FDA's Health News for Older Adults

The FDA has posted the latest edition of "Maturity Health Matters". (just click to view the webpage).

This is the FDA Health News for Older Adults, their Families and Caregivers. There is information about food safety in regards to importing foods, and irradiating foods like iceburg lettuce and spinach for greater safety, with a FAQ section.

I have probably said before, you can't be too careful with your Elders and food to prevent foodborne illnesses. Elders (along with small children) tend to be extremely susceptible to contaminated foods. Infections like salmonella can hospitalize and Elder and cause an untimely death.

Speaking of which....you still need to be careful of peanut products.

Wishing you all Pleasant Days!

Peanut Butter Recall Widget

I found this on the FDA recall website for the current salmonella outbreak. Since many of our Elders love the things that peanut paste is a big part of----check out your products with this widget.

Safety Concerns for your Elder

While perusing the web as usual, I found something quite useful to many of you who are caring for Elders with safety problems. This device can be found at 1-800wheelchair.com
and looks fairly priced. The site has alot of things available for activities of daily living problems and mobility problems as well.

We have used similar devices while caring for our Elders, and they are a "God-send". You will be doing yourself and your Elder big favors by preventing accidents, falls from bed or from a chair with the resulting possibility of horrid injuries that your Elder may not be able to recuperate from.

If your Elder tried to get up without assistance with this device in place, an alarm will sound to let you know. For Elders with poor balance or coordination, combined with poor memory or confusion, that try to get up without your assistance and risk falls and fractures, this is ideal. You will also realize some peace of mind, knowing you can leave your Elder unattended for awhile.

Just trying to help you create some "Pleasant Days" for yourself and your Elder.

Is It Dementia, or Is It Depression?

Often, an Elder suffers with the symptoms of depression needlessly, because the signs of depression in an Elder can be very different than in a younger adult. Statistically, clinical depression affects about 6 million Elders, but only 10% get treatment. Depression late in life is more common than we like to think about, and makes for very Un-"pleasant days".

The main reason it is hard to recognize is because Elder Depression is often accompanied by other common problems of "old age":

• chronic illness
• medications treating those diseases
  
• loss of physical ability
• loss of mental capabilities, and along with this the ability to cope with change and stress
  
• loss of social support systems through death of relatives
• relocations

Not only is depression unpleasant, but it also can increase the risk of heart attacks, increase the risk of death from illnesses, increase the risk of suicide, and slow the convalescence from illness or injury.

In short, this is something that your Elder and you should not have to deal with. So, pay attention, look for these symptoms:

• increased confusion or memory problems (the most common sign, in my experience)
  
• less energy, sleeping more (or insomnia)
• restlessness, irritability
• loss of appetite (more common in Elders than eating more)
• loss of interest in things that used to hold the Elders attention, or things that were enjoyable.
• increased pain, or more physical complaints
  
• sad facial expression most of the time
• verbalizing negative, pessimistic, hopeless type things more often
  
• unable to be "cheered up"

If your Elder exhibits even 1 or 2 of these, have her/his physician evaluate for depression.

For an article on Depression in the Elderly on WebMD click (here).

This will explain risk factors and treatment options. And there are links to other articles on WebMD that explain how different treatments work.

There are many ways to treat depression for your Elder, and it is worth the effort to diagnose and treat this problem.

I would recommend that you work closely with the Elder's physician rather that trying home remedies, herbal remedies and such. Your Elder is likely taking other prescription medications that may interact badly with homeopathic remedies. And the risk factors for a depressed Elder are too great to try to deal with this problem without medical guidance.

Wishing you and your Elder Pleasant Days!

New "Links" section Added

Just wanted to let you all know that I have added a new section for your assistance. Occasionally I run across news articles that are pertinent, helpful, informative, etc. When I do, I will post a link under "Links to Helpful, Informative, Interesting Articles."

Happy New Year to all:
May all of you and your Elders have Pleasant Days throughout the New Year.

We're Right in the Middle of Flu Season

(Side note: Sorry, I've been away, getting everybody ready for Christmas).

Winter is not my favorite season. Even here on the bay, where the sun shines most of the time, it still gets cold and damp during a few months in winter. It does, however, make for spectacular sunsets and sunrises.

