10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp as You Age

1) Eat well
A rule of thumb is that what's good for your heart is good for your brain. Indulge in fruits and vegetables and foods with B-complex vitamins, like oats, barley and wheat bran, and omega-3 fatty acids, like fish — especially salmon and tuna. Avoid foods with saturated fat, found in fried foods, butter and cheese.
2) Exercise
Physical activity pumps blood through your organs, including your brain. As little as 30 minutes of low-level activity like brisk walking improves blood flow, which increases neural growth and brain connections. When vessels in the brain are blocked cognitive ability decreases, and the risk of stroke increases, says Rosebud Roberts, associate professor of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.
3) Play games
Thanks to an aging baby-boom generation there are now plenty of mentally stimulating games. Brainteasers and puzzles are good exercises for the brain. So are games that force you to strategize like chess, bridge and solitaire.
4) Learn a new skill
A long-term goal like learning to play a musical instrument or speak another language will challenge your brain on many levels over an extended period of time. A skill like learning to dance is great for the brain because it combines music and movement.
5) Make everyday activities harder
You can stimulate your brain just by mixing up your daily routine. Try brushing your teeth with the opposite hand or showering with your eyes closed — anything that will force you to use more of your senses.
6) Read. Read. Read.
Whether your weapon of choice is this web site, a novel or a newspaper, keeping your mind engaged in intellectual activity and expanding your vocabulary are two important ways to keep your brain in shape. As an added exercise, repeat facts you want to remember a few times in your head and try to recall them again later.
7) Relieve stress
Try yoga, meditation or just taking a breather every now and then. High blood pressure, as well as anxiety and depression, have been linked to declining cognitive function, says Roberts. "Anything you can do to keep your brain active and healthy will be beneficial," she says.
8) Socialize
The brain loves activity. "It's kind of like a party animal," says Doraiswamy. If your lifestyle leaves you isolated, seek out clubs or other social activities that will surround you with people. New scenery and other multi-sensory activities force the brain to form new connections, increasing memory capacity. For more SmartMoney Magazine features, turn to the September issue.
9) Drink
But not too much. Studies have shown that people who drink small amounts of alcohol — between one and six drinks per week — are less likely to develop dementia than people who don't drink at all. Doraiswamy says red wine, in particular, has anti-inflammatory effects, which benefits the brain. But don't overdo it — heavy drinking depletes the brain of B-complex vitamins and Thiamin.
10) Sleep
A healthy sleep pattern is key to maintaining memory function since your brain locks in new information during REM sleep. Adults should get seven to nine hours of sleep each night — and remember, REM is the last of five sleep cycles, so make sure it's an uninterrupted rest.

Guaranteeing health care coverage for all Americans

Each year, I travel to all of Wisconsin's 72 counties and hold an open, town hall-style meeting. In the 17 years I've held these listening sessions, health care has consistently been one of the top issues raised, particularly the skyrocketing cost and difficulty accessing health care. Having listened to the concerns of families, businesses, health-care professionals and others about why health-care reform is so urgently needed, I have the following goals as Congress undertakes this vital and long-overdue debate:



Guaranteeing coverage for all Americans: Every Wisconsinite deserves guaranteed, affordable, high-quality health care — just like every member of Congress has. For too long, Congress has delayed action on reforming our health-care system and now that system is in crisis. It is unacceptable that more than 46 million Americans are uninsured, and that millions more pay for insurance that does not begin to cover their medical needs. We must create a health-care system where the excellent health care that is now only available to some Americans will be available to all.


Supporting a strong public option: While Wisconsinites should be able to retain their current coverage if they choose, providing a strong public health insurance option will allow the government to compete with private insurers in the health insurance market in order to keep health-care costs down for all Wisconsinites, even those who retain their private care. One major benefit of a public option is it would bring welcome relief to areas of our state with high unemployment rates. A public health insurance option would be invaluable to those who have recently been laid off, because it is a guaranteed, affordable option that can travel with an individual from job to job.


Taking a fiscally responsible approach: Reforming our health-care system is also an economic imperative. Americans spend an unsustainable $2.2 trillion on health care each year. From ensuring the solvency of our entitlement programs to helping households across the country balance their checkbooks, reforming health care is necessary to getting health spending under control. Health reform will likely require significant initial investments, but, if done right, it can also yield significant savings in the near future. For example, by adopting the Wisconsin model for health-care delivery, taxpayers would save billions of dollars.


Strengthening long-term and community care: I am committed to making long-term care a key part of any reform. Since my time as chair of the Wisconsin State Senate's Aging Committee, I have worked to give seniors and others needing long-term care the choice to remain in their own homes and communities instead of entering institutional care. Wisconsin's nursing homes provide an invaluable service to our communities, but nursing homes should not be the only option for receiving care. Long-term care must be part of health-care reform because helping more people live in their homes is the best way to meet the preferences of families while saving taxpayer dollars.


Restoring fairness to Medicare reimbursement: The Medicare reimbursement formula has shortchanged Wisconsin for far too long. It is unacceptable that Medicare provides a more generous reimbursement rate for a procedure done in other states than it does when the same procedure is done in Wisconsin, simply because of an outdated and flawed reimbursement formula. I've been fighting to fix this problem for years, and reducing the inequities in Medicare reimbursement payments is a priority of mine as Congress tackles health-care reform.

