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When most people think of eating disorders, they picture teenagers or young adults. But eating disorders don't disappear with age. For many Alaskans, they can quietly begin, intensify, or resurface as they age. Eating disorders are complex, serious physical and mental illnesses affecting an estimated 65,000 Alaskans. They affect people of all ages, genders, races, ethnicities, body shapes and weights, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic statuses. Like many health conditions, physical impacts...
We have a lot of official state things in Alaska. I know, "things" is a little vague, but I'll give you some examples. We have an official state bird, the willow ptarmigan. We have an official state gem, jade. We even have an official state insect, the four-spot skimmer dragonfly (Did anyone tell mosquitoes about this?) But, and this is the curious part, we have no official state word. We Alaskans are a literate people, and, in my humble opinion, I think we need an official state word. As you...
Q: How can I encourage my friends to shift our conversations away from the negatives of aging or feeling overlooked, and start discussing the positive aspects? A: As we age, conversations among peers often gravitate toward the challenges of growing older. While feelings of invisibility or worthlessness among older individuals are very real, dwelling on these sentiments creates a narrow, negative narrative that overshadows the richness of our current lives. Why focus on negatives? This trend is...
Family members, friends, and caregivers gathered on the morning of May 2 at the Anchorage Golf Course for the 2026 annual Alzheimer's Resource Alaska (ARA) "Amblin' for Alzheimer's" event. ARA hosts the event to raise awareness about the growing incidence of Alzheimer's and related dementias in Alaska. Alzheimer's is the most common type of dementia, but there are many others. https://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/alzheimers-dementia Dementia causes issues with thinking, behavior, and memory....
There are moments in life when wellness does not look like green smoothies, exercise classes, or perfectly balanced schedules. Sometimes wellness looks like sitting at the kitchen table late at night, wondering how you are going to keep up with appointments, paperwork, caregiving responsibilities, and the emotional weight of watching someone you love change before your eyes. For many Alaskans affected by Alzheimer's disease, related dementias, or other disabilities, that feeling of being...
A major component of both physical and psychological well-being is to have a happy, functioning digestive system. This means your appetite is good and you stop eating when about 80% full, to not over-eat, which prematurely ages our bodies over time. Also, you have a bowel movement every day (nothing better than pooping before having to get out the door!), and nothing hurts after eating. One component of having a happy belly (thus setting yourself up for living your best life) is to eat...
The average Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplace deductible saw the steepest increase in history-growing by 37% or more than $1,000, from $2,759 in 2025 to $3,786 in 2026 as enhanced premium tax credits expired, according to an analysis by KFF, a nonpartisan health policy organization which also runs a health-related news service. The full analysis is available here. Between 2021 and 2025, Americans searching for healthcare coverage in the ACA Marketplace 2010 benefited from premium tax...
Medicare’s telehealth coverage has been expanded across Alaska to allow more people to access care at home. Let’s learn about what you can expect now and into the future with Medicare’s telehealth coverage. What is telehealth? Telehealth includes certain services that you receive from a healthcare provider outside of an in-person office visit. A telehealth service is a full visit with a provider using telephone or video technology that allows for both audio and video communication. It is diffe...
If you're like me and walk more than drive, consider solidly built walking shoes to be your best to avoiding any injury or sores and blisters. You've seen the ads all over touting slip-on sneakers and shoes, but this seems counter-intuitive. If sustaining flexibility is a goal for later years, what does lifting your foot onto a chair to lace them do to you instead of bending over and lacing them? Makes you less flexible. Also, walking shoes or sneakers that must be laced add an additional solid...
New tools for combatting breast cancer Immunotherapy has become a standard of care in treating high-risk, early-stage breast cancers, yet it has had limited success in shrinking tumors, so new biomarkers that can improve outcomes for patients are urgently needed. Now, researchers at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville, Tennessee, have found that repeated blood sampling (liquid biopsy) can assess and predict the evolving antitumor immune response to therapy. This minimally invasive...
The Alaska Senate passed HB 96, which creates a Home Care Employment Standards Advisory Board by a vote of 19-1. The legislation is meant to expand access to affordable home and community-based care. The legislation also empowers an advisory board that will develop policy recommendations for senior care improvement, and requires agencies that provide personal care to allocate a certain percentage of funding to Personal Care Assistants. Seniors are the fastest growing demographic in the state of Alaska, with an expected 500% increase by 2050....
Living in Alaska means sharing our beautiful state with wildlife and the pets we love at home. Dogs and cats bring comfort and joy, but even gentle animals can cause accidental injuries. Knowing how to respond can prevent serious problems, especially when medical help may be far away. Animal bites and scratches happen more often than people think. A dog might nip during play. A cat might scratch while jumping off a lap. These injuries can lead to infection if they are not treated quickly and...
For two days in May, the arena of the Carlson Center in Fairbanks was alive with seniors. On May 7, more than 400 seniors attended the Senior Recognition Day luncheon hosted by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Parks & Recreation Department and the Senior Citizen Advisory Commission. On May 8, hundreds of seniors took part in the Healthy Living Summit, strolling from one vendor to another, gathering information about topics like safe, affordable housing; transportation and walkability; social...
