Japan dementia epidemic

[justntime2learn]

Has dementia been a chronic issue with so many Japanese or is it more of a recent issue?

Japan's dementia epidemic prompts calls to improve missing persons network
AM By North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney
Updated 9 hours 32 minutes ago

Elderly
PHOTO: Police estimates show that roughly 10,000 people with dementia went missing in Japan in 2012. (AAP: file photo)
MAP: Japan
Nearly 5 million people in Japan live with dementia and thousands are going missing from their homes and carers every month.

In Japan's second biggest city, Osaka, Atsuko Hajihata is frantically looking for her missing grandfather Akinori Matsuyama.

For the last several months she has been handing out leaflets on street corners and train stations, asking people to contact her if they see her grandfather.

He walked out of the family home in January and has not been seen since. Ms Hajihata says she is nervous because she thinks he has dementia.


AUDIO: Listen to Matthew Carney's report (AM)
"I still have hope of finding him but I've heard that bodies of drowned people have been found," she said.

"But maybe he's being looked after by people."

Some of the missing turn up in mental institutions or aged care homes.

One unidentified man has been living in a nursing home in Osaka since being rescued from a busy highway two years ago.

He has severe dementia and does not know his name or where he came from. There is no information that can help identify him.

His carer asks "can you remember anything?", but the man does not reply.

The staff at the nursing home have given him the name Taro so he can receive welfare benefits.

They believe he is about 70 and have even given him a fictitious date of birth so they can celebrate his birthday.

I never imagined it and didn't think that he would die. I have regret and feel sorry that I wasn't able to find him.
Kenzo Yohizawa's wife
"Taro is not his real name so staff have mixed feelings about doing this," his carer said.

"[It is] painful to think he'll die without ever being identified."

But tragically many of the missing are found dead.

Kenzo Yohizawa left his home while his wife was preparing dinner. She wrote his name and address on his shoes but Kenzo left in his sandals.

Three weeks later he was found frozen to death beside a river just 500 metres from his home. His wife believed he would return.

"I never imagined it and didn't think that he would die. I have regret and feel sorry that I wasn't able to find him," she said.

Ageing population means dementia problem will grow

It is hard to obtain exact figures of how many people with dementia go missing, but police estimates for 2012 are about 10,000.

Kumiko Nagata works at one of Tokyo's oldest and biggest aged care facilities, and says the problem is going to get much worse.

"In Japan, people over 65 exceed 25 per cent so the number of people missing with dementia will increase rapidly," she said.

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"These days old people aren't living with their families; they often live alone or as elderly couples where both might have dementia. So they don't realise if one goes missing."

There is a network for missing persons but only 10 per cent of local governments are using it.

Most want a new system with much greater co-operation between police and government agencies.

In the meantime, communities are taking matters into their own hands, setting up non-profit groups like Missing Person Search (MPS) on the outskirts of Tokyo.

MPS is run by Hiroshi Tahara, an ex-police officer of 25 years.

"Everybody thinks if you report to the police they will actively search but they only really get involved if there has been an unusual death," he says.

Mr Tahara says the government should develop better registration systems and look at practical ways to stop the crisis.

He wants all dementia sufferers to wear shoes with a GPS function so they can be found quickly

[Omi]

Hi justntime2learn,

Thank you for this post. This caught my interest as I have few friends with family members who suffer from dementia. They are very overwhelming and sad cases, but I didn't know it was this serious.

My heart goes out to those who suffer from this disease, to their family members who give support to the victims with great care and patience, and to the caregivers who shed light onto the issue and the truth to this case.

Love & Light

[justntime2learn]

Hello Mysteria, and thank you for the response, it is sad indeed. It is difficult for Me to feel so much sadness in the world but, I'm getting better balanced:)

Love and Light

[HaulinBananas]

This may be a bigger problem for other countries more than Japan. But, it's an interesting story and it seems that in Japan they do a lot of community organization to tackle problems so this story is great to see how they do that.

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alzheimers-dementia/by-country/

This chart shows that the highest rate of dementia is in Finland, at 34.9 deaths out of 100,000 people and then Iceland, at 25.1 deaths out of 100,000, followed by the third highest rated country with dementia which is the United States, with a rate of 24.8 deaths per 100,000 people by dementia.

Japan is far down the list of populations at risk of dying by dementia as being the 130th country in the ranking chart, with 2.5 deaths out of 100,000 people.

Per someone who has an elderly sister in Japan, and visits there, daycare is available and other services are set up to help families, provided by the government.

