Hands to Help Seniors

A recent study at Florida State University found that older women with mild hypertension who ate a cup of blueberries a day for eight weeks saw a modest drop in their blood pressure.  Researchers think it’s because blueberries contain nitric oxide, a natural compound that helps widen your blood vessels.  Try it! They are delicious when they are in season here.

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At Family inHome Caregiving, we tell our senior clients that eating a healthy diet, getting the proper amount of exercise and getting social stimulation are keys to longevity.  Many seniors don’t get out and about enough which leaves them feeling alone and depressed, particularly if they have lost a spouse.  A new study which was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that seniors who feel younger than their years actually do live longer than those who complain that they feel older than their actual age.  The authors of the study said that it’s likely that those who feel younger have a healthy lifestyle, listen to medical advice and have greater resilience.  The good news, said the authors, is that it’s never too late to change.  Get a positive outlook on life.  It really can enhance your longevity.

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There has been a lot written about the ineffectiveness of this year’s flu vaccine. But fixing the situation is easier said than done. On average, flu season sends about 200,000 people to the hospital each year at a cost of $87 billion. Most of the people who got sick this year came from a strain which started in Switzerland which the World Health Organization looked at when coming up with the formula for the latest vaccine, but it was deemed less threatening than other strains and eventually was excluded. This resulted in the vaccine being only 23% effective in preventing the flu, and even lower for those over 50 years old according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “With influenza, every year it’s a crapshoot what will show up,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infections, told Fortune Magazine. Researchers, however, are hopeful that they can develop a universal flu vaccine which would be effective against almost every strain. I hope the development of this vaccine happens quickly.

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Many people take Social Security before their full benefit age and later realize they have made a mistake, particularly with married couples.  When you take an early benefit at age 62, your benefit is reduced by 25%.  If you claim a spousal benefit, instead of getting 50% of your spouse's higher benefit, you only get 35%.  Unless the higher earning spouse waits until at least the age of 70 to claim his or her benefit, this may not make sense.  If the higher earning spouse delays taking Social Security, you get an 8% delayed retirement benefit for each year that it is delayed.  If you change your mind within 12 months of claiming Social Security, you can pay back all benefits received and then apply again later when the benefit is larger.  T. Rowe Price has a nice Social Security Benefits Evaluator that lets you put in various scenarios to see how much you will get.  To use it, click here.

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Last year’s release of Medicare physician-payment in April caused a huge uproar as it became apparent many physicians and others in the medical community were overbilling the government.  This is likely to happen again next month after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services announced plans recently to release the data each year.  Although the American Medical Association and others have asked the government not to release the data because of privacy concerns, I think the majority of Americans would like to see it.  It also has the impact of discouraging Medicare fraud when unethical people realize that they can be readily exposed through the release of this information to the public.  The Wall Street Journal and other major publications did a great job in covering this scandal as I am sure they will do again this year.

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