A study was done to measure the relative effects of diet and exercise for weight loss in adults aged 60 to 75 years old. The physiologist doing the study had groups that dieted, exercised, did both and compared the results. Surprise! The exercise and diet group did the best. The important finding was the diet only group lost a lot of muscle mass, not just fat. That’s a worrisome fact for a group that is losing muscle mass already as the lean , water based tissue diminishes with normal aging.
Oddly a different study of sleep apnea, a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death has a benefit in some forms. Older adults with a mild case of sleep apnea seem to trigger some protective metabolic strategy that reduces their risk of death instead of increasing it. That doesn’t mean to go out and acquire sleep apnea, but if your spouse is a snorer, and they get checked out, it may be a little good news can be teased out of the diagnosis.
The last thing I want to highlight this week is a study of older adults who ask casinos to bar them from playing. The risk for suicide is much higher for the older players than for adults who try to quit betting. There are other differences, games played, onset of gambling to name a couple. The important thing to note is that on older adult who gets into trouble is less likely to ask for treatment, or to get sent, than a younger adult. Desperation leads to suicidal thoughts. Again, the lesson is treat older adults with treatments that work!

from www.letcaliforniaring.org:

By the Numbers
Key Facts about Gay and Lesbian Couples in the U.S.

Gay and lesbian couples live in 99.3 percent of all counties nationwide.
There are an estimated 3.1 million people living together in gay or lesbian relationships in the United States.
Fifteen percent of these couples live in rural settings.
Between 1 million and 9 million children are being raised by gay, lesbian and bisexual parents in the United States today.
The highest percentages of these couples raising children live in the South.
Nearly one in four gay and lesbian couples includes a partner 55 years old or older, and nearly one in five is composed of two people 55 or older.
More than one in 10 gay and lesbian couples include a partner 65 years old or older, and nearly one in 10 of these couples is composed of two people 65 or older. The states with the highest numbers of senior gay or lesbian couples are also the most popular for straight senior couples: California, New York and Florida.These facts are based on analyses of the 2000 Census conducted by the Urban Institute and the Human Rights Campaign. (See GAY AND LESBIAN FAMILIES IN THE UNITED STATES: SAME-SEX UNMARRIED PARTNER HOUSEHOLDS: A Preliminary Analysis of 2000 United States Census Data. August 22, 2001 by David M. Smith, Communications Director & Senior Strategist, Human Rights Campaign and Gary J. Gates, Ph.D., Population Studies Center, The Urban Institute; Report at www.hrc.org)

My focus on the Mormon opposition to Same Sex Marriage led me to the site: http://lds4gaymarriage.org They are a group of Mormons that have examined their scripture and their conscience and found that although there may be scripture that condemns homosexual behavior, the denial of the right to marry is none of their business. I have not studied the Book of Mormon and can’t quote on my own authority but they did post this on their home page:
Joseph Smith said, "If I esteem mankind to be in error, shall I bear them down? No. I will lift them up, and in their own way too, if I cannot persuade them my way is better; and I will not seek to compel any man to believe as I do, only by the force of reasoning, for truth will cut its own way."
(Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, selected and arranged by Joseph Fielding Smith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1976], 313.)

more thoughts on Prop 8

One of the ideas that make the argument against same sex marriage seem logical is the myth of duality we enjoy. We like to think that things are either/or. It is appealing to our imagination that people come in two types, male and female. The medical facts are somewhat more complex. One variation is AIS. A condition of cell metabolism that makes it impossible for a boy to use the testosterone his body makes. He then converts that hormone to estrogen that works along with the naturally occurring estrogen in his body to grow a person that is to all appearances female. The only way to tell is by surgery, although the AIS adult is infertile. And as one patient states, “every time the box is on a form, I check Female.”
Another variation is the person with both sets of organs, called an hermaphrodite. The best selling book Middlesex told one intersex persons’ story of trying to fit into a world that didn’t recognize his gender. There are many other variations. My point is the fantasy that marriage can only be between a man and a woman has never been true. A transsexual, someone having their gender reassigned medically by hormone treatment and surgery is legally considered the gender they label themselves with. And the law requires they be addressed and treated as such in the work place.
There are about 7500 women in the US that are genetically men with AIS, there are thousands more that are women by assignment. They are able to marry without any legal restrictions. Why in the world would we make it illegal for two men, or two women who want to marry?

They are trying to decide, again, if treating older adults is good for their health. This time it's about flu shots. The information is that if you get a flu shot, you have 1/2 to 1/3 the chance of getting the flu compared to not getting the shot. If you get the flu, and you're frail medically, you may get pneumonia. Older folks die of pneumonia. But the new data suggests that despite 50% increase in getting the shot, deaths are not reduced.
So the conclusion is: gettting the shot reduces the risk of flu, and the severity of the flu if you get it. It may not make you live any longer. You might enjoy the time you have left more without the flu.
In Italy they have identified smoking as causing more damage to the hearts of women, at an earlier age than it does men. The rate of disease is different for women because in the past fewer women smoked than men. Now women are catching up because of the ad campaigns aimed at women in the seventies and eighties- and the smoking behavior of younger women. Quit now- it has immediate positive effects. And get your flu shot.