Health posts

Many seniors choose to stay in their homes for years after retirement. Living at home provides the comfort of familiar surroundings and enables seniors to maintain independence and control over their lives. But there are some risks associated with living at home. A few simple safeguards can help seniors protect themselves.

Keep a healthy weight, watch your diet, and make sure your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and other crucial numbers are in a normal range. That’s what we’ve been told for years are the essentials for good health.

But now a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is proposing a new model of health. Under this model, some people who are traditionally considered unhealthy are actually the healthiest people; conversely, many people who would be considered healthy actually have significant underlying issues that increase the chances that they die or become incapacitated within five years.

The time to plan for an emergency is not while one is happening. It’s a good idea to plan ahead for emergencies, since you never know when one is going to arise, and when it does you want to know exactly what to do.

For seniors, even those in good health, the chances of medical emergencies are somewhat greater than for most younger people. So here are some things to do before and during an emergency that might save your life or someone in your family. It’s not necessarily pleasant to think about, but if the need arises, you’ll be glad you prepared.

How long will your retirement last? No one can know, although there are calculators such as the Social Security life-expectancy calculator that can help give you an estimate. But people are living longer than before. After retirement, you may live for another 20 years or more. Are you prepared for a retirement that could last for decades? Here are some things to consider.

You may have devoted a lot of time and effort to retirement planning. Maybe you’ve planned and saved diligently for retirement for years, and purchased Medigap coverage to cover medical expenses. But one important area you might have overlooked is dental care.

After you retire, your need for good dental health doesn’t go away. In fact, it might  even increase. Poor or neglected dental health is associated with malnutrition, speech impediments, and chronic pain and can even contribute to serious health conditions like heart disease and diabetes, conditions which become more prevalent as people get older.

But it can be difficult to obtain dental care in retirement. Only about a third of Americans have retiree health benefits from their former employer, and Medicare does not cover most dental exams or procedures. Here are some ideas for obtaining dental care in retirement.

We’ve often been told that effective people cultivate and practice effective habits. That while everyone’s situation is different, certain consistent patterns of behavior increase one’s chances of success. This applies to individuals, families, and companies; hence we have the seven habits of highly effective people, teens, families, and entrepreneurs.

The same holds true of retirement. Although everyone’s retirement is different, there are some habits that retirees can cultivate to increase the odds that their golden years will be many and fulfilling. Below we propose seven habits of highly effective retirees.

Healthcare is already a significant part of many people’s expenses in retirement, and costs are rising. The average couple retiring in 2015 could plan on spending $245,000 on healthcare, according to Fidelity. This represented an increase from $220,000 in 2014, and a 29 percent increase since 2005. Here are some ways to save on healthcare in retirement.

It inevitably happens to all of us. As we grow older, our bodies simply don’t work quite as well. Our joints become less flexible, our reaction times increase, and our vision is not as keen. At some point, many of us will need assistance with everyday tasks of life. More than 70 percent of people in the U.S. over the age of 65 will need some form of long-term care assistance during their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. That’s why long-term care insurance enters the minds of many people. But only 13 percent of people actually purchase LTC insurance. Are they making the right decision? Here are some considerations.

Loneliness and social isolation are common among seniors. As people get older, they’re more likely to live alone and have little social contact. Additionally, more older adults than before do not have children, which means no descendants to visit and provide company. But this social isolation can have severe negative effects on physical and emotional health and longevity.

For those who would like to maintain their brain health and mental faculties in their senior years, there are some simple things that are proven to work. Recent research reaffirms that the things you thought were good for your brain health, actually are. Getting enough sleep and exercise, and a healthy diet are among the most important habits for keeping your noggin in top form. Although most people are familiar with these habits, surveys show relatively few senior adults actually practice all of them.

As we age, our risk of diseases and chronic health conditions increases. Heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke all become more common as we get older. A healthy lifestyle, nutritious diet and regular exercise can help avoid or delay these conditions. And there’s another important thing you can do as well.

Why do some people’s mental faculties decline rapidly with age, while others remain mentally sharp and active well into their senior years? That’s the question researchers are trying to answer in a study at Northwestern University and funded by the National Institutes of Health. They have identified several biological differences between those who retain their mental abilities and those who don’t.

If you want to eat healthier, researchers at Cornell University have identified three simple steps you can do to make it easier. While eating healthy foods is largely a matter of personal choice, just a few small changes can make it part of your routine.

