Charities are calling for new laws to protect the elderly as a study shows that more than 300,000 cases of abuse go undetected each year.

Call for new laws to protect elderly from abuse
article in the Sunday Telegraph

Extract:

"Cases of abuse of the elderly uncovered by inspectors include care homes where residents were routinely tied to their beds and chairs, locked up or dragged around by their hair.

Other residents, many of whom had dementia, have been refused food and denied trips to the lavatory in punishment for "bad behaviour".

Investigations have revealed a woman of 85 who had her fingernails ripped off by a care worker, a 78-year-old covered in cigarette burns, and a number of thefts of pensions by care staff paid to look after the elderly.

Government research suggests that 340,000 pensioners suffer some form of physical, financial or emotional abuse each year.

Action on Elder Abuse investigated local authority records and found that fewer than a tenth of that number of cases are ever investigated by social services.

The charity, together with the Alzheimer's Society, Age Concern, Mencap, and the Commission for Social Care Inspection, is calling for laws to be introduced which would place a duty on all agencies which work with vulnerable adults to log and investigate reports of abuse – either in residential care or in family homes – and to share information with other agencies.

Currently, different bodies set their own rules about how to protect the frail elderly, and disabled, from harm.

The charities made the plea as part of submissions to a Government consultation on the protection of vulnerable adults, which closed yesterday.

Gary Fitzgerald, chief executive of Action on Elder Abuse, said: "We are simply not doing enough to protect old people facing abuse, and we are challenging the Government to listen and to introduce safeguards that make this a priority."

Neil Hunt of the Alzheimer's Society added: "We need to fight any abuse of people with dementia and that means putting systems in place early to avoid putting them at risk.""

You can reduce your risk of developing dementia by eating less salt/sodium.

Treating Alzheimer's sufferers for a sleep disorder that causes heavy snoring can boost their memory, a new study shows.

Treating snoring 'could help Alzheimer's sufferers' memories'
article in the Telegraph

Extract:

"Scientists found that helping patients get a better night's sleep could help them think more clearly.

They believe that the findings suggest that the symptoms of dementia could be exacerbated by the snoring condition called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).

While it is unlikely that the problem is the cause of the devastating neurological condition, the lack of sleep and disruption it creates could cause many patients' symptoms to worsen, according to researchers.

The Alzheimer's Society called for further research into the treatment, which it said was potentially "good news" for some of the 700,000 people in Britain's who sufferer from the disease.

Previous studies have shown that sleep apnoea is more common among Alzheimer's patients than in the general population.

One study found that up to 40 per cent of patients suffered from the condition."

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea have a common cause, and that is obesity/fluid retention/sodium retention/salt sensitivity. To reduce the effects of that common cause and therefore reduce or cure snoring and/sleep apnoea it is necessary to reduce salt/sodium intake to a minimum.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Children and Obesity

And see Sodium in foods and

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Drug companies finance attacks on NHS

Special investigation: Charities' protests against Nice funded by pharmaceutical companies
The rising tide of protest over the refusal by the NHS to provide expensive drugs for cancer and other conditions is being funded by the pharmaceutical industry, an investigation by The Independent has revealed. Patient groups that have been among the most vocal in spearheading attacks on the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) over decisions to restrict access to drugs on the NHS depend for up to half of their income on drug companies, but details are often undisclosed.
Read article in The Independent (UK)
Comment: Protests against the refusal of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to provide the drugs have been launched by charities including the National Kidney Federation, the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, Beating Bowel Cancer, the Royal National Institute for the Blind and the Alzheimer's Society. All of these charities received sums of up to six figures from drug companies in 2007.

Elderly people with dementia are dying prematurely in care homes because of being prescribed 'chemical coshes'.

Drugs 'kill 23,000 Alzheimer's victims a year'

Extracts from the Telegraph:

"More than 23,000 elderly people with Alzheimer's could be dying prematurely in care homes each year after being given drugs to keep them quiet, a report claims today.

Anti-psychotic drugs, which are not licensed to treat dementia but are prescribed to control agitation, sleep disturbance and aggression, are being given to 100,000 elderly people to keep them "quiet and manageable", says a report by Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat MP and a campaigner for the rights of elderly people.

Despite studies that show the drugs can increase the risk of strokes and have other harmful side effects, the report claims the Government has failed to act to stem their use.

The report comes as research by three universities says long-term use of anti-psychotics offers "no long-term benefit for most patients".

