Life After 50/wmkvfm.org Cincinnati

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Added: Sun. Aug 07, 2011 7:17pm
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WMKV 89.3 FM ON AIR

WMKVFM.ORG ON THE INTERNET

 “LIFE AFTER 50” COL FOR

8-8-11 on AIR

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            HELLO AGAIN. THIS IS ALICE HORNBAKER FOR WMKV 89.3 FM BRINGING YOU ANOTHER   “LIFE AFTER 50” COLUMN THAT IS HEARD, EXCLUSIVELY, ON WMKV 89.3 FM AND WMKVFM.ORG   AROUND THE WORLD ON THE INTERNET, MONDAYS AND THURSDAYS AT 2:20 P.M., AND FRIDAYS AT 8:50 A.M. AND AS A BLOG ON THE SITE, GROWINGBOLDER.COM   UNDER BLOGS/ LIFE AFTER FIFTY/AJHORNBAKER.

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       You can’t pick up a newspaper, or turn on a TV news show, or visit a home website without some headline shouting at you to keep moving into your old age. The adage often repeated is  “use it or lose it.”

 

       A quote I remember from a news story came from Dr. Cheryl Phillips, a San Francisco physician and then president of the American Geriatrics Society in 2010. She said, “Physical activity is more powerful than any medication a senior can take.”

 

       One way to stay active is to dance. Yes dance, whether it is in your home or on someone else’s dance floor. Perhaps women who play a lot of cards might consider throwing in a DVD dance disc and moving to the rhythms at break times.

 

       The dance message came true loud and clear for me as I videotaped a first time senior prom recently at my retirement community. Seniors were invited to dress up and dance up a storm one Saturday night, whether with a partner or alone. They came, they sang words to the tunes of the 40s and 50s played by a deejay up on a stage, and yes, they danced.

 

It was heartening to watch them move to the tunes or doing line dances or even joining in for the Hokey Pokey. It was heartening to see one elderly woman, on the heavy side and with a cane, out there on the dance floor moving to the music. She’d put her great-grandkids to shame.

 

Every culture since time began has danced. But today too many seniors still think that kind of movement is reserved for their grandkids, not them.

 

Not true. Today’s dance floors are full of all kind of dancers simply creating their own movements to the tunes playing for them Plus doing it regularly can help keep you healthy far into old age.

 

But what else can you do to stay healthy as you age besides physical activity?

 

Of course get all you shots. With summer waning, put on the calendar to get your fall flu and pneumonia shots. Many experts recommend also a single vaccination against shingles after age 60 and a tetanus booster shot every 10 years.

 

Finally do whatever you can to prevent a fall. Recently I took a nasty tumble after grabbing my small dog and swooping her up into my arms, She wiggled and I fell. For a month I looked like the latest mug shots in a police lineup, with a black eye and bruises from forehead to chin. 

 

Could that fall had been prevented? Sure, had I not put myself off balance with my dog, but who thinks about that when a situation happens suddenly? Will I now? You betcha.

 

One more thing. Talk to your healthcare professional on how you can personally prevent falls. Every year almost one-third of adults 65 and older fall. That results in about 450,000 hospitalizations and 16,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Remind yourself also to get rid of throw rugs, install easy-to-grab bars in the bathroom and check out medications with your doctor to see if they might affect balance. Believe me, falling is painful.

 

But the real bottom line is this: anything you can do to keep moving and to stay active as you age will make growing older healthier, safer, and lot more fun.

 

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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO REACH ME MY EMAIL   ADDRESS   IS: AJHORNBAKER@YAHOO.COM, (REPEAT). OR   LEAVE A   MESSAGE FOR ME AT THE CINCINNATI   WMKV STUDIOS, 782-2427.  FOR WMKV, THIS IS ALICE HORNBAKER, FOR  “LIFE AFTER 50” COLUMN, ON AIR   AT   89.3 FM PUBLIC RADIO.