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The Medicare Information Office is pleased to announce that the first volunteer has completed the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) Foundations Training and the Group Presentation Training. Ms. Sharon White-Wheeler has recently completed both preparatory trainings. This puts the SMP on track to begin offering the Medicare Minutes program starting this fall. The Medicare Minutes program is intended to help the Senior Medicare Patrol reach people under the age of 65 with Medicare with good information...
Registration is open for Alaska’s first-ever “VegFest,” a day-long event Sept. 6 in Anchorage focusing on vegetarian and vegan lifestyle choices. Activities include keynote presentations by three internationally known authors, cooking demonstrations and an organic lunch provided by Organic Oasis (included with cost of registration). Organizers say similar events are popular in other parts of the country. “As people become more health conscious, as awareness grows of the meat industry’s addition to greenhouse gases, and as the plight of farm a...
Brain implants may help restore memory loss Treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are severely lacking. Despite more than three decades of intense research and clinical trials, the only approved agents simply slow the progression of the disease. No agents have been able to reverse the damage caused by the disease. Now, researchers are taking a completely different approach. They are developing an implantable neural device to restore memory. Brain experts at the Lawrence Livermore National L...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in August. This month’s topic is “Immunizations for Older Adults.” Aug. 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 26, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Please join and share your experiences as a caregiver, or support someone who is a caregiver. If you are helpi...
Hepatitis C is a disease that is caused by a virus that affects the liver. Even though the disease often doesn’t produce symptoms, it can seriously damage the liver and can be fatal. An estimated 3.2 million Americans have Hepatitis C. Older people are more likely to have been exposed to Hepatitis C, but many older Americans are not aware that they need to be tested for it. A December 2013 report found that Hepatitis C infections are concentrated in the Baby Boomers generation. In one major study of people with the virus, 75 percent of the p...
Alaska's food-growing season is kicking into high gear and Alaska farmers grow some of the best produce in the country, so now's the time to pick up your sheet of coupons for locally-grown fruits and vegetables. The coupons come from the Senior Farmer's Market Nutrition Program and can be used at local farmer's markets around the state. Each coupon sheet contains five $5 coupons for a total of $25 per sheet. The program issues the coupon sheets to senior centers and other agencies, which pass...
Two-thirds of Alaska adults who currently smoke say they want to quit. The state Department of Health and Social Services is now offering additional support to help them. Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line has enhanced the free tools it offers to provide even greater support to help tobacco users successfully quit for good. Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line now offers Text2Quit and Web Coach. Text2Quit allows those who are quitting to work with a quit coach via their mobile phone. Text2Quit features a series of interactive text messages — including tips...
If you are new to Medicare, you need to know that Medicare almost always only pays 80 percent of the cost of most medical procedures. In order to be completely covered, you should buy a Medicare supplemental policy, also known as Medigap. These generally cost $100 to $150 per month, but they are very necessary. There are about 10 different plans and they vary from state to state. In my experience, the most popular plan for most people in Alaska is plan F. This plan offers payment for the...
Every day, people confront situations that involve life-changing decisions about their health. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 9 out of 10 adults have difficulty using the health information that is routinely available in health care facilities, retail outlets, media and communities. This challenging situation will be the focus of daylong seminar at Providence Medical Center in Anchorage on Aug. 6. “Bridging Literacy and Communication Differences for Better Health Outcomes,” will feature nationally-recognized...
New findings in the physiological causes of depression are leading to treatments other than widely used antidepressants, such as Prozac and Zoloft, according to a report in the journal Current Psychiatry. Depression is a problem facing many seniors. New treatments include new medications, electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain, and long-term cognitive behavioral therapy for stress management. Authors of the new study are Murali Rao, MD, and Julie M. Alderson, DO. Rao is professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behaviora...
Breath test may be important new tool against lung cancer Researchers have now come up with a new breath test that can diagnose patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as well as lung cancer. In addition, this new technology can help can define the stage of any cancer present and potentially help guide the appropriate therapy. “This could totally revolutionize lung cancer screening and diagnosis. The perspective here is the development of a non-traumatic, easy, cheap a...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings and trainings in July. This month’s theme is Nation UV Safety Awareness Month, with a handout on the risks of sun damage provided at each caregiver support meeting. Please join and share your experience as a caregiver or to support someone who is a caregiver. July 1, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 8, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 15, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior C...
Most Americans – 75 percent! – don't take their medicine as directed. Forgetting pills, taking them at the wrong time of the day, not filling a prescription because of cost or inconvenience – all these can take a serious toll on people's health – and wallets, if they end up in the doctor's office or hospital. People of all ages make medicine mistakes, but the chances go up the more prescriptions a person takes. So seniors, who often take several prescriptions, have to take special care. I'm Lan...
