Aging Well The Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health

by Wei, Jeanne; Levkoff, Sue

• ISBN13: 9780471082064
• ISBN10: 0471082066
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-30
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

In this definitive, prescriptive guide to all aspects of aging, the authors-both top experts on aging at Harvard Medical School-offer a complete and highly accessible reference focused on the physical and emotional issues that affect seniors and their loved ones. Here is invaluable advice on a range of topics, from lifestyle choices to retirement and insurance options to coping with loss and other life concerns. Aging Well addresses such increasingly important subjects as: * Safety risks associated with growing older * Alternative medicine and the right questions to ask * Assisting aging parents and other challenges of the "sandwich generation" * Mail-order products for seniors * Healthy-aging research and potential therapies * How to optimize and strengthen your health if your body is affected by illness or disease Aging Well contains what you need to know to help you and your loved ones live fuller, healthier lives, whether you're 40, 50, or older-because aging well is living well.

Author Biography

Jeanne Wei, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of the Division on Aging at Harvard Medical School and Senior Physician at the Gerontology Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Sue Levkoff, Sc.D., is an Associate Professor of the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Associate Professor of the Department of Health and Social Behavior in the Harvard Medical School of Public Health.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Preface	ix
Part I: Aging Well	1	(36)
What Is Aging?	3	(4)
How We Age
Normal Changes in Later Life
How to Age Successfully	7	(16)
Physical Exercise
Nutrition
Smoking
Alcohol
Safe
Sex
Medications
Immunizations
Physical Exams
Dentistry
Accident Prevention
Staying Involved
Staying
Connected
Changing Behaviors for a Healthy Life
Making the Health System Work for You	23	(14)
Health Care Options
Controlling the Paper Trail
Traditional and Alternative or Complementary Medicine
Finding a Doctor
Getting the Most out of Your Doctor Visits
Specialists
Surgery
In the Hospital
After Hospitalization
Staying in Charge of Your Health Care
Part II: User's Guide to the Aging Mind and Body	37	(188)
Your Heart	39	(38)
How Your Heart Works
Age-Related Changes
Risk Factors for Heart Disease
Heart Specialists
Types of Heart Disease
Procedures
So What Can We Do about Heart Disease?
Your Reproductive System	77	(17)
How Your Reproductive System Changes as You Age
Sexual Behavior and Response
Relationships and Sexuality
Risks for Sexually Active Adults
Sexuality and Nursing Homes
Cancer of the Reproductive Organs
Hysterectomy
Your Mind	94	(31)
How Does Your Brain Age?
What Can You Do to Keep Your Mind Fit?
What about When the Brain Is Not Well?
Resources
Your Senses	125	(8)
Hearing
Sight
Taste and Smell
Pain and Pain Management
Your Skin, Hair, and Nails	133	(9)
Your Skin
Your Hair
Your Nails
Your Musculoskeletal System	142	(13)
Changes with Age
Keeping Your Musculoskeletal System Healthy
Problems That May Occur
Your Breasts	155	(8)
How Your Breasts Change as You Age
Keeping Your Breasts Healthy
Breast Cancer
Other Problems That May Occur
Your Urinary System	163	(11)
How Your Urinary System Changes as You Age
Problems That May Occur
Your Respiratory System	174	(11)
How Your Lungs Change as You Age
Keeping Your Lungs Healthy
Problems That May Occur
Your Gastrointestinal System	185	(16)
Keeping Your GI System in Good Shape
Swallowing and the Esophagus
The Stomach and the Duodenum
The Small Intestine
The Bowels
The Colon
The Rectum
The Liver
The Pancreas
The Gallbladder
The Appendix
Your Endocrine System	201	(10)
How Your Endocrine System Changes as You Age
Problems That May Occur
Your Immune System	211	(6)
How Your Immune System Works
How Your Immune System Changes as You Age
Problems That May Occur
Your Mouth	217	(8)
How Your Mouth Changes as You Age
Keeping Your Mouth Healthy
Problems That May Occur
Part III: Adapting to Life's Transitions	225	(80)
Retirement	227	(10)
Before Retirement
Retirement Planning
After Retirement
Your Home	237	(30)
Staying Home
Finding a Home in Your Own Community
Moving to a New Community
Moving in with a Relative
Long-term Care Homes
Risks and Rights	267	(7)
Crime
Maltreatment or Abuse
Making End-of Life Decisions	274	(19)
Clarifying Your Values
Managing Pain
A Place for the End of Life
Advance Directives
Putting Your Other Affairs in Order
Dying Well
Loss and Bereavement	293	(12)
Funerals and Memorial Services
Dealing with Your Loss
Part IV: Assisting Aging Parents	305	(16)
Helping Your Aging Parents	307	(14)
Who Is the Caregiver?
The Primary Caregiver
What Is Your Family History?
The Sandwich Generation
Caring for the Caregiver
The Practical Side of Caregiving
Caring from a Long Distance
Mail-Order Products for Seniors
On the Road
Money Matters
The Rewards of Caregiving
Part V: The Latest on Anti-aging Therapies	321	(12)
``Healthy Aging'' Research and Potential Therapies	323	(10)
How Scientists View the Aging Process
Promising Research Areas
Other Areas of Future Research
Appendix A: State Agencies on Aging	333	(6)
Appendix B: State Long-term Care Ombudsman Programs	339	(6)
Appendix C: Resources	345	(4)
Suggested Readings	349	(10)
Index	359