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Weakness, Diabetes, Dementia: A Common Link?

My father will be coming home from the hospital any day. He went last week because he was so weak that he could barely move after he fell. He's doing better, but he'll need round-the-clock supervision. Dad has the impression that he's stronger than he is. I was with him during a visit with a psychiatrist, who saw him because he said he was going to call a taxi and leave. Dad said he thought he was at a bank. He drew a good clock, but put the wrong time on it. He did well on other questions, such as the date, the president, and his personal history, but last night, he kept saying that my mother was at the hospital. She wasn't, and has no way of getting there on her own.

When Dad comes home, he'll find some new furniture, some technology to help him, and someone besides Mom to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. What he won't find is a bunch of junk food. I took home four trash bags full of chips, crackers, cookies, pretzels, potato mix, gravy mix, cake mix, cornbread mix, macaroni and cheese mix, oatmeal, sugar and grapes. I suspected my mother has been indulging in this carbage more than she's admitted when she said, "You didn't leave us anything to eat!" I did remove most of the food from the kitchen, if you don't count oils, spices, and anything else you wouldn't just pop in your mouth.

Maybe this is a major reason Dad doesn't feel good.


Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't decide for my parents what to eat. But my father is losing his mind, There is evidence that Alzheimer's disease (a type of dementia) can be helped with ketones; the disease is commonly called, even in scientific literature, "type 3 diabetes." Dad wasn't diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, but getting rid of the junk food may help him and it won't hurt him. It will help my mother, too, since she says that having junk food around is like living in a crack house. 

Even the doctor said Dad should be on a low carb diet because of his diabetes. That will be helpful when I ask neighbors to please quit bringing my parents high-carb food. I'm going to bring them coconut oil in the hope that it will help my father. The video below is about Mary Newport, a physician who helped her husband's Alzheimer's with coconut oil based on a study she found that used medium-chain triglycerides, which are often derived from coconut oil.


Comments

Galina L. said…
I remember reading, that many people who have early signs of dementia, may experience a sudden worsening of their symptoms in an unusual environment, like hospital, or while visiting relatives. It could be possibly the reason why your dad became more demented .
I noticed it in my grandma who started to act in a hospital like 100% insane person while being sort-of demented at home. In her case that change was permanent.
Lori Miller said…
That's exactly what the doctor said and I'm glad you reminded me. Unfortunately, my parents' insurance might not cover home care. I don't know what we're going to do.
Lori Miller said…
I also made my mom a batch of ginger pokies (made with Splenda) from 500 paleo recipes by Dana Carpender. Wow, they were good! And I hate regular ginger snaps--it's like trying to eat a clay pigeon.
Galina L. said…
I think you would better stock them with more food choices than ginger snaps, or they would find an opportunity to re-stock their pantry with carbage again because it is the familiar food.
I guess, frozen and ready to steam veggies, caned LC soups, caned fish and meat, packs of hot dogs, kielbasa, yogurt, nuts could prevent your parents from attempts to acquire some usual for them food. Shaved almonds with yogurt sort-of remind of cereal. Eggs are the easiest food to make, but the people from an older generation often think somehow that eggs are supposed to be used sparingly.
.
Lori Miller said…
I brought them some coconut milk, frozen veg and berries also; they have canned fish and plenty of meat. Nuts protein powder, too. I made my mom some "cereal" out of flax, nuts and coconut, but I don't think she liked it very well.

I'm hoping that with the convenient carbage gone, they'll dig out some real food.

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