Senior Safety Winter

Senior Home Safety during Winter

Jennifer Kem Life Transitions, quality placement for senior, Senior Living Tips, Winter Safety Tips

Home Safety Winter We need to be aware for our loved ones about Senior Home Safety especially during the Winter months. Here is a quick guide to help you keep your senior loved one safe. Outside Snow: It may surprise you to know that Property owners or tenants are responsible for shoveling the snow and removing ice from in front of their homes! This may be tough for our senior loved ones. Check in with neighbors who might lend a hand. Some elderly home owners or people with disabilities may have physical challenges or risk injury in the snow and ice. There are groups in your local church who offer aide to members and non-members. Keep your footing:  Don’t Slip! Walking in the winter can be tough stay safe and read these tips for Safe Footing Downed Trees: Keep trees trimmed away from your home. These could break during wind storms or under heavy snow or ice and could damage your home.  Report downed trees to the city where you live. In Portland dial 503-823-T-R-E-E   Indoors Local fire departments report an uptick in families using space heaters to keep rooms warm. First, stay safe when heating rooms in your home.  Be cautious when using …

arkbh.com alcoholic effects on the brain encephalopathy

Wernicke Korsakoff Syndrome – What happens when you heavily drink?

LaVona Tomberlin End of Life Issues, Life Transitions, Senior Living Tips

What happens when you drink heavily? Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome is a serious issue for our parents who heavily imbibe now or were heavy drinkers earlier in their life. Basically Wernicke can level out but it does not completely go away.  Korsakoff is the second part of a two part syndrome and it changes the gait of their walk and weakens them to the point that they are very wobbly and unstable while standing.  This is when alcohol effects have really taken the body and this part rarely goes away.  The syndrome together is the effect of alcohol damage to the brain and is terminal. Drinking alone does not cause it.  Excessive drinking over a prolonged time is the cause. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome (WKS) is one name for 2 conditions that often happen together. Wernicke is encephalopathy and it is often accompanied by Korsakoff syndrome. It is thought to be different stages of the same disease. A deficit of vitamin B1 or thiamine is the culprit. Thiamine or vitamin B1 helps the brain turn sugar to energy. When there is a deficit of this vitamin the brain does not function well. It typically comes on suddenly and immediate treatment is needed. Symptoms include …