Speaker 1
Good Saturday morning to everybody. Welcome to your next chapter, a production of The Heights at Avery Heights, a one-of-a-kind senior living community, centrally located near the most entertaining and historical spots in Connecticut. It is never too late to grow and enjoy new realms of the mind and heart.

Speaker 1
Your next chapter delves deep into topics that will improve the way that we think about aging, about senior living and the retirement years. Along with the Heights Senior Living Specialist, Siobhan Mattingly. I’m Gary Byron.

Speaker 1
Hey, Siobhan. Nice to see you. Good to see you.

Speaker 1
Good morning. Good morning. How was your week?

Speaker 1
I already know what you’re going to say. I already know what you’re going to say. Don’t even say it.

Speaker 1
It was okay. Yeah. Well, that’s not what you say.

Speaker 1
Come on. Now you’re playing with me. I should have just said it.

Speaker 2
You said it.

Speaker 1
No, you bet you had a great week. I did. Yeah.

Speaker 1
I did. Now you’re in a week. This is Memorial Day weekend.

Speaker 1
Yes. This is your big weekend over at the Heights, huh? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1
So a quick recap. I know you went into detail last Saturday morning. Yes.

Speaker 1
What are some of the festivities going on this weekend?

Speaker 2
So actually yesterday we had our Memorial Day ceremony. We did it at around 345, so it was right before our social hour. We had taps were played.

Speaker 2
We also had the chaplain come and say a prayer. And then we also had some guest speakers as well, including Bill, our director. So it was great.

Speaker 2
Yeah. Nice. Yeah.

Speaker 2
Good turnout. Beautiful day.

Speaker 1
A lot of families.

Speaker 2
Yes. Yeah. It was a beautiful day. It’s always very heartfelt.

Speaker 1
I was going to ask you that next. How emotional is this time of year for a lot of the residents at the Heights?

Speaker 2
It is. And I think all of our veterans events, whether the veterans event we did for Veterans Day, I know that Jimmy J. actually went around and shook many different hands that day. In uniform, too.

Speaker 2
I was there, yeah. And there was some emotion there. And, you know, bimonthly we do our kind of our honoring ceremony for our veteran that’s on our wall.

Speaker 2
But there’s always tears, you know, because, again, this is, I’ve mentioned before, this is the time when, you know, a lot of these veterans haven’t been acknowledged for years. You know, and, you know, their service was, you know, we have a gentleman that just turned 104. Wow.

Speaker 2
You know, so he’s, yeah, he’s seen a lot of stuff. Actually, I was looking up the stuff that he’s seen. The Hindenburg, World War II, different things like that.

Speaker 2
Not the Titanic. I thought maybe it seemed, but that was too soon. No, not at 100 too bright.

Speaker 1
But, yeah, all those.

Speaker 2
104, but that’s like, he’s seen a lot, and he’s got all his own teeth.

Speaker 1
Well, that in itself is quite a feeling.

Speaker 2
And they look really good. Is that right? They look really good, yeah.

Speaker 2
Yeah, he’s really funny. We actually sang happy birthday to him, and it was hysterical, because you know me, I’m a clown. So I was just like, aren’t we going to do the thing?

Speaker 2
You know, you do for little kids. Are you one? Are you two?

Speaker 2
Are you three? Nobody was on board.

Speaker 1
I was like, yeah, that’d be a long version of that.

Speaker 2
But I told him next year, he was laughing. I said, next year we’re doing it. Because if he makes it to 105, he deserves that.

Speaker 1
I can only imagine the stories that he can share. And he looks amazing.

Speaker 2
A firsthand account of it. Yeah. And he looks amazing.

Speaker 2
He actually wrote a book. He actually was honored at the old state house. Not the old state house.

Speaker 2
Capitol. Capitolville. Oh, really?

Speaker 2
Yeah, as he should be. Yeah, he actually wrote a book. he speaks at libraries and this guy, I mean, you would think he’s maybe 70.

Speaker 2
You definitely wouldn’t say, ah, he’s 105 or 104.

Speaker 1
Doesn’t look a day over 70.

Speaker 2
I’m telling you, he’s got all his teeth and that fascinates me. Every time I talk to him, I’m staring at his teeth.

