Senior Independent Living
Human Touch Vital to Health, Communication, and Performance
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, Medical Research
We humans are hardwired to respond to the touch of another human. And now a study has been published to verify the importance of this non-verbal human interaction.
…continue reading Human Touch Vital to Health, Communication, and Performance
Use the Internet to Save Big Money on Pharmaceuticals
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Government & Legal, Health and Wellness
One of the perennial problems with health care, especially for seniors, is the high cost of prescription drugs.
But there is a lot you can do on your own to make the cost of important drugs a lot lower. One of these things is to use the internet effectively to find the best drugs, manufacturers, and sources for low-cost pharmaceuticals.
…continue reading Use the Internet to Save Big Money on Pharmaceuticals
Pelham Senior Center Line Dancing Program
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, News
Recently, when speaking to a senior who is dear to our hearts, we learned of her intention to participate in a line dancing program at the Pelham Senior Center in Pelham, Alabama.
The center is a day program sponsored by the City of Pelham and has a full schedule of events … including line dancing.
More Technology to Help Alzheimer’s Patients
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Alzheimer's, Medical Research
The uses for communication technology keep growing, and a lot of these advances are being put to use specifically to aid the elderly and those with Alzheimer’s or dementia.
The latest idea we’ve seen is the use of digital cameras to record images that will stimulate, it is hoped, the memories of Alzheimer’s patients.
…continue reading More Technology to Help Alzheimer’s Patients
Possible Connection Between Urinary Tract Infections and Dementia
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Alzheimer's
Here’s a new one. There is apparently some evidence — or at least some folks believe that there is evidence — that a sudden onset of dementia or a noticeable increase in dementia symptoms might be linked to urinary tract infections.
Hat tip to Becky Feola writing at Eldercare ABC Blog for putting this together for us.
…continue reading Possible Connection Between Urinary Tract Infections and Dementia
One Shot at Executing a Good Retirement Plan
March 13th, 2010
Filed under category: Financial Planning
Consumer Boomer (see link below the jump) makes a good point: you only have one bite at this apple. Planning your retirement and executing the plan properly only happens once, and you ought to approach the matter with a good deal of care.
Consumer Boomer lists six devastating errors that could mess up your retirement. Good idea to figure this stuff out and carry out the plan carefully.
…continue reading One Shot at Executing a Good Retirement Plan
Drinking Beer Good for Building Your Bones
March 12th, 2010
Filed under category: Fall Prevention, Food Safety, Medical Research, News
We wouldn’t want to be seen as advocating drinking to excess — far from it.
But it appears that a moderate amount of beer might be good for your bones.
…continue reading Drinking Beer Good for Building Your Bones
New Book Shows Connection Between Diet and Good Health
March 12th, 2010
Filed under category: Food Safety, Health and Wellness, News
The connection between diet and good health is obviously a strong one. We always knew that.
What we didn’t know for sure is what diet would really help us? (It sure isn’t McDonald’s hamburgers and french fries.)
…continue reading New Book Shows Connection Between Diet and Good Health
Don’t Keep Your Vitamins In the Kitchen
March 11th, 2010
Filed under category: Food Safety, Health and Wellness, Medical Research
The problem, it appears, is that the humidity and temperatures in the kitchen or bathroom are really bad for the vitamin tablets. It shortens the shelf life.
The solution? Find a cool dry place to store your vitamins.
Gattaca is Coming – Diagnosing Illness by DNA
March 11th, 2010
Filed under category: Health and Wellness, Medical Research, Technology and Computers
I don’t know if you remember the movie Gattaca. It’s a movie from 1997 starring Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Uma Thurman about the dangers of using our knowledge and skill in manipulating DNA to discriminate against individuals. In the movie, children were selected for birth based on their genetic potential. Those who didn’t measure up were simply passed over for the chance at life.
As the film’s maker, Andrew Niccol, pointed out, Abraham Lincoln would never have been born.
But there are good things about our genetic knowledge, provided we know where to draw the line. Forbes.com highlights a first: a diagnoses by evaluation of the patient’s DNA code.
A First: Diagnosis By DNA – Forbes.com
The case, published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of the Sciences in October, may be the first in which the results of DNA sequencing have altered treatment of a patient. Does this herald the beginning of a new kind of medicine in which patients with unexplained symptoms get their DNA sequenced? Yes, says Lifton: “This will be a court of last resort to try and identify causes of disease.”
Gattaca is a very good movie, by the way; one of my all-time favorites. In case you’re wondering about the name, it is formed from the letters that are commonly used to represent the amino acids that make up the code in a DNA molecule. As the movie points out, the manipulation of DNA can never substitute for that immaterial and mysterious element that makes us human.
