Do you eat fish, chicken or nuts? If so, a recent study in Neurologyshould be of interest to you. The study found that the more Omega-3 fatty acids someone eats the lower their blood beta-amyloid levels. This is good news for those that eat a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids as previous studies have found a correlation between higher levels of blood beta-amyloid levels and Alzheimer’s and memory problems.
Nikolaos Scarmeas, MD, MS, the author of the study, tested the blood of 1,219 people who were determined to be “dementia free.” These people who did not have dementia were all senior citizens and over the age of 65.
Regarding the dementia study’s results, Scarmeas said that “Determining through further research whether omega-3 fatty acids or other nutrients relate to spinal fluid or brain beta-amyloid levels or levels of other Alzheimer’s disease related proteins can strengthen our confidence on beneficial effects of parts of our diet in preventing dementia,” said Scarmeas
The National Institute on Aging funded this study that examined the relationship between beta-amyloid levels and Omega-3 fatty acids. While this study on dementia and diet doesn’t guarantee people will ward of dementia or Alzheimer’s if they eat a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids, it probably wouldn’t hurt to eat this in a well-balanced diet.
The dreaded moment: When a senior citizen must give up the car keys.
But for 93-year-old Rachel Veitch, the moment was just the next logical step—in her life, and the life of her trusty 1964 Mercury Comet Caliente.
After driving 576,000 miles — or more than a trip to the moon and back – Veitch, an Orlando grandmother, has handed over the car keys due to age-related macular degeneration in both eyes. She realized her vision had completely failed her last month after running a “bald-faced red light,” Veitch told FoxNews.com.
“I am legally blind, so I can no longer drive my lovely Chariot,” she said by phone. “They don’t have to take it away, I would not dream of driving that car again.”
Giving up the car keys is challenging for seniors because it can feel like a major step away from independence. But Veitch has a great attitude about the change. “A lot of people are worse off than I am,” she told FoxNews.com. “I don’t have cancer, I don’t have Lou Gehrig’s disease. I am lucky.”
Veitch will have plenty of options for senior transportation—after all, she has 4 children, 9 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. And she lives in Orlando, where numerous nonprofit, for-profit and city-run options can take her from here to there.
Veitch, who appeared on “The Tonight Show” in August 2010, told Fox News she might consider selling the car to host and classic car aficionado Jay Leno. “I haven’t talked to Jay Leno yet, but I’m wondering if he’s interested.”
Imagine when Leno’s time comes to hand over the keys—he owns 100 cars!
In 1964, Hiroshi Hoketsu competed in his first Olympic games. Fast forward almost 50 years later—and he may now beat his own previous record as the eldest Japanese Olympian. The 70-year-old senior qualified for this summer’s London games, and is awaiting formal announcements for the Japanese Equestrian team. Mr. Hoketsu has high hopes he’ll be on the team, showing that his elderly status surely does not deter him from his active lifestyle. He has called himself “the hope of old men.”
Having been an equestrian since he was 12, Mr. Hoketsu has won many Japanese national competitions. He had little ambition in qualifying for the London games as his horse, Whisper, was suffering ill health. But Whisper managed to recover and now with Mr. Hoketsu, the two stand to set another record for elderly athletes.
If he competes, the London games would mark Hoketsu’s third Olympics. The senior’s first Olympic competition was at the age of 23 in Tokyo, and in 2008, he was the oldest athlete at the Beijing games. The record for the oldest Olympian in history however, is held by a Swedish shooter, Oscar Swahn, who competed at age 72 in the 1920s games in Antwerp, Belgium.
And Hoketsu says he’s not going to retire from his sport after the Olympics: “It’s up to fate and fortune. But for now I will keep on riding as long as me and my horse remain fit and fine,” he told the Associated Press.
Engage as You Age congratulates Hiroshi Hoketsu and other senior citizens like him, who keep active and doing what they love. Equestrianism takes much stamina and mental focus, factors which no doubt contributes to Mr. Hoketsu’s healthy life and longevity. Studies show that mentally stimulating physical activities and socialization improves brain health for the elderly. It also decreases risk for illnesses such as Alzheimer’s and dementia. Although we may not be Olympians like Mr. Hoketsu, at Engage as You Age, we provide seniors the important cognitive and social engagement needed to live healthier lives. Senior citizens like these give us hope that Alzheimer’s, dementia and other ailments plaguing elders, can be deterred through an active and stimulating life.
