Sorted by date Results 1415 - 1439 of 2084
Laser zaps gum disease Dentistry is getting a little bit less invasive and less painful. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a minimally invasive laser, a tiny laser fiber about the thickness of three human hairs, to treat gum disease. The laser helps regenerate bone and tissue. It eliminates the traditional treatment of periodontal surgery, a highly invasive and often painful procedure. This less invasive technique means minimal post-operative discomfort requiring no opioid...
Joe Pichler is a lifelong Alaskan. His parents Norman Pichler and Barbara Henry were true pioneers in Alaska in many ways. Norman was involved in the Alaska Mountain Rescue group and avalanche control during the many years he was a ski patrolman at Alyeska. Barbara was a passionate advocate for improved health care, education and equal rights for people with physical and intellectual disabilities. Joe is retired from more than 30 years of employment at the Sheraton in Anchorage. He is the proud...
We used to have two cars until a few years ago when the 1992 Dodge Grand Caravan suddenly made loud clunking noises and stopped running – forever. On the one hand we were sad to see her go. My wife and I had lots of shared memories about taking the “red rocket” on camping trips around Alaska, and even a three-month car-camping excursion down the Alcan and around the western half of the United States. On the other hand, two cars for two people seemed a bit excessive. We could save thousands of dollars a year by sharing a single car. Lower...
Older Persons Action Group, Inc., earned honors for its monthly, statewide publication Senior Voice in the 26th annual National Mature Media Awards Program. The program, presented by the Mature Market Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for the senior market, recognizes the nation’s finest marketing, communications, educational materials and programs designed and produced for older adults. Senior Voice received three awards for feature stories: Long-time Senior Voice contributor Dianne Barske won a bronze award for her stories, ...
Are you feeling all smug and comfy about the level of your personal savings for retirement? OK, that was a rhetorical question. A report recently released by the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) found that 75 percent of adult Americans are concerned about their ability to achieve a secure retirement. In addition, 86 percent believe that the nation faces a retirement crisis. “It’s no wonder Americans believe the nation faces a retirement crisis – the evidence is irrefutable that the hope of retirement is out of reach for millions...
If you thought the bitter partisan fight over the “repeal and replace” of President Obama’s health care law was ugly, ratchet up the intensity – the next fight over Trump’s budget, including sweeping changes to Medicare, is about to start, just as Congress faces a fiscal crisis. These Medicare changes would raise the eligibility age and convert the program to a voucher program affecting all 55.5 million seniors currently using the program and millions more about to become Medicare eligible. President Donald Trump wants Congress’s next move t...
Editor's note: This article is part of a monthly series from the Diverse Elders Coalition, focusing on different segments of the senior population. My grandfather passed through the Golden Gate - where the Golden Gate Bridge would later be constructed - in October 1903. He arrived in the time between the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924. By 1924, the U.S. government had completely blocked the immigration of people it deemed undesirable, including Asians, Arabs,...
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. are hospitalized from flu. People age 65 years and older are at increased risk for serious flu-related complications and account for 60 percent of seasonal flu-related hospitalizations. A CDC study published last summer found that flu vaccination reduced the risk of flu-related hospitalization among people 65 to 74 years old by 61 percent. Vaccinated people age 75 and older were similarly protected, with a 57 percent reduction of flu-related hospitalization. Hospitalization and recovery...
Alaska Health Fair’s Fall 2017 health fair season is now in full swing, so check out September event dates by reviewing the Senior Voice monthly edition or the Alaska Health Fair website. Try to make it to one of the fall events in your local community; you’ll find a variety of resources to help meet your family’s health needs and some great community gatherings. We are in need of volunteers who can help us with our mission, vision and core purpose to serve all Alaskans. Non-medical, medical and individuals who can draw blood. We would also...
Welcome to autumn! This season is when Medicare Beneficiaries are going to receive valuable and pertinent information in the mail about their benefits and upcoming changes in preparation for the Part D Open Enrollment period. The Open Enrollment Period is an important opportunity that is provided to Medicare beneficiaries annually to evaluate their prescription drug coverage and to make changes if they desire. It occurs from October 15 to December 7 annually. Medicare and You Handbook. Each Medi...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in September. This month’s meetings will highlight tips for Alzheimer’s family caregivers, featuring a DVD presentation by Dr. Peter V. Robbins, in support of World Alzheimer’s Month. Sept. 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center,1 p.m. Sept. 20, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Senio...
E-cigarettes may help some smokers quit Vaping may be helping some people kick the habit. In the United States, the smoking cessation rate increased for the first time in 15 years. Researchers conducted a population-level analysis of national surveys conducted from 2001 to 2015. The study suggests e-cigarettes helped users of the electronic devices to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. The annual rate of people who quit smoking has hovered around 4.5 percent for years but in the 2014-15...
The Alaska Commission on Aging (ACoA) will hold its quarterly meeting Sept. 14 in Juneau, and will be accessible via video and teleconference at sites listed below, or statewide via toll-free telephone. The meeting takes place 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and public comment is scheduled from 11 to 11:15 a.m. For more information, contact the host agency in your area (from the list below) or call the commission office in Juneau at 465-3250. Videoconference sites Anchorage Senior and Disabilities Services, 550 West 8th Ave., Room 143. 269-3666 Fairbanks...
