Prime Time: A New Look At Aging

More evidence that fitness improves longevity

Stay active and you’ll live longer. That applies to those of us packing more pounds than we should. Something as easy as a brisk walk for 30 minutes a day will help us live longer than couch potatoes with the same surplus poundage.

This is one of the findings from an ongoing review of seniors in an Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. Participants were grouped into five categories. The least fit group’s death rate was four times higher the men and women in the fittest group. In addition to lower fitness levels, those who died had more cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

The percent of body fat did not appear to be related to the risk of dying, according to Dr. Xuemei Sui, a University of South Carolina staff member, who reported on the results of the study. What did help the survivors included greater fitness, lower body mass index and lower waist circumference.

Sponsors of the study are the National Institute on Aging and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

What you can do about that talk, talk, talk

“I’ve had it.”

A board member of an organization to which I belong said this. She quit because another member monopolized meetings with her chatter. Chances are you may know a compulsive talker or two. You may wonder, how do others cope?

“Our Bible study group includes one woman who does go on,” says Russ. “Our leader will say something like, ‘Perhaps we could discuss that a little later; that point isn’t relevant.’” But the people in whose homes the meetings occur lead the group. Not all of them possess the assertiveness to stanch the verbiage, says Marian, Russ’s wife. (“. . .You can all have opportunity to give a message, one after another, and everyone will learn. . .”  I Corinthians, 14:29)

A therapist I know says, “Shock treatment may be necessary for compulsive talkers.” He uses it with his brother, who spreads words with abandon. “He’s talking to himself, not me,” the therapist says. “Sometimes I just walk out.”

Edith is selective. “If it’s someone I like, I’ll put up with it,” she says. When a friend got carried away, Edith said, “Stop! I’d like to get a word in edgewise.”

What happened?

“Oh, she laughed it off, and apologized for going on,” Edith says. Yes. They’re still friends.

Samuel Johnson liked the word “bustle” for activity he regarded as foolish. The late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Charles McCabe employed it. “The worst of all bustling is the verbal kind,” he said. “A silence lasting no more than a few seconds seems to threaten some people in some way. There is a necessity to fill that silence, fill it with anything that comes to mind . . .”

Doctors call the condition “logorrhea.” McCabe said one treatment works, even though it’s brutal. “You just stare at the person and say, ‘You talk too much.’ The result may be a punch in the nose. But you also get quite a much desired silence.”

Gloria employs the Golden Rule. When her apartment complex neighbors emit unending effluvia, “I listen to them,” she says. “I let them talk. They’re lonely. Some of them have no family around. They’re usually pleasant people.”

 

What you can do about that talk, talk, talk

“I’ve had it.”

A board member of an organization to which I belong said this. She quit because another member monopolized meetings with her chatter. Chances are you may know a compulsive talker or two. You may wonder, how do others cope?

“Our Bible study group includes one woman who does go on,” says Russ. “Our leader will say something like, ‘Perhaps we could discuss that a little later; that point isn’t relevant.’” But the people in whose homes the meetings occur lead the group. Not all of them possess the assertiveness to stanch the verbiage, says Marian, Russ’s wife. (“. . .You can all have opportunity to give a message, one after another, and everyone will learn. . .”  I Corinthians, 14:29)

A therapist I know says, “Shock treatment may be necessary for compulsive talkers.” He uses it with his brother, who spreads words with abandon. “He’s talking to himself, not me,” the therapist says. “Sometimes I just walk out.”

Edith is selective. “If it’s someone I like, I’ll put up with it,” she says. When a friend got carried away, Edith said, “Stop! I’d like to get a word in edgewise.”

What happened?

“Oh, she laughed it off, and apologized for going on,” Edith says. Yes. They’re still friends.

Samuel Johnson liked the word “bustle” for activity he regarded as foolish. The late San Francisco Chronicle columnist Charles McCabe employed it. “The worst of all bustling is the verbal kind,” he said. “A silence lasting no more than a few seconds seems to threaten some people in some way. There is a necessity to fill that silence, fill it with anything that comes to mind . . .”

Doctors call the condition “logorrhea.” McCabe said one treatment works, even though it’s brutal. “You just stare at the person and say, ‘You talk too much.’ The result may be a punch in the nose. But you also get quite a much desired silence.”

Gloria employs the Golden Rule. When her apartment complex neighbors emit unending effluvia, “I listen to them,” she says. “I let them talk. They’re lonely. Some of them have no family around. They’re usually pleasant people.”

