Welcome to Baby Boomer Health Care

This app is so handy to use. It’s compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad and there is an Android app you can download. The company also states they are currently working on making it possible to download the app from other phones.  I’ve downloaded it to my iPhone.  When I go to the grocery store, I look at the ingredients on the back of every box and every can, before I put it into my grocery cart. It used to be very time consuming and sometimes the print is so small I can barely read it.

But now my life has been made a lot easier, at least when it comes to grocery shopping.  Now when I go to the store, I go to my app “Fooducate” and when I look at a box of cereal I scan it with my iPhone and Fooducate tells me about the cereal.  I find out how much sugar is in a serving, if it is really healthy for me or not and actually has an “alternative” cereal that is more healthy for me.

I’m always amazed at how deceiving a food product really is.  The name of the product will make you think it’s really good for us.  For instance,  the cereal  may contain the words “whole grain” in its title but, in reality, it isn’t 100% whole grain.  There may be a small quantity but I would have thought it was 100% whole grain. With this app I can find out what it is really made of and how much of the “good stuff” is in there and how much of the “bad stuff” is in there.  It tells me if it contains trans fat and/or BHT.  Fooducate will even rate the food for you. 

The app has about 160,000 products and they update it continuously.  It was initially created by dieticians and concerned parents. It appears to be a totally objective analysis.  The company claims it is not associated with any food manufacturers and the company doesn’t sell any pills, supplements or diets.

I really recommend trying this app out.  I have been amazed at how wrong I am about certain products I’ve been buying for years and the app has done all the hard work.  I love this one.   

Well, it looks like we care more about certain health concerns and not enough about the biggest threat to baby boomer’s health – being obese.  I actually thought we were thinner than the generation above us and certainly thinner than the the generation younger than us.  But, 36% of us are obese and  we are 10% heavier than the generation below and above us.  There are 36% of us who fall in the “overweight” category.  That means there are only 28% of us who aren’t overweight.  Those are pretty incredible statistics.

I know how hard it is to lose weight.  I have had to diet almost my entire life.  But, I know one thing I did that made it a lot easier.  Instead of changing what I eat I just cut down on the amount.  I don’t eat a lot of bad foods and I love vegetables and salads.  But, I also love breads, pizza and fattening sauces.  So, when I have bread, I just eat one slice instead of two.  I eat about one-third less than I used to and I lost 10 pounds and have kept it off.  I didn’t give up anything.  I just eat less of it.

According to the article, which was taken from a study reported in Medical News Today, not only does being obese cause some cancers, it also increases the likelihood of a cancer recurring or being an aggressive cancer.  It could cause sleep apnea, respiratory problems, liver and gallbladder disease and, of course, high blood pressure and diabetes.

The article goes on to state that obese baby boomers will cost 34% more than those who aren’t obese.  However, the article also went on to say that one third of us are trying to do something to improve our health.  Those statistics are encouraging but we need to raise the numbers of baby boomers trying to improve their health.

What i am trying to say is we have to help each other.  If you need to lose a few pounds.  Find a partner to do it with.  It’s easier when we have someone to “share” the experience with and it doubles the  accomplishment because there are two of us losing weight, not just one.  We have gone through so much in our life; from assassinations of a president, presidential candidate, Martin Luther King, Viet Nam, etc., etc. We owe it to ourselves to be our own best friend.  We all deserve to enjoy our “sunset” years and I am here to help in any way I can.

I am going to partner with my husband to lose my next five pounds.  Good luck ya’ll.

Dr. David Brailer was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal regarding the idea of individuals having access to their own electronic health (EHR)records.  If you look around our website you will find  many EHR articles directed to healthcare professionals regarding setting up their offices with EHRs.  The government is even providing a cash incentive for those healthcare providers who set up an EHR system and follow specific guidelines set up by the government to reach “meaningful use.”  

What does this mean for us babyboomers?  There are definite advantages and perhaps some disadvantages.  A couple of the advantages are that we could obtain access to our medical records so that we will have information regarding medications, lab reports, x-rays, etc., no matter where we are.  It also means the possibility of going to an office who is unfamiliar with your situation yet would be able access all your records with a couple of “clicks” on the keyboard.

The negative of this is probably obvious.  The security and privacy aspect.  There are some concerns regarding information being hacked into but, this is also true of paper chart keeping. So, it isn’t an issue to be feared only if your records are kept electronically.

