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MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 05/08/98
Cyber Solace for Cancer Recovery Traditional support groups clearly help cancer survivors cope with their experiences, and Internet-based networks can offer many of the same benefits, says a University of Delaware professor who examined the content, advantages and pitfalls of "cyber solace" in a new study published in "Computers in Nursing". Advantages to participating in an on-line chat with other cancer survivors and their families include 24-hour availability and an offer of anonymity. Internet support groups also attract more men than traditional once-a-week support group meetings at local hospitals, where women participants outnumber men four to one, according to Paula Klemm, DNSc, RN, OCN, assistant professor of nursing, whose article is entitled, "A Nontraditional Cancer Support Group: The Internet." One major concern about such groups is that, because they lack a facilitator, there is potential for the spread of misinformation. Klemm says that concern is unfounded. "These people are very well-versed in their disease and, for every one person who might post inaccurate information, there are at least five others who will correct it," she stresses. Klemm found that the messages shared by the group members fell into eight categories: information giving and seeking; personal opinions; encouragement and support; relating of personal experiences by both patients and caregivers; notes of thanks; stories of humor; prayer; and a miscellaneous category. Additionally, Klemm is pursuing research into the area of "cyber rights," investigating how much a researcher can gain from the web without running into legal problems. Before joining the University of Delaware in 1992, Klemm was a nurse educator at Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and a clinical nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Footnote: Our AgeVenture focus group, responding to this article, offered this additional insight. "Senior citizens would be more likely to ask more questions of their peers on-line then they might ask of a physician during a face-to-face office visit, because the group's anonymity sets the tone for open-discussion." AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP Prayer Versus Elder Depression Religious involvement has been found to have beneficial effects on a person’s physical health and has even resulted in some physicians putting religion at par with physical exercise. According to a group of researchers led by William J. Strawbridge of the Human Population Laboratory in Berkeley, California, religious involvement provides "an important coping mechanism in times of stress for older persons." In trying to fathom the complex nature of religious involvement and depression, Strawbridge and his colleagues examined the effects of religion on a group of 2,655 persons who were age 50 or older, and how religion or the lack of it can provide a buffer against depression. Non-organizational religion had no effect on depression, according to the study, reported in the May 1998 issue of The Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. On the other hand, organizational religiosity tends to reduce depression even when physical health is taken into account. According to the researchers, both organizational and non-organizational religiosity can "buffer or exacerbate associations between stressors and depression, depending on the type of stressor involved." For non-family stressors, religiosity appears to provide a buffer against depression, but when it comes to family stressors religiosity appears to exacerbate depression. The Journal of Gerontology is a refereed publication of the Gerontological Society of America. Footnote: Our AgeVenture focus group, responding to this article, offered this additional insight. "Organizational religious involvement may be more effective in combating depression because of the existence of a sophisticated support system capable of offering counseling, companionship, transportation, a sense of community, and other resources that empower elders." See AgeVenture archives for related articles: 90% of Elder Depression Goes Untreated WHO Looks Into Global Depression AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP Super Senior or Wrinkled Wimp? Will today's super senior become tomorrow's wrinkled wimp? The odds don't favor it. But substantial numbers of seniors will wimp out, physically. By the time they reach age 64, forty percent of Americans will have lost so much strength in their arms that they can no longer lift 10 pounds. (Finally, men will have a legitimate excuse for not taking out the garbage!) By age 75 to 84, sixty-five percent will barely be able to lift a gallon of milk. The good news is that this loss of strength is preventable, and even reversible, just in case your body has already "gone South". In the May 1998 issue of New Choices magazine, Sue Ellin Browder reports on the strength-training research of health gerontologist, Dr. William Evans of the University of Arkansas' Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics. "In our research studies we have seen a ten to fifteen percent increase in strength per week during the first eight weeks of training," says Evans . One group of men over 50 who participated in a weight-training program just three days a week for twelve weeks increased the strength in some leg muscles by as much as 227 percent. As their muscles got stronger, their aerobic powers grew and they became more active. Evans adds that pumping iron can also lower blood pressure and even help you lose weight. Here are some of Evans' tips for starting a strength-training program (after getting a doctor's O.K.).
