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Nutritionally
Speaking

By Barbara Beznos, RD/LD/N
Integrated Nutrition, LLC

Cancer Survivors
Can Reduce Stress
With Program

ALZHEIMER’S
DISEASE PART 1

T

(Named for Dr. Alois Alzheimer)

Alzheimer’s
disease affects
not only
individuals
but their
families. It is not a normal part
of aging. This disease involves
learning problems, loss of memory,
irritability, changes of personality,
anxiety, and disorientation. It is a
disease of dependency on others
due to concentration problems and
FRPPXQLFDWLRQGLIÀFXOWLHV

What Is Dementia?

Alzheimer’s disease is the most
common cause of dementia in people
aged 60 and older. Alzheimer’s is a
primary degenerative dementia that
increases with age. It involves plaque
and “grandovascular” problems
within the brain. Speaking and
writing are a challenge. Compulsive
behaviors need monitoring.
This disease involves neuron
death, which reduces the volume of
the brain. It has a 20-year span and
can cause mood swings, immobility,
malnutrition, culinary problems, and
infections

Dementia affects:

 Men & women
 Families (runs in families)
 Lobes of the brain
(frontal and temporal)
 Interaction with people
 Decision-making
 Problem-solving
 Movement
 Language
 Understanding
 Speech
 Behavior
 Judgment
 Intelligence
 Memory
 Communication
 Ability to learn
 Body functions
 Can occur in 40-70’s

Photos by Irv Goldfein

What Is
Alzheimer’s
Disease?

Barry and Barbara Skarf of Southfield studying chavruta-style

Limmud Michigan

Learners flock to Ann Arbor for full day of
Jewish learning.

Barbara Lewis | Contributing Writer

Ann Arbor

T

he inaugural Limmud
Michigan was a resounding
success, offering more than
50 learning opportunities in one day,
March 13, at the Michigan Union in
Ann Arbor. Each of the 435 regis-
trants — some who came from as far
away as Grand Rapids and Petoskey
— could attend up to five sessions,
all led by volunteers.
Jonathan Berger, rabbi-in-residence
at Hillel Day School in Farmington
Hills, said the diversity of the pre-
senters and attendees exemplified the
idea that there are “70 faces to the
Torah.”

Wendy Robins of Huntington
Woods said she learned a lot and was
only sorry she couldn’t attend more
of the sessions. “The energy around
so many Jews gathering for a day of
learning was exhilarating,” she said.
Susannah Goodman of Detroit said
the event got her out of her “Jewish
bubble.”
“It was refreshing to meet the wide
variety of people that make up our
broader community,” she said.
Organizers Irv Goldfein, a pro-
ducer of Jewish educational media
from Southfield, and Sue Birnholtz, a
retired teacher from Sylvan Lake, and
a volunteer steering committee are
already planning the 2017 Limmud
Michigan. Learn more at www.
limmudmichigan.org.

*

Contact Barb At:

Integrated Nutrition, L.L.C.

31731 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 105 E
Farmington Hills, Mi 48334

Phone:
(248) 538-8050

E-Mail:
rds@integratednutrition.com
Web:
www.integratednutrition.com

2056900

16 March 24 • 2016

At a study session: (front) Murray and Linda
Baruch of West Bloomfield, and Polina
Fradkin of Farmington Hills.

Morning check-in at Limmud Michigan
in Ann Arbor

he Beaumont Health Center in
Royal Oak offers Silver Linings,
an eight-week, mindfulness-
based stress reduction program for
female cancer survivors and women at
high risk of developing cancer.
The spring workshop will help them
learn how to reduce stress with tools
that include meditation, gentle yoga,
mindful eating and communication.
The program also addresses concerns
common to women who have survived
any type of cancer, such as fear of
recurrence and changes in relation-
ships and body image.
While there is no charge for Silver
Linings, space is limited and registra-
tion is required. Registration is open to
all women, regardless of the hospital
where they received cancer treatment. All
interested participants must attend
an information/registration meeting
Tuesday, March 29, or Wednesday, March
30, at the Beaumont Health Center, 4949
Coolidge Highway, Royal Oak. The two-
hour meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The spring class will meet on
Wednesdays, April 6-May 25, from 5:30-
8 p.m. at the Beaumont Health Center in
Royal Oak. A day-long class on Saturday,
May 14, is also part of the program.
Participants must be 18 years or older
and have completed their cancer treat-
ments. Those interested in the program
should contact Pam Jablonski at (248)
551-4645 or Pamela.Jablonski@beau-
mont.org. More information on Silver
Linings can be found at bit.ly/1Q8BLbE.
The program was developed by and
is led by Ruth Lerman, M.D., an experi-
enced, certified teacher of mindfulness-
based stress reduction (MBSR). She is
a breast health specialist and a cancer
survivor since 1994.
Participants will also receive four
recordings to facilitate their home practice.
A research team from Oakland
University and Beaumont Health com-
pleted a randomized, controlled study of
Silver Linings in September 2010. Their
work was published in the September
2011 Annals of Surgical Oncology.
“Our research has shown program
participants experience an improved
quality of life,” Lerman said. “Participants
in the study improved in psychological
symptoms and cancer symptoms. Other
research has shown MBSR improves
markers of immunity and inflammation,
which may decrease the likelihood of
new and recurrent cancers.”
More than 300 women have benefit-
ed from Silver Linings training since
2005.

*

