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COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JUNE 20, 2018
9A
Senior
News
Line
By Matilda Charles
New Pill Bottle Labels
Don’t be surprised if your next
prescription bottle looks dif-
ferent, especially if you pick up
your drugs at CVS. The newest
thing is to put lots of informa-
tion on the label, in big letters
on a big label. CVS is calling it
ScriptPath.
If you take multiple drugs and
haven’t been given instructions
about what can go with what,
ask. Don’t count on the fancy
new label to let you know. Tell
the pharmacist all the drugs
you’re taking and when, and
ask when your new drug should
be fit into the schedule. Don’t
just take them all at once in the
morning. There’s one drug, for
example, that can’t be taken
within an hour of food. Anoth-
er one works better late at night.
You need accurate information.
Check the side of the bottle
where the label says morning,
midday, evening and bedtime,
and see which one is marked.
Ask, especially, if your doctor
or pharmacist has told you one
thing and the pill bottle indi-
cates something else.
One change you’ll likely see is
the size of the bottle itself. Even
if you’re only getting a month’s
supply of small pills, the label
needs to go around the bottle.
Your best bet, especially if you
have a new prescription, is to
not leave the counter until you
have a chance to read the label
and ask questions.
Having said all this, I do not
like the new label. Perhaps the
pharmacy needs a new printer
cartridge, or maybe the printer
doesn’t work well with that type
of paper label. I only know that
it nearly requires a magnify-
ing glass to read the faint and
broken up letters. I’m tempted
to make my own label.
New Studies Target
Fruits, Eggs, Finances
Here is selection of studies
about seniors from around the
globe:
Norway: It seems that what
we’ve been told about how
many servings of fruits and
vegetables to eat each day
to stay healthy might not be
accurate. All these years we’ve
been told five. The correct num-
ber is eight. Finding: For every
200 gram (.84 cup) increase
in fruits or vegetables we eat,
we decrease our risk of stroke
and premature death by 10.8
percent. Finding: Eating canned
fruit, however, increases the
risk.
Australia: For years we’ve been
told to be wary of the choles-
terol in eggs. A new study now
claims that eggs aren’t linked to
heart disease, even eating up to
a dozen eggs per week, if you
have pre-diabetes and Type 2
diabetes. Finding: The caveat
is that you must switch from
butter to monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated fats like olive
oil. Finding: The study was
financed by an Australian egg
website, but it’s claimed they
didn’t have anything to do with
the study itself.
United States: Seniors who have
had serious financial shocks
experience increased mortal-
ity from all causes. A study
followed 8,700 seniors (some
wealthy and some not) for 20
years after being assessed in
1994. “Negative wealth shock”
was considered as losing
more than 75 percent of net
worth over a two-year period.
Finding: Participants were 50
percent more likely to die if
they suffered negative wealth
shock during a two-year peri-
od. Finding: Those who only
experienced low income during
their lives were at an even great-
er risk of death.
Before you make changes to
your diet based on studies,
ask your doctor. After all, fruit
contains sugar and eggs have
cholesterol. While you’re there,
if you’ve had a serious financial
setback, let your doctor know.
Here’s How to Stay Cool
This Summer
Summer isn’t officially here, but
there is at least one location in
the country where the tempera-
ture today reached 100 degrees
F. Much of the Sunbelt already
is seeing highs in the 90s. All
of those numbers are going to
rise in the coming weeks. It’s
the time of year for seniors to
beware the heat. Here are some
tips:
* If you have window air con-
ditioners that someone installs
for you each year, schedule it
earlier rather than later. Once
the interior walls in your house
get warm, it’s hard to bring
those temperatures down.
* Consider sun-blocking drapes
for windows on the south and
west side of the house. Keep
them closed during the heat of
the day.
* Join afternoon activities at the
library and senior center. That
way you’ll be in air condition-
ing when the heat is at its worst.
If you can get to the mall, go
there. Sit in the food court and
read a book, or walk some laps
for exercise.
* Plan your errands for early or
late in the day.
* Call your doctor’s office and
ask about your water intake.
Be sure to tell them all of your
medications; some drugs can
make it too easy to become
dehydrated, especially if you
take diuretics. Remember that
sugary drinks don’t count as
liquid intake.
* Keep an eye on your neigh-
bors if they’re out in the yard.
If you go out, use a wide-brim
woven hat. Check the weather
and keep an eye on the heat
index. Wear loose cotton
clothing.
Remember: We seniors don’t
always know when we’re getting
overheated. Heat exhaustion or
heatstroke can creep up on us
because our circulatory system
doesn’t work like it used to.
Know the symptoms of heat ex-
haustion: weakness, headaches,
dizziness and muscle cramps.
The more serious heatstroke
can follow only 10-15 minutes
later.
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How to save for retirement aft er 50
Whether it’s advice from their parents, a
response to television ads urging viewers to
save for retirement, or their own fi nancial
savvy, many of today’s young profession-
als recognize the importance of saving for
retirement from the moment they receive
their fi rst paychecks. But men and women
over 50 may not have been so practical, and
many such professionals may feel a need to
save more as their retirements draw ever
closer.
