Don’t let visual deficits or joint pain keep you from leisure activities.  Large playing cards have larger images and are bigger than standard playing cards, making them easier to hold.  So, play on!

Mixing the wrong medications can be very serious.  Keep a record of all the medications you use, whether they are prescribed, over the counter, herbal supplements, vitamins, etc, and share with your doctor or healthcare professional. Check out the Food and Drug Administration’s site for Medicines in My Home, to learn more about what you can do to choose and use over the counter medicines safely.

March is National Kidney Month.  Kidney disease may impact an individual’s ability to age in place, as the disease can affect safety, independence and ability level.

While small in size, the kidneys play an important role.

The role of the Kidneys include:

• Controlling blood pressure
• Removing the body’s waste products
• Stimulating bone marrow to make red blood cells
• Helping the body maintain calcium for the bones

When someone has kidney disease, the kidneys aren’t working properly, resulting in a buildup of waste materials in the blood.   Kidney disease is most often the result of diabetes or high blood pressure.

Diabetic Kidney Disease:

Type II Diabetes is a chronic condition and the most common form of diabetes.  It occurs when there is an excess of sugar in the bloodstream and the body becomes resistant to insulin or when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. With diabetic kidney disease, the nephrons, the part of the kidneys that remove waste, become damaged.  As a result, the body doesn’t break down glucose; instead, glucose remains in the blood.  Managing blood glucose levels is crucial and can delay or prevent diabetic kidney disease.    Source:

High Blood Pressure & Kidney Disease:

High blood pressure can cause damage to the blood vessels in the kidneys.  This damage can result in the inability of the kidneys to effectively remove waste products from the body.  The National Institutes of Health and The American Diabetes Association both recommend that the target blood pressure for someone with diabetes be less than 130/80 mmHG.  Blood pressure can be managed through medications, diet, and exercise.

The Kidneys can sustain damage several ways.

Acute Kidney Injuries can occur when:

• Someone looses a lot of blood
• Drugs make the kidneys stop working
• Poisoning occurs that prevent the kidneys from working

Chronic Kidney Disease occurs when there is a slow loss of kidney functioning.  People with chronic kidney failure are at increased risk for

• Heart attacks
• Stroke

End Stage Renal Disease occurs when there is permanent failure of the kidneys, resulting in the kidneys no longer having the ability to regulate electrolytes, remove waste, and concentrate urine.  Treatment for the disease includes dialysis or a kidney transplant.  Additionally, individuals may be placed on a restricted diet and be given medications to increase their urine output.

The kidneys play a huge role in our overall health.  When they don’t function correctly, it can impact many aspects of our health.  Knowing the link between diabetes and blood pressure and the importance of managing your blood pressure and glucose levels can help improve the quality of your life and in turn help you to age in place.

Click here to learn more about the test used to detect kidney disease.

Sources:  National Kidney and Urologic Disease Information Clearinghouse

The American Diabetes Association

Picture Source:  Maxi Aids.com

Dycem can make life a lot easier.   It is a non-skid surface that can be used to prevent items from slipping and sliding.  It often comes in a roll, but is also available in individual place mat sizes.  Place Dycem under items like cups, plates, and measuring cups to prevent sliding while using.  A roll costs around $30 and can be purchased at online sites such as Maxi Aids.com. Individual place mat sizes are available at Independent Living Aids.com and cost around $12.

Feeling isolated can lead to depression.  But depression doesn’t have to be a part of aging.  If you or your loved one seems depressed, have them talk to their doctor.  To learn more about depression and services offered in your area, Click here

Editors Note: This week, we will be featuring a guest writer, Shannon Wills.  Shannon is a writer who likes to write on the topics of Health, Physical Therapy and Diagnosis. She currently writes for the website, Physical Therapy Assistant Schools .  She welcomes your comments at her email id:  shannonwills23@gmail.com

It’s true that no man is an island; we thrive on relationships, with our friends, coworkers, acquaintances and family members. We all need a sense of belonging, of oneness other human beings, and this is why we socialize. And although we tend to interact with others during our teenage and early adult years, we need an active social life more than ever as we grow old. If you’re in your 60s or 70s, it’s important that you maintain a strong network of friends, family and acquaintances because:

