If you’re over 50, you’re entitled to free inoculations at one of the Community Flu Clinics throughout Philadelphia, starting this month. If you want to locate your nearest clinic, a Flu Hotline is being set up as of Thursday, Nov. 1, at 215-685-6458.
You will be able to select the area you are interested in from six choices — Center City, South Philadelphia, West and Southwest Philadelphia, Northwest Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia and North Philadelphia/Kensington. Available in both English and Spanish, the hotline will be updated weekly. Also beginning Nov. 1, you may locate a clinic online by visiting http://www.phila.gov/health
The clinics are open to all Philadelphians 50 and above, adults of any age with immunosuppression or chronic illness; pregnant women and those who may become pregnant during flu season; daycare employees; household caregivers for children under 5; and caregivers for adults over 50.
Host sites may not turn away eligible adults, even those who are not members.
In addition to the flu shot, the pneumococcal vaccine may be offered.
It can improve longevity, enhance your lifestyle
By Enid Rosenblatt
Visit your dentist twice a year, that old toothpaste ad urged us.
Seeing your dentist regularly is important at every age, but older people need to visit the dentist more often, according to restorative dentists Harold Yaffe and Paul J. Berson, partners in The Dental Spa, in the Medical Arts Building at 16th and Walnut Sts.
Why is preventive dental care especially important for older people? Taking care of your teeth to avoid losing them not only improves your life expectancy, but enhances your quality of life as you age.
Poor oral health can exacerbate medical problems common to older people, agree oral surgeons Robert J. Diecidue, chairman of the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at Jefferson Hospital, and Daniel Taub, associate director of the department.
Dry mouth = cavities
Evidence continues to support an association among periodontal infections, atherosclerosis and vascular diseases. Diabetic patients are at an increased risk from gingivitis and also risk abnormal glucose levels because of poor oral hygiene. And if older people are undergoing chemotherapy or radiation to treat tumors of various kinds, says Taub, “they have compromised immune systems and are more vulnerable to dental infection.”
Older people frequently suffer from dry-mouth syndrome, caused by medications they are taking. This, adds Berson, makes them more susceptible to cavities.
During routine visits, dentists also examine the patient’s mouth for oral lesions and cancer. “Even if you stopped smoking years ago,” Taub warns, “you may still be at risk for cancer of the mouth.”
“The good news is that people are living longer,” says Yaffe, “but this means their teeth have to last longer, another reason for visiting your dentist regularly.”
Home care important
Your dentist may advise checkups three or even four times a year. The number of times depends on the condition of your mouth and your general health.
As important as visiting your dentist regularly is caring for your teeth at home. Dentists recommend brushing and flossing twice a day. Electric toothbrushes are especially helpful for older people who may have dexterity problems.
Dental hygienists, working with dentists, can scale your teeth and remove calculus (tartar) regularly, the dentists agree, but this doesn’t make up for daily care at home.
If you have lost teeth and need replacements, proper fitting is essential.
“Dentures must be realigned periodically because your mouth and gums keep changing,” Berson notes.
Corn on the cob, anyone?
Dental implants are very successful for older people, Diecidue observes. They can also be used to help with retention of dentures, which snap into the implants.
“Imagine the luxury of biting into an apple or eating corn on the cob with steak again,” he said.
The older you are, the more important it is to make sure that your mouth is in good shape while you are still able to visit your dentist, Berson advises. “Later on, even if you are in a wheelchair, as long as you still have your teeth, you will be able to enjoy luxuries such as socializing or eating in a restaurant,” he says.
Affect our ability to participate in daily activities
About half of older Americans have one or more conditions that can affect their ability to participate in activities of daily living.
University of Michigan researchers found that about 50 percent of those participating in the national Health and Retirement Study have at least one of these conditions: cognitive impairment, falls, incontinence, low body-mass index, dizziness, and vision or hearing impairment. In many cases, they need assistance to complete daily living tasks, such as bathing, dressing, eating and toileting.
Explaining the results, in Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Christine T. Cigolle, lead author, notes, “The focus in medicine has long been on diseases, and how to diagnose and treat them. But that focus isn’t helpful in regard to older adults [who] tend to have one or more of these geriatric conditions, which are not considered diseases and can be missed by physicians.”
A national coalition has been formed to develop guidelines for diagnosing and managing sleep disorders in the elderly, “often, inappropriately, seen as a consequence of the aging process itself,” according to Dr. Harrison Bloom, chair of the coalition’s expert taskforce.
Bloom is senior associate at the International Longevity Center-USA (ILC-USA), which organized the coalition. It’s one of 13 aging, geriatric and sleep organizations that have joined the National Coalition for Sleep Disorders in Older People, made possible by a grant from Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America.
Other Coalition members are Alliance for Aging Research, AARP, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, American Geriatrics Society, AGS Foundation for Healthy Aging, American Medical Directors Association, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs, Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, Gerontological Society of America, National Sleep Foundation and The Sleep Research Society.
Lighthouse International has issued what it calls a “wake-up call for baby boomers to take their eye health more seriously.”
Dr. Tara Cortes, Lighthouse president and CEO, warned: “We are on the verge of a national vision loss epidemic, and baby boomers ... are at risk for such diseases as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma,” yet many don’t take preventive measures.
“Many eye diseases are detected by annual eye exams,” she says, “and can be treated more effectively the earlier they are diagnosed.”
Few older women are being tested for the virus that causes AIDS, researchers have found, despite significant risk factors for lifetime exposure.
The risk is especially high among African-American women, who represent 73 percent of new HIV cases in women over 50.
And those who finally are tested “tend to do so late in their disease… often … progress(ing) more rapidly to AIDS,” observes Dr. Aletha Akers of the University of Pittsburgh, lead author in the study, reported in the Journal of Women’s Health.
Most older women in the study felt little need for testing because of a “low perceived risk,” which was not always accurate based on their histories,” Akers noted.
The “current medical care structure is inadequate in meeting the needs of terminally-ill patients and reducing the cost of care at the end of life,” researchers contend in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Hospice care is available through Medicare, but the program is underused, Dr. Richard Brumley notes, and 60 percent of all deaths take place in the hospital.
Dr. Brumley was lead investigator in a Kaiser Permanente Hospice and Palliative Care (Downey, Calif.) study, which “supported our goal of enhancing care to chronically ill patients by providing comprehensive, coordinated and compassionate care by an interdisciplinary team of healthcare providers.”
In-home palliative care might be a practical alternative, the researchers concluded. Such care is designed not to cure the patient, but to ease the pain and make the patient as comfortable as possible.
|