students can apply for scholarships in specific areas of study or general scholarships. We urge students to take advantage of this valuable financial resource when the scholarship applications window opens again.”
For multiple scholarship winner Alyna Zarate, 19, her career goal is to become a lawyer or political science professor. She originally studied biology, but after she became involved in student government at Ventura College, her interests shifted.
“The scholarships showed me the potential in myself, that I can do anything in this world,” says Zarate. Besides her involvement in student government, Zarate volunteers with the Coalition for Literacy, which helps adults and students struggling to read. “Growing up, my parents always told me to give back to the community. At the end of the day, I want to make a difference in someone’s life.”
The Ventura College Foundation is grateful for the continuing support of scholarship event sponsors. They include Edison International, HZ Main Events Design & Consulting, Miracle Mile Advisors, Citizens Business Bank, Searle Creative, Bank of the Sierra, L&T Catering, Ohana Pet Hospital, and Trinity Wheeler Photography.
Scholarship applications will be accepted for the next academic year beginning in the Fall. For more about the Ventura College Foundation and donation opportunities, go to https://venturacollegefoundation.org.
Ventura County Library launched its “Read Beyond the Beaten Path!” summer reading challenge on May 15, 2022. Over the summer, the library will host a range of free activities for children, teens, and adults to encourage and support a love of reading.
Participants may win prizes for reaching their reading goals. “We’ve planned a wonderful program for kids to make the library a great place to read, learn, and discover what’s available for their enjoyment,” said Molly Krill, Youth Services Manager.
Themed events include bi-weekly STEAM Kits and challenges, participation in the library’s online reading and activity log (register at vencolibrary.beanstack.org), themed Storytimes, and a closing party hosted by Kona Ice. This year Ventura County Library is giving away 13 Nintendo Switch Grand Prizes as well as smaller STEAM prizes throughout the summer. In addition, once a child has logged 500 minutes, they may visit their local branch to choose a free new book to add to their home libraries.
There’s so much to see, so much to do at your library! It is one of the best places to take your kids, especially during the summer months when children are out of school. The library is a place to learn, read, and have fun…a place the entire family can enjoy. The amount of time children spend reading outside of school is linked to improvements in reading achievement. Many studies show that access to books and other reading materials is directly related to higher reading achievement.
Registration continues through August 14, 2022. To learn more about the summer reading adventure at the library, please call your local branch or check out the library’s website at vencolibrary.org.
This event is free and open to the public. For additional information, contact Molly Krill, Ventura County Library Youth Services Manager at (805) 677-7170
Ripley (also know as Rip) is a one-year-old Gordon Setter. He likes to sit on his balcony and bark at every dog that passes and to play with them when he can. He is the only child of Matt and Serii.
∙ The American Humane Association estimates over 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year. One in three pets will become lost at some point during their life.
Microchips are a unique means of identification for pets. The rice-sized radio identification device provides a permanent and distinctive form of identification for dogs, cats and many other animals.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), “A study of more than 7,700 stray animals at animal shelters showed that dogs without microchips were returned to their owners 21.9% of the time, whereas microchipped dogs were returned to their owners 52.2% of the time. Cats without microchips were reunited with their owners only 1.8% of the time, whereas microchipped cats went back home 38.5% of the time.”
In the United Kingdom, where microchipping has been mandatory for the last 5 years, the return rates are significantly higher.
Unlike collars and tags that can be easily removed, microchips are implanted under the skin of the pet and can’t be lost.
Microchips have aided in the return of pets to their original owners many years after being lost. In some cases, the pets were found hundreds or even more than 1,000 miles away from home!
No identification system is 100% fool proof, but when microchips are implanted correctly, registered correctly and the database is kept up to date, they significantly increase the odds of getting your pet home to you!
If you find a pet who you think is lost, most veterinary offices and animal shelters will allow you to bring the pet in and “scan” the pet for a microchip. This quick process can help reunite pets with their families.