You’ve heard countless times about the health benefits of regular exercise. And not just a leisurely stroll around the block – some previous studies of walkers and cyclers have found an association between regular, strenuous exercise and long-term health and longevity. The more intense the exercise the better it is for you, these studies suggest.

But for those whose idea of fun doesn’t include pounding the pavement until they’re out of breath, here’s some good news. A recent study on runners by researchers in Denmark found that a slow to moderate pace is associated with the lowest risk of premature death.

Average life expectancy in the U.S. has been rising steadily and is currently 78.8 years. But what if you want to increase your personal life expectancy? We all know some keys to a longer, healthier life: regular exercise, eating more vegetables, going easy on the sodas and junk food, and avoiding tobacco products. But research has indicated some other behavioral things you can do to help add more years to your life. Here are ten simple physical, emotional, and psychological changes that, if made on a daily basis, could give you a longer – and happier – life.

The health of our teeth and gums is directly connected to the health of the rest of our bodies. Poor dental health impacts overall health and increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

A common conception of a person who lives to be very old, is someone hanging on to life, but disabled if not bedridden, in constant discomfort, and having lost most of their mental faculties. Current research, however, is showing this to be a misconception.

If scientists developed an easy, reliable quiz that assessed your chance of dying in the next five years, would you take it?

Researchers in Sweden have produced a free, online quiz that they say determines with 80 percent accuracy the probability of dying in the next five years for men and women age 40 to 70. There’s a separate quiz for men and for women; each consists of about a dozen simple, straightforward questions.

A vacation can be good for renewing the mind and spirit, but there are physical health benefits as well. The Framingham Heart Study found that women age 45 to 64 who vacationed at least twice a year had a significantly lower risk of heart disease than women who hardly ever took a vacation. Another study found that regular vacations also reduced the risk of death from heart disease in men. Here are some reasons why it’s good to get on the road every once in a while.

Regular exercise is beneficial for most everyone at any age. When you’re young, exercise helps set a foundation of basic health and creates a good habit of physical activity that carries with you for a lifetime. When you’re older, you might engage in different types of activities, but the benefits are still the same.

When it comes to medication, your insurance always gives the best deal, right? Not necessarily. Many people don’t realize that Walmart, Target, CVS, and other national pharmacy chains offer prescription drug discount plans that may provide some savings.

Although these plans have nominal annual fees, often it’s possible to more than recoup that on prescription drug savings, as well as savings on other services such as flu shots.

Inflammation is part of the body’s response to foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and allergens. It’s also caused by irritants like pollen, dust, and damaged tissues. Inflammation is triggered when certain hormones in your body call for your white blood cells to come and clear out infections and damaged cells. When the threat has passed, the inflammation recedes and the body heals.

Often, however, inflammation turns on and never fully turns off, instead becoming systemic and chronic. Inflammation is a widespread problem in the U.S. Many of us are walking around on a “slow simmer”, as Nurse Practitioner Marcelle Pick says.

As people age, many worry about losing their mental capacities. Experts cite activities like regular physical exercise, maintaining social interactions, and cultivating hobbies like learning a musical instrument or foreign language in order to help people stave off declines in mental faculties.

In 1513, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León landed in Florida, allegedly in search of the fabled fountain of youth. While he did not find such a fountain, and there are doubts whether he was actually looking for it, people throughout the centuries have sought ways to slow down the clock.

Modern advances in nutrition and medical science have dramatically extended lifespans and quality of life for many people. Although eternal life is just a myth so far, there are some proven ways you can look and feel younger in middle age and beyond.

Frauds and scams aimed at retirees and seniors have become big business. Here are five common types of scams and tips for avoiding become a victim.

Many people’s senses begin to decline with age, particularly eyesight and hearing. People’s sense of smell and taste also frequently become less sharp after around age 70. This is often simply accepted as a sign of age.

But a recent and widely publicized study by doctors at The University of Chicago found that inability to distinguish between different odors was a remarkably reliable indicator of impending demise.

Credit score requests have become quite commonplace in today’s society. Your bank uses your credit score to decide how much interest to charge on your loan; your life insurer uses it to set your premiums; prospective employers even use it when making hiring decisions.

A credit score encapsulates a host of prior financial decisions, which many believe reflects attributes that are harder to measure such as trustworthiness and personal responsibility. Now research has shown that credit scores are correlated with physical health.