Some interesting books to read related to dementia:

This book, Making Rounds with Oscar, described a facility, on the floor for those with a severe stage of dementia, and it is a good real life examination of the effect of dementia on the family members, or at least a very good story of people, humanity, and a pondering of relationships. An enjoyable book, not heavy, but very *human* that makes you grow and feel expanded after reading it.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Nonfiction/Making-Rounds-with-Oscar-Audiobook/B0035A7M30/ref=a_search_c4_1_1_srTtl?qid=1400846375&sr=1-1


Publisher's Summary
Oscar the cat has a very special skill. An otherwise ordinary cat—he'd sooner give you his back or a sideways glance than curl up on your lap—Oscar has the uncanny ability to predict when people are about to die. Adopted by staff members at Steere House nursing home when he was a kitten, the three year-old cat has presided over the deaths of more than twenty-five nursing home residents thus far. His mere presence at the bedside is viewed by physicians and nursing home staff as an almost absolute indicator of impending death – a blessing, really, because it allows staff members to notify families that the end is near. Oscar is highly regarded by the physicians and staff at Steere House and by the families of the residents whom he serves because he provides companionship to those who would otherwise have died alone.

When Dr. David Dosa, an attending physician at Steere House, wrote about Oscar in the New England Journal of Medicine, the response was tremendous, with coverage everywhere from Today to People to CNN. Now Dr. Dosa expands his story, using the cat and the stories of several patients to examine end-of-life care as it exists today. Heartfelt, inspiring and sometimes even funny, it allows readers into a world rarely seen from the outside and often misunderstood.





Grain Brain . . . Basically, if you don’t want to experience dementia, cut out wheat or gluten, or the foods mentioned in this book. Especially if you have a Northern European heritage. If you would like to go into old age and then death without diapers, this is the book for you. Look around at your family, who do you want to be in charge of feeding you, bathing you, taking you to the bathroom . . . none of them? then read this book and change what you eat. If you don’t want to be changing diapers on a family member in the last years of their life, then this is the book for them.

Some science books make my eyes glaze over, but this one was interesting. It's amazing the variety of cases this doctor "cured" by having his patients change their diet. Pretty much, if it has to do with the neurological system, getting rid of things like bread or donuts or noodles and such will help. From strange behaviors to aching knees.

http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_search_tseft?advsearchKeywords=grain+brain+the+surprising+truth+about+wheat&filterby=field-keywords&sprefix=grain+brain


Publisher's Summary
The devastating truth about the effects of wheat, sugar, and carbs on the brain, with a 30-day plan to achieve optimum health.

Renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, blows the lid off a topic that's been buried in medical literature for far too long: carbs are destroying your brain. And not just unhealthy carbs, but even healthy ones like whole grains can cause dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, and much more. Dr. Perlmutter explains what happens when the brain encounters common ingredients in your daily bread and fruit bowls, why your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol, and how you can spur the growth of new brain cells at any age.

He offers an in-depth look at how we can take control of our "smart genes" through specific dietary choices and lifestyle habits, demonstrating how to remedy our most feared maladies without drugs. With a revolutionary 30-day plan, Grain Brain teaches us how we can reprogram our genetic destiny for the better.

==

And, finally, your brain needs fat as is explained in The Big Fat Surprise. Saturated fat is not bad for you and the actual science is shown why, using the original data that was misused. The actual original source of that idea was a pet theory by one scientist with a strong personality and who gamed the data by only looking where data would support his theory, and ignoring or misinterpreting data that went against his theory. His original study was published (in the 50s?), then cited over and over again, and that set a snowball rolling that became an avalanche of misinformation on the effects of saturated fat in human bodies and health, which then supported the vegetable oil industry, which resulted in dietary changes based on wrong recommendations, which then resulted in increased heart attacks and strokes and cancer. This book details how scientists got it wrong, due to egos and then once the system was set up (including the AHA, American Heart Association, along with other vested interests) then it became a matter of funding, preservation of status and turf, and politics and maintaining power positions and the economic system that was created. This book goes over the personalities, histories and goes back to the data, showing where they were misinterpreted, fudged, and recovers data that was inconvenient to the pet theory and thus was buried and tells in story form how the United States population was lied to and shows what really happened and what the study data really says. It all boils down to money.

Because this book is written in a chronological examination, it comes through as a story of how science was corrupted. The author interviews those scientists that were still alive at the time she was researching this and you see how personalities and vested interests got things to the state they are in.

After reading this book, it makes you wonder how many lives have been lost or families affected by illness and death due to people getting the opposite information they should have gotten just so some people could have status or power or money. Surely more deaths due to heart attacks or strokes or cancer have happened because people didn't eat what their bodies needed than we have lost in wars.

http://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/The-Big-Fat-Surprise-Audiobook/B00JXQUY4E


Publisher's Summary
Dish up the red meat, eggs, and whole milk! In this well-researched and captivating narrative, veteran food writer Nina Teicholz proves how everything we've been told about fat is wrong.

