This is SUCH a timely article! We just moved my Aunt from a very upscale and lovely Assisted Living facility into a more, shall we say "down-to-earth" facility in a nearby town. This facility is run more like a group residential home (with CNA's and a nurse to dispense meds), everyone is free to come and go as they please outside, watching the Little Leaguers next door, smoking in the gazebo (and please, Commenters, do not proselytize about the harm that smoking causes, these people are old and this brings them great enjoyment), sitting on a myriad of benches and chairs, communal dining in a warm and friendly small dining room, weekly outings to a store or a restaurant, and maybe just playing cards with your neighboring roommates. Most people would not even consider this place for their parent because it doesn't have the outward trappings of nice decor - it's a simple house, with an addition in the rear for the shared bedrooms. But it's a COMMUNITY where the residents are treated like family by the owner and the staff and they all consider themselves family to each other. My Aunt has only been there 5 days and her anxiety and short term memory have improved tremendously! It's really remarkable.
My mom was in a 'fancy' assisted living facility and when we were able to move her into an older, more homey, relaxed place, her first words when she walked in were, "Oh, I'm home now!". This place is an anomaly in her area. The residents all have dementia but are physically quite able. Mom eventually needed more medical care which unfortunately wasn't available there and had to move into a hospital unit until she passed away. It was an amazing place despite being seen by many as old and slated for closure. Mom loved it.
Exactly the same as my Aunt. She has pretty severe short term dementia, but is able to do personal daily activities, so is really not ready for a nursing home - it would have killed her spirit. It's such a relief to know they are in a place that is good for them and where they fit in. I'm sorry about your mom, but happy she had good last years!
Humans never react in a healthy way to isolation. The Lord God of all creation made us for interaction with all of nature. Flowers so intricate and beautiful brings a smile, vibrant color and oxygen to. Just hearing birds Chirp is a sweet sound. Thankful for eyes, and ears. The sun on the skin, especially early morning revitalizes. Staying in bed is a “blood sucker.” Live life fully feeling, fully present. Give thanks always to the God of the universe.
I am 76. A year ago I set a goal to live to be 100. My granddaughter is 1.5 YO and I want to see her finish college. Got the idea from Peter Atilla (Peter Attia (www.peterattiamd.com) I am lucky to be in excellent health and condition. 5 days/wk gym, resistance work and some cardio. I limit carbs to 100 g per day (inflammation, fat), use diet and protein powder to maintain muscle (sarcopenia avoidance), many sup's but esp NMN, resveratrol (per David Sinclair), teach two classes at local comm. college (keeps me reading, associating w younger crowd), no TV/soc media to speak of, avoid older people :) and seek out younger; work on balance using bosu ball; grip strength, leg strength exercises. finally, highly suggest reading stoic philosophy (related to "hope" in main article). finally, I spent 5-6 years learning about and improving sleep--maybe the most important. btw-best dietary source of melatonin is pistachio nuts. use only olive oil, blue berries once per day.
Fabulous article! My mother experienced a slow decline in her mental capacity, and once she was put into a care facility, it was a matter of months when she experienced a rapid decline after being heavily sedated, which necessitated being confined
to a wheelchair, and dying quickly. It’s terrifying to face that perspective as I’m getting older. Most of the medication’s are useless at best and extremely harmful at worst, and just sedate.
All of the suggestions in this piece are useful and doable. The hopelessness is all pervasive, and it’s hard not to fall into the trap, as we see these pharmaceuticals overtake our healthcare system. Thank you.
I’m in my early 50’s, and I recently starting taking Black Seed Oil daily because I heard it has numerous health benefits. But the only benefit I truly can notice is my cognitive function has improved and my brain feels much sharper. It’s in the class of nootropics, all of which supposedly help brain function.
I've been taking a tsp a day for almost 2 years now. I'm in my late sixties. Idk if it's just in my head and can't supply the specifics but, I will not stop.
I also take Brahmi and gingo biloba, these have been taking for over 15 yrs now lol, very scared of losing my marbles don't you know 😁
Meditation and prayer, music, new experiences, hope and contact with Nature are all important, but what most people need to improve their health more than anything else is sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D for their immune systems to work properly. Here is what I wrote in response to a recent Peter McCullough article https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/amyloid-beta-peptidedegrading-microbial on using nattokinase to combat Alzheimer's disease:
Before considering drugs or supplements which might reduce the incidence or severity of Alzheimers disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and all the other neugodegenerative diseases, each person's circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level should be raised to at least the 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L needed for proper immune system functioning. This includes strong innate and adaptive responses to cancer cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses, and much better regulation of cell-destroying, and amyloid plaque forming, inflammatory responses.
