Wednesday, January 30, 2013

阿茲海默 腦退化症(前稱:老年痴呆症) / Senile dementia with Alzheimer's type


今天往藥房買了一些医生配的保腦丸給母親吃,希望延遲她進入「忘我」的境界。

其實,健忘病徵並不只限於高齡人仕,年紀較輕的間中也会忘記人名、地址、电話等。但患上了失憶症的長者,他/她们的記憶是有系統地慢慢消失,起先是腦袋不能夠維持短期資料記錄。例如: 医生叫病人緊記三樣東西: 手錶、鉛筆、間尺,跟著要他/她計一些加減數,之後叫病人回述那三樣東西是什么。

平常人通常都能应付這一系列叫 Mini-mental state exam (MMSE) 的記憶測驗,取得30滿分是沒有問題。但如果失憶症病情継續惡化,患者的MMSE分數会每年喪失3至4分,嚴重的不單只短期資料記錄会煙消云散,連長期記憶如熟悉親戚朋友的面孔也不会記得。

医生說我母親有失憶健忘症的先兆,病向淺中医,所以配了一些保腦藥品給她服用,希望她能在「忘年」的歲月,不会完全「忘我」。

Photo Credit:  I took the photo of this big tree in Dakar, Senegal in June 2012,

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Related info:


阿兹海默症


According to Wikipeida:  有失去記憶導致憂慮的症狀,就可能罹患了阿茲海默症,但必須經過醫師的智能測驗及腦部斷層掃描才能確定,以下是作為指標的智能量表。
階段智能測驗說明症狀說明平均期間退化程度
( MMSE :29-30)正常-成人
( MMSE :29 )正常年齡之健忘,與年齡有關之記憶障礙(忘記東西放置的地方及某些字, 減少注意力)-成人
輕度神經認知功能障礙( MMSE :25 )降低從事複雜工作之能力及社會功能(例如:完成一件報告)-年輕之成人
輕度阿茲海默氏失智症( MMSE :20 )計算能力下降(100-7, 40-4),無法從事複雜活動(個人理財、料理三餐、上市場), 注意力、計算及記憶障礙(近期為主)2年8 歲-青少年
中度阿茲海默氏失智症( MMSE :14 )計算能力明顯下降(20-2),失去選擇適當衣服及日常活動之能力,走路緩慢、退縮、容易流淚、妄想、躁動不安1.5年5-7 歲
中重度阿茲海默氏失智症( MMSE :5)無法唸10-9-8-7……,需他人協助穿衣、洗澡及上廁所,大小便失禁,躁動不安,降低語言能力2.5年5-7 歲
重度阿茲海默氏失智症( MMSE :0)需依賴他人持續照顧, 除叫喊外無語言能力、無法行走,行為問題減少,增加褥瘡、肺炎及四肢攣縮之可能性MMSE從23(輕度)→0 約6年,每年約降3-4分,MMSE 到0後可平均再活2-3年4 週-15 個月

Source: 阿兹海默症
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According to the Alzheimer's Association:   ".... Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life.  Memory loss is an example. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia.... 

While symptoms of dementia can vary greatly, at least two of the following core mental functions must be significantly impaired to be considered dementia:
  • Memory
  • Communication and language
  • Ability to focus and pay attention
  • Reasoning and judgment
  • Visual perception
People with dementia may have problems with short-term memory, keeping track of a purse or wallet, paying bills, planning and preparing meals, remembering appointments or traveling out of the neighborhood. Many dementias are progressive, meaning symptoms start out slowly and gradually get worse.

Source:    http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_steps_to_diagnosis.asp

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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

北極寒流南侵襲加拿大,街頭露宿者和死神談判 / Arctic Cold Air Locks Canada in Deep Freeze, Homeless People are at Risk


這星期北極寒流南下,侵襲加拿大各個大城小鎮。今晨渥太華天氣嚴寒,室外溫度計是攝氏零下20多度(加上風速指數是接近零下30至40度)。

我家屋子是靠燒天然氣的火爐保持約20度的室內溫度,如果我感覺冷也不用穿上户外冬天衣物,只要燒開水弄杯熱咖啡或奶茶便可保溫。

但在這四季如春的人做暖窩中,我心裡不禁想到那些無家可歸的街頭露宿者,他/她們在那天寒地凍的户外環境,又怎樣和死神談判呢?

附貼: 今星期渥太華的天氣報告預測,和加拿大國家電視台的新聞

Short Term ForecastUpdated:Wednesday, January 23, 2013, 6:37EST

WednesdayMorningMorning: 6:00 AM - 11:59 AMWednesdayAfternoonAfternoon: 12:00 PM - 5:59 PMWednesdayEveningEvening: 6:00 PM - 11:59 PMWednesdayOvernightOvernight: 12:00 AM - 5:59 AMThursdayMorningMorning: 6:00 AM - 11:59 AM
SunnySunnyClearClearMainly sunny
SunnySunnyClearClearMainly sunny
Temp.-28 °C-21 °C-24 °C-32 °C-28 °C
Feels Like-36-29-30-43-40
WindW  10 km/hW  10 km/hNW  5 km/hNW  10 km/hNW  20 km/h
Relative Humidity71  %76  %76  %91  %91  %
P.O.P.10  %0  %0  %0  %10  %


Source: The Weather Newtwork / Ottawa


According to CBC News Tuesday night:

"….. The Arctic air mass responsible for double-digit windchill warnings will continue until the weekend, CBC News meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe reported Tuesday night. The high-pressure ridge is expected to move eastward through to the weekend when some areas of Canada will begin to see seasonable temperatures. That's small comfort to cities such as Ottawa, where the local health unit issued a frostbite warning earlier today when a wind chill forecast of -35C was issued ….

