Just click here to see this amazing woman and one of my favourite Canadian TV personalities, Rick Mercer.

In this day of living together, quickie marriages and even quicker divorces, we seem to be surprised when we hear of 25th wedding anniversaries (I’m coming up to 24 this October!). Then, we hear of couples making it to 50. But what about a couple who married in 1933 - making their marriage 76 years long and - according to them - going strong.

Fred (94 years) and Dorothy Lalonde (90 years) married on April 1, 1933, when Dorothy was only 13 years old, with 16 cents in their pockets. Their post-wedding treat, across the street at a local restaurant, came out to 15 cents.

You can read more about the couple in this article, Couple celebrates milestone.

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People with Parkinson’s disease are very likely to fall at least once because of their rigid manner of walking and loss of balance. In fact, up to 90% of people with Parkinson’s disease will fall at least once. But scientists have come across something very simple that may help combat this problem. Now, this was a very small study - only 14 people - but the results are interesting, nonetheless.

The 14 participants, all who had Parkinson’s disease, were asked to balance themselves on an inflatable rubber disk - an unstable surface. They were asked to do either focus on something internal (reducing their foot movements) or external (focus on the disk only) or they weren’t given any instructions about focus.

When the participants were asked to focus on the disk, rather than their feet, their balance improved and they swayed less than when the focused on their feet or didn’t focus on anything in particular.

The researchers say that knowing this means that instructions given to patients may vary in results depending on the wording of the instructions - something to keep in mind at all times.

External Focus Instructions Reduce Postural Instability in Individuals With Parkinson Disease

Interesting!

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Tags: seniors blog, parkinson’s disease, parkinsons disease

We can explain as much as we want how to do something like this, but sometimes it’s easier just to show you. If you click on the TV screen below, you can watch a video on how to get in and out of a car safely after your hip replacement or surgery.

You may not be able to watch the whole video without registering, but that takes just moments. All they want is a username, password and an email address that they can send the information to. This is when those "throw-away" email accounts are great, such as gmail, hotmail, yahoo, and the like. Once you’ve registered, click on "Download," which is just under the video screen on the left-hand side. This brings you to a window of several videos and just look for the one on transferring to the car.

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Image: iStock

Tags: seniors blog, hip replacement

So, if you’re looking at a newly written prescription or consult, here are some of the more common abbreviations you might come across:

• QD - once a day
• BID - twice a day
• TID - three times a day
• QID - four times a day

Keep in mind that twice a day doesn’t necessarily mean every 12 hours, just as TID doesn’t mean every 8 and QID not every 6. Those mean just evenly spaced throughout the day.

• Q4H - every four hours. "Q" means every, followed by the number and H for hours.
• QW - every week
• OD - right eye
• OU - left eye
• CHD - coronary heart disease
• COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• DOB - date of birth
• DVT - deep vein thrombosis
• SOB

There are many more. A good site to visit to find out about abbreviations is Wikipedia. I don’t usually send people there, but other sites can be overwhelming sometimes.

I think it’s a great, great article about memory loss and confusion that shouldn’t be taken for granted, because it’s *not* normal. I encourage you to have a look.

If the site request that you register, it is free to register and it gives you access to lots of interesting articles, so I urge you to go ahead and do it. You don’t have to leave real personal information. I never do!

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On March 9, 2009, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers not to eat certain cheese products made and distributed by New York-based Peregrina Cheese Corporation.

The company is recalling certain products based on FDA sampling and analysis that detected Listeria monocytogenes in some of the samples. No illnesses are known to be associated with the products at this time.

The products are:

* Queso Fresco Fresh Cheese Mexican style soft cheese (two specific lots): Queso Fresco Fresh Cheese comes in 14-ounce foil wrapped packages marked with lot number 4469 or 4477 affixed to each package on a white sticker and bearing UPC number 8 17424 00024 6 and Plant # 36-8431.
* Queso Cotija Molido Mexican style grated cheese: Queso Cotija Molido Cheese comes in 15-ounce clear plastic bags that are marked with UPC number 8 17424 00027 7 and Plant # 36-1388. The bags do not contain a lot number or production date.

To learn more about the issue, go to the FDA site.

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Tags: seniors blog, senior support, cheese recall, contaminated cheese

A study, featured in this article, says that "Researchers analyzed data from more than 6,200 people in four ethnic groups — white, black, Hispanic and Chinese. More than half of the participants took supplements, and those most likely to use supplements were older, women, white and college-educated. The most common supplements were calcium and vitamin C."

What they found though, was concerning. Even with using dietary supplements, like vitamins, many were not reaching the minimum levels of nutrition (potassium, calcium, etc.) The wrong thing to do is to just up the amount of supplements, because they are usually made up of more than one compound and by increasing them, you could be giving too much of another.

So, what to do? The simple solution is to eat a well balanced diet. These can be difficult sometimes on limited incomes or if you are having difficulty preparing your own meals. In that case, it would bear taking a look at your community resources to see if there are any volunteer-run or lost-cost ways to eat better. You can also look for a registered dietician in your area by going to the American Dietetic Association. It could be worth it to pay for a consultation to get ideas and tips on how to eat healthier and prepare healthier meals.

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Tags: seniors blog, senior support, aging and nutrition

In the hospitals, I found that time changes were particularly hard on my older patients. Their bodies were going through so much as it was, they didn’t need one thing extra to add.

That being said, I’m a DST fan. I love the later daylight hours, but springing forward can mess up a body. Some people say, it’s just like missing an hour’s sleep, but it’s not quit that simplistic. If you take medications every four hours, what about that missing hour? If you have pets who wake up at precisely 6 a.m and you’re trying to convince them that an hour earlier is what they need to do (or later in the fall), you may have a tough time.

There are claims that some studies show there are more car accidents in the week following a spring time change, but then that would mean - to me - that there should be fewer after the fall change, shouldn’t there? Other studies have shown this not to be true. Regardless of what people say, it all boils down to you and how you feel. And if time changes affect you, then there may be some things you can do to help reduce any problems you may have.

• The day before the time change, try to take a quick (short!) nap in the afternoon so you don’t need quite as much sleep that night.
• Try waking up earlier a day or two (or more) the few days preceding the time change to get your body used to the different time.
• Don’t worry about how much sleep you are or aren’t getting. If you worry about  not getting enough, you could be setting yourself up for more problems falling asleep.
• If you take medications on a strict schedule and are concerned about the shorter interval overnight, speak with your doctor or pharmacist. They are the best ones to help you with this type of issue.

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Images: Morguefile.com

Tags: seniors blog, senior support, daylight savings time, adjusting to daylight savings time, DST

1. Seniors for Living: Geriatric Patients in Emergency Departments
2. Yahoo: Views on Old Age May Become Reality Later
3. US News: 10 Tips for Evaluating an Early Retirement Offer
4. Senior Memos: Another New Caregiver
5. Gen Between: The Final Thread

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Tags: seniors blog, seniors support, caregivers, geriatric patients, old age, early retirement