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EPISODE SUMMARY:
This episode will discuss all the necessary questions related to early detection, qualifying the type of dementia or Alzheimer's Disease the patient may have as well as learn of the impact this disease has on caregivers, families and the community.
Our monthly health tribute continues in Chicago where we will discuss with a Clinical Social Worker from Northwestern University the disease commonly known as Dementia and how to differentiate it from Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia and memory loss. This episode of Frank About Health will involve my personal case of my cousin's battle with memory loss although the predominant focus of the episode is in understanding an overview of the dementia's and learn where we can get information and resources to deal with the condition if it is impacting loved ones. We intend to learn how to deal with the condition if the disease is diagnosed as Alzheimer's and how to differentiate it between the other dementias.
#Alzheimer's Disease
Tune in for this healthy conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
00:00:52.810 --> 00:00:56.009 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody! Welcome to a new episode of Frank about now
00:00:56.080 --> 00:01:12.090 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: we're here the beginning of the month of June in the Doubletree, Chicago, right here with Karen Ross we do another tribute. This is Alzheimer's awareness month, and for that reason I will one issue a disclaimer, and then 2. Explain what our show is about today.
00:01:12.310 --> 00:01:15.860 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: 1st of all, any of the information are not the views
00:01:15.880 --> 00:01:28.610 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: that that are expressed today are not the views of Karen Ross. Now, Frank, about help talk radio Nyc. Or in our guest case, north. Well, Northwest Western University.
00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:29.540 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Sorry
00:01:29.750 --> 00:01:31.140 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: that being said.
00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:34.080 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: take the information as food for thought.
00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:42.990 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Use it. If you are a person who is either a caregiver, or who is suffering with Alzheimer's or some form of dementia.
00:01:43.090 --> 00:01:47.470 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: as information that you could talk about with your neurologists.
00:01:47.520 --> 00:01:55.630 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: social worker, primary care physician, and then determine if what we offer you today is information that'll be of some use to you
00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:56.920 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: otherwise.
00:01:57.090 --> 00:02:01.780 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: if you're just here attending episode number 1, 19, I believe it is
00:02:02.366 --> 00:02:08.470 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: to get information about Alzheimer's disease and the other forms of dementia out there welcome.
00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:19.800 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and just know that we're here to provide more transparent information about health. And in this case, I mean, I'm being frank about Alzheimer's with Karen.
00:02:20.160 --> 00:02:23.479 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So let's explain who our guest is today.
00:02:23.670 --> 00:02:27.190 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: However, I will let Karen do the formal introduction.
00:02:27.450 --> 00:02:30.880 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Our guest today is an advocate in many ways.
00:02:30.910 --> 00:02:32.339 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Through her research
00:02:32.370 --> 00:02:34.710 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: through her other
00:02:34.740 --> 00:02:43.340 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: expertise in theater as well as other aspects of her life, in helping us understand how our brain works
00:02:43.370 --> 00:02:50.230 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: when it has the unfortunate condition of Alzheimer's disease, or whatever other dimensions are there.
00:02:50.570 --> 00:02:53.629 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: This particular episode of Frank about how
00:02:54.260 --> 00:02:56.159 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: is going to be information gathering?
00:02:56.510 --> 00:03:08.409 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: It's not going to be highlighting a special cure or a solution, or a doctor to go see, or a podcast about Alzheimer's or book. It's going to be information sharing.
00:03:08.480 --> 00:03:11.820 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And it's important that I just. I mentioned that because
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:17.139 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: our guest today is the 3rd medical professional to be on frank about health.
00:03:17.310 --> 00:03:24.170 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and I am just trying to keep up with the respect of the profession, especially for such
00:03:24.903 --> 00:03:30.740 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: critical condition of Alzheimer's disease, which I personally can relate to more on that throughout the show.
00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:34.100 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: But at the same time I'm being very sensitive
00:03:34.220 --> 00:03:40.869 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: to the information that we are sharing, because I want to be able to make sure that we are as transparent about it.
00:03:40.980 --> 00:03:50.899 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and not giving any kind of misinformation, or any kind of confusion related to a disorder that, believe it or not, creates confusion, especially in your brain.
00:03:51.160 --> 00:03:52.679 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: That's my own little
00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:55.069 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: beginning to this particular episode.
00:03:55.150 --> 00:03:58.759 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: That being said, our guest today is Lauren Dowden
00:03:58.890 --> 00:04:05.280 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and Karen. I'll let you take it away from here. Thanks. Well, it's always nice when Frank comes in from
00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:17.600 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Manhattan, New York City, and comes to Chicago, and as he mentioned, this is officially June is Alzheimer's and brain awareness month.
00:04:17.670 --> 00:04:26.100 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So what better time to acknowledge and address the issue of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:43.360 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and our special guest today is from Northwestern University Lauren Dowden. She is a clinical social worker, and I'm gonna let her do more of her introduction. So I don't mess anything up. So, Lauren, please share with our audience your
00:04:43.380 --> 00:04:50.809 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: current position, and whatever you want us to know about what you're doing there at Northwestern, and what's offered at Northwestern.
00:04:51.450 --> 00:05:11.799 Lauren Dowden: Yeah, thank you both Karen and Frank for inviting me to talk with you and to talk with your listeners. It's such a pleasure to be here and to have this conversation, especially during June. Which is again all about cognitive health and awareness around Alzheimer's disease and other dementia. So
00:05:12.208 --> 00:05:22.009 Lauren Dowden: yeah. My name is Lauren Dowd. I'm a clinical social worker. I'm at Northwestern University's Mezzan Center for Cognitive neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Research
00:05:22.150 --> 00:05:30.809 Lauren Dowden: we are one of 37 Alzheimer's disease research centers in the country. So we really specialize in
00:05:31.410 --> 00:05:50.132 Lauren Dowden: that specific topic. I am also assistant director of outreach recruitment and engagement at the center as well. And so I it's really important to me that in my role as a clinical social worker, I get the opportunity to meet with research participants and
00:05:50.850 --> 00:06:12.989 Lauren Dowden: helping them along their journey. And also that's I guess I kind of wear 2 different hats. But the second hat I wear is the clinical social worker in our northwestern neuro behavior and memory clinic. And that's where I meet with patients and families who are experiencing different types of cognitive changes that bring us to our center. In our neuro behavior and memory clinic.
00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:27.640 Lauren Dowden: we have a team of behavioral neurologists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists and social workers, and we all work very collaboratively together to support people who come to our clinic. For again, like, I said, various
00:06:27.690 --> 00:06:39.670 Lauren Dowden: types of cognitive impairment. And so that is my background and I'm very happy to talk about the work and anything I can do.
00:06:40.380 --> 00:06:53.040 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Well, your your background, and what you do with your team is so impressive it really is. And I there's an important question couch couched in what's been said already by Frank and by you.
