Does Embroidery Help Ward off Dementia?

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by SeaOfGrass

My mom was concerned about it and would play computer games a lot. It seems like that would help, but I don't know. I see the other comments about needing to learn something new. She made it to her mid-80s before it overcame her.



Yes, that definitely seems to be true. My mom was "holding on" at home until her home suffered some damage and we had to temporarily (we thought) move her out. Within the week that followed, she began deteriorating drastically and continually and was never the same again. It happens very quickly.

I feel the same way you do, OP; I'm kind of concerned about it myself.

Near the end, my mom started suffering macular degeneration while my dad started with the dementia.

The advanced conditions lead to them being together in an Assisted Living facility. That went pretty well until my mom started to suffer what I would call a loss of her spirit aka will to live, to have purpose.

This soon landed her into a nursing home for "temporary" recovery. She luckily made it back to live with my dad at the Assisted Living facility. Then my mom had a reoccurrence of cancer and bile duct shunt situation that lead to a risky surgery to fix that. The surgery did not go well and she had a steady decline over the next few months which lead to her passing in a hospice situation within the nursing home.

Then my dad was in the Assisted Living facility by himself when his dementia really started to kick in hard and they could no longer keep him as he was starting to walk away from the facility and walk down the road in an attempt to "walk back home to find Mom."

So my dad was accepted at this nursing home, but in the "Autumn" wing, or Alzheimer's or dementia ward. He lived another 3 years with the advancement of those dementia symptoms.

But going back to the advancement of the dementia, which seems to be the topic of the thread. My dad used to love to do the crosswords every day and kept a huge dictionary besides his chair to help him do so. This quickly phased out when the condition came upon him.

Did the one cause the onset of the other or did the other cause the end of the one?

[stephenMM]

Often, dementia starts when we're in our 40's, sometimes even before that. It's very slow to "blossom", so we may not even notice it's progressing until it becomes obvious. There is nothing that can be done to keep from getting it, it's a physiological problem at the cellular level.

Doesn't hurt to keep our mind active w/ problem solving, new situations, new experiences etc that will help keep our mind sharp. I doubt embroidery would help, but, often the conversation and interaction w/ others while we do things is stimulating to our minds and of more therapeutic help than the task itself.