“Just another drink”

Posted on November 29, 2015 by john graham

Ever since I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve been following all type of announcements on research into aspects of ageing.  A great many of them fall into the realms of health issues.  As every year passes, you are tempted to clutch the straw of any piece of research advice that offers the potential to extend longevity.  Research and advice on exercise is easy to find but harder to do.  It all requires you to make more effort than usually comes naturally to you.

Similarly there’s a vast amount of information and suggestion on the right type of diet to adopt.  You will see in my tag cloud many references to the healthy virtues of everything from breakfast cereals to every variety of vegetable and numerous unheard of berries and nuts.  I do my best to eat as much of this as possible but I must admit to frequent relapses as I go back to an appetite for good food which has been acquired over a lifetime.

That’s why it’s easier to follow advice on what to drink because other than sourcing the ingredients, it’s not too difficult to achieve.  The problem with drinks is that there is so much advice.  So over the years I’ve started to drink more and more fruit juices – beetroot, apple, orange etc, all recommended by one researcher or another.

Fruitresearch3

(See Fruitful Research 3 which you can find by clicking on the ARCHIVE for January 2011)

Then of course there’s my favourite green tea which frequently features in my blogs ever since I visited Japan.

greentea

(See “Green Tea is good for you” by clicking on the ARCHIVE for October 2015)

My favourite recommendation to follow is the copious quantities of red wine recommended to cure just about everything.

red wine

(See “Red Wine is f-f-fine” by clicking on the ARCHIVE for October 2015)

Finally I must not forget the end of the day cup of cocoa aimed at staving off Alzheimer’s.  (See “Night Night, Sleep Tight” by clicking on the ARCHIVE for August 2014).

As if this wasn’t enough, researchers at Harvard Medical School, recently managed to get a leading article in The Times extoling the virtues of coffee.  The research suggests it can lower the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and neurological diseases.  “The cholorogenic acid and lignans have antioxidant effects and might be responsible for the inverse association of coffee and mortality.”  The fact that it’s in The Times is research conducted by an eminent American University, is full of long incomprehensible medical words and has been carried out by a researcher called Ming Ding, absolutely and totally confirms that it must be right and probably preserves life forever 🙂

So it now appears that on top of all my other life prolonging drinks, I will have to consume three cups of coffee a day.   At least I’ll have something more interesting to talk about to the Starbucks Baristas after I’ve told them whether I want sprinkles on my cappuccino.

 

 

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“Cloud Surfing – Trekking”

Posted on November 22, 2015 by john graham

Still cloud surfing on the lookout for interesting examples of older people making the most of later life.    (See earlier blogs found in this thread by clicking on CLOUD SURFING in the TAG CLOUD).

The internet is difficult to navigate, especially when you don’t have a compass and the stars in the sky are obscured by the clouds.    It also doesn’t help when you don’t know where you are going or what exactly you are looking for.

I always liken it to trying to find someone in a telephone directory, if it is not arranged in alphabetical order.    You know they are in there but you just can’t find them :-(.

Using search terms like – older people, pensioners or seniors (if you’re American), just does not work for people who don’t think of themselves as defined by their age.  So you end up trying to catch hold of a cloud !

There is one other variable in this quest and that is my lack of skill and patience with the computer.    I inadvertently delete things and then can’t always find my way back to where I was.    Alternatively I save things and can’t remember where I have saved them.    Finally, I get side-tracked into other interesting peoples’ blogrolls, YouTube videos, photo galleries, Google earth…………….and so the search meanders all over the cloudscape !

But the key is to enjoy the journey, in the knowledge that you will eventually find a piece of hidden treasure, somewhere up there, lost in the clouds.

cloudsurf_meg peterson

Today, I found Meg Noble Peterson.  An American lady who I think lives in the North West of the USA.    Her blog is full of fascinating stories about trekking around the world sometimes with her daughter.    Great stories, great photos – Nepal, India, Africa and even the wilds of England :-).    All this with a new hip and an intrepid explorer’s spirit.

It certainly puts my couch potato travels with computers and cloud surfing into perspective.

