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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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
In March, the Alaska Medicare Clinic in Anchorage announced the affiliation of Dr. Virginia Haskell and Cynthia McGinty, ANP with the clinic. With this additional staff, the clinic is adding new patients to their service and expanding the ability to see patients with urgent needs on a same day basis. Located in the O’Malley Square building at 11260 Old Seward Highway, the clinic is open Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The clinic offers in-house lab and x-ray services. Call the clinic at 433-5100 to s...
Alzheimer’s Resource of Alaska will offer “Savvy Professional” training workshops this month in Ketchikan, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Palmer. Sponsored in part by the Trust Training Cooperative, the workshops are designed for those who have a working knowledge of dementia and are in roles that support individuals, families and/or direct care workers. Learning objectives include: • Compare the current state of one’s personal and organizational practices with those identified as best practice in person centered care. • Identify quality indicators...
My mom loved her own home - a wooded, two-acre property on a rural country road. She liked caring for her home and relaxing on her small, screened porch with a view of birds at the feeder and flowers in her garden. She liked having friends and family come for visits. Her own dishes, her own bed, her own music, eating when and what she wanted. As her vision declined and she stopped driving, she did think that it would be sensible to find a new home in town where she could walk to the library, hairdresser or grocery. Dad, on the other hand,...
On April 11 and 12 at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, 600 West 7th Avenue, the Alaska Dental Society, in collaboration with Anchorage Rotary and over 1,400 volunteers will provide a free clinic for people who have no access to dental care or cannot afford dental care. This is the first year for the Alaska Mission of Mercy. Its goals are to provide free dental care for patients suffering from dental infections or pain; to raise awareness of the increasing difficulty low-income adults and children face in accessing critical dental care; and t...
Alaska Health Fairs, Inc. continues its spring health fairs this month, featuring free health screenings and education, low cost blood tests and more. The tests can help you learn about your health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. The test results give you and your health care provider important information about your physical condition and vital organ functions. A complete and comprehensive chemistry/hematology test is available for only $45 and panels 27 different tests...
“I am shocked — shocked— to find that gambling is going on in here!” This much-paraphrased line of Claude Rains that he said to Humphrey Bogart in the great film Casablanca should be the tagline of this monthly article on Veteran’s healthcare. I am shocked – shocked – to find the federal government has promised more than they can deliver! Yes, I hope you were sitting down when you read that line but sadly for all veterans this is true. It was easy to promise to provide Veterans healthcare coverage for life when the money from taxpaying bab...