A new report from the Alzheimer’s Association indicates that a growing number of people with dementia live alone—more than 800,000 across the country and 72,000 in California.
The report, “2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures,” estimates that one in seven people with Alzheimer’s or dementia lives alone, and that up to half of those people have no identifiable caregiver. Most are older women with milder impairment.
In response to these statistics, the Alzheimer’s Association has created an online social network called ALZ Connected, in an effort to provide support, especially for those seniors who are socially isolated or have a hard time getting out for in-person group support meetings.
Though well-intended, the website assumes those seniors with dementia living at home have access to a computer, the Internet—and now how to use both.
Engage As You Age understands that this is a big and often erroneous assumption. Which is why we offer computer lessons for seniors living at home, customized for their needs and tech know-how. And because we know that seniors living alone need more than a computer lesson, we offer engaging and meaningful social visits to stimulate their minds and refresh their spirits. Living alone is hard enough; living alone with dementia is even tougher. With Engage As You Age, it’s made a little simpler.
Zina Al-Shukri, a long-time Engage As You Age Activity Specialist, will unveil her first solo-exhibition tonight at the opening reception of Rapport, a collection of portraits each completed in a single sitting.
SFist has the opening at Adobe Books featured on its homepage today – and we are mighty proud to see one of our own be recognized for her talents.
The paintings will be on display through March 23 in San Francisco.
One million Americans are living with the AIDS virus, and the federal government annually spends $3 billion on research.
Five million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s or dementia and the number is on track to double by 2050; yet the U.S. government spends just $450 million on the disease.
President Obama and the Department of Health and Humans Services today announced the first step in a plan to change these numbers and majorly boost funding for Alzheimer’s research. The decision will provide $156 million in added funds through 2013 if authorized by Congress, including an immediate infusion of $50 million to the National Institutes of Health for clinical research and $26 million for public awareness and support for caregivers. An additional $80 million would be released in 2013.
According to an NIH announcement, the funding will primarily support:
Researching genes that increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease
Testing therapies in individuals at the highest risk for the disease
Expansion or acceleration of clinical trials
Engage As You Age applauds the increase in funding. But most of the money is earmarked for biomedical research, and would like to see some directed to researching the power of socialization as a way to prevent or delay cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s and depression as a result of social isolation among senior citizens aging in place, often alone.
In talking to our senior citizen clients and their Activity Specialists, and observing both of them over time, we know that socialization improves quality of life, reduces loneliness and even boosts cognitive ability and awareness. The NIH could be a powerful national ally in identifying, testing and proving the impact of socialization on older adults and seniors with dementia, cognitive delays or Alzheimer’s.
Now we just need to get Obama on the phone and tell him as much.
Ashton Kutcher, move over. Betty White has arrived. And she and her senior-citizen friends are finding new meaning in the term “punk’d.”
Just in time for her 90th birthday, White debuted a new TV series, “Off Their Rockers,” a hidden camera show where elderly individuals prank the younger generation. The pranks capitalize on the endearing qualities of the elderly. Example: A woman who looks to be 80 years old approaches a 20-something man in the airport… and sweetly propositions him to join the mile high club. In another sketch, two elderly men sit down on a bench next to a young woman and start doing the wave. She gives them a confused look and then joins them.
The senior pranksters in “Off Their Rockers” aren’t just getting viewers to laugh; they seem to be having a blast and even laughing themselves. Which is refreshing to see on network television: active, good-natured seniors enjoying their lives, engaging with the world around them.
American viewers, especially those already 55 and older, can borrow a page from White and friends. Laughter is actually terrific medicine for the elderly, and studies have proven it. An Australian humor therapist conducted a three-year study examining the impact of laughter and play on 400 seniors in 36 nursing homes. The dementia patients involved in the study seemed less agitated by 20 percent, said lead researcher Lee-Fay Low at the University of New South Wale’s School of Psychiatry.
“Twenty percent sounds like a small effect but it’s about the same amount, the same effect as you would get if you gave them an antipsychotic medication — medication you would use to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,” Low told Reuters.
So next time your aging mother or father or friend seems down, take a cue from nonagenarian Betty White, and make them laugh. Or encourage them to make everyone else laugh. They’ll be smiling before they know it.
With their wisdom and white hair, a group of elderly activists shut down a San Francisco Bank of America branch near Bernal Heights on Mission Street.
