The Popular Press May Be Improving in Coverage of the Treatment of Aging
These days, articles in the popular, non-scientific media on the topic of treating aging as a medical condition tend towards being something other than terrible. This is a considerable improvement over the state of affairs a decade ago, and night and day in comparison to the press attitudes towards aging research in the early years of this century. There is always room for improvement, and journalists are near always ill-informed about near everything they commit to paper, but nonetheless the tone is heading in the right direction: that the treatment of aging is a project, it is underway, there are many competing approache...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 29, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Adaptive Footwear Can Aid Comfort and Joint Health While Helping You Prevent Falls
While the average person is unlikely to do high jumps or run marathons, even daily life can wear out our joints. Over time, this wear may become apparent through pain. Age aside, diseases such as arthritis can eat away at our joints and cause inflammation, as well. The result of these assaults can be damaged hips and knees, and malformed feet and toes. Wise people learn that supportive, adjustable footwear can make or break our day, and that’s where Silverts can help.
Extra wide for inflamed and non-aligned toes: The pressure of shoes on sore or twisted joints can force even people who once had narrow feet ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 29, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Suicide of Caregiver Leaves Spouse Adrift, and Friend Devastated
Photo credit Ivan Samkov
Dear Carol: After years of caring for his wife who has advanced dementia, my lifelong friend reached his limit and killed himself. He had the financial resources to place her in a care home, yet when I suggested this, he said that he couldn’t live with the guilt. Had he viewed outside help differently, he could have returned to his role as a loving husband rather than a stress-out caregiver. Now, his wife has been moved to such a care facility without him to support her transition, and his friends and family are heartbroken. Keep doing what you’re doing by telling caregivers that pr...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 28, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Confused About Palliative Care Vs. Hospice Care? You Aren ’t Alone
Dear Carol: My mom has advanced lung disease as well as late-stage Alzheimer’s. We know that there are no cures for either of her current conditions, but the doctors don’t seem to have any useful answers for me when I ask about how I can make her life better at this stage. She has an inhaler for her lungs, but they don’t seem willing to prescribe medications or advice other than keep her comfortable. Well, how do I go about that? Should she be on hospice? I’ve heard of something called palliative care, but I don’t understand it and no doctor has mentioned it. Can you help me? – CV
Dear CV: I’m so...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 27, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How to Choose a Mobility Aid for an Older Adult
Most of us would love to live our lives without the need for mobility aids, but as we age, we begin to realize that this wish may be unrealistic. We could need a cane or a walker for a short time while recovering from surgery, or we may eventually need to use a wheelchair or a power scooter to get around safely. Either way, a tool to help us move from place to place and avoid falls can mean the difference between living independently and depending on others for our basic needs.
When I see some of the newer mobility aids on the market, I immediately think, “I wish that had been available for my mom.” My mother...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 26, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Smart Socks Help Prevent Falls Among At-Risk Patients
Researchers at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center have tested the PUP (Patient is Up) Smart Socks, developed by a medtech company called Palarum, in their ability to reduce falls among at-risk patients. The socks contain pressure sensors that alert caregivers when a patient is attempting to stand up. This can include situations such as a patient getting out of bed to go to the toilet. The socks can wirelessly communicate with the system, which then alerts the caregivers that are closest to the patient, so that they can arrive and provide assistance as soon as possible. The recent study showed that the system s...
Source: Medgadget - August 25, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Geriatrics Rehab Surgery Telemedicine ohiostate OSUWexMed Source Type: blogs
Home is All About Heart, Especially for the Elderly
Photo credit Alex Pavloff
...Most of us who've cared for people with dementia have heard the sad, repetitive lament, "I want to go home." If the person lives in a nursing home or assisted living facility, relatives naturally think that the home the elder wants to return to is the last place he or she lived before going to the care home.
More likely, at least in the case of Alzheimer's disease, the home this elder misses is a childhood home. It's the home where he or she felt the comfort of a mother's arms; the safety of a father's protection.
Again, this home is a state of mind rather than a building. Even if we could t...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 25, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
14 Phrases to Help Caregivers Stay Focused
Life isn’t easy for most people, and it’s not perfect for anybody. Sometimes, as we trudge through the days providing help for our care receivers, it’s nice to retrieve a thought or two that can encourage us to keep on doing what we do.
