Last year, on or about December 22nd, I was diagnosed with shingles, also called herpes zoster, within 48 hours of noticing a red, itchy rash and small fluid-filled blisters on my inner thigh. I did not experience a lot of pain but my doctor prescribed acyclovir and triamcinolone acetonide cream for the blisters. If that wasn’t bad enough, the doctor told me I could not attend Christmas services at my church because I may be seated near someone who was pregnant or was on a cancer drug. Nor could I be around my grandchildren for about 10 days as the two youngest had not yet received their chicken pox vaccinations. I was devastated and basically quarantined which caused me to have one of the worst Christmases ever.
I took down the Christmas tree and the most of the decorations which I had joyfully put up before the shingles. It made me even more depressed to look at them. One of my neighbors graciously invited me to join her at her daughter’s house for Christmas, but I just wasn’t up to it. It would be over two weeks before I celebrated Christmas at my home with my family. They were fearful of contracting or passing on the zoster virus.
During the Christmas holiday season last year I was afflicted with shingles and suffered depression due to the quarantine my doctor ordered. It was the worst Christmas ever! I was not able to attend church services on Christmas Eve nor see my family until January. I was feeling hurt and alone. I recovered but the depression due to the isolation was unbearable at the time.
Read further for helpful information if you, or someone you know, is suffering from holiday blues during this season and remember, “This too shall pass.”
homehelpers
Holiday Depression
by Michael Kerr
March 21, 2016
“Holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but for some people they are anything but.
Depression may occur at any time of the year, but the stress and anxiety during the months of November and December may cause even those who are usually content to experience loneliness and a lack of fulfillment.
Why is depression so common during the holidays?
There are several reasons why you may develop depression during the holidays:
Social Isolation
Social isolation is one of the biggest predictors of depression, especially during the holidays.
Some people may have a small social circle or a lack opportunities for socialization. People who have feelings of disconnectedness often avoid social interactions at holiday time. Unfortunately, withdrawing often makes the feelings of loneliness and symptoms of depression worse.
These individuals may see other people spending time with friends and family, and ask themselves, ‘Why can’t that be me?’ or ‘Why is everyone else so much happier than I am?’
One of the best ways to deal with social isolation is to reach out to friends or family for support. You can also try talking to a therapist. They can help you figure out where your feelings come from and develop solutions to overcome them.
psychdigest.com
Grieving During the Holidays
Some people may be keenly aware of the loss of a loved one during the holiday season. Here are several ways to stave off the holiday blues that may descend at this time:
Begin a new tradition – Try planning a family outing or vacation, instead of spending the holidays at home.”
Dramatic decline in dementia seen among older adults in the US
by Sharon Begley
November 21, 2016
“The percent of older US adults with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, declined from 11.6 percent in 2000 to 8.8 percent in 2012, a decrease of nearly a quarter, scientists reported on Monday.
Why it matters:
It had been thought that the baby boomers’ march toward old age would triple the number of Alzheimer’s patients by 2050. These new numbers not only portend a lesser burden on the health care system (and families) but also suggest that something has changed over the generations — and identifying that change could drive down dementia rates even further.
You’ll want to know:
That’s a significant decline: If the rate of dementia in 2012 had been what it was in 2000, ‘there would be well more than 1 million additional people with dementia,’ said John Haaga, director of the National Institute on Aging’s behavioral and social research, who was not involved in the study. As it is, an estimated 5 million Americans 65 and older are afflicted with Alzheimer’s or other dementia.
The nitty gritty:
Researchers led by Dr. Kenneth Langa of the University of Michigan analyzed data on more than 10,500 Health and Retirement Study participants aged 65 or older in 2000 and 2012.
The percent of seniors with dementia fell to 8.8 percent in 2012; accounting for the greater proportion of those who were 85 years or older, the decline was even greater: to 8.6 percent, the team reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.
That is the theme of the National Family Caregivers Month for November, 2016. The following post is from caregiveraction.org:
“The first rule of taking care of others: take care of yourself first. Caregiving can be a rewarding experience, but it is also physically and emotionally demanding. The stress of dealing with caregiving responsibilities leads to a higher risk of health issues among the Nation’s 90 million family caregivers. So as a family caregiver, remember to pay attention to your own physical and mental wellness, and get proper rest and nutrition. Only by taking care of yourself can you be strong enough to take care of your loved one. You really do need to ‘take care to give care!’