Without proper vitamin D3 supplementation (for 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity, about 0.125 mg 5000 IU vitamin D3 a day, on average) most people have only 5 to 25 ng/mL, unless they have recently had a lot of UV-B skin exposure and their skin is white. (Such UV-B is only available to most people via high elevation summer sunlight on cloud-free days, and it always damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer.)
Please see https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#3.3 for research into how people who suffer from Alzheimers' disease, Parkinson's disease and multisystem atrophy (similar to PD) tend to have even lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D then the general population, whose levels are on average half or less of the 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L their immune systems need.
This divergence is not explained to any significant degree by effects of the disease. Evatt et al 2011 https://sci-hub.se/10.1001/archneurol.2011.30 report that "Vitamin D concentrations did not decline during progression of PD".
Ogura et al. 2021 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405650221000617 report highly significant (p = 0.0001, so 1 chance in a thousand that the results were due to sampling error, if there was in fact no such correlation in the full population) correlation between very low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and tow of these diseases. The control subjects' 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels averaged 26.85 ng/mL. Those with Parkinson's disease had levels averaging 13.36 ng/mL. Those with multiple system atrophy had levels averaging even less: 10.53 ng/mL.
It is obvious that people with 50 ng/mL of more 25-hydroxyvitamin D are far, far, outside the bottom of the barrel range of levels at which these diseases are most likely to occur.
5000 IU a day sounds like a lot, but an IU is 1/40,000,000 of a gram. This is a gram every 22 years, and pharma grade vitamin D3 costs about USD$2.50 a gram ex-factory.
Yet few people - especially medical professionals and immunologists can imagine that something so simple, inexpensive and well researched could be so important. With notable exceptions, they tend to be much more interested in more complex interventions, as befits their years of training.
50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is needed by many types of immune cells to run their intracrine (inside each cell) and paracrine (to nearby cells, usually of different types) signaling system.. This is unrelated to hormonal signaling, in which the level of a substance in the bloodstream affects the behaviour of cells of particular types in any part of the body.
Neither vitamin D3 cholecalciferol nor 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcifediol, or sometimes: "calcidiol) act as hormones. They are not signaling molecules. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D produced in the kidneys, from 25-hydroxyvitamin D, to be released into the bloodstream to affect the behaviour of multiple cell types, which are involved in calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism is acting as a hormone. This is the sole hormonal function of the three vitamin D compounds. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D which is produced within immune cells acts not as a hormone, but as an intracrine and/or paracrine agent.
Thank you for this information! I'd be interested in information about nutrition, as well as what is mentioned in this article. Nutrition can profoundly affect stress, memory and wellness.
The elderly suffer more than any other demographic from hyponatremia or dehydration.
Look up the symptoms of both to see they are the same.
Confusion is an indication of hyponatremia/dehydration.
Hydration requires salt as it acts as a sponge to hold water.
The ubiquitous low salt advice is causing immense harm.
I go into the effects of chronic hyponatremia / dehydration in my Substack’s first article titled:
We breathe air not oxygen
As hyponatremia is deadly, the adrenals must respond. Adrenaline is produced with the life saving aldosterone and anxiety increases with their chronic rescue mission, this is mistakenly called stress.
On the lungs, a new take on lung physiology is presented that dismisses the oxygen/carbon dioxide gaseous exchange as a falsity.
Lungs are sensitive to salt, moisture and pressure. The lungs are rehydrating the RBCs in the alveoli capillary bed.
This is SUCH a timely article! We just moved my Aunt from a very upscale and lovely Assisted Living facility into a more, shall we say "down-to-earth" facility in a nearby town. This facility is run more like a group residential home (with CNA's and a nurse to dispense meds), everyone is free to come and go as they please outside, watching the Little Leaguers next door, smoking in the gazebo (and please, Commenters, do not proselytize about the harm that smoking causes, these people are old and this brings them great enjoyment), sitting on a myriad of benches and chairs, communal dining in a warm and friendly small dining room, weekly outings to a store or a restaurant, and maybe just playing cards with your neighboring roommates. Most people would not even consider this place for their parent because it doesn't have the outward trappings of nice decor - it's a simple house, with an addition in the rear for the shared bedrooms. But it's a COMMUNITY where the residents are treated like family by the owner and the staff and they all consider themselves family to each other. My Aunt has only been there 5 days and her anxiety and short term memory have improved tremendously! It's really remarkable.
