As owner of Marilyn Electronics I am trying to do my part in educating people about Lewy Body Dementia. Lewy Body Dementia is a vastly under diagnosed and underfunded disease that my Dad (Marilyn Electronics Co-founder) is suffering from and which has now consumed a large amount of our family's time and taken an emotional toll on our family over the past year to help give him the quality of life that he deserves as he struggles with this disease.
Please read the information below which is provided by the Lewy Body Dementia Association and donate to their organization if you can.
Kind Regards,
Gail Peckman, President
Marilyn Electronics
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Lewy Body Dementia is...
A progressive brain disease and the second most common cause of neurodegenerative dementia after Alzheimer’s disease. Lewy body dementia is a ‘spectrum disorder,’ meaning it can occur alone or in combination with Parkinson’s disease, or co-exist with Alzheimer’s disease.
LEWY BODY DEMENTIA IS NOT A RARE DISEASE…
It accounts for up to 20% of dementia cases in the U.S. — that’s up to 1.3 million cases in the U.S. alone, with only 30%-50% of LBD cases being accurately diagnosed, even in dementia centers.
EARLY AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE…
Antipsychotic drugs may cause extreme adverse reactions in those with LBD. Cholinesterase inhibitors may improve alertness and cognition and potentially reduce hallucinations and behavioral symptoms.
Lewy body dementias (LBD) include:
- Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD)
- dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB)
Items in bold are included in DLB diagnostic criteria:
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Dementia symptoms specific to Lewy body dementia:
- Fluctuating cognition
- Neuroleptic sensitivity
LBD Symptoms that resemble Alzheimer’s:
- Progressive memory loss
- Changes in mood and behavior
- Decreased judgment and insight
- Loss of initiative
- Disorientation re: time and place
- Difficulty with language and tasks
Dementia symptoms that resemble Parkinson’s:
- Extrapyramidal signs
- Muscle stiffness and rigidity
- Very slow movements, frozen stance
- Balancing difficulties, shuffling gait
- Tremors
- Stooped posture
- Blank facial expression
- Difficulty swallowing, weak voice
- Restless leg syndrome
- Repeated falls, fainting, myoclonus
Additional symptoms typical of Lewy body dementia:
- Visual hallucinations (also smell, sound, taste, touch)
- Transient/unexplained unresponsiveness
- Delusions, mood disorders
- Illusions
- Visuospatial impairment(depth perception, object orientation)
- Sleep disturbances, such as acting out vivid nightmares and dreams
- Autonomic dysfunction (blood pressure fluctuations, constipation, incontinence, sexual dysfunction)
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Clinical management is challenging because…
Antipsychotic drugs may cause worsening of confusion, Parkinsonism, heavy sedation, neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
Benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, and some surgical
anesthetics, antidepressants, and over-the-counter medications
may cause sedation, motor impairment, or confusion.
Some medications for Parkinsonian symptoms may increase
confusion, delusions, and hallucinations.
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All information above is the property of Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc. Please go to their web site for more information.
Lewy Body Dementia Association, Inc.
912 Killian Hill Rd., S.W.
Lilburn, GA 30047
Office: 404-935-6444
Fax: 480-422-5434
Caregiver Helpline: 800-LEWY-SOS (800-539-9767)
www.lbda.org
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
The Benefits of Learning American Sign Language
By Burt Schwartz
American Sign Language (ASL) is the 3rd most used language throughout the United States. Learning sign language can provide numerous benefits. Some of these benefits include being able to converse with a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. Have you ever meet a deaf person before? If not, the first time you do meet one, just imagine the expression on his or her face when you sign, Hello. Sign language can be learned for people who scuba dive. Having the ability to communicate underwater is priceless. Imagine you and your friend adventuring into a underwater cave. You spot something really cool. You get your friend?s attention, then with the use of sign language, you are able to covey this ?important? message. I am not sure if you have ever tried writing a note underwater, but I can only imagine what the paper would do.
Not only is it cool to be able to converse underwater and converse with deaf people, but you can also make interpreting into a career. Being able to sign gives you an advantage that most people do not have. How many people really know how to sign? My guess is less than 1% of all people know sign language fluently. If you decide to make sign language interpreting a career for you, you would have to enroll in an Interpreter Training Program to help you achieve your goal. While you are deciding to make interpreting a career choice, you can begin learning sign language fluently online, or at a local college. There are several online programs that will give you an upper-hand while learning sign language. You want a program that will provide all of the essential ingredients of ASL. Some of these components include ASL grammar, facial expressions, fingerspelling, numbers, sentence structure, synonyms and linguistics.
