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Visit Medicare.gov today to find health care providers and services that are the best fit for you!

Sincerely,

The Medicare Team

Do You have an artistic flare? Are you skilled in a craft?

The Seniors Craft Shoppe in downtown Ventura is just the place you need to associate with other artists and crafts persons and put your pieces on display for sale in a retail store. We are seeking new members. If you are a Ventura County resident aged 50 years or older, and interested, please call or visit our Shoppe at 429 E. Main St. Our phone number is (805) 643-3059. Our current hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5:00 PM

Asking questions is key to good communication with your doctor. If you don’t ask questions, he or she may assume you already know the answer or that you don’t want more information. Don’t wait for the doctor to raise a specific question or subject; he or she may not know it’s important to you. Be proactive. Ask questions when you don’t know the meaning of a word (like aneurysm, hypertension, or infarct) or when instructions aren’t clear (for example, does taking medicine with food mean before, during, or after a meal?).

Sometimes, doctors need to do blood tests, x-rays, or other procedures to find out what is wrong or to learn more about your medical condition. Some tests, such as Pap tests, mammograms, glaucoma tests, and screenings for prostate and colorectal cancer, are done regularly to check for hidden medical problems.

Before having a medical test, ask your doctor to explain why it is important, what it will show, and what it will cost. Ask what kind of things you need to do to prepare for the test. For example, you may need to have an empty stomach, or you may have to provide a urine sample. Ask how you will be notified of the test results and how long they will take to come in.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor Before a Medical Test

Why is the test being done?

What steps does the test involve? How should I get ready?

Are there any dangers or side effects?

How will I find out the results? How long will it take to get the results?

What will we know after the test?

When the results are ready, make sure the doctor tells you what they are and explains what they mean. You may want to ask your doctor for a written copy of the test results. If the test is done by a specialist, ask to have the results sent to your primary doctor.

There is a lot of information online about medical tests. The National Library of Medicine’s MedlinePlus website provides links to many trustworthy resources. You can get information on preparing for lab tests, explanations of different tests, and tips on interpreting lab test results.

Discuss Your Diagnosis and What to Expect

A diagnosis identifies your disease or physical problem. The doctor makes a diagnosis based on the symptoms you are experiencing and the results of the physical exam, laboratory work, and other tests.

If you understand your medical condition, you can help make better decisions about treatment. If you know what to expect, it may be easier for you to deal with the condition.

Ask the doctor to tell you the name of the condition and why he or she thinks you have it. Ask how it may affect you and how long it might last. Some medical problems never go away completely. They can’t be cured, but they can be treated or managed.

Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Your Diagnosis

What may have caused this condition? Will it be permanent?

How is this condition treated or managed? What will be the long-term effects on my life?

How can I learn more about my condition?

Understand Your Medications

Even when you know what healthy foods to choose, being able to pay for them can be hard, especially if you are on a fixed income. Start by deciding how much you can afford to spend on food.

There are websites that can help you plan a food budget. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture supports Iowa State University’s Spend Smart-Eat Smart. This website also has inexpensive recipes based on the Dietary Guidelines.

Once you have a budget, find store ads in the newspaper or grocery store websites to see what is on sale. Try to plan some meals around featured items and pick up some extra canned goods or staples that are on sale. And check the expiration or use-by date. A product might be on sale because it is almost out of date. Choose items with dates farthest in the future.

While shopping, make use of these budget-wise 10 tips.

Diet and exercise: Choices today for a healthier tomorrow infographic icon. Click through for full text.

Read and share this infographic to learn more about lifestyle changes you can make today for healthier aging.

Ask about discounts. Ask your local grocery stores if they have a senior discount or a loyalty or discount card. Besides getting items at a lower price, you may also get store coupons.

Use coupons when you can. Remember, coupons only help if they are for things you would buy anyway. Sometimes, another brand costs less even after you use the coupon.

Consider store brands—they usually cost less. These products are made under a special label, sometimes with the store name. You might have to look on shelves that are higher or lower than eye level to find them.

Be aware that convenience costs more. You can often save money if you are willing to do a little work. For example, buy whole chickens and cut them into parts, shred or grate your own cheese, and avoid instant rice or instant oatmeal. Bagged salad mixes cost more and might not stay fresh as long as a head of lettuce.

Look at unit prices. Those small stickers on the shelves tell you the price but also the unit price—how much the item costs per ounce or per pound. Compare unit prices to see which brand is the best value.

Image of Make Smart Food Choices for Healthy Aging infographic.

Read and share this infographic to learn about making smart food choices for healthy aging.

Try to buy in bulk, but only buy a size you can use before it goes bad. If you buy meat in bulk, decide what you need to use that day and freeze the rest in portion-sized packages right away.

Focus on economical fruits and vegetables like bananas, apples, oranges, cabbage, sweet potatoes, dark-green leafy vegetables, green peppers, and regular carrots.

Think about the foods you throw away. For less waste, buy or cook only what you need.

Resist temptations at the check-out. Those snack foods and candy are put there for impulse buying. Save money and avoid empty calories!

