Travel, Leisure & Fun for South Valley Adults
Travel, Leisure & Fun for South Valley Adults
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Walking for as little as 15 minutes a day may help stave off Alzheimer's Disease, says a study at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center. The study found that regular habits of daily or frequent walks were instrumental in helping reduce the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. According to study author Dr. Edward Zamrini, "One exciting finding of this study is that as people's fitness improved, their risk of Alzheimer's disease decreased – it was not an a...
Sascha Roth remembers the phone call came on a hectic Friday evening. She was racing around her home in Washington, D.C., to pack for New York, where she was scheduled to undergo weeks of radiation therapy for rectal cancer. But the phone call from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) medical oncologist Andrea Cercek changed everything, leaving Sascha "stunned and ecstatic - I was so happy." Dr. Cercek told Sascha, then 38, that her latest tests showed no evidence of c...
Area residents now have the opportunity to participate in a national study of the effects of COVID-19 on cognitive function. Kaweah Health in Visalia is one of four locations nationwide participating in the two-year study that compares those who have had COVID vs those who have not. The only restrictions are participants must be at least 18 years old and have not had COVID-19 in the past three months. They must also be available to participate in the 30-minute tests over the...
On March 29, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its recommendations to include a second booster shot for people over the age of 50 to increase their protection against COVID-19. "Boosters are safe, and people over the age of 50 can now get an additional booster four months after their prior dose to increase their protection further," said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky. "This is especially important for those 65 and older, and those 50 and...
Every year, 36 million older adults suffer a fall, and with a fall can come serious physical and emotional outcomes. Falls are a leading cause of hip fractures and other serious injuries, but there are repercussions on mental health as well. However, falls don't have to be inevitable. Prestige Assisted Living will present a free webinar, as well as a free online self-assessment, to help seniors and their loved ones learn valuable information that can help them remain safe....
The number of adults (aged 40 years and older) living with dementia worldwide is expected to nearly triple, from an estimated 57 million in 2019 to 153 million in 2050, due primarily to population growth and population aging. The Global Burden of Disease Study, published in The Lancet Public Health is the first to provide forecasting estimates for 204 countries worldwide. The study also looks at four risk factors for dementia - smoking, obesity, high blood sugar and low...
My mother is living in her home alone. When I went to visit her for Thanksgiving, her home was a mess. When do I know when it is not safe for her to be living alone? This year, I received more calls than usual regarding what families found when they visited their parents living alone. Elders can sound fine when you are checking in on them on the phone. It can be very hard to know from a distance when a relative is losing his or her independence. The following are things to look out for: Missed Appointments: Contact your...
Many people experience forgetfulness as they age, but it's often difficult to tell if these memory issues are a normal part of aging or a sign of something more serious. A new study finds that a simple, self-administered test developed by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, College of Medicine and College of Public Health can identify the early, subtle signs of dementia sooner than the most commonly used office-based standard cognitive test. This...
The Tulare County Health & Human Services Agency announced that seven human cases of West Nile Virus have been detected and reported in Tulare County. Kings County reported five cases, with one becoming the first West Nile Virus-related death of a Kings County resident in 2021. "Though we are late in the season for mosquitos, this is a stark reminder of how important it is to eliminate the sources where mosquitos can propagate," said Kings County Department of Public Health...
On October 12, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted a draft recommendation statement on aspirin use to prevent heart disease and stroke, also known as cardiovascular disease (CVD). People ages 40 to 59 who are at higher risk for CVD and do not have a history of CVD should decide with their clinician whether to start taking aspirin. Heart disease and stroke are leading causes of mortality in the United States, accounting for about one in three deaths. While daily aspi...
Cognitive decline is one of the most pressing topics facing seniors and their loved ones. The prospect of their memory and acuity diminishing is something many seniors and their loved ones want to avoid. Prestige Senior Living in Visalia, which offers its residents cognitive health programming, including brain games, puzzles, hobbies and social activity, will present two webinars focusing on brain health. On Tuesday, September 28, at 10:30 a.m. Prestige will host a free webinar for seniors and their families with Ryan Glatt,...
Write down the benefits of a college degree and, more than likely, all the items on the completed list will relate to graduates: higher salaries, autonomous jobs and better access to healthcare, for instance. All of those factors, supported by extensive research, help draw a direct line connecting higher education and health. Similar research suggests how the education of parents affects their children. Now, two University at Buffalo (UB) sociologists have used a new wave of...