00:06:53.140 --> 00:07:02.880 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and you've used the word cognitive impairment, and Frank has referred to Alzheimer's disease as a type of dementia.
00:07:02.950 --> 00:07:20.609 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I think it's become being better known. But there's been a misunderstanding that Alzheimer's disease covers all kinds of cognitive impairments, so is that a good place to start the difference between the 2 and the fact that there is a difference.
00:07:21.300 --> 00:07:44.749 Lauren Dowden: Absolutely, I think when I meet with people the 1st time. That's 1 of the 2 questions they often ask the one is, why am I meeting with social work? And we'll get to that in a second. But the other one is what is the difference between dementia and Alzheimer's disease. And is there a difference? And the answer is, Yes, there is a difference. Really, dementia
00:07:44.820 --> 00:07:46.959 Lauren Dowden: is an umbrella term.
00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.580 Lauren Dowden: and the umbrella term is really
00:07:51.274 --> 00:08:00.880 Lauren Dowden: saying, there are cognitive changes to such a degree that they're impacting a person's ability to carry out what we call activities of daily living.
00:08:01.340 --> 00:08:30.329 Lauren Dowden: And so there's activities of daily living. You know, there could be, you know, maybe, how they're managing medications. How they're managing finances, cooking. Really, there's high level activities of daily living, as well as some other personal adls we call them like dressing and bathing, but those, you know, usually are pretty intact. But some of those higher level we call them instrumental activities of daily living might start to be impacted by cognitive changes.
00:08:30.390 --> 00:08:36.580 Lauren Dowden: And once those are impacted. Then that's when it starts to veer into what they call a dementia.
00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:38.620 Lauren Dowden: Now.
00:08:38.940 --> 00:08:48.529 Lauren Dowden: with that term there's different types of dementia. And Alzheimer's disease is just one very specific type of dementia.
00:08:48.610 --> 00:08:57.689 Lauren Dowden: So you're right. Often. People can, you know, they say, oh, he has a dementia, and it just kind of is this general word that people use often, but really
00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:17.013 Lauren Dowden: there are so many different types. And how people present with different symptoms can vary greatly. And so, yeah, so that's the 1st thing I think it's very helpful to PE for people to maybe understand is that Alzheimer's disease is the most common and.
00:09:17.420 --> 00:09:19.179 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: We hear about it more. Okay.
00:09:19.180 --> 00:09:21.470 Lauren Dowden: Absolutely, absolutely.
00:09:22.710 --> 00:09:26.929 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So then what would be other versions of dementia.
00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:50.845 Lauren Dowden: So other types of dementia that we see in our clinic. Again, it could be due to vascular changes. Sometimes people might have vascular we call vascular dementia and those are changes in the brain that again, due to vascular changes. There's things we call frontal temporal dimensions, and that means, there are types of dementia that
00:09:52.420 --> 00:10:02.580 Lauren Dowden: predominantly in the frontal network. And then also Louie, body dementia and Louie body, again, is a type of dementia
00:10:02.985 --> 00:10:06.744 Lauren Dowden: there's a new movie. I believe it's on Max
00:10:07.170 --> 00:10:26.339 Lauren Dowden: Lillian Hall. Something about, anyway, Jessica Lang is in it, and spoiler. But anyway, she has a type of dementia, one of the ones I just said, that's not Alzheimers. So I just think that's interesting. If people are looking to see. Wait! If it's not Alzheimers, what does it look like, or what can? How does it present? Maybe.
00:10:26.790 --> 00:10:46.549 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Well, how is it diagnosed? And maybe this is too much of a question to answer in the 1st segment, and we'll continue the second time. But what is it that somebody should be witnessing in someone they love, or a friend, and determine that diagnosis is needed.
00:10:46.740 --> 00:10:50.770 Lauren Dowden: I think that's the best question, right? Because part of this is, we know our
00:10:51.100 --> 00:11:13.159 Lauren Dowden: usually when I meet with somebody, it's a maybe a partner, a spouse, a child. Sometimes it's a parent, sometimes it's a sibling, so it's you know, it could be a friend. So somebody who knows the person very well, and and sometimes the person themselves also is saying, Hey, there's something not right here. Or the family or friend is saying, Hey, I know this person. These things are happening.
00:11:13.160 --> 00:11:26.398 Lauren Dowden: and I think often we attribute it to memory. Right? We think of dementia 9 times out of 10 people say, Oh, it's memory! And and often it does. But there's so many other ways in which somebody can change cognitively. So memory certainly is one
00:11:27.415 --> 00:11:39.744 Lauren Dowden: they might have difficulty finding words, so language might be one so they might be having difficulty forming sentences or communicating somebody might be having difficulty. With
00:11:40.750 --> 00:11:58.026 Lauren Dowden: They might change like behaviorally. They might be a little bit more. We call it disinhibited, maybe doing things that they would not normally do they might be less interested in doing things. They might, you know, they might be somebody who's really Gung Ho, and now has a lot of maybe apathy, not doing things.
00:11:58.765 --> 00:12:13.989 Lauren Dowden: there could be visual we call it visual spatial changes. Where? It's not a vision problem, but they are perceiving things. In a way that is not as it used to be.
00:12:14.614 --> 00:12:28.039 Lauren Dowden: So those are, you know. So those are just some other symptoms. But when you start to see some1. 0, wait! That's harder for them, or that's different for them. They're having more difficulty with finances, or they're
00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:38.650 Lauren Dowden: they're having more difficulty. They're maybe making judgment. Poor judgment can happen right? So they're making decisions that you're like, oh, they wouldn't have done that before.
00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:47.331 Lauren Dowden: That's something to keep an eye on when everybody makes a mistake. So that's different than oh, this is something a little bit deeper than that.
00:12:47.930 --> 00:12:54.990 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I would imagine that the person who might be experiencing those changes is going to be very resistant.
00:12:55.050 --> 00:12:56.750 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Yeah, to well.
00:12:56.750 --> 00:13:03.730 Lauren Dowden: I think that's really important, like that word resistant. I'm a huge I just did a talk on this
00:13:04.490 --> 00:13:09.210 Lauren Dowden: so with that. So somebody that has cognitive changes.
00:13:09.667 --> 00:13:25.169 Lauren Dowden: Some people have what we call insight, and they recognize that there's changes, and they can be very proactive. And they want to do what they can to add supports around the changes, or do therapies around them.
00:13:25.230 --> 00:13:28.940 Lauren Dowden: Now, there's other people who have no insight.
00:13:29.120 --> 00:13:31.848 Lauren Dowden: That means they have.
