MATURE MARKET HEADLINES 10/10/2000
Retirement Continues to Re-invent Itself
What can America do with millions of talented older adults whose skilled hands are idled by retirement? Put them to work. Sounds a bit confusing, doesn't it. In the early 1900's, virtually no one retired. You worked until you were too sick, injured, or worse. By the 1950's, older workers were encouraged to retire. And, as the century came to a close, the so-called retirement stage of life was once again re-invented by a call to "active aging". Volunteer, go back to school, work. This "active aging" theme not only continues in the new millennium, it's being given an extra push by the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.
The Special Committee on Aging is urging employers to draw workers from this valuable, mature labor pool.
"Older workers serve in just about every field," says U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Special Committee on Aging. "They're teachers, business owners, talk show hosts and factory workers. They embrace work not only as a way to put food on the table, but also as a means of feeding the soul. Their experience enhances any workplace."
Grassley's comments came at a committee event honoring the nation's outstanding older workers as chosen by Green Thumb, a non-profit group that helps to prepare older workers for employment. The organization chose an outstanding older worker from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
The group also selected the nation's oldest worker and the outstanding employer of older workers. The following awardees were among those honored.
- 102 year old, Robert "Robbie" Eisenberg of West Hollywood, California.
Eisenberg was named the nation's oldest worker. He is known as the "dean" of the zipper business and works for a zipper manufacturer. Eisenberg loved the Roaring Twenties and lost a son in the Pacific during World War II. He retired at age 70. Bored at age 80, he returned to work.
- 72 year old James Gittins of Sioux City, Iowa.
Gittins is a program coordinator at the Three Rivers Independent Living Center. He is described as making "his own disabilities work for him." Having suffered polio, heart attacks and a stroke, Gittins teaches other people with disabilities how to live independently outside of a group home or nursing home.
- The Outstanding Employer of Older Workers Award.
Poorman-Douglas Corporation of Beaverton, Oregon was named the outstanding employer of older workers.
The company provides high-speed check, invoice and other printing and mailing services. About 10 percent of its 285 employees are age 60 or older.
Senator Grassley says he would like to see other employers embrace policies that attract older workers.
"Some companies are quick to recognize the value of older workers," Grassley said. "As our nation ages, we'll see more employers viewing older workers as a reliable and respected part of their work force. Today's awards give us a look at the future."
That future, according to AgeVenture News Editor, Dr. David Demko may totally re-invent that stage of life now called the golden years. As a case in point, consider the already drastic transformation of retirement during the last century. In 1900, the average time spent in retirement was only 14 months. By the end of the century, the typical American worker could look forward to about 15 years of retirement life. Finally, with this new push toward continued employment, we may see the line between work and retirement continue to blur, and perhaps, disappear altogether.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Seniors-Only Work Group Honors 90-Year-Old Employee
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People Who Work Long, Live Long
Ready, Aim, Retire ... oops. Back to Work?
Retirement Doesn't Work
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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American Shoppers Are FDA Guinea Pigs
What do you hope your children and grandchildren will become? A doctor, professor, astronaut, engineer? How about guinea pig? No, I didn't think so. But, it appears that the U.S. Government has other plans. Yes, that's right. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has turned American consumers, young and old, into nothing less than laboratory guinea pigs. And, whether you like it or not, you're one of those guinea pigs every time you eat in a restaurant or shop at the grocery store.
You're eating genetically altered food, and don't even know it. Of course, the FDA will recall these genetically engineered foods if you get sick or die. But that won't do you much good, will it? In response to the Food and Drug Administration's failure to require labeling for genetically engineered (GE) food, Greenpeace, a consumer advocacy group, released the True Food Shopping List, a detailed list of thousands of products made with ingredients from genetically altered corn, soy, canola, and other crops.
The international environmental organization contacted dozens of food companies to determine whether or not they have taken action to eliminate genetically engineered ingredients from their products. "Consumers should not be used as guinea pigs by companies who continue to sell genetically contaminated food," said Jeanne Merrill, Greenpeace True Food Network coordinator.
