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I hate to tell this as it may bring bad luck, but i wore glasses since I was in high school and no doubt needed them badly before that. Just no one knew. I had a pretty significant prescription.
Then, about 12-13 years ago, in my 50's I noticed my Rx was not working anymore and my eyes hurt when I wore the glasses. Finally, I lost the pair I was wearing and in a few months did not need them at all. Fast forward 10 years. I had a complete eye exam with a real opthomologist due to a "floater" and it turns out that at 65 I have perfect vision., reading and distance. No lasik no glasses.
I know it is probably a transition, but I can't tell you how good 12-13 years without correction feels after 40 years of glasses and contacts. I am really grateful for not giving in to lasik in the 90's when all my friends got it. Most can't see the dashboard of their cars without readers now.
If I did get lasik, I would get only one eye done. I did that with contacts for decades. I had one contact in and the other eye none. I saw distance in the left eye and reading in the right. Apparently it did not hurt anything and was very convenient.
I have Younger Next Year and have read it through. It is of course pure garbage. Written by an extreme exercise nut, I wonder how the author's unqualified recommendation of one hour of strenuous exercise six days a week would strike our members here.
He does allow that if you are just starting the regimen he recommends that you may want to take a month long sabbatical at a cross country skiing camp or a European month long bicycle trip. He's an idiot. I can just see a 70 year old granny who has no experience on a bike and no history of exercise going on a month long bike trip across Europe. Great idea? Thank the author.
A runner suffers an average of three injuries every two years. Serious enough to go to the ER or miss work. A bicyclist even more. So the thought of a bunch of seniors doing an hour a day six days in a row is absurd. And he is not suggesting a walk or some shuffleboard. He is talking skiing, bicycling, etc. He specifically disses walking and low intensity exercise as useless.
As for the benefits of cardiovascular exercise, it is true that persons with diagnosed serious heart troubles benefit from exercise of the heart muscle. It is not a fact nor is there any proof that an otherwise healthy senior without heart disease benefits from cardio exercise. On the contrary, the constant flow of injuries all serious exercisers suffer make it almost impossible to conclude it is a good idea.
And, you have ridiculously chosen as your center piece of exercise equipment a three or four story staircase with no safety equipment whatsoever, which would baffle any serious person as to its wisdom. Think about it. A staircase is your idea of health promoting exercise equipment? If you believe that, there is no hope. I'll pray for you.
Every now and then even a famous person falls to this bicycling thing. Gene Hackman is my favorite actor and this may be the end for him. These "minor" injuries often are the beginning of the end. Sadly, all quite unnecessarily. If you are 80 or even 65 and you read the popular book, Younger Next Year, don't accept the author's thesis on faith, that's all. He's wrong. You are more likely to have a loss of life or quality of life from an exercise related injury doing the extreme exercise the author demands than you are to benefit by a little better heart/lung function as you putter around in the garden or get off and on your golf cart. Extreme exercise is for extreme nuts.
"Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Friday in Islamorada, Florida, the state highway patrol said.The 81-year-old, who was not wearing a helmet, was transported to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami with "serious" injuries, according to the highway patrol."
re: household equipment for the aging population---I am having difficulty maneuvering my clunky & heavy vac around the house. I hate vacuum cleaners, esp the bag ones. I need an upright that is very powerful suction-wise but does not weigh a ton and also that easily gets under furniture and into corners--something probably only the Swedes would design. Does anyone have a recommendation and approximate cost? I need to get this soon.
re: household equipment for the aging population---I am having difficulty maneuvering my clunky & heavy vac around the house. I hate vacuum cleaners, esp the bag ones. I need an upright that is very powerful suction-wise but does not weigh a ton and also that easily gets under furniture and into corners--something probably only the Swedes would design. Does anyone have a recommendation and approximate cost? I need to get this soon.
I think that is the point of those Oreck vacs (which I think are overpriced).
Every now and then even a famous person falls to this bicycling thing. Gene Hackman is my favorite actor and this may be the end for him. These "minor" injuries often are the beginning of the end. Sadly, all quite unnecessarily. If you are 80 or even 65 and you read the popular book, Younger Next Year, don't accept the author's thesis on faith, that's all. He's wrong. You are more likely to have a loss of life or quality of life from an exercise related injury doing the extreme exercise the author demands than you are to benefit by a little better heart/lung function as you putter around in the garden or get off and on your golf cart. Extreme exercise is for extreme nuts.
"Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman was struck by a car while riding a bicycle Friday in Islamorada, Florida, the state highway patrol said.The 81-year-old, who was not wearing a helmet, was transported to Ryder Trauma Center in Miami with "serious" injuries, according to the highway patrol."
I think there is a large middle ground - between "extreme" and "puttering around the garden". My husband used to run about 2 miles a day for 20+ years - until he was about 60 (he trained for and ran a couple of marathons in his 40's) - until his MS got the best of him. Don't know where he'd be at now without the MS - probably still running daily - just not as far. He does a "bike" workout at the Y 3-4 times a week. I like to walk - play golf too.
I don't see how Gene Hackman's being hit by a pickup truck has anything to do with this. Don't know who (if anyone) was at fault. But Hackman wasn't wearing a helmet - and perhaps not cycling in a safe pace to cycle. Or maybe the guy in the truck was at fault. I had a friend in Miami whose husband - a 35 something triathlete - was killed riding his bike during a training session in the early morning - doing absolutely nothing wrong - when some guy who had spent the last 12 hours drinking - slammed into him and killed him.
