Creating a Safe Environment for Patients Who Suffer from Alzheimer’s disease

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alzheimers

Alzheimer’s is a type of dementia that affects an individual’s memory, thinking, and behavior. One of the earliest symptoms of this disease is a person’s inability to remember newly acquired information. This failure occurs mainly because the disease first affects the area of the brain that is responsible for learning. Other symptoms include loss of memory loss and frequent changes in an individual’s mood. Others signs include confusion about events, places, and time in addition to unfounded suspicions of the people around them including family members.

alzheimersAs time goes by, the symptoms become severe, and the patient will eventually have trouble walking, speaking, and swallowing.

Alzheimer’s affects family members greatly as it does other people who were close to the patient. It affects them because the patient begins to forget shared memories and experiences gradually. Eventually, he will lose some of his physical abilities. Witnessing these kinds of things happening to a loved one is disheartening. In fact, many family members find this situation unbearable especially if they are also caregivers to the person living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Creating a Safe Environment for Patients Who Suffer from Alzheimer’s disease

The changes that occur in those who suffer from Alzheimer’s make it difficult for them to navigate through an environment that they felt comfortable in before the onset of the disease. Some of these changes include the following.

• Physical ability –patients will have trouble when it comes to maintaining their balance

• Behavior- patients will feel confused or fearful

• Judgment- patients will forget how to use household appliances

• Senses- their vision, depth perception, hearing and sensitivity to temperatures may be affected

• The sense of time and place- they may get lost on streets or places that they previously knew quite well.

Therefore, it is advisable for you to assess the patient’s everyday environment. Then you should take some steps to eliminate potential safety hazards. Here are the potential safety hazards that you should eliminate.

• Dark walkways

• Unfettered access to weapons such as guns

• Unsecured tools in the garage or basement

• Poisonous chemicals in the home

• Safety hazards in the kitchen like circuit breakers and gas valves

Tips on How You Can Keep an Alzheimer’s Patient Safe

project lifeStart by evaluating your home for potential safety hazards. Remember, viewing your home from the patient’s perspective is the best thing that you could do for the patient. Here are a few tips to help you keep your home safe if you are living with a person who has Alzheimer’s disease.

• Ensure that all the safety devices are working properly including smoke detectors and fire extinguishers

• Install locks high up or low on your exterior doors so that the patient does not wander off by himself.

• Remove locks from the bedroom and the bathroom so that the patient does not lock himself inside any of them rooms.

• Ensure that all walkways have adequate lighting to prevent accidental falls and to reduce disorientation

• Safely lock away any weapons in your household. Remember, a patient may think that you are an intruder if he comes across a weapon such as a gun in your home.

• Keep all the medicine, poisonous chemicals, and gasoline products stored away safely. The patient should not access them easily.

Although Alzheimer’s has no cure, the symptoms are treatable. Moreover, with extra care and vigilance by caregivers and family members, you can improve the quality of life for an Alzheimer’s patient if you create a safe environment for him or her.

Autism in Children

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This is a disorder which refers to a range of conditions which is mainly characterized by challenges which come along with social skills, repetitive behavior, speech and also non-verbal communication.

The most common cases of autism usually occur from two and three years of age. But in some cases, the disorder can also occur as young as 18 months.

Some of the facts related to autism include:

· Autism prevalence has grown high such that 1 in 68 children in the United States has this condition. This also includes 1 in every 42 boys as well as one in every 189 girls who have this condition.

· One-third of the people with autism are very nonverbal.

· One third of the kids with autism also have an intellectual disability.

· On every year, at least 50,000 teens who have autism become adults and they lose the school-based autism services.

This research was done by the CDC which is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the research, it was also observed that certain medical, as well as mental health issues, accompany the condition.

The condition is a neurodevelopmental disorder which is characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and nonverbal as well as restricted and repetitive behavior.

Keeping your home safe

If you have an autistic child, you have to be ever prepared to calm them and prevent them from hurting themselves as well as those people around them.

While at home you need to ensure that you keep your child in the safest environment.

Some of the safety issues which you need to put in place for your autistic child include:

1-Home doors

Locking your home doors is very important. Installing alarms is also another way you can ensure that your kid does not leave you home without your knowledge. If your kid is known to wander, you can use a child locator.

2-Sensory challenges

Your kid may be struggling with sensory organs, and this may thus lead to your child being burnt – either by fire or by hot water. You can put stickers in hot water knobs which will remind your child about the hot water to help if they get confused.

3-Autistic kids are fond of wandering

If you have a swimming pool in your backyard, make sure it is well fenced, and the gates are self-closing. You should also ensure that all the pool toys and other items that might attract the child are kept away from the pool. Young children can be attracted to anything that moves, such as automatic pool cleaners, so it’s important to make sure they don’t have access to the pool area.

4-Understand their triggers

To prevent wandering, parents and caregivers understand the wandering patterns and eliminating triggers in kids. Some tips to help parents and caregivers on wandering kids are to have strategies which will help your child to deal with his triggers in a way that will help them to cope with the condition. Share your goals, fascinations or need to escape with all people who are involved in your child’s daily routine to aid them in preventing them from wandering.

Dealing With Down Syndrome

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This is a body disorder genetically caused whereby the patient bears extra chromosome in each cell summing up to 47 instead of 46. The most common type of Down syndrome is known as trisomy 21 which is a dysfunction in the cell division making the sperm or egg cell to have an extra chromosome 21 during the period of cell conception.

What is Down Syndrome

This condition impairs the patient’s physical growth especially on the facial structures and inhibiting intellectual growth.

Mosaic Down syndrome takes place through cell combination with the standard number of chromosomes with the ones with a third chromosome thus leading to a patient’s physical and mental development to be affected.