Will summer ever end? September is a hopeful month that begins to remind us that winter will be here again someday. It has become harder to predict what kind of fall weather we will have. Historically, we should enjoy cooler temperatures both day and night, mostly due to the ever-shortening days. Planting: We can finally begin to plant trees, perennials and shrubs when nighttime temperatures drop into the low sixties and high fifties degrees Fahrenheit. Be prepared to provide...
You're as old as your immune system. Investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have built an inflammatory-aging clock that's more accurate than the number of candles on your birthday cake in predicting how strong your immune system is, how soon you'll become frail or whether you have unseen cardiovascular problems that could become clinical headaches a few years down the road. In the process, the scientists...
On August 18, public health and medical experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released the following statement calling for COVID-19 booster shots: “The COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the United States continue to be remarkably effective in reducing risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death, even against the widely circulating Delta variant. Recognizing that many vaccines are associated with a reduction in protection over time, and acknowledging that additional vaccine doses could be needed t...
It really did seem that things were changing and that life was getting back to normal. After all, the state lifted its mask mandate in June. Unfortunately, the one constant in recent months continues to remain constant. There are still mixed messages about how much is back to normal. 2021 Visalia Senior Games "The Visalia Senior Games will not be held in 2021," said Laurissa Roggenkamp, recreation manager for the City of Visalia Community Services Department. "Recreation...
Following the increase in the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in Tulare and Kings counties, most local residents who are 50 or older have now received at least one vaccine. It also helps that seniority has been a factor in determining when people can receive their vaccines. As of April 20, more than 38,500 vaccines were given to Tulare County residents 65 and over. A majority of county residents in this age group have now had at least one shot, according to Carrie Monteiro,...
Cognitive motor training helps in the fight against Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, according to a study by an international team of researchers with ETH Zurich, a public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. "It has been suspected for some time that physical and cognitive training also have a positive effect on dementia," said ETH Zurich researcher Eling de Bruin. "However, in the past it has been difficult to motivate dementia patients to undertake physical...
My mom has been living by herself during the COVID pandemic, and I am noticing she is getting extremely forgetful. Does she have dementia? The fear of getting COVID has been very detrimental to the mental health of our seniors. Older adults who are socially isolated show more rapid cognitive decline than those who are in a social senior setting. Loneliness has been found to increase the risk of developing dementia exponentially, especially when there is a loss of a spouse (who used to bring much needed companionship). In fact...
It might start small – maybe your mom or dad forgets a birthday, or the cable bill goes unpaid for a month. It might seem like the type of thing that can slip anyone's mind. But soon it progresses to more consistent forgetfulness. Maybe they go for a walk and then can't remember how to get home. Maybe their spending habits change, and suddenly more purchases are showing up at the door that they don't remember buying. Before long, they receive a diagnosis that may not be s...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is launching "Still Going Strong," a national campaign to bring attention to ways adults age 65 and older can age without injury. The campaign is raising awareness about the leading causes of unintentional injuries and deaths in older adults. Still Going Strong will encourage older adults to continue participating in their favorite hobbies and activities, while informing them and their caregivers of steps they can take to...
Hanford-based endocrinologist Prem Sahasranam, MD, is now offering My Diabetes Tutor, a telehealth education program for residents struggling to manage their diabetes. My Diabetes Tutor is an online program that focuses on helping the estimated one out of every two Valley residents who are living with high blood sugar but who have never seen a specialist in diabetes care and education. According to a recent California Health Interview Survey, 48% of the population has been...
People aged 65 years or older are more prone to heat-related health problems. Below is information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (www.cdc.gov) about how you or the person you are caring for can stay safe during the heat this summer. Why are Older Adults More Prone to Heat Stress? • Older adults do not adjust as well as young people to sudden changes in temperature. • They are more likely to have a chronic medical condition that changes normal body responses to heat. • They are more likely to ta...
On June 7, the FDA approved Aduhelm (the brand name for aducanumab) to treat patients with Alzheimer's disease using the "accelerated approval" pathway, which allows the FDA to approve a drug for a serious or life-threatening illness when the drug is reasonably likely to have a clinical benefit to patients, but when there remains some uncertainty. Aduhelm is the first new therapy approved for Alzheimer's disease since 2003. The drug is the first treatment directed at the...
When older adults are viewed as cognitively or physically impaired, they perform below their abilities on tasks, according to a recent review article by Sarah Barber, a psychology and gerontology researcher at Georgia State University. Groups that are stigmatized - whether due to race, socioeconomic status or age - perform more poorly when they are faced with negative stereotypes, Barber said. She found expectations of others can play a powerful role in how well older adults...