00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:50.419 Lauren Dowden: they are just not able. It's almost a symp. It is a symptom. They're not able to recognize that there is a change. So it's less, sometimes resistance and more. They think they're fine. They don't think that there's a problem, and that's actually it can be a symptom of the disease.
00:13:51.150 --> 00:13:52.849 Lauren Dowden: And so, but that that makes
00:13:52.970 --> 00:14:07.190 Lauren Dowden: caring for somebody or adding support for somebody very difficult, and know that it's not one or the other. Sometimes people recognize there's something wrong, but they might not appreciate the severity of it. So there's also gradations in terms of what we call insight.
00:14:07.190 --> 00:14:27.749 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I want to go deeper into this second segment. But, Frank, right I I did also wanted to say that I want to have some breakdown in terms of the different types of dimensions and the difference between not just resistance but resilience. So when we return, we're about to take our 1st break when we return right here on Frank about help. Please watch as we continue our discussion
00:14:27.760 --> 00:14:36.069 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: on Alzheimer's awareness month right here on talk radio and on our social media platforms, Youtube, Linkedin Twitch and Facebook.
00:14:36.090 --> 00:14:37.390 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: We'll be back in a few.
00:16:49.260 --> 00:16:53.010 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Hey, everybody, and welcome back. We're gonna call segment. 2. All about
00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:59.350 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: resistance versus resilience. And let me 1st start by qualifying the difference.
00:16:59.390 --> 00:17:09.020 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Resistance, as Lauren mentioned earlier, is people who either have insight or don't have insight into. If there are cognitive changes going on.
00:17:09.030 --> 00:17:31.000 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: actually, those that have insight are looking to work with it, or try to have some control over it, which means that they're trying to be resilient and accepting their newly created condition, which is still questionable, as if it's genetic or environmental. But I did want to qualify something that you said earlier, Lauren, and that is in terms of the different dimensions
00:17:31.000 --> 00:17:49.930 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: you mentioned, Louie Body. Now I I of course I think you and I have a familiar experience in the entertainment industry from a little bit of our conversation before the show. When I think of Louie body dementia, I think it was Del Getti cause she was on the Golden Girls. She was actually the, I think, one of the youngest ones who played the old.
00:17:50.580 --> 00:17:56.559 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Well, Sophia, the mother of Dorothy, and she passed away from Louis by dementia.
00:17:56.570 --> 00:18:07.240 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but they all qualified this Alzheimer's back. Then my question is, why do they call it Louie body? Is it actual organic substances forming in the brain versus
00:18:07.320 --> 00:18:08.360 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Alzheimer's.
00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:14.880 Lauren Dowden: Yeah. So that's a great question. And you know, really, it's the louis they're called Louie body proteins.
00:18:14.900 --> 00:18:25.480 Lauren Dowden: And these proteins they impact how the neurons are basically interacting, engaging. So again, all of this, when we get into the pathology of the disease.
00:18:25.480 --> 00:18:50.200 Lauren Dowden: we're really talking about the different types of changes on the cellular level that are impacting the neurons ability to communicate as they once did, whether that's amyloid, whether that's Louie body, whether that's a towel protein and that's when it gets very, we're gonna get into real deep neuroscience there. And so but you're right, it's kind of the 1st step is trying to figure out what might be causing these
00:18:50.200 --> 00:18:57.649 Lauren Dowden: cognitive changes. And that goes back to that diagnostic process which can be a long process. So that's
00:18:57.850 --> 00:18:59.439 Lauren Dowden: that's a whole other thing.
00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:09.269 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And I guess where the resilience and resistance comes in is that maybe both sets of people per se are aware of the changes, but the resistance
00:19:09.490 --> 00:19:17.549 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: are like, I can't accept that happening. So therefore I don't even want to know what type I have. I'm just gonna deny, deny, deny, until.
00:19:18.250 --> 00:19:39.490 Lauren Dowden: Well, yeah, I try to stay away from I I personally, I stay away from the word resistance and denial, because it sounds as if I'm making that choice when really, what I'm talking about is an individual who doesn't recognize that there's a symptom. And they they their brain is just won't allow it like it just can't see that there's anything wrong.
00:19:40.185 --> 00:19:44.560 Lauren Dowden: And so again, it's it's it's just
00:19:45.070 --> 00:20:02.290 Lauren Dowden: for them. They might not identify with meeting, support or identify with meeting, and sometimes I'll meet with somebody. And they said, I actually don't think anything's wrong. My husband brought me here, but there and there, you know, they can be very willing to take part in things. So again, it's not
00:20:02.350 --> 00:20:12.800 Lauren Dowden: one or the other, but it it can make things a little bit more difficult if somebody doesn't identify or recognize. And again, that could be often very likely due to the disease itself.
00:20:13.570 --> 00:20:20.370 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: You mentioned the diagnosis process, and you said, That can be. It can take a long time.
00:20:20.600 --> 00:20:27.350 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: What is the process? Do we not just take some blood, and that tells us what we have.
00:20:27.460 --> 00:20:29.590 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Why does it take a long time.
00:20:29.590 --> 00:20:32.319 Lauren Dowden: Wouldn't it be nice? But they're working on that part right? But
00:20:32.820 --> 00:21:01.079 Lauren Dowden: because we can't see the brain like we see other organs. And so it makes it really difficult. You know, we were talking about the different the Louie body proteins, for example, or things. It's on a cellular level. So it's really hard to. We can't get in there until unfortunately, autopsy. So until then we do, though, have things called biomarkers, which are ways to start to identify likelihood of certain diseases. So, for example, if I'm noticing cognitive changes
00:21:01.080 --> 00:21:03.700 Lauren Dowden: in my person or in myself.
00:21:03.700 --> 00:21:32.209 Lauren Dowden: I might go to my Pcp. First, st my primary care. Physician. They might notice it, or I might say, Hey, I'm noticing it, or my family member might say, I'm noticing it. They might get a referral, let's say, to our clinic, and they might meet with a behavioral neurologist who will then maybe do some basic testing and they might even see a neuropsychologist to really start to fine tune where these cognitive changes are happening.
00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:35.360 Lauren Dowden: Some of the testing for
00:21:35.620 --> 00:22:05.249 Lauren Dowden: diagnosis. There's gonna be in office cognitive testing. There's gonna be, we need information from there what we call collateral informant, which is really basically their family or friend. They might suggest, if there's concern about Alzheimer's disease they might suggest. An MRI is usually first.st It's the least evasive, and they might say, Hey, is there anything else going on in the brain. We wanna figure out what, isn't it right? We wanna kind of. Let's let's make sure it's not something we can treat.
00:22:05.867 --> 00:22:27.429 Lauren Dowden: That's the 1st hope is like, is this something we can treat? If not, then we might go a little bit deeper into some of the other tests. So MRI might be one of the 1st things. Blood work, of course, is the 1st thing, because we wanna see, is there something else going on? They might then, if they can't find anything definitive there, they might say, hey, what about a lumbar puncture?
