By Phil Chandler, Owner of Right at Home of Ventura County, Home Care Agency

Many individuals with serious chronic illnesses find that meeting and discussing their illness at support groups provides comfort and tips in dealing with the disease. The Breeze will be highlighting local support groups for several different conditions in future issues.

Dementia isn’t a specific disease. Instead, dementia describes a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning. Though dementia generally involves memory loss, memory loss has different causes. So memory loss alone doesn’t mean you have dementia. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of a progressive dementia in older adults, but there are a number of causes of dementia. Depending on the cause, some dementia symptoms can be reversed.

Alzheimer’s disease is by far the most well-known and common type of dementia. Common symptoms include memory loss, confusion, difficulty communicating, anxiousness and paranoia. Alzheimer’s disease is caused by the buildup of abnormal proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain.

Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia. The main symptoms include memory loss, impaired judgment, decreased ability to plan, and loss of motivation. It is caused by bleeding within the brain from a stroke that causes cause brain damage.

Lewy body dementia is the third most common cause of dementia. Main symptoms include sleep problems, memory loss, hallucinations, and frequent swings in alertness. It is caused by abnormal proteins, called Lewy bodies, that appear in nerve cells and impair functioning.

None of these major types of dementia can be cured or reversed, but doctors will use a wide array of therapies and treatments to improve the patient’s quality of live and alleviate symptoms.

There are about one hundred other types of dementia, and they differ by the area of the brain that is impacted and the mechanism of nerve cell damage. Most dementias lead to (currently) irreversible cognitive impairment.

Family members of those affected by dementia have a great support group that is facilitated by the Coast Caregiver Resource Center and co-sponsored by the Cottage Hospital of Santa Barbara, Community Memorial Hospital, and Alzheimer’s Association of the Central Coast. They meet at Community Memorial Hospital on the second Friday of each month from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in the Nichols Auditorium on the 8th floor. Community Memorial Hospital is located at 147 North Brent Street, Ventura.

The group is led by Carolyn Kopp, Family Consultant for the Coast Caregiver Resource Center, and typically has between 15 to 20 attendees. Attendance is limited to family caregivers and other family members.

Barbara Hess is a long time participant in the group. She joined after her husband, Jerry, was diagnosed with Alzheimer ’s disease. They have been married 63 years. Barbara said, “Jerry has always been active, and was working well into his 70’s. As his memory problems became more severe, I joined this group. I have developed many friendships and learned from the variety of experiences that have been shared.”

The next meeting will be held on May 13 from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM at Community Memorial Hospital.

For more information, call Carolyn Kopp, Family Consultant for the Coast Caregiver Resource Center at 492-0601 or go to http://www.cottagehealth.org/ .

What are the potential benefits of taking part in a clinical trial?

There are so many benefits to taking part in a clinical trial. Your participation may help others get a better treatment for their disease in the future and allow researchers to learn more about how diseases can be prevented, identified, or managed. If you’ve always wanted to Contribute to Health Research, now is the perfect time to do so!

If the treatment being studied is more effective than the standard treatment, you may be among the first to benefit. Researchers, doctors, and other health care professionals may check your physical condition frequently, giving you regular, careful medical attention, because they need data to make comparisons in a trial. This means that if they do find anything wrong with you, they’ll be able to treat you quickly and efficiently.

It may be a way to get an experimental treatment for a life threatening illness that is not available to people outside of a clinical trial. This is a huge advantage of taking part in a clinical trial, particularly if you are of ill health. For example, if you suffer from cancer, you may be given a drug that can help with the symptoms during your clinical trial.

These are some possible risks of taking part in a clinical trial:
You may experience serious, unpleasant, or even life-threatening side effects.
You may get the standard treatment or placebo instead of the experimental product.
The experimental product may not be better or even as good as the standard treatment for your condition.
You may need extra tests. Some of the tests could be uncomfortable or time consuming.

Many friends and neighbors joined the Boutique and Crafts Fair on Friday, April 29 at the Palms At Bonaventure. There were over 10 vendors displaying and selling a variety of items including clothing, jewelry, silk-flower arrangement, and hand-made crafts. Paul Lenderman provided the entertainment during the event. The raffle drawings created great excitement for everyone. The residents and the visitors from the communities had a wonderful time at the Palms!

111 N Wells Rd, Ventura
805) 918-4873

On April 22, Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association celebrated its 9^th Annual Mother’s Day Luncheon honoring Ellen Brokaw and remembering Corolyn Powell, two dedicated mothers who gave tirelessly to their families and community. Over 170 guests paid tribute to these two amazing women at the Las Posas Country Club.