Individual Mandate for Health Insurance Affordable and Fair

WEDNESDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- Reforming the health insurance market so that all individuals are required to obtain at least a minimum amount of health insurance would eliminate the problem of adverse selection that the current system enables insurers to avoid, according to a perspective published online June 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Linda J. Blumberg, Ph.D., and John Holahan, Ph.D., from the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., write that the consequence of the current system is a health care system segmented according to health risk rather than being focused on providing efficient access to high-quality medical care.

Requiring everyone to have at least a set minimum level of health insurance would eliminate adverse selection, poor health would no longer prevent people from obtaining insurance, and public funds currently spent protecting the uninsured could be redirected to finance a system based on income-related subsidies, the authors argue.

"Enforcement of the mandate is the final issue. Once adequate subsidies exist, enforcement is essentially a matter of fairness to people who are playing by the rules. We believe enforcement through the tax system is the most efficient approach," the authors write. "An enforceable individual mandate, with adequate subsidies and benefits, as well as a choice of plans, is the most politically feasible route to universal coverage in the United States today."

Concern over school medical care

Schools are putting teaching assistants under increasing pressure to carry out medical procedures without appropriate training, a union warns.

Unison says most support staff only hold a basic first aid certificate.

But some are being asked to carry out procedures such as administering drugs for heart problems, changing colostomy bags and testing blood sugar levels.

Government guidelines say staff must be properly trained before carrying out any medical procedure.
And they stress that it is the responsibility of schools to make sure that is happening.

Unison is calling for the introduction of new, tougher guidelines setting out what support staff should and should not be asked to do.

The survey found 85% of the 334 respondents were expected to provide medical support, and 70% to administer medicines as part of their job - even though these are voluntary duties.

Lack of competence

One in four respondents did not feel competent and comfortable with the responsibility of administering medicines or providing medical support.

And one in three said they were not familiar with school policy on how to do it.

Michelle McKenna, a schools support worker from Durham, said: "I know school support staff who routinely have to change colostomy bags, administer drugs or epilepsy medicine.

"Some staff have to do tube feeding or take children as old as their early teens into the toilet - often without proper training.

"Support staff are really worried that they will make a mistake.

"But they are even more worried about the safety of the children they look after.

"Many of the procedures they are being asked to do are above and beyond what they signed up to do, and it is only a matter of time before something terrible happens."

Minority lawmakers seek equality in healthcare reform

WASHINGTON (AFP) — African-American, Hispanic and Asian-American members of the US House of Representatives on Tuesday sought equal protection for minorities under healthcare reform plans pending in Congress.

Of the 47 million uninsured people in the United States, Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Barbara Lee noted that more than half were from racial and ethnic minorities.

"The Congressional TriCaucus stands together and speaks with one voice to demand health care reform NOW, and to demand an end to the factors that perpetuate racial and ethnic health disparities in this country," she said in a statement.

The Congressional TriCaucus groups the Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American caucuses in the US Congress.

Under a proposed bill, TriCaucus members called for eliminating existing racial and ethnic disparities as part of healthcare reform legislation Congress is set to take up in the coming days.

Congressional committees have already begun working on the massive overhaul, a top priority of President Barack Obama's administration.

A draft bill was released Tuesday by Senate Health Committee chairman Edward Kennedy, a Democratic stalwart who has spent much of his career pushing for an overhaul of the healthcare system.

Fellow majority Democrats senators Christopher Dodd and Max Baucus have taken up the legislation due to Kennedy's absence from the Senate due to health concerns of his own.

The healthcare reform legislation seeks to expand medical insurance coverage to all Americans, by reducing healthcare costs and making health coverage affordable to the uninsured.

The plan, which allows those who have insurance to keep their coverage, also aims to reduce by half the huge federal deficit by the end of Obama's term in 2013.

Lack of insurance cover for H1N1-affected travel

IN THE light of a sharp increase in Influenza A (H1N1) cases globally and in Singapore, I had decided to cancel my family's trip to the United States and Canada this month.

My family had planned the trip a few months ago and we were very disappointed that the outbreak of H1N1 flu had derailed our travel plans. However, we followed the advice in the travel advisory issued by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to avoid non-essential travel to the affected areas, which include Canada, Mexico and the US, since I would be travelling with my children, aged nine and 10. I would like to applaud Singapore Airlines for allowing us to cancel our trip from Singapore to New York without penalty.

I had also booked domestic flights from New York to Toronto via Delta and American Airlines, but they refused to let me cancel the bookings with refund on the grounds that the tickets were non-refundable and that they do not classify New York and Canada as affected areas.


Given this, I called MSIG Insurance, as my family is insured under its travel plan, to enquire whether I could file a claim for non-recoverable expenses as a result of trip cancellation based on MOH's travel advisory. To my surprise, I was told by MSIG Insurance that our medical expenses would be covered if we were infected by the H1N1 virus, but expenses arising from trip cancellation due to the H1N1 flu are not covered.

