Exercise, Computer Use, and Cognitive Impairment
A research study published in the May 2012 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings finds an association between computer activities, physical exercise and reduced mild cognitive impairment.
Listen to lead author and neuropsychiatrist, Yonas E. Geda, M.D., discuss the study.
The article Computer Activities, Physical Exercise, Aging, and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Population-Based Study (PDF) reports on an ongoing population study that randomly sampled 926 individuals in Olmsted, Minnesota between the ages of 70 and 93 (abstract). The article is freely available at the Mayo clinic Proceedings site.
Participants were judged to be free from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) by a medical examination and expert consensus panel. This CBS Interactive HealthPop blog post describes more about the research. Individuals who participated in this part of the larger study of normal aging competed questionnaires about the frequency and intensity of exercise and frequency of computer activities. Individuals were also asked about caloric intake.
According to the article, the data indicate an association between increased frequency of computer use and lower mild cognitive impairment. A similar association was observed between increased frequency of exercise and lower mild cognitive impairment. Individuals who indicated both moderate computer use and moderate exercise appeared to have an additive interaction, lowering their odds of mild cognitive impairment even further.
In the article the authors point out that: Read more »
Does High Tech Mean a Better Outcome?
Download a PDF.
Many of our aging parents live with heart issues, and making treatment decisions is not easy. Weighing all the evidence is especially difficult when we must decide between a high-tech, surgical procedures (heart bypass surgery or cardiac catheterization) or medications combined with lifestyle changes, and it’s even more confusing when both of these treatment options have similar outcomes. Somehow, no matter whose health we are considering, state-of-the-art seems to reach out to us.
Check out Costly Heart Procedures Thrive in Some Places, Despite Cheaper Alternatives over at the NPR Shots blog. The post describes a Michigan research study that examines why some physicians continue to perform expensive heart procedures even though better and less expensive options, with similar outcomes, are available.
The data suggest an association between the increased number of cardiac catheterization labs and increased use of intervention procedures.
Take a few minutes to look over the interesting graphs and charts at the study site. Or download a PDF of the research findings.
You can also learn more about how one hospital changed its practices by listening to this May, 3, 2012 audio clip from the American Public Media radio program, Marketplace.
Goodbye, Jessie: A Remembrance
My friend Jessie died about a month ago. Though I had not chatted with her for over three years, I counted her as a much-loved friend and colleague.
I met Jessie in August 1984 when she dropped into my second grade classroom to introduce herself. I was new at the school, and she was a warm, welcoming, and experienced colleague, always helping in any way she could. Countless times she came through the door to chat, offering support and listening to me describe a problem or challenge. Actually Jessie was a magnificent listener, never ever jumping in too quickly with advice. And nearly 20 years later at another school, she played the same role with my daughter who was then a new teacher.
Jessie knew how to live and to age well. Despairing events happened or health issues intervened, but she coped with fortitude and then moved on with grace. When her husband died, she mourned, as did we all because he was amazing, too. Yet despite losing a soul mate, my friend got on by living her life fully with family and friends.
Even as she aged, she did not want to retire from teaching, so Jessie found a school, led by an extraordinarily wise administrator, where she could teach part-time and where she continued to work into her 80s, mentoring other young teachers, just as she had mentored me. Jessie knew exactly how she wanted to structure her retirement. Read more »
Understand More About Age-Related Memory Loss
Learn more about the book.
Just about everyone — aging parents and adult children — worry about memory loss, though many of us turn our angst into jokes about senior moments. This book looks interesting. While I don’t always learn cutting edge new information by reading these Harvard health publications, I often find the chock full of information that keeps me well-informed about how I can affect my personal health.
Here are two paragraphs from the book’s description at the Harvard health site.
There’s no getting around the fact that the ability to remember can slip with age. Many of these changes are normal, and not a sign of dementia. Improving Memory: Understanding Age-related Memory Loss helps you understand the difference between normal, age-related changes in memory and changes caused by dementia.
The report also offers tips on how to keep your brain healthy, and how to help improve your memory if you’re living with age-related memory loss. One of the key components of this memory-saving program is to keep the rest of your body healthy. Many medical conditions—from heart disease to depression—can affect your memory. Staying physically and mentally active turns out to be among the best prescriptions for maintaining a healthy brain and a resilient memory.