00:22:27.744 --> 00:22:42.519 Lauren Dowden: And that's something to get? Cs, you know. Cerebral spinal fluid, and in that we'll get some to see if there's certain levels of amyloid and tile proteins, and that can start to guide us to say, Oh, it looks like it might be Alzheimers or not.
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:43.970 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Interesting.
00:22:43.970 --> 00:23:03.100 Lauren Dowden: Yeah. And then there's things called pet scans, amyloid pet scans. There's things called dat scans, and that's more. If we think maybe Louie body is happening. So you can see not everybody's gonna get all of those tests. Sometimes it can be pretty clear immediately what might be going on
00:23:03.960 --> 00:23:05.360 Lauren Dowden: but again.
00:23:05.390 --> 00:23:06.576 Lauren Dowden: there is
00:23:07.560 --> 00:23:09.900 Lauren Dowden: and also because it's progressive.
00:23:10.430 --> 00:23:27.729 Lauren Dowden: it also takes time to see. Is this progressing? Is this something in time that is getting worse. So again, we want to be really careful upon labeling somebody that they have one of these types of conditions. So I think it's really important that they're really thorough and testing.
00:23:27.730 --> 00:23:42.649 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Sure. Well, you said, you can't really look at the brain, but I thought there were new scans where they could see that certain parts of the brain were no longer functioning, or had taken on a a new look, or I thought we were.
00:23:42.650 --> 00:24:00.249 Lauren Dowden: Well, we definitely have that, like the Mris, the pet scans, the death Dad scans I'm thinking of when I said that it was more of the heart where we can see a heart pumping. We can see a a valve is blocked. We can see very clearly what's going on with the brain we do have imaging that
00:24:00.250 --> 00:24:15.732 Lauren Dowden: tells us these hotspots of maybe these areas. So we definitely are getting much more information these days. But it's still. It's not as clear cut in some areas. Sometimes it is pretty pretty evident, but
00:24:16.140 --> 00:24:24.630 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: What is what is the traditional cat scandal? Maybe for a condition like Alzheimer's. You need to break it down to, for example, at pet or Deb, right.
00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:45.009 Lauren Dowden: One. And so there's this different types of scans that provide different types of information. And so the neurologist will know, based on maybe some symptoms that they're seeing. Maybe one test came out this way. So they're gonna use their clinical best clinical decision to say, this is the next step.
00:24:45.306 --> 00:25:06.670 Lauren Dowden: We wanna be as le less evasive as possible. But the same time we wanna get as much information. And then this is again up to the person the person might say, you know what? I'm not interested in doing that lumbar puncture or doing all these scans. I recognize that this is a dementia. I'm okay with just knowing that. And again, there's no right or wrong how anybody navigates this.
00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:09.850 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I wanna touch on music.
00:25:10.390 --> 00:25:10.890 Lauren Dowden: Hmm.
00:25:11.243 --> 00:25:27.500 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Here in Chicago, and I think it's starting to expand. In other parts of the country there is a choir that is geared toward people who have early stage cognitive impairment and their care partner. It isn't like a daycare. You drop your person off.
00:25:27.794 --> 00:25:32.729 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: They really have to be participating. And then there are a group of volunteers that work with them
00:25:32.770 --> 00:25:52.780 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and they had a wonderful coverage on local Wg on TV here in Chicago this past week, and I happened to know one of the women who was interviewed, and I knew her when she got involved in that choir, and she said, I'm not a singer, and
00:25:52.780 --> 00:26:11.810 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: most of them are not frankly, and it's not a prerequisite. But she said I knew something was happening. She said. I just wasn't tracking things like I used to track. I wasn't remembering things like I used to remember, and I decided to try this choir anyway.
00:26:11.910 --> 00:26:16.249 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and she said, it has made such a difference.
00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:26.880 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and just learning the music which she has never been exposed to in the past. Just all kinds of things about it are really.
00:26:27.264 --> 00:26:37.599 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: proving to be very positive. For can you talk really? And then I remember seeing some videos in the past about people just coming alive, they're almost catatonic. And then
00:26:38.061 --> 00:26:47.379 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: they when they hear music or get them in a conversation about music, it's like they come alive. Can you talk a little bit about the impact of music on the brain.
00:26:48.300 --> 00:27:12.010 Lauren Dowden: Well, I'm not a neuroscientist, so I can't talk too much about that. But I do know that. Any creative program music, for example, we know that music. It seems to be really in that deep embedded part of the brain that sticks with people a little bit longer. But you're talking about 2 different things. One is that element of that music, that deep impact like that music which is really great and ongoing as it progresses. Music can be a really great
00:27:12.180 --> 00:27:41.413 Lauren Dowden: grounding. A really great place of connection and meaning for a person. I know one of our doctors, Dr. Borna Bano deport, does a lot of research in music. He has a music museum. He has a whole study, new studies of music. That he is looking into. He's working with the good the choir that you just mentioned. Good feelings choir, and I just think it is something to be studied, and it's so. I think it's an exciting place to see
00:27:41.750 --> 00:27:44.858 Lauren Dowden: how music can impact people.
00:27:45.540 --> 00:28:13.540 Lauren Dowden: the other part of that is the quality of life aspect. So again, we're talking about sometimes that the symptoms, all the things that are going wrong. But my role is to kind of say, Hey, what's going right? And what are the things can we do once we have this diagnosis, and that is to build on the strengths that resilience you were just talking about, Frank. How do we build on that resilience and kind of like? How do we have people stay? Social? Stay, engage, learn something new again. I think of it as physical therapy for the brain, staying stimulated, doing things
00:28:13.872 --> 00:28:37.167 Lauren Dowden: to stay connected. And so that's really important. And that can in itself uplift mood, cause we know, mood, can impact cognition. So all of these things, even though it's not a cure. But again, it can really be have such a strong, positive influence. And I know for me the end Northwestern. That's something that's been huge. We've really done a lot of novel programming.
00:28:37.500 --> 00:28:54.259 Lauren Dowden: a quality of life programming. Music, obviously, is one of those that we're studying. Very much so. But we've done improv. We have done storytelling. We have done art. And so it is something that we are passionate about in terms of helping people stay connected and engaged.
00:28:54.810 --> 00:28:57.929 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Well, we're about to be in our second break. But
00:28:58.370 --> 00:29:01.989 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: with everything that both you and Karen have just shared, this
00:29:02.090 --> 00:29:08.432 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: primes me to really discuss about my case involving a family member which
00:29:09.250 --> 00:29:13.679 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I I think I've already learned a lot. So I'm gonna ask you questions as applied to my
00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:15.680 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: family member. But
00:29:15.740 --> 00:29:22.809 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I'm trying to find the way that the whole family can look at this particular case in the mode of
00:29:22.860 --> 00:29:35.510 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: resiliency. So when we return right here on talk radio, Nyc and Frank about help. We are going to cover an actual case study involving my cousin and please stay tuned.