The Wall Street Journal refers to Dr. Brailer as  America’s first digital health czar and from my listening to the interview,  it appears he is very supportive of having medical records available to us electronically and he added that he felt it would be us babyboomers who push the EHR’s through the system to become as commonly used as emails.  

I think it is a great idea and I believe it would cut down on mistakes made by healthcare professionals. What do you think about it?

Well, someone has been working in the government.  They have just released 68 mobile phone-based apps.  Several of these apps are health-related programs.  These are all free apps so please check them out.  You could download them to your computer or any smartphone.  I checked them out and there are some really practical ones we could all use.  One app tells you about any food recalls so if think you heard something but you’re not sure it applies to your city, then just go to your app.  

There is also an app to locate the closest health center.  So, if  you’re away from home or just in an area you’re not familiar with, and you need help, you can use their information to find one.

There is a Medline app that will answer a huge variety of questions and there’s one you can use at a restaurant and you’re not sure which entree or appetizer is the better choice.

Too many apps to mention them all but go to the site I have just linked for you and look them over.  There are some interesting ones, practical one and some that are just fun.

As always, I’ll do my best to keep us all informed  about anything and everything us babyboomers could benefit from.

Take care.

I found another app that all of us could benefit from.  It’s a free app for iphones or android users and it will help assist you in all types of medical emergencies.  It’s called MedJet Assist and it has received very positive reviews.  It tells you how to handle anything from a bee sting to how to set a fracture or what to do if someone has a heart attack.  It is a valuable tool to assist you until medical assistance is obtained.  

But, it isn’t just for emergencies, it also will give you good advice if you’re have a toothache or a headache.  It’s really a medical advice book in an app. 

Usually we’re aren’t that far away from help but there are a lot of babyboomers traveling these days, either visiting family or just enjoying life and if an emergency presents itself in the middle of nowhere or anywhere, there might be some great advice contained in this little gem of information.

I have always had a medical advice book in our home but we aren’t always home.  I think this might be the next best thing to grabbing the medical emergency book off the shelf.

It’s another app for babyboomers but it’s so good I’d tell your kids about it too!

I think a lot of us babyboomers have been worried about whether or not there would be any Social Security left for us when we hit retirement age.  Well, in the July/August issue of AARP, Liz Weston dispels a lot of those fears.

According to Ms. Weston, although Social Security’s finances need “some work”, the remedies are not drastic and several proposals have been forwarded.  If these proposals are combined and put into place, the program will be  back on financially,  firm ground. 

Many of us have felt that Social Security’s assets are not worth anything but according to Weston, we haven’t done our homework.  Apparently, if we look a little closer we will find that any surplus payroll taxes are used to purchase special-issue, interest paying Treasury bonds and are totally guaranteed and backed by the federal government, just as they are for other Treasury bondholders. The Treasury is scheduled to pay back these bonds shortly.  

Ms. Weston states in her article that even if there were no changes made to Social Security it could continue to pay full benefits through 2037.  

If Weston is correct, and she has been writing about Social Security for at least twenty years, we are in better shape than I thought.  Of course, I hope  proposals are put into action to ensure a more financially secure retirement for future generations.  But, it is good to hear something other than the typical doomsday scenarios presented to us on a daily basis.

Anytime I come across any updates regarding our Social Security benefits, I’ll let you know.  But, maybe, just maybe, we are a little better off than we thought.

Well ya’ll, I’ve been searching for a way to have all my passwords for all my different accounts stored in one place without feeling too nervous about the wrong person gaining access to them.  And, I’m happy to report that I believe Splash ID Safe is the answer,  I downloaded it for under $10.00, which is the price for iPhones, iPod touch, iPad, Androids and Blackberrys. I am finally able to store my credit card passwords, bank passwords, PINs and all those other passwords I have had to memorize .  I had written them on a piece of paper I have hidden, but I’m not always where the piece of paper is.  So, now I have everything on one site.  You can categorize everything.  From bank accounts to charge cards and mortgage accounts, I have it all available to me at one location.  I can retrieve the information from any of my mobile devices which include the iphone and ipad.

I called my Dad and had him download it onto his computer, which isn’t an Apple and he is loving it.  He put alls kinds of personal information on it, including account numbers for life insurance, combination of his safe at home and the location and number for his safe deposit account at his bank.

