Elderly and Dehydration: Don’t Overlook This Health Risk
During the hottest time of the year, maintaining proper hydration is necessary, especially for older adults. As a matter of fact, close to 1/2 of all older adults are chronically under-hydrated, according to a recently available UCLA study, which can lead to an assortment of health problems, such as kidney stones, urinary tract infection, and […]
Summer Safety Suggestions for Seniors
The longer days of summer mean additional time for swimming, family cookouts, gardening, and all of those other delightful seasonal pursuits. However, it also means an elevated risk for a variety of health concerns for the elderly, who happen to be more vulnerable to heat-related complications such as: Heat syncope (faintness/dizziness) Heat cramps Heat edema […]
10 Myths About Mesothelioma and Asbestos
Unfortunately, there are quite a few misconceptions regarding mesothelioma, the rare and aggressive disease caused by asbestos exposure. Some people ask, “Is mesothelioma contagious?” Others believe the disease is linked to smoking. These incorrect assessments range from how people develop mesothelioma to where the disease forms within the body. Other mesothelioma myths include the demographics affected by […]
Older Adults Often Don’t Report Adverse Prescription Side Effects
Anyone who has taken prescription drugs understands that they normally come with a comprehensive listing of possible adverse reactions and prescription side effects. Although prescriptions are, of course, intended to help us, the harm that can result from these adverse reactions may outweigh the benefit we obtain. For older adults, the vast majority of whom […]
Hearing Loss in the Elderly: Signs, Causes, and How to Cope
Isolated. Misunderstood. Excluded. These are just a few of the emotions which could be prevalent in seniors with hearing loss, who find it hard to maintain social connections with friends and family, who struggle to communicate with them. Hearing loss in the elderly is very common, for a variety of reasons: genetics, a lifetime of […]
Traumatic Brain Injuries: A Surprisingly Common Diagnosis in Seniors
When you think about a traumatic brain injury (TBI), your first thought could very well be a sports-related accident, such as a football player crashing head-first into a rival, or maybe a head-on collision in an auto accident – something less likely to affect senior loved ones. Yet the prevalence of senior traumatic brain injury […]
Senior Osteoarthritis Treatment, Risk Factors and Management
Affecting 30 million people in the U.S. alone, osteoarthritis is a debilitating and painful condition that results from the wearing away of cartilage, generating friction within the joints as unprotected bones rub against each other. While it can occur in virtually any joint, it most often impacts the hands, hips, knees, lower back, and neck. […]
Understanding Chronic Fatigue in Older Adults
Feelings of exhaustion may seem as though they are an everyday event for many of us. The alarm goes off too early, the demands of everyday life are exhausting, and by the conclusion of our day, as soon as we can once and for all sink into bed, it is often hard to turn off […]
A Lonely Elderly Population Is Reaching Epidemic Proportions: Keys to Improve Socialization
Senior isolation is an ever-increasing and extremely serious epidemic in the United States. Approximately 33% of all aging parents live alone, and for various reasons (limited mobility, chronic health problems, and loss of family and friends, just to name a few) socialization becomes progressively difficult to maintain. The reality is, isolation in older adults has […]
A Lonely Elderly Population Is Reaching Epidemic Proportions: Keys to Improve Socialization
Senior isolation is an ever-increasing and extremely serious epidemic in the United States. Approximately 33% of all aging parents live alone, and for various reasons (limited mobility, chronic health problems, and loss of family and friends, just to name a few) socialization becomes progressively difficult to maintain. The reality is, isolation in older adults has […]