Homeless shelters open emergency beds

Staff at Toronto's homeless shelters opened an additional 172 shelter spaces overnight Monday for those caught in the bitter cold. The bone-chilling Toronto temperatures may have already claimed one man's life overnight. A homeless man was found without vital signs and hypothermic on Markham Road in the Scarborough neighbourhood. He later died in hospital.
City shelters in Montreal have been at over capacity all week. Temperatures felt like – 23 with the wind chill, below the season average, and are expected to reach – 38 by tonight. Some shelter services in the city are driving around and picking up people who are in need.

Environment Canada forecast Toronto temperatures late Monday and into early Tuesday morning to dip into –13 C without the wind chill, and a high of –11 C on Tuesday during the day. With the wind chill, it will feel like –25 in the city.
Officials in several provinces have warned drivers to be careful as severe winter conditions affect roads. There were no special weather statements or warnings issued for Toronto, but motorists in the Barrie, Collingwood and Hillsdale regions further northwest were told to brace for snow squalls and near-zero visibility on the roads from blowing snow.

Parts of northern Ontario are under wind chill warnings due to the Arctic air mass and gusts of around 15 km/h, which could bring wind chill values as low as –55 in the morning, though daytime heating is likely to bring that up closer to a still-blistering –45.

In Ottawa, the public health service issued a frostbite warning Tuesday evening that will continue until Thursday. Those seeking to help a homeless person get off the street are asked to call the Help for the Homeless phone line at 613-580-2626. The warning is issued when a wind chill of -35 C or lower is predicted. Temperatures in Ottawa fell to –19 C in the afternoon (wind chill temperature is abt -38 C this morning!!). …"

Source: CBC News 2013/01/22

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Related links: Search this blog for homeless people 街頭露宿者  http://lotusandcedar.blogspot.ca/search?q=%E8%A1%97%E9%A0%AD%E9%9C%B2%E5%AE%BF%E8%80%85

Thursday, January 10, 2013

蛛絲馬跡 / Read Between the Lines


根據加拿大渥太華公民報 The Ottawa Citizen 20130110:


現任加拿大總理的妻子羅倫·哈珀在2012尾賣出了全部她与丈夫聯名的股份,報導記者結論: 

...... It is unclear whether Laureen Harper simply saw last year’s rise in stock prices as a good time to cash in her portfolio or if the move was made in response to the Citizen story pointing out the apparent loophole in the ethics rules." 

不過,做市民的不可因總理妻子拋售股票,就蕭規曹隨,有樣學樣。因為除了股市上昇32%和利益衝突政策之外,可能亦有其它私人理由。

攝影图片: 拿大總理史提芬·約瑟夫·哈珀与伉儷羅倫·哈珀

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Prime minister’s wife sells off entire stock portfolio




Prime minister’s wife sells off entire stock portfolio

According to an ethics disclosure filed in December, Stephen Harper’s wife, Laureen, has liquidated her stock market investments.








































OTTAWA — An ethics disclosure filed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper shows that his wife Laureen liquidated her entire portfolio of stock market investments late last year. The prime minister last month amended a disclosure of assets and liabilities he had filed with Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson and removed its reference to his wife’s investments. Previous versions of Harper’s MP disclosure said his wife held an “investment account with Raymond James Ltd. partly composed of publicly traded securities.” That line item was not found in an updated December 8 version of the document, which lists no other declarable assets.

“Mrs. Harper’s updated disclosure reflects the fact this account was liquidated,” explained Andrew MacDougall, Harper’s director of communications. MacDougall did not respond to a follow-up email asking why she had suddenly sold off her portfolio at a time when the economy is still recovering from a deep recession.

Unlike his apparently bearish wife, the prime minister has been an enthusiastic booster of Canadian equity markets, and once advised investors to increase their stake in public securities during the darkest days of the global economic downturn. “I think there are some great buying opportunities out there,” Harper said during a 2008 interview with the CBC. Since then, the TSX index has climbed by about 32 per cent.

Harper’s disclosure did not itemize the individual stocks his wife owned. The prime minister declared no stock investments of his own, suggesting that those made in his wife’s name may effectively be joint assets. The disclosure notes that the Harpers share a joint line of credit from the Bank of Nova Scotia. In October, the Prime Minister’s Office declined a Citizen request to provide a list of equities in Laureen Harper’s portfolio. The PMO also refused to say whether any of her stocks were among the resource sector companies that would be affected by her husband’s decision on foreign investments by China’s CNOOC and Malayasia’s Petronas.

Under federal ethics rules, cabinet ministers are required to either sell their shares in publicly-traded companies or place them in blind trusts while in office. But, as the Citizen reported, there is no such requirement for equities held in their spouses’ names. The specific contents of their stock portfolios are not revealed in the disclosures they sign as cabinet ministers or as MPs, and it is unclear if even the ethics commissioner knows which equities the spouses hold.

...... It is unclear whether Laureen Harper simply saw last year’s rise in stock prices as a good time to cash in her portfolio or if the move was made in response to the Citizen story pointing out the apparent loophole in the ethics rules. Under an agreement with ethics commissioner, Harper is required to step aside from any decision involving Talisman Energy, where his brother Grant works as an accountant.


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Prime+minister+wife+sells+entire+stock+portfolio/7802376/story.html
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