After I recently I moved my riding lawnmower from its winter home to its summer home, I found myself thinking about lawn mowing in general and then more specifically about my dad's attitude about lawn mowing. There was no lawn at our home during my growing up years in Glennallen. Dad did clear acreage and plant timothy grass and oats, which he used to feed a horse that was acquired after I left home. When Dad and Mom retired to Homer in 1988, their house came with a lawn. Dad was not a...
Editor's Note: National Centenarian's Day is Sept. 22. The day honors those who've celebrated 100 birthdays or more. We're publishing profiles of people who have hit this milestone. The Alaska Commission on Aging is working with the Governor's Office, Pioneer Homes and Long Term Care Ombudsman to celebrate Alaska's centenarians. If you know someone who is 100 or older and would like us to profile them, contact editor@seniorvoicealaska.comeditor@seniorvoicealaska.com. Eileen Johnson, who just...
If you're a die-hard fan of old western movies, especially those featuring John Wayne, but have never made the pilgrimage to Monument Valley, it's definitely a trip to consider. Five of Wayne's movies contain scenes from the iconic location, including "Stagecoach" in 1939, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" 10 years later and, what many would argue was his best western, "The Searchers" in 1956. Dotted with towering sandstone buttes (steep-sided formations with broad, flat tops rising up to 1,000 feet),...
Mac Metcalfe was back in Juneau in the spring of 1969, after serving a tour in Vietnam. He was one of the fortunate ones, having served as a teletype operator in relative safety just south of Saigon. Despite experiencing shelling and a night attack by sappers, he returned unharmed to Juneau. He picked up a job at the Juneau Cold Storage, a fish processing plant, where he and his cousins Jeff Prather and Patrick Gullufsen and a group of friends spent the summer months as the "inside crew." They w...
Q. Can I screen incoming phone calls on my iPhone? A. The simple answer is yes. But nothing is simple in tech, because it depends on which model iPhone and operating system version is on your device. I’m going to first explain how to set this up on the newest models, and then I’m going to explain how anyone can search for info about their specific device. Call screening only requires one setting....
The Internet is a wonderful thing, with a lot of useful applications, but it does have a few downsides. One of them is that when information becomes outdated, it usually remains there on the Web, waiting to potentially mislead people. I was reminded of this recently, during a conversation with a young man who was doing some household repairs for me. He mentioned that he and his wife were thinking of selling their small home and buying a bigger place for their growing family. If they did that,...
The SS Northwestern was launched on November 28, 1889, by the Delaware River Iron, Shipbuilding and Engine Works of Chester, Pennsylvania, under the name of the SS Orizaba and was an iron-hulled combined passenger/freighter ship that was powered by a coal-fired steam-driven engine and a four-bladed screw propeller. The first owner of the Orizaba was the Ward Line (also known as the New York and Cuba Steamship Company), and she sailed for nine years carrying passengers between New York, Mexico,...
The Union Jack flapped briskly in the damp Southeast Alaska wind on June 2, 1840, rising for the first time over the log palisades of Fort Dionysius. With ceremony, the British flag replaced the Russian tricolor and men of the Hudson's Bay Company, clad in wool and bearing the formal letter of authority from Saint Petersburg, stepped forward. In one flourish, Wrangell entered a new chapter. Its Russian name, St. Dionysius, was replaced with Fort Wrangell, in honor of Baron Ferdinand von...
Golf tournament organized by Anchorage Senior Activities Center The Anchorage Senior Activity Center is holding “Summer Blast,” a golf tournament and barbecue June 17. The event is June 17 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Russian Jack Springs Park. A team of four participating in the golf tournament costs $100. For more information or to RSVP, call 907-770-2000. Russian Jack Springs Park is at 801 Pine Street, but the chalet is at 1600 Lidia Selkregg Lane. Nome senior center is organizing outings in June The XYZ Senior Center in Nome is org...
June 1 Nationwide National Cancer Survivors Day. June 1-30 Nationwide Gun Violence Awareness Month. June 1-30 Nationwide Men's Health Month. Anchorage has a Men's Run on June 13, which proceeds going toward prostate and testicular cancer research and awareness. There is also a virtual option. June 14 National Flag Day June 19 Nationwide Juneteenth. Commemorates the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom. It is celebrated as a day of freedom, resilience,...
The Anchorage Museum’s exhibit “Cold War to the Cosmos” was a big hit with family who visited the state this spring. It closes Sept. 7. Part of the exhibit features an interview with Dan O’Neill, author of “The Firecracker Boys,” which tells the nonfiction story of Project Chariot, a 1958 U.S. government plan to detonate nuclear bombs in Point Hope, Alaska, to create a harbor, which was stopped by local Inupiat people and environmental activists. He is giving a lecture at 6:30 p.m. June 17. Register here....
