What to Do When an Elderly Loved One Has Kidney Failure

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Elderly Care Pembroke Pines FLOur kidneys are an important component of our bodies for a number of reasons, including the fact that they cleanse the body of harmful toxins by releasing them through our urine. When the kidneys are unable to perform their regular tasks due to kidney failure, it could lead to severe consequences, including death.

Knowing as much about this condition is the first step in helping your elderly parent get the help they need. If they live alone, you may want to consider hiring an elderly care provider to watch over them each day and contact their doctor immediately if they fear there is a problem with their kidneys.

Here is some information to help you and their caregiver navigate through how to care for someone with this condition.

Risk Factors

The first thing that can be done to understand kidney failure is to understand where the illness can come from. Here are several of the most common risk factors.

History of diabetes
Family history of kidney problems
Coping with high blood pressure
Overusing medications, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen

The Difference Between the Two Types of Kidney Failure

Acute kidney failure occurs when there is a sudden change to the function of the kidney. Some of the possible reasons behind getting this type of kidney failure are:

Bladder problems
Kidney stones or calcified materials, causing a blockage to the kidneys
Kidney infections
Damage to the blood vessels that lead to the kidneys
Protein or blood in the urine
Swelling of the extremities
Abnormal Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) test
Increased urge to urinate, which may also be extremely painful

Chronic kidney failure may be present if the elder experiences any of the following symptoms.

Frequent fatigue
Shortness of breath
Excessive need to urinate at night, yet secretes very little urine
Rashes on the skin as a result of impurities in the body that are building up with no way to escape
Increased thirst
Trouble managing their diabetes or high blood pressure
Acute kidney failure can usually heal on its own, but severe chronic kidney failure may result in the need for a kidney transplant.

Prevention

If you are concerned that your elderly loved one may develop this illness, try the following tips to prevent kidney failure from happening to them.

Eat the right foods. There are certain foods that are more difficult for the kidneys to manage. Talk to a dietician or the elder’s doctor to determine what foods will help your loved one with their condition.

Exercise. Regular exercise will prevent a wide range of chronic illnesses from occurring. In turn, the elder will be at a lower risk of kidney failure.

Manage other chronic health problems. By properly treating and taking care of current health problems, like diabetes and high blood pressure, your loved one may be able to prevent issues with their kidneys.

Source: http://www.eldercarelink.com/Other-Resources/Health/kidney-failure-in-the-elderly.htm

If you or an aging loved one are considering Hollywood, FL home health care services or care throughout the surrounding areas for provide companionship, compassion and motivation, please contact the caring staff at Responsive Home Care. Call today 954-486-6440.

Making Care Decisions Early in Your Parent’s Experience with Parkinson’s Disease

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Home Care Coral Springs FL

Home Care Coral Springs FLWhen you find out that your elderly parent is suffering from Parkinson’s disease you are put at the beginning of a journey that will present a wide variety of challenges and demands for your aging parent and for you as their family caregiver.

This is a progressive disease, which means that the symptoms that your senior loved one faces will change, increase, and intensify over time. Though your parent’s medical team can give you an idea as to how your parent’s condition will progress and what you might expect moving forward, there is no real way of knowing everything that they will face or the true path that their disease will take. This makes it essential that you do as much as you can to prepare for the journey early so that both of you are prepared for what will come.

Making care decisions early in your parent’s experience is about taking advantage of their awareness and cognitive functioning at the beginning of the disease and using it to ensure that they make the plans and preparations that are right for them.

It is important to be aware that changes in cognitive functioning, memory loss, and even dementia are potential symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. This means that they are able to evaluate the progression of the disease ahead of them, express their thoughts, beliefs, and wishes, and make plans that will give them confidence that they will get the care that they need and give you peace of mind that you will be able to make the decisions that are right for your loved one when the time comes.

There are many issues that you will need to consider when making care decisions at the beginning of your parent’s experience with Parkinson’s disease. Some of these include:

• Their feelings regarding artificial resuscitation

• Their feelings regarding life support

• Their feelings regarding hospice care

• Their thoughts on additional care options, such as hiring an elderly home care provider to be with your aging parent to fulfill their needs and help them manage their symptoms

• Their wishes regarding aging in place or transitioning into living in the home with you and the rest of your family

• Legal considerations, such as power of attorney, health directives, wills, and other arrangements to ensure that they get the care they need and that their estate is managed properly

• Their perspectives on their final arrangements and how they want them to be carried out when the end of their life comes

It can be extremely challenging and emotionally difficult thinking of these issues and discussing them with your parent, but it is vital that you confront them and handle these conversations courageously, honestly, and thoroughly. Consider sitting down with their doctor as well as a therapist if your parent is having difficulty coming to terms with these issues or does not feel that they have enough information to make the decisions that are truly right for them. This can give both of you more confidence and help you to feel more prepared as you continue on in this new chapter.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Home Care Services in Coral Springs FL to provide companionship, compassion and motivation, please contact the caring staff at Responsive Home Care. Call today 954-486-6440.

