Wi-Fi Tablets for Elderly People
According to http://www.alz.org/facts/ , a new American develops Alzheimer’s disease every 67 seconds. It is believed that close to 5.5 million people will have this terrible disease in 2015, with over 5 million of them being 65 years old and older.
It has been estimated that within the next ten years, there will be more than 7 million people affected by Alzheimer’s disease, as the number of US citizens aged over 65 continues to grow. In the US, about two thirds of the affected people are women.
It’s not a surprise that under these circumstances, more and more elderly people, especially the ones that have Alzheimer’s and an early-stage dementia, are interested in finding out what are some of the easiest, least confusing ways of accessing their emails and the Internet, for example.
The first idea is to use tablets built especially for seniors. And while there are various tablets that could do the job, it may be an even better idea to use a tablet that was built for elderly people from the very beginning. A good tablet example, along with a detailed review, can be found here. That particular tablet is in fact a Google Nexus, but its operating system has been specifically tweaked to match the interests and abilities of the elderly.
It’s a bit surprising, but the mentioned tablet – GrandPad – comes with a full, unlimited 4G data plan from Verizon, so there’s no need to use a router and/or have internet access. Of course, if the signal is weak, a router, especially one with an antenna cable adapter and a high gain antenna like these could be a more than welcome addition, as it is usually a one-time setup device, and then it can do its job for many years in a row.
It is important to know that the GrandPad doesn’t have a web browser. I can understand that this will reduce the risks of getting the tablet infected with viruses and/or other forms of malware, but many seniors are interested in accessing the web through a browser and even use Google every now and then. This could be a problem for some people, but it may go unnoticed for others.
One more thing: the tablet is insured, so if its owner loses it or breaks it, he or she will get a replacement for free. At $60 per month it’s not a cheap tablet, but the good news is that it won’t force anyone into long-term contracts. And when you factor in the unlimited 4G data plan, the price starts to seem very reasonable.
read morePreventing Alzheimer’s disease
As with many other diagnostics that people receive, there are many things that can be done in order to prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. This disease is currently getting a lot of the specialists’ attention, because at this point there isn’t an available cure for it. Nevertheless, as the number of people that are diagnosed with Alzheimer is getting bigger and bigger every year, there are countless efforts directed toward finding a cure, or at least delaying its onset. The good news is that after several years of research, analyzing the patients and their symptoms, there are several things that can be done in order to prevent (or at least delay) the very first signs of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is responsible for about half of the dementia cases which are diagnosed every year. And out of these cases, about forty percent are persons diagnosed with vascular dementia.
All the specialists agree that the brain needs to be constantly stimulated; when this happens, the risk of suffering from the Alzheimer’s disease is diminished a lot. There are some factors, like the genes, which are out of our control, of course, but still there are many other aspects which we can influence in a positive way, thus helping our brain fight this terrible disease.
A healthy brain is a result of regular physical exercise, a healthy diet, a stimulating environment, good sleeping, a healthy way of managing stress and an active social life. When a person starts targeting each and every one of these six aspects, there are big chances for the brain to function well, keeping dementia at bay.
Regular physical exercise is responsible for reducing the stress levels in the body, improving the general mood of the person, improving the memory functions and increasing the energy levels. Statistics show clearly that exercise reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s by fifty percent, which is a huge number. In fact, physical exercise can prove to be useful even when cognitive deteriorations have already occurred; the brain will actually start to work better due to the special physical exercises.
There are special gymnastics programs especially designed for older people, or persons that have not been doing exercises at all. This means that no one should be afraid of starting to exercise on a regular basis. People that are interested in helping their brain work better should try to do about thirty aerobic exercises, five times a week. Gardening, cleaning or simply doing the laundry in the house are also useful and can count as physical exercises. Weight and resistance training has proved to be very useful for the brain at any age; people older than 65 should add two strength classes to their weekly physical program.
Changing the diet may also prove to be useful. Specialists advise to opt for the Mediterranean diet, which means that you should add fish, nuts, whole grains, olive oil and a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables to your daily diet. Trans fats and saturated fats are to be completely avoided. Add omega-3 fats and drink green tea, as it has proved to be directly related to memory boosting and alertness. White and oolong teas are also very good for the health of your brain. Specialists have discovered that the glial cells in the brain should be protected as much as possible; their role is to remove the debris and toxins. Ginger, green tea, fat fish, soy beans and blueberries play a very important role in protecting the glial cells in the brain.
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