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As seniors age and their body starts to go, you quickly realize how body functions are related. As one body parts starts to go, it puts a strain on the other part body part, and pretty soon the remedy to the malady is just going to worsen the health of the senior.

Many older people are hanging together by a delicate balance. Throw that balance off and you can overload another part of their body. Some high blood pressure medicines can cause water retention. Yet, while duretics can alleviate water retention, they can cause a loss of potassium.

When dealing with senior health issues it is always advisable to deal with a doctor well versed in geriatrics—who is aware of the delicate balance and who will look carefully at the prescriptions that the seior is currently taking. If you are taking an elderly senior to the doctor, make note of all the prescriptions they are currently taking.

To find current senior health discoveries go to:
http://www.boomer-books.com/health_page/healthpage.html

You can find drug and doctor checklists at:

http://www.printablechecklists.com/checklist29a.shtml

Have you ever felt the desire to use a skill you have to help or teach others? Or have you tried to teach self-obsessed teenagers that there is another world out there where they may be able to put their skills to use to help out someone other than themselves? There are plenty of volunteer opportunities out there for helping others.

The problem is that we often drop the ball because we don’t know where to begin. We may not know where volunteer opportunities exist.

I’ve tried to put a few organizations offering volunteer opportunities and describe them with links to their websites at http://www.boomer-books.com/volunteering/volunteering.html.

If I’ve left anyone out or you can think of any to add, please let me know by leaving a comment.

Back in the early 1970’s there was a secret wigwam on Chappaquiddick Island that became a refuge in a scrub oak forest. Nixon was still the president, Jaws was just being filmed, and the world seemed a quiet place (compared to San Francisco where I had finished college). Working on an all-girl painting crew I learned tricks they never taught in college.

Find out more at
http://www.boomer-books.com/wigwam-story/wigwam-story.htm

Not everyone needs a living trust. If you are young and don’t own much property and don’t mind making your heirs go through probate, all you need is a simple will. Probate fees on an estate worth $50,000 may be around $1000 —you could leave that in a safety deposit box.

Sometimes a will is just more simple to prepare, and to change. Each state has its own limits on the amount of worth that can be willed without probate. As a rule of thumb, you should examine what your heirs would have to pay in probate costs to quickly decide if a living trust is a better plan for you.

But if you intend to help your heirs avoid the cost and delay of probate, you may want to consider the advantages of a living trust. With a living trust, eveything is spelled out in advance and there are significant tax advantages—although the main advantage of a living trust is to avoid the messy problems of putting your family through probate.

If you have your own business, a living trust can help you appoint someone to keep the bills paid so that your business doesn’t dry up while awaiting probate court. The probate process can turn out to be a kind of legal purgatory. A waiting place where your goods are sorted out after your death. If you have a lot of assets, it may be putting your family thru one more unnecessary trial.

You can get a simple living trust made by a lawyer for $500 or more. If property has to be transfered into the name of the living trust, it may cost you $1000 or more. There are lawyers who specialize in living trusts who put them together for less. Or you can do it yourself with a book called Make Your Own Living Trust. This 300-page book was wriiten by a lawyer and contains all the advice you need to construct your own living trust. It even contains a CD-ROM with the forms you’ll need. You can read more about it at http://www.boomer-books.com

I just talked with a friend who was complaining to me about the treatment his aging mom was receiving in the hospital. Seems her arms were black and blue from the nurses trying to take her blood samples—they just couldn’t seem to find a vein. One night no nurse would answer the buzzer when his mom rang it in the night. She only needed help to get to the bathroom. And the doctor, who only appeared once a day for ten minutes, had prescribed an old medicine for congestive heart failure when newer, more effective medicines were available. Luckily for my friend, he had a family friend—a doctor well versed in geriatrics, who got his mom discharged from that hospital and into better care. But for the rest of us who don’t have a geriatric doctor as a family friend, we have a great responsibility to take on and a lot to learn in a short time when an aging parent lands in the hospital.

My friend’s episode reminded me of my own aging mom’s tribulations in the hospital. How they gave her medicine she was allergic to—even though her allergy was clearly stated in her chart. How they inserted a catheter poorly, which extended her bladder and caused an infection. Months later, when my mom was dying and I was to enter her into Hospice, her last words to me were to please not send her back to the hospital.

I hope that your aging parent won’t have suffer from bad treatment while in a hospital. And I pray that you won’t feel the guilt or the sense of hopelessness that I or my friend did as we struggled on how to deal with hospitals, nurses, and doctors.

Please respond to this post and let me know if your aging parent was treated well in a hospital or if they suffered. I’ve heard some real horror stories. I’m not sure if they were caused by well-intentioned, but over-worked nurses, or if our society just doesn’t seem to offer the same level of care for people in their 80’s. Maybe they don’t realize that these older patients are someone’s aging parent.

