From: hound23x@gmail.com   
      
   Dementia strikes one in five families   
      
   Nathan Handley, The Jackson Sun   
   1 day ago   
      
      
   MEGAN SMITH/The Jackson Sun   
   Dementia Care and Education Specialist Teepa Snow spoke on how to better more   
   One in five families is affected by dementia, said occupational therapist   
   Teepa Snow, and it takes a knowledgeable team to deal with the disease.   
      
   Snow was the keynote speaker Wednesday at the fifth annual Alzheimer's   
   Caregiver Conference at the Carl Grant Events Center of Union University. She   
   said she has been working on educating dementia caregivers for more than 15   
   years.   
   "The goal is for people to better understand dementia, to learn about what it   
   does," Snow said.   
   More than 250 people attended the conference, at which Snow discussed various   
   types of dementia and how the brain is affected by the disease. She explained   
   many of the common behaviors in people with dementia by identifying the parts   
   of the brain that    
   are damaged, and how those areas impact actions and decisions.   
   She said the prefrontal cortex, an area in the front of the brain, is the last   
   part of the brain to develop and helps keep other parts of the brain in check.   
   She said this area of the brain is greatly affected by dementia, and that   
   allows other parts of    
   the brain, such as the amygdala, to take over.   
   Snow said the left and right amygdala are responsible for threat perception   
   and pleasure seeking, respectively. She said when there is no prefrontal   
   cortex to keep the amygdala in check, the patient becomes much more unstable   
   and unpredictable.   
   Snow spoke in four sessions throughout the day, giving advice for how to deal   
   with dementia patients.   
   "Dementia is a disease," Snow said. "It is terminal, it is progressive, and it   
   changes day to day."   
   She said she wants people to be knowledgeable in how dementia works and to   
   accept the fact that they need help.   
   "This is usually an eight- to 12-year process," she said. "You need a team of   
   knowledgeable people who are aware of how dementia works so that you can do   
   more than just survive the disease."   
   Snow said there is no treatment or cure for dementia, and that makes care   
   difficult. She said the stress of dealing with dementia patients can increase   
   likelihood of similar problems for the caregiver.   
   Jan Boud and Regina Smith organized the event. They run an Alzheimer's support   
   group at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Both had parents that   
   suffered from dementia.   
   "It's a long goodbye as they lose their memories, abilities, relationships,"   
   Smith said. "It's a series of losses that can last for years."   
   Boud said both her parents suffered from dementia -- first her father, then   
   her mother. She said Smith was a great help to her during that process.   
   "She had already dealt with this before, so I had a friend who could really   
   understand," Boud said.   
   She said the Alzheimer's support group meets the first Thursday of each month   
   from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the hospital, and the group is open to all   
   dementia caregivers.   
   Wednesday's conference was sponsored by the West Tennessee Healthcare   
   Foundation, Union University, West Tennessee Healthcare Senior Services, and   
   West Tennessee Neuroscience and Spine.   
   More information on dementia care can be found at teepasnow.com.   
   Reach Nathan Handley at (731) 425-9641. Follow him on Twitter @NathanHandley.   
      
   http://www.jacksonsun.com/story/news/2015/03/18/dementia-strikes   
   one-five-families/24992143/   
      
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