Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-6-20

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22 I MATURE FOCUS I May 6, 2020 MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE @MIDRIVERSNEWS MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM Melissa Q. Leavy Owner/Attorney Zoom Meetings and Remote Signings AVAILABLE PRACTICE AREAS: • Trusts, Wills and Powers of Attorney • Long-term Care Planning • Medicaid, Veterans Administration, and other government benefits • Special Needs Planning • Probate and Trust Administration • Guardianships and Conservatorships A caring approach to legal planning, representation and advocacy for older and disabled persons. 150 St. Peters Centre Boulevard, Ste. C, St. Peters 636-333-9160 or 83-ELDERLAW info@yourelderlawyers.com • yourelderlawyers.com Mature FOCUS Our special section featuring issues, events, products and services of interest to our 50-plus readers. COMING AGAIN June 10 Now Open Clarendale offers the retirement lifestyle you’re looking for, close to everyone and everything that matters most to you. Come, explore our independent living, assisted living and memory care options—all under one roof in St. Peters. SCHEDULE A VIRTUAL VISIT ONLINE AT ClarendaleOfStPeters.com web ClarendaleOfStPeters.com | 10 DuBray Drive | St. Peters, MO 63376 4-20 News & Notes By LISA RUSSELL Immune-boosting strategies The constant drumbeat of media information about potentially dire consequences for people over 60 who get COVID-19 has no doubt left many older adults feeling somewhat helpless. One way for seniors to regain some sense of control in uncertain times is to work on maximizing their health – and that includes a healthy immune system. The following are a few research-backed strategies for building an immune response that’s as strong and virus-resistant as possible. Get enough key vitamins in your diet. Multiple studies have shown that the highest-quality sources of vitamins are foods rather than multivitamin pills. Some of the most important nutrients for priming the immune system are vitamin C, with sources like citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, bell peppers, spinach, kale and broccoli; vitamin B6, present in foods such as chicken and fish, green vegetables and chickpeas; and vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that helps the body fight off infection, with sources including nuts, seeds and spinach. Consider a vitamin D supplement. Studies are currently underway to research the relationship between vitamin D levels in the blood and the severity of COVID- 19 cases. Some preliminary information suggests that higher vitamin D may be protective – so now may be the time to begin taking a daily supplement if you’re not currently doing so. Get some physical activity every day. Research suggests that regular exercise may be directly related to immunity. According to a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, for example, those who exercised at least five days a week were at half the risk getting a cold as those who were more sedentary. There also may be a protective benefit from sweating: Research has shown that simply raising your body temperature may help it to fight off germs. Get enough sleep. Over the last 15 years, research has accumulated surprisingly strong evidence that sleep enhances one’s immune defenses, seeming to confirm the popular wisdom that ‘sleep promotes healing’. Limit drinking. Researchers have long observed links between excessive alcohol consumption and adverse immune-related health effects, including greater susceptibility to pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome [ARDS]. Getting plenty of vitamins from food is one way to maximize your body’s natural immunity. [Source: Adobe Stock] Fight back against stress. Prior studies have shown that people under stress are more likely to produce cytokines – molecules that trigger inflammation – making them more likely to get sick. In addition, people who are stressed may be less likely to pay attention to the other healthy habits mentioned above, which in turn impact immunity. Helping seniors embrace telehealth As the pandemic wears on, many people fearful of COVID-19 are avoiding visits to their doctors and getting other necessary healthcare for conditions other than the virus. Regular checkups and other routine medical services are largely on hold. As their waiting rooms have emptied, many doctors have moved quickly to begin providing telehealth services for their patients. Older people in particular, who are faced with an increased risk from the virus along with often more numerous health issues, are prime candidates to receive virtual healthcare. In an effort to help seniors get these services quickly, Medicare has also lifted restrictions on who can receive telehealth and the types of services they can receive via telehealth during the current public health emergency. However, these telephone and video substitutes for in-person office visits can pose special challenges for many older adults. Hearing loss, cognitive impairment, and unfamiliarity with the technologies and platforms commonly used for telehealth may prevent them from using it. Many seniors also may not hold a positive view of virtual healthcare. A national survey conducted in 2019 by the University of Michigan found that just 4% of people between 50 and 80 had used telehealth services in the past year. Among the small number who had, less than half compared the visit favorably to an in-person appointment. An analysis in JAMA, published by the American Medical Association, recently