The app is called SplashID and I think it is worth your while to check it out.  It advertises its security features as being impenetrable but read about it and let me know what you think.

Talk to you soon. 

Among those who do develop Alzheimer’s, there are those who accept their situation and there are those who don’t. I’m referring to those who refuse to accept even the idea that they might have Alzheimer’s. You have no idea how a parent may react.  Their reaction to your concerns might be extremely hurtful and not what you would expect.  I believe everyone should speak to their family or caretakers to talk about the possibility and how to best handle the situation if it were to arise. If you and your elderly caretakers do not put into place some kind of plan, your ability to help them becomes extremely difficult.

Their doctor’s first impulse is to protect their patients.  If the signs are subtle or sporadic, and therefore the doctor doesn’t detect any problems, you may not be helped by the doctor.  If you have no power of attorney, there may be nothing you can do until the signs become apparent to anyone. Even if you do have a Power of Attorney, you would have to prove in court that your family member is incompetent.  Unfortunately, a loved one could hurt themselves or others by the time their condition is recognized.

If you call the Alzheimer’s Association they will be very good listeners and refer you to a local chapter.  The chapter will have access to an “Elder Care” association that will go to a home to check on an individual who is suspected of having Alzheimer’s or being unable to care for themselves.  However, unless the loved one is exhibiting obvious signs of dementia, they will leave and close the case.

A living will that might designate you as a caretaker in the event of Alzheimer’s is useless unless you are able to prove they are incompetent.

The problem surrounding a loved one with what appears to be the beginning Stages of Alzheimer’s is if they are in denial and do get angry, they could cut off communication with you and there would be nothing you could do about it.

Everyone who develops Alzheimer’s progresses differently.  If your loved one is independent and high functioning the likelihood of them accepting their plight  is unlikely,  The importance of this is they could have an “episode” wherein they pay for items two or three times or maybe not at all.  They may not  know where they are or what they are doing, including driving.  They could end up hurting themselves or someone else.  You cannot take their keys away without a diagnosis.  You can’t force them to go to a doctor to get the diagnosis and you can’t help them manage their finances unless they let  you.  No one will help you help them unless the disease has worsened to the point anyone would be able to identify it as Alzheimer’s.

The other sad part of this difficult road is most medications used for the disease work best if they are taken in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  If the medicine isn’t administered at that point, its positive effects are diminished, the disease progresses more quickly and their time is shortened.

The medical industry and our government must design a plan to help those who show the beginnings signs but refuse to admit it.  There has to be a plan put into place for family members to be able to help them without having to encounter one roadblock after another.

I have found another free APP for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and BlackBerrys. It’s called BuddyGuard and I just started using it.  I am going to download it to my Dad’s phone (he’s 83), my Mother-in-law’s phone (she’s 74) and my husband’s phone.

Ya’ll, I know I’ve been telling you about some good APPs, but this could really, really help.  I am always running around, going out of town and I’m by myself fairly frequently.  I am always on the search for good APPs when I came across this one.  It can sense increased G-forces occurring during a car accident and will automatically call for help.  You can also enter a distress PIN to send an emergency alert.  Every three seconds the APP recods audio, snaps photos and notes your GPS coordinates.

What a secure feeling to know that at least I don’t have to feel I’m stranded.  It’s great for babyboomers living alone or even if you don’t, it sure makes me feel secure.  Please, check this out.

Aarp just finished scouting out some good APPs for us babyboomers and I love this one.  It’s called “HeyTell”, and let me tell you,it’s great.  It’s a free app you can download from your iphone or droid.  Once installed, you make sure your name and number is in your phone directory and then just follow the instructions for adding whomever you want to your list.  If you need to speak to them, you don’t have to dial them or text them.  All you do is go to your HeyTell and push the name of whom you need to speak to or just leave a message, and then just push the talk button and start speaking.  So, if you suffer from arthritis, like I do, it makes speaking on a cell so much easier.

If there is an emergency, just push the button to talk on your HeyTell and you can use it like a walkie talkie. And if you need them to show their location or you want them to know your location, you can add the feature for those you want to. So, don’t worry.  The only way anyone knows where you are is if you allow it.  There are different privacy levels on the app to allow different people different levels.

I love the way mobile telephones are incorporating all kinds of apps that work so well for us babyboomers.  It’s getting easier and easier.  Have fun!