Wellness

It’s not an unusual sight to see a bubbe sewing, knitting or crocheting a special something for her grandchild. But for Nita Quint, who has 43 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, sewing personalized fabrics for them is an extraordinary feat of patience.

Today, more than 5 million people are living with Alzheimer’s and related dementias in the United States, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. About 80 percent live at home and are cared for by about 15 million unpaid, informal caregivers — often spouses or adult children. And while impacts on patients include medical and psychological problems, reduced quality of life and high costs for care, impacts on caregivers can be severe.

If my 20-year-old self could see me now — living in the Valley of the Sun, where it is bathing suit season 10 months of the year, and surrounded by women ... Wait, let me explain.

When Janet Arnold, the Creative Aging coordinator for Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS), showed up for a Memory Cafe event in Surprise, she wasn’t sure what to expect. But it turned out to be an emotional experience.

Raise your right hand (put your smartphone down first) and repeat after me: “I am ready for a digital detox.”

When it comes to weather, Minnesota is the opposite of Arizona. In the depths of winter, Minnesota residents hunker down in their homes and wait for the spring thaw to comfortably enjoy the great outdoors. Of course, here in Arizona, we hunker down in the summer months when temperatures can get as high as 120 degrees and wait for the coolness of fall and winter. One thing both places have in common, though, is that extreme temperatures can take a toll on older adults.

The Valley could have one of the first synagogues in the nation to go vegan.

During the summer when temperatures are high, children’s levels of physical activity can drop, which can have several negative effects.

If you can finish this advertising jingle — “When it says Libby’s, Libby’s, Libby’s on the label, label, label, you will...” — you are most likely a baby boomer and can remember canned mush posing as vegetables that you could not even get the dog to eat.

The first mitzvah in the Torah is “to be fruitful and multiply.” Yet, throughout the Bible there are stories of women dealing with infertility; three of the four matriarchs had infertility struggles. But today’s technology offers hope to all women who are having difficulty conceiving.

Researchers at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) announced the development of a new treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

With more than 1 million individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing in Arizona and more than 48 million nationwide, it is natural to assume that access to quality health care for those with a hearing loss would be the same as for those whose hearing is intact. The reality is that it is not. May is both Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) and Mental Health Month (MHM), and together, both causes connect on an important issue within the deaf and hard of hearing communities.

It’s not easy seeing your parent suffer through a long-term chronic illness. It is even harder for them to go through it. As you begin your caregiving journey, remember these tips.

The new L’Chaim Bowling League plays easy bumper bowling for those suffering from MCI/early stage dementia at 2 p.m. Mondays at Let It Roll, 8925 N. 12th St., Phoenix.

It’s been quite a month. A coworker was in a car accident and spent days in the ICU, a family member was in a serious trauma and spent weeks in the hospital, and I caught the flu and ended up with a bronchitis that lasted five weeks and made me appreciate how I take breathing for granted. In each of these situations, the person in question was in the prime of life; all three of us had a reasonable expectation of a long life ahead. And yet, with each, it could have ended differently.