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has a universal look up tool to help aid in this endeavor. Microchip numbers can be loaded into the website and the veterinarian or shelter can then find the right database where the pet should be located. petmicrochiplookup.org. Another helpful site is petchipregistry-us.info.
“When a Democat runs I’ll show more interest in voting!” Savana
∙Researchers with Kyoto University and other institutions found that cats recognize other felines in the same household when the names of the latter are called. Team members said cats conjure up a mental image of other felines in such situations.
“What we discovered is astonishing,” said Saho Takagi, a research fellow specializing in animal science at Azabu University in Kanagawa Prefecture neighboring Tokyo who initiated the study when she worked at Kyoto University. “I want people to know the truth. Felines do not appear to listen to people’s conversations, but as a matter of fact, they do.”
The finding was published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
Just like humans, animals also react to unexpected situations, causing them to pay close attention to whatever is happening for prolonged periods.
Realizing this was the case, team members wanted to determine if cats can identify the names of their “friend” felines. For the study, they selected 25 cats from households with three or more pet felines each.
With them seated, the researchers let the cats hear human voices calling names of other felines in the same household. The images of named cats and others were then displayed on a monitor to examine their reaction.
The results showed that felines kept looking at the photos of unnamed cats longer, suggesting they know the names of those they live with.
This difference was not apparent when felines kept at cat cafes were used. The researchers said this was probably because so many cats live in the facilities that the name of each one is called less frequently.
The survey also checked if domestic cats can distinguish various human family members. Felines from larger households tended to stare longer at the facial images of unnamed people.
∙Cornell University scientists warn that some commercial dog foods may contain too much copper, which can increase the risk of liver disease for all dogs but particularly in certain breeds.
Food and Drug Administration officials are considering evidence regarding whether the concentrations in dog food could be harmful.
Dr. Sharon A. Center is an emeritus professor of internal medicine at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine, where she specializes in liver disease. She said chronic consumption of excess copper can lead to copper-associated hepatopathy, signs of which include abdominal swelling, decreased appetite, diarrhea, increased thirst and urination, jaundice, lethargy, and vomiting.
Doberman Pinschers are among dog breeds with predispositions toward copper-associated liver disease, but scientists at Cornell University warn that high copper concentrations in dog diets puts other dogs at risk as well.
A veterinarian who is monitoring a pet’s liver enzymes can identify increased alanine aminotransferase as an early sign of the disease, she said, but confirmation requires a liver biopsy. Treatments with chelation can cost several thousand dollars, and affected dogs need to permanently switch to copper-restricted diets.
by Andrei Ionescu
Earth.com staff writer
A team of researchers from the University of Adelaide in Australia has found that veterinary visits can be highly stressful experiences for dogs. By measuring the heart rates of 30 dogs of various ages and breeds during a mock veterinary examination, the scientists found that one-third of the dogs’ heart rates nearly doubled between the waiting room and the examination table.
“Regular veterinary care is integral to companion dog health and welfare, but fearful patients can inhibit provision of care and pose a risk of injury to veterinary staff,” wrote the study authors. “This study aimed to identify the physiological and behavioral responses of a sample of 30 dogs of various age and breed, to a standardized physical examination in a simulated veterinary setting.”
While in the waiting room, the dogs’ average heart rate was 97 beats per minute (bpm), during the physical examination, one third of the dogs’ heart rates nearly doubled, peaking at an average value of 180bpm (with a greyhound experiencing a heart rate as high as 230bpm). The heart rates were the highest during the first stage of the examination (when dogs were patted by the examiner), as well as the last one (a simulated vaccination). By contrast, the middle stage – involving a teeth examination – elicited the lowest heart rates.
The researchers noticed that the elevated heart rates were correlated with body language showing fear, such as tails tucked between the legs or ears tilted back. Overall, females seemed to be more anxious than males during veterinary visits.
Congratulations to Search Dog Foundation’s (SDF) nine newest search teams!