 

How seniors can dazzle their listeners

As we age, communicating with others poses challenges at times. Here are some points you can ponder, perhaps even use to retaliate: 

“We are without an iota of doubt at the crossroads at this point in time . . . Let me caution you about these perilous times, times that could truly try men’s souls . . . We must put our shoulders to the wheel . . . The die is cast.” 

These were among the phrases I uttered, complete with gestures and vocal variety, at a Toastmasters contest several years ago. Three members from area clubs evaluated my seven-minute presentation, called “The Time-honored Refrain,” and all three of them agreed that the talk was a bit vague and they had trouble detecting the purpose. None of them said a thing about all the cliches, the bombast, the nonsense. They didn’t recognize it as a put-on. 

Which shows I’m a failure at parody or suggests that people are distressingly used to hearing people—especially politicians—talk without saying anything. 

My favorite sentence of the talk went like this: “Also deserving of our accolades are the elected representatives who stood firm for the time-honored principles that guided not only our founding fathers, lo those many years ago, but also our notable and noble servants of the people who subsequently toiled so faithfully in the vineyards and built the foundations for this great land which were set in concrete by concepts rooted in bed rock and blossoming with creativity.” 

Talking in platitudes is not the same as double talk, which I consider an art form. I happened to know one of the artists while living in Decatur, Illinois, for three years. 

Joe Rademacher sold office equipment in his store there. I met him after joining Toastmasters. The first time I heard him talk, he started sounding off about the actions of the city council, summing up what the local newspaper had already reported. I was working on my second cup of coffee, when he said something like, “If the council insists on gromuntative reactions to every business flegion, then Decatur will find itself in much the same situation as the pluvindir.”

The coffee nearly spewed forth and the laughter around me indicated the club members appreciated this take on local officials and other matters. He gave us about five minutes of this sort of patter, then sat down to hearty applause.  

If you’d like to surprise folks at your next senior center or club meeting, here are some word parts, courtesy of H. Allen Smith’s book, “The Compleat Practical Joker”: 

istan     antive    ative  ently     incan    apid    avid   istesse   ome   namic     erot      irgan    uctor  ontor    islong     ackid eton asis     izans

Once you learn these, just add a letter or short syllable prefix and you can enjoy a new vocabulary that either should make you a hit or reveal which people pay absolutely no attention to you. 

Intermix the double-talk words with hardy prepostions, articles and adverbs, Smith advises. For example: “Napid day, isn’t it? There’s quite a ristan in the surmentate, don’t you think? It was brackid this morning. Do you think the flavid days are here?”

   

 

The price some seniors pay for gambling

Senior centers, those bastions of life enrichment and social interaction, may be reconsidering one aspect of their operations. That’s a conclusion suggested by an “Issues for Older Adults” program that aired on the Contra Costa County TV channel recently. For years the centers have paved the way with low-cost transportation to casinos where cash enticements and cheap meals lure their members. Besides bingo, some centers bolster their budgets with mini lotteries of their own.

The negative side of this picture was painted by Dr. Patrick Arbore. “For some seniors, gambling is a road to ruin,” he said. Loneliness and boredom are contributing factors. Those who become addicted often show signs of depression, become suicidal, and many turn to alcohol—until they go broke.
 
“The casinos seem safe and warm, and the employees make you feel important,” Dr. Arbore said. The marketing techniques help explain why older adults represent the largest group of annual visitors to Las Vegas, he added.

Richard Woonacott said that one of the nation’s fastest growing health problems is alcohol and drug abuse among seniors, and gambling is a big contributing factor. He heads the state’s problem gambling and substance abuse program. Based on UCLA studies, nearly one million California seniors have a gambling problem, he said. That works out to one out of five older adults.

“They lie to their families, avoid counseling, become depressed,” Woonacott said. “It often takes years to repair the damage.” A 12-step Gamblers Anonymous recovery program is helping some of those who are addicted.

“Life is a gift; don’t gamble it away,” he concluded.

 

Thoughts on aging by a fearless one

Charles McCabe was a columnist with so many opinions to get off his chest that he sometimes stacked up a dozen columns ahead of his San Francisco Chronicle deadline. Joseph Alioto said McCabe was the only Catholic he knew who went to confession in public and got paid for it. 

Until his death at the age of 68, he devoted several columns to the subject of aging. They’re in a pair of books, The Fearless Spectator and The Charles McCabe Reader, containing the best of his work.