00:29:35.560 --> 00:29:36.909 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: PC, and it's the other queue.
00:31:36.550 --> 00:31:42.799 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Welcome back everybody. Okay, I'm just gonna go right for it now, Lauren. I have to say that I have been
00:31:42.960 --> 00:32:01.800 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: pretty much silent watching you and Karen discuss all of these nuances of the different types of the dimensions, the discussion of resiliency versus resistance, the issues of testing and whatever. And here I am, reliving in my mind an actual case of my cousin. Since 2021
00:32:01.930 --> 00:32:03.210 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: most covid.
00:32:03.320 --> 00:32:08.390 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and we're at the point now where the condition has progressed. So
00:32:08.710 --> 00:32:20.219 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: at a point where we're looking at different treatment centers, daycare long term care stuff like that. But I want to go over some of the stages that I observed as her caregiver.
00:32:20.390 --> 00:32:25.960 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And I want to know if the way I handled it with her neurologists
00:32:26.010 --> 00:32:36.119 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and the way I'm handling it now with her other sister. Who's her power of attorney? If there's something that I'm missing because, believe it or not, in this month of Alzheimer's awareness.
00:32:36.180 --> 00:32:42.189 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I'm going to be involved with our primary care physician requiring or requesting the right testing.
00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:48.270 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And I'm going to be interviewing a daycare center in Washington Heights, New York City.
00:32:48.470 --> 00:32:50.169 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: where we want to place her
00:32:50.350 --> 00:32:52.240 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: meaning. She comes home at night
00:32:52.300 --> 00:32:56.039 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: because it's not at that point where she needs to be
00:32:56.260 --> 00:33:08.029 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: put into a long-term facility. Thankfully. And also in the this dialogue I'm about to present. I'm going to show you a case where I was believing. Like everyone else. This is Alzheimer's.
00:33:08.120 --> 00:33:16.900 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but proof came that it was actually self-inflicted through overuse of tobacco, which qualifies it as a form of dementia.
00:33:17.050 --> 00:33:20.179 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but more than likely not in the Alzheimer's variety.
00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:22.570 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: so that, all being said.
00:33:22.740 --> 00:33:26.569 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: back in 2021, I received a phone call from her son.
00:33:26.630 --> 00:33:29.760 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I'm leaving things naming this because I just want to create a scenario.
00:33:29.760 --> 00:33:30.260 Lauren Dowden: These? Do.
00:33:30.260 --> 00:33:32.249 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: How many others can identify.
00:33:32.550 --> 00:33:33.450 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And
00:33:33.740 --> 00:33:35.139 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: all of a sudden
00:33:35.530 --> 00:33:36.630 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: she
00:33:36.710 --> 00:33:38.180 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: was calling
00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:40.370 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: her son by my name.
00:33:40.660 --> 00:33:44.990 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: or she would get on the phone with me and call me by her ex-husband's name
00:33:45.760 --> 00:33:57.530 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but little little skips of memory, nothing too noticeable. She would still know who I am. We would still go together to the doctor or to the movies or to restaurants.
00:33:57.670 --> 00:34:00.729 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and then all of a sudden, she would be
00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:03.289 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: mistaking birth dates.
00:34:03.580 --> 00:34:10.439 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: or just little nuggets of facts from childhood would be skewed or represented differently
00:34:11.150 --> 00:34:19.230 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: in 2022. We're all not wearing our masks anymore. And she was undergoing eye surgeries.
00:34:19.280 --> 00:34:29.390 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and she had a cardiovascular event 10 years ago. That turned out to be something that was misrepresented by the hospital system she was affiliated with.
00:34:29.610 --> 00:34:37.669 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: But I was fortunate enough as her proxy to get her to the right. Pcp. The right neurologist, the right eye surgeon.
00:34:37.739 --> 00:34:46.859 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: all the right necessary doctors that was able to give us a whole package of her rehabilitation from the cardiac episodes. In addition to this
00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:49.880 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: newly developing cognitive dysfunction.
00:34:50.850 --> 00:34:54.419 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: it wasn't until Mother's day of that year
00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:58.570 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: that we decided to go get. I think it was a pet scan.
00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.709 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and all we were told
00:35:01.020 --> 00:35:03.210 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: is that there was shrinkage
00:35:03.340 --> 00:35:05.720 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: in 2 of her lobes.
00:35:06.270 --> 00:35:08.849 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but there was no indication of
00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:12.750 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: that plaque that forms for Alzheimer's patients.
00:35:12.910 --> 00:35:13.460 Lauren Dowden: You can see.
00:35:13.460 --> 00:35:14.060 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Order.
00:35:14.290 --> 00:35:15.210 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I'm sorry, sir.
00:35:15.450 --> 00:35:17.510 Lauren Dowden: You won't be able to see the plaque.
00:35:17.660 --> 00:35:19.539 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Oh, I see! That's that. You would.
00:35:19.540 --> 00:35:36.980 Lauren Dowden: So you would see an MRI. You would see maybe some atrophy. We call that right. So some shrinkage, if you will. So that could be what exactly what the doctor was seeing. So that indicates, maybe there is some changes happening. So anyway, I just wanna let people know, yeah, you can't see the plaque that's cellular.
00:35:37.710 --> 00:35:42.259 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Oh, and that requires another test besides the MRI to find that out.
00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:44.380 Lauren Dowden: That is actually upon autopsy
00:35:45.720 --> 00:35:48.019 Lauren Dowden: to see any plaques and tangles.
00:35:48.020 --> 00:35:52.951 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Oh, okay, well, she's she's not to see, so I think you anticipate will be done.
00:35:53.260 --> 00:36:03.009 Lauren Dowden: We're not there. No, that's that's what I mean, though. That's why it's hard to see, because that to get to that level we just aren't able to see that with like an MRI or something.
00:36:03.330 --> 00:36:05.269 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Okay, no, I I understand
00:36:05.350 --> 00:36:15.960 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: now. Granted she survived all of the surgeries in her eye. She had a shunt removed. She had glaucoma problems. All of her eye drops and medications were recovering that
00:36:15.970 --> 00:36:17.780 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: she at the same time
00:36:17.880 --> 00:36:27.409 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: her heart was being with, was feeling better. She at the same time was taking medication for that. I think it's called Low Sarton, or lo, certain or something like that.
00:36:27.700 --> 00:36:28.890 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: However.