Here we are, having a wonderful Holiday Season, Christmas being the most important time for many people, especially our Elders, and now we are suddenly struck with the threat of severe illness. It happens every year.

Flu season for our Elders can be a life threatening time. This is serious stuff. Many Elders, especially those who are very old, and those with chronic illnesses are especially vulnerable. Illness can come on even when others in the household appear well. Influenza by itself is not usually life-threatening if you are healthy, but it can cause a series of problems that the Elder can not handle physically.

First, the FDA has a wonderful article called "Get Set for Winter Illness Season". So, I will not state again what is already in the article. If you are a caregiver for an Elder, please read this article and follow the advise. It will keep you and yours well.
But, I would like to remind everyone of the special concerns for the Elders.

Many Elders have poorly functioning immune systems, whether caused by chronic illness, physical deterioration, poor nutrition, or the types of medications that have to be taken. This puts them at higher risk than anyone, even around people who "appear" to be well.

Many cold medicines sold over the counter are laden with drugs that many Elders should not take because of chronic illness, or because of possible interactions with prescription medicines. There have been several articles about this problem. Here is one of them, called "A Prescription for Problems".

Many Elders are particularly prone to respiratory complications when suffering from viruses like a cold or influenza. This puts them at risk of life-threatening pneumonia, worsening heart conditions, and long hospitalizations.

Along with all the other physical problems Elders may have, there is often a problem with nutritional and fluid intake. This can become worse when your Elder is sick and not willing to eat or drink, quickly becoming a serious dehydration, malnutrition problem. Now you have a virus, dehydration, and more strain on all body systems. It's a downward cycle that soon requires hospitalization to correct.

Then there are all the other complications that come along with poor nutrition, poor hydration, respiratory viruses, and the resulting bedrest and/or hospitalization: like loss of the ability to walk, incontinence, weight loss, skin breakdown, and acute confusion. Your Elder ends up having to go to a nursing home after a lengthy hospitalization, and now we all have very unpleasant days.

So, a little prevention can go a long way. Check out the articles above, and arm yourself with the information you need.

Wishing your Elder and you many Pleasant Days during the Holiday and Winter Season.

Wishing You and Your Elder a Pleasant Christmas Season

The season is upon us once more. And for many of our Elders, it comes with many memories, and a few problems.

Many of you that care for Elders realize by now that most memories our Elders have of past holiday seasons are good but may be painful. Memories of cherished family members that have passed on; the 'good old days' and traditions of Christmas and the holiday season that have passed on with a world that no longer exists for them outside of their memories; many have lost spouses along the way; some have lost children. These memories can be bittersweet. And invariably, these memories seem the strongest around the holiday season.

Some of us would prefer 'not to go there' when it comes to painful memories. But often, it really is much better to just go with it. Dig out the old family photo albums, the old Christmas cards, and if you don't have any of these, just talk about those 'good old days'.
It doesn't matter how many times you have already heard it -- hear it again. Talking about lost loved ones and the cherished old traditions is healing, therapeutic, and can be uplifting. Encourage your Elder to remember as much as s/he can. Try to emphasize the good stuff, but be sure to validate the bad stuff, too. In this way, you can acknowledge and validate your Elder and her/his past life. Let her/him know how you feel, and that you understand how important these people and these times were (are) to her/him, and that they are important to you as well because (even though you may not have been there) it is all part of you and your heritage.

Realize that very old Elders will often have far clearer memories of the long past, back to their childhood. They will surely have memories of your childhood, but the people of their own childhood are often all gone and the ones causing the 'bitter' part of the memories, because it all happened 50, 60, 70+ years ago (you know: long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away). This is where the saying "you can never go home again" likely came from. So, you want to try and help your Elder 'go home again' at least in her/his memory.

On to other concerns:

It's winter time. In most places it's cold, and if it's not snowing where you are, it's at least colder than the rest of the year.

