Today’s Boomers

Michigan - The announcement came last week that the infamous Model T is now 100 years old.
September 1908 - Setpember 2008.

Some of Main Line Elder Associates’ clients remember when the “horseless buggy was first made available and some traveled in the back seat while their parents proudly displayed the first motor vehicle to the town’s people.

The late Sue Mansor, born 1913 recalled, ‘My father would crank it over and over again before it finally would start but we didn’t care because it was a lot of fun.”

In the South people today are waiting in lines for hours to buy gas and probably not thinking it’s a lot of fun but hopefully 100 years from now - it will all be forgotten and the “gas free” automobile will be the rave.

Do you know the manufacturer of the Model T?

To view Mrs. Mansor’s picture - www.mainlineeldercare.com.

November 2007  - Overwhelming number of Americans with memory concerns fail to discuss this health issue with their doctors, despite visits within the past six months, according to a recent survey of participants in the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA),

Today, studies proved  osteoarthritis is understood now to be a more complex inflammatory disorder.

Doctors know that the cartilage surrounding joints breaks down over time. Unfortunately, this break down allows your bones to rub together and causes stiffness, pain and loss of movement.

Some people are at greater risk than others.

Studies indicate that you can actually change the risk and may be able to help yourself once symptoms develop. According to Dr. White, health professionals now have tools to help and surgery may prove ineffective based on the research that has been issued today by the New England Journal of Medicine study. www.njm.org

Helen C. Hopkinson, J.D., CEO, Main Line Elder Care Associates
http://mainlineeldercare.com
info@mainlineeldercare.com 

Summer is now over and every one is walking around town these days with sweaters and/or light weight jackets. The Fall colors and school buses are every where. The stress over getting the kids off early in the morning or having to do homework every day may be adding to your fatigue.

However, forgetting a name or password does not mean you have dementia. 

As we age our lives normally just become more complicated.

Stress causes forgetfulness.
Thyroid disease and depression can also affect our memories.

If you’re worried about memory loss stop worrying and call our healthcare provider.
 
Here are some tips for maintaining brain power:

1) Exercise 20  minutes every day.
 
This will improve blood flow to the brain and can reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 30 to 50%.

2) Eat a “heart healthy” diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and protein.
It is important to eat foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which include oily fish such as salmon, sardines and herring. Other foods rich in Omega -3’s are walnuts, fortified eggs, and freshly ground flax seeds.

3) Reduce risk factors for heart disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity.
 
4) Exercising your brain is as important as exercising your body. Play lots of card and word games. Try learning a new language.In other words, it is the ability to focus and pay attention that is important not becomming fluent in a new languarge, and the purpose of this exervice is to “exercise” your brain not to make you a pro. 

Again, if you are concerned that you or a loved one might be suffering from memory problems — more than the usual “can’t find my keys” — don’t just sit and worry about the forgetfulness problem because the stress of worrying will make the forgetfulness even worse.

It is really important to see a medical professional for a simple physical examination and blood work.

For more information, call the Alzheimer’s Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center 1-800-438-4380 or the Alzheimer’s Association 800.272.3900.

Or you can contact their websites: ADEAR at www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers The Alzheimer’s Association at http://www.alz.org. 

 Every 71 seconds someone develops Alzheimer’s disease.

• Alzheimer’s disease is now the sixth leading cause of death (recently surpassing diabetes).

• One in every eight adults over the age of 65 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• One out of every two adults over the age of 85 suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

• Ten million baby boomers will develop Alzheimer’s disease in their lifetime.

78 million Americans will turn 65 in less than four years.

Are we living longer…

The answer is yes - there’s a 41% chance that a 62-year-old woman today will live to 90; a 62-year-old man has a 29% chance. For a married couple, there’s a 58% chance that one of them will live to 90 and a 29% chance that one may even  reach 95.

A study of older women and their employed daughters used social exchange theory and a life-course perspective in focus groups with 12 daughters/caregivers. Results showed that being reliant on a busy employee for care has negative consequences all over and especially to employers. (Contains 55 references.) (JOW)

About half of the nearly 1 million cases in American occur in people 60 years and older.

1 out of 2 people who live to age 85 will have Shingles.

The older you get, the longer the Shingles rash may last.

Long-term nerve pain hurts more and lasts longer in older adults.

www.shinglesinfo.com

More women than men get Alzheimer’s Disease
Women historically live longer
They are more likely to have high blood pressure and 
precribed more than six medications during their life time.
These are only a few of the reasons why women get Alzheimer’s more than men.
Contact Main Line Elder Care Associates at info@mainlineeldercare.com
for the Facts and Figures Booklet regarding Alzheimer’s Disease.

Hopkinson: Hard to believe it’s Labor Day and although we will still have warm and sunny days the unofficial end to the 11 week summer break is now over for our kids.

However, summer is not over and according to the weather channel we can expect many more days of great weather.
 
On a personal note, I admit that I did my share of ignoring office work the last few weeks of August, thinking Summer was over and because I’ve been depressed over my mother’s health, the death of some wonderful clients. I now have to make some changes in my lifestyle starting this week so that I can feel more energetic before the first frost. 

The reason, I’m ranting is because none of this means that we now stop watching our elders during the next couple of weeks because Summer is not over and temperatures could still get pretty hot for our seniors.

Whenever the weather is hot, we stress the  importance of safeguarding our elders. 

Elders can easily become dehydrated because they have poor circulation and their sweat glands don’t function as efficiently as they did when they were younger. 

Remember to pay close attention to them because some older people have to deal with serious conditions of the heart or lungs that make heat a greater risk. 

Also, seniors generally take medications that can affect the way they regulate heat and can cause them to become ill faster on those extremely hot days. Let’s work together to safeguard their health - MAIN LINE ELDER CARE ASSOCIATES offers monitoring services www.mainlineeldercare.com