00:36:29.060 --> 00:36:31.730 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: she was starting to experience
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:35.950 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: changes in knowing if the television show she was watching
00:36:35.980 --> 00:36:37.490 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: was a real person.
00:36:37.560 --> 00:36:39.889 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: or was actually Perry Mason
00:36:40.310 --> 00:36:47.349 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: meaning the show. Now, when I noticed that that was pretty much at the end of last year.
00:36:47.690 --> 00:36:55.090 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and I thought, Okay, things are starting to decline a little further. But after the results of that MRI that I described.
00:36:55.100 --> 00:37:04.149 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: she was prescribed 2 medications to slow down the cognitive dysfunction, or, as the neurologist referred to memory loss.
00:37:04.520 --> 00:37:06.500 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: One was called Donet Brazil.
00:37:06.510 --> 00:37:08.370 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and another was called men and team
00:37:09.160 --> 00:37:21.569 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: in my mind. I still thought, like everyone else, thinks, as we said earlier in the show, that she was progressing through Alzheimer's, and I thought maybe it was a form of cardiovascular dementia from her.
00:37:21.820 --> 00:37:28.439 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I I think she had something removed. I don't remember if it was open heart surgery, or if it was a bypass surgery.
00:37:28.540 --> 00:37:40.389 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and then, probably after 10 years, lack of oxygen through the carotid arteries led to whatever could have occurred in her brain that was proven by her cardiologist not to be the case.
00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:43.000 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Then we decided
00:37:43.160 --> 00:37:49.079 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: her son is what they call her Cbp. Ap. Worker, consumer directed patient assistance program
00:37:49.490 --> 00:37:53.750 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and at the sit through the Medicaid system, and at the same time
00:37:54.200 --> 00:38:00.359 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: we thought to avoid the wandering that started out. We would get her a Pca.
00:38:00.660 --> 00:38:08.779 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: A primary care attendant to come into the home on weekends, which we got approval for, and when she did an evaluation of her.
00:38:08.810 --> 00:38:13.070 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: she said to me in front of her. You do not have Alzheimer's disease.
00:38:13.440 --> 00:38:17.069 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: you have cognitive decline, and you're smoking too much.
00:38:17.290 --> 00:38:20.890 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and it turned out she was smoking too much. She was horning cigarettes
00:38:21.080 --> 00:38:30.499 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: 5 times a day even, and and continuing to deny that she was doing that, and when I would take her for an annual physical. Her blood pressure would be like almost 1 80, over 100.
00:38:30.980 --> 00:38:33.940 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And she would say, Well, I don't know why, because I'm not smoking.
00:38:34.350 --> 00:38:37.320 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So. Okay, that's an interesting aspect of.
00:38:37.380 --> 00:38:49.949 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: is she literally forgetting that she's not smoking? Or maybe she's just not admitting it. But one can never know. And as her caregiver. All I could do is find her the right treatment.
00:38:50.140 --> 00:38:53.480 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: But it became referred by this Pca.
00:38:53.630 --> 00:38:54.340 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: As
00:38:54.640 --> 00:39:03.249 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I. I know this is not part of the spectrum of conditions that you mentioned in the early part of the show. But it was almost like she was creating toxic
00:39:03.590 --> 00:39:06.289 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: poisoning to her brain through the tobacco
00:39:06.310 --> 00:39:12.659 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: oxygen debt, I presume I mean, I still don't know the facts versus what the doctor says.
00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:24.569 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: but I'm at the point where she's not gonna stop the smoking, or at least her son has advised me that she stopped smoking a month and a half ago. But that's not up to me that's up to the doctors to know for a fact.
00:39:24.640 --> 00:39:28.150 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Now, going forward, though, she's at the point
00:39:28.680 --> 00:39:31.199 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: where we'll have a conversation.
00:39:31.920 --> 00:39:36.500 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: and something else comes out of her mouth. So, regardless of what it is.
00:39:36.860 --> 00:39:56.389 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: the focus is she needs to re-engage with the right environment of people. Maybe get some music support, maybe learn to play games. Maybe they can watch Perry Mason together and talk about it, joke about it, and there are facilities we are looking into for that. And luckily her program that she's tied into will cover it.
00:39:56.470 --> 00:40:00.759 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So we're going through that evaluation process. But this very Monday
00:40:01.290 --> 00:40:04.150 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: we're going to be taking her to her Pcp.
00:40:04.310 --> 00:40:06.649 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And being that the neurologist
00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:12.419 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: did not want to offer any particular testing to determine what type of
00:40:13.260 --> 00:40:15.459 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: dementia she has.
00:40:16.240 --> 00:40:22.250 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I'm wondering if you think that asking her primary care physician, for such a request
00:40:22.380 --> 00:40:27.969 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: is doable. Oh, is that something that a neurologist is supposed to be the one to request.
00:40:30.550 --> 00:40:52.150 Lauren Dowden: you know it. It's hard. Everyone is so different. Everyone's medical team is unique. I think. You know, it sounds like there's a complicated health history here, and a lot of health issues that are very complicated as well as psychosocial concerns. And you know what you can just do is convey, I think. You know, not everybody is gonna get all that testing. You know again.
00:40:52.490 --> 00:41:04.239 Lauren Dowden: it just depends on the provider and so you can always talk to the Pcp. About your concerns. I think that's always very helpful to see.
00:41:04.250 --> 00:41:29.400 Lauren Dowden: Would would other testing be beneficial? Talk to the Pcp, would a second opinion be beneficial? To learn? There might be reasons. There's often reasons why a neurologist doesn't maybe ask for a testing a certain test. You know, I know for us. We have rounds every week where we're talking about, and there's great discussion on what next testing might be helpful, if any. So just know that. It
00:41:29.870 --> 00:41:32.090 Lauren Dowden: everybody, you know again.
00:41:32.330 --> 00:41:43.110 Lauren Dowden: it's really up to her, you know. Again her health history and her medications, and all of that is very complex. It sounds like. And so it's it's really having them look over.
00:41:43.480 --> 00:41:49.940 Lauren Dowden: making sure that any immediate concerns are taken care of, and then they can maybe make recommendations.
00:41:50.366 --> 00:42:09.039 Lauren Dowden: But if you're seeing something and you're concerned, you know, I always think being an advocate for whoever it is, is really important to, and just saying, Hey, I wonder? And start having a conversation and asking, and they might let you know. Oh, you know what this is why we didn't maybe look at that. Or this is actually, you know, this is maybe something we can do.
00:42:09.900 --> 00:42:12.789 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: What's the best advice for Frank
00:42:13.120 --> 00:42:24.750 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: acting as one of her Co. Care Gippers for his behavior, and how he should be treating not only this situation, but treating her
00:42:25.480 --> 00:42:26.230 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: writing.
