The Boomers are Coming - So Be Prepared
The first wave of the Baby Boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, will turn 65 in 2011. The first wave of 3.4 million gradually increases to 4.0 million per year. The initial impacts range from replacing bifocals with progressive lenses to the pharmacy staff greeting you on a first name basis.
Other changes coming our way can be seen without progressive lenses. Our social insurance programs are heading for trouble and we Boomers need to face that reality. The first social insurance program to run into trouble isn’t Social Security; it is Medicare.
Let’s take a look at the various funding sources. Part A which provides limited hospitalization coverage is paid through payroll tax deductions. Part A expenses exceeded payroll tax collections is 2005 and will continue until the problem is addressed.
The other major Medicare programs, Part B for doctor’s visits and outpatient services, and Part D prescription drugs, are on a pay-as-you-go system. Retirees pay 25% through premiums and the Federal government pays 75%. Looking out of the top of my lenses I can see a problem. It looks like 78 million aging Baby Boomers.
One of the changes buried in the legislation that gave us Medicare’s prescription drug program was a tiered pricing for Part B. The good news is that it only hits the wealthy. Who are the wealthy? Right now they are single retiree’s earning in excess of $80,000 per year or a married couple earning $160,000. There is some bad news. This social insurance program is now based on ability to pay and the Federal government’s definition of “wealthy” which has a tendency to change based on revenue needs.
Social Security is heading for a similar problem but it doesn’t hit us until 2017 when payroll tax collections are exceeded by Social Security payments. The Social Security and Medicare Trust was described by the Office of Management and Budgets as “claims on the Treasury that, when redeemed, will have to be financed by raising taxes, borrowing from the public, reducing benefits, or other expenditures.” Read more
New drug curbs age-related macular degeneration for Baby Boomers
From the CBC
An experimental drug shows promise for people at high risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration, a condition that causes vision loss in older people, researchers say.
Japanese and Harvard researchers found that endostatin significantly reduced or completely halted the abnormal growth of blood vessels within the eyes in tests on mice.
Advanced age-related macular degeneration is an age-related, degenerative disease of the macula, a small area at the centre of the retina. The overgrowth of blood vessels into the retina can lead to central vision loss, preventing sufferers from seeing fine details. It can also lead to blindness.
Researchers separated mice into two groups — one group of normal mice naturally produced endostatin, a protein in collagen, while the other group had endostatin removed in lab experiments.
Using lasers, researchers induced new blood vessel growth in the edge of the retinas of all the mice, simulating age-related macular degeneration. The mice that had had the endostatin removed were three times as likely to develop the degenerative eye disease.
Researchers then gave endostatin to both groups of mice. In the group that had lacked the substance, the number of abnormal blood vessels was reduced to normal levels, according to the researchers. In the group that had naturally occurring endostatin, abnormal blood vessel growth could no longer be found.
“With Baby Boomers reaching advanced ages, new treatments are desperately needed to keep age-related macular degeneration from becoming a national epidemic,” said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology journal, in a release.
“This research provides hope for those at risk for blindness, and it gives everyone another glimpse of how investments in molecular biology will ultimately pay off in terms of new treatments and cures.”
More than one-third of Canadians between the ages of 55 and 74 develop age-related macular degeneration and nearly 40% of Canadians over the age of 75 develop the condition, according to Age-Related Macular Degeneration Canada.
The study is published in the December 2007 issue of the journal of the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology.
Anti-aging - The Amazing New Drive To Stay Alive Campaign
Anti-aging programs cover many topics but what you’re about to read is news to me. Drive to Stay Alive campaigns are usually focussed on the young. This one targets the Young at 60. There are three good reasons why you should Drive to Stay Alive .1. Driving Helps You Stay Young at Heart By Maintaining Independent Mobility. You should be ready to defend yourself against members of family who advise you to give up driving because it’s supposedly not safe for you any more.
The truth in this matter is often times, even in my own family, the reason for this advice is that the younger ones want your car. One of the saddest days of my life was when my younger brother talked my 70 year old Mum into giving up driving because he had a work mate who needed a car.
Mum paid a heavy price. She could no longer drive herself to Church, or shopping, or to visit friends. She lost her independent mobility. My sincere hope is you will not lose yours. Hang on to your independent mobility and keep driving as long as you can. This is one of the most effective ways to maintain your own anti-aging program.
2. Driving Helps Your Anti-aging Program By Enabling You To Help Others. In our city we have a Meals on Wheels service. Some of the volunteer deliverers are 85 plus and they are meeting the needs of men and women many years younger than them.
There is a common view they stay younger because they keep a sense of being able to help others. Helping others by delivering their meals is an important task and the benefit volunteers get from their unpaid work shows in the shine on their faces. They shine because they are hanging on to their real feeling of still belonging to their community. Read more
Aging Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Be A Cop-Out
This winter has been a real adventure in living. I discovered on one of my regular visits to my physician that I had another tear in my Achilles tendon.
I suffered from the malady while I was in Singapore 13 years ago. The Chinese physician attending me prescribed new athletic shoes and a wrap to help with the recovery. Walking was prohibited to avoid ripping the tendon and I acceded to doctor’s orders.
Now I am once again afflicted. I procrastinated believing my symptoms may be recurring plantar fasciitis. Finally, the pain and burn were enough for me to see that exercise was exacerbating the condition and the Achilles issue seemed to be the likely diagnosis. (Yes, I have a propensity for self-diagnosis propensity thanks to a family medical background.)
A specialist confirmed the Achilles tear and prescribed one of those heavy plastic boots that requires inflation. Unfortunately, the boot caused more consternation than healing, since the injury is located on my right leg, right where accelerator for my car is located. Then because of my “under-tallness,” the boot began to whack my knee.
Another canvas device was prescribed and a lengthier recovery anticipated. Driving became more convenient, and I could work as long as I stay off my foot as much as possible. Exercise is reduced, so biking and walking are prohibited. Side effects of a changed gait induced me to seek acupuncture to relieve pain and encourage successful healing. Read more
