What Everyone 50+ Should Know About Their Thyroid

What Everyone 50+ Should Know About Their Thyroid...

Disorders of this small gland are common, especially in older women Catherine Horvath, 51, was feeling no symptoms five years ago when her doctor ordered a routine blood test to check, among other things, how her thyroid was doing. (Your thyroid is the butterfly-shaped gland low in your neck that influences metabolism, growth and development and body temperature.) The results showed astoundingly low levels of thyroid hormone — a sign her thyroid function was, as she puts it, “pretty close to being nonexistent.” If untreated, she was at risk not only for bothersome symptoms but for other serious diseases as well. The fix was simple: One pill a day to replace the thyroid hormone she wasn’t making. Within a year, Horvath’s levels were back to normal. “It doesn’t really affect my life,” says Horvath, who lives in Santa Cruz, Calif. “I manage it by taking a pill every day.” A Common Disease Horvath is one of the estimated 24 to 28 million Americans who likely have some form of thyroid disease, many of whom develop the disorder later in life. Yet according to American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, nearly half of those with thyroid disease don’t know they have it or are misdiagnosed. That’s because thyroid disease — particularly among older adults, when the disorders can become more common — often masquerades as other ailments. Hypothyroidism, an underperforming thyroid and the most common of thyroid diseases, may be overlooked by older people who dismiss its symptoms of fatigue, constipation, dizziness or weight gain as simply the price of getting older. An overactive thyroid, or hyperthyroidism, can look like heart rhythm problems, muscle weakness, anxiety or age-related osteoporosis. Thyroid lumps are much more common among older people, yet often can’t...
Retirement Health Costs: Planning for the Wild Card

Retirement Health Costs: Planning for the Wild Card...

What you might owe and 8 ways to prepare Be honest, now: When you do your retirement planning, do you factor in potential health care costs and long-term care costs? Odds are, you don’t, figuring there’s no way to know what they might be — not to mention the subject is depressing and the numbers could be scary. But ignoring what Ken Dychtwald, CEO of the aging consultancy Age Wave agewave.com, calls “the retirement wild card” could be the biggest retirement planning mistake you’ll ever make. And you actually can plan for health and long-term care costs; I’ll give you eight ways shortly. Age Wave and Merrill Lynch today released a fascinating, if disconcerting report (Health and Retirement: Planning for the Great Unknown) based on a comprehensive survey of 3,303 adults. They call health care expenses “the missing link in retirement planning.” The Survey Says… Five of the survey’s striking findings: Health care expenses are the top financial concern for retirement among Americans age 50+, regardless of their wealth level Only 15 percent of pre-retirees have tried estimating how much money they might need for health care and long-term care in retirement Just 7 percent of those 55 to 64 feel very knowledgeable about Medicare options; a mere 19 percent of Medicare recipients do 71 percent of couples age 50+ haven’t discussed how much they need to save to pay for health care during retirement Health problems were the No. 1 reason people retired earlier than expected Nationwide Insurance has also polled boomers about retirement health care costs. “The one word that comes up is ‘terrified,’” says Kevin McGarry, director of the Nationwide Financial Retirement Institute. The danger of not penciling out health- and long-term care costs, and taking...
7 Ways to Avoid Stress-Related Weight Gain