Speaker 1
He’s the Martha Stewart.

Speaker 2
Yes.

Speaker 1
Yeah.

Speaker 2
Yes. Yes. Yes, exactly.

Speaker 2
He’s, it’s amazing to me. And he’s, and you can have great conversations with them. He’s, he’s just, he had one of those old time hats on, uh, barbershop hats.

Speaker 2
Uh, yeah. On his birthday. It was pretty funny.

Speaker 2
probably from like back in the day when they did

Speaker 1
Barbershop. What a spitfire. I’d like to meet this guy.

Speaker 2
Oh my gosh, you’re going to love him. You and him will just and he’s got this voice and his stories are like, what is his name? Jimmy Durante. He’s got that voice.

Speaker 2
Oh yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 2
I adore him. I’m so glad he moved in. I was like, I’ve got to have him move in.

Speaker 1
Very well. Yes. I’m a little excited about this.

Speaker 1
I got to meet him myself here. You know what I’m excited about? We’ve got a repeat guest. Last time she was in studio, I know she’s on the phone this time, but it’s always a treat when we get to talk to her.

Speaker 1
She’s the Director of Communications at Alzheimer’s Association, the Connecticut chapter in New England, Research Champion. I say we bring her on. Yes.

Speaker 1
It’s a name I know a lot of our listeners will be familiar with. Kristen Casado. Kristen, good morning.

Speaker 1
Hello. Thanks so much for having me. Thanks for coming.

Speaker 1
Thanks for agreeing to come back. I guess all went well the last time we had you on. Indeed.

Speaker 1
I still can’t believe that was September. It felt like just a couple, two, three months ago.

Speaker 2
We’re coming in to repeat guests. The show is, yeah. Wow.

Speaker 2
We’ve made it. We’ve made it. It’s like Hollywood.

Speaker 2
We’ve made it.

Speaker 1
What have you been up to since the last time that we chatted? Last time that we talked, I think we were doing, you were talking about an Alzheimer’s walk, right?

Speaker 3
Yes, there were six walks in the fall. So I was probably talking about how people can get involved. And I’d love to come back and talk about that.

Speaker 3
You know, that’s happening again this fall. It sticks across the state, but we have some other things I think we want to talk about today as well. Sure.

Speaker 1
And I know that we had your organization, like I said, on in our program before, but how about this? Let’s start with this. Maybe just a brief overview of what the Alzheimer’s Association does. And actually, if you could add, how it services the community.

Speaker 3
Right. So we’re a nonprofit. We’re the Alzheimer’s Association Connecticut Chapter, and we’re part of the national organization of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Speaker 3
And we provide services and support groups and education classes and awareness to people in need for free. I mean, this is a disease that affects so many. Right now, we’ve got about 80,000 people in Connecticut living with Alzheimer’s and twice as many caregivers.

Speaker 3
And then there’s a lot of people who are concerned about the disease and worried about what they can do now to potentially, you know, save it off for themselves. So we talk a lot about how to communicate with people with the disease, how to know the 10 signs, also how to keep your brain healthy and what kinds of things you can do for that. So that’s all free.

Speaker 3
And then we also have different events, like we have a lobby day at the Capitol and we have the longest day fundraising and the walk fundraising. and we just do a lot to make sure that people know that they’re not alone and we have a lot of activities for people who have the disease as well which we’re going to talk about because it’s really important at no matter what stage that you’re in that you stay really socially and as cognitively stimulated as you can. All right so for the purposes of today’s show we’re

Speaker 1
going to focus on the early onset of Alzheimer’s. So what is considered early onset and then what are the signs and how does this even get diagnosed? Yeah. So really, you talk about Alzheimer’s

Speaker 3
disease, right? And we are the Alzheimer’s Association, but we deal with all dementias. And there are different types of dementia. So dementia is the umbrella term of symptom that you have. And then the biological changes in the brain are from things like Alzheimer’s disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, FTD, frontotemporal, what Bruce Willis has.

Speaker 3
So there are different types that cause all those symptoms. So we deal with all forms of dementia and help folks. Most of the people are diagnosed over the age of 65. However, when people are diagnosed younger than that, it’s a younger onset. And early is kind of early in the process, right? It’s when you’re having some of those issues of forgetting names of important people.