My mom was in a 'fancy' assisted living facility and when we were able to move her into an older, more homey, relaxed place, her first words when she walked in were, "Oh, I'm home now!". This place is an anomaly in her area. The residents all have dementia but are physically quite able. Mom eventually needed more medical care which unfortunately wasn't available there and had to move into a hospital unit until she passed away. It was an amazing place despite being seen by many as old and slated for closure. Mom loved it.
Exactly the same as my Aunt. She has pretty severe short term dementia, but is able to do personal daily activities, so is really not ready for a nursing home - it would have killed her spirit. It's such a relief to know they are in a place that is good for them and where they fit in. I'm sorry about your mom, but happy she had good last years!
Humans never react in a healthy way to isolation. The Lord God of all creation made us for interaction with all of nature. Flowers so intricate and beautiful brings a smile, vibrant color and oxygen to. Just hearing birds Chirp is a sweet sound. Thankful for eyes, and ears. The sun on the skin, especially early morning revitalizes. Staying in bed is a “blood sucker.” Live life fully feeling, fully present. Give thanks always to the God of the universe.
Sitting outside in the early summer morning, drinking coffee and studying the Bible is such a delight.
I am 76. A year ago I set a goal to live to be 100. My granddaughter is 1.5 YO and I want to see her finish college. Got the idea from Peter Atilla (Peter Attia (www.peterattiamd.com) I am lucky to be in excellent health and condition. 5 days/wk gym, resistance work and some cardio. I limit carbs to 100 g per day (inflammation, fat), use diet and protein powder to maintain muscle (sarcopenia avoidance), many sup's but esp NMN, resveratrol (per David Sinclair), teach two classes at local comm. college (keeps me reading, associating w younger crowd), no TV/soc media to speak of, avoid older people :) and seek out younger; work on balance using bosu ball; grip strength, leg strength exercises. finally, highly suggest reading stoic philosophy (related to "hope" in main article). finally, I spent 5-6 years learning about and improving sleep--maybe the most important. btw-best dietary source of melatonin is pistachio nuts. use only olive oil, blue berries once per day.
May you be BLESSED to ENJOY your Grands GRADUATION❣️
Fabulous article! My mother experienced a slow decline in her mental capacity, and once she was put into a care facility, it was a matter of months when she experienced a rapid decline after being heavily sedated, which necessitated being confined
to a wheelchair, and dying quickly. It’s terrifying to face that perspective as I’m getting older. Most of the medication’s are useless at best and extremely harmful at worst, and just sedate.
All of the suggestions in this piece are useful and doable. The hopelessness is all pervasive, and it’s hard not to fall into the trap, as we see these pharmaceuticals overtake our healthcare system. Thank you.
Great article, thank you 😊
I’m in my early 50’s, and I recently starting taking Black Seed Oil daily because I heard it has numerous health benefits. But the only benefit I truly can notice is my cognitive function has improved and my brain feels much sharper. It’s in the class of nootropics, all of which supposedly help brain function.
I've been taking a tsp a day for almost 2 years now. I'm in my late sixties. Idk if it's just in my head and can't supply the specifics but, I will not stop.
I also take Brahmi and gingo biloba, these have been taking for over 15 yrs now lol, very scared of losing my marbles don't you know 😁
"digital detoxing" - I do whole days with "Substack only" for reading. Does that count? LOL.
Who says my brain is aging? Speak for yourself. I was going to say something else, but I forgot what it was.
Oh, yeah, music. Learn new music all the time. Not just the stuff you usually listen to.
Very good article. I plan on printing it off from myself and friends. Such everyday things we can do which are so simple
And easy in your everyday life.
I have a tendency of taking life too serious which I know is not healthy so this article will be a good reminder. Thank you
It certainly is a good way to practice healthy living. I do also will share.
Excellent!
Totally Agree! Music you love is a balm for the brain’
Thanks FLCCC. Thanks Dr. Gazda.