Every day, 10,000 people turn 65 and the eldest baby boomers will begin to turn 80 in 2026, so the demand for long term care services is about to explode in the near future. Already 1.4 million seniors live in nursing home facilities in the U.S. But states are only making lukewarm progress helping millions of seniors on Medicaid avoid costly nursing home care by arranging home or community services for them instead, a new AARP report finds. Overall, AARP says states have made “incremental improvements” since its 2014 Scorecard, but calls the...
This is an ongoing series from the Diverse Elders Coalition, looking at different segments of the senior population. Hispanics and Latinos make up the fastest-growing demographic of the U.S. population. In 2015, the Hispanic population reached 56.6 million, making Hispanics the nation’s largest ethnic/racial minority, constituting 17.6 percent of the US population. It is projected that by 2060, the Hispanic population will reach 119 million, or 28.6 percent of the U.S. population. In addition to rapid population growth, Hispanics and Latinos a...
Going out to eat at your favorite restaurant can be a very pleasant experience – unless you get food poisoning. Eating at home or eating out is an important distinction because Americans are twice as likely to get food poisoning from food served in restaurants compared to food prepared at home, according to a 2014 study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Here in Alaska we have easy access to a lot of health information about most restaurants, but first a little background. Food poisoning is common and often quite serious. The F...
What is a Health Insurance Marketplace plan? If I have a Marketplace plan and I become eligible for Medicare should I switch? What are the advantages of Medicare over the Marketplace? How do I disenroll from my Marketplace plan? What if I didn’t switch to Medicare when I could have? What is Time Limited Equitable Relief and do I qualify for it? These are a few of the questions many people turning 65 are asking and we will try to answer for you. What is the Health Insurance Marketplace? First o...
Dear Savvy Senior: I’m worried about my 72-year-old mother who has been taking the opioid medication Vicodin for her hip and back pain for more than a year. I fear she’s becoming addicted to the drug but I don’t know what to do. Concerned Daughter Dear Concerned: The opioid epidemic is a national problem that is hitting people of all ages, including millions of older Americans. Here’s what you should know and do to help your mother. The cause The main reason opioid addiction has become such a problem for people over age 50 is because over th...
Hospice of Anchorage has several upcoming events that we would like to share with the community. In August, we hope you’ll join us for “A Walk to Remember,” which is a memorial walk, and in September, we host Camp Erin, a bereavement camp for kids and teens ages 6 to 17 years old. These events are at no charge to the community. In recognition of people who have experienced pregnancy loss, including miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, fetal deaths, and neonatal deaths, as well as those who have lost a child, we gather for “A Walk to Remembe...
A painless microneedle patch for the flu Researchers have now come up with a dissolvable vaccine patch for combating influenza. It has been tested in a large number of volunteers and it fared well. A team of investigators has found that delivering the flu vaccine via a dissolvable microneedle patch appears to be safe and preferred over conventional injection in a new phase 1 trial involving 100 people. The study is the first randomized trial to test a self-administered, dissolvable microneedle...
The Kenai Peninsula Famiy Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in August. This month’s meetings will highlight National Immunization Month, reviewing what shots are needed and when to get them since they can prevent serious diseases like the flu and pneumonia. Aug. 1, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 8, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 15, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center,1 p.m. Aug. 16, Caregiver support meeting at Anchor Point Se...
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is presenting two “Alaskan Plants as Food as Medicine” events in September, one in Kotzebue and one in Kenai. The events promote traditional plant knowledge and ethical harvesting and last year featured a conference in August at Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. That event will not take place this year, with efforts instead focused on supporting rural Alaska communities by holding smaller, regional symposiums, according to the organization’s website, www.alaskanplants.com. So far, two of these event...
The Trust Training Cooperate will offer an online class, “Traditional Health-Based Practices,” this fall on three different days. Course material will focus on traditional lifestyles and health practices of people living in Alaska prior to Western contact. Trainees will be introduced to beliefs, attitudes and knowledge of health promotion and maintenance that were practiced, and will examine major changes leading to the current health status of the Alaska Native community. A special emphasis will be placed on potential strategies for imp...
Whether singing her own words or those of others, the sublime vocal talent of pop/folk singer Judy Collins has been drawing audiences for over 50 years. But it almost never happened. "I contracted polio as a child and later tuberculosis when I was in my early 20s," recalled Collins from her home in New York. "My school teachers told me I was suffering from growing pains but when I was around 11 and the pain became severe, I went to the doctor who said I had polio. Of course, there was an...
The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at University of Alaska Fairbanks (OLLI) is a program of UAF Summer Sessions and Lifelong Learning. OLLI provides learning opportunities for adults age 50 and older in the Fairbanks area. Led by its membership, OLLI offers stimulating courses, lectures and special interest groups. Members explore academic and general interest courses in an atmosphere that is intellectually stimulating, but without the stress of tests and grades. Members from all backgrounds are welcomed. They share the common bonds of intel...