"Since the FDA refuses to protect consumers and the environment, Greenpeace created the Shopping List. The Shopping List gives consumers who want to avoid genetically engineered foods a fighting chance." Organized like supermarket aisles, the True Food Shopping List covers dozens of foods in each of 20 categories, including baby food, cereal, frozen foods, snacks and soups.
The True Food Shopping List includes "Red", "Green", and "Yellow" lists. The "Red" list shows genetically engineered foods, such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes. The "Green" list shows alternatives made by companies that have eliminated genetically engineered ingredients. The "Yellow" transitional list includes products made by companies that are working to eliminate genetically engineered ingredients.
Recently, store-bought Taco Bell taco shells tested positive for a variety of genetically engineered corn, called StarLink, that is not approved for human consumption. Kraft, which produces the supermarket brand shells, voluntarily recalled the tainted product. Aventis, the biotech company that makes the GE corn found in the taco shells, said it would stop selling the seed. The Agriculture Department said it would broker the entire remaining StarLink crop for Aventis, to insure that it is only sold for feed.
"Clearly, Americans can't trust the biotech industry to keep its genetic experiments out of our shopping carts," said Charles Margulis, Greenpeace genetic engineering specialist. "While food companies have eliminated genetically engineered ingredients in Europe, the Shopping List is the only way American consumers can avoid GE-contaminated food."
Kellogg's and other food giants have already stopped using genetically engineered food in Europe, but these companies continue to use the experimental crops here. In Japan, Australia, Russia and throughout Europe, genetically engineered food must be labeled. Many companies have announced that their products in these countries will exclude genetically engineered ingredients. But in the U.S., the FDA has sided with the biotech industry in opposing mandatory labeling. Instead, FDA says that standards for "voluntary" labeling of GE or non-GE foods will soon be announced.
The List is available at the Greenpeace web site at: greenpeace.org
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Heart Help Hapless for High-Risk Elders
It seems that high-risk elders (Blacks, women, the poor) still have to ride in the back of the ambulance when it comes to the delivery of heart health care. In this case, the difference in treatment could be a matter of life or death. Ironically, it's a case of being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Blacks, women and poor people who have a heart attack are less likely to receive proven, inexpensive treatments such as aspirin or beta-blocker therapy, according to a recent article in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association.
"Aspirin and beta-blockers are very, very cheap," says Kevin A. Schulman, M.D., an associate professor of Medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and co-author of the study conducted at Georgetown University Medical Center. "Both have been shown to reduce death from heart attacks and are considered some of the best medications doctors have available."
Schulman says treatment discrepancies were strongest among blacks and the poor. "We found that race influences treatment recommendations for individual patients, and we saw that poorer individuals seem to experience differences in care, even when the treatment is covered by Medicare," he says.
"The differences in treatment that we found are not huge, but they are significant," says co-author Bernard
J. Gersh, M.B., D. Phil., professor of medicine at the Mayo Foundation and a consultant in the division of
cardiovascular diseases at the Mayo Clinic. "Clearly, physicians don't willingly treat patients differently just because they're poor, black, or women," says Gersh. "There are many factors at work. The important thing is to find out what they are and how to correct them."
In the first few hours after a heart attack, aspirin and clot-busting drugs have been proven to improve a
person's chance of survival and minimize heart damage. Once a heart attack survivor is released from the
hospital, aspirin and beta-blockers help prevent recurrent heart attacks.
Researchers found that blacks were 16 percent less likely than whites to get clot-busting drugs and 3
percent less likely to get aspirin upon admission to the hospital. Blacks also were 6 percent less likely to
leave the hospital with prescriptions for beta-blockers. Women were 2 percent less likely than men to get
aspirin on arrival or departure, but received the other drugs at the same rate as men. Individuals from
low-income areas were 2 to 3 percent less likely to get every treatment than people who were not poor.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
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AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Most Heartburn Symptoms Alight at Night
Nearly eight in ten heartburn sufferers experience symptoms at night, three-quarters say that nighttime heartburn either keeps them from falling asleep or wakes them up during sleep, and 40% report an
impact on their ability to work the next day, according to a new survey released by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). In response, the AGA is launching a full-scale public awareness initiative designed to educate the public on the potential dangers associated with nighttime heartburn.