7 Ways to Avoid Stress-Related Weight Gain...

How to chill out and keep the pounds off Stressful home situations or working at a job that makes you crazy can lead to weight gain over time, according to a new study from Ohio State University. The study involved 58 women, average age 53, who were questioned about their prior day’s stressful events before being given a high-fat meal of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat (equivalent to a quarter pounder with cheese and bacon plus fries). Afterward, researchers measured the women’s metabolic rates (the time it took for them to burn calories and fat). Blood sugar, insulin, and the stress hormone cortisol were among the parameters measured. The participants who reported one or more stressful situations during the previous 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than the non-stressed women in the seven hours after eating the high-fat meal. This difference adds up to a potential weight gain of an alarming 11 pounds a year. “Keep in mind, however, we don’t know if differences in activity level might have contributed to the results of this study,” says Dr. Brian Quebbemann, founder of the N.E.W. Program in Newport Beach, Calif., who was not part of the study. “Regardless, stress has been long known to result in a tendency to gain weight. Stress works by increasing the fight-or-flight hormone, cortisol, which makes you hungrier and also stimulates the deposit of fat around your midsection.” The solutions: Stress reduction through activity helps you feel more relaxed and keeps your metabolism from tanking. Plan stress-relieving activities. Stress reduction can be achieved by doing an activity that helps you feel more relaxed or by avoiding stressful situations, says Quebbemann. “Make a list of things you enjoy (a walk, bubble bath, reading) that...
When Should You Push For a Geriatric Assessment?

When Should You Push For a Geriatric Assessment?...

Taking a team approach can net the best results for your parents Navigating the maze of eldercare options can be challenging. A geriatric assessment can help you figure out the level of care your loved one needs. “The phrase geriatric assessment is a bit confusing,” says Norbert “Bert” Rahl , director of mental health services at the Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging. Sometimes an assessment looks at just one issue that’s causing problems for a loved one. For instance: If you are concerned about your mother’s physical status, the medications she is taking or how she is (or isn’t) managing a chronic condition, a physical assessment may be in order. If your father has mobility issues and you’re worried about how well he is (or isn’t ) getting around on his own, he may need a functional assessment. If you are worried about the psychological and emotional well-being of your loved one, a mental health assessment could be helpful. If your aging relative is displaying issues with memory, decision making and financial management skills, a cognitive assessment should be scheduled. Or, to get the whole-person “picture” of what’s going on, Rahl suggests a comprehensive assessment, which looks at all those things and how they are interacting and overlapping in your older loved one’s life. A comprehensive assessment could be coordinated by your loved one’s primary care physician. However, since these assessments require the skills and expertise of a team of specialists, they are best coordinated by a geriatrician: a physician who has trained and specialized in the care and treatment of older adults. Ask for a referral from the primary care physician or click here to find a geriatrician in your area. Who’s On Your Team? The composition of...
Training Youth Back into Your Body

Training Youth Back into Your Body...

Taking care of your fascia can bring back ‘bounce’ and ease chronic pain Say the word “fascia” a few years ago and many people would have given you a blank stare, as apt to think you were referring to a houseplant as to your body’s critical connective tissue. Fascia refers to the extensive web of connective tissue underneath the skin. Historically ignored and assumed to play a passive role in daily movement and functioning, it’s now having a renaissance. Some researchers, progressive physical therapists and fitness professionals are beginning to think of fascia as a bigger player in the human movement system — and in overall health and well-being. Clinical studies are racing to catch up with what these progressive thinkers have learned. Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence supports the idea that knowing more about your fascia and how to take care of it — especially in middle age when it begins to lose elasticity — may help alleviate chronic pain, prevent injury and “keep the body young by keeping elasticity in your tissue,” says Thomas Myers, an anatomy expert and author of Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists. Says Myers: “We can train ourselves to be younger.” Here’s what you need to know about your fascia and how to care for it: What is fascia? Myers refers to fascia as “biological fabric.” If you cut away the top layer of skin, you would see fascia as a white sheath encasing your muscles. It looks a lot like the thin layer of tissue you find on chicken breasts in the supermarket. Fascia is comprised of collagen fibers and other proteins, says Dr. Partap Khalsa, deputy director of the Division of Extramural Research at NCCAM. “It’s composed of roughly...
Why Letting Go Is the Path to Happiness

Why Letting Go Is the Path to Happiness...

