Sorted by date Results 1563 - 1587 of 2084
Alaska Health Fair, Inc., kicks off their fall series of health fairs around the state this month, featuring free health screenings and education, low cost blood tests and more. These tests can help you learn about your health and detect potential problems early, when treatment or changes in personal habits can be most effective. A complete and comprehensive chemistry/hematology test is available for only $45; with 27 different panels for conditions ranging from diabetes, kidney and liver function, to anemia and tissue health, thyroid,...
September Morn, please stay for a while longer, for when you are gone it will be time for an introduction to snowflakes and a lonesome, cold winter. But for readers lucky enough to have a working fireplace, it will be nice to cozy up to it again. Please remember to get registered to vote, and I can’t stress enough the importance of voting this year. The next president will be selecting one or maybe two Supreme Court justices. Social Security Disability benefits Social Security pays disability b...
If someone is enrolled in a health plan (this can be a Marketplace plan through the Affordable Care Act, a private health insurance plan or an employer plan), when they become eligible for Medicare at 65 the plan they were in can seamlessly enroll them into one of their Medicare Advantage plans, if they have one. (A Medicare Advantage plan is one policy that covers Medicare Hospital Coverage A, Outpatient Medical Coverage B and Prescription Coverage D and sometimes vision or dental). Some people have health plans that have approval to...
Walking away from dementia Grab your walking shoes. Studies are continuing to show that the more physical exercise you get, the greater your chances of preventing dementia. Using the landmark Framingham Heart Study to assess how physical activity affects the size of the brain and one’s risk for developing dementia, UCLA researchers have found an association between low physical activity and a higher risk for dementia in older adults. The new findings suggest that regular physical activity could...
Numerous Tricare fee change proposals in the FY 2017 Dept. of Defense budget are galloping our way. If you are like me, one of the elite group that in the 1960s received an invitation from the local draft board to join the Army, these new changes aren’t anything like the deal the military said our retirement benefits would be. We all realize we all have to do our part in tough budget times. I can’t speak for all retirees, but I wish the hit squad at the DOD would pack up and move to another dep...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in September. This month’s focus is “Substance Use, Misuse and Abuse Among Older Adults,” in support of National Recovery Month. Sept. 6, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 13, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 20, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Sept. 27, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Support meetings allow you to share your...
"There wouldn't have been a CROP Walk for many years, if Kristi Johnson hadn't volunteered to chair it," says Paul Boling, senior minister of First Christian Church. Paul and his brother, Dave, associate minister at the church, stepped up to chair the Walk this year and last year, when Kristi needed a break. She'd been chair or co-chair for 10 years. "It's such a good event for the whole community," Paul states. "It's a fundraising walk to alleviate hunger, here and around the world. I know how...
Did you know that your medication can damage skin? Most of you don’t even think about that as a side effect. Photosensitivity is a fairly common skin reaction that is sparked by taking medicines which interact with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or tanning beds. It happened to me once and luckily the red burning rash and tingling only affected my hands. It took only two hours of sun exposure on a shady trail while hiking in California. Still, it rendered me out of writing commission for a few days. The big problem is that p...
We’ve lived long enough to see science lose and gain favor with eggs, fats, red wine, some fruits and vegetables, and chocolate. Perhaps more confusing than studies around those food items are the studies surrounding coffee. Slate magazine noted in 2010 that there were more than 500 studies on coffee and human health. Well, this senior is not human until I have that first cup of coffee in the morning. Both as a coffee drinker and a health writer, I’ve been following the coffee conundrum for three decades. (And just for the record, an old...
Do not go back to what you loved in August, for you will see the near ending of the times you loved. August is the beginning of the end of the year, the times when the lush green leaves start turning to rust and yellow. But if you are a happy outdoorsman and can’t wait to see the first snowdrop, you will be coming into your own, waxing your skis, sharpening your skate blades. Taking your heavy wool sweaters out of mothballs and checking to see where you left your snow shovels. I am not one of t...
Injectable devices may allow for organ regeneration Injectable medical devices are now reaching a new level. Researchers at the University of Chicago are now reporting they have come up with a light-activated injectable device that could be used to stimulate nerve cells and manipulate the behavior of muscles and organs. The new material is soft and tiny and less than the width of a human hair. It degrades naturally inside the body after a few months. Each particle is built of two types of...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in August. This month’s focus is National Health Center Week, with presentations by Peninsula Community Health Services of Alaska. Aug. 2, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 9, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 16, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. Aug. 30, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Support meetings allow you to share your e...
One of the hottest actresses to emerge from the 1970s has been appearing around the country in recent years presenting her stage show, "More than a Bionic Woman: An Evening with Lindsay Wagner." In August, Lindsay will be in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. (See www.lindsaywagnerinternational.com for details.) "I'll be sharing anecdotes and stories from behind the scenes in my career, and showing clips and photos from my personal collection," said Wagner from her California home. "So it should be a...