Meditation and prayer, music, new experiences, hope and contact with Nature are all important, but what most people need to improve their health more than anything else is sufficient 25-hydroxyvitamin D for their immune systems to work properly. Here is what I wrote in response to a recent Peter McCullough article https://petermcculloughmd.substack.com/p/amyloid-beta-peptidedegrading-microbial on using nattokinase to combat Alzheimer's disease:
Before considering drugs or supplements which might reduce the incidence or severity of Alzheimers disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, multiple system atrophy and all the other neugodegenerative diseases, each person's circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D level should be raised to at least the 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L needed for proper immune system functioning. This includes strong innate and adaptive responses to cancer cells, bacteria, fungi and viruses, and much better regulation of cell-destroying, and amyloid plaque forming, inflammatory responses.
Without proper vitamin D3 supplementation (for 70 kg 154 lb body weight without obesity, about 0.125 mg 5000 IU vitamin D3 a day, on average) most people have only 5 to 25 ng/mL, unless they have recently had a lot of UV-B skin exposure and their skin is white. (Such UV-B is only available to most people via high elevation summer sunlight on cloud-free days, and it always damages DNA and so raises the risk of skin cancer.)
Please see https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#3.3 for research into how people who suffer from Alzheimers' disease, Parkinson's disease and multisystem atrophy (similar to PD) tend to have even lower 25-hydroxyvitamin D then the general population, whose levels are on average half or less of the 50 ng/mL 125 nmol/L their immune systems need.
This divergence is not explained to any significant degree by effects of the disease. Evatt et al 2011 https://sci-hub.se/10.1001/archneurol.2011.30 report that "Vitamin D concentrations did not decline during progression of PD".
Ogura et al. 2021 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405650221000617 report highly significant (p = 0.0001, so 1 chance in a thousand that the results were due to sampling error, if there was in fact no such correlation in the full population) correlation between very low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and tow of these diseases. The control subjects' 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels averaged 26.85 ng/mL. Those with Parkinson's disease had levels averaging 13.36 ng/mL. Those with multiple system atrophy had levels averaging even less: 10.53 ng/mL.
It is obvious that people with 50 ng/mL of more 25-hydroxyvitamin D are far, far, outside the bottom of the barrel range of levels at which these diseases are most likely to occur.
5000 IU a day sounds like a lot, but an IU is 1/40,000,000 of a gram. This is a gram every 22 years, and pharma grade vitamin D3 costs about USD$2.50 a gram ex-factory.
Yet few people - especially medical professionals and immunologists can imagine that something so simple, inexpensive and well researched could be so important. With notable exceptions, they tend to be much more interested in more complex interventions, as befits their years of training.
50 ng/mL circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D is needed by many types of immune cells to run their intracrine (inside each cell) and paracrine (to nearby cells, usually of different types) signaling system.. This is unrelated to hormonal signaling, in which the level of a substance in the bloodstream affects the behaviour of cells of particular types in any part of the body.
Neither vitamin D3 cholecalciferol nor 25-hydroxyvitamin D (calcifediol, or sometimes: "calcidiol) act as hormones. They are not signaling molecules. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D produced in the kidneys, from 25-hydroxyvitamin D, to be released into the bloodstream to affect the behaviour of multiple cell types, which are involved in calcium-phosphate-bone metabolism is acting as a hormone. This is the sole hormonal function of the three vitamin D compounds. The 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D which is produced within immune cells acts not as a hormone, but as an intracrine and/or paracrine agent.
Hoping for the words to “Zivijio”—-the word itself even sounds uplifting!
Thank you for this information! I'd be interested in information about nutrition, as well as what is mentioned in this article. Nutrition can profoundly affect stress, memory and wellness.
The elderly suffer more than any other demographic from hyponatremia or dehydration.
Look up the symptoms of both to see they are the same.
Confusion is an indication of hyponatremia/dehydration.
Hydration requires salt as it acts as a sponge to hold water.
The ubiquitous low salt advice is causing immense harm.
I go into the effects of chronic hyponatremia / dehydration in my Substack’s first article titled:
We breathe air not oxygen
As hyponatremia is deadly, the adrenals must respond. Adrenaline is produced with the life saving aldosterone and anxiety increases with their chronic rescue mission, this is mistakenly called stress.
On the lungs, a new take on lung physiology is presented that dismisses the oxygen/carbon dioxide gaseous exchange as a falsity.
Lungs are sensitive to salt, moisture and pressure. The lungs are rehydrating the RBCs in the alveoli capillary bed.
Research oxygen toxicity
Find the article 👇
Jane333.Substack.com
Great practical suggestions we can all do! Thank you!