‘The Ecstasy of Surrender’ author says it’s an anti-aging secret, too Bestselling author and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA Dr. Judith Orloff is a model for balancing fierce left-brain intellect and right-brain compassion. She calls herself an “empathic psychiatrist,” and it’s her ability to connect with her patients on an emotional level while supporting them and offering wise life strategies that puts her in a rarefied league. As a follow-up to her 2009 book, the wildly popular Emotional Freedom, Orloff has penned The Ecstacy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life . She gave readers a taste of it in a TED talk. , which garnered more than half a million views on YouTube. In the new book, Orloff shows why surrender is a more effective approach to life than trying to control or force things. She offers examples and exercises to help us make that simple, yet super-challenging, leap when it comes to power, money, communication, relationships and mortality. I had the pleasure of chatting with her about these subjects and others and was especially eager to hear whether she felt surrender was more important to boomers than other age groups. Highlights from our conversation: Next Avenue: You’ve said you write about what you want to learn about. How did you pick the subject of surrender? Orloff: Well, because I’m a control freak and I tend to fight with life sometimes, and worry, and get attached to patterns and relationships that aren’t good for me and I can’t rid of them … my deepest desire was to learn surrender on a deep, deep level so I could shed what wasn’t working for me and learn how to trust and flow instead of...
The Unexpected Benefits of Volunteering in Nature

The Unexpected Benefits of Volunteering in Nature...

When ‘citizen scientists’ help gather data, they don’t get paid, but the rewards are priceless There’s something innately restorative to the human spirit about watching the flow of water in a stream, and this is especially true in spring. The frozen landscapes and frigid temperatures of the winter months can cast a stillness across one’s interior terrain as well, so to watch the current of a river in May is surely to come alive again. That sense of renewal is even greater, though, when it extends from one’s own spirit to the larger environment. Which is just what happens when I go to watch for the herring in the annual spring monitoring program. Herring spend most of their life at sea, returning to the freshwater rivers and streams they were born in once a year to spawn. In recent times, however, their numbers have declined dramatically, possibly because of overfishing, diminished water quality and/or habitat loss. Or maybe something else entirely. Fishermen, researchers and environmentalists would all like to understand what’s causing this. To this end, volunteers help scientists monitor the herring’s arrival into the tributaries of the Hudson River and collect baseline data about these changing migration patterns. And while we citizen scientists know we’re helping out, what we get in return is worth far more than the time we give. The Call of the Wild This is not difficult work. It requires only that one stand at a bridge or the edge of a waterway for 15 minutes twice a week in April and May, look for signs of the herring, then write down what is seen — whether herring are there or not. This is about absence or presence. And if those minutes spent watching the...
Grief in The Workplace

Grief in The Workplace

When employees view death differently As an employee, what happens when we experience a personal loss, yet life necessitates us to go to work everyday even when we are still in shock, need to take care of personal affairs and are not emotionally stable? And to complicate the situation even further, what happens when your co-workers and management team view death differently than you do? As grievers and employers unite on the subject of grief entering the workplace, an ultimate tug-of-war occurs: addressing the grievers needs while the employer ultimately struggles to create a fair environment for all employees and maintain business as usual for clients. As employees we are drawn together in the workplace by our career choice, talents and work ethic. For the most part, our family allegiances, ethnic and religious beliefs are generally left in the parking lot or at the front door. Nevertheless, when a family death occurs, these beliefs permeate the workplace as the employee begins the healing process and the co-workers try to provide comfort. An entirely different scenario arises when the death is that of an employee – the reaction of co-workers, management team and Human Resources personnel are confronted emotionally in an environment that is all too often ill-prepared. The notion of creating compassionate workplaces that support loss of life goes well beyond companies’ bereavement leave policies, which typically include providing personal time off and supporting an employee returning to work after a loss. A compassionate workplace must also take into account 1) an employee’s unique way of grieving; 2) his/her religious/cultural affiliation; and 3) the nature of the relationship with the deceased. Recently a company asked me to provide support to employees who experienced a sudden loss of a co-worker. Apparently,...