Unfortunately, I come across many anecdotal stories of
caregivers dying. And as a result, leaving
behind the person who depended upon them. Increasingly, those left behind are
suffering from dementia.
This observation raises two questions. The obvious one,
which is an emotional question; who will look after the care recipient now? But
a second question has a more radical focus; why are these caregivers dying
earlier?
What has been described as a ‘living bereavement’, caring
for a loved one with dementia becomes increasingly difficult the further the
disease progresses. Unlike most other caregiving, where the care, in most
cases, becomes less stressful because the person improves (eg some stroke
patients) or they grow up (eg children) or they die quickly (eg some cancer
patients) , with dementia the diseases progressively incapacitates the victim. With
further incapacity comes a greater burden on the caregiver. Caregivers of loved
ones with dementia carry an extra burden that is reflected in more sever and
negative effects.
Although David Roth and his colleagues, in their study of 3,503
family caregivers, reported that caregiving was not associated with increased
risk of death, they failed to identify the specific type—and intensity—of care
being provided. Not all caregiving is the same. And you learn that when you
look after a victim of dementia.
As early as 1990, Janice Kiecolt-Glaser from Ohio State
University and her colleagues measured the different impact caring for a
patient with dementia had on their caregivers. They reported that caregivers of
people with dementia had significantly more depression, reported less support
and fewer important personal relationships, and experienced more days of
illnesses from infections, when compared with caregivers of non-demented loved
ones. What was convincing in their argument is that these caregivers had physical
immunological deficiencies. They were sicker.
Richard Schulz and his colleagues from the University of
Pittsburgh in 1999 showed how even after adjusting for a variety of factors, caregivers
who are experiencing strain had mortality risks that were 63% higher than non-caregiving
controls. The beneficial spiritual and physical effects of caregiving do
not override the negative effects of caring for someone with dementia.
One indicator of sickness, which also reduces your
lifespan—is the size of your telomeres. These DNA blocks at the end of each of
our 46 chromosomes have been likened to an aglet—the plastic at the end of
shoelaces. The size of these telomeres determine how many times each cell can
replicate—the longer the telomeres, the more your cell can replicate, the longer
they live, the longer you live. There are numerous studies being published
showing how stress and trauma reduces telomeres. With varying intensities of
care there are reduction in these telomeres. Dementia caregivers not only have
vastly shortened telomeres, but this change is permanent even after their loved
one dies. Despite most caregivers of dementing illness being older and frailer
than other caregivers, most choose to look after their loved ones. The
decision, of whether providing this care accelerates your mortality faster than
the mortality of your care recipient, is not an easy one to make.
© USA Copyrighted 2014 Mario D. Garrett
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