Have you played any online games that promised to reduce cognitive decline? They may be fun to play but be aware that any health-related claims made by the companies may be unfounded. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently brought charges and settled with several companies that advertised false scientific claims that users would develop better cognitive health by playing their online games. Lumosity will pay $2 million in settling deceptive advertising charges (to be paid to customers who purchased the products) and Learning Rx will pay a...
It's a raw and rainy morning in June, rare among the many warm, sunny days served up for Anchorage this spring and early summer. It's not the kind of day anyone would delight in being outside – grey, damp and chilly. Downtown, people in raincoats, carrying seldom used umbrellas, scurry indoors. There is a place in downtown Anchorage whose doors are always open, 24/7, every day and every month of the year, no matter the weather. Covenant House Alaska has opened its doors for 27 years, working t...
Editor’s note: This press statement was received June 22, 2016. The Social Security Board of Trustees today released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) Trust Funds are projected to become depleted in 2034, the same as projected last year, with 79 percent of benefits payable at that time. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund will become depleted in 2023, extended from last year’s estimate of...
Orange juice holds a high position in the pantheon of American breakfast icons. Each year 620 million gallons of the orange ambrosial cure-all are consumed by Americans. However, is it truthfully fresh or are you getting jerked around? Ads tell us (wink, wink) it’s pure and natural so we obediently buy the orange au jus for the sentiment. Nevertheless, the majority of our American tradition is a year old and comes from, tell-me-it-ain’t-so, Brazil. The largest fabricators of “not from concentrate” or pasteurized orange juice keep juice in mill...
Mountain Pacific Quality Health will offer a free six-class educational series on diabetes self-management this month in Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula. The classes will meet twice a week over a three week period. The Anchorage classes will meet July 12-27, Tuesdays and Thursdays, at Cook Inlet Housing Authority’s Centennial Center, 9131 Centennial Circle. Classes will meet from 5 to 6:30 p.m. For information, contact Ann Lovejoy at alovejoy@mpqhf.org or 561-3202 ext. 105, or Cathy Colwell, 561-3202 ext. 103. The Kenai Peninsula c...
July and Independence Day is here. That may be good for some, but for others it is a sentence for loneliness. If you think that living into your near-nineties is always a blessing, I am here to tell you that for many it is not. Your contemporaries are no longer around – they’ve either just moved away or are deceased. You can no longer drive your car and have lost your independence and your eyesight is failing. You likely have no close relatives who live nearby and are willing and able to giv...
One of my peak experiences was attending a lecture by Dominic O’Brien, the World Memory Champion who demonstrated some of his amazing memory abilities. He believes that you should exercise the mind every day just like an athlete stretches his or her body regularly. To achieve the rank of World Memory Champion, you must be able to perform several superhuman feats. For example, you have to memorize 1,000 random digits in less than an hour, the exact order of 10 decks of shuffled playing cards, also in one hour, and one shuffled deck in less than...
Some veterans, as they age, find themselves to be in financial straits with little or no resources and in poor health. If this is your case, then I urge you to consider applying for a VA Pension and especially the Aid and Attendance and Housebound benefits. Eligible wartime periods Under current law, VA recognizes the following wartime periods to determine eligibility for VA Pension benefits: Mexican Border Period (May 9, 1916 – April 5, 1917 for veterans who served in Mexico, on its borders, o...
Fiber may pack some hidden health benefits Most people know that a diet high in fiber helps keep a person “regular.” Now, Australian researchers have uncovered a surprising benefit of this often-undervalued dietary component. They have found that eating the right amount of fiber from breads, cereals, and fruits can help us avoid disease and disability into old age. Using data compiled from the Blue Mountains Eye Study, which included more than 1,600 adults aged 50 years and older, the res...
The Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program will hold the following peer support meetings in July. This month’s focus is part two of last month’s “End of Life Care and Letting Go,” featuring a DVD presentation with Teepa Snow. July 5, Caregiver support meeting at Sterling Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 12, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 19, Caregiver support meeting at Kenai Senior Center, 1 p.m. July 26, Caregiver support meeting at Soldotna Senior Center, 1 p.m. Support meetings allow you to share your e...
Ordinary medical errors may be the third leading cause of death in the United States, reports a terrifying new study in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal). Patient safety researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine estimate 251,000 Americans die each year from common mistakes in hospitals and other health-care facilities. That’s about 700 people a day. Let’s set this number in context. The number one and number two annual killers are heart disease with 614,348, and cancer, with 591,699 deaths, according to the Natio...
Normally, in a presidential election year, Congress doesn’t get much done. This year is no exception. But with a few months before July’s political nominating conventions, a brief window of productivity exists and some lawmakers are pushing bipartisan proposals to help change Congress’ gridlock image. Let’s look at what’s on the agenda (with the exception of the seemingly never-ending attitudes and activities surrounding Obamacare) over the next couple of months before politics overwhelms all congressional activity. Congress left town for...
