Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Benefits to Wearing Hearing Aids Worth the Cost

Excerpts from an article in Therapy Times, May 25, from the House Ear Institute:

With the struggling economy, everyone is trying to save money. People are eating out less and staying home instead of taking vacations. Unfortunately, at times like this, there also is a tendency for people with hearing loss to forego physician-recommended treatments, such as hearing aids.

“Patients are coming in to have their hearing tested and even after the tests show a hearing loss significant enough that a hearing aid would help them, patients are deciding not to get hearing aids right now,” says Alan Senne, AuD, director of audiology and hearing aid dispensing at the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles.

Hearing professionals at the House Ear Institute (HEI) and House Ear Clinic encourage people experiencing a hearing loss to think twice before trying to save money by not getting hearing aids when recommended. The positive impact that today’s hearing aids can have on a hearing loss patient’s quality of life, including their career success, usually far outweighs the initial investment.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.therapytimes.com/content=1902J84C4896549040A040441

Take care of yourself and have a great day.

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Health Discovery: Can You Still Build Muscle Mass at 80?

Excerpt from article in AARP Bulletin Today, May 26, by John Hanc:

Can you reach a point where you’re simply too old to benefit from exercise? The results of a recent study at Ball State University in Indiana might be read that way.

Accent on might.

In the study, published in May in the Journal of Applied Physiology, six women in their 80s exercised on a machine designed to strengthen the quadriceps (thigh) muscles, three times a week for three months. Despite doing this consistent muscle-building exercise, MRIs showed that the women built no muscle mass over the course of the study.

So does that mean once you hit 80, you should cancel the gym membership or throw away the hand weights?

Not so fast!

While the women in the study didn’t gain muscle, they were still able to increase the amount of weight they lifted by a hefty 26 percent over the three-month period, through improved neurological efficiency. That is, their bodies became better at mobilizing and coordinating existing muscle fibers and neural pathways needed to perform the work.

Such functional strength is a vitally important outcome of a resistance training program. This is the strength needed, say, to lift yourself out of a tub or pick up a grandchild. “It’s the functional strength that really counts, and this study shows you can still achieve that even in your 80s,” says exercise scientist Hank Williford of Auburn University at Montgomery in Alabama.

So keep exercising and stay healthy!!

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Health Discovery: Best Foods for Eye Health

Excerpts from article by Sid Kirchheimer in AARP Bulletin Today, May 19.


Eating chicken over beef isn’t just heart-healthy. It may also be the better choice for lower risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss in people over age 60.

After tracking the dietary and lifestyle habits of 6,700 Australians, ages 58 to 69, for four years and evaluating them for AMD 13 years later, researchers found that eating 10 or more servings of red meat per week raised the risk of AMD by 50 percent compared with having five or fewer servings weekly. However, eating chicken at least three times weekly was associated with a 50 percent reduced risk.

That’s not to say that chicken necessarily protects against the vision-robbing condition, says lead researcher Elaine Chong, M.D., of the Centre for Eye Research Australia at the University of Melbourne. Instead, her research—published April 1 in the American Journal of Epidemiology—provides more evidence that excessive consumption of red meat can raise AMD risk, while being the first to indicate that white meat does not.

Read the entire article at:
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/discoveries/articles/discoveries_best_foods_for_eye_health.html

Eat healthy and stay healthy!!!!!

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

In Recession, Older Workers Hang in There

In California, nearly 30 percent of people ages 65 to 69 are still working

Excerpts from article in AARP BulletinToday, May 12, by Michael Zielenziger

Since the recession started in December 2007, the number of employed workers over the age of 55 has actually grown by more than 800,000, according to figures released last week by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). By contrast, during the same period some 5.7 million workers have lost their jobs, and the unemployment rate now stands at 8.9 percent

• The shift from defined-benefit to defined-contribution pension plans, which has increased the incentives to work later in life.

