I asked the girl scouts what to write about this week and I was surprised at the insight. “Valentines Day of course!” In case there is a question of my connecting the girl scouts to senior concerns, I draw the connection from the social sciences. A study being published in England has described human happiness as following a U curve. The happiest times in the life span are at the beginning and at the end. Middle age is the most miserable. 44 years old is the peak of unhappiness in England, in the US it’s about 50. So there are common experiences for the most separate age groups. I pointed this out in considering foul language a few weeks ago. I guess all that cussing makes us in the middle less blissful.
Another concern I have regarding the upcoming romantic holiday is the high-risk sexual behavior that older adults may experience because they are no longer worried about unwanted pregnancies. HIV and other STDs are still increasing fastest among older adults compared to other age groups. It is preventable. It does require talking about it. I hope the conversation is nicely coded so no one breaks the mood, but you still have to decide who’s stopping at the store for protection. I haven’t been able to check out the resources for folks that are dependant on a caretaker for shopping. What does a resident in assisted living do? Call the city dial-a-ride for a trip to the 99 cent store? If they have a spouse, it isn’t an issue, although I am still trying to adjust my own thinking to the Sandra Day O’Connor story about her husband with Alzheimer’s finding a new sweetheart in his nursing home because he doesn’t remember being married. Justice O’Connor’s ability to understand and accept the situation called “mistaken attachment” must be the root of that upward trend in happiness that the Brit’s have found in their study. I only hope to live so long. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Health news this week is both good and bad. A study to be published on February 5 in Circulation, a journal for cardiologists, tells how a little exercise- two hours a week of walking for instance, can cut the risk in half for “premature death.” It doesn’t take Jack Lalane workouts to produce real results. Very high fitness levels reduce the risk further, but just getting off the sofa once or twice a day to take a brisk walk will have an effect. I see an ad for Wii, a television / computer game where a bunch of older guys are enjoying virtual bowling. It beats paying a couple bucks a game and does work up a sweat!
The other piece is about how women who have to pay as little as ten bucks, as co-pay will skip their mammogram. Medicare managed care plans usually ask for a small out of pocket to reduce the insurance companies cost. As it turns out, the costs increase because more women develop more serious cancer without this screening.
Lastly, and this has limited information behind it, they are starting to suggest that gastric surgery- banding was the case study, rather than bypass which is more frequent here in the US, is a diabetes cure. In Australia, they are suggesting that so many diabetics get off all meds after a surgery to reduce stomach size that it qualifies as a cure for diabetes. Many of the patients I’ve met report significant changes in their blood sugar controlling meds. If you are obese and diabetic, it’s worth looking into!
So again I end up sounding like a mother hen to people old enough to be my parents. Get some exercise. Go to the doctor for heath maintenance. Now a radical suggestion: diets work for very few obese people. Gastric surgery works for almost all of them. If you’ve been dieting for 50 years and are still too heavy, check out something that has proven to save lives.