I bought travel insurance for peace of mind, but I felt unprotected in this case. Airlines, travel agencies and insurance companies should play a more active role in supporting MOH's travel advisory by accommodating the needs of passengers or customers who have decided not to travel to affected areas.

For the benefit of other travelers, I would like to ask the General Insurance Association of Singapore for its advice and assistance in forwarding this message to its members.

I hope that insurers can exercise empathy and provide their consumers with better and wider coverage when dealing with unexpected outbreaks of viruses like Sars and H1N1.

Ms Yvonne Kong

Rising Health Insurance Costs Worry Americans

With health insurance costs on the rise, concern American families as to how to afford health care is growing. Increased costs in the health care sector have far outpaced other sectors and standard inflationary rates. The rise in costs is due to a number of reasons. Increases in medical malpractice suits, and thus insurance rates providers must pay, have increased dramatically in the last decade and a half. Misuse of emergency rooms, lack of preventive care, sedentary lifestyles, and increases in the number of elective surgeries are just some of the other reasons behind the rising costs of health insurance.

The current state of the economy and rising jobless numbers is making the situation even tougher. With many families' health insurance tied to their job, the loss of that job means much more than the loss of wages. For families with members with pre-existing conditions, finding affordable rates in a timely manner is difficult but necessary. COBRA health insurance gives workers rights to continue their coverage in the event of a job less, however, workers usually are responsible for the full amount of the premium.

Some experts and many in the media blame health insurance companies for hiking rates and singling out unhealthy individuals. The problem does not rest entirely on the insurers themselves. Legislation in place preventing sales of plans across state lines prevents insurers from developing larger client pools, thus spreading the burden across more payers. Allowing interstate sales of plans would go a long way in assisting insurance providers in developing lower costs for consumers with larger risk-pools.

Discussion on taxing health benefits is another growing worry to many American families. For those family members keeping their jobs, the idea of more taxes is daunting. GOP Presidential candidate John McCain came under fire last fall for suggesting such a step was needed to pay for an overhaul in the nation's health care system. President Obama claimed to be against such a measure at the time but is now reportedly looking into the idea, one that officials claim would raise more than $3.5 trillion in the next decade. Talk of such a measure is leaving many Americans wondering how this will help them personally with affordable health insurance.

Some families are switching to health insurance plans with lower premiums but higher deductibles, plans of which cover less preventive and expected care and focus more on catastrophic events. Some experts argue this is a better model for the health care industry. Just as car insurance providers do not pay for annual maintenance of a vehicle, oil changes, or new tires, some argue annual physicals and other basic care measures are not an insurers' responsibility. Some argue insurance should be limited for visits to specialists, severe accidents, and other catastrophic events.

By cutting costs all around American families are finding ways to afford their health insurance. The majority of the country does have insurance, and many statisticians argue more than half the 45 million without could afford access to various plans. With health insurance costs on the rise, Washington should allow for companies to develop the largest risk pools as possible. This step alone would help stem the tide of higher costs everywhere.

Source: Kyle Godfrey

Medical bills play a role in 62% of bankruptcies, study says

President Obama's push for healthcare reforms gets a boost today from a new study by Harvard University researchers that shows a sizable increase over six years in bankruptcies caused in part by ever-higher medical expenses.

The study found that medical bills, plus related problems such as lost wages for the ill and their caregivers, contributed to 62% of all bankruptcies filed in 2007. On the campaign trail last year and in the White House this year, Obama had cited an earlier study by the same authors showing that such expenses played a part in 55% of bankruptcies in 2001.

Medical insurance isn't much help, either. About 78% of bankruptcy filers burdened by healthcare expenses were insured, according to the survey, to be published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine.

"Health insurance is not a guarantee that illness won't bankrupt you," said Steffie Woolhandler, one of the authors, a practicing physician and an associate medical professor at Harvard.

"Lots of health insurance comes with big co-payments, deductibles and uncovered services," she said. "So you can be insured and still end up with big bills. At the same time, even if you have good insurance through your employer, you can lose it if you get sick and can't work."


Most people who filed medical-related bankruptcies "were solidly middle class before financial disaster hit," the study says. Two-thirds were homeowners, and most had gone to college.

The study does not suggest that medical expenses were the sole cause for these bankruptcies, but it does identify them as a contributing factor. The increase in such filings occurred despite a 2005 law aimed at making it more difficult for individuals to seek court protection from creditors.

And the latest study probably understates the current burden of medical expenses because it is based on bankruptcies filed before the recession hit.

The findings by a team of Harvard researchers from the law and medical schools are expected to help fuel the debate over what type of healthcare system is right for the U.S.

"If an individual's health expenses reached a certain level, there could be tax credits or other assistance to help those individuals," he said.

The study found that medical-related bankruptcy filers with private insurance reported average medical bills of $17,749. By comparison, people who filed for bankruptcy without insurance reported average medical expenses of $26,971.

Individuals with diabetes and neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, had the highest medical bills, averaging $26,971 for those with insurance and $34,167 for those without. Hospital bills were the largest expense for about half the families that filed health-related bankruptcies.