"More than 60 million Americans suffer from heartburn," says Donald Castell, MD, chair of AGA’s new Nighttime Heartburn Relief Effort. "These new survey data enable us for the first time to estimate that eighty percent of
heartburn sufferers, or nearly 50 million people, experience nighttime heartburn at least once a week. And what’s more, about 45 million experience nighttime symptoms severe enough that their ability to sleep is negatively impacted." The survey was conducted for AGA by the Gallup Organization, under a grant from Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories.
Key findings from the AGA survey include:
- Nighttime heartburn is common complaint among U.S. sufferers
65% of heartburn sufferers experience both day and night time symptoms.
- 63% of sufferers claim that heartburn affects their ability to get a good night’s sleep
40% report that heartburn impacts on their ability to function well at work the next day.
- 75% report that nighttime heartburn keeps them from falling asleep
or wakes them up during sleep.
- 45% report night time remedies current remedies do not relieve all symptoms
53% agree that they would try anything new to relieve heartburn at night.
- 65% have consulted with a doctor about their problem
but for many, symptoms continue.
The new AGA initiative, called the Nighttime Heartburn Relief Effort, aims to educate physicians and their patients about the potential dangers associated with nighttime heartburn, and what can be done to treat it. Anyone interested in more information on nighttime heartburn can log onto the AGA’s website,
at www.gastro.org.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
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Medicine is Enough to Make You Sick
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Herbs Offer Only Garden Variety Therapy
Today's consumers are overwhelmed by ads proclaiming the amazing health benefits of over-the-counter herbal products. Such products promise a host of advantages, from improved memory to increased vitality, with few or no side effects. But some heart specialists caution that many seemingly safe herbal therapies may pose hidden cardiac risks.
"In reality, many common herbal products have cardiovascular effects that are potentially dangerous, especially when they are combined with aspirin or other heart medications," says cardiologist Dr. Elaine Winkel, of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Program at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center.
"Many people think, 'Well, herbs aren't medicine, they're plants,' so they fail to tell their cardiologists they are using herbal products," said Winkel. "Herbs are plants, but many herbs contain agents that resemble the active ingredients in medications, and these therapies can have dangerous interactions."
In the United States, medications undergo years of rigorous testing by the Food and Drug Administration to prove they are safe and effective before they are marketed to the public. "But herbal products are regulated as dietary supplements, not drugs," explained Winkel. "As such, they are not required to undergo extensive testing to prove their claims of safety and effectiveness. Many of these products are marketed on the basis of the testimonials of a handful of people. Certainly, they're not studied in combination with other drugs."
While some herbal products mimic the effects of cardiac medications, Winkel strongly cautions against replacing a medication with an herbal treatment. The manufacture of herbal products is not regulated as strictly as the manufacture of drugs, she explained. As a result, the amount of active ingredient in an herbal product may vary from bottle to bottle, or from pill to pill. "The effects can be erratic and unpredictable," said Winkel.
An example is ginkgo. Advertisements claim this commonly used herb increases blood circulation to the brain and improves memory. Preliminary research in Europe suggests ginkgo can, in fact, increase circulation by affecting blood platelet activity. However, this may increase a person's risk for excessive bleeding, especially when large doses of ginkgo are taken with other medications that affect blood clotting.
Other herbals that may be dangerous for people with heart disease include hawthorn berries, plantain, garlic pills and herbal "diuretics" such as dandelion, elder and juniper. "I tell patients not to take any over-the-counter medications without consulting their cardiologist. The same rule applies for herbal products," said Winkel. "Many people have the misconception that if it's natural, it's safe, but that's not true. After all, poison is natural, too."
