Submitted by Lutheran Hillside Village
Researchers from East Finland University conducted a study over the course of eight years that found a positive correlation between cynicism and dementia. There were 622 individuals who participated in the experiment, and of them, those scoring high for pessimism and mistrust developed cognitive impairments three times as often as those who didn’t.
In other words: positive thinking fights Alzheimer’s disease.
Of course, don’t tell that to the thousands of people who participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s each year. As a community, they have been getting by on prayer and optimism for decades. That’s because, unlike with cancer or heart disease, Alzheimer’s has no success stories. There are no Alzheimer’s survivors.
Of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, Alzheimer’s is the only one on the list with no means of preventing, stopping, or even slowing the progression of the disease.
That’s what makes Walk Day so important. At any given Walk to End Alzheimer’s event, you see a whole spectrum of people. Some are living with the disease. Some are living with someone who is living with the disease. Many have lost someone. Many more are in the process of losing someone as the disease takes hold.
What binds all these people together is hope for a future without Alzheimer’s. That’s why, during the summer, you start to see roadblocks and bake sales, trivia nights, and car washes. To support the Alzheimer’s Association, tens of thousands of Americans put their money, and their muscle, where their mouths are, rolling up their sleeves to raise funds for research, and to support programs that help families living with Alzheimer’s.
And make no mistake — there are a lot of families living with Alzheimer’s. Right now, there are as many as 5.1 million cases in the U.S. alone. And now that the Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 every day, is it any wonder that health officials are predicting Alzheimer’s to be the preeminent health crisis of the 21st Century?
If you have family members over 65, they’re at risk for Alzheimer’s. If they have family members with the disease, their risk doubles. If they are female, their risk triples. This is a disease that affects all of us. And positive thinking only gets us so far. We all want a world without Alzheimer’s, but the world could use your help. Here are four ways you can pitch in.
Collect donations for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Ask your friends. Ask your co-workers. Ask your family. Even if all you get is five bucks, that’s five bucks the cause didn’t have before. Visit Alz.org to find all kinds of online tools to help you “make the ask”.
Host a fundraiser.
Feeling a little more ambitious? Work with your church or service organization to put on a fundraising event. Quarter auctions, walkathons, spaghetti dinners… there are all kinds of ways to turn a little effort into a lot of dollars for Alzheimer’s research. You’ll also find a lot of local businesses who are eager to help support your efforts with donations of materials.
Sign up for TrialMatch.
A relatively new division of the Alzheimer’s Association, TrialMatch helps match volunteers with researchers who are developing new Alzheimer’s treatments. Even if you’re symptom-free, you can still take an active hand in working toward a cure.-
Create a walk team.
The Walk to End Alzheimer’s is coming to Peoria’s Liberty Park on Sunday, October 5. Sign up today at Alz.org. Start reaching out to your friends and family. Show up at the park. Share your hope.
And most importantly: think positively. With a little effort, we can make sure the end of Alzheimer’s starts with us.
Lutheran Hillside Village looks forward to a future without Alzheimer’s, but until then, we work to create homes for older adults with cognitive impairments in our Memory Care neighborhoods. To learn more about how we help seniors with memory issues, visit LutheranHillsideVillage.org or call Ellyn at 309-689-9605.