Your Medicare – time for a change?
- Written by Chuck Guilford
It's that time again, late fall. Open enrollment. From now till December 7th we can make changes in our Medicare plans. You may have received a notice from Medicare and solicitations from a number of private companies that offer plans to supplement or replace Original Medicare. If you already have such a policy – a Medigap or Medicare Advantage plan – you've probably received its 2014 Schedule of Benefits, and if you've had a chance to look at it, you may have noticed several important changes for the coming year.
Beat Flu Season-- Naturally.
- Written by J.J.
Staying healthy throughout the Winter and Fall season is complicated. That's why we see so much conflicting information about what foods and supplements to take and which flu shot is best for us. What we do know is that about 20% of Americans will get the flu in an average year and more than 1/2 will be 65 or older. The flu shot, though recommended, isn't enough protection. The 2012-2013 flu shot varied in its effectiveness for age groups. It was 50% protective for people between the ages of 60 and 64 but only 9% protective for everyone over 65. We also know that aging is connected to reduced immune reactions which leaves us increasingly vulnerable to illness, food poisoning, and a number of other immune related health troubles. Even in this remarkable age of medical technology and discovery scientists don't know enough about how our immune system interconnects with our miraculous bodies resulting in a hesitance to tell us exactly how to boost immunity or protect from flu. What then can we do to strengthen ourselves against Winter viruses?
Health professionals agree that our bodies are equipped with a natural defense system that can be strengthened by initiating a few basic strategies: cultivating an exercise habit, eating good nutrition, implementing stress management, staying away from the drugs and cigarettes, moderating alcohol use and, lastly, making adequate time for sleep! How to achieve these goals and how much of them creates optimum immune benefit varies with individuals. What's right for one body may be wrong for another. Experiment and you'll find the right balance. The more immune system support strategies you can integrate the stronger your body will be to defend against a Winter of colds and flu.
Perhaps the highest priority for defense against illness is exercise. Recently it's been shown that just 20 minutes of exercise daily is all it takes to trigger healthful results. Aerobic exercise is the best but we're not all runners or walkers. What we can do, all of us, is wiggle 20 minutes of exercise out of every day. Faced with elevator or stairs take the stairs. Is it faster to drive to a destination than walk? That thought is your flag to walk anyway. March while you're on the phone or dance while you're making dinner. Don't settle for polite inactivity. Take back your time by moving when you're engaged in the tedium of every day life.
Nutrition is also fundamental in establishing immune strength. Basic nutrition needs are agreed on and endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The CDC promotes nutrition because diet impacts immunity. Beyond the basics, though, it's easy to find controversy about what particular foods or supplements are most useful in warding off flu or colds. Some popular choices like echinacea, vitamin C, garlic, probiotics and so forth lack the rigorous studies that attract doctor endorsements. We know our own bodies best and if it seems to be working for us we'll probably keep using it with or without scientific validation. Popular embrace of various healing foods and supplements is pushing medicine toward broader explorations of "natural" healing methods which will lead to more conclusive guidance in the near future. Meanwhile paying attention to the basic nutritional balance on your plate, regardless what particular foods you choose to fulfill it, is key to staying healthy in flu and cold season.
Our immune system weakens as we age and consequently stress can have greater influence on our health. We may also encounter higher chronic stress episodes such as unemployment, long term financial worry, loss of functionality, or caregiving for family members and loved ones. These experiences, unlike many other temporary or distant stresses, suppress the immune system. How we manage stress is highly individual. Some people practice meditation others laugh. At times we may work too much and eat or drink too much in reaction to stress. These responses weaken our bodies and create vulnerability. It may not seem possible or practical to change the sources of our stress but with effort and focus most of us can find healthy outlets or new ways to face our challenges that eases their impact on our body. If you're in a position of chronic stress try working one of the 6 stress management strategies at this site, or consult the broader techniques suggested at Mayo Clinic or Medline. Dive into a strategy and ease your stress to strengthen your body against winter illness.
Maybe you've got exercise in your life and you're eating well, you don't smoke or drink much and you've found ways to cope with your stress, wonderful. The last step in guarding your immune system is to get between 7 and 9 hours of nightly sleep. Many people say they don't need that much sleep but, in fact, our bodies do. As NBC nightly news reported, the CDC now lists insufficient sleep as a Public Health Epidemic. In their latest national health survey 30% of adults reported less than 6 hours of sleep each night. Sleep deficiency can be dangerous to ourselves and others and weakens our immune system. According to the Mayo Clinic sleep manufactures proteins that help us ward off viruses and stress. When we don't get good sleep or enough sleep we lose out on building stores of those proteins that help us mount a healthy defense.
If you've had a bad virus in the past think back to your sleep, eating, and exercise at the time. Our bodies have a natural immune system but it needs our help and maintenance. More of our conscious support is needed as the immune system weakens with age. Flu shots help but, as we've discovered, they're less then 10% effective in protecting older Americans. By committing to the support of our natural defenses we can ward off weaker viruses and rebound quicker from the ones that hold on.