Ellen Brokaw is the head of the Brokaw Ranch Company and is actively involved in solving housing issues that face agricultural workers. Her five adult children Debbie, Rob, Elisabeth, Will and Elena (Ventura Parks, Recreation, and Community Partnerships Director) spoke highly of her as both a mother and businesswoman, clearly an inspiration to them all.

The “In Memory Of” tribute went to Corolyn Powell. Sons John, Nobel III, granddaughter Maureen Hefelfinger, and longtime friend Harry Crosby recalled their memories of Corolyn, known to her neighbors as the “Fernwood Drive Block Mom”.

Over $115,000 was raised.  All funds go toward ensuring that Ventura County patients have access to quality home health care, compassionate hospice, and vital in-home assistance regardless of their ability to pay.

For Mother’s Day several years ago Suz Montgomery and her Activity Director Griselda came up with a novel idea to honor mothers by having students from the Lou Ross Hair Academy do  makeup, nails and hair with appropriate outrageous feather boas to residents at senior living facilities.

This year, on Saturday, May 7  they were made beautiful at Aegis Living located at 4964 Telegraph Rd.

Suz stated “Several never washed off the makeup for days. Their families swooned.

This event is so heartwarmingly touching, I cry every time seeing these special ladies preen , they are mom’s, grandmothers and great grandmothers who once again feel beautifully loved and remembered.”

On Thursday, April 21 Volunteer Action for Aging hosted a “Fraud in the Community” presentation at the Ventura Townehouse. Employees from SCAN’s Special Investigations Unit shared with seniors how to recognize a fraud scam and how to avoid being a victim. The two most common fraud scams targeting seniors are healthcare fraud and telemarketing fraud. This particular presentation was timed to coincide with tax season since fraudulent activities are more prevalent now.

Rachel DeMaree, Investigator-Special Investigations Unit at SCAN Health Plan made the presentation while Sandhi Ton handled the graphics.

Oxnard Lawn Bowls Club open house and introduction to lawn bowling.

Free lessons and refreshments; wear tennis shoes or sandals. A hat and tie is not required.

Saturday May 7,  10am – 3pm
Wilson Park,  350 N. C Street, Oxnard
385- 8034,  www.oxnardlbc.com

by Phil Chandler, Owner of Right at Home of Ventura County, Home Care Agency

Many individuals with serious chronic illnesses find that meeting and discussing their illness at support groups provides comfort and tips in dealing with the disease. The Breeze will be highlighting local support groups for several different conditions in the coming issues.

Parkinson’s disease affects about one million Americans and 60,000 people are diagnosed annually. Parkinson’s disease is actually a group of conditions called motor system disorders, which are the result of the loss of dopamine-producing brain cells. There are four primary symptoms of PD: tremor, or trembling in hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face; rigidity, or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; bradykinesia, or slowness of movement; and postural instability, or impaired balance and coordination. Parkinson’s is chronic (it lasts a long time) and progressive (it gets worse with time). There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but there are medications that can alleviate some of the symptoms.

A local Parkinson’s  support group meets at The Lexington Assisted Living, located at 5440 Ralston Street, in Ventura on the second Wednesday of each month, from 1:00 to 3:00. The group is led by Patti Jenkins, and typically has between 30 and 40 attendees. Caregivers, their loved one with Parkinson’s, and other family members are welcome. They usually have a speaker that discusses issues of interest to the group. Recent speakers include a local Physical Therapist specializing in movement disorder.

Patti Jenkins’ husband Robert was diagnosed with Parkinson’s about eight years ago, but has had symptoms for at least 10 years. “Being able to learn about medications to treat Parkinson’s led us to ask the doctor to review and change Roberts’ meds, and we found that he was over medicated.”

Some of their meetings are in a roundtable format, where caregivers and patients share stories and the challenges they face. One long time participant, Barbara Lindquist, said “My husband Sam was diagnosed about ten years ago. We learned about the group at the SCAN exercise class we attended, and find it comforting to share our experience with others going through the same challenges.”

The next meeting will be held on May 11 from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM, and Jocelyn Scherr, Advancement Officer of the Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research will be presenting. The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s today.

There are over five Parkinson’s support groups throughout the county, so there is likely one near where you live. There is even a call-in support group for the home bound so you can participate from the privacy of your home.

For more information, call Patty at 766-6070 or go to www.neurocommunity.org.