In Brief
By Andy Humm
Hilary: The Rx Doesn’t Work
Hillary Clinton has been on a tear in 2006, bringing to light the disastrous start of the Medicare Part D federal prescription-drug program, calling press conferences all over the state and introducing legislation in Congress to fix it. She said it has been particularly hard on dual eligible people on Medicare and Medicaid who are poor and must sign up for the program. Fewer than 1,000,000 people in New York State who are not dual eligible have signed up.
“The new prescription drug benefit has created unnecessary obstacles for too many New Yorkers who can least afford it – our poorest, most vulnerable seniors and disabled,” Senator Clinton said. “To date, the Bush Administration has failed to adequately address these problems. That’s why I have introduced legislation to fix the problems plaguing the program. It is time for leadership and action. We owe it to our seniors and disabled Americans to get this right.”
Many states are stepping in to pay for drugs for these dual-eligibles who have not been able to access the system and have either had to lay out their own money or forgo critical medications. The senator is proposing legislation that would make the federal government reimburse the states for this.
Pharmacies are also having a next-to-impossible time accessing the authorization numbers at Medicare that are supposed to help ease the transition to the new drug benefit program.
Watch Your Step
Especially in colder weather when it can be icy, older people should guard against falls. Thirty percent of America’s seniors suffer falls every year.
The Illinois Council on Long Term Care made a list of 10 recommendations for averting falls. Among the advice: Talk with your doctor about how medications affect coordination, exercise regularly, wear lightweight footwear, and don’t be afraid to use a cane or other mobility aid.
Also: Keep your living and work space well lit and clear of hazards or clutter over which one could trip, install grab bars in bathrooms, take more time when walking in winter, and make fall prevention a top priority.
Tapping the Older Market
The corporate-service firm Deloitte & Touche USA is counseling retailers to act now to accommodate older consumers, noting that 50-plus Americans spend $1.7 trillion a year, and that the population over 60 will quadruple by 2050.
A Deloitte survey of 45-to-74-year-olds, “Wealth and Wisdom: Understanding the Needs of Ageing Consumers,” tells how retailers can make their stores more accessible and how to please those very demanding older consumers who earn the title “Mall Maniacs.”
Stay Out of the Sun
A recent study out of Australia, carried over abc.net, finds that a new mole on a person over 50 is 30 times more likely to be cancerous than on a younger person. Researchers at the Victorian Melanoma Society cautioned that moles that changed their appearance were seven times more likely to be melanomas in the older group.
Eat Your Whole Grains
A University of Maryland study has found “the association between whole grains and metabolic syndrome can still be seen among an older population [that] may have different metabolic characteristics than a younger population.” Nadine Sahyoun, the lead researcher, told NutraIngredients.com that having more than three servings of wholegrains daily could reduce by half the risk of the syndrome, which is allied with obesity and increases the dangers of heart disease and diabetes.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s “Dietary Guidelines to Americans” recommends three wholegrain servings every day.
Whatever
While young people have the image of being laid back and cool, a study from Massey University, New Zealand, reveals that people over 65 are much more likely to be calm, content, and to take things in stride than they did when younger.
“They can be often in a much more settled period of life and they know that life is not likely to throw so many curved balls at them anymore,” the universiy’s Jane Bryce told ageconcern.com.
Exercise Cuts Risk of Dementia …
If you need one more motivation to get you to the gym or dust off those running shoes, the National Institute on Aging has found that older people who exercise at least three times a week have a greatly reduced risk of developing dementia. The researchers did not establish a cause-and-effect explanation, but said: “The emerging association between exercise and cognitive health is increasingly important to understand.”
Future studies will focus on whether it is exercise itself or the activities associated with it, such as socialization, that have the greatest effect on reducing dementia.
… But If That Fails
While an increasing number of people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, technology may be able to mitigate some of the worst effects, says an AP news story in the Ohio Beacon-Journal. Telephones can be equipped with devices to show you who you’re talking with through a picture and remind you when you last spoke with the caller. Research is developing beds that monitor your vital signs, as well as floors with electronic sensors that check on how you’re walking and will alert someone if you fall. Medicine cabinets can be programmed to tells you what pills to take and when.
Eric Dishman, chair of the Center for Aging Services Technologies in Washington, D.C., works with the private and public sectors to advance these steps, focusing on “disease prevention, early detection, caregiver support, and maintaining independence.”
Eat Less for Heart Happiness
Maintaining a low-calorie diet over time can slow down the deterioration of our hearts, delaying “primary aging,” Dr. Luigi Fontana of Washington University in St. Louis told Reuters Health.
Participants in Dr. Fontana’s study who restricted their calorie intake to 1,670 a day had significantly better diastolic function that those who took in 2,445 calories daily. They had lower blood pressure, too.