Speaker 3
And I’m not talking about, oh, gosh, who is that person? Who is that? Who is that? And then it

Speaker 1
comes to you. That happens to me. Of course, right? Names of people who are close to you,

Speaker 3
you know, your grandchildren, or mistaking one person for another. Or I like to say, having your keys in your hand, not necessarily losing them, but not knowing what they do. What do these do?

Speaker 3
What does this do? So it’s kind of a processing disease. Some of the hallmarks are amyloid and tau, which are, you know, biological changes in the brain, biomarkers.

Speaker 3
And essentially, you know, your brain, unfortunately, on this disease, does atrophy. So, you know, you kind of lose more and more things that you’re able to do, lose more and more function as it goes on. So we like to have folks who say, you know, go get diagnosed early.

Speaker 3
So if there’s a memory concern in your family for you or your loved one, write some things down, go on our website, ALZ.org, find out about the 10 signs, call your doctor, and then make sure to rule out anything else because to throw something else into the mix, there could be things that mimic dementia, right? Like if there’s a B12 deficiency or thyroid issues or depression or if you’ve had a medication mix-up. So make sure that’s all settled.

Speaker 3
And then you may have to go through and say, all right, well, let’s do some cognitive tests with the doctor. And then you may go to a neurologist and they’ll find out more. It used to be just that you were diagnosed with this on autopsy.

Speaker 3
but now there are ways that you can actually see those buildup of plaques in a live brain and other ways as well but what’s cool and i’ll stop talking because i know i’m rambling is that there’s new research in ways to detect so now there’s going to be more hopefully hopefully we’ll get to a blood test that will help detect these more retinal scans really cool stuff happening in the eyes so there’s a lot of interesting stuff going on do we know what causes this? So there are a couple of things, right? The greatest risk factors age, unfortunately.

Speaker 3
Then you’ve got, if people have some sort of other issues medically, like a diabetes or high blood pressure, it’s really important to keep those numbers in check. African-Americans are two times more likely to get this disease. Latinos, one and a half times more likely, because in fact, some of those populations present with some of these preexisting conditions.

Speaker 3
Diabetes, for example. There are, if you have one copy of this certain gene, you’re at a little bit of a greater risk. But if you have two copies, you could be at more of a risk.

Speaker 3
If you have it in your direct bloodline, for example, my mother had the disease, I’m at a greater risk. But it doesn’t mean I’ve got it. And then we learn other things like women.

Speaker 3
It’s a very women-centric disease. Two-thirds of those with the disease are women. Two-thirds of the caregivers are women as well.

Speaker 3
And there’s research into why is that, finding that women’s and men’s brains actually treat this disease and process the disease differently.

Speaker 1
You brought up age a moment ago, and I’m going to stick to people that are public figures that people can identify with. Bruce Willis, he’s not old. Robin Williams, who had the Lewy body dimension, And he wasn’t terribly old neither. And these are severe forms.

Speaker 3
It’s not just an old person’s disease. My mother was diagnosed at 61. She probably had symptoms since she was about 58.

Speaker 3
We know people who are 49 with this disease. It doesn’t discriminate, unfortunately. So what?

Speaker 1
Go ahead. No, no, no. Please continue. I just follow up questions. But no, I want you to continue.

Speaker 3
I just think that it’s good to think about things that you can do to try to reduce your risk. And that’s all the things we want to talk about and like to talk about in June and Alzheimer’s and brain awareness. There are a lot of things you can do to love your brain and try to reduce this risk. The warning signs, though.

Speaker 1
I mean, you mentioned, okay, your keys. And you’re not sitting there going, where are my keys? Because, again, that’s something that people will do any day of the week.

Speaker 1
But to have keys and go, I don’t even know what is this that I’m holding. Okay, so, I mean, that’s a pretty severe, that’s a pretty drastic warning sign. Are there any other clues that may be not as drastic as I’m holding in my hand keys and I don’t even know what they’re for?

Speaker 1
Because that seems like, well, you may have had this for a while if you’re not sure what keys are. But what’s a simple, what might give a hint of a clue that you could be on the onset?

