Category: Health and Wellness Issues
February 4, 2018 -- Millions of Americans are getting on their bicycles in retirement. Bicycling gets you outside, provides cheap transportation, and is great exercise. Your editor loves it and bikes almost every day. Unfortunately there is a dark side to biking; it can be dangerous. This article will talk about how can you can be safer while riding your bike, and what you can do to encourage your town or city to make biking safer for everyone. Most of these tips also apply to walkers as well.
Where it's safe, and not so much
Lists published on the towns and cities which have the most bike accidents abound, but they differ. The first and second most dangerous biking cities as reported by Your Local Security, a blog for home security company ADT, wouldn't shock anyone - New York City and Los Angeles. But the remaining 23 "worst" places would surprise you - almost all of them are in states like Iowa, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, places not known as biking centers. The safest cities were in states like California and Oregon (Davis, CA, was the safest city). BillBoneBikeLaw.com reports a very different most dangerous cities list, and most of those are in Florida. Orlando/Kissimmee, Tampa/St.Pete, and Jacksonville head up that list. One big reason why these lists are so different - they don't seem to take into account the number of miles biked. Places like New York have tens of thousands of bikes on the road every day, so of course there are going to be a lot of accidents.
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Published on February 3, 2019
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
January 1, 2018 - What better time of the year to think about this project than the first day of a New Year. Josh Walker over at NextAvenue.org wrote about their 2016 Facebook challenge to create a very short memoir. The challenge was to write down in six words or less a phrase that summarizes your life or philosophy. While a touch narcissistic, is a very good way to reflect on who you are right now, what you have accomplished, what and who you care about. Better than that, it is a chance to mindfully consider how you want to change.
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Published on January 1, 2019
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
November 20, 2018 -- Flu season is upon us. That means lots of people...and their germs - are traveling. So that makes it a good time for us to consider all the vaccinations that are recommended for those of us of a certain age. As we get older, our immune systems tend to weaken, putting us at higher risk for certain diseases. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) believes that you should get all recommended vaccines, not only to keep yourself healthy, but those around you as well. All information in this article is from the CDC.
The Flu
All adults need a seasonal flu (influenza) vaccine every year.
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Published on November 20, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
October 13, 2018 -- Medicare Open Enrollment runs from Oct. 15 - Dec. 7. If you are currently on Medicare, or didn't sign up when you were first eligible for it, now is the time to compare plans and make sure you have the coverage that's right for you in 2019.
Sure you are busy and have many things to think about. But spending a little time and effort every year to make sure you are in the right plan Medicare plan is important. For example, maybe you currently have Medicare Part B along with a supplemental plan. Flash forward to the present. Your health needs might have changed since then, maybe enough so that you aren’t in the right plan anymore. Maybe Medicare Advantage (Part C) makes more sense now because it probably covers additional benefits such as vision, dental,
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Published on October 12, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
September 3, 2018 -- Scammers are always looking for the latest way to separate you from your money. The newest is centered on the new Medicare cards that are in the process of being sent out. The scam usually comes in the form of a phone call with an offer to get your card on an expedited basis - all they need is some personal information. Their object is to steal your identity, and maybe more. We will also discuss two other common scams to look out for.
Everyone enrolled in Medicare will be getting a new card soon, if not already. You don't have to do anything, yours will come if you are in Medicare. They are being sent out in waves. Once you get your new card, which will have a new number, not your Social Security number, you can destroy your old card. There is no need to panic
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Published on September 2, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
By Roberta Isleib, P.H.D. (aka Lucy Burdette) June 16, 2018 — Putting my psychologist hat for a moment…we are hearing an awful lot about suicide these days, including the tragic deaths of celebrities Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. For folks who haven’t felt seriously depressed or…
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Published on June 15, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
May 9, 2018 -- Maybe it is just timing, but we seem to be having more and more interactions with people who are very lonely. A widower and good friend admitted that, after feeling sorry for himself, he broke one of his own rules and went out to a bar by himself for a beer and pizza. Just this weekend we ran into an old friend, also a widower, who was visibly very upset. He was near tears as he described how he can't seem to meet anyone that he would like to spend time with. Even on this site last week we had a post from a Member expressing her helplessness after the sudden loss of her husband. Almost three quarters of Americans have feelings of loneliness, according to a survey by the Harris Poll on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association. As many as one-third say
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Published on May 8, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
April 25, 2018 -- Have you known someone who contracted shingles, a painful disease related to the chicken pox? If so you understand why this is a disease you don't want. Our brother came down with shingles in early March and is still battling it. He described the pain in his head, where his shingles was located, as like being jammed up against a cactus - not fun! But there is good news for everyone (because you can get shingles more than once). You can prevent shingles with a new vaccine, Shingrix, that was approved by the FDA last October.
Up until recently there was a shingles vaccine, Zostavax, that people over
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Published on April 24, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
February 24, 2018 -- Everybody knows swimming is good for you, but who would have thought it might actually help reduce falls. Swimming, according to research from the National Institutes of Health, can also improve cognitive ability, lower blood pressure and enhance hand-eye coordination. Beyond swimming, there are a lot of other things you can do to reduce falls too.
NextAvenue.com reported on A 2014 University of Western Sydney study of 1,667 Australian men age 70 and older showed that swimmers had “significantly lower risks of falling,”. The research showed that participants who swam had 33% fewer falling incidents than those in the group that included runners and golfers. Researchers also
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Published on February 23, 2018
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Category: Health and Wellness Issues
January 14, 2018 — We will be writing an article for Topretirements that touches on the importance of health in retirement. Would love to hear from anyone who has had a change in their health that affected their retirement plans. You can reply below as a Comment, on our…
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Published on January 14, 2018
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