Changes in our health are inevitable as we get older. But while doctors tell us to focus on the basics — eat right, exercise and keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check— is there more that we need to know about staying well as we age?
In this special section, you'll be able to learn the best that science and medicine can offer for taking care of yourself. You can also test your knowledge and read more health news at the Well blog.
Changes in our health are inevitable as we get older. But while doctors tell us to focus on the basics — eat right, exercise and keep cholesterol and blood pressure in check— is there more that we need to know about staying well as we age?
In this special section, you'll be able to learn the best that science and medicine can offer for taking care of yourself. You can also test your knowledge and read more health news at the Well blog.
But now scientists have come up with a different kind of hearing aid. While the device, called the Lyric, is being used in only 500 patients, it appears to have overcome many of the problems associated with traditional hearing aids — without the expense and uncertainty of surgery and anesthesia.
Link: Hearing Aids - Hearing Loss - Mike Waufle - Medicine and Health - Tara Parker-Pope - New York Times.
This week at a symposium sponsored by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center, former Harvard president Lawrence Summers told a group of New York journalists and members of the financial community that “the aging of the country and the preparation for the aging of the country is as critical an issue as it has ever been.”
I asked Weiner why so little interest. “Most real solutions to long-term care require spending more money, which has not been a popular notion over the last fifteen years or so,” he said. “There are no magic bullets.” He added that most people who’ve had to cope with long-term care see it as a personal issue rather than a policy or political issue. Wiener says that he has argued for years that when the parents of the baby boom generation started to need long-term care, it would become a political issue. That hasn’t yet happened.
Millions of baby boomers are about to enter a health care system for seniors that not only isn't ready for them, but may even discourage them from getting quality care.
Link: Health | Study: Boomers to Flood Medical System | Seattle Times Newspaper.
A new study finds that senior citizens in Baltimore seem to avoid visiting the emergency room around the beginning of each month, possibly because they want to stay home and make sure no one steals their Social Security checks.
Link: Seniors Avoid ER at Start of Month - washingtonpost.com.
Although it is harder to build muscle later in life — 18 to 35 are considered the prime muscle-building years — it is possible, said Jose Antonio, the vice president of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Take Ed Cole, who entered his first bodybuilding contest last year at age 71. After retiring in 1992, Mr. Cole, who is 5-5, ballooned to 195 pounds. In 2000, he resolved to start weight training, which he had not done since he was a gymnast in his youth. He spent 90 minutes a day hoisting weights in the fitness center he built in his basement, and by 2004, he was 50 pounds lighter, and a certified personal trainer to boot.
Link: 60-Plus, Ripped, and Natural Competitors - New York Times.
Researchers report that a once-daily shot of insulin appears to control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes just as well as injecting insulin three times a day.
The once-a-day formulation, known as insulin glargine (Lantus), is already on the market, as is insulin lispro (Humalog), which is taken with meals. The new, international study found more patient satisfaction with the glargine.
Link: News & Reviews - DrugDigest.
Link: Neuro-Pschycological Deficits in Aging Elders Affect Decision Making | HealthHype.com.
According to this study aging affects judgment and impacts on the decision-making capabilities have wide ranging societal implications. The study aims to find means for combating deceptive advertising targeted at older adults. Many of these persons are particularly vulnerable to such deceptive advertising frauds.