The book, Helping Your Aging Parent lists several tricks you can initiate to win over the nurses so that they’ll pay more attention to the needs of your aging parent when they’re in the hospital or nursing home. There is also a drug allergy notice you can download for FREE at http://www.boomer-books.com to post by an aging parent’s bed so that the nurse, or doctor will realize this older person has a drug allergy—even if it’s already written in their chart.

While most of us boomers are grovelling around at our menial jobs scrimping and saving every penny and dreaming of how we plan to retire, we may be missing the point. If life starts to center around work and money—beware! You may not have much of a life when your work stops. The key to enjoying a successful retirement may not be just having a huge nest egg—It’s the ability to enjoy life!

But how do we enjoy life when we’re old geezers with no jobs, a dwindling supply of dinero, and a shrivelling libido? By developing and enjoying hobbies and studies, fueling inner curiosity and interests in the world around us, and learning to make new friends. Break out them oil paints! These are the skills we’ll need to develop in order to enjoy retirement.

Of course, a few million dollars could help us in these endeavors, but, according to Ralph Warner author of “Get A Life—You Don’t Need a Million to retire Well” a book which he somewhat subtitles the “Savvy Peasant’s Guide” the secret is enjoying the things that really matter when we eventually retire. Most of the chapters in his book don’t have to do with scrimping and saving money, but are actual interviews with happy retirees living happily on less than what they thought they’d need, and the tricks they’ve learned along the way that we can apply. For us (sob. . . sob) non-millionares, this book offers hope to overshadow the recent bad news on Social Security and Medicare. It is also a refreshing look at what’s in store for us—from others who are there, and enjoying it.

Find out more by clicking here:
http://www.boomer-books.com/bookstore/bookstore_gal.html

After spending over $200 on plumber bills to fix a toilet that never worked right. I finally broke down and bought and installed a new toilet myself. The new toilet cost around $150 at Home Depot, and the wax ring was $3.50. It only took an hour, and considering how much I had worried about it I realized it was something I should have done long ago. So many times in my life I build up and procrastinate over simple repairs that cost much more than just doing it. With home repairs you’ve got to be fearless. You must face the unknown with confidence that you may not possess—a skill that you can apply to all your life challenges.

Anyway, some tips on changing a toilet. Always buy the best. Right now Kohler is the Cadillac of low-flow toilets. Kohler has a huge R&D staff developing new inventions to help your poop go down smoothly and to help a toilet operate the way it should. Don’t spend your money and your time installing an inferior brand of toilet. You only want to install toilets a few times in your life. Make the experience a good one. Install a quality Kohler toilet. I’ve installed over 10 toilets. This is something I had to learn the hard way.

The other tip is to make sure that you buy a quality wax ring. Always, always, change the wax ring. No matter how good the old ring may appear during removal of the old toilet. Better to spring an extra few dollars for the extra wax. I always buy the $3.50 wax ring rather than the $2.00 one. You don’t want to chance on the toilet leaking during a flush after you’ve installed it and are ready to go on to new things in your life.

When removing the old toilet, start by disconnecting the water supply. Then flush until you get all the water out of the toilet. Use a cup if necessary to remove the rest of the water inside the bowl. Then remove the tank by unscrewing the bolts under the tank that secure it to the seat. Have a bathroom trashcan ready to collect the leftover water from tank that comes to meet you when you unscrew the bolts. Have a big beach towel handy for moping up messes.

After removing the back, unscrew the seat by loosening the two screws on either side of the bottom of the toilet. Then carefully grasp the toilet gently in you arms and pull it up from the back. Carefully walk it out the nearest doorway and don’t set that baby down until you reach past the front or back door. Usually there will always be a bit of water just dying to drain out on a rug or wood floor.

After you’ve removed the toilet take a look down into the hole in the floor and imagine that you’re in China. Actually, in China they have a sort of ceramic trough that lines the hole and helps aiming. But imagining that you’re in China helps to make the job seem more exotic than it really is.

Take a putty knife and scrape of all the wax and put it into the bathroom trashcan you used to collect the water from the tank. Clean it up as good as possble.

Get the base of your new toilet out of the box. Place it on it’s side. Unwrap your new wax ring, place it on the hole on the bottom of the toilet. Run a strip of caulk all around the bottom of the toilet where it will make contact with the bathroom floor. Then carefully lift the base and, with the skill of a bombardier. Set it down so that the two bolts connected to your floor flange poke up through the two holes in the base of your toilet. Then wet your finger with water from the sink and wipe the caulk smooth around the base so that it looks really professional. This will awe all your friends. Apply the two nuts and tighten down the toilet seat. Don’t get carried away with your superhuman strength. You don’t need to make these bolts super tight. Check the levelness of your toilet with a bubble level. You may have to bolt down one side more than the other to bring it level. Sit on it a few times to seat the wax seal. Imagine how this new trouble-fee toilet is going to improve your quality of life.