For decades, Americans have cut back on red meat and dairy products full of "bad" saturated fats. We obediently complied with nutritional guidelines to eat "heart healthy" fats found in olive oil, fish, and nuts, and followed a Mediterranean diet heavy on fruits, vegetables, and grains. Yet the nation's health has declined. What is going on?

In The Big Fat Surprise, Teicholz reveals how 60 years of nutrition science has gotten it so wrong: how overzealous researchers have made basic scientific mistakes that, through a mix of ego and bias, allow dangerous misrepresentations to become dogma, and how scientists who dared oppose this consensus have been ostracized. For eight years, Teicholz has pored over the massive research literature and interviewed hundreds of leading experts to unravel the shockingly distorted claims of nutrition studies. She brings these researchers to life and shows how their ambitions, loyalties, and rivalries have undermined a field of research already full of difficult pitfalls.

With a lively narrative style akin to Michael Pollan's in The Omnivore's Dilemma and the scientific rigor of Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories, Teicholz convincingly upends the conventional wisdom about all fats. Her groundbreaking claim is that more dietary fat leads to better health, wellness, and fitness. Science shows that reducing the saturated fat in our diets has been disastrous for our health as a nation, and we can, guilt-free, welcome these "whole fats" back into our lives.

[sirdipswitch]

Thanks Banana!!! cc.

Reminds me of when I was just a little twerp, and Momma, would use nothin but Bacon grease for cooking. And Daddy would get downright "voiciferous", with the Butcher, if he started to cut the Fat off of his steaks. ccc.

And we wuz never sick!!! cc.

[justntime2learn]

Hi, and thank you HaulinBananas, *Human* is a wonderful thing in a book:) and I watch what I eat fairly close;)

http://youtu.be/eN4XICOyRb8

[Lifebringer]

Gee, do you think it's fukishima's radiation, effecting the elderly's brains? Seems the increases happened after 311? That means if the west coast is irradiated, we can expect more tea people, popping off. I also was wondering with their dismantling of HAARP, if perhaps they've reached "portable flying craft with HAARP aboard?" They had a picture in a link posted here, and with the question of "ufo flying with a craft" in the search. The backround clouds look as if they are spinning from a rear vibrational votexing energy weapon, as the clouds are spiraling facing the plane. Maybe our friends were interfering with the cabal's unleashing deadly weather to punish nations that are stopping their grip? It feels that way. Lots of rumors of arrests, and blackmail to get votes circulating of Senator's sick wives, and other stuff. It's getting nasty out there politically, and heads are beginning to roll/step down.

[The Truth Is In There]

if nothing "end-times-like" happens in the next years i predict that most of the current "cell phone generation" will already suffer from dementia in their 40s and 50s, perhaps earlier.

[mahalall]

The phrase mad as a hatter is likely a reference to mercury poisoning among milliners (so-called "mad hatter disease"), as mercury-based compounds were once used in the manufacture of felt hats in the 18th and 19th century. Research conducted at the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine found that exposure to mercury caused the formation of "neurofibrillar tangles," which are one of the two diagnostic markers for Alzheimer's disease.

Consumption of whale and dolphin meat, as is the practice in Japan, is a source of high levels of mercury poisoning. Tetsuya Endo, a professor at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, has tested whale meat purchased in the whaling town of Taiji and found mercury levels more than 20 times the acceptable Japanese standard
xRcEfErT0PE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/04/07/alzheimers-mercury.aspx

[HaulinBananas]

Again, if you compare Japan's numbers to other countries, such as the United States for example, they are in far better shape health-wise than the people in the USA:

http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/world-health-review/japan-vs-united-states

TOTAL DEATHS BY CAUSE
PERCENT TOP 50 CAUSES

Japan: 18th (cause of death out of 50) Alzheimers/Dementia
United States: 2nd (cause of death out of 50) Alzheimers/Dementia

Japan: 10,424 deaths 1.16% (percent of the Japanese population)

United States: 172,765 deaths 8.30% (percent of the USA population)

Of course, if you look at one small region or one fraction of a population that is severely affected due to location, environment, behaviors, food, etc. a very skewed result will be seen. But to take that very small affected population and then say the entire country, or race, or whatever affiliation is represented by that very small group can result in either disinformation or misinformation.

The population of the USA, with ~ 8 out of 100 people dying with dementia should be a lot more concerned than someone in Japan with ~ 1 person out of 100 dying of dementia.

Titles of articles or threads can misdirect a reader's thinking. If you go back to the original referenced article, the main theme of the article was the organization (boots on the ground type) of people to mobilize in order to better coordinate the search and finding of missing people.

Yet the word "Epidemic" can mislead a reader into focusing on another aspect entirely. And, if in Japan 1 person out of 100 dies of dementia, while in America 8 out 100 people die of dementia, then the word "Epidemic" as a title is pure bull****.

We should always be working on improving our thinking skills.