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AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Vacations Remove Bags Under Your Eyes
That's right. A vacation can have a rejuvenating affect on your well-being. In fact, studies have confirmed that a vacation offers a variety of benefits, including a year or two life extension in some cases. And, even if you don't directly benefit from your vacation, your co-workers get a break from you while you're out of the office. Hmmm. Come to think of it, the respite provided by the absence of one's boss can even have a relaxing ... perhaps life-extending affect on the staff. At any rate, now there is yet another study indicating that a vacation just might remove those bags from under your eyes.
Going on vacation may be more than just a frivolous pleasure, it may actually be good for your health, according to a study of men at high risk for heart disease. "Vacations may not only be enjoyable, but also health promoting," said study co-author Brooks B. Gump, PhD, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Oswego.
Gump and co-author Karen A. Matthews, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, analyzed data from a nine-year study of more than 12,000 men at high risk for coronary heart disease. Those with regular annual vacations had a lower risk of death during the study period relative to those skipping their vacations, according to Gump and Matthews. Their results held even when the researchers took the study participants’ socioeconomic status (SES) into account.
Gump and Matthews also considered other factors that could have skewed the study results. Poor health could have prevented those study participants most at risk for dying from taking frequent vacations, for example. More affluent participants may have taken more vacations as well as having been in better health. However, even when the researchers accounted for these possibilities their results held. Vacations had an independent health-protective effect.
Vacations may protect health by reducing stress, a known risk factor for many diseases. Aside from the removal of stress, vacations provide opportunities to engage in restorative behaviors such as interactions with family and friends and exercise, according to Gump and Matthews, who noted that more research is needed to determine the exact mechanism by which vacationing may contribute to good health.
This research was supported by a grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
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AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Microsurgery Helps Combat Male Infertility
Medically defined, infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of trying. But, for those who experience it, infertility is far more. Dr. Benjamin Hendin, head of UT Southwestern's new section for male reproductive medicine and microsurgery, knows just how difficult infertility can be for the couples who experience it. His role with patients, he said, is to help them understand their problem and to offer solutions.
Hendin will work with andrologists, gynecologists and reproductive endocronologists to offer a full range of infertility services. While male infertility services may have once been limited to procedures such as vasectomy reversals, modern male infertility services are much more broad-based, Hendin said.
Infertility is diagnosed when a couple has unsuccessfully tried to conceive for a year or longer. As many as 15 percent of couples experience infertility, Hendin said. The emotional burden of infertility is hard on both partners, Hendin said. "Men often feel responsible when they aren't achieving the family structure they want."
New procedures mean even men with conditions that are not correctable may be able to father children. Through advanced in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures, individual sperm may be inserted directly into individual eggs which are later transferred to a woman's uterus. Hendin performs a new surgery for men who have virtually no sperm production in their testicles. Even if only a few sperm are present in the testicle, they may be surgically isolated and removed for use in IVF procedures.
"Even men told they were hopelessly infertile have been found to have functioning sperm." Furthermore, there are other conditions which cause low sperm count or poor sperm movement and which may be correctable. Most commonly, a man may have varicocele, or varicose veins of the spermatic cord, that affects both the blood
flow and function of the testicles.
Alternatively, a man might also have an infection or inflammation that prevents normal sperm production. Such conditions are potentially curable. Although uncommon, some men may experience fertility problems as a consequence of other serious health conditions which may not have been previously diagnosed. Such conditions, including diabetes and certain cancers, can be identified through a male infertility evaluation.
Hendin also emphasized the importance of freezing sperm for men undergoing chemotherapy. "Chemotherapy can wipe out a man's sperm production," Hendin said. "Because sperm production may never return to normal
following chemotherapy, it is important to consider sperm banking in young men and in men who might want to father children in the future. But if they don't discuss it with their doctors they may not bank sperm in time."
Hendin received his medical degree from Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He did his internship and urology residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and then completed a year-long fellowship in male reproductive medicine and microsurgery at Baylor College of Medicine.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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