In the News

Study: Active Lifestyle Appears to Delay Memory Loss

According to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health, researchers have found evidence that an active social life may delay the rate of memory decline in older Americans. The study, which appears in the July 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, fits with previous studies that have suggested that those who have an active life have a lower incidence of both dementia and cognitive decline, conditions for which memory loss is a risk factor.

Notably, the researchers were able to discount the possibility that the effects could be due to reverse causation—memory decline itself causing social withdrawal. They also pointed to previous studies and data that show lower mortality rates for those with many social ties, and noted the massive and increasing public health burden laid on society by memory loss and dementia in the population of older Americans. "We need to understand more about how social integration reduces the risk of memory decline in order to target interventions that can help slow the decline," said one researcher, according to the Harvard press release on the study. "Future research should focus on identifying the specific aspects of social integration most important for preserving memory." Read More

Policy Update

California Paid Sick Leave Bill Passes Assembly

Several months ago, California Assemblywoman Fiona Ma introduced a bill (AB 2716) that would allow all workers in the state to accrue paid sick days for personal illness, to care for a sick family member or to recover from domestic violence or assault. The bill would guarantee workers at small businesses up to 40 hours or 5 days a year of paid sick leave, and other workers 72 hours or 9 paid sick days a year. The City of San Francisco broke ground when it enacted a paid sick days law in 2006.

The bill has been working its way through the legislative process—it was recently approved by the California State Assembly and now moves to the Senate, where it is scheduled to be heard this month. Share your support for this important legislation for caregivers by calling your State Senator or click on the link below! Read More

Here's an action alert link for you to contact your representatives.

Gingrich and O'Connor Join Forces on Alzheimer's Issue

In what some may see as an unlikely alliance, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has joined forces with former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease, particularly the need for funding for research and for caregivers. The former justice's recent appearance before a Senate Special Committee on Aging offered a glimpse into her private life as the primary caregiver for her husband, John O'Connor, who has Alzheimer's disease.

Also at the hearing was former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called for a "national strategy" to aggressively attack the disease, stressing the need for funding for research as well as for family caregivers. He noted that while death rates for big killers such as heart disease, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and strokes have declined in recent years, Alzheimer's deaths have spiked upwards at an alarming rate (an increase of 45% between 2000 and 2005).

Gingrich's argument has aspects that appeal to conservatives and liberals alike—according to the Houston Chronicle, he told the committee that "the United States spends more than $150 billion a year to care for Alzheimer's patients, an amount that will increase to more than $1 trillion a year by 2050 in today's dollars, more than one-tenth of the U.S. annual economy... If scientists could find a way to delay the onset of Alzheimer's by five years, billions of Medicare and Medicaid dollars could be saved." Read More

To subscribe or unsubscribe to California Caregiver, please visit www.californiacrc.org/californiacrc/jsp/newsletter/registration.jsp