• It gives you a sense of belonging: The feeling of loneliness and being left out gets stronger as you retire from work life and as your kids grow up and start to live their own lives. Your life changes, and if you’re not able to accept these changes and reorient your life accordingly, you’re going to lose your mind. When you continue to socialize and go out and meet people often, you feel good about yourself and are more confident in your abilities. Besides this, you also don’t think of your age and view it as a limiting factor.
• It keeps mental illness away: Older people who live alone are more prone to senility and other mental illnesses like Alzheimer’s and dementia. So the more you socialize and meet and interact with people, the less your chances of losing your mind. Loneliness can have a detrimental effect on your mental health, so it’s best to stay connected to other people as much as possible.
• It helps you stay relevant: When you keep in touch with other people and meet up with them on a regular basis, you keep up with what’s changing and what’s new. This helps you stay relevant and keep up with the times. It prevents you from feeling left out because you’re able to hold a conversation relating to any current news and information. It boosts your confidence and does a world of good for your self-esteem.
• It puts you in a good frame of mind: Meeting people and socializing on a regular basis makes you feel happier and more content with your life. You have a sense of purpose and a reason to live. When you’re alone, you tend to feel depressed and sad if you’re not busy. Meeting friends and acquaintances helps boost your mood and puts you in a better frame of mind.

Today, it’s easier to make friends and socialize because there’s a whole new world out there – the Internet. You can make friends easily, play online games, and socialize with strangers who become your virtual friends. So if you’re a tech savvy senior citizen, there’s no reason why you cannot keep busy and avoid the hell that is loneliness.

Love to sew but have a hard time seeing to thread your needles?  Don’t let your visual deficits stop you from enjoying your life and hobbies.  Using a needle threader makes threading a needle easier by allowing a needle to be threaded without relying as much on your vision.  They can be purchased online through sites such as: Independent Living Aids and can cost between $2-$4.



Picture Source:  Slipxsolutions.com

Two weeks ago, we talked about how using color contrast can help in the kitchen with cooking.  Color contrast helps all over the home.  For safety reasons, the bathroom is a very important place to apply color contrast tips for individuals with low vision.  A person with low vision can have a very difficult time seeing a white non slip bath mat in a white bathtub.  Instead, make your non slip bathmat stand out by using a high color contrasting bathmat.

Picture Courtesy: National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage  the optic nerve.  Someone with glaucoma has increased fluid pressure in their eyes. This pressure in the eye builds, and can damage the optic nerve.

Types of Glaucoma

Normally, fluid leaves the eye chamber at the open angle, where the cornea and iris meet.  The fluid flows like a drain leaving the eye.  However, this is not the case for people with glaucoma.  Along the way, the fluid pressure builds, resulting in increased eye pressure.

Open-angle glaucoma is the most common form of glaucoma.   With Open-angle glaucoma,fluid leaving the eye passes slowly, resulting in increased fluids and pressure that can damage the optic nerve.

Another type of glaucoma is Angle closure glaucoma.  It is not as prevalent among those with the disease, however, people with this type of glaucoma experience eye pressure that rises very quickly.  With this type of the disease, the drainage canals become blocked or covered.  People can experience symptoms that include:

• Blurred vision
• Headaches
• Nausea
• Eye pain

To learn more about the different types of glaucoma visit, National Eye Institute

Glaucoma can steal your vision.  One of the dangers of this disease is that initially there are no symptoms, and vision remains normal.  However, as the disease progresses, more complications can occur.One symptom of Glaucoma is loss of peripheral vision

Risk Factors for Glaucoma increase:

• With a family history of glaucoma the disease
• In people over age 60
• For African Americans over the age of 40

• • African Americans are 5x more likely to have glaucoma than Caucasians
  • African Americans are 4x more likely to be blinded by glaucoma than Caucasians
  • Glaucoma is 15x more likely to cause blindness among African Americans between the ages of 45-64 than Caucasians in that age group

Treatment:

Medications including eye drops and pills, conventional and laser surgeries are used to treat Glaucoma.  To learn more about Glaucoma treatment, click here.

Source:  National Eye Institute and Glaucoma.org

Picture Source: Independent living aids

Timers can be handy devices for the home.  They can be especially helpful in the kitchen when cooking.  However, people with visual deficits may have a hard time clearly identifying numbers on a standard timer.  They may benefit instead from using an enlarged timer.  They can be purchased online from sites such as Target.com & Independentliving aids.com .  They cost around $16