Caregiving can be a stressful job. Most family caregivers say they feel stressed providing care for a loved one. With all of their caregiving responsibilities – from managing medications to arranging doctor appointments to planning meals – caregivers too often put themselves last.
The stress of caregiving impacts your own health. One out of five caregivers admit they have sacrificed their own physical health while caring for a loved one. Due to stress, family caregivers have a disproportionate number of health and emotional problems. They are twice as likely to suffer depression and are at increased risk for many other chronic conditions.
Proper nutrition helps promote good health. Ensuring that you are getting proper nutrition is key to help maintain your strength, energy and stamina, as well as strengthening your immune system. Maintaining a healthy diet is one of the most powerful things you can do to take care of yourself and keep a positive attitude overall.
Ensuring good nutrition for your loved one helps make care easier. As many as half of all older adults are at risk for malnutrition. Good nutrition can help maintain muscle health, support recovery, and reduce risk for re-hospitalization – which may help make your care of a loved one easier.
Remember: ‘Rest. Recharge. Respite.’ People think of respite as a luxury, but considering caregivers’ higher risk for health issues from chronic stress, those risks can be a lot costlier than some time away to recharge. The chance to take a breather, the opportunity to re-energize, is vital in order for you to be as good a caregiver tomorrow as you were today.”
How to fight for yourself at the hospital – and avoid readmission
by Judith Graham for Kaiser Health News
September 1, 2016
“Everything initially went well with Barbara Charnes’ surgery to fix a troublesome ankle. But after leaving the hospital, the 83-year-old soon found herself in a bad way.
Dazed by a bad response to anesthesia, the Denver resident stopped eating and drinking. Within days, she was dangerously weak, almost entirely immobile and alarmingly apathetic.
‘I didn’t see a way forward; I thought I was going to die, and I was OK with that,’ Charnes remembered, thinking back to that awful time in the spring of 2015.
Her distraught husband didn’t know what to do until a longtime friend — a neurologist — insisted that Charnes return to the hospital.
That’s the kind of situation medical centers are trying hard to prevent. When hospitals readmit aging patients more often than average, they can face stiff government penalties.
But too often institutions don’t take the reality of seniors’ lives adequately into account, making it imperative that patients figure out how to advocate for themselves.”
Navigating Aging focuses on medical issues and advice associated with aging and end-of-life care, helping America’s 45 million seniors and their families navigate the health care system.
Older adults have another option for the vaccine this year
by Emily Gurnon
October 19, 2016
“You probably know that the flu vaccine is a little different each year. Manufacturers alter it to make it as close a ‘match’ to the currently circulating viruses as possible. There are some other changes you should be aware of for the 2016 flu season, too. But the most important thing to know, experts say, is: Get the flu shot, even if you think you don’t need it.
‘The more people that get the vaccine, the better it is for everybody — and in the process, you protect yourself,’ said Dr. Jesse T. Jacob, associate professor of medicine at Emory University and hospital epidemiologist at Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta.
Potentially Deadly
The flu can be a very serious illness, especially for those 65 and over and for children. About 90 percent of flu-related deaths occur in those 65 and older, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Over three decades between 1976-1977 to 2006-2007, the flu and associated illnesses like pneumonia killed between a low of 3,000 and a high of 49,000 people per season, according to the CDC. Exact numbers are not known, because states are not required to report influenza deaths in adults.”
“Bottom line: Don’t risk letting yourself get sick, and don’t be the source of an illness for someone else. Get vaccinated.
To find out which shots are available in your area, go to Vaccine Finder and type in your location.”
Emily Gurnon is Senior Content Editor covering health and caregiving for Next Avenue. She previously spent 20 years as a newspaper reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area and St. Paul.
Some of my neighbors and I were discussing the difficulties of getting enough sleep as we age, so I decided to do a little research on common sleep disorders:
In an article titled Sleep Disorders in Older People (Age and Ageing 2002) author Joseph Harbison revealed these key points:
Sleep disorders are very common in older people, particularly those living in long-term care, and may be markers for other diseases.
Doctors are sometimes unaware of the propensity for commonly used drugs to cause sleep disturbance. Insomnia is often multifactorial in elderly people.
Benzodiazepines should be used to treat insomnia only when it is severe, disabling, or subjecting the individual to extreme distress. Try non-pharmacological method instead.
Circadian rhythm disorders, parasomnias, and sleep related movement disorders are all common amongst older people and are often easily treated.
Older people should be warned that they need longer to adjust to long haul flights.
NAVIGATING AGING