Speaker 3
So there are, you know, we have this thing called 10 signs at the class. What are the 10 signs? One of them is getting lost from a familiar place.

Speaker 3
So you’re taking a really long time to come back from the grocery store that you’ve been going to for 15 years. Because you’re coming back, you’re not remembering if it’s left or right to get to your house, right? It could be as simple as repeating the same story four times in an hour.

Speaker 3
You don’t know you repeated it, but your loved ones do, right? It’s really looking at a change in behavior. So, for example, my mom was a to-the-penny checkbook person.

Speaker 3
She balanced everything perfectly. And then we started noticing some math mistakes and cross-outs and bills that weren’t being paid. And that was completely unlike her.

Speaker 3
So look for changes in behavior that might mean that something is going on.

Speaker 1
Yeah. I mean, boy, I bet you got a lot. You got me thinking. And once you receive, once someone receives this diagnosis, what are some things that, I don’t know, that they should do or that their family should do to put in place? Like, what’s the next step after diagnosis?

Speaker 3
Right. So immediately, you know, our hope is always that when you get a diagnosis, the doctor also hands you some resources. So that’s why we really appreciate you guys, for example, letting us come on the radio and say, if you have a diagnosis, if you’re concerned, you can call us at any time.

Speaker 3
You can reach out to us at any time because we are here with support groups, classes, and an 800 number. That would be, I would say, call that. It’s our 24-7 helpline, and you can call that with any question about dementia.

Speaker 3
And you can call it and say, I’ve got a diagnosis. I have no idea where to start. Can you help me out?

Speaker 3
and you can get an hour-long conversation with someone called a care consultant who can guide you and tell you, well, you’ve got to get a power of attorney. You’ve got to worry about this. You’ve got to worry about that.

Speaker 3
And at the same time, you should probably get some support group activities going on. And here, let’s get you involved in our GAP program, which is called Giving Alzheimer’s Purpose. It’s for those in the early stages of the disease.

Speaker 3
And here are some things you can do. Exercise, try to follow a Mediterranean diet as much as you can, get some really good sleep, those kinds of things. So there’s a lot to do early on.

Speaker 3
But, you know, people say, you know, back in the old days, somebody was diagnosed, oh, just put grandma in the back room, turn the TV on, it’s fine. No. People are active. They contribute to society.

Speaker 3
They can get rid of that stigma. That’s really important.

Speaker 1
I remember when I was a kid, you’d always hear, well, that person’s going senile, you know. And when you heard of dementia, we just heard the word dementia or heard the word senile. We didn’t, you know, then we heard Alzheimer’s. And I think maybe because President Reagan had the onset of it, even while his later stages of his presidency.

Speaker 1
But it’s often used interchangeably with dementia. Ah, he’s got Alzheimer’s. How do you know it’s specifically Alzheimer’s? You know, but because there are different types of dementia, and you mentioned some of these, you know, earlier, I guess.

Speaker 1
Am I hearing am I hearing more cases of dementia now because we know more about it or as opposed to when I was a younger kid? I’m going to go back into the 70s. You rarely heard about it at all. Why are we hearing more?

Speaker 1
Is it more people? Did people actually have this many years ago and they just weren’t diagnosed with it? Or are we just, is it more pronounced right now?

Speaker 1
Okay.

Speaker 3
A, we are all living longer, my friend. Okay. So there you go.

Speaker 3
In addition, there’s more of an awareness, right, that this is not normal aging. Like I said before, it was, hey, you know what? Grandma’s forgetting this.

Speaker 3
She’s messing up all the recipes. She doesn’t know the name of her grandkid.

Speaker 1
It’s normal.

Speaker 3
It’s the way it happens when you get older.

Speaker 1
But what has me concerned is some of these ages. When you start going, people 48, 49 are getting the onset up. It’s like, regardless of living older, that’s still a young age.

Speaker 1
Folks, you are listening to your next chapter, a production of The Heights at Avery Heights, along with Siobhan Mattingly. I’m Gary Byron. Our guest, Kristen Casado, Director of Communications of Alzheimer’s Association, Connecticut chapter, and New England Research Champion.

Speaker 1
She’s got a toll-free number at 800-272-3900. Again, 800-272-3900. And check out their website at www.alz.org slash CT.