Below are a few suggestions that may help:
There is no such thing as a perfect caregiver. First of all, we are flawed human beings. Our care receivers are also flawed human beings who are likely unhappy about life events that have put them in a vulnerable position. Their wants and needs are ever-changing. We can’t be expected to know what to do at every turn or how to make...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 24, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How To Communicate with Your Older Parents So They Hear You
“My mom is 81 and lives alone in her condo,” Judy Hanson writes. “Her arthritis is painful, but she gets around with a walker. Her mind is okay for now, though she is sometimes forgetful. I also feel that she is lonely.
“I’m worried about her safety and have been telling her for several years that she needs help,” she continues. “I’m not proud to say that I’ve stooped to yelling at her, but I have done it. I hate the thought of her falling and not having help, and I also think she’d be happier with more company. There’s a nice assisted living close by me so that’s where I want her to move. Will she...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 23, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
How to Get Rid of the Urine Smell When Incontinence Accidents Happen
Dear Carol: I feel like my home is becoming contaminated territory! My Dad is a sweetheart, but he’s got dementia and has developed incontinence. He can really flood a diaper and isn’t great about changing under the best of conditions. I know this isn’t his fault, so I don’t think I let my frustration show, but it’s hard. I don’t mind doing laundry. I don’t mind the constant checking to try to get him to change diapers. I’m grateful that he never resists my efforts, as so many others do. But no matter what I do, there are accidents, and once pee gets into clothing and bedding it’s just so hard to get rid ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 22, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, August 22nd 2022
In conclusion, application of a multi-species bat epigenetic clock provides strong evidence that hibernation is associated with slower epigenetic ageing. The multi-species clock explains 94% of the variation in the chronological ages of both hibernating and non-hibernating big brown bats; however, the clock estimates are equal to or greater than the chronological age, suggesting big brown bats age slightly faster than a 'typical' bat, especially during the active period. (Source: Fight Aging!)
Source: Fight Aging! - August 21, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Tips for Restarting Our Personal Lives After Caregiving Responsibilities End
Photo credit Briana Tozour
Dear Carol: I’m a single woman and an only child. Several years back, I stepped up to help my mom care for Dad, but as Mom grew frailer, I took over his care as the primary. Dad died a year ago, and Mom followed less than three months later. Neither of them wanted to linger, so I’ve made peace with their deaths. I work online and really enjoy what I do, but I’ve let friendships go due to caregiving duties. It’s obvious to me now that I need to restart my life, but I’m not sure how to begin. Any suggestions? – CL
Continue reading on Inforum for tips on rebuilding your personal...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 21, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Life As a Caregiver: How to Make Tough Care Decisions
Photo credit Mohammad Elgassier
Many of us feel honored to provide care for our aging parents or ill spouses, but this honor can also present serious challenges. Even when we have had conversations with our loved ones about their wishes under certain circumstances, life is rarely so neat that we are presented with clear choices of which there is a straightforward “winner.” For this reason, caregivers often need to make tough decisions under sometimes murky conditions.
The responsibility weighs heavily on us, but my personal feeling is that respect for the dignity and legacy of the person we provide care for can be a ...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 20, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Family and Professional Caregivers Are More Alike Than Different
As a family caregiver, I faced the task of placing several loved ones in a quality nursing home near where I lived. Over the years, I came to know many professional caregivers very well. They treated me with kindness and respect, and I did my best to be the type of family member who helped without interfering and respected their professionalism. In many cases, I was stunned by their unwavering ability to power through this difficult job, even as they continually faced the illness, pain, and eventual deaths of people they’d grown to care about.
Examples crowd my mind as I write because I saw so much dedication and concer...
Source: Minding Our Elders - August 19, 2022 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Carol Bradley Bursack Source Type: blogs
Towards the Widespread Use of Gerotherapeutic Drugs to Slow Aging
Many compounds, small molecules, plant extracts, and so forth, have been found to modestly slow aging in mice. Given accumulating evidence from animal studies and human clinical trials, and that a sizable fraction of these compounds are already approved by regulators for other uses, or otherwise readily available, it is inevitably the case that physicians and the population at large will begin make use of these treatments in increasing numbers. This will happen, sometimes ahead of the science, sometimes behind it, sometimes to little benefit to patients, sometimes with enough of a benefit to matter. Navigating the options ...
Source: Fight Aging! - August 18, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