You can find Meg’s blog by clicking on megnoblepeterson.com.  It’s a great blog which is well worth a visit, especially if like me you’re less adventurous in your older age.  Reading Meg’s blog can take you travelling around the world.  It’s a real rebuke to the stereo type of older people slowing down in later life.

Thanks Meg, you are an inspiration to us all.

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“Poker played with peoples lives !”

Posted on November 15, 2015 by john graham

Four years ago, in 2011, my blog followed the demise of Southern Cross which was then the largest care home operator in the UK.   (You can read the full story by clicking on “Southern Cross” in the TAG CLOUD).

It was optimistically conceived in an ever-growing population of frail older people who were funded by the State.   Eventually this rapidly assembled and dangerously financially leveraged corporate empire collapsed in on itself.

I likened the whole process to a poker game, where money was the only driver and the residents were just cards to play in the high stakes game.     When Southern Cross went bust, the spoils were divided up between the remaining players and the second largest care home operator — Four Seasons Health Care — inherited the largest chunk of homes to pay off Southern Cross debts.

Sadly, the market fundamentals had not changed and Four Seasons were just as highly indebted.      I forecast that it was likely to happen all over again and sure enough it has.   Four Seasons has £500m of debt and annual interest bills of £50m.    Occupancy levels are falling and Social Services’ fees are being squeezed, so the outlook doesn’t look good.    The new minimum wage may just be the tipping point for yet another collapse.

The poker game is still being played out to see if Four Seasons becomes the next Southern Cross.    That’s 22,500 old people who have an uncertain future in 470 care homes.

pokerV3 (4)

It is high time Government accepted that social care of the elderly is too important to be left to a card game of chance.    We need a 21st century positive outlook to later life which offers all older people a secure and caring future.    This can only come about if politicians are honest with older people about the limited state funding that is available to pay for care.

In turn that means that most older people will have to cash in the equity in their own homes if they need to pay for care.    The Government’s key future role should be to encourage greater provision of retirement housing and facilitate less expensive and more trustworthy models of equity release.

Posted in Residential Care | 1 Comment

“Wistful Drinking”

Posted on November 9, 2015 by john graham

It is really difficult keeping up with all the research on the links between health and longevity.  Only a couple of weeks ago I was delighted to discover that drinking copious amounts of red wine can have beneficial effects on later life (see “Red Wine is f-f-fine by clicking on the previous blog).

I just knew it was too good to be true!

Less than a week later some miserable spoil sport doctors, who are probably all teetotalers, capture headlines in the Daily Mail – 26th October 2015 —- “A month off drinking slashes risk of disease“.      Doctors at the Royal Free Hospital claim stopping drinking alcohol for a month can heal the liver and lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.Drinking

This is a most inconvenient truth, when I have just started digging a new wine cellar under the house!…….and when Christmas is only just around the corner.   It’s no time to stop drinking…….and Aldi have a two for one offer on an excellent Shiraz at the moment.

I’ll bet the Royal Free Hospital doesn’t even do Vineyards on prescription!

Posted in SMILES | 1 Comment

“Duplicitous Politicians”

Posted on November 1, 2015 by john graham

The Conservative Government has not long been elected and now at the first party conference after the election, they are contemplating new policies that they were not prepared to discuss with the very people who voted for them.

At a fringe meeting, the Tax Payers Alliance was putting forward the idea that there should be early cuts to welfare benefits for older people.  They cynically suggested that it would be opportune to remove the winter fuel allowance, free bus passes, the Christmas bonus and other pensioner benefits, because “older people would be dead before the next election”.

The case for cuts was being championed by former Government Minister Liam Fox.    He said “we have to make the moral case for reducing public spending further ………… we have to get really honest with people”.

What a pity this outbreak of morality and honesty wasn’t there before the election.     No wonder politicians are distrusted.

Posted in ELDERLY UK POLICY | 2 Comments

“Red wine is f-f-fine”

Posted on October 25, 2015 by john graham

I have been writing about dementia ever since I started this blog. With increasing longevity in the Western World, dementia is more and more an issue which is overwhelming health services.