FACEBOOK.COM/MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE MIDRIVERSNEWSMAGAZINE.COM discussed some common-sense steps that can be taken to help older patients overcome any obstacles and become more accepting of telehealth. In some cases, this may be as simple as ensuring that patients are wearing their hearing aids at the proper settings, or using other adaptive devices they may need. To help prepare seniors for telehealth visits, family members, friends or paid caregivers can be enlisted to familiarize them with video-call technology. Practice sessions can be conducted to make them more comfortable with the process. During the visits themselves, it may also be helpful to include caregivers, which can be done using apps like FaceTime, Skype or Zoom. Teeing it up for longer life Golf is not only one of the few remaining sports people are still permitted to play in the age of social distancing – it may also lower the risk of early death among older adults who play regularly, a recent University of Missouri study found. The MU researchers analyzed data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, which examined risk factors for heart disease and stroke in close to 6,000 seniors whose average age was 72. Among the study participants, 384 were identified as golfers who played a round at least once a month, a number divided fairly equally between men and women. Over a 10-year follow-up period, 8.1% of the golfers suffered strokes and 9.8% had heart attacks. However, far fewer of them died from any cause during followup than non-golfers: There was a 15% death rate among golfers compared to just under 25% of participants who did not play golf. “Our study is perhaps the first of its kind to evaluate the long-term health benefits of golf, one of the most popular sports among older people in many countries,” said lead study author Dr. Adnan Qureshi, a professor of neurology at MU. While the study can’t prove that playing golf boosts longevity, the sport is uniquely Playing golf regularly – at the proper social distance, of course – may contribute to a longer life. [Source: Adobe Stock] suited to benefit both the physical and mental well-being of senior players, Quereshi said, noting that the time spent outside in a social environment also promotes stress relief and relaxation. “While walking and low-intensity jogging may be comparable exercise, they lack the competitive intensity of golf,” he explained. “Another positive is that older adults can continue to play golf, unlike other more strenuous sports.” Autoimmunity and Parkinson’s As the U.S. observed Parkinson’s Awareness Month in April, a new study also released last month added to growing evidence that Parkinson’s disease is partly an autoimmune illness. The study found that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson’s patients a decade before they are officially diagnosed, making it a future possibility to detect the disease before its debilitating motor symptoms occur and intervene with therapies that could slow its progression. Scientists have long known that clumps of a damaged protein called alpha-synuclein build up in the brain cells of people with Parkinson’s disease. These clumps eventually lead to cell death, causing more severe disease symptoms. The new study sheds light on how immune cells called T cells, which have been found to react with the clumps of alpha-synuclein, may play a role in Parkinson’s progression. The researchers looked at blood samples from a large group of Parkinson’s patients and compared their T cells to a healthy, age-matched control group. They found that the T cells that react to alphasynuclein are most abundant when patients are first diagnosed with the disease, then slowly disappear. Few patients still have them 10 years after diagnosis. They also did an in-depth case study of one specific Parkinson’s patient, who happened to have blood samples preserved going a decade before his diagnosis, which also showed a strong T cell response to alpha-synuclein followed by a slow decline. “This tells us that detection of T cell responses could help in the diagnosis of people at risk or in early stages of disease development, when many of the symptoms have not been detected yet,” said Alessandro Sette. Ph.D., of Ja Jolla Institute for Immunology, a study leader. “Importantly, we could dream of a scenario where early interference with T cell responses could prevent the disease from manifesting itself or progressing.” Nearly a million Americans are currently living with Parkinson’s disease, with 60,000 people added to that number every year. The disease is most often diagnosed in people over age 50. May 6, 2020 MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE I MATURE FOCUS I 23 A Juckette Family Tradition Rehabilitation • Dietary • Technology • Nursing Services Transportation • Payment Options • Salon 636.441.2750 • jmsseniorliving.com/st-peters-manor
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Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 5-6-20

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