The claims in the report will fuel the debate over the use of powerful drugs, dubbed "chemical coshes" because of their strong sedative effect, on care home residents."

"Mr Burstow said: "There are around 244,000 people with dementia living in care homes, and the Alzheimer's Society estimates 100,000 are being given anti-psychotic drugs. Of those, I am saying that 23.5 per cent could be dying prematurely as a result of being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs - or 23,500 people a year."

Neil Hunt, of the Alzheimer's Society, said: "The over-prescription of anti-psychotic drugs to people with dementia is a serious abuse of human rights. Anti-psychotics should be used as a last resort."

Mr Burstow's report, which will be debated in the Commons today, calls for urgent police action and a ban on routine prescribing."

In my opinion, doctors who are doing this cruel and harmful prescribing should be sent to prison.

You can lower your risk of vascular dementia and many other illnesses by eating less salt/sodium.

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

UK Dementia timebomb 'will hit 1.2m' by 2028

Dementia timebomb 'will hit 1.2m'

Extracts from the Sunday Telegraph:

"The number of patients diagnosed with diseases such as Alzheimer's will rise by 70 per cent to more than 1.2 million by 2028.

Experts warn that there will be almost twice as many sufferers living in nursing homes. However, psychiatrists and charities say that not enough is being spent on research, treatment and care. One professor said he was "ashamed" by the state of the services on offer.

Dementia robs victims of their identities as memory, speech and understanding are lost."

"In November a report by the Alzheimer's Society said that many patients suffered physical and mental neglect. Many residents were left alone in their bedrooms, while ­others were shouted at, or left unwashed, the investigation said.

Neil Hunt, the chief executive of the society, said the predictions showed the urgent need for a significant increase in services and research. "We know that delaying the onset of dementia by five years would halve the number of deaths from Alzheimer's. If we are to defeat dementia it is vital we invest in more research," he said."

Well vascular dementia could easily be reduced by curbing the reckless over-prescribing of drugs like steroids and anti-depressants which cause vascular damage, salt sensitivity, fluid retention and obesity. Similarly there should be a legal limit of the proportion of salt/sodium food manufacturers are allowed to add to their processed foods and ready meals: - certainly no more than 0.5g sodium to 100g of product. And they should, by law, HAVE to produce some processed foods/ready meals and bread with NO ADDED SALT WHATEVER for the people damaged and disabled by salt sensitivity. People should be told the truth about salt. - Our bodies do not require ANY added salt whatsoever, because we only need a tiny proportion of salt and that is already present in all food and in every drop of water. (Of course if you are taking prescription drugs they may have damaged your body chemistry and so you may need extra sodium/salt because of the wretched drugs.)

And dieting advice should be prohibited. - Dieting is unnecessary, ineffectual, counter-productive and harmful because it results in inadequate nutrition. All that is necessary to reduce excess weight is to avoid eating salt and salty food.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

See FAT RETENTION

A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists to probe Alzheimer's link to diet - Telegraph

Extract:

"A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

The Alzheimer's Society will carry out research to look at the side effects of food and drink such as fruit juice, red wine and oily fish on the incidence of the disease.

It will analyse new and existing data to discover if a "Mediterranean style" diet could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

The BBC reports that the charity predicts dementia will affect almost one million people by 2020.

The Mediterranean diet - rich in fruit, vegetables and cereals with some fish and alcohol and very little dairy and meat - has been generally viewed as good for health for some time. "

I invite you to consider the following: - according to the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's disease is multifactorial, and they say, "Research has also shown that people who smoke and those who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels increase their risk of developing Alzheimer's." (See page on Alzheimer's Society website)

Now set aside smoking, and consider just "high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels." - Both of these conditions are mainly caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily be lowered by minimising intake of salt and salty food and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Now consider the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease - vascular dementia. The Alzheimer's Society's website tells us: "There are a number of conditions that can cause or increase damage to the vascular system. These include high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and diabetes. It is therefore important that these conditions are identified and treated at the earliest opportunity. "

Well, all of "high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and [type 2]diabetes" are principally caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily and swiftly be improved by minimising intake of salt and salty food.

So you can lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia (as well as many other illnesses and degenerative conditions) by restricting the amount of salt and salty food you eat. If you already have these illnesses, you can slow their progress by eating less salt and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

The most important thing is the salt reduction.

You can read further and with more explanation and suggestions on my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
I hope you will also look at some of the other pages on my website, such as conditions often associated with salt sensitivity and my Mensa article Obesity and the Salt Connection