00:42:27.120 --> 00:42:33.219 Lauren Dowden: Well, I think, like anything like again. It's it's treating someone with respect, and it's it's.
00:42:33.240 --> 00:42:46.749 Lauren Dowden: you know, honoring someone's autonomy and self determination as much as possible. Adding support as as you're able to. That you really supporting the main care partner? This is somebody.
00:42:46.880 --> 00:43:06.219 Lauren Dowden: you know. Again, I can't give any advice. I wouldn't be able to do that. But what I can do is, you know, again, as as long as you it sounds like you're supporting whoever that power of attorney is, you know, staying engaged with the person is really important. Or you know, again, anything showing empathy and compassion, and saying, Hey, let's.
00:43:06.470 --> 00:43:28.249 Lauren Dowden: you know, staying, engaged doing things and hearing an adult day program, seeing what resources are there to support them? That could be really helpful, anything really again, based on whatever her care, providers or their care providers are saying and then helping whoever her main or their main care. Person is to then
00:43:28.380 --> 00:43:30.610 Lauren Dowden: support in any way that you can.
00:43:31.160 --> 00:43:50.440 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I get, which is what I've been doing. So I gather, what's happening throughout the month is I'm working with her son and her sister the power of attorney, and directing them to the right channels of communication other than, of course, myself visiting this daycare center because she does need to be in a safe space, knowing that she can also have her agency.
00:43:50.740 --> 00:43:51.295 Lauren Dowden: Yeah.
00:43:51.880 --> 00:44:04.799 Lauren Dowden: and there's no right or wrong how to nav every family is so different in terms of the level of support people are able to give who's going to be in their life to support the, you know, there's resources, financial resources, geographic resources.
00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:23.519 Lauren Dowden: community resources. So it's so different for everybody. The symptoms are different, and even what you were sharing it sounds very complex about whatever's going on. We're not sure what's going on. It sounds like. And so part of this is really how to best support that person. So they are safe. They're engaged. They're supported. I think that's
00:44:23.650 --> 00:44:25.670 Lauren Dowden: the focus of care.
00:44:26.170 --> 00:44:36.229 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: At the same time leave the testing to the medical professionals rather than requesting it. Just because you're presuming something you're not really one is not really the caregiver. It's not really in the
00:44:36.340 --> 00:44:40.760 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: in the direction of requiring or requesting a test correct.
00:44:41.010 --> 00:45:08.306 Lauren Dowden: Well, hopefully, then, the the doctor is the one who's saying, Oh, this is something we wanna make sure. This test might help us give us more information. You know not every clinic is set up like ours, maybe also but again, I you know families. I have talked to families all over the country, and you know, if you have that family member who they, if they feel like, maybe something's getting missed, then that person has to be an advocate and say, Hey, I'm but I'm seeing this
00:45:09.037 --> 00:45:14.600 Lauren Dowden: and hopefully you have a care team that's able to be in conversation with
00:45:14.730 --> 00:45:19.990 Lauren Dowden: that person and to say, Yeah, okay, I hear you. Let's maybe look at this.
00:45:20.700 --> 00:45:32.959 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Well, we're about to take our final break. And I guess if anything, we're just gonna wrap up all of our futures based on the understanding that we've learned today all about Alzheimer's disease and related dimensions
00:45:32.980 --> 00:45:39.250 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: as well as this music program. I mean, I've always been an advocate for music therapy because of my history in the music industry.
00:45:39.250 --> 00:45:39.680 Lauren Dowden: Yeah.
00:45:39.680 --> 00:45:57.509 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: We believe it definitely works on the brain. I, being epileptic, have learned and appreciated the value of it for seizure, control, and recall in a postical state, and I value music for that for that same not medicinal value medical value.
00:45:57.790 --> 00:46:04.330 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: All right, ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back right here on talk radio, Nyc. And I'm all of our social. We'll be back in a few.
00:48:06.810 --> 00:48:21.730 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Welcome back to Frank about health on top radioc. We are talking today about Alzheimer's disease dementia, and our special guest is Lauren Dowman from Northwestern University.
00:48:21.890 --> 00:48:27.669 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: She is a part of a program there that focuses on Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
00:48:27.680 --> 00:48:32.300 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And Lauren. We appreciate you joining us today. You just shared some
00:48:32.630 --> 00:48:37.840 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: such valuable information. And to kind of wrap that up.
00:48:37.930 --> 00:48:44.899 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: let's back up and say, what can we do to, or can we do anything to stave off
00:48:44.930 --> 00:48:49.040 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: dementia or Alzheimer's disease? Are there things that
00:48:49.525 --> 00:48:57.040 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: that we can do in our lifestyle that will make it less likely that we might succumb to the condition.
00:48:58.780 --> 00:49:22.556 Lauren Dowden: Well, I you know again, that's why we're part of a research center, right? So there's research centers all over the world trying to better understand this. And right now there's not a direct link. But we do know that, you know. Health, heart, healthy lives, you know things like staying, social staying engaged. What's good for your heart is good for your brain eating. Well, Mediterranean diet is often touted as something that can be really beneficial. Exercise.
00:49:23.429 --> 00:49:42.640 Lauren Dowden: Again. Getting good sleep. Hygiene mood, right? We know. Mood can also impact cognition. So anything like that. You know, healthy relationships and all of those aspects again, it seems maybe intuitive, but without
00:49:44.670 --> 00:49:57.928 Lauren Dowden: th, there's not one linkage. It almost feels like I had one person that I used to used to be in a support group. He had dementia type of dementia, and he would say, We're all eligible, right? So it's this idea of
00:49:58.270 --> 00:50:04.304 Lauren Dowden: All we can do is try to take the best care of ourselves as we can, and sometimes,
00:50:04.850 --> 00:50:09.799 Lauren Dowden: we're still trying to understand if there's ways to prevent it more directly.
00:50:09.800 --> 00:50:28.839 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Sure. Before we wrap up. Remind us just what I know you said. You're a research center. But if people are in or around the Chicago area and want to reach out to your center and get some information or some guidance. What is your suggestion? How how do they get in touch.
00:50:29.060 --> 00:50:33.709 Lauren Dowden: Yes, please, if you are interested, we are the Muslim center.
00:50:34.170 --> 00:51:01.026 Lauren Dowden: cognitive neurology and Alzheim Alzheimer's disease research. Right? So I would say, Come, you know. And online, if you're interested in being a part of research, we do clinical trials, we offer research, opportunities. We specialize in something called primary progressive aphasia which is a language based type of dementia. We, a lot of atypical types, younger onset as well as rental temporal dementia.
00:51:01.886 --> 00:51:07.689 Lauren Dowden: So I would say, visit our website. So brain.northwestern.edu.
