by Paul Arco
OSF Healthcare
OSF Healthcare
ROCKFORD -- Actor Chris Hemsworth recently made headlines when he announced that he's taking time off from acting after undergoing testing that resulted in an alarming discovery: he has a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease at some point in his lifetime.
The 39-year-old Hemsworth made the discovery after undergoing tests as part of his documentary series Limitless, where Hemsworth tests his body and searches for ways to live longer.
While having a predisposition for Alzheimer's is not a diagnosis, it can help someone take the appropriate preventative measures. Hemsworth has said he is going to spend time focusing on stress and sleep management, nutrition and fitness.
According to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia, making up 60-80% of dementia cases. Dementia is not a normal part of aging, and is caused by damage to brain cells that can lead to memory problems, confusion and communication issues. "With dementia, it's a short term, memory-deficit, but usually long term is intact," said Andrea Shewalter, a nurse practitioner with OSF HealthCare Illinois Neurological Institute (INI). "People will forget what they ate for breakfast that day and they may forget having a specific conversation with a family member that morning or the day before, but they'll be able to tell you what they did 25 years ago and be able to reminisce with stories like that." Typically it's a loved one who notices the initial troubling signs of dementia such as memory loss, problem-solving difficulties or issues with daily tasks such as paying bills, taking medication or preparing meals, so it's the patients who are accompanied by family members to an appointment who are most likely exhibiting the greatest symptoms of dementia. Shewalter adds that anyone is a candidate for testing. And if you have a loved one who has been diagnosed with dementia you do not need to wait to develop symptoms to look into testing options for yourself. "When patients come in we refer them for a neuro psychological evaluation, where the psychologist reviews the 12 different domains of the brain through different systems and assessments," she says. "And they can come up with a potential diagnosis and are able to tell us what part of the brain is having a deficit or what deficit of the brain is occurring." But arriving at a dementia diagnosis isn't always easy. Physicians have to recognize a pattern of loss of skills and function and determine what a person is still able to do. And it usually takes more than one test to come up with the diagnosis. Tests include cognitive and neuropsychological tests, neurological evaluation, brain scans, lab tests and sometimes psychiatric evaluation. "I would refer anyone for neuropsychological testing, where they can help determine what areas of the brain are being affected," says Shewalter. "And then we usually send the patient for imaging to make sure that there's nothing from a pathological standpoint that's going on in the brain. Is there a brain tumor? Is there Lyme's disease? Is there some sort of disease that is affecting this? We can also look at the structures of the brain to be able to tell if there a lot of shrinkage for their age. Is the brain compensating due to the atrophy or the shrinkage of the brain?"... we recommend the exercise, the increase in socialization, and the brain healthy diet ...
In the early stages of dementia, Shewalter has several recommendations for patients to remain as independent as possible, including doing crossword puzzles, playing cards and crafting – anything that involves hand and eye coordination.
She also encourages socialization – getting out in the public and being around people as much as possible. While there is no conclusive evidence, there is still benefit to taking care of yourself as much as possible. That includes a healthy brain diet and a high intensity exercise program of 150 minutes each week. Finally, get your financial affairs and power of attorney in order, especially if memory loss progresses to the point where you can't make decisions for yourself.
"We try to treat dementia as naturally as possible," adds Shewalter. "That's why we recommend the exercise, the increase in socialization, and the brain healthy diet, because it is what you make of it. If you just sit in a house and don't use your brain or challenge your brain and let the world go by, you often have generally worse outcomes than if you were to face this head on. Do the steps that we naturally recommend to decrease the rate at which your memory declines."
In addition to taking preventative measures and staying active, having a support system in place early on is especially important for someone with any dementia diagnosis.
He added that, "While many people deactivate their older model smoke alarms or remove the batteries while cooking, the 10-year model is not a cooking nuisance and has a 15-minute silencer button.
Zaleski said in a release that required model is "very affordable with the current retail price being about $15 and as low as $10 if you buy them in bulk."
A quick on search on Amazon today shows 10-year, tamper-proof models retailing as low as $13 each. Order a six-pack, and the price drops to $8.33 each.
Passed in 2017, 
Award-winning actress Kirstie Alley was diagnosed with cancer shortly before her untimely death at the young age of 71. Grammy award-winning Celine Dion has recently been diagnosed with a neurological disease called Stiff Person Syndrome. The disease attacks about one in a million and is a very debilitating disease. She is 54 years old.
Disease, death and bad news can attack anyone at any age and none of us are immune.
Good news came to Britney Griner who spent 10 months in a Russian prison for allegedly having hashish oil in her suitcase at a Moscow airport. She was recently released and is now back in the United States. The Bad news is that arms dealer Victor Bout who smuggled millions of weapons to the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa was released from prison in exchange for Griner’s release.
Paul Whelan a former United States marine received bad news in that he is still being held in a Russian prison accused of spying. Russia is apparently holding onto him for another deal with the United States. It’s tragic that he wasn’t released with Griner.
Please stay out of Russia, North Korea, Iran and China. There are other places to avoid as well but there are plenty of nice places to visit.
My deceased wife was 37 when she received the bad news that she had multiple sclerosis. The diagnosis was very bad news and Karen died one day at a time for 12 years. The last four years of her life she could do nothing. She required 24-hour care. She became a person trapped inside a body. She died at the age of 49. The toll that such a disease took on our family and my young sons was severe. Such an illness changes the lives of the entire family. Everyone to some extent is involved in the caregiving and are changed by the emotional drain of sickness and death. However, no one suffers as much as the person struggling with the disease.
Such life struggles play havoc with holidays such as Christmas. Our family never had a normal Christmas for at least 12 years. However, it became our new normal.
Jesus is good news at Christmas. He was bad news to King Herod of Judea. Herod was a mental illness case who ordered the death of all male babies two years old and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem. He hoped to eliminate Jesus because wise men from the East had come to worship him.
We must pray for the families of Kirstie Alley, Celine Dion and Paul Whelan and many others. These families are suffering. Fame and fortune never provide a way of escaping bad news and the results of bad news. We should also pray for one another and rejoice with any good news that comes each other’s way.
We are all sojourners in this life. The message of Christmas is a Savior is born, Christ the Lord, peace on earth and good will toward all.
May good news find its way to you this season of the year and may we all with God’s grace be there for each other when the news is not so good.
TOLONO -- Mark Twain said, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog." Unity showed visiting Champaign Central (1-4) that despite more than half their size in enrollment, they can run with big dogs after prevailing 65-56 in the non-conference meeting at the Rocket Center on Tuesday.
Henry Thomas led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, 11 of them, thanks to 13 trips to the free throw line for the Rockets. Also finishing with double-digit scoring for the home team were Dalton O'Neill with 16 points, and Austin Langendorf, who had 10.
Expecting an easy non-league match, the Maroons' comfortable first quarter 15-7 lead evaporated by the end of the second, with the Rockets trailing by one at the break, 30-29.
O'Neill, a junior, drained two of his three treys in the contest in the third quarter igniting the Unity offense.
Central, paced by Chris Bush's 20-points performance in the first three periods of play, couldn't buy a shot in the final quarter. When the sophomore's shooting prowess fizzled out, and the team's offense went colder than a Siberian winter day despite David Riley's attempt to heat things up, scoring all eight of his team's fourth-quarter points.
The Rockets doubled the Champaign school's output, thanks to another three from O'Neill and nine points from Henry Thomas in his best frame of the night.
Improving to 4-2 on the season, the Rockets hit the hardwood again on Friday at Clifton Central and host Pleasant Plains on Saturday at 4:30 pm.