One thing that kept McCabe going was curiosity. “I wanted to know how the whole crazy plot would turn out. . .” he said. “I wouldn’t have missed the past decades of my life for anything. The chief use of my life has been that I have grown, or think I have grown. My chief pleasure in the later part of my life has been the observation of that growth. . .I can hardly wait to see the man who awaits me at the end of the tunnel of the next decade, if I last it out. I would like to be kinder, to love myself less, to wish to help people more. I would like my faults to be blunted by the kind arm of time. I would like to continue to wake up in the morning with the feeling that I have useful work to do.”

Give up your grudges, he urged. “They are a weight and an encumbrance. . .The wretched past has no right to encroach on the present. In fact, the sensible man has a positive duty to prevent this. Fortunately. . .just growing older does the trick. Here’s hoping you will be able to say, as the Abbe Sieyes replied when asked what he did during the French Revolution: ‘I survived.’”

McCabe took umbrage at the term “senior citizen,” declaring, “It is a patronizing and dehumanizing expression” popularized by bureaucrats and politicians who want our votes. “We do not have a single convenient noun to designate an old person, though we are very good on the other age groups: embryo, fetus, newborn, infant, child, the adolescent and the adult.” Americans should use the word “elder,” he declared. It “is simple and sweet. It does the job. It sounds good to my ear.”

As for “ageism” in America, McCabe insisted, “There are a lot of good things about age, and the youth to be recognized. Merely having lived over 55 years brings for most of us a hardy wisdom that can be imparted to the young. We know quite a bit about the gopher holes along the road of life, and there is no reason why there should not be a systematic spreading of that knowledge to those who are still sorting things out.

“The way we cope with old age is, too, another part of our legacy to those who will some day become their ‘future selves.’ What older people need more than anything else these days are the tools to live productively and well and even inventively. These tools can only be produced by the citizenry at large, who are mostly older folks.”

Summing up his early years in New York City, McCabe said, “Though it was never phrased in quite this way, the burden of my moral education was this: Anything you enjoy is bad for you.  . . It has been uphill work, but I’ve done a pretty good job of things, and I intend to spend the rest of my life learning how to enjoy more.

“Over the long run, the game is worth the candle," he declared "This is largely because of one little word: Growth. It is this slow and steady quickening of strength which enables one to accept the offerings of life—-both pleasant and painful. A fully grown man, which I certainly do not claim to be, is the noblest work of God. For growth always seems to move in the direction of love. It is, in fact, almost a definition of that often-defined word.”

A quote from a press handout caused him to ruminate: “The idea is held by far too many people that life is essentially a struggle against death, rather than a process constantly to be savored and enjoyed. . . We should concern ourselves always with taking things on, rather than sloughing things off. New interests should be sought like paying ore. Everywhere and whenever it can be arranged, the pulse should quicken.”

About satisfaction and happiness

Before the rainstorm slammed in, a long-overdue raking, mowing, and clipping in the backyard produced temporary aesthetic conditions. Today, the new carpet of leaves and pine needles seems to say, “The winter season’s just begun, son.”

Taunts like this kindle thoughts of Kensington Place in Walnut Creek where weekly meetings of a memoir-writing group provide exposure to the amenities of housekeeping services, meal preparation, social activities, and health care resources. None of the residents of this assisted living facility are raking or mowing.

They appear to be enjoying “life satisfaction and late life happiness.” That’s a term developed by the International Longevity Center-USA. It has just released results of a study with the conclusion, and make sure you’re seated for this, “advance planning for a thoughtful transition” is the key to that satisfaction and happiness.

“As older people decide they can no longer manage a home with all of its requirements and demands, independent senior living is an important and often highly desirable setting, even though they might prefer staying at home,” said Dr. Robert Butler, president and CEO of the center. Caregivers may be hard to find, and chores may be daunting, so “this is clearly a venue worth considering,” he added.

A panel of experts, including physicians, geriatric and gerontological specialists, public health scholars, nurses, social workers, and senior living officials, studied the topic and developed a report called “Transitions to Independent Living Communities: Life Satisfaction and Late Life Happiness.” Atria Senior Living Group, Inc. provided a grant for the report. I could have saved them the time and expense if they’d asked me after my backyard chores.

Turns out there’s a negative aspect to the transition, mainly because of the stigma associated with nursing homes and a fear of lack of control when people age. To offset this, “senior living communities can promote true independence and a chance for personal growth,” the report said.

Offspring of elders are often culprits

Elder financial abuse costs older Americans more than $2.6 billion per year and is most often perpetrated by family members and caregivers, according to a new report released by the MetLife Mature Market Institute (MMI) entitled, "Broken Trust: Elders, Family and Finances," which is accompanied by tip sheets for older adults and families on how to prevent such issues. 