Sign up for meal delivery. While some older people have trouble finding enough money to buy food, others need help preparing meals. There are a variety of groups around the country that deliver meals to people who have trouble getting out of their homes. These groups usually offer one hot meal a day. One of the largest is Meals on Wheels America.

National Resources for Locating Help with Food Costs

There are several ways to learn more about programs that offer help with meals or food costs. Use one of these services:

Aging BiologyCognitive HealthMental & Emotional HealthNeuroscience

Previous research has led to findings that support links between a positive mental outlook and physical health benefits such as lower blood pressure, less heart disease, and healthier blood sugar levels. In a recent study of mood changes in older adults, scientists also have discovered that healthy brain function may result in maintaining a positive outlook.

A happy older couple at a park, sitting close together on the ground, and the woman has her arm around the man. For this study, which was funded in part by NIA and published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry in September 2020, scientists proposed a potential neurobiological connection between an older adult’s mood with changes, over a period of time, in white brain matter and cognitive ability. White matter is where information is transmitted from one brain region to another. As we age, changes can occur in the white matter that may lead to thinking, walking, and balance problems.

The scientists first examined measures of executive function, the ability to perform complex tasks such as planning or decision-making that require attentional focus, and then imaged the white matter of the brain. They found that the integrity of the white matter and stable executive function appear to be important for maintaining healthy mood states in late life.

Research participants included 716 community-dwelling adults who were assessed to have normal cognitive and neurological function. Mood was measured using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). The neuropsychological assessment included tests of executive function, memory, and processing speed (the time it takes to comprehend information and respond). A subset of 327 participants also underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) within six months of completing the GDS and neuropsychological assessments.

The investigators found that mood improved with increasing age until around the early 70s, at which point the positive effect of age on mood plateaued, and eventually reversed. Stable white matter integrity, along with stable executive function and processing speed, appeared to protect against this reversal of positive mood.

Because the study was observational, these findings cannot be interpreted to show causation. Further research is needed to determine whether the brain-mood relationships are bidirectional. Another caveat is that the participants were mostly white and highly educated. Observed relationships between mood, age, white matter integrity, and cognition need to be evaluated in racially and educationally diverse groups. The researchers also suggest that future studies of the links between brain health, cognition, and mood should be large-scale, longitudinal, and use methods to allow capture of the full range of neurodevelopment. Results of such studies could inform interventions across a variety of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric conditions.

This research was supported in part by NIH grant R01AG032289.

Reference: Cotter DL, et al.; the Hillblom Aging Network. Aging and positive mood: longitudinal neurological and cognitive correlates. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2020;28(9):946-0956. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2020.05.002.

by Kristina McLinden, Program Director, Division of Neuroscience (DN).

Mounting evidence shows that identifying Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) at the earliest stages is crucial, both to give people diagnosed with AD/ADRD more time to prepare for the future, and to help researchers better identify and characterize clinical trial participants. It’s a tough task, but NIA-supported scientists are making progress toward the goal of highly portable, quick, versatile, and comprehensive measures of neurological and behavioral function.

One recent success grew out of the EXERT trial, a 12-month exercise intervention for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). EXERT has been a proving ground for the development and validation of a new cognitive composite measure, the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale Cognitive Subscale Executive Function (ADAS-Cog-Exec). The ADAS-Cog-Exec improves on earlier tests with more sensitivity to changes over time in MCI, by adding measures of executive function — fundamental thinking skills like planning, working memory, time management, and organization — which is enhanced in older adults with increased exercise. Since executive function is important for better quality of life for people living with MCI, this an important innovation for clinicians, researchers, and patients. Other promising detection projects in the pipeline

NIA is already funding exciting research in early detection of AD/ADRD and MCI, including electronic financial indicators of cognitive decline, culturally appropriate dementia screening, and modernization of existing tools. The aim is more sensitive screening tools that can integrate sensory, motor, and emotional changes, all of which may help mark early warning signs of AD/ADRD.

The Consortium for Detecting Cognitive Impairment, Including Dementia (DetectCID) is another robust initiative to identify and validate cognitive assessment tools for primary care settings. Led by the NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in collaboration with NIA, the goal is to better address the under-detection of cognitive impairment in diverse American populations. Other advances have evolved from the NIH Toolbox, a dynamic set of health assessments for all ages, which launched in 2015 for iPads and has since been developed into several mobile apps.

A book by Linda Mac Dougall, M.A., HHP, CMT

Linda has a unique vantage point. In her years of experience, she has been a holistic health practitioner, a direct care worker, an administrator of two group homes for United Cerebral Palsy, a Federal advocate for the state of Hawaii’s developmentally disabled population, a Camarillo State Hospital teacher, a mental health worker, and a massage therapist specializing in seniors and the disabled.

Linda’s M.A. in Counseling Psychology and the needs she sees unaddressed in senior care, prompted her to write her book. An understanding of aging from the perspective of a senior seemed necessary and timely.

She gives talks to residents in retirement homes and staff in non- profits. Recently, she has been asked to do virtual training for a chain of massage schools.