Sweet Thai sticky rice with coconut milk, fragrant Indian basmati rice pilaf, glistening sushi rice and creamy Italian parmesan risotto – rice elevated from dull to delicious with some seasoning and respect. By respect, I mean the methods of preparing and cooking. In many cultures with strong affections for rice, an electric rice cooker has replaced the stovetop as the cooking method of choice. Several types of rice cookers can be found in most kitchen equipment stores. A simple rice cooker c...
Many newly arrived residents in the Juneau Pioneer Home are anxious about losing health, control and freedom. Some are aggressive due to dementia, or frail, with limited memory or mobility. Regardless, they soon learn they've gained new friends who treat them with love and respect: Certified Nursing Assistants Vhie Hermano, Nelda Reynolds, Maria De Guzman, Freddie Abad, Arsenia Sales, and Mary Ellen Yadao. The Alaska Pioneer Homes' mission is to create high quality of life for older Alaskans by...
Affordable Care Act and insurance plans For those of you not in Medicare and have not yet enrolled in one of the Affordable Care Act insurance plans, you will not be able to do so until the next open enrollment, which will take place between Nov. 15, 2014 and Feb. 15, 2015. However, you can still apply for coverage through the exchanges before the next enrollment period, if you have a major change in your life. Qualifying changes include getting married, having or adopting a child, losing...
As Senior Voice reported last month, the Veterans Health Administration has been caught in a cover-up of the mismanagement of our veterans’ waiting lists for some of their most critical medical screening services. This scandal now has spread to more than just the Phoenix VA Hospital, with more to come as the layers of the onion keep getting pealed back. The death toll of the gastrointestinal screening exam delays we reported last month now stands at over 100 with retired VA doctors lining up t...
A vibrating capsule may help combat chronic constipation Researchers in Israel are now reporting success with a vibrating capsule for constipation. You simply swallow it and it helps get your bowels moving. In a new study, the researchers found that the vibrating capsule helped nearly double the weekly bowel movements of patients suffering from chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) and constipation predominant irritable bowel syndrome (C-IBS). “Despite the widespread use of medication to treat c...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings and trainings in June. This month’s theme is “Honoring Cancer Survivors Through Prevention.” Please join and share your experience as a caregiver or to support someone who is a caregiver. June 3, “Ways to Reduce Your Risk for Cancer,” Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 10, “Ways to Reduce Your Risk for Cancer,” Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 17, “Cancer Symptoms You’re Most Likely to Ignore,” Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. June 24, “Cancer Sy...
Color-coded tags may signal food’s freshness Scientists have now come up with a color-coded smart tag that can tell consumers whether a carton of milk has turned sour. This technology could also tell you if a can of green beans has spoiled, all without opening the containers. “This tag, which has a gel-like consistency, is really inexpensive and safe, and can be widely programmed to mimic almost all ambient-temperature deterioration processes in foods,” said lead researcher Chao Zhang, who i...
Visiting family members and friends is a time-honored and valued tradition. Being with others in conversation or in companionable silence, in laughter or even in tears reaffirms our need for connection and belonging. We want to be with people we care about. We need to be with people who care about us. Desire and need are at the heart of every visit. A diagnosis of dementia does not diminish the desire or the need for being with others, but it does change the “how” of a visit. With a progressive dementia like Alzheimer’s disease, gradual chang...
You can’t watch television for more than an hour without being exposed to pleas to use either Viagra or Cialis to deal with erectile dysfunction. Now testosterone is being pushed. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), however, warned of severe dangers in using testosterone supplements. The new research examined more than 8,000 male veterans with low testosterone. Researchers compared the rates of cardiovascular ills among those who had testosterone supplementation and those who had not had supplements. The study found that m...
This month I decided to delve into some Older Persons Action Group archive documents, recently discovered in an old file cabinet. At the beginning of year its 10th year, Senior Voice’s circulation was 6,000 and it was the only newspaper in the state dealing exclusively with senior citizen problems, needs and desires. In 1983, in its first try entering its writers’ work in professional competition, Senior Voice staff submitted three entries to the statewide Alaska Press Women communications con...
If someone in your family needs hospice care, this column explains what it is and what Medicare covers. What is hospice care? Hospice care is a program of care and support for patients who are terminally ill. These patients may no longer want to try to cure a terminal illness, or their doctor may have determined that efforts to cure an illness are not working. To qualify for hospice care, the patient’s regular doctor and a hospice medical director must certify that the patient is terminally ill and has six months or less to live. A decision a...
It’s an alarming and disturbing fact but older veterans have a higher suicide rate than the general public, including returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. In fact, veterans over 50 years of age have a 70 percent higher suicide rate than the non-veteran general population. According to Tom Berger, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of America national health council and a Vietnam Navy veteran, “You know, ‘We’re just old guys, and we’re going to die, so why pay much attention...
