Perhaps you saw the video that went viral a while back about the elderly Alzheimer’s patient who was transformed when he was given a iPod loaded with the music of his era? (You can watch the video on the “Music and Memory Project” website.) Over the past few years, researchers have offered new insight into the ways music promotes healthy aging…
A new study offers some good news for caregivers and other loved ones of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. The study shows that even if patients immediately forget a shared joke or a meaningful conversation, the warm feelings associated with the experience can stick around and boost their mood. In the University of Iowa study, published in the Proceedings of the…
During the ongoing national debate over healthcare reform, there is one point most people can agree on: the need to curtail the growing epidemic of healthcare fraud. Estimates put the loss at $65 billion a year to Medicare alone. Government agencies are working hard to catch these crooks—and you can help by protecting yourself and loved ones against medical identity…
We humans are “hardwired” to crave and rely on human contact. Unlike, for example, a turtle, which hatches from a buried egg and is on its own from that moment on, people depend on other people for survival. Brain experts explain this “wiring”: early human beings lived in small, interdependent groups. To survive and thrive, individuals needed to be finely…
“I felt so insulted and so hurt. It was like their father had met some gal at a bar and married her the next day, and she wanted all his money. I felt they didn’t give me any credit, or any respect, appreciation or anything. It still hurts.” —Remarried wife of 12 years, caring for husband with Alzheimer’s disease, about…
For most of us, the automobile represents independence, control and mobility. Most of today’s seniors built their lives around the ability to drive wherever they wanted—to work, to visit friends, to shop, to their faith community and on vacation. Yet the normal changes of aging can make driving more challenging. Hearing loss, vision problems, decreased reaction time, memory loss and…
What Makes Feet Hurt? Most of us start life with trouble-free feet. What goes wrong? Of hundreds of known foot ailments, most can be traced to: heredity improper foot care injury (often caused by shoes and socks or stockings that don’t fit well) the effects of aging. Women have about four times as many foot problems as men. As you…
While the basic guidelines for a healthy diet are pretty much the same for people of every age, older adults have special needs and concerns. Nutrition affects the all-around health of seniors, is a factor in a senior’s ability to properly absorb medications, and can have an impact on various health conditions that are common as we get older. If…