The book, available on Amazon, speaks to the unique needs of seniors and is written by a senior. It is presented in a question and answer format for easy reading and learning. In ‘The SPIRIT Method of Massage for Seniors: Raising the Bar…A Primer for Massage Therapists and Caregivers’, SPIRIT is broken into chapters with several subchapters. They are:

Brief stories punctuate points made about abilities, care or mishandling, working with retirement homes and families, mobility devices, medications, and even about how one event can inspire two different people in very different ways. Yes, there are sections that deal with massage, but the book is about the human aging condition and those who wish to work in that space. It is about communication, understanding on more than an intellectual level, and relationships with the senior and their orbiting ‘others’. To their orbit, you are an ‘other’. The need for respectful boundaries is ever present.

This is not your ordinary massage book or your ordinary caregiver training. It is an invitation to work with our seniors in an enlightened manner, to know more about their lives and needs on both a physical and mental plane. I ask you to look and really see the needs that lie right before your eyes. This is the gift of SPIRIT

Linda Mac Dougall, M.A., HHP, CMT Management Consulting for caregiving situations.

Now on Amazon “The SPIRIT Method of Massage for Seniors: Raising the Bar, A Primer for Massage Therapists and Caregivers” https://myctfo.me/legacy70

805-202-6379 www.seniormassagegroup.com www.loveyourlongevity.com

Medicare covers the COVID-19 vaccine at no cost to you, so if anyone asks you to share your Medicare Number or pay for access to the vaccine, you can bet it’s a scam.

Here’s what to know:
You can’t pay to put your name on a list to get the vaccine.
You can’t pay to get early access to a vaccine.
Don’t share your personal or financial information if someone calls, texts, or emails you promising access to the vaccine for a fee.

Con artists may try to get your Medicare Number or personal information so they can steal your identity and commit Medicare fraud. Medicare fraud results in higher health care costs and taxes for everyone.
Protect yourself from Medicare fraud. Guard your Medicare card like it’s a credit card. Remember:

Medicare will never contact you for your Medicare Number or other personal information unless you’ve given them permission in advance.
Medicare will never call you to sell you anything.
You may get calls from people promising you things if you give them a Medicare Number. Don’t do it.
Medicare will never visit you at your home.
Medicare can’t enroll you over the phone unless you called first.

Check regularly for Medicare billing fraud. Review your Medicare claims and Medicare Summary Notices for any services billed to your Medicare Number you don’t recognize.

A 90-year-old brain typically weighs 1,100 to 1,200 grams, and this is 100 or more grams less than the typical 40-year-old brain. Brain shrinkage mostly affects the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and the cerebral cortex, which is important for complex thought processes. Over time, the brain can also be affected by declining levels of neurotransmitters, changing hormones, deteriorating blood vessels, and impaired circulation of blood glucose. These brain changes can affect thinking, making it harder to recall words and names, focus on tasks, and process new information.

Physically, the brains of cognitive super agers seem to defy wear and tear better than the average brain. Researchers at Northwestern University’s Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease in Chicago have tentatively identified a “brain signature” for cognitive super agers, which they define as people age 80 years and older who have performance on memory tests comparable to people two to three decades younger. The researchers conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans on 12 cognitive super agers, 10 cognitively normal peers, and 14 cognitively normal people in the 50- to 65-year age range. Comparisons revealed that the cingulate cortex, a brain region considered important for the integration of information related to memory, attention, cognitive control, and motivation was thicker in super agers than in their same-age peers and showed no atrophy compared with the same brain region of the middle agers. In fact, a specific region of the anterior cingulate cortex was significantly thicker in the brains of cognitive super agers than in middle agers’ brains.

In a separate study, the Northwestern researchers found that super agers’ brains contained a much higher density of a particular type of cell called von Economo neurons, which are linked to social intelligence and awareness. Their brains had more of these neurons even than the brains of younger adults.

At Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, researchers are studying younger super agers — people between age 60 and 80 who have memory recall abilities similar to those of 18- to 32-year-olds. They’ve identified distinctive thicknesses in two neural networks that connect parts of the brain important to memory function. The thickness is nearly the same as in the brains of younger adults. The researchers also found that super agers have a bigger hippocampus than other adults their age.

Researchers with UC Irvine’s 90+ Study have identified a curious and counterintuitive feature of the super ager brain: sometimes it shows the pathologies that characterize Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

Researchers are exploring several theories to explain why some people’s cognitive abilities stay intact to the end of life. Perhaps they start out in life with larger, stronger brains. Or perhaps their brains somehow change to compensate for aging’s damaging effects. Another theory being pursued is whether their brains have stronger defenses against the assaults of aging.

A person’s environment may be a factor. Human and animal studies by NIA-supported scientists have contributed to the growing body of evidence that enriching experiences, such as advanced education and mind-challenging occupations, can help brains last longer.

Social factors also could play a role in healthy cognitive aging. In one of Northwestern University’s studies, investigators gave a 42-item questionnaire on psychological well-being to 31 cognitive super agers and 19 cognitively normal peers. The cognitive super agers reported more friends and family connections, a finding that builds on past research showing links between psychological well-being and lower risk of Alzheimer’s.