Alzheimer’s Afflict 20% Of Elderly

Society Desk

About 20 percent of elderly, who are above 80 years, suffer from a type of cognitive disorder--the most common form of which is Alzheimer’s.
Announcing this, Alireza Seif-ol-Eslami, an Iranian neurologist, said 8 to 10 percent of Iranian population are considered old.
“The aging population of Iran is growing similar to other countries,” he said, adding that all related bodies and organizations should meet the needs of the elderly population.
He added that depression, cognitive disorders and different types of phobia are common among old people.
“About 5 percent of individuals above 65 years and 20 percent of those above 80 years have been found to suffer from Alzheimer’s in Iran,” he said.
Seif-ol-Eslami noted that old members of families should be taken to neurologists every six months to reduce the risk of mental disorders early.
“Any activity that endangers the health of old people is regarded as abuse and abusers can be pursued legally,” he said.
People who lead active lifestyles are more likely to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, while active people who are Alzheimer’s free have a lower risk of developing the disease or any kind of dementia.
This was reported by researchers from the University of California at the annual meeting of RSNA (the Radiological Society of North America) in November 2012.
Lifestyle factors that help ward off or slow down Alzheimer’s include yard work, gardening, riding an exercise bike and any type of aerobic exercise.
In the early stages of Alzheimer’s, your loved one may still be able to live and function independently. The ability to handle daily tasks will dwindle as the disease progresses, however.

Practical Tips
Consider practical tips to help your loved one maintain comfort and dignity, as he or she becomes more dependent on you or other caregivers.
A person who has Alzheimer’s may react with frustration, agitation and even aggression when once-automatic tasks become difficult or impossible. To limit challenges and ease frustration:
Schedule wisely. Establish a routine to make each day more predictable and less confusing. Schedule the most difficult tasks, such as bathing or medical appointments, for the time of day when your loved one tends to be most calm and agreeable.
Take your time. Expect things to take longer than they used to. Schedule more time to complete even simple tasks so that you don’t need to hurry your loved one.
Involve your loved one. Allow your loved one to do as much as possible with the least amount of assistance. For example, perhaps your loved one can dress alone if you lay out the clothes in the order they go on.
Limit choices. The fewer the options, the easier it is to decide. For example, provide two outfits to choose between-- not a closet full of clothes.
Provide simple instructions. When you ask your loved one to do something, do it one step at a time.
Reduce distractions. Turn off the TV and minimize other distractions at mealtime and during conversations so that your loved one can better focus on the task at hand.
Be flexible. Your loved one’s ability to function and cope will steadily decline. It may even vary from day to day. Try to stay flexible and adapt your routine as needed.
For example, a favorite food may suddenly become unappealing. That’s OK, simply adjust the menu. Or your loved one may insist on wearing the same outfit every day. If that happens, consider buying a few identical outfits. When your loved one is bathing, switch the worn outfit for a clean one.
You might also relax your standards a bit. Bathing, for example, may not be necessary every day--especially if it’s upsetting for your loved one. Try sponge baths between showers or tub baths.

Canada Victimizes Environmentalists

Canada’s police and security agencies think citizens concerned about the environment are threats to national security and some are under surveillance, documents reveal.
The RCMP, the national police force, and Canada’s spy agency CSIS are increasingly conflating terrorism and extremism with peaceful citizens exercising their democratic rights to organize petitions, protest and question government policies, said Jeffrey Monaghan, a researcher with the Surveillance Studies Center at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, IPS reported.
“Protests and opposition to Canada’s resource-based economy, especially oil and gas production, are now viewed as threats to national security,” he added.
This conclusion is based on official security documents obtained under freedom of information laws over the last five years.
For the past two years, officials in Canada’s Stephen Harper government have been calling environmentalists ‘radicals’ and accusing environmental organizations of money laundering.
“The Harper government has a strong interest in suppressing environmental activism,” Monaghan said.
By branding activists as extremists or radicals, many people will not want to be involved. Surveillance and other security activities will have a similar “chilling effect”, he fears.
“There could be an incredibly profound impact on public participation.”
In 2011, a Montreal, Quebec man who wrote threatening letters opposing shale gas fracking was charged under Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act. Documents released in January show the RCMP has been monitoring Quebec residents who oppose fracking.
In a Canadian Senate hearing last week, Richard Fadden, the director of CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) said they are more worried about domestic terrorism, acknowledging that the vast majority of its spying is done within Canada.
Fadden said they are “following a number of cases where we think people might be inclined to acts of terrorism”.
Canada is at very low risk from foreign terrorists, but like the US, it built a large security apparatus after the bombing of twin New York towers on 9/11.
“The resources and costs are wildly out of proportion to the risk,” Monaghan said.
Without a significant foreign threat, security services are looking inside the country for reasons to justify their “bloated budgets”, he said. And the new “enemy within” is environmental organizations, according to the inflammatory rhetoric of Harper’s Conservative government.
A year ago, in a widely-published open letter, Joe Oliver, the minister of natural resources, slammed “environmental and other radical groups” for getting in the way of forestry, mining and energy projects.
“These groups threaten to hijack our regulatory system to achieve their radical ideological agenda,” Oliver wrote, without naming any groups.
“They use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest,” he charged, without offering any evidence.

