MATURE MARKET HEADLINES POSTED 06/16/97
Fat ? So ? ... Now there's help for the thighs that bind
Cellulite is a cosmetic problem that has plagued women throughout modern times. In fact, 90% of cellulite occurs in women. What's cellulite, you say? That's the condition that occurs when fat cells accumulate, trapping toxins and filling the thinning connective tissue under the skin.
Cellulite appears as pitting, bulging, and wrinkling in the upper thighs and buttock areas, resulting in skin that resembles an "orange peel" or "cottage cheese" texture. The problem is believed to be caused by hormonal dysfunctions, connective tissue healing, premature skin aging, and poor circulation.
Treatment needs to repair and strengthen connective tissue below the skin's surface. Jamieson Laboratories has responded to the growing demand for such a treatment with its new product, Celite Complex 75. The new treatment helps improve microcirculation by fortifying the capillary walls. It also aids the elimination of toxins and fat in the body by raising energy levels.
Celite Complex 75 is a nutritional formula derived from fruit and herb extracts. In clinical tests, the nutritional treatment showed significant improvement in the reduction of cellulite. Celite retails for $22 in major drug stores nationwide.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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We Don't Want this Healthcare ... Bill
When Kentucky adopted a healthcare plan similar to the "managed care" plan that President Bill Clinton tried to impose on the entire nation, several catastrophes happened. Forty-five health insurers fled Kentucky's individual healthcare market. Health insurance rates rose to record highs.
Now, fewer Kentuckians are covered by health insurance than were covered prior to the "managed care" plan. Kentucky-based policy analyst Rachel McCubbin says the Kentucky plan, like similar healthcare reform plans in Minnesota and Washington state, "is an excellent case study in the law of unintended consequences.
Instead of expanding access to health insurance, the Clinton-style healthcare plan has left more Kentuckians uninsured today than before it was enacted. Instead of controlling healthcare costs, its regulatory regime has contributed to their increase. Instead of making more plans available to consumers, it has driven a record number of private insurers out of the state".
The Kentucky experience, according to the Heritage Foundation, suggests that lawmakers should implement healthcare reforms that open competition by expanding consumer choices in the healthcare market. That includes tax credits, or vouchers, or private medical savings accounts.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Plastic Surgery Surge
The number of cosmetic plastic surgery procedures has increased more than 68% in the last five years, according to the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (ASPRS). The increase, says ASPRS, is indicative of increasing numbers of boomers, age 35-50, who want to look their best.
Years ago, people in their sixties wanted eyelid surgery and facelifts. But there has been a dramatic shift toward younger people in their forties and fifties who are asking for the same procedures. Cosmetic procedures performed on men, increased 33% in the last five years.
The most common reason why men elect to have the surgery is that they feel they have to look young in order to compete in the work place. The most frequently performed cosmetic surgery procedure in 1996 was liposuction. Breast augmentation nearly tripled during the same time period.
If you are considering plastic surgery, the ASPRS is a good place to start because it represents 97% of all physicians certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS). Consumers may call the Plastic Surgery Information Service at: 1-800-635-0635 or access the ASPRS website at http://www.plasticsurgery.org for informational brochures and names of qualified plastic surgeons in their areas.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Brain Booster
The drug, physostigmine, when administered to people by infusion in laboratory tests, aids and improves performance of everyday working memory. Working memory is the process which temporarily holds information such as a phone number until a person gets to a phone to dial the number.
In a new laboratory study, conducted by the National Institute on Aging, researchers used positron emission tomography (PET) to find and monitor the areas of the human brain that are activated during working memory, and to determine how activity in those regions is modified by a working memory enhancing drug. Physostigmine is a short-acting drug that enhances levels of a substance (acetylcholine) between neurons in the brain.
The drug improves efficiency and reduces the effort needed to perform working memory tasks while altering the activity of some of the brain regions activated by this memory task. The drug may also enhance efficiency during the processing of information by focusing attention on the task at hand or it could help minimize the effects of distracting stimuli.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Good Deals and Great Adventures for 50-plusers
"Unbelievably Good Deals and Great Adventures That You Absolutely Can't Get Unless You're Over 50" by Joan Rattner Heilman (1997, Contemporary Books, Chicago) is for people who love to do interesting things and go to new places...for a very modest price.
This latest version of the best-seller includes nineteen chapters of insights and advice on traveling single, cut-rate airfares, out-of-the-ordinary escapades, beating the costs of car rentals, going back to school after 50, senior discounts at hotels, tax and insurance breaks, shopping tips, and volunteer opportunities.
You will also find descriptions and addresses of organizations that target the needs of 50-plus adults. Here's the best part. The book's available in major bookstores for just $10.95.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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OTC Drugs Save Consumers $20 Billion
American consumers saved $20 billion last year by using nonprescription, over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to treat an expanding range of conditions appropriate for self-medication. According to a new study conducted for the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association, and released by Kline & Company Inc, consumer healthcare savings attributable to self-care with OTC medicines jumped form $10 billion in 1987 to $20 billion in 1996.
The increase in savings associated with the use of OTC medicines resulted from higher healthcare costs, the continuing transfer of prescription drugs to nonprescription status, and the public's desire to take full advantage of expanding opportunities for self-medication.
The study examined 12 self-treatable conditions responsible for about 60% of U.S. OTC drug sales: allergy, headache, arthritis, rash, sinusitis, common cold, athlete's foot, jock itch, heartburn/indigestion, backache, acne, and vaginal yeast infection. The consumer savings were determined by calculating what consumers would be likely to spend if, instead of using OTC medicines, they were to see a doctor, purchase a prescription medication and lose time from work.
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Genes Still Tight With Aging
Cognition (acquiring and processing information) depends as much on genetic inheritance as on environmental factors, according to a new study of 80-year-old Swedish twins, funded by the National Institute on Aging.
A wide range of environmental factors such as geography, education, socioeconomic status, nutritional habits, occupation, disease and stress might be expected to have substantial influences on cognition. However, this study shows that the effects of environment on cognition are barely equal to the effects that genetic inheritance has on cognition.
Because cognition plays an important role in determining the quality of life for elders, understanding how cognition develops as people age could lead to beneficial interventions that might slow or reverse cognitive decline. Gerald E. McClearn, PhD, of the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics at Pennsylvania State University, says that "in the group of Swedes that we studied, even the effects of over 80 years of environmental influence didn't eliminate the impact of heredity on cognitive ability".
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Dr. David Demko, Editor
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