• Older Americans have less confidence that they can afford retirement. The 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey, released in April by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute, found that “Americans’ confidence in their ability to afford a comfortable retirement has dropped to its lowest level in seven years.” Between 2007 and 2008 alone, the share of U.S. retirees who reported that they are “not too” or “not at all” confident that they have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement years increased from 21 percent to 34 percent.

• Changes in the Social Security program have created a financial incentive to continue working later into life. In 2000, for instance, Congress repealed a provision that had reduced the amount of Social Security benefits people ages 65 to 69 received if they had earnings from work above a certain threshold.

Read the entire article at:
http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/work/articles/in_recession_older_workers_hang_in_there.html

So if you find yourself still working, you're not alone.

Have a great day

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Monday, May 11, 2009

The Importance of Discharge Planning and Transition Care

The following was published in the May 2009 Senior Independence Update by Home Safety Services, and it highlights the importance of a specific transition plan after discharge from a hospital.

Re-hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries are prevalent and costly. This was the conclusion made by Jencks et al., in their recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that examined 15 months of Medicare claims data to describe patterns of re-hospitalization among 12 million Medicare beneficiaries. Two-thirds were re-hospitalized or died within a year of discharge; 90% of re-hospitalizations were unplanned; and half of those re-hospitalized within 30 days had no evidence of having seen a doctor between hospital encounters. The cost of unplanned re-hospitalizations in 2004 was estimated to be $17.4 billion dollars. According to the study's authors, "a safe transition...requires care that centers on the patient and transcends organizational boundaries". Providers are thus encouraged to partner with other disciplines (e.g. home health, physical therapy, homecare, home safety, etc.) so as to ensure a continuum of care.

More information on safety in your home and Aging in Place can be found at the Home Safety Services link available on this site's opening page.

Take care and be safe at home!!

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

REGULAR EXERCISE SAVES MONEY

Following are excerpts from an article in SeniorResource.com May issue of the E-zine

If the benefits seen in the mirror and on the scale aren't enough to convince you, new research shows that regular exercise can also have a dramatic impact on your pocketbook. The financial benefits are more pronounced for those who stand to gain the most physically from routine activity-older adults with chronic disease.

A January 2008 study funded by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked a group of participants in the Healthways SilverSneakers® Fitness Program for two years, and found that they were admitted to the hospital less often and had lower overall healthcare costs. Participants in the study had significantly lower total adjusted healthcare costs, saving an average of $500 compared with a control group that did not participate. The more members participated, the more they saved. Participants who averaged at least two fitness center visits per week over two years incurred at least $1,252 less in healthcare costs in year two than did those who visited less than once per week on average. The savings were even more pronounced among those who visited more than twice a week.

To read the entire article, go to
http://seniorresource.com/ezine_exercise.htm#Aone

And make regular exercise a key part of your weekly routine.

Stay healthy!!!

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist

Friday, May 1, 2009

SWINE FLU SYMPTOMS AND PREVENTION

Following is from an article from AARP Bulletin Today by Katharine Greider dated April 28.

The symptoms of swine flu are essentially indistinguishable from the familiar misery of seasonal flu: fever, coughing, sore throat, body aches, headache, sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. The CDC suggests people worried about such symptoms call their doctor, especially if they live in a community with swine flu cases or have traveled to such an area. More serious problems like difficulty breathing call for emergency medical attention.

Just like regular seasonal flu virus, the swine flu virus is thought to spread on droplets emitted by coughing and sneezing or deposited on hands and surfaces, then transferred to nose or mouth. Thus, practicing the usual precautions will help prevent its spread:
* Use a tissue when you cough or sneeze, and throw it away promptly. If you don’t have a tissue, cough into your sleeve.
* Wash your hands thoroughly and often, especially after sneezing or coughing, using soap and water or an alcohol rub.
* Wipe surfaces like doorknobs using a regular cleaner.
* If you’re sick with flu-like symptoms, even if you don’t feel sick enough to go to the doctor, stay home from work or school to avoid giving the virus to someone else.

Take care of yourself!!

Tom Binder
Seniors Real Estate Specialist