Speaker 1
So it’s the national website, alz.org. But don’t forget to slash Connecticut so that you can be routed or rooted into the Connecticut chapter. You mentioned retina and scans and a whole host of other types of new research, but is there research for detection and so on and so forth?

Speaker 1
What about medications and interventions?

Speaker 3
I’m so glad you asked. We have so many exciting things happening in the medication realm right now. Okay, good.

Speaker 3
Right now, the FDA has approved in the last couple of years two new medications that are for those in the early stages of the disease. Okay? So this is an infusion drug.

Speaker 3
One of them is called Agilm and the other is called Lekembi. And I won’t make you remember that or write it down. Not going to quiz you.

Speaker 3
Not going to quiz you. But those two drugs are part of a class of drugs that actually go in and take away some of the amyloid. Flax, which is a biomarker.

Speaker 3
So this is the first time we actually have disease-modifying medication since the inception of research. I mean, all the other drugs that you may have heard of that are pretty common are really just affected and dealt with the symptoms. This, these two drugs, are showing, each drug is showing better and better data, and then we have a third that’s going to go up for FDA approval soon.

Speaker 3
The only issue with this right now is that it’s not, even though it’s FDA approved, it’s not covered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid. So CMS has decided that all these particular class of drugs are not going to be covered. And we, as the Alzheimer’s Association, we want access.

Speaker 3
If you are in this process and qualify and you can tolerate this drug, we want families to have a choice to be able to take it or not. And they can’t because it’s now $26,500, I think, $1,000 a year just for the drugs itself. So our question to CMS is, why have you approved every other FDA drug but not these for Alzheimer’s?

Speaker 3
So we, as an association, we’ve held rallies in front of the White House. We’re talking with our legislators to try to get, you know, urge lawmakers to help CMS change their minds. We want families to be able to make their own decisions on if they want this medication or not.

Speaker 3
And we want accessibility.

Speaker 2
And I think there’s a petition as well, Kristen. I think I saw that in my email, a petition to sign as well. Yes, ma’am, it’s going to the president.

Speaker 3
Yes, let’s try to make this change. And we’re actually going to have a rally in June, so stay tuned for that right here in Connecticut. We really want families to have access. Look, finally we have medications after all these years. Finally something that could make a difference with these folks.

Speaker 1
And I want to talk about June in just a moment. I know it’s a big month for Alzheimer’s, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask you about some of the resources that the Alzheimer’s Association can provide to those who not only have the diagnosis, but really their families, their caretakers, because God bless them. And they’re going to be on the front lines and it’s regressive.

Speaker 1
It’s not going to get better, you know. And, oh, my goodness, my heart just aches for those people. Well, not only those who get diagnosed and living with Alzheimer’s, but just as much equally for their family members.

Speaker 3
It is so hard. Caregiving is definitely the hardest job I ever had. And you can ask probably several people who are around you.

Speaker 3
You know, it’s really easy to find people who are affected, unfortunately. So we really make sure that caregivers know that there is that 800 number, that there are support groups. It is so critical.

Speaker 3
And even, you know, still today we’re doing them virtually, right? so you can do virtually or in person, support groups are critical to just literally finding out what other people have used. It’s like a peer-to-peer group sharing of ideas.

Speaker 3
Oh, wait, you talked to your mom like that, and you kind of skirted around the truth and did a little fib so that she calmed down? Okay, I’ll try that. Or, you know, you’re using that doctor for this?

Speaker 3
Oh, great. Oh, your mom has sundowning when it gets dark in the evening? She starts having agitation.

Speaker 3
What are some tricks you use to fix that? So support groups are so critical, even just events. So we want people to know they have that.

Speaker 3
We also really push caregivers to take care of themselves. You know, we had a big study that came out, a big report that came out in March, talking about the fact that caregivers are really self-reporting what’s going on with them. Physical toll, depression, straight up bad physical health, because why?

Speaker 3
They don’t go to the doctors themselves. They can’t sleep because they’re worried about their person getting up in the middle of the night. The stress level is incredibly high.

Speaker 3
Every day is different. So we really want caregivers to try to put themselves first and make sure that they take care of themselves as well. Because if you’re not in good shape as a caregiver and you implode, who’s going to be there for your person?