The Evolution of Trick or Treat
- Written by J.J.
Trick or treat? It's a choice children haven't always offered neighbors. Many people over the age of 80 will remember overturned outhouses, noisemaking, and minor vandalisms that vexed parents and aggravated local authorities on Halloween nights past. In fact, Halloween was only a holiday for pranks and private parties until around 1930 when, in some parts of the country, children began offering a way they could be appeased...by receiving a treat.
Are You Reading? Fiction Is Good For Your Health.
- Written by J.J.
I have to admit it. I don't read books anymore. As life gets busier and busier I find less time for reading. At first I hid that fact from my well educated friends but it became harder to do each time they'd turn to me and ask, "What have you been reading?" I still read but my reading has shifted from literary novels to online articles, studies, surveys, and occasional poetry. Consequently, I'm still experiencing learning and appreciating writing but I no longer have the sense of getting away that I used to enjoy in a novel nor do I need to imagine scenes and settings or track multiple characters as I would to comprehend a story. The further away I drift from reading books the more I've wondered if other people my age are having this experience and what, if any, cognitive problems might result from a prolonged hiatus from reading. In the course of my research, I was surprised to find out how good reading is for our health!
Are you reading? If you're over 65 there's a strong chance that you are. In fact, according to a recently published survey (which, of course I read) from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), you're likely to be enjoying a literary book of some kind such as a novel or short stories. All age groups over 65 showed significant increases in reading between 2008 and 2012 but under 65 (that's me) there were decreases at every age level with the largest percentage decreases between the ages 35 and 64. On the other hand, more people 65-74 read a book last year than any other age group and the largest percentage increase in readership occurred among those of us who are 75 or older!
Increases in readers 65 and older is important because reading provides safeguards against multiple age related problems. It was widely reported earlier this year, for instance, that lifelong reading significantly decreased the likelihood of Alzheimers and slowed cognitive decline. The study, while encouraging, was scientifically inconclusive yet science knows that brain exercise, which we get from reading, is a critical component of mental fitness and good mental fitness does seem to slow and sometimes guard against cognitive decline with age. In fact reading is uniquely challenging to our minds and exacts greater demands then imagery or spoken words. The sense of getting lost in a book is a very real phenomenon. MRI imagery shows that our entire brain is stimulated by imagining the settings that surround our characters and the senses and feelings they experience.
Not all reading is the same. Our brains react differently when we read fiction or read studies and essays. Brand new research is finding a distinct difference in psychological benefit. Short story readers seem to gain greater tolerance for uncertainty through their reading while essay readers look for more closure. The Toronto group evaluating these outcomes adds that the "double release," in fiction, "—of thinking through events without concerns for urgency and permanence, and thinking in ways that are different than one’s own..." decreases the reader's need for definitive conclusion. Consequently, fiction may help us cope with these stressful and uncertain times while essay and survey evaluation may push us to want to find conclusion or closure.
Reading articles, studies and surveys I never have the experience that I can't put the text down but I remember that feeling from a good story. What's happening when we can't put a book down? It may be more than the urge to finish a scene. The act of reading fiction is greatly reducing stress. In fact, reading a book provides stress reduction quicker than most forms of exercise or relaxation. On average just six minutes of reading slows the heart rate and relaxes tight muscles.
The power of reading can have even greater positive effect on emotional health."Reading pushes the pain away into a place where it no longer seems important," Kate, a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer, tells the guardian news in their probe into a reading therapy group program called "Get Into Reading." The program is yielding strong anecdotal success however demonstrating bibliotherapy's generalized effectiveness in treatment settings has been scientifically elusive. Bibliotherapy, the use of books within a therapeutic or organized treatment program, is widely used by mental health and guidance professionals and often studied. Recent research has looked at its efficacy in treating later life anxiety, later life mild to moderate depressions, alcohol abuse, tinnitus distress, and panic attacks. I credit fiction for getting me through my twenties. Bibliotherapy suggests that fiction could aid in coping with the challenges of the 70's, 80's and 90's.
Like many people I've talked with, I was instilled with a love of books as a child. Having fiction fall out of my life was a slow gradual process of stranding characters, sending stories back to the library unread, and finally not reading books at all. I'll never stop reading but, as I suspected, there are special benefits to reading fiction that are as important for us as the thrills and excitement of a story. Therapy, relaxation, coping skills, and unique mental exercise. Outside of physical exercise there may be few things we can do that offer so much in return. I'll get back to fiction. Maybe, as the NEA survey suggests, it'll happen when I turn 65! Meanwhile, dear reader, I'm wishing you the health and happiness of a great book!
Update Jan 2014--In a recent study changes in the brain that occur while we read last for up to five days after we close the book!