You might also be interested two other posts
Green House Homes News from Maryland
Check out some of the specifics of the new Green House elder community in Baltimore.
A Kaiser Health News article, Maryland’s First Green House Project Nursing Home Aids Low-Income Seniors, described a new community on the site of the old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.
Associated Catholic Charities will run the Green House Residences at Stadium Place.
Am I mistaken or is does the headline contain an oxymoron? Is it possible to have a Green House Project Nursing Home? I think not, given that Dr. Bill Thomas calls himself a nursing home abolitionist. The two concepts most definitely should not appear in the same place!
You can check out other Green House Homes locations using this handy map.
To learn more about the actual construction of Green House® Homes, please follow my series about Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community and the construction at Woodland Park.
To learn more please read these posts about Woodland Park Green House Homes, a new community at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community.
- Woodland Park Green House Walls are Rising - April 28, 2012
- Green House Homes at Woodland Park (VMRC) Construction Update, April 8, 2012
- VMRC Construction Update: On Foundations Firmly Laid - April 3, 2012
- All About the VMRC Woodland Park Groundbreaking - January 5, 2012
- Green Houses for Older Elders
- Replacing a Nursing Community with Green House® Homes
- Nuts and Bolts of Green House Planning
- Building a Green House Home – The Inside
- To learn even more about Green House® Homes go to the web site and request the DVD and/or guide-book.
- To locate a community that features the Green House Project model, check out this handy map.
Get Rid of Old Meds
Visit the event website.
If you have old and unused medications stashed around your house — or if your elder parents have them — make a note of the 2012 Take-Back Initiative. It’s sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and coming right up on April 28th (that’s this Saturday). Participants can safely get rid of pills and bottles that are sitting around in medicine chests and kitchen cabinets.
Use this handy site locator to find a location near your home. Note that each site will be open from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Download a poster about the event.
Interesting Statistics and Facts
About Other Take Back Events
Detached Retina: My Aging Eye, Part III
At the hospital, just as I sat down in the wheelchair, we snapped this picture. Otherwise I looked down, down, down for nearly 30 hours,
Note: I received a good question asking why my head is up. I had jus gotten dressed, and the picture was snapped before I looked back down.
My first week of recovery, following vitrectomy surgery to repair a detached retina in my left eye, is over. I’ve been thinking a lot about how someone much older than I am, one of my parents, for instance, would deal with the recovery instructions, but more on this in a later post.
After the first 24 hours when I had stared down at the floor for most of the time, I spent four days lying on my right side for 45 – 50 minutes of every hour, dividing time between the bed and the couch. Actually I spent an extra half day on my right side, just to be sure. At bedtime I was able to sleep in my bed, also staying on my right. In this extended process, pillows of all shapes and sizes are good friends
In each location my husband rigged up the laptop so that I could watch movies — I reviewed the last 30 years of Masterpiece Theatre’s “Upstairs Downstairs.” Overall the week went smoothly although I experienced some very sore muscles.
Despite the sore muscles, I know that I am fortunate as retinal surgery recovery goes. Many people need to lie on massage tables or chairs for long periods of time, even at night. and for more days than I required. Read more »
Green House Construction Update at VMRC – April 8, 2012
Easter Sunday at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Construction Site
April 8, 2012
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My posts on the Woodland Park Construction and other Green House® Homes information include: Read more »
Becoming A Grown-up Child
One day in April 2007 my husband and I were the adult kids in our families — we are the only adult children
— and the next day we became what we laughingly call “real grown-ups,” helping first one, then two, and increasingly all three of our parents. It’s time to give back, and we do so willingly and happily. However the process is not easy, and it is not free from anxiety and tension. Check out the As Our Parents Age About page to learn more about the mission of this blog.
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Copyright and Attribution Info
As Our Parents Age by Marti Weston is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on work at AsOurParentsAge.wordpress.com and AsOurParentsAge.net
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by emailing As Our Parents Age. To learn more about this blog go to the AsYourParentsAge About page.
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