The report, produced in conjunction with the National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA) and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, states up to one million older Americans may be targeted yearly and that related costs like healthcare, social services, investigations, legal fees, prosecution, lost income and assets reach tens of millions of dollars annually.  The study indicates that for each case of abuse reported, there are an estimated four or more that go unreported.  The economic downturn may increase vulnerability.  Family members and caregivers are the culprits in 55% of cases, although financial losses are higher with investment fraud scams.
 
The National Adult Protective Services Association (NAPSA) suggests that the "typical" victim of financial elder abuse is between the ages of 70 and 89, white, female, frail and cognitively impaired.  She is trusting of others and may be lonely or isolated, although reports show that there is a very diverse population of victims.  

"Elder financial abuse has been called the 'crime of the 21st century,'" said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute.  "With the present state of the economy, older Americans are at a greater risk than ever of having their financial security threatened.  And, for every dollar lost to theft and abuse, there are still more related costs associated with stress and health care and the intervention of social service, investigative and legal entities.
 
"This is also a growing problem made greater by the increase in the number of older Americans as targets, the relative wealth of this group, a change in family structure and the availability of technology that may make such abuse somewhat easier," said Timmermann.
 
"Sadly, family members and caregivers tend to financially exploit their elderly relatives more often than strangers.  Community service providers and other professionals agree, however, that reported cases represent only the very 'tip of the iceberg.' 

Scholars and practitioners speculate that, like perpetrators of other types of elder abuse, family members who exploit their elders are dependent upon them financially and their actions may be influenced by other problems such as alcohol and drug abuse.  In addition, some family members feel a sense of entitlement and believe that they have a right to the money and material goods their parents or older relatives have accumulated," Timmermann added.

Seniors and technology roundup

Hi all,

Sorry I've been missing recently--paying job and all that.

"Japan has developed a fitness robot to help its rapidly aging population stay in shape.

Taizo is a small humanoid bot that can perform a number of calisthenics routines. It's covered with a plush white material and looks like Frosty the Snowman in a pressure suit.

Taizo, a play on "taiso" (gymnastics), has 26 joints, or degrees of freedom, and can do about 30 moves, mostly while sitting down. Its internal structure is fairly simple and resembles many of the robot kits sold in hobby stores in Japan.

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), a state-run research center, and General Robotix, a spinoff company, created Taizo to help lead groups of older Japanese in rehabilitation exercises and general fitness routines."

"The developers plan to start leasing Taizo units next year, but did not say for how much. According to a Sankei News report, they plan to sell the robots for about $8,000 apiece.

That may sound exorbitant, but two key factors will help Taizo's commercialization. One is the vast number of elderly and infirm Japanese who need help with mobility and exercise. The number of centenarians in the country has doubled to more than 40,000 over the past six years, and it's expected to hit almost 1 million by 2050. Since Japan sees little to no immigration, there is a labor shortage and machines are expected to meet the demand for workers."

Elsewhere... "Rising incidents of identity theft are forcing people to be more cautious, vigilant of credit card bills and to act immediately, according to a subject expert with the Florida Office of the Attorney General.

"That is the way it is this day and age with all the technology out there," Theresa Ronnebaum told a gathering of about 25 senior citizens Tuesday at the Brannon Center.

The gathering was the first consumer education seminar on identity theft scheduled for the five Volusia County senior centers run by the Council on Aging. An anonymous grant is funding the monthly consumer education speakers and lunches for the coming year."

"Resolving identity theft can take between 500 and 1,200 hours of phone calls, letter writing and appearing before creditors.

The best way to reduce the chances of identity theft is to protect valuable documents.

Ronnebaum suggested not carrying Social Security cards, but to put them in safe storage places. She also recommended photocopying credit cards, drivers licenses and other documents carried in wallets and purses.

Other recommendations included shredding mail and other documents before throwing them out, not leaving mail in the curbside mailbox and reviewing credit histories at least once a year through one of the three bureaus -- Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. A history shows credit account and activity. It is different from a credit score that usually requires paying a fee."

And finally, "After nearly 15 years of serving senior citizens, Bill Crawford has seen - and heard - it all.

Crawford, director of case management for the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging, loves listening to his clients reminisce about old holiday traditions and historic tales of decades past.

But then there are the less enjoyable moments on the job.

While delivering meals to homebound seniors over the last several years, Crawford has found numerous clients incapacitated by injury and unable to call for help.

For this reason, Crawford is always on the lookout for ways to equip senior citizens with the technology to help them in the event of an emergency.

Crawford's newest venture is collecting old cell phones and having them refurbished for use by seniors.