Another benefit of learning American Sign Language is the ability to learn about another culture. In the United States alone, there are a plethora of cultures. Deaf culture is one which very few people are familiar with. Have you ever wondered how a deaf person answers the phone? How do deaf individuals know when there is a knock at the door? How do they wake up in the morning for work? Has it ever occurred to you how a deaf person communicates with those who are hearing? For the most part, learning another language also requires you to learn about the culture as well. Deaf culture has a rich heritage, and it reflects tremendous pride. Deaf people function the same way a hearing person would, except with some accommodations made for their inability to hear. Some of these accommodations might include a specialized door knocker, which triggers a flashing light that alerts the deaf person. The same concept might be used to warn of an incoming telephone call. How does a deaf individual ?talk? on the phone if they can?t hear? Well, technology has provided some much needed accommodations that make the lives of deaf citizens much easier compared to what was available in years past. Before the advent of the TTY, deaf people had to drive to the pizzeria to place the food order, then return to the vehicle and wait until the pizza is ready, and then drive home. Thankfully, those inconveniences are a thing of the past.
Now, the newest technical device is a videophone, so even the TTY/TDD is being used less every day. With the use of a videophone, deaf individuals can place telephone calls to anyone by using this new technology. A deaf person merely has to call the relay center where a hearing person is visible to both parties via a television screen. Instead of typing like the TTY/TDD technology requires, the two will communicate only in sign language. The deaf person will provide the interpreter with a telephone number to call. The interpreter places the call to the hearing party. The conversation is then signed to the deaf individual. The interpreter simply signs over the TV screen to the deaf person, and speaks to the hearing person through a headset. Conversations between deaf and hearing are now being done this way all around the world.
Here, I have only listed a few reasons why learning sign language is important. In life, there are so many more reasons why learning this skill is so important; perhaps you have a deaf parent, child, or sibling. Maybe your co-worker is deaf, or perhaps you work at a job where you encounter many deaf customers. Regardless of why you are interested in sign language, there remains no doubt that you can benefit tremendously from knowing this rich and vast language.
American sign language course and learn sign language online at: http://www.asldeafined.com/Free Articles provided by The Free Library
American Sign Language (ASL) is the 3rd most used language throughout the United States. Learning sign language can provide numerous benefits. Some of these benefits include being able to converse with a person who is deaf or hard-of-hearing. Have you ever meet a deaf person before? If not, the first time you do meet one, just imagine the expression on his or her face when you sign, Hello. Sign language can be learned for people who scuba dive. Having the ability to communicate underwater is priceless. Imagine you and your friend adventuring into a underwater cave. You spot something really cool. You get your friend?s attention, then with the use of sign language, you are able to covey this ?important? message. I am not sure if you have ever tried writing a note underwater, but I can only imagine what the paper would do.
Not only is it cool to be able to converse underwater and converse with deaf people, but you can also make interpreting into a career. Being able to sign gives you an advantage that most people do not have. How many people really know how to sign? My guess is less than 1% of all people know sign language fluently. If you decide to make sign language interpreting a career for you, you would have to enroll in an Interpreter Training Program to help you achieve your goal. While you are deciding to make interpreting a career choice, you can begin learning sign language fluently online, or at a local college. There are several online programs that will give you an upper-hand while learning sign language. You want a program that will provide all of the essential ingredients of ASL. Some of these components include ASL grammar, facial expressions, fingerspelling, numbers, sentence structure, synonyms and linguistics.
Another benefit of learning American Sign Language is the ability to learn about another culture. In the United States alone, there are a plethora of cultures. Deaf culture is one which very few people are familiar with. Have you ever wondered how a deaf person answers the phone? How do deaf individuals know when there is a knock at the door? How do they wake up in the morning for work? Has it ever occurred to you how a deaf person communicates with those who are hearing? For the most part, learning another language also requires you to learn about the culture as well. Deaf culture has a rich heritage, and it reflects tremendous pride. Deaf people function the same way a hearing person would, except with some accommodations made for their inability to hear. Some of these accommodations might include a specialized door knocker, which triggers a flashing light that alerts the deaf person. The same concept might be used to warn of an incoming telephone call. How does a deaf individual ?talk? on the phone if they can?t hear? Well, technology has provided some much needed accommodations that make the lives of deaf citizens much easier compared to what was available in years past. Before the advent of the TTY, deaf people had to drive to the pizzeria to place the food order, then return to the vehicle and wait until the pizza is ready, and then drive home. Thankfully, those inconveniences are a thing of the past.
Now, the newest technical device is a videophone, so even the TTY/TDD is being used less every day. With the use of a videophone, deaf individuals can place telephone calls to anyone by using this new technology. A deaf person merely has to call the relay center where a hearing person is visible to both parties via a television screen. Instead of typing like the TTY/TDD technology requires, the two will communicate only in sign language. The deaf person will provide the interpreter with a telephone number to call. The interpreter places the call to the hearing party. The conversation is then signed to the deaf individual. The interpreter simply signs over the TV screen to the deaf person, and speaks to the hearing person through a headset. Conversations between deaf and hearing are now being done this way all around the world.
Here, I have only listed a few reasons why learning sign language is important. In life, there are so many more reasons why learning this skill is so important; perhaps you have a deaf parent, child, or sibling. Maybe your co-worker is deaf, or perhaps you work at a job where you encounter many deaf customers. Regardless of why you are interested in sign language, there remains no doubt that you can benefit tremendously from knowing this rich and vast language.
American sign language course and learn sign language online at: http://www.asldeafined.com/Free Articles provided by The Free Library
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