Learn Foreign Language for Free

Many learners invest significant sums of money in language-learning software and textbooks and they may reap great results. But you don’t have to break the bank.
For those with tighter budgets, there are many language study tools that cost nothing and produce the same benefits, Guardian reported.
Though the learning may be a bit less guided than traditional resources, these materials are free, helpful for any level of language skills, and a great deal more engaging than the typical textbook. Here are the best:
Online Newspapers
Foreign language newspapers are invaluable assets to a language learner. They’re constantly updated, culturally relevant and can help language learners of all different levels.
Short ads and photo captions give bite-sized portions of text to beginners, along with picture clues. Intermediate speakers can benefit from news articles.
Advanced learners can read columns and editorials, which are more likely to contain idioms, local slang and stylized writing.
Following one news story over several days or weeks will also help learners refresh learned vocabulary, since the same words and phrases are likely to repeat.

Learner Community Websites
Sites such as Busuu and Livemocha are good study resources with comprehensive lessons in many foreign languages.
True, the listen-and-repeat style of learning may not click with every language learner. But one excellent resource on these sites is the community forums, where a user can connect with native speakers of their target language.
These community spaces are designed for chatting or correcting each other’s writing and speaking. These sites often have online profiles (“English and Hungarian speaker seeks Japanese expert”) for learners to connect easily.

Song Lyrics
Music is a great vehicle for remembering a foreign language. In fact, the process can occur unintentionally.
Any song in the target language holds some learning value, but the best songs to seek out are the classics. These popular tunes tend to be fairly simple, with everyday language and relatable themes.
Another benefit of classic songs is that learners can often find lyric study guides online, designed by teachers.

Alien Wildlife Threatens Europe

Animals and plants brought to Europe from other parts of the world are a bigger-than-expected threat to health and the environment costing at least $16 billion a year, a study said on Thursday.
More than 10,000 ‘alien’ species have gained a foothold in Europe, from Asian tiger mosquitoes to North American ragweed, and at least 1,500 are known to be harmful, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said, Reuters reported.
“In many areas, ecosystems are weakened by pollution, climate change and fragmentation. Alien species invasions are a growing pressure on the natural world which are extremely difficult to reverse,” said Jacqueline McGlade, the head of EEA.
Introduced species that suddenly thrive in a new home in Europe, including parakeets from Africa or water hyacinth from the Amazon, were estimated to cost Europe at least €12 billion ($16.03 billion) a year, according to the 118-page study.
“Our number is an underestimate,” Piero Genovesi, a lead author at the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, told Reuters, saying it omitted the impacts of many species such as tropical “killer algae” in the Mediterranean.

Saudi Women Allowed On Shura Council

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has sworn in 30 women to the previously all-male Shura Council, seen by many as a major step in female participation in public life in the conservative kingdom.
It is the first time in the country’s history that women have been able to hold any political office, BBC reported.
The council advises the government on legislation and comprises 150 members.
Critics say the move is only symbolic, as the council cannot make laws and its members are all appointed by the king.
King Abdullah appeared on state television, welcoming the women at a swearing-in ceremony.
The monarch, seen as a proponent of gradual reform, has also granted women the right to vote and stand in the next municipal elections, scheduled for 2015.
Some Saudi clerics have criticized allowing women onto the Shura Council, saying it is against Shariah (Islamic law).
The king said he had consulted religious scholars, who had approved the move, before he made the appointments in January.

Estonia Launches Electric Car Charging Network

Estonia’s reputation as one of the most wired-up countries in Europe has been boosted further with the opening of what is being billed as the world’s first nationwide electric car charging network.
The sparsely-populated Baltic state with a population of just 1.3 million hopes the 165 “fast chargers” will overcome the “chicken and egg” problem facing the take-up of electric cars worldwide, NBCNews reported.
The network of charging points, which was opened officially on Wednesday but has been running for several months, uses direct current (DC) to charge cars in less than 30 minutes, rather than around eight hours to recharge a car’s battery.
There are believed to be around 650 electric cars in Estonia, more than 500 of which were Mitsubishi i-MiEVs given to social workers by the government in 2011.
Estonia’s minister of the environment, Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, said, “The fact that recharging is so easy is one of the main reasons more and more Estonians will decide in favor of electric cars in future. Our entire transport policy should be based on the notion that environmentally friendly travel is the cheapest and simplest option there is.”

Weight Control Beneficial

Keeping your weight in check is important and if you are overweight, losing weight will greatly benefit your health and wellbeing.
Research shows that losing just 10 percent of excess body weight lowers blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease such as stroke, Banglanews24.com reported.
Losing weight lowers blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, both of which are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Overweight people are twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as those who maintain a healthy weight. Losing weight reduces blood glucose levels and decreases the risk of developing diabetes.
Losing weight will not only reduce your risk of developing osteoarthritis, but will also reduce the stress on weight-bearing joints, such as the hips, knees and lower spine, that are already affected by osteoarthritis.
Obesity and being overweight are major risk factors for certain cancers. These include cancer of the uterus, cervix, ovary, breast, gall bladder and colon in women, and cancer of the colon, rectum and prostate in men.
Losing weight will produce a corresponding reduction in those risks.

Brits Unprepared

British workers are the worst prepared in the world for retirement. More than half of the UK working population is not preparing adequately for retirement, with one in five saving nothing at all.