Research done by Memory and Aging
Project at Rush offers hope in fight against disease.
Charlotte
Morrison loves to walk, practice tai chi and paint with watercolors. Morrison, 83, finds meaning in helping others
who live with her in the Bethlehem Woods Retirement Community in LaGrange Park
to express themselves. "Every morning, I ask myself, 'How can I help
someone today?' My purpose in life is to help people," she said.
Morrison
worked with developmentally disabled children and adults for 32 years, then
cared for her husband for seven years before he died.
After
Alzheimer's disease took his life, she joined the Memory and Aging Project at
Rush University Medical Center, about 3 1/2 years ago. "I will do anything
to help anyone figure out Alzheimer's. Now research is coming up with real
results, finding ways of helping people live better with Alzheimer's. It's an
honor to be part of something like this," Morrison said.
Some
of this research, including a study published in the Archives of General
Psychiatry's May issue, has found that having a purpose in life can help
protect individuals from health problems, including Alzheimer's disease and
other cognitive disorders. The term "purpose in life" is defined as
the tendency to be intentional, to engage in behaviors that one wants to engage
in and thinks are important, said lead investigator Patricia A. Boyle, a
neuropsychologist with the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center and associate
professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences.
"(The
research) is exciting. It suggests possible behaviors that everyone can strive
toward and that promote cognitive health. People are asking what they can do to
prevent Alzheimer's, to maintain cognitive function. Find things that are
meaningful and that help you feel life is purposeful," Boyle said.
Alzheimer's
disease is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, with 1 in 8
older adults, and 5.4 million individuals, suffering from it, according to the
Alzheimer's Association. Symptoms of Alzheimer's disease include loss of memory
and thinking ability and functional changes, including reducing the ability to
care for oneself.
Boyle
and her colleagues looked at information from 246 of the more than 1,500 older
individuals enrolled in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, which began in 1997.
It studies chronic aging conditions among those living in the Chicago area. For
up to about a decade, participants had yearly clinical evaluations, with
neurological and cognitive testing.
Participants
tended to be older, with an average age of about 80, and began the study
without showing signs of Alzheimer's disease. Once a year, they were asked to
rate themselves on the answers to certain questions, including how much meaning
they derived from life's activities and whether they were goal-directed or
purposeful.
"We
found that for two people with a similar amount of Alzheimer's changes, the one
with higher purpose in life did much better with cognitive function over
time," Boyle said.
After
the participants died, brain autopsies were performed on them. The researchers
then looked at the plaques and tangles that had formed in their brains. Plaques
and tangles are protein deposits associated with Alzheimer's disease.
"They prevent brain cells from communicating effectively with each
other," Boyle said.
"There
is increasing evidence that almost everyone has some amount of plaques and
tangles," she said.
With
this information in mind, the idea becomes helping people to cope and still do
well, perhaps by developing a purpose, Boyle said.
"Purpose
in life is something everyone can work toward," she said.
It
is part of an overall sense of well-being, including contributing to society,
being a productive person, having goals and a knowledge of what's important to
you, working toward those goals and contributing to the world, Boyle said.
The
daily challenges one faces, including working to pay the bills, can make it
difficult to maintain a focus on how people are spending their "most
important resource — time," she said.
"I
recommend that people think of their priorities. Think of what's important and
meaningful to you, and move in that direction," Boyle said.
These
activities could include spending time with family, and, perhaps doing a
different kind of work. "These bring a sense of wellness that is
protective. Studies are showing that this promotes health," she said.
Morrison
said her work at Bethlehem Woods as an advocate is consistent both with her
earlier work as a teacher for the developmentally disabled and her work with
Alzheimer's research.
"I
want everybody's grandchildren to not have Alzheimer's," she said. "I
think that people in general know people who've had Alzheimer's. We are hoping
that it's something that can be cured. I think they are getting on the right
track."
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