Category Archives for Health & Wellness

Centenarian Takes Priest’s Advice

Published in Senior Digest on May 2006

A life long resident of this community, Blanche Dugas remembers the happy memories of raising her three children in a home on 12th Street, right across from Capon Park.

Dugas, who now resides at Canterbury Woods, an assisted living facility at 100 Garfield Ave., said raising her family with a loving husband was the most important accomplishments in her life.

The 101-year old woman said her old neighborhood was a great place for her children to grow up. “I would send them to the park with a lunch,” she said, shrugging her shoulders with the realization that the world today is not the world she grew up in. “You never worried about your children being picked up by strangers,” she said.

She would start her mornings off by taking to her mother who just happened to have a kitchen window facing her.  You guessed it – Blanche built her house right next to her parents lot.

She fondly talked about her husband, who was 83 when he passed on in the early 1980s with dementia. “We were very close,” she said, adding how pleased she was that she married “such a good guy.”

Now Blanche reflects on her days before she got married at the ripe old age of 22.  During their  nine-month courtship, Phillip Dugas would drive his Model T more than 35 miles, from Putnam, Conn., to her house to visit on Thursday and Sundays. Blanch would marry this young man, the one who she met at Ocean Grove in Swansea. With a good reputation for cutting meat, her husband opened a small grocery store in this city’s Dodgeville section. His reputation brought in customers, allowing the store to thrive for 50 years.

Blanche is proud to be the oldest person in St. Joseph’s parish. When she turned 100 she reeied a medallion, which she wears all the time, from the bishop of Fall River, along with a citation President and Laura Bush recognizing her milestone age, too.

“God has been great to me,” she says, noting that he has left her with her “thinking, hearing, and eyesight.” “What else do you need to live,” she says jokingly. She ties her longevity to living a good, clean life.

“They tell me that there must be a reason for me living such a long life. I pray a lot for the residents of the assisted living facility and for then families,” Blanche said.

However, she is not a stranger to the power of prayer. A priest once told her that if you want to live a long healthy life, you should pray with your family.

“We did that in my family and also in my marriage,” Blanche said.

100 and Still Counting

Published in Senator Digest on May 2006.

The State Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) is honoring centenarians and their contributions to society in May in observation of Older Americans Month.

“When you stop and think about the thousands of years of living history that centenarians represent, we begin to realize that their experience and wisdom are gifts to be treasured,” Corinne Calise Russo, the DEA  Director told Senior Digest.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the 2000 population count found 1,048,319 persons residing in the Ocean State. The data also revealed that 75,718 of those residents were age 75 and over. But, for those reaching age 100 and over, the number literally falls in the hundreds, a demographic milestone few will reach.

For the past 29 years, the DEA has been charged with organizing the annual Governor’s Centenarians Brunch, an event to celebrate people who have lived to be age 100. Over the year, the DEA’s brunch for the state’s oldest old has become the centerpiece of the agency’s celebration of May as Older Americans Month, says Russo.

In the early years, the Governor’s Centenarians Brunch was held in the State Room at the Statehouse.  In later years, the brunch was moved to community-based locations because of the climbing number of centenarians who were able to attend.

Six times, one of the oldest-know Rhode Islanders, Sam Goldberg, 106, has attended the Governor’s Centenarians’ Brunch with his elder peers, all who either reached age 100 that year or who have lived over a century.  Last year DEA organizers had located and invited 250 Rhode Islanders age 100 and over.  Only 50 attended the brunch. They expected the attendance for this year’s even to be around 60.

Goldberg, a resident of Village of Waterman Lake, Greenville, was born in 1900 in Lodz, Poland. Like many people at that time, his father came to the United States first to work to support his family.  Later, in 1907, Goldberg, his mother, two brothers and two sisters would come over and live, reuniting with their father.

During 1916, Goldberg worked in Hartford, Conn., at a company making ball bearings, for automobiles.

With the outbreak of World War 1, a recruiter in Atlanta signed him up in the United States Calvary. Little did the recruiter know that Goldberg would be one of the few remaining World War I veterans alive in 2006.

Goldberg was not destined to see battle oversee. He would be stationed in San Antonio, Texas, assigned to “guard the boarders against the bad guys.”  During his 17 months in the Army, he would also patrol the 40-mile boarder in Hachita and Columbus, New Mexico. “It was like police work,” remembered Goldberg.

After the Army stint, Goldberg returned to civilian life, working at Willy’s Overland Cars in New York. In 1922, he relocated to work at the company’s Providence dealership.  He moved to the city’s Elmwood neighborhood.  Goldberg has lied in the Ocean State for 84 years, was married for 76 years and raised three children.  He worked all of his life in the car business and said he became a partner at Hurd, a Cranston-based auto dealership, retiring at age 70.

While many people remember the destruction brought about by the Hurricane of 1938, it brought in lots of business in Goldberg’s Chrysler car dealership located on Reservoir Avenue in Cranston. “It increased our business because insurance companies paid to fix cars damaged by the storm,” he said.

Goldberg also remembered the days when Providence was populated with a large number of jewelry companies with thousands of workers.

“You had industry here. You have nothing like that now,” he says.

Why are more people living past age 100?

According to the New England Centenarian Study at the Boston University Medical School, centenarians are the fastest growing segment of our population. The second fastest growing segment is people age 85 and over.

The study started in 1994 has generated data that sheds light on the nation’s oldest old.  The BU Medical School’s website noted that centenarians have many characteristics in common.  Few centenarians are obese, and men and nearly always lean. Those individuals were never heavy smokers, and they could handle stress better than most.

Meanwhile, the study found that women centenarians had a history of bearing children after the age of 35 and even 40.  Researchers say that it is probably not the act of bearing a child in one’s 40s that promotes long life, but doing so may be an indicator that the woman’s reproductive system is aging slowly and that the rest of her body is as well.

The study also found at least 50 percent of the centenarians have first-degree relatives and/or grandparents who also achieved very old age, and many have exceptionally old siblings.  The data indicates that many of the centenarians’ children between age 65 and 82 appear to be following in their parents’ footsteps with marked delays in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and overall mortality.

DEA Director Russo says,” Each year (at the Governor’s Centenarians’ Brunch) we ask centenarians that age-old question,” What is the secrete to your longevity?” Their answers are varied as the personalities involved, but they all contain basic themes.  Stay active and alert.  Stay connected to family, friends and the world around you.  And most of all be grateful for each day and the joy it brings.

Goldberg seems to fit many of the predictors for living over age 100 that have been identified by the New England Centenarian Study. He is lean and never was obese. He never smoked either. But when questioned about his longevity, he laughed and said,” I keep breathing. You take in air.” Maybe his longevity is tied to a good sense of humor, too.

The Best of…Some Tips to Take Lying Down

            Published March 1, 2004, Pawtucket Times

             Sometimes I just can’t sleep.  When this happens, I just lay in bed tossing and turning, staring through the darkness at the ceiling.  It is 2 a.m.  All I want is a good night’s sleep.

              According to a publication released by the New York-based International Longevity Center-USA (ILC-USA) and the AARP Foundation, I am not along in trying to get a good night’s sleep-a whopping one-third of the nation’s seniors will find themselves sleepless in their bedrooms (not in Seattle).  Lack of sleep can even lead to serious health disorders.

