Grown-Ups Need Regular Vaccinations Too
We often think of vaccinations as being for children, but grown-ups need them too. Do you know which ones you need?
Madeleine Kolb, GuestBlogger
Madeleine Kolb is a freelance writer (specializing in technical writing), a storyteller, speaker, and editor. She blogs at AgeMyths.com about the myths and realities of aging; health and healthcare; diet and exercise; and fabulous work being done by those in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.
7 Compelling reasons to never move again
Over the course of my life, I’ve moved across the US from coast to coast no fewer than seven times. Move 6 in January, 2010 was prompted by my partner The Engineer accepting a term appointment at the Pax River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland. Move 7 in July, 2012, was coming back to Seattle. [...]
5 Fabulous rockers over 60 (or 70)
Listening to John Fogerty sing still gives me goosebumps. Here John (now 67) performs “The Midnight Special” at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2008 to a huge and wildly enthusiastic audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSoc0WZuc_Q And here he sings “Cotton Fields” before a large crowd in Koln, Germany on Juy 9, 2010. I love the part [...]
Make-up madness: Hillary Clinton’s appearance criticized
Hillary Clinton is one hard-working, globe-trotting Secretary of State. Since taking office, she’s traveled an astonishing 809,180 miles—the equivalent of circling planet Earth 32 times. Her most recent trip (May 3 through May 8) was to China, Bangladesh, and India. April 13 through April 19, she was in Columbia, Brazil, Belgium, and France. Before that it was Saudi [...]
Didn’t get your flu shot? Why you need it now
It’s spring, and temperatures are rising. Cherry trees and apple trees and magnolias are covered with blossoms. Migratory birds are busy courting and building nests. So why on earth is the U.S. Centers for Disease Control urging you to get an annual flu shot now—just because you didn’t get around to it last fall? Hasn’t the flu [...]
Don Bateman’s got no plans to retire from saving lives
On September 27, 2011, Don Bateman was one of five Americans who received a U.S. Medal of Technology and Innovation from President Obama. Bateman, chief engineer of Flight Safety Avionics at Honeywell, was honored for his work in “developing and championing critical flight-safety sensors now used on aircraft worldwide, including ground proximity warning system and wind-shear detection systems.” More than [...]
Exercising for life: what’s your plan
I’m an evangelist for exercise, and I practice what I preach. I’ve been a convert ever since I read the book “Aerobics” by Dr. Kenneth Cooper decades ago. I began exercising for life—walking or running along the Charles River in Boston, Lake Washington in Seattle, and Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland. I walked or ran in good weather [...]
Strange times: I actually agree with Rick Perry on something
These days I find myself appalled, aghast, and absolutely addicted to following the political scene in the U.S. Each morning I get the “Washington Post” from the porch, pull off the plastic cover, and read it voraciously while wolfing down breakfast and guzzling coffee. Then I watch videos on the Internet of one candidate or another [...]
Elder abuse in the news. Again
Dinner with Bill Clinton An article in the Washington’s Post’s Style section this week caught my attention right away. For one thing, it was a departure from the usual bits about which TV shows and actors are Hot and which are Not. And the gossipy nuggets about who was seen wearing what and dining with whom in The District. For another, [...]
Forgot a name or two? Just use your mental rolodex
With all the negative stereotyping out there about Losing It as one grows older, I’m naturally a little anxious. I measure my weight and blood pressure and blood glucose. I wear a pedometer all day to track aerobic steps (walking fast or running) and pedometer steps (walking from my desk to the bathroom). I’m reassured that [...]
Why it’s a bad time to be old and what you can do about it
Last fall I gave a speech titled “It ain’t easy being a little old lady,” and got lots of laughs. But the things happening to old people these days aren’t funny. They’re sad or scary or alarming. Things like these: The global demographic imbalance In nearly every country in the world, there are too many old people in proportion [...]
Alzheimer’s disease: Still one step forward, two steps back?
What’s your top worry about growing old? The one thing that gives you the most anxiety? OK, other than outliving your money. But other than that, isn’t Alzheimer’s Disease your greatest fear? It’s a brain-destroying, progressive, irreversible, and, ultimately, fatal, disease. And the likelihood of being stricken increases dramatically after the age of 65. Don’t you dread the [...]
Why You Shouldn’t Just Say “No” to News
An update of my guest post on Gip Plaster’s blog So Much More Life, published in 2010. There is much focus these days on simplicity: simplifying your life, getting rid of stuff, sometimes even paring down to a finite number of things, perhaps by discarding two old things before buying one new thing. And the [...]
Gotta Peeve? Share it Here
Photo of unannounced tearing up of sidewalk outside my home office as I was writing this post From time to time, I feel an overwhelming need to lighten up, to write about something other than the world epidemic of Type 2 diabetes or what promising treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease has been shown to be utterly ineffective. Over breakfast, I comb [...]
Diabetes: Getting Worse Every Day in Every Way
What could be worse than a disease which affects over 300 million people throughout the world? A disease which doubles the risk of a stroke or a heart attack. Which is chronic, meaning that there’s no cure, and progressive, meaning that it gets worse and worse over time, unless it’s well-managed. Long-term damage The disease is [...]
Changing Aging: Dr. Bill Thomas at TED
Dr. Bill Thomas is a geriatrician who is leading a movement to change aging as we usually think of it. It’s a movement to fight ageism, as the civil-rights movement fought racism and the women’s movement fought sexism in the U.S. A fundamental idea of changing aging is that the final stage of life is not marked [...]
It’s Never Too Late to Change Your Career
I started this blog because—as I grew older—I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the grim and dreary things we all hear about aging didn’t seem to be true. The stereotypes just didn’t fit me or most of the people I know. One of the most depressing myths of aging is that “You [...]
Open Letter to my Daughter on Turning 30
Dear A., I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately because last month was your birthday. Not just another birthday, but a milestone birthday—you turned 30. That got me thinking about a couple of things I want to say to you. Maybe “repeat” would be more accurate because I’ve said some of this before. And the [...]
Over 50? It’s Never Too Late
The subject of age and aging abounds with myths and assumptions which are questionable—to put it politely. Myths such as “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Or the assumption that—when people reach the age of 50 or 60— they start thinking about retiring from work and taking up a life of Perpetual Puttering. Myth [...]
Aging, health care & illegal immigrants: searching for a win-win
The political scene in the U.S. has become exceedingly polarized and unyielding. At the start of discussion of the budget deficit, one Congressman remarked that there was no room for compromise. After all, as he put it, “Your principles are your principles.” And this is the view on issues which require action, such as deficits and [...]
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