Health
Welcome to our Health category, where we share news and opinions on what it means to live well in your senior years. We explore various topics to help you stay active and informed, from managing everyday wellness to understanding the latest trends in senior health. This is a place for discovery, learning, and conversation.
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Dementia From Heart Disease
Sometimes we think about Dementia as “acting crazy” but that’s not what the term really means. Dementia is the loss of important mental abilites including reasoning, memory, and solving the problems of everyday life. There can be other symptoms too, such as a change in personality and mood. When these symptoms are strong enough to…
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Depression Can Cause Memory Loss
Memory loss can be caused by depression. It is as though a cloud of sadness filters out the will to remember even the smallest things. The US National Institutes of Mental Health estimates that one in ten adults suffer from major depression for at least one period of their lives. As we grow older, there…
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Which Came First: Memory Loss or Anxiety?
Scientists are not sure whether anxiety (also called “stress”) causes or results in memory loss. Frankly, I don’t believe this is an “either-or” situation. Both could certainly be true. If I thought I was losing my memories, I would be understandably worried and anxious. On the other hand, memory loss is a symptom of anxiety.…
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Older People Pretend to Hear
Senior Hearing Loss (Deafness) By age 85, more than half of us will have some hearing loss. People with hearing loss find it difficult to talk with friends and family because they have difficulty understanding what others say. They also have trouble hearing doorbells and alarms. The greatest affects of hearing loss in seniors are…
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Drugs Are Good When You Need Them
There’s a big bru-ha-ha in the press right now about use of narcotics by older people. “Use has been soaring since 2007” they say. Well, has anyone noticed that the baby boomers began retiring then? There are lots more of us older folks and even more to come. So use of everything we do is…
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Heart Disease and Alzheimer’s
Researchers have discovered that people who are at risk for heart disease or who have heart disease, are also at risk for Alzheimer’s. Let’s take a closer look. The Role of Nitric Oxide Our bodies produce Nitric Oxide (NO) in many ways. NO is especially important to vascular function and proper blood flow and NO is generated as part…
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Alzheimer’s Disease and Exercise
Regular exercise that makes us huff and puff definitely slows down the aging process in general. The increased blood flow and charge of exygen does wonders for our skin and all our other organs. Best of all, it “clears the mind” by recharging the brain. Some researchers think regular aerobic exercise slows the progression of…
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The Alzheimer’s Gene In Plain English
If your parent has Alzheimer’s, you may be at risk but that doesn’t mean you will inherit it for sure. This article is a bit technical, but even a light reading helped me understand. If you become confused about alleles, scroll down for an explanatory video. APOE The APOE (apolipoprotein E) gene has different versions called “alleles.”…
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A New Test For Alzheimer’s You Can Take At Home
Yes, the rumors are true. There is a new test for Alzheimer’s Disease that you can get online and take at home. Researchers at Ohio State University have developed the test. It’s called SAGE (Self-Administered Gerocognitive Examination). As with all new things, there is a caution to consider. If the test results suggest cognitive impairment,…
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