Saving for retirement might seem like a
no-brainer, but the National Institute on Re-
tirement Security notes that, in 2017, almost
40 million households in the United States
had no retirement savings at all. In addition,
the Employee Benefi t Research Institute
found that Ameri-
cans have a retire-
ment savings defi -
cit of $4.3 trillion,
meaning they have
$4.3 trillion less in
retirement savings
than they should.
Men and women
over 50 who have
retirement savings
defi cits may need to
go beyond depos-
iting more money
in their retirement
accounts in order
to live comfortably
and pay their bills in
retirement. Th e following are a few simple
ways to start saving more for retirement.
• Redirect nonessential expenses into
savings. Some retirement accounts, such as
IRAs, are governed by deposit limits. But
others, such as 401(k) retirement plans, have
no such limits. Men and women can exam-
ine their spending habits in an eff ort to fi nd
areas where they can cut back on nonessen-
tial expenses, such as cable television sub-
scriptions and dining out. Any money saved
each month can then be redirected into sav-
ings and/or retirement accounts.
• Reconsider your retirement date. Decid-
ing to work past the age of 65 is another way
men and women over 50 can save more for
retirement. Many professionals now contin-
ue working past the age of 65 for a variety
of reasons. Some may suspect they’ll grow
bored in retirement, while others may keep
working out of fi nancial need. Others may
simply love their jobs and want to keep go-
ing until their passion runs out. Regardless
of the reason, working past the age of 65 al-
lows men and women to keep earning and
saving for retirement, while also delaying
the fi rst withdrawal from their retirement
savings accounts.
• Reconsider your current and future
living situation. Housing costs are many
people’s most considerable expense, and
that won’t necessarily change in retirement.
Even men and women who have paid off
their mortgages may benefi t by moving to
a region with lower taxes or staying in the
same area but downsizing to a smaller home
where their taxes and utility bills will be
lower. Adults who decide to move to more
aff ordable areas or into smaller, less expen-
sive homes can then redirect the money they
are saving into interest-bearing retirement
or savings accounts.
Many people begin saving for retirement
the moment they cash their fi rst profession-
al paycheck. But even adults over the age of
50 sometimes feel a need to save more as
their retirement dates draw closer, and there
are many ways to do just that.
Tips to improve memory
Diet can be the key to improving
Forgetfulness can aff ect any-
one. For example, few, if any,
adults can say they have not ex-
perienced moments when they
could not fi nd their keys. And
once the keys are found, people
move on without giving much
thought to why they did not im-
mediately remember where they
left their keys.
Isolated incidents where peo-
ple cannot recall where they
placed their car keys or other
minor bouts with forgetfulness
do not occur by accident. In fact,
the Harvard Medical School
notes that they are likely by-
products of age-related changes
in thinking skills. When people
reach their 50s, chemical and
structural changes in the brain
may begin to occur, and these
changes can aff ect a person’s
ability to process memories.
Father Time may be a formi-
dable foe, but people can take
steps to give their memories a
boost as they get older.
• Embrace recognition in-
stead of trusting recall. Dr. Joel
Salinas, a neurologist who spe-
cializes in behavioral neurology
and neuropsychiatry at Massa-
chusetts General Hospital, notes
that human beings are better
at recognition than recall. Th at
means people are more likely to
remember something they read,
such as a note or a list, than
something they’re simply told.
70%
Sel off
Ite ect
ms
!
• Recognize the value of rep-
etition. Th e Harvard Medical
School notes that people might
be more inclined to remember
what they hear if they repeat it
out loud. Names and addresses
might be more easily remem-
bered aft er they’re repeated out
loud because repetition increas-
es the likelihood that the brain
will record the information and
be capable of retrieving it lat-
er. When studying for exams,
many students repeat important
points to themselves time and
again, and that same approach
can be applied by adults who are
trying to improve their memo-
ries.
• Eat a healthy diet. A study
published in 2015 in the journal
Neurology found that people
who eat healthy diets with lots
of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and
fi sh and little alcohol and red
meat may be less likely to expe-
rience declines in their memory
and thinking skills. Authored
by Andrew Smyth of McMaster
University in Ontario and the
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National University of Ireland
in Galway, the study following
more than 27,000 people in
40 countries for an average of
roughly fi ve years. All partici-
pants were 55 and older and had
diabetes or a history of heart
disease, stroke or peripheral ar-
tery disease. Th ose who ate the
healthiest diets were 24 percent
less likely to experience cogni-
tive decline than people with the
least healthy diets.
• Break things down. Breaking
things down into small chunks
also can help improve memo-
ry. If tasked with remembering
something extensive, such as a
speech, focus on a single sen-
tence at a time, only moving on
to the next sentence when you’re
confi dent you have successfully
committed the preceding sen-
tence to memory.
Periodic memory lapses are
oft en nothing to worry about.
But men and women concerned
about maintaining their memo-
ries can employ various strate-
gies to do just that.
Our beautiful community is designed
for those who need assistance or have
memory impairments. You can be
assured that you or your loved one
will receive the best in care along with
compassionate personal attention from
our well trained staff.
Call or stop by for more
information and a personal tour!
We are available
7 days a week!
1500 Village Dr., Cottage Grove, OR 97424
T
541-767-0080 www.MiddlefieldOaks.com
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