Effects of Down Syndrome

The syndrome affects the facial structure of the baby, whereby the baby is born with a tiny face and a shorter neck. The face and ears are flattened, and the eyes slant upwards, and the ears position itself lower than it’s supposed to be on an average baby.

The baby’s tongue overgrows and becomes extra-large in proportion to the mouth. The hands are also affected whereby they become large with small fingers, and the joints become unusually flexible.

Down syndrome majorly affects the patient’s growth as it inhibits the cells responsible for growth in height of infants. They have stunted growth.

Down Syndrome Adults

As adults their maximum growth is up to 5 feet 1 inches for male and 4 feet 9 inches for the female, as they adults grow to old age, they experience obesity.

The syndrome affects the intellectual functioning making the IQ fall from mild to moderate range of the mental retardation.

This majorly affects the child’s social life as he or she faces challenges in grasping concepts being taught at school and also affects their behaviors.

Babies with Down syndrome experience disturbances of autonomic nervous system and also suffer from congenital hypothyroidism which is caused by them having a lower basal metabolism which is an enlargement of the thyroid gland.

Kids with Down Syndrome

This condition can be detected at an early stage for newborn babies by frequent blood tests for hypothyroidism.

A lot of research on the syndrome has shown that infants with the condition lose their hearing capacity by more than 15 to 20 decibels annually.

The ear structure is affected whereby the bones of inner and middle ear develop unusually differently.

The majority of the children with this condition have heart-related diseases where there is a start of pulmonary hypertension at an early stage and high blood pressure in the lungs.

The major heart defects are continuous ductus arteriosus, tetralogy of fallout, functioning hindrance of the ventricle and atrial septal to the pumping of blood.

This heart effect can be identified at an early stage through an echocardiogram whereby it can be prevented through surgery before the start of pulmonary hypertension.

Down syndrome cannot be prevented because it is a genetical disorder; thus couples should consider consulting a genetic counselor as part of their family planning strategy.

How to keep kids with Down Syndrome safe and happy

For children already born with Down syndrome, engage them in stimulation programs to help them develop skills despite the brain disorder.

You can also consider involving the child in special curriculum and majorly involve them in leisure activities.

Lastly, consult other friends and relatives with a similar condition on how to go about with it and don’t forget to make frequent visits to a genetic counselor.

I hope this article has equipped you with ultimate knowledge on Down syndrome and how to detect it early.

Consider researching your family background to establish whether a relative had the syndrome to get prepared for it as it is genetically transmitted.

Things You Should Know When You Have An Autistic Child

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Do You Have An Autistic Child At Home? Here Is What You Should Know!

Autism is a neural disorder that can affect how a person interacts and communicates socially. You will realize that is characterized by either restricted or repetitive behavior. It affects the way information is processed in the brain because it affects the way the nerve cells and brain communicates and process information. You will realize that symptoms of autism can begin before a child reaches the age of three years old.

There are many causes of autism. One of them is genetics. A family with an autistic child has somewhere between a three and eight percent chance that their other children will also be autistic.
If an identical twin has autism, studies reveal a 30% chance that the other twin will be autistic as well.

Pharmaceuticals can also cause autism. You will realize that unborn babies who have been exposed to various pharmaceuticals while in the womb are likely to be born autistic.

Other causes of autism include:

Exposure to pesticides and herbicides

Most of these neurotoxins that are sprayed on our plants and trees remain in our food supply. This can lead to autism. These chemicals interfere with genetics and the nervous system. Besides, these chemicals can affect anyone predisposed to autism and cause the disorder.

Bacteria and viruses

Bacteria and viruses can lead to autism. You will realize that fetuses normally have a weak immune system. If they are exposed to bacteria and viruses, they are likely to develop this disorder. Also, viral infections can weaken the immune systems of babies and young children thereby leading to the onset of autism.

Modern technology

Electromagnetic waves and ultrasonic waves have shown a definite link to autism. These waves can affect a fetus and cause autism. The number of kids in the United States who have this disorder is growing significantly.

One is 68 children is believed to have autism. If you are parenting an autistic child, check the following safety tips:

1. Ensure that you incorporate your family and community members – It is important that you involve these members of the society since they might come across your autistic child at one time or another. You should keep in mind the teachers, neighbors, extended family and so forth. Contact them to let them know you have an autistic child.

2. Think about the safety of your child – There are several areas that you should take safety measures. This can be your home, friend’s home, community centers and so forth. You should evaluate these places for safety and come up with effective safety measure that can help prevent accidents.

3. Identify the safety risks your child is likely to face at home – These include: wandering, consuming household toxins and even drowning in the swimming pool. Involve family members in taking precautionary measures so that your child remains safe.

4. Ensure that your child has a contact form – Your child should have this identification form all the time. A child locator can also help you a great deal. You can readily clip it to your child’s shoes or belt.

How can you keep your home environment safe?

Your home environment can be dangerous for your autistic child. It is therefore important that you practice the following safety measures:

1. Push heavy furniture to the wall so that your child remains safe.
2. Keep all the cleaning products in a secure place. You can readily lock them in the basement or even in the garage.
3. Always ensure that your freezer is locked all the time.
4. Turn down the temperatures of your water heater. This is because autistic children normally have sensory challenges and can get burnt by hot water.
5. Make sure you autistic child can’t get into the pool area without the supervision of an adult. Children can be attracted by the water or the motion of a pool cleaner and could endanger themselves by falling in the pool.

Those are some tips on how to ensure that your home is safe for your child who is suffering from this disorder. Follow the above mentioned precautionary measures, and you will enjoy the results.

Here are other tips on caring for family members with other diseases.