Quality of Life et al.

After returning from my latest doctor visit, and living as I do amongst a large population of senior citizens, I was reminded once again that life without real quality of life isn't life at all – just a fading respiration process as we wind down into our terrestrial escape... 

The formula to delay the onset of problems caused by advanced aging is well known: proper sleep,  eating a Mediterranean diet, and exercising 4-5 days a week are the beginning of the equation, but it turns out that work and career are the glue that help tie it all together.  Exercising the mind is as important as exercising the body, and studies now show that working past retirement age slows, if not prevents, the onset of dementia...

As my father spiraled down the long road of dementia, he became angry and aggressive, a problem often compounded by the fact that he was getting urinary tract infections that made him act like an absolute lunatic.  Read Paula Span's (NY Times) New Old Age post "When Aggression Follows Dementia" at http://nyti.ms/13V9vVj  It's a common problem...

My father's dementia was worsened by the fact that he had macular degeneration, making him think that he was seeing writing on the walls.  When an elderly person of advanced age can see and hear, they feel that they're still here, still in the world.  Quality of life isn't a sexy subject, but in this writer's view, it's the only one that really counts...

Here are some more organizations to know about.  Visit my Resources page at http://bit.ly/12Pb695
to find many more...

Children of Aging Parents  http://www.caps4caregivers.org  Children of Aging Parents is a non-profit charitable organization whose mission is to assist caregivers... 

Association for Macular Diseases  http://www.macula.org  Like audiology and hearing loss, there's not enough attention paid to quality of life issues...

Experience Works http://www.experienceworks.org Experience Works is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit providers of training and job services for adults, aged 55 and over... 

LivHome.com http://livhome.com/  LivHome is one of the largest providers of professionally led at-home care for seniors... 

Aging Well Means Good Management

If you're one of the very few, very lucky, babyboomers without medical challenges, please accept my sincerest congratulations.   But if, like me, you're one of the vast majority of seniors with health issues who sometimes think (don't we all?) that you're a little unlucky, just consider the alternative.  I know a lot of people who never got the chance to get aches and pains...

A friend of mine, 79 and a lifelong athlete, was recently diagnosed with macular degeneration.  He didn't even blink (no pun intended), and only talked about what he had to do to continue living life as he always has.  He's a pretty vibrant guy, tall and muscular, and I'm pretty sure he could kick my ass in spite of being 20 years older than me.  He was already making transportation arrangements "just in case" he couldn't comfortably drive anymore.  He wasn't gonna wait until the worst might happen.  I wanna be like him when I grow up...

Another friend, almost 65 years old, finally had to have a troublesome knee replaced.  Never much of an athlete, he's still going to the gym every day to rehabilitate the knee.  "It would have been easy to hobble through the rest of my life with a cane, but the hell with that!." he said.  He's no gym rat – he's just another person who's voted for quality of life...

I've often heard it said that the day you don't want to drag yourself to the gym is the one day that you've got to go.  Regular exercise, both aerobic and weight-bearing, is the only way to maintain muscle mass, strengthen waning stability, and stave off aging.  Along with diet and sleep, exercise is the critical component in managing your aging body.  Don't want to have to use a cane?  Go to the gym...

And speaking of ego, if you're not used to needing help, then swallow some of that long-held pride and let friends and family give a helping hand.  It's all about common sense – and good management...

Chinese Love (and Law)

In the NY Times blog The New Old Age, there was a post yesterday about laws recently enacted in China, mandating that the children of aged parents visit at least a certain number of times and stay informed about the status of their parent's well-being.  The law also says that the children need to be responsive to "the spiritual needs of the elderly", and that punitive measures await  those who don't comply.  I'd written about this myself (The No Responsibility Zone) and at that time I imagined businesses springing up overnight to represent the adult children of the very aged, much like talent agencies do in Hollywood.  They'd threaten the parents with: “Listen, if you want to have direct negotiations with your kids, you’ll have to bequeath them an extra ten percent…in advance."

It's barely a joke... 

Are legal remedies the only way to insure that people oversee the care of their aging parents?  China made it plain that they think so, and enacted laws that obligate adult children to be involved in the care of their parents.  Past generations used to routinely take responsibility for the elderly.  Grandma or Grandpa lived with you, and though it was sometimes a bit of a strain, you didn't think twice about it.  It was just something you did – the normal course of business – before nursing homes became an industry, and a good investment for cut-the-corners profiteers. 

Read The New York Times blog on aging issues, The New Old Age, at: http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/

Read my blog about China's new laws in "The No-Responsibility Zone" at http://jamielegon.blogspot.com/ and see more posts at jamielegon.com