Plain Talk About Aging

Why does solving "Wheel of Fortune" puzzles get harder as you age?

You used to get them with no vowels, when you were in your 20s. In your 40s, you wanted the A and E. By age 50, you're willing to chip in to buy the I, O and U to solve the puzzle. What's going on with that?

Your brain uses electrical signals to encode and convey information. For a thought to process, the brain must produce a brief, but very large electrical signal called action potentials. The action potential is the vehicle in which thoughts, commands and movements are sent through the nervous system.

Action potentials are harder to produce in older brains, which slow the thought process. Researchers identified that sodium channels, the activation properties in membrane proteins, influence how rapidly an action potential is produced. Changes to these membranes slow the flow of sodium ions to neurons which, in turn, slows the thought process.

Think of the action potential as your car and the sodium channel as gas. The quicker you fill your tank, the quicker you are on your way. However, if there is a problem with the pump and it takes longer to fill the tank and longer for you to move along.

And if the fuel pump is really gunked up, you may not get a full tank of gas and can only get half-way there...or not at all.

This is what happens in a normal, healthy brain as it ages. It does not take into effect the damage from constricted blood vessels caused by smoking, obesity and the related diseases, such as stroke and diabetes.

Keep your sodium channel fuel pump clean from gunk with a healthy lifestyle so your action potentials speed through that brain. You'll need extras for the puzzle in the Final Spin.

 http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/02/02/changes-to-neurons-hamper-the-aging-brain/34377.html

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/02/02/changes-to-neurons-hamper-the-aging-brain/34377.html

Resolve to keep hackers out of your online accounts by using a secure password. If your password is one listed below, count is as one of the top 25 most common passwords used, according to the Internet Crime Center, found at www.ic3.gov.

1. password 2. 123456 3. 12345678 4. qwerty 5. abc123 6. monkey 7. 1234567 8. letmein 9. trustno1 10. dragon 11. baseball 12. 111111 13. iloveyou 14. master 15. sunshine 16. ashley 17. bailey 18. passw0rd 19. shadow 20. 123123 21. 654321 22. superman 23. qazwsx 24. michael 25. football

If your loved one suffers from Alzheimer's or dementia and wanders, it may be time to go shoe shopping.

You can now get shoes with GPS tracking to locate your lost patient in no time. The shoes can be synced with Google map to pinpoint where he is.

Manufacturers say that where the Alzheimer's patient may remove a tracking pendant or bracelet, he will keep on the shoes, making a quick recovery more likely.

Read more:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/10/27/gps-shoes-for-alzheimers-patients/

GPS shoe website:

http://www.gpsshoe.com/

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20111212/Alzheimere28099s-disease-vaccine-developed-by-Australian-scientists.aspx

One in four people, by the year 2030 will be over the age of 65, and if you want to see what that is like "go to Florida", said a speaker at a recent aging conference.

Florida is well known as being a retiree's paradise and is especially attractive as a wealthy senior's domicile due to no inheritance tax in that state. That, along with beautiful beaches and warm weather, make it attractive to elder's who want to enjoy life in their final years. Seniors are active and vital members of Florida society.

The question is, in this living laboratory of an aging society, how seniors are treated once they need assisted living or long term care in a nursing facility.

Based on the Miami Herald's continuing series "Neglected to Death", it is not good.

Florida's assisted living and long term care residents were being "neglected to death" before the state Long Term Care Ombudsman was sacked and replaced with one recommended by ALFs.

The Long Term Care Ombudsman program is funded through the Administration on Aging to ensure residents in long term care facilities have a good quality of life in their home. Yes, a long term care facility is a resident's home, where the residents should be the kings and queens of the castle.

However, it appears in Florida, that the needs of  residents are secondary as the strength of the Ombudsman program advocacy program continues to be silenced. First the Long-Term Care Ombudsman  was sacked for one more favorable to residential facility operators. Then a new form was dispersed, to further impede Ombudsman volunteers from reporting observed issues, like roaches. Now, outspoken volunteers are being fired for speaking out on the changes, according to the series.

Is this what we want for our seniors? Is this what the former homemakers, executives, teachers, veterans, laborers deserve in their final years. Is this what you want for your mother, father or grandparents? To be in a system that rewards neglect?

I still like to visit Florida. But I think I will stay in Tennessee to die.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/12/v-fullstory/2543675/inspections-decline-as-elder-watchdogs.html

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/12/12/v-fullstory/2543675/inspections-decline-as-elder-watchdogs.html