Hand Exercises that will Help Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain

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Elderly Care Lauderhill FL

Elderly Care Lauderhill FLSomeone with rheumatoid arthritis often suffers from debilitating pain in different joints and muscles in the body, particularly in their hands. The pain can become so intense that even picking up a pen can be difficult. Someone with rheumatoid arthritis can especially benefit from having an elderly care provider assist them at home with all of the tasks that have become too difficult for them to do.

If your elderly loved one is looking for some relief from their RA pain, hand exercises may be exactly what they need to do. The following exercises will keep the hands strong and pain-free.

Folding fingers. Bring all of the fingers together in a loose fist. Then, open the hand slowly, repeating this exercise a few times. The best time to try this activity is when the hands are warm during a shower or with a warm, damp washcloth placed over the hand.

Walking fingers. A kitchen or hand towel should be placed on a table in order to do this exercise. The hand should then be lightly cupped, with the fingertips and thumb supporting the entire hand. The elder can “walk” their fingertips and thumb towards them, trying to lift the towel into their palm. Once they are able to get as much of the towel in their hand as possible, they should try to gently squeeze it.

Thumb to base of fingers. Keeping the thumb strong is important because most hand motions require the use of the thumb. For this exercise, the elder should try to touch the base of the little finger with the thumb. This can help strengthen the grasp for your loved one, making it easier for them to pick up certain objects.

Spread fingers. It is important that the elder is able to spread their fingers apart for a number of hand motions, such as putting on gloves. To do this, spread the fingers apart in a slow and gentle manner. Once the hand is flat, the senior can also exercise the thumb by separating it from the other fingers.

Finger pinches. Pinch the thumb to the tip of each finger in order to make doing daily activities easier, like tying shoelaces. The most important fingers that should be “pinched” by the thumb are the index finger, long finger, and side of index finger.

These exercises are very simple and can be done with elderly adults of various physical abilities. Talk to the elder’s doctor for more tips on helping your loved one relieve their rheumatoid arthritis pain.

Source:  http://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/rheumatoid-arthritis/hand-exercises-for-rheumatoid-arthritis/

If you or an aging loved one are considering Elderly Care Services in Lauderhill FL to provide companionship, compassion and motivation, please contact the caring staff at Responsive Home Care. Call today 954-486-6440.

THIS ONE SIMPLE TEST COULD PREDICT BREAST CANCER RELAPSE

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Cancer survivors whose disease has gone into remission have so much to celebrate and be thankful for, and many are celebrating this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But there may always remain a concern in the back of their minds: could the cancer return? For women who have survived breast cancer, there may at last be a way to put this fear to rest once and for all.

A simple blood test is showing great promise in predicting a relapse of breast cancer—as much as eight months in advance of it being detected by current imaging methods. And although the initial testing group was small, the prediction was accurate in an astounding 12 out of 15 women.

According to Dr. Nicholas Turner of the Institute of Cancer Research, lead author of the study, “We have shown how a simple blood test has the potential to accurately predict which patients will relapse from breast cancer, much earlier than we can currently.”

Although the test is not yet available to those outside of the study, the goal is to one day utilize this method to be able to individually tailor treatments, and hopefully bring us one step closer to eliminating breast cancer altogether.

STUNNING REVERSAL IN ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH

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Earlier this year, we reported on the discovery that microglia cells, a known fighter of infection, were at the heart of preventing Alzheimer’s plaques from forming. Already, however, a new twist to unraveling the Alzheimer’s puzzle has developed.

Utilizing a specific mouse model with the ability to develop Alzheimer’s disease, immune system abnormalities were studied, and it was discovered that a repressed immune system, rather than the previously determined amplified immune system, is in place for those with Alzheimer’s. According to Matthew Kan, the study’s first author, “It’s surprising, because [suppression of the immune system] is not what the field has been thinking is happening in Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Carol Colton, the study’s senior author, notes, “We see this study opening the doors to thinking about Alzheimer’s in a completely different way, to break the stalemate of ideas in Alzheimer’s disease.” Read the full article from Alzheimer’s News Today, and keep an eye out for exciting new developments as this research progresses. Read the entire study article in the Journal of Neuroscience here.