Calling themselves “wild old women,” the group of 12 protesters ranged in age from 69 to 82. On Jan. 5, they traveled to the bank with their walkers and wheelchairs from their San Francisco assisted living facility up the street, KCBS reported.
”We’re upset about what the banks are doing, particularly in our neighborhood and neighboring areas, in evicting people and foreclosing on their homes,” Tita Caldwell, 80, told the CBS affiliate.
On the heels of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the San Francisco seniors citizens were taking a stand against the bank, whose high fees and foreclosures deeply impact seniors on a fixed income, including those in assisted living facilities.
Bravo, wild old women, for not letting your age get in the way of exercising your right to free speech. And thank you, Bernalwood, for bringing this story to our attention!
When the 16th season of ABC’s The Bachelor debuted tonight, we met the show’s oldest contestant! Or was she?
Sheryl hobbled out of the limo on crutches and a knee brace, and professed her love to Bachelor Ben. During the previews leading up to the show, ABC let fans believe they had cast the oldest contestant in the show’s history, by showing only this sound bite: “I watched your show all last season,” Sheryl said, “and I fell madly in love with you!”
But when fans tuned in, they learned Sheryl came on the show to play matchmaker and introduce Ben to her granddaugher, Brittney, a sweet blonde who “loves her family,” Sheryl told Ben. The threesome spent time together during the cocktail party, when Sheryl sang her granddaughter’s praises.
Ben politely walked Sheryl out when it was time for her to go, and gave her a hug before she left in a limo. Grandma Sheryl told the camera that she hoped Brittney would “open her heart” to Ben. And since Ben gave Brittney a rose, we hope she’ll get a chance to do so. Unfortunately, we won’t be seeing more of Sheryl–until the hometown dates, that is!
Luckily ABC predicted fans might be curious about its septuagenarian “contestant,” and shared some information about Grandma Sheryl on its website.
Sheryl
Age: Age is just a number
Occupation: Grabbing life when and wherever I can
Do you like being the center of attention or do you prefer being more mysterious and why?
Definitely the center of attention
What is your biggest date fear?
Rejection
What does your ideal mate look like?
Tall, Dark, and Handsome like Ben
Tattoo Count:
0
If you really wanted to impress a man what would you do and why?
I’d do almost anything. I believe in taking risks in order to get the man I love.
Warren Hellman performed with his band, "The Wronglers," even in the last few months of his life.
Three months ago, you could find this septuagenarian on stage with his bluegrass band, or in the Presidio, running his daily dose of 16 miles.
Sadly, Warren Hellman, founder of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival and the Bay Citizen, died Sunday evening from complications of leukemia, his family said. He was 77.
Hellman was certainly on to something. Research has shown that making music can lower blood pressure, decrease heart rate, reduce stress, and lessen anxiety and depression, said researchers at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. And nearby, at the Stanford Center on Longevity, scientists are examining the possibility of using music to improve memory in older adults.
Exercise has also been shown to ward off the symptoms of aging. In an article published in 2010 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers confirmed that exercise not only helps maintain good health but may even prevent the onset of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and dementia. For instance, one Harvard study of 13,000 women found that when it came to exercise, more was better. Compared with women who jogged for 20 minutes a week, those who jogged three hours a week or walked briskly for five hours a week were 76% more likely to age successfully without anxiety, dementia, heart disease or high blood pressure.
Certainly, with Hellman’s commitment to fitness and his love of music, he was able to live a full life up until his last few months. He traveled around the country with his bluegrass band, the Wronglers, performing with them as recently as October 12 in Nashville and recording an album with them earlier in the year. An accomplished endurance athlete, he twice completed a 100-mile running race through the Sierra Nevada mountains and, up until recently, he still ran 16 miles each day before going to work.
Hellman was fortunate that his physical well-being allowed him to access that which he loved; for others who are less mobile, there is Engage As You Age, which can bring activities and meaningful companionship to any seniors’ doorstep.
Do you eat fish, chicken or nuts? If so, a recent study in Neurology should be of interest to you. The study found that the more Omega-3 fatty acids someone eats the lower their blood beta-amyloid levels. This is good news for those that eat a lot of Omega-3 fatty acids as previous studies have found a correlation between higher levels of blood beta-amyloid levels and Alzheimer’s and memory problems.