Speaker 2
That’s a great point. Yeah, and we see that so often at the community where both parents are coming in, it’s all situated, and then something happens to that caregiver, you know, a heart attack or, you know, some kind of ailment. And a lot of times we see them pass away way before the person with the dementia.

Speaker 2
It takes it really takes its toll. And that’s the first thing I always tell caregivers when they come in, take care of yourself. And we get them into a support group immediately.

Speaker 2
And, of course, give the Alzheimer’s Association information.

Speaker 1
By the way, and I teased this a moment ago, and I think you mentioned something at the top of the show. Talk briefly about the month of June and what it means for the Connecticut Alzheimer’s Association.

Speaker 3
So June is Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and it’s really a big push to take care of your brain. You know, the weather’s nice. Get out there and exercise.

Speaker 3
Try to eat healthy Mediterranean diet. Try to get that critical sleep. As you sleep, toxins are actually washed away during the day that they built up.

Speaker 3
Hit the bus. You know, we say try to learn something. Play those games.

Speaker 3
I’m a big Wordle fan, right? Play those Word games and play different games. Try to challenge yourself.

Speaker 3
Protect your head when you’re biking. You know, wear a helmet. There’s a lot of things you can do to love your brain, and we really encourage you to do that.

Speaker 3
It’s just a nice time to think about it. And we want people to go purple, too. You know, show your support for what’s going on.

Speaker 3
And also June is a day, the longest day falls in June, June 21, the longest day of the year. And it’s a day where people can fundraise and really honor those who are the caregivers, who have the longest day every day.

Speaker 1
Oh, that’s great. I’ll have to get you on the morning show maybe sometime in mid-June. Do a quick segment about raising awareness and everything.

Speaker 1
You know, I’m listening to all these suggestions in the Mediterranean diet, which I love a Mediterranean diet. I just wish I could get more than four and a half hours of sleep Monday through Friday. But that’s a whole other story.

Speaker 1
How can a person get started and connect with the Alzheimer’s Association? What would you do? What would you recommend for the first step or two that people take?

Speaker 3
Yeah, I’ll tell you exactly what I did, and I was lucky to know that it existed. I literally called the 800 number when my mom was first diagnosed, and that’s our 24-7 helpline. It’s 800-272-3900.

Speaker 3
You are connected with a person on the other side who is skilled and knows what they’re talking about and can help you with some of your questions, and if you’ve got specific questions about certain things, you can ask for an hour-long conversation with someone here in Connecticut who can guide you on what are my care options? Where do I start? Who are the elder care attorneys that I should contact?

Speaker 3
How do I think about my finances, right? So many different things. And then how do I learn how to really communicate?

Speaker 3
Because one of the biggest myths, and I know that I’ve shared this before, but it’s just so critical. When someone says something who has dementia, don’t argue with them and don’t fight with them. Go into their reality.

Speaker 3
It’s so critical. And it’s so hard because we grow up correcting each other, right? My goodness.

Speaker 3
Tests, as a child, you always correct them to say the right thing. We know the right thing is what’s happening in their mind at that moment. So go into their reality.

Speaker 3
It’s okay as long as they’re not hurting themselves or somebody else.

Speaker 1
That’s great advice.

Speaker 3
If they think it’s the wrong day, if they think it’s the wrong season, it’s okay. It’s okay. If they want to vacuum the same part of the carpet ten times, let them.

Speaker 1
www.alz.org www.alz.org forward slash ct. The Connecticut toll-free number for the Connecticut Alzheimer’s Association is 800-272-3900. Again, 800-272-3900.

Speaker 1
I want to thank our guest, Director of Communications for the Alzheimer’s Association of Connecticut, Kristen Cassato. We definitely will get you back on this show right before, right prior to your walk in September. Folks, you have been listening to the latest edition of your next chapter, Senior Living. To learn more about Avery Heights, please contact Siobhan at 860-953-1201 or connect online at averyheights.org. For Siobhan Mattingly, she is the Senior Living Specialist.

Speaker 1
I’m Gary Byron. Thanks so much for listening to your next chapter. I’m Gary Byron.

Speaker 1
Until next Saturday morning, have a good one, everybody.