Then open the box with your tank and place your tank onto the back of your toilet, carefully lining up the three bolts. Again, don’t let the “Hulk” inside you take over. You are bolting down onto a fairly thin piece of ceramic. no need to crack it. A little on one bolt, a little on the other, until they’re all snug. Connect your water supply and check for leaks. If leaks appear. Don’t panic. Relax. Take a deep breath. Turn off the water supply, tighten a few bolts and try it again.

For a better description, try this link on 12-step toilet installation extreme how-to

A group of chemicals in apples could protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, according to two new studies from Cornell University food scientists.

The studies show that the chemical quercetin, a so-called phytonutrient, appears to be largely responsible for protecting brain cells when assaulted by oxidative stress in laboratory tests.

Phytonutrients, such as phenolic acids and flavanoids, work to protect apples against bacteria, viruses and fungi. They also provide the fruit’s anti-oxidant and anti-cancer benefits. Quercetin is a major flavanoid in apples. Antioxidants help prevent cancer by mopping up cell-damaging free radicals and inhibiting the production of reactive substances that could damage normal cells.

“The studies show that additional apple consumption not only may help reduce the risk of cancer, as previous studies have shown, but also that an apple a day may supply major bioactive compounds, which may play an important role in reducing the risk of neurodegenerative disorders,” says Chang Y. “Cy” Lee, Cornell professor of food science at the university’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y.

The two studies build on Lee’s 2002 findings that quercetin has stronger anti-cancer activity than vitamin C, and his 2000 findings that phytochemicals in apples have stronger anti-oxidant protective effects than vitamin C against colon and liver cancer cells. Other studies have found that phytochemicals are associated with a reduced risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and that they fight not only cancer but also bacterial and viral infections. In addition, they are anti-allergenic and anti-inflammatory.

The type of apples used in the study were Red Delicious, though all types of apple contain the key phytochemicals—they key is to eat them at least once a day. Or feed them to an aging parent who may be at risk for Alzheimers or Parkinson’s.

Although Lee stresses that his studies were conducted in the laboratory, not in clinical trials with humans, he has no hesitation in recommending more apples in the diet as well as other fresh fruits and vegetables. “Indeed, I have a reason to say an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Other issues involving senior health can be found at http://www.boomer-books.com/health_page/healthpage.html

A recent study demonstrating the preventive effects of cannabinoids on Alzheimer’s disease, was conducted by researchers at the Cajal Institute and Complutense University in Madrid. The study appears in the February 23, 2005, issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.

Researchers showed that cannabinoids prevented cognitive decline through rat experiments. In these experiments, they injected either amyloid (which leads to cognitive decline), or control proteins into the brains of rats for one week. Other rats were injected with a cannabinoid and either amyloid or a control protein.

After two months, the researchers trained the rats over five days to find a platform hidden underwater. Rats treated with the control protein – with or without cannabinoids – and those treated with the amyloid protein and cannabinoid were able to find the platform. The “unstoned” Rats treated with amyloid protein alone, did not learn how to find the platform.

Rats that received the control protein alone or cannabinoid and a control protein did not show activation of microglia. “Microglia” collect near plaques in the brain and, when active, cause inflammation which can lead to Alzheimer’s. Using cell cultures, the investigators confirmed that cannabinoids counteracted the activation of microglia and thus reduced inflammation in the brains of rats.

According to scientists, these findings that cannabinoids work to both prevent inflammation and to protect the brain, may set the stage for their use as a therapeutic approach for Alzheimer’s disease. The scientists will now begin to focus their efforts on targeting one of the two main cannabinoid receptors that is not involved in producing the psychotropic effects, or high, from marijuana so that they can develop cannabinoids in a pill someday to give to baby boomers to help them prevent brain inflammation and Alzheimers.

To read more about medical discoveries effecting senior health click here.

People who drink wine weekly or monthly are more than two times less likely to develop dementia according to a recent study.

The results are exciting because they could mean that substances in wine reduce the occurrence of dementia, which means that soon scientists will distill these substances into a wine “pill” you’ll take in your old age.

The researchers figure that flavonoids, which are natural compounds that have an antioxidant effect, may be the substance responsible for the beneficial effect in preventing dementia. Red wine is high in flavonoids. Other studies have suggested that flavonoids may account for a lower occurrence of stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases among wine drinkers.

For the study, the researchers studied drinking patterns for 1,709 people in Copenhagen in the 1970s and then assessed those people for dementia in the 1990s, when they were age 65 or older. Over the two decades, 83 of the participants developed dementia. Their alcohol intake was compared to that of those who did not develop dementia.

Uhhh Ohhh! The study also found that those who drank beer monthly were more than two times more likely to develop dementia than those who never or hardly ever drank beer.

Those who drank wine every day were no more or less likely to develop dementia than those who drank it more or less often.

Since reading this study I’ve tried to do my share in preventing dementia by partaking of the grape. I’d advise you to do the same. Too bad about all that Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada in the refrigerator.

For more information on how wine can prevent dementia and why you should start drinking it today check the site: http://www.neuropsychiatryreviews.com/feb03/npr_feb03_dementia.html