Keep in mind that your Elder is probably very 'cold-blooded'. Keep your Elder cozy by adding extra soft underclothing, layers of clothing, thick socks, even a soft knit scarf around your neck can keep you much warmer than you would think. (Yeah, you people that live in snow country know about that. I'm a California native; wearing scarves when it's cold is probably the best lesson I learned from living 3 winters in Maine about 14 years ago.) Anyway, you get the point. Lots of soft fluffy clothing will keep the chill off for your Elder, and hopefully you won't have to sit outside on the porch because it's too hot in the house.

You do want to keep the house at around 70 - 75 degrees. I know this may be a problem if you are living in the same house. Most of us baby boomers (I'm talking mostly women here) are in that part of our lives when hormones don't know what to do anymore, and we are hot and flashing most of the time. Me, I like 60 degrees, 55 is just fine. But the Elders I care for can't do that. This is serious stuff. Your Elder may still feel cold at 70 - 75 degrees, but at least s/he won't get hypothermic. It takes energy to stay warm, and being too cold all the time will cause stress that your Elder can't handle, resulting in more illness, worsening of chronic ailments, behavior problems, trouble sleeping, inability to eat, more pain from arthritic problems.... All kinds of things you do not want to deal with, and will surely cause 'unpleasantness'. If you try to heat the house higher than 75 degrees, you may be drying out the air too much, which will cause problems of it's own.

Dry skin is a major problem with most Elders. And wintertime is worse. Make sure to use an extra moisturizing body wash for bathing and showers. Then add an extra moisturizing lotion right out of the bath or shower when the skin is still warm and damp.

Dry eyes is more common than people realize. Dry eyes can cause itching, burning, redness, and eye discharges that are bothersome. Over-the-counter eye drops to moisturize the eyes are inexpensive and well worth the effort. Make sure the drops are for moisture only.

Remember to keep your Elder hydrated. Cold weather tends to make people, especially Elders, drink less. Try hot tea, there are many nice herbal teas to choose from, and will also serve to warm up your Elder. If your Elder likes black or green tea, don't be afraid of the caffeine (unless the Elder's doctor says no caffeine). It can be good to help stimulate circulation and brain activity.

Many family members and friends may call you to ask what to give your Elder for Christmas. This is usually hard for most people to figure out. Remember that Elders grew up with a Christmas that was much different from our own. It wasn't commercialized yet. And giving during the season was heartfelt and out of a loving spirit. Very unlike the now commercialized season where we must get something for everyone in our life.... and it must cost enough to be considered a good gift.... and the name of the game is SALES for the market place.... and we all have to go out and spend to save our country's economy.

Anyway, the best gifts for most Elders are

• wearables that provide comfort (soft clothing, robes, lap blankets, small pillow, poofy slippers, soft warm scarves); Fleece clothing is great and there are so many different products made from fleece--pj's, t-shirts, slippers, jackets, blankets, you name it.
  
• goodies to eat (fancy little soft candies, cookies, cakes); homemade or not.
  
• pictures of family (enlarge a nice photo and frame it; enlarge a photo from long ago of loved ones and frame it; a small photo album with favorite photos enlarged; even a scrapbook type thing with family and comments.
• scented lotions
• large print books (predominately pictures for those who don't read).
• magazine subscriptions: some good ones are Reader's Digest (large print version), National Geographic, Reminisce Magazine, Good Old Days Magazine, American Heritage Magazine, America in WWII Magazine, and many many others to choose from (just put 'magazine subscriptions' into your search engine to find several sites that sell discounted subscriptions).
• DVDs of old favorite movies or TV series
• Flowers
• Music favored by your Elder (CD's, satellite radio subscriptions, you could even download favorites to an iPod)
• Sound amplifier with headset (for those Elders that don't wear hearing aids but have trouble hearing the television, radio, sermons at church, birds singing outside, whatever)
• accessories for wheelchairs or walkers: there are special bags and totes that fit onto the w/c or walker; there are special cushions for more comfortable seating in a w/c.
• I could go on and on...so here's a site with more gift ideas for the elderly, just click. There are plenty more like it.
• Here's another site with some good ideas for gifts at SeniorStore.com
  

So, I once again have gone on and on long enough. Just wanted to give some ideas about wintertime and Elders in the hopes that you and your Elder will continue to have Pleasant Days.