Life Done Right™

Falling in old age usually means bad things happen shortly after. Research shows that breaking a hip portends the end for some. How can you prevent that inevitable end from coming before its time? Hint: think Beach Boys! Good vibrations, man! Check out the “Power Plate” that exercises your joints to give you a better [...]

Feeling chipper today? Well, a new study by Yang Yang, a sociologist, suggests that senior citizens are pretty darn happy as they grow older. Here’s the happiness factor: “the odds of being happy increased 5 percent with every 10 years of age.” So hang, man, the bend in the road ahead is the garden of [...]

Psssst! Wanna live longer? Here’s the magic formula: abstain “from smoking, weight management, blood pressure control, regular exercise and avoiding diabetes.” That’s it. So stop going to Dunkin Donuts, quit having that “social” cigarette, avoid screaming at every driver who cuts you off, play tennis instead of golf, and step on the scale to [...]

The presidency is one of the most demanding jobs on the planet in terms of physical and mental stress. Just check out before and after photos of presidents and you’ll discover the job has its downside. Today’s NY Times’ has an article that suggests growing older impairs decision making skills.
So here’s the pop quiz [...]

If you thought that “stimulus” program from the Bush Administration had something to do with restoring the economic power of the United States, then you may as well pack your bags and flee to Mexico, because “the seniors left out will be those of low income who rely solely or mostly on Social Security benefits, [...]

An editorial in the Savannah (Georgia) Morning News calls for a reform in the state driving laws. They advocate that “state lawmakers should require changes in education, licensing and highway engineering to help ensure traffic safety.” Forget the age discrimination issue. If you have trouble seeing at night, have slower response times, or think [...]

You gotta love it…Japan is discovering that housing aging inmates requires “a major revamp of its jails to provide elevators, handrails and wheelchair ramps for incarcerated seniors.” Hell, if it costs $8,000 per month or more to park someone in a nursing home, maybe we could all save some money by giving away all our [...]

If you work past the age of 65, then your employer is allowed to cut back on the health benefits package that comes with your job. Why? Because you qualify for Medicare, so why should they eat the overhead. That seems fair, as long as you qualify for Medicare.
U.S. Ruling Backs Benefit Cut at 65 [...]

A new study suggests that despite your reluctance to live a healthy life, making a few changes to your diet and exercising can vastly improve the odds that you won’t be fodder for the worms or flames a tad too soon. So now there’s no excuse for not putting down the remote and shoveling that [...]

Telemarketers make a living by convincing a person at the other end of the phone to cough up some bucks, sometimes lots of bucks, for usually absurd reasons. A good portion of the time the solicitation is two words away from a felony. This editorial makes it clear that a phone that rings throughout the [...]

The notion of zapping the brain with a couple jolts of electricity in order to shock it out of depression seems about as informed as applying leeches to the body in an effort to rid the blood of unwanted impurities. When all else fails, though, and the days are growing darker by the minute, I [...]

It’s bad enough that nursing homes stink like rotting flesh and a fair portion of the residents are simply waiting for the invisible hand of darkness to snatch them from their misery, but now comes word that while you were feeling good about dumping off your loved one there, relieved that it was no longer [...]

Ever heard of asanas for the elderly, including Pranayama, Meditation, Tadasana, Trikonasana, Ardha Chakrasana, Vajrasana, Sarpasana, Vipareeta Karani and Savasana? I sure haven’t, but if you’re into yoga, that means someone has figured out a series of posture positions that make old age a little easier through proper exercise.

It’s hard to tell if this is a home-made commercial for the Got Milk campaign or the real deal. A couple of older guys, who like to drink milk, prove they’re fit and ready to take on the world by head-butting a couple of thugs who throw a kid out of a diner booth so [...]

OK ladies, we’re on to you. Those trips you’ve been taking to places like Kenya, a country that is “just full of big young boys who like us older girls,” we know they’re just about uninhibited sex. One question, though: that word “big” refers to what exactly? Just remember, though, that AIDS in Africa has [...]

Religion has a way of inserting itself into every personal aspect of your life that you just might begin to wonder whether there’s any room left in your head to call your own. Forget a room with a view, how about a head without dogma to get you through the day! A recent religious conference [...]

Science begins with a hypothesis and then proceeds to test it according to rigorous standards. How you frame the question usually determines the outcome of the results. Some researchers asked the question: Are the elderly a burden to society? Nice question, huh. I’ll bet that makes you feel like a million bucks.
Their answer: the [...]

Pay attention, caregivers! Someone has finally produced a study about the cost of providing caregiving to family members. The upshot: “These caregivers, spending on average 10 percent of their household income, manage the financial burden by taking out loans, skipping vacations, dipping into savings or ignoring their own health care.” The average out-of-pocket amount is [...]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report says: “The document says recent research has heightened concern that the poor and the elderly will suffer most from climate change; that hunger and disease will be more common; that droughts, floods and heat waves will afflict the world’s poorest regions; and that more animal and plant species [...]

With New York real estate prices so insane, the thought of a developer investing in a continuing care community makes about as much sense as growing grapes in the Arctic. You can try, but it’s the wrong environment. Sure you could build a green house up there, but it would cost you a small fortune [...]