ChangingAging.org

We are going to run a series on anti-aging quackery.
Here’s our first entry.
By they way I could not make it all the way through the video.
I feel sorry for this nice lady and wish she could feel more comfortable with her true self…

Elders and the very young have long been allies. In fact, there is an old joke that goes, “Why do grandparent and grandkids get along so well? They share a common enemy.”
Life in a modern, post industrial, economy frays these ancient bonds.
Let’s look at a blogospheric exchange.
At Pandagon blogger Amanda Marcotte writes….
When I first [...]

In the comments, Pat Blanchard offers some good advice that deserves broader attention. I’ve gone ahead and added hyperlinks to her original comment. If you have a minute, click on some of the the links and note how the related material further illuminates what Pat has to say. Even though social media can [...]

It’s more common than I thought and the Great Recession is worsening the trend.
According to a new study by Sun Life Financial, more than 20% of American workers are forced into early retirement by layoffs, cutbacks, and shutdowns. In an age where pensions have gone by the wayside and the future of social security is [...]

Simple things can work surprisingly well.
Consider this insight from Atul Gawande for example…
When there is no way of knowing exactly how long our skeins will run—and when we imagine ourselves to have much more time than we do—our every impulse is to fight, to die with chemo in our veins or a tube in our [...]

If you practice medicine long enough, eventually you’ll see everything.
Consider the case of this 75 year old man…
Doctors feared the worst when they studied Ron Sveden’s (SVEE’-dehn) X-rays and spotted a small dark spot.
The former teacher had worked for years smoking fish and had already had emphysema before he felt his health take a turn [...]

My favorite American poet is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (b. 1807)
From the WIki…
Portrait of the artist as a young man.
In the fall of 1822, the 15-year old Longfellow enrolled at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. His grandfather was a founder of the college and his father was a trustee.
By all accounts he was a gifted [...]

Americans often cite Japan as the country with the most respect for elders. In fact, there is considerable prestige given to older people in Japan and even a national holiday in their honor. There are also some embarrassing lapses which expose a gap between rhetoric and practice. The BBC reports…
Tokyo’s reputed oldest woman has [...]

Joe Angelelli writes…
There’s a good article in the Post-Gazette today about noise pollution in downtown Pittsburgh. The hum of air conditioners is drowning out the public art sound installations…
Oddly enough, this son of an audiologist has always been super sensitive to noise (hyperacusis…I’m the guy holding his ears on the airplane when the announcements are [...]

Al Power checks in early with this gem…

A decade past, Prince saw delirium as a positive force–falling in love. Soulja Boy took it a step farther: “That’s when I start to fall.” Now that’s a concept geriatricians can latch onto.
The real dangers of geriatric delirium are spelled out in detail in this week’s issue of [...]

This blog gets some mighty powerful comments….
My 92-year-old mother with advanced dementia still lives at home and attends an Eden-accredited day centre. Six weeks ago I received a call from the acting manager to say they were finding my mother’s behaviour very challenging and wanted to bring in their ‘Dementia Behaviour Management Advisory’ team to [...]

Daniela Simmons, Founder and President of DANIEL DOMES offered this comment as a followup to her experience with the recent Eden Alternative International Conference.
She also gives us a heads up on some of her latest plans.
I wish her well.
I have been an advocate of culture change, ethical and quality care and
implementing a family and [...]

This is bumped from the comments.
Deborah Cooke is developing into a frequent and insightful commenter and I am always pleased when I see her name pop up on my screen.
Here’s an experience I encountered today while walking home from work. I should have written down some names and reported these guys myself. They aren’t medical [...]

I have been seeing a growing number of news reports that describe the us of a Taser to restrain citizens. The authorities who are quoted in these stories often employ the the very same rationalizations that medical professionals once used to justify tying older people to their beds.
The following story combines politics, medicine and [...]

Here is something new from the Eden Alternative.
Become the expert in your home for culture change; not just for yourself but for your team, your organization and the Elders you serve. Learn to overcome the challenges in the complex world of long-term care by creating an action plan specific to your home.
It does not matter [...]

The mainstream media continues to reinforce negative stereotypes about elders and people who work with elders. We are going to have to use new social media and social networking tools in order to tell our story — our way.
I am inviting you to join this growing online conversation. We can tell our [...]

The people behind Paro the Robot Baby Seal seem to have retained the world’s best public relations firm. They’ve scored stories in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
I don’t get it.
Or, maybe, I do get it and I hate admitting the ugly truth.
American culture sees aging as primarily a matter of technical [...]

The prestigious AHRQ has taken notice of the work Holy Cross hospital has done to improve emergency care for elders.

This is an important issue because…

* The population of seniors in the U.S. is growing rapidly, with growth expected to continue in coming decades, especially among those over 80. In Montgomery County, [...]

Last week we took a look at people who dare to go gray, this week it’s a Malaysian politician who denies that he dyed his hair gray in order to win votes.

The chief minister of the state of Selangor, Mohamad Khir Toyo, rejected allegations that he had coloured his hair grey to give himself a [...]

From the comments, Tropigal notes…
I want skin that is supple and relatively free of age spots, without being obsessive about it.
I interviewed a topnotch dermatologist in my 20s, when I was reporter and seeking a fountain of youth for my skin. He was an older man with a beautiful complexion.
He said he [...]

Media types, well old media types, always tell you that older viewers/listeners/readers aren’t worth ANYTHING.
Nothing.
Nada.
Zilch.
That’s why this story caught my eye.
The Wall Street Journal notes that The View — with 3.8 million viewers each day — is “tilting away from simple celebrity plugs and devoting more time to weighty political topics.”
“ABC’s daytime talk show [...]

DNR = Version 2
Lat week I presented version 1 of DNR – Do not retire! This time let me present version 2 = Do Not Restrict!
This is not my idea but comes from a competent and very committed Geriatric Dermatologist, Dr. Robert A. Norman. I had the opportunity to exchange some professional views and questions [...]

Today’s “Idea of the Day” from the New York Times blog of the same name offers a rare positive viewpoint on the globe’s aging population:
The Census Bureau’s recent finding that old people will soon outnumber the young globally is being greeted with dark foreboding, heralding “a crisis on one hand and a burden on the [...]

Wow, I’m overwhelmed with the response I’m getting for my appeal to Oprah. Thank you everyone for watching the video and commenting. Thanks especially to Ronni Bennett at TGB for not hesitating to tell it like it is.
Keep the comments coming!