The Cell Phones for Seniors program sends old phones to Florida-based RMS Technology Inc., which reprograms them to only dial 911, and gives the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging a small fee for the parts it collects. The funds collected by the agency go to help supplement the nonprofit organization's budget.

According to Crawford, the phones are then handed out to low-income residents throughout Page and Shenandoah counties and three other localities in northwestern Virginia.

"I have been trying to find cost-effective ways to keep people safe in their homes," Crawford said. "[Senior citizens] deserve support and they're a great population to work for. We run into people that really need the technology but can't afford it."

Crawford also has been key in starting other successful technology programs for seniors, including one that gives auto-dialers and "photo phones" to visually, cognitively and hearing impaired citizens.

The auto-dialers allow senior citizens who have fallen or been hurt to call any of three numbers preprogrammed into the device, Crawford said.

The photo phone is a landline phone that lets the user insert up to nine pictures that correspond with speed-dial buttons. The phone also blinks so hearing-impaired seniors can see when a call is coming in.

"It's obvious that a little technology can go a long way to keeping them safe," Crawford said."

With this linkage you'll realize your fondest dreams

Dear Reader:
 Because chain letters offer unachievable expectations, please regard this as a link letter, which is not to be confused with the retired TV star, Art Linkedletter.

It was started by a citizen upset by Medicare fraud while experiencing problems with the health care system harpaxophobia—a fear of being robbed.

There is slight expense for taking part in the links this letter offers and it is absolutely legal perTitle 13, Section 1302 (b). Simply send one senior 65 years of age or older, in good to excellent health, to each of the five people whose names are shown below.  (Please do not send one senior to all five people.) Mail them first class, then remove the name in the No. 1 spot and add your name and address at the bottom. (Note: You may send one proxy—but no more than one—between the ages of 55 and 65 in the event you find only four healthy elders.)

Within 14 to 20 weeks, when your name appears at the top of the list, you will receive approximately 16,740 seniors. If someone errs and sends you a sick senior, put a “Refused” stamp on his or her forehead and promptly return.

At this point you will form a company and establish a health maintenance organization, or HMO, and sign up the seniors. The federal government will then begin paying you approximately $400 per month per senior for their Medicare payments. 

Of the $80,352,000 per year you receive for your seniors, you will spend about $20 million for their various ailments. For suggestions on what to do with the rest of the funds, contact this Examiner and for a nominal 12 percent we will provide you with ideas guaranteed to please.

Do not break this link. A man in Milpitas did so and he received 3,579 aluminum siding salespeople, 1,488 Amway distributors and Rush Limbaugh.

Send your seniors to these individuals:
 1.  Ava Rice, 978 Pinknam St.,Wartburg, TN 37887
 2.  I. G. Reedy, 1302 Flout Rd., Swink, CO 81077
 3.  Sal Fish, 830 Blinker Ave., Grubville, MO 63041
 4.  V. Oracious, 95 Higgeldy St., Germfask, MI 49836
 5.  Mercy Nary, 1494 Nth Ave., Igo, CA 96047

Here are some case histories of people who have benefited from the link letter:

Malcolm Sharpe—“I was flat-as-a-bug-on-the-windshield-of-a-speeding-car broke when I received a copy of this letter. Usually I deep-six letters that sound too good to be true, but I have a soft spot in my heart for seniors, because someday I intend to be one. During the twelfth week my first seniors began arriving and by the end of the 19th week, 15,326 showed up.

“Whereas I was experiencing problems supporting both the government and my family,  I now am the owner of  a new yacht, a new Lexus and a new condominium complex. My neighbors love me because I farmed out my seniors in the community; they did chores and baby sitting in exchange for their board and room until I incorporated.”

Viola Turnbright—“I must have read and thrown away two dozen proposals like this, but this link letter clutched the tentacles of my heart, because it is my goal to leave this world a better place than the mess I found it in.  After my seniors began arriving, I welcomed them with open arms. By the 15th week and the 14,389th senior, my arms were tired, let me tell you.
 “We had such fun getting acquainted. The local food bank was a bit hard pressed at first, but things worked out well since nearly 100 percent of the seniors wanted to lose weight anyway."

Rufus Hollisteergle—“The first seniors arrived after 15 weeks and at first it was a bit awkward, but my cousin Jethroe, a tour guide at Alcatraz, worked out a satisfactory place for them. I’ve been offered $76 million for my HMO, but I’m in this for the big haul. I provide benefits such as wine country tours and attendance at View of the Bay. Right now I have three tax lawyers looking at ways I can keep more of the $14.7 million net that’s come in this year.”