Footnote: Our AgeVenture focus group, responding to this article, offered this additional advice. "Even if you don't care about how your body looks or feels, remember there are other benefits of exercise. Additional strength gives you the ability to pick-up the grandkids, the flexibility to engage in play, and the endurance to keep-up. Also, just knowing that you can do things makes you feel younger and in control." AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP Successful Aging: Nature vs Nurture The MacArthur Foundation would like Americans to know that you are more likely to find the key to successful aging in your lifestyle, not a laboratory. MacArthur supports that claim with ten years of solid research generated by an interdisciplinary network of scientists from such fields as biology, neuroscience, sociology, genetics, psychology, and geriatric medicine. No, you don't have to scour the countryside in search of this knowledge generated by MacArthur-supported research. All the findings are neatly organized for you in a new book called "Successful Aging" by John Rowe and Robert Kahn (Pantheon Books, Random House Inc, 1998, $24.95 U.S.). The book's importance is underscored by the fact that scientific breakthroughs in human aging have come to represent a two-edged sword. On the one hand, genetic research has discovered numerous links to age-related disorders. That's the good news. The bad news is that in light of all the mounting genetic research, many Americans have come to believe that successful aging is all in one's genes, so there isn't much that the individual can do to impact the aging process. Interestingly, one's genetic inheritance is not as omnipotent as we might think. In fact, according to the Center for the Advancement of Health (CFAH), only about 30 percent of physical aging can be blamed on genes and only about 50 percent of changes in mental function. For example, high blood pressure is one problem often encountered in later life that is related more to the role of lifestyle factors than genes. Another concern in later life is triglyceride levels. Genes play no role whatsoever in the triglyceride levels of people over the age of 70. Another concern in later life is lung function. Here again, the older one gets, the less significant is the role of genes on lung function. Instead, a sedentary lifestyle is the greatest risk factor in late life lung function. Rowe and Kahn's "Successful Aging" also dispels common lifestyle myths about aging. For example, contrary to popular opinion, aging is not synonomous with illness. Only 5.2 percent of older people reside in nursing homes, down from 6.3 percent in 1982. Of Americans aged 75-84 in 1994, 73 percent reported no disability. Even after age 85, 40 percent were fully functional. With the support of the MacArthur Foundation, the Center for the Advancement of Health (CFAH) is now working to see that these lifestyle factors get incorporated into standard health care practice. CFAH is a health policy institute founded by the MacArthur and Nathan Cummings Foundations to study how one's lifestyle (attitudes, emotions, social relations and economic status) affects the aging process. See AgeVenture archives for related articles: Science Continues to Drive Wellness Boom Healthy Habits Delay Disability by 8 Years AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP Dupont Size System Suits Swimmers Weekends of sunbathing and poolside lounging are just around the corner, meaning it's time again for the stressful swimsuit-shopping excursion. Boomer and Gen-X women will be glad to know that they have a tool to help them overcome the anxiety of swimsuit shopping, the "Suitable Solutions" swimwear fit system. Introduced by DuPont Lycra to help women find the perfect swimsuit for their body type, this first-ever industry-wide system is now being endorsed by swimwear experts such as Jule Campbell, creator and former editor of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The success of the Suitable Solutions swimwear fit system stems from the ease it brings to the shopping process. At the core of the fit system is a numerically coded hangtag, which identifies the fit benefits of each swimsuit, allowing the women to easily single out a range of style benefits. The eye-catching blue and green hangtag is numbered "1" through "6", with each number identifying a single fit benefit: "1" means that the swimsuit minimizes the bust, "2" indicates that the suit is a bust maximizer, "3" signifies full-cup support, "4" means a swimsuit that tones the tummy and midriff, "5" identifies a swimsuit that flatters a long torso, while "6" denotes a suit that minimizes the hip and thigh. Swimsuits may be tagged with any combination of these numbers to indicate multiple fit benefits. The new fit system helps women quickly identify those swimsuits that are most likely to flatter her figure type before she even goes into the dressing room. See AgeVenture archives for related article: Clothier Sees Big Profits in Going Baroque Power Pants Plus-size Active-wear Fills Consumer Niche AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com BACK TO TOP |