00:51:08.021 --> 00:51:29.598 Lauren Dowden: That's the Muslim Center website. And there's a registry there. And if you sign up we can see. Hey? Would you be eligible for one of our clinical trials, one of our research programs? We are always inviting people to take part in this research cause. It's so important, because while we take in strides, we have so much further to go. And
00:51:30.040 --> 00:51:32.226 Lauren Dowden: I, you know we can't do it alone.
00:51:32.500 --> 00:51:34.510 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Give us that website once more.
00:51:34.850 --> 00:51:38.960 Lauren Dowden: brain.northwestern.edu.
00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:54.120 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Great, perfect. That's easy enough to remember again. Thank you so much for being with us, and I'm going to take just a moment to talk about Karen Ross now, and I, as Frank mentioned earlier, am a certified hypnotherapist.
00:51:54.140 --> 00:52:14.369 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: I work with people on issues not dementia related, but issues that people have held on to for a long period of time and just have not found a resolution. Often hypnosis can be that last thing they try, and it works.
00:52:14.390 --> 00:52:26.879 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: And I should have asked that question, Lauren, if it if it plays a role in in your work at all. Do you have a real quick answer for that. Does hypnosis even come into play in the work you do? No.
00:52:26.880 --> 00:52:31.639 Lauren Dowden: I have not heard of it yet. I have not heard of it yet, but it you never know what.
00:52:31.640 --> 00:52:46.781 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: You never know, never know, because people are still under the assumption that hypnosis is something they've seen in the movies or seen on TV. And that's the worst representation possible, because it's a very effective
00:52:47.280 --> 00:53:11.619 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: prop procedure to help people. So I welcome people to come to Karen Ross nowcom, and just have a complimentary conversation and find out if hipaa therapy could be an answer for you and what you're experiencing. So frank. Tell us a little bit more about Frank, about health and what else happens on talk, radio.
00:53:11.620 --> 00:53:35.929 Lauren Dowden: I wanted to throw one more teeny, tiny tip bit, because we've been focusing on so much of. You know these cognitive in, you know impairments. You were talking about resilience. And I wanna say, of all the studying that we're talking about, we also study what's called super aging. So we're also looking at people whose cognitive levels are that of somebody 20 years younger. So that's for people 80 and up. So I just wanna share that we're doing a whole study
00:53:35.930 --> 00:53:43.579 Lauren Dowden: spectrum of cognition. So again, if you're interested and you think you might be a super agor. Yes, contact us as well for that.
00:53:43.580 --> 00:53:54.770 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Oh, that's great! I've seen people interviewed on TV who are over 100, and you would think they were 25 years old. They are so with it.
00:53:54.950 --> 00:54:03.289 Lauren Dowden: Yeah, we celebrated our 25th anniversary of the super aging program just yesterday. So again, it's another way that we are studying the brain. So thank you for.
00:54:03.290 --> 00:54:14.879 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Fantastic. One such person I can think offhand, and I've been fortunate in my lifetime to meet her. Is Betty White? I mean to have her 3rd career from age 90 to 93 before she finally
00:54:14.960 --> 00:54:17.649 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: took her final bat. I mean she was.
00:54:17.650 --> 00:54:21.439 Lauren Dowden: It was a Guinness record for the longest spanning career.
00:54:21.970 --> 00:54:23.980 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Absolutely. Yeah. And she started a radio.
00:54:23.980 --> 00:54:24.810 Lauren Dowden: And TV.
00:54:25.020 --> 00:54:26.510 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Exactly.
00:54:26.530 --> 00:54:37.269 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Oh, wow! So basically, ladies and gentlemen, there is a lot to promote, as Karen was asking me. But I wanna point out that by celebrating
00:54:39.110 --> 00:54:47.910 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Alzheimer's awareness month by actually identifying with my personal case that I have been dealing with for as long as this show has been on the air 3 years now
00:54:48.700 --> 00:54:55.249 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: has been a journey in itself behind the scenes. It's been one of the motivations. As to why I launched this. Podcast
00:54:55.320 --> 00:55:14.060 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: everyone knows. I wanted to talk about epilepsy and remove the stigma. Everyone knows I wanted to come back during covid and really instruct people on what is true and what's not? Everyone knows that I've had my mainstay Co. Host, special guest, Karen. And of course, Hilton, you know. But what most people don't realize
00:55:14.530 --> 00:55:19.810 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: is that Frank about health has been a predominant message of advocacy.
00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:32.610 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Advocacy is important for all of us to be in charge of when it comes to our mental health, our physical health, cardiac help, cancer, health, everything we've talked about the last 6 months since the year began.
00:55:32.650 --> 00:55:44.530 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: The thing that is going to be more emphasized in the future. Going forward is how we can take the content that we share right here on Frank about health and expand even further.
00:55:44.710 --> 00:56:08.470 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So I will be announcing shortly as I did on last week's show, the launch of healthy media.com in July 2024, and maybe Lauren. You mentioned some doctors that you work with in in your lab as well as the music therapy program and stuff. Maybe we can have further conversations beyond this particular episode, which I hope.
00:56:08.480 --> 00:56:16.209 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: because I'll probably need some help in engaging, as I watch my cousin go into daycare, but even more so
00:56:16.390 --> 00:56:23.120 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: next week there is going to be a special guest on the hard skills, and that will be me. Yours truly.
00:56:23.130 --> 00:56:34.059 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So I will have more information to share about the healthcare system, about other kinds of views that people patients, the practitioners in those systems
00:56:34.210 --> 00:56:44.600 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: need to become more aware of. And it should be also another kickoff to the next 3 episodes of Frank about health wrapping up in June with the current season.
00:56:44.850 --> 00:56:49.479 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So, ladies and gentlemen, I think we're about ready to end, but
00:56:49.600 --> 00:56:54.020 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: stay tuned for tomorrow's schedule of shows, starting in the morning with
00:56:54.050 --> 00:56:58.789 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: philanthropy in focus, and Tommy D. And then always Friday with Steve fry
00:56:59.390 --> 00:57:03.550 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: on Tuesday I'll be there on the hard skills with Dr. Mayor Branko.
00:57:04.500 --> 00:57:15.650 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: Zoom spot. And after that, after next Thursday's episode of the conscious consultant hour and money, power, politics and health may have gotten the title wrong.
00:57:16.050 --> 00:57:32.000 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: There'll be another episode of Frank about so that, all being said, thank you all today for listening. Thank you, Lauren, for coming. Thank you, Karen. Always thank you, Hilton, for hosting me here each month, and thank you, Sam. Behind the scenes, and Logan behind the scenes, and Emily behind the scenes.
00:57:32.120 --> 00:57:34.360 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: So stay tuned for the rest of
00:57:34.410 --> 00:57:37.809 Karen Ross; Frank R. Harrison: thing right here on talk, radio, Nyc. And we'll see you next week.
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