Research: Exercise Can Ease Feelings of Hopelessness

Home exercise has been found to ease feelings of hopelessness in older people – average age of 66 – with coronary heart disease, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2014.

In a study of 324 patients, average age 66, with coronary heart disease,  those who walked or biked at home at least three days a week had a 12 percent reduction in hopelessness scores — even when considering other relevant circumstances such as age, participation in hospital-based exercise and depression. Although it may sound small, this reduction was statistically significant and so was not due to chance, researchers said.

Feeling hopeless can be dangerous because it can discourage people from taking healthful steps such as exercising or quitting smoking, said Susan L. Dunn, Ph.D., R.N., lead author of the study and a professor of nursing at Hope College in Holland, Michigan.

People with hopelessness may also suffer from depression, which is marked by a loss of interest in activities they normally enjoy.

“For the first time, we show the beneficial effect of exercise in helping patients feel more hopeful. With home exercise, patients are likely thinking more positively about the future and feeling more capable of making positive changes for a healthy lifestyle,” Dunn said.

 For more information about the study, visit http://newsroom.heart.org/news/home-exercise-can-ease-hopelessness-in-coronary-heart-disease-patients.

Second Set of Eyes Might Help Protect Seniors

The latest reports are that Medicare fraud is one of the most common crimes against older adults. But there is good news on that front.

A massive fake Medicare scheme that stole millions of dollars from the bank accounts of senior citizens has been stopped by a federal court at the request of the Federal Trade Commission. The telemarketing crooks pretended to be part of Medicare to gain the confidence of the seniors.

The FTC announced recently it seeks to permanently end the operation and return victims’ money. According to a complaint filed by the FTC, the defendants called consumers – including many whose numbers were listed on the National Do Not Call Registry – and said they were providing a new Medicare card or information about Medicare benefits.

 

The defendants allegedly misrepresented that they were working on behalf of Medicare, and said they needed to verify consumers’ identities using personal information that included their bank account numbers. The defendants allegedly assured consumers that the information would not be used to debit their bank accounts, and that there was no charge for the new Medicare card or information about Medicare benefits. However, within a few weeks, consumers learned their bank accounts had been debited either $399 or $448 via remotely created checks (RCCs), the complaint alleges. Despite these charges, consumers did not receive any kind of product or service from the defendants. In some instances, the defendants debited the accounts of consumers they had not even contacted.

To learn more about how you can protect older adults from fraud, go to ProtectSeniorsFromFraud.com. To learn more about Medicare fraud, visit http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2014/10/ftc-halts-fake-medicare-scheme-took-money-seniors-bank-accounts.

Piquing Curiosity Could Stimulate Aging Memories

According to the latest research, piquing your aging loved one's interest in an activity could, indeed, help him/her. 

The more interested we are in a topic, the easier it is to learn about that topic, according to recent research published in the journal Neuron. For most of us, it is surprising that it took a research study to make the discovery. But, then again, it could be a new direction for efforts to improve memory in the healthy elderly and to develop new approaches for treating patients with disorders that affect memory.

For example, the brain circuits that rely on dopamine, a chemical released by nerve cells to send signals to other nerve cells, tend to decline in function as people get older, or sooner in people with neurological conditions. Understanding the relationship between motivation and memory could help find ways to keep the brain signals flowing. 

Maybe seniors do not learn as much about new technologies, or other new innovations, just because their interests have not been sufficiently aroused. Perhaps they forget things just because they have lost interest in them. Maybe enhanced curiosity can help bring the senior brain to life.

Why not tell your aging loved one about all the interesting things he/she could read and do if he/she learned a bit about the computer? Is there a grandchild or other family member he/she could communicate with using a computer or tablet?

For more about this study, visit http://blogs.ucdavis.edu/egghead/2014/10/02/curiosity-helps-learning-and-memory