I think moderation - and taking reasonable safety precautions if you're doing something like running or riding a bike on the road - is the right way to go for most people (regardless of age). Robyn
I think there is a large middle ground - between "extreme" and "puttering around the garden". My husband used to run about 2 miles a day for 20+ years - until he was about 60 (he trained for and ran a couple of marathons in his 40's) - until his MS got the best of him. Don't know where he'd be at now without the MS - probably still running daily - just not as far. He does a "bike" workout at the Y 3-4 times a week. I like to walk - play golf too.
I don't see how Gene Hackman's being hit by a pickup truck has anything to do with this. Don't know who (if anyone) was at fault. But Hackman wasn't wearing a helmet - and perhaps not cycling in a safe pace to cycle. Or maybe the guy in the truck was at fault. I had a friend in Miami whose husband - a 35 something triathlete - was killed riding his bike during a training session in the early morning - doing absolutely nothing wrong - when some guy who had spent the last 12 hours drinking - slammed into him and killed him.
I think moderation - and taking reasonable safety precautions if you're doing something like running or riding a bike on the road - is the right way to go for most people (regardless of age). Robyn
I think your excellent thread got hijacked by a discussion of the much talked about book, Younger Next Year. The thesis of the book is that 6 day a week vigorous exercise with an emphasis on bicycling and skiing, is the ONLY path for seniors to have high quality life in the last years.
There are things an 80 year old should not be doing, IMO. Vigorous cardio bike riding on a public highway is one of them, helmet or not. I think a bike is perfect for a gentle trip over to the clubhouse in a gated community, or a quiet ride on a bike path where cars and competitive bikers are not present.
My point in posting the Hackman thing is that many of us want to deny the statistics that biking is a dangerous sport for all ages and particularly for seniors. His not having a helmet did not contribute to his injuries as far as has been reported and he would have been injured regardless.
I had nursing home duty in a law firm for several years and repeatedly saw persons who were doing just fine until some "minor" injury sent them to the hospital. For myself, i am going to avoid that if I can. Call it caution.
re: household equipment for the aging population---I am having difficulty maneuvering my clunky & heavy vac around the house. I hate vacuum cleaners, esp the bag ones. I need an upright that is very powerful suction-wise but does not weigh a ton and also that easily gets under furniture and into corners--something probably only the Swedes would design. Does anyone have a recommendation and approximate cost? I need to get this soon.
I have a good Bissell I bought a couple of years ago but don't remember how much I paid. Being the frugalista I am I know it wasn't all that much but it works great. Lightweight and no bag. I do take it apart every couple of months and wash all the filters, etc. because we have a powdery dust here that clogs everything. It gets under my bed to a certain extent but it also has a long hose and extension wands that reach under further. Sometimes it's easier to just pull the bed out and vacuum but I'm not gonna do that very often! I also bought the Bissell carpet steamcleaner last summer and love that too. It cost close to $100 for that but well worth it. I got both at Walmart. You might want to go online to the Walmart website and check out all they have. They carry everything from Dirt Devil to Dyson.
I had the opportunity (born of necessity) to design my own house in 2000 because the crumbling cottage I planned to fix up over time crumbled faster than fixing, and I also learned that one *can* total a house, like a smashed-up car. Due to the footprint of the cottage and proximity to wetlands (and endless town/state regs) I had to have a house on the same footprint, which was about 700 sq.ft. shaped like broken teeth. After a lot of negotiations and a design by an artist (not an architect), I have a house that is roughly 32x32, no squares corners but all angles. I specifically wanted my main living needs on the first floor. In the cottage, I once twisted my ankle and noticed quickly that my bedroom was upstairs and the bathroom downstairs. Anyone can have an injury. (In fact, two years ago, I had a very badly infected dog bite on my ankle- daily IV antibiotics for five weeks and felt *very* clever for having my bedroom, the main bath and washer/dryer all on the first floor. The second floor is 12x32-ish loft, with storage and a full bath. I can go forever without going up there.
Now, the approach to my house is like a stepped boardwalk and too steep for a ramp, but this was the property I had to work with. I did tell the builder that I wasn't looking for full-blown w/c-accessible design, but not to design *in* anything unnecessary that would become a problem.
I have a fenced yard accessed by the back door on the first floor and have six dogs who I constantly let in and out. I have thought of getting the stepped entry boardwalk heated to prevent ice.
I already pay my neighbor who built the house to maintain it and the yard and pay him cash. I already have hired a cleaning service (four lovely professional Brazilian ladies) and they come in once a month and storm the place.
The main thing I consider for any disability or compromised older age is being car-dependent. I do look around at assisted living/etc. places, just to have a backup plan, just in case. I never want to be caught flat-footed, and here I am 58 and working full-time for at least several more years. I just want to try and have enough money to hire whatever help I might need or want, and to have enough to move to a more suitable living place if need be.
My sister lives where she is totally car-dependent and she says, "My friends and I are all going to take care of each othre," and I pointed out that they are all in the same age range and will likely encounter the same kind of problems at the same time.
I watch the elders in my life (dear friend in Colorado, aunt and father in south Jersey) to see how they handle things that come up as they are all in their late 80s with varying levels of health and income and "children to help out."
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. Robyn
Vacuum for oldsters
