MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 05/16/97
Company Targets Boomers and their Aging Parents
Briggs Corporation, a Des Moines, Iowa-based company has launched an Internet website designed to meet the health information and specialty product needs of baby boomers and their aging parents. Many of America's 76 million baby boomers are struggling to control family crisis situations, but are often uncertain about available resources and care options.
Why the Internet for such a venture? "The senior marketplace is growing twice as fast as the rest of the population and represents the fastest growing sector of personal computer buyers and Internet users", explains Briggs Technology Manager, David Bolen. An online catalog includes over 200 products designed to make life easier and more enjoyable for the growing number of American seniors.
One of the many products available is an educational package entitled "Aging Parents: the family survival guide". The guide is a three and one-half hour video and 18-page monograph containing detailed information on legal and medical issues, housing options, communication skills, insurance and financial issues, and government programs. The new website is located at
http://www.BriggsCorp.com
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Senior Activist's Survival Manual
Mature Americans account for nearly half of all voters. Many want to know the nuts and bolts of lobbying members of Congress and other decision-makers because, this year and next, lawmakers will deal with cuts to Medicare, changes to the CPI which is used to calculate the Social Security COLAs, and policy-makers will also deal with the coming bankruptcy of the Medicare Trust Funds.
The new 1997-1998 edition of "The Senior Activist's Survival Manual" helps seniors influence Congress, Cabinet officials, and other federal decision-makers. The survival manual offers a step-by-step guide for individuals and groups. Topics include: how to write effective letters to elected officials, draft letters to the editor, gain television and media coverage, participate in radio talk shows, and tips for establishing a political action group.
The Senior Exchange Inc, the manual's publisher, is offering the book for $4.95 plus $1 S/H. For details, contact: The Senior Exchange Inc, P.O. Box 1010, Department SM05, Madison, Virginia 22727.
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CoaguChek? No, it's not the new quarterback for the Green Bay Packers
CoaguChek is a new piece of technology designed to make life easier for many senior citizens who are required by their doctor to take anti-blood clotting medication. These blood thinning medications are used to prevent strokes and congestive heart failure. In order for this type of medication to remain within the correct therapeutic range, consistent and accurate monitoring is necessary.
Often, monitoring requires sitting around in a hospital every two weeks waiting for a test. In addition, anticoagulant therapy is complicated by the fact that blood thinners are affected by eating habits and physical activities, not to mention the intake of antacids, antihistamines, and vitamin K, found in many leafy green vegetables. Because of these difficulties, some studies show that patients on blood thinning medication tend to be outside their therapeutic range as much as 50 percent of the time. That's what makes this new product such a breakthrough.
CoaguChek is a new home testing tool that is lightweight and battery-powered. It can be carried anywhere and monitoring can be performed at any time. Best of all, it displays monitoring results in just two minutes. Recently approved by the FDA, the CoaguChek system, a product of Boehringer Mannheim Corporation, is expected to have a significant impact on the quality of life for the 1.5 million people who are in anticoagulant therapy.
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Energizing Drugs Keep Granny ...going and going and going
Selegiline (Eldepryl) and alpha-tocopherol (Vitamin E) may slow the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease by about seven months, according to a report by scientists at 23 research sites across the nation. Selegine is a drug widely used to treat Parkinson's disease.
The two drugs delayed entry into nursing homes for people with moderately severe Alzheimer's disease, and decreased their loss of daily activities such as eating, cooking, bathing, dressing, and handling money, by about 25%. Although the drugs had a positive affect on the activities of daily living, there was no improvement in cognition (memory, attention, language, and comprehension).
Two other drugs, tacrine and donepezil, have already been demonstrated by
other studies to improve cognition in Alzheimer's patients by about six months.
Findings from the study are reported in the April 24, 1997 issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine. For more information on Alzheimer's disease contact the
Alzheimer's Disease Education And Referral Center (ADEAR) by phone:
1-800-438-4380, e-mail: adear@alzheimers.org,
or visit the website at
http://www.alzheimers.org/adear
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Boomers: "We're Aging Better Than Our Parents Did"
Today's 50 year-olds feel more confident than they did in their 30's
according to a new survey conducted by the Bayer Corporation, manufacturer
of One-A-Day brand vitamins. The majority of those surveyed believe they
think younger, and are aging better, than their parents did at age 50. All
survey respondents said they are doing something to keep healthy, such as
exercising or improving their diet.
This attention to fitness and diet, say
the Boomers, has increased their self-confidence. On the fitness issue, women
tend to be more proactive about
their health, with nearly 50 percent avoiding fatty foods, compared to 41
percent of men. Women also fare better when it comes to eating a balanced
diet, 63 percent compared to 55 percent of men.
Surprisingly, nearly twice
as many men as women found their 50th birthday traumatic. This trauma might
explain, in part, the decline in male sex drive, also noted in the survey.
Men did out-pace the women in one area, sleep. Men are twice as likely to
sleep more.
When asked to identify the top two 50 year-olds who are "in the
best shape", respondents chose former basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
and actor/dancer Gregory Hines. When asked to identify 50 year-olds who really
look their age, respondents chose President Clinton and Donald Trump.
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Deadly Diets of Bulge Battlers
Even though one-third of all Americans fight the battle of the bulge,
heavy people now outnumber
normal-size ones in the United States. Although dieting would seem to be
the healthy thing to do, new findings point out that "radical" dieting can
sometimes do more harm than good. Among the hidden dangers
associated with rapid weight loss is the formation of gallstones, which are
clusters of solid material
composed mostly of cholesterol that form in the gallbladder.
There are two
common ways that dieters
subject themselves to gallstone formation. First, is an excessively low calorie
diet for more than 12 weeks.
Second, gastric bypass surgery, in which the size of the stomach is reduce
to prevent overeating, can
produce a gallstone hazard. According to the National Institutes of Health,
gallstones from all causes
result in 600,000 hospitalizations each year.
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Age-phobic Americans Are Just Dying to Stop Aging
Age-phobic Americans who are "just dying" to stop aging, may get
their wish. According to the National Institute on Aging (NIA), many adults
are playing
Russian roulette with "anti-aging" hormone supplements.
Contrary to popular
claims, says NIA, supplements such as melatonin, DHEA, human growth hormone,
testosterone, and estrogen have not been shown to prevent or reverse aging.
The jury is still out on many anti-aging supplements because long-term studies
needed to confirm their benefits, or dangers, are not yet complete.
Even tiny amounts of hormones may have far-reaching effects, and unsupervised
use of hormone supplements can lead to health problems. That's
why NIA is launching an education effort urging consumers to use caution
when it comes to "anti-aging" hormone supplements that have become popular
recently. Consumers can call 1-800-222-2225 to order a free NIA fact sheet
on hormone supplements.
If you'd like to get a quick preview of the anti-aging
books on the market. Check out an article called "Anti-aging Humbug?" in
AARP's
Bulletin, (April 1997). The article describes today's books that
hype these anti-aging
remedies, then organizes them into three categories: "youth-enhancing",
"rejuvenating
vitamins", and "thinking young". What I gather is that AARP seems to
think that the only thing these three groups of anti-aging books have in
common is their ability to concoct promising research findings into screwball
remedies.
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Dr. David Demko, Editor
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