Medical researchers in universities all around the world are keeping themselves funded and busy studying possible cures.    I have commented on many of them in earlier posts (you can find by clicking on “Dementia” in the TOPICS LIST).    Fruit and nut growers everywhere must eagerly await the results of the research.    My breakfast cereal is brimming over with every kind  of never-heard-of-heard-nuts , berries and dried fruits.   All recommended by one group of University researchers or another.    Still it it may be costing me a fortune, but the good new is ….. No dementia yet.😀

Now, an even more welcome dementia research revelation from Georgetown University Medical Centre in Washington DC.    It has been known for some time that Resveratrol, which is found in red wine, can have positive effects on “day-to-day” living and can help people with tasks such as cooking.     That’s brilliant, because up until now, I have only been able to cook toasted cheese sandwiches 😀

One slight caveat with the study is that the tests used pure synthetic Resveratrol, which I have not seen on the pharmacy shelves.    To get the same effect with red wine you have to drink 10,000 bottles a day!

red wine

I am looking forward to my cooking skills improving and all that wine drinking should be great fun, but I will have to see if I can get a vinyard on prescription, otherwise it could be a bit expensive.

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“Green tea is good for you”

Posted on October 11, 2015 by john graham

It was three years ago when I first wrote a blog about the virtues of green tea.  (You can read it by clicking on the ARCHIVE – 29 APRIL 2012).  A research study in Tokyo suggested that green tea drinkers were more active and healthier.

Now a more recent small research study in Poland, published in the Scientific Journal, extolled the health benefits of drinking green tea.  Here is a quote from the report which explains it all:

“Green tea is known to exert anti-obesity activity like reduction of adipocyte differentiation and proliferation, lipogenics, fat mass, body weight and fat absorption“.

So now you know!

I have always been worried about my adipocyte differentiation and proliferation but if went to my GP I’m sure he would think I had gone nuts.

On top of all this, I recently came across a blog all about the virtues of tea on the iSeniorsolutions website.  They particularly paid attention to benefits of drinking green tea and how it helps regulate glucose levels for diabetics.  It also improves cholesterol levels.   and even better it contains an anti-oxidant called “Catechin” which helps destroy bacteria and therefore reduces tooth decay.   I don’t know why we are not drinking gallons of the stuff – it would save the NHS a fortune.

I will be trying lots of different teas in future and no doubt be joining the queue in the cartoon below 🙂

greentea

My theory is simpler.  It is all down to the extra exercise you get walking back and forth to the loo :-).

 

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“A Headstone on Assisted Dying – for now”

Posted on October 7, 2015 by john graham

This subject has been a thread running through many of my posts ever since I started this blog in 2010.   It was prompted by the story of Debbie Purdey, an MS sufferer who wanted “the right to die”.  (See “Lucy Died Today” in the ARCHIVE – MARCH 2010).

In the five years since then, I have written nearly 20 posts on the subject – (you can find them all by clicking on “Assisted Suicide” in the TOPICS list and the TAG CLOUD).  It is an emotive subject, which has been brought into the headlines by Lord Falconer’s Bill in the House of Lords and then the House of Commons.  There are strong words and sincerely held views on both sides on the argument.

The emotion is captured in the names of the two opposing lobby groups – “Dignity in Dying” and “Care not Killing”.

Throughout, this protracted discussion has been punctuated by personal stories of individuals making the heart-rending decision to end their own lives by travelling to the euphemistically named “Dignitas Clinic” in Switzerland.

The arguments hang around three key issues :-

  • firstly, being able to draw clear boundaries around the definition of “terminal illness”.   When the reality is that there are no clear boundaries and there has to be a fear that the definition of “terminal illness” will be stretched over time to include issues where quality of life is severely impaired  –  like dementia.   Especially when so many beds are blocked by dementia patients.
  • The second key question is “how long have you got to live”?  Only God knows the answer to that question, but if two doctors can’t see you living for more than 6 months, they would be able to authorise your assisted suicide.
  • The final issue is consent.   The good news is you have to agree to this procedure, but be careful not to do so in a moment of depression or guilt after being led to believe you are a burden.  There are no second chances, no room for regret.

I am relieved to say that MP’s in the House of Commons overwhelmingly voted down the Bill on the 11th September 2015 by 330 against to 115 in favour.

In all my previous posts, whilst I acknowledge there is strength and compassion on both sides of the arguments, I have always leaned in favour of not changing the law.

I worked for years with older people, many of whom had great frailties to overcome.  The great lesson I have been left with is a memory of how much people can achieve in later life in spite of the ravages of old age.

With that in mind I would much prefer people in later life to have:-

A Right to Live

P. S. I very much doubt this debate is over.

Posted in Assisted Suicide | Tagged | 1 Comment

“The NHS Elephant”

Posted on October 5, 2015 by john graham

When the NHS was formed in 1948, it was rightly heralded as a massive achievement in pulling together a host of different health services to produce a universal service freely available to everyone.  There was one holdout group that extracted an eleventh hour compromise – the medical consultants.  To reach agreement with them, Aneurin Bevan had to concede that some doctors could continue with their private work while still being employed by the NHS.

This reluctant concession has been at the root of many of the NHS’s problems ever since.  It created a mechanism for some doctors to earn more money and for wealthier patients to get priority access to care.  I believe it was the origin of long waiting lists because that created a reason to pay to jump the queue.  It helped develop a market for private health care.

elephantintheroom

It was “The Elephant in the Room” even before that expression was used.  It suited the medical elite and their affluent patients not to talk about it, but as health care has become more and more specialised, it has made some members of a noble profession look more like the medical Mafia, acting in their own self-interest rather than that of their NHS patients.  The average hospital consultant now earns £118,000 a year and can opt out of non-emergency work at evenings and weekends.  In reality, many consultants earn much more than this by working in private practice as well.

The universality of the NHS is rapidly disappearing.  The group of people who will be most affected by this are the elderly who are the ones most in need and least able to jump the queue with the wave of a credit card.

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“Cloud Surfing – Warren Flick”

Posted on September 13, 2015 by john graham

Still on my cloud surfing trip and riding on the wave created by Ronnie Bennett, “Time Goes By” blog roll.  Thanks again Ronnie.  This time I have landed on a really interesting blog by Warren Flick which you can find by clicking on this “Laterlivingblog“.

What first caught my eye was a post about a trip Warren made through the high plains.  You can find the story in the archive for April 09, 2015.  It has some great photos that show the huge expanse that is covered by the great plains area and the flatness and dryness of the landscape.  Warren’s writing makes the trip really come to life and probably saves me from following in his footsteps :-).  I’m sure my Texas friend John Tripplehorn would be interested to read his blog and particularly his comments about cowboys and cattle drives.

cloudsurfing Warren

Another post which I found even more interesting was about a retirement community in Florida called The Villages.  You can find it in the archive February 15, 2015.  It was particularly interesting to me because I have spent most of my working life building retirement housing and pioneered the idea of retirement villages in the UK.  I have been to Florida many times but not found this particular village.

The Villages complex that Warren describes, is home to 110,000 older people and covers an areas of 35 square miles.  His post describes it very well so I won’t repeat it here, but what it does show is that many older people in America have many more opportunities for living in retirement than we have in the UK.

When I started working in retirement housing, a typical sheltered housing scheme had between 30 and 40 flats.  Anything bigger than that was regarded, particularly by Social Services Departments, as something of a ghetto for older people.  It took us many years to edge the numbers up from 30 to 40 to 50, but it wasn’t until we built our first retirement village in 1998 at Berryhill in Stoke on Trent that we managed to build our first larger scheme which was 148 flats.  At the time we thought that this was enormous and there was only one other scheme of that size in the UK.  Whilst at the ExtraCare Charitable Trust we subsequently went on to build many more villages, the largest of which so far is at Lark Hill Village in Nottingham which is over 300 flats and bungalows.

In spite of their noted success, retirement villages as a concept has still not really taken off in the UK and certainly nobody has been adventurous enough to build retirement communities on the scale that are built in the USA.  With the desperate shortage of housing that exists in the UK, maybe someone sooner or later will take this bold step.

My thanks to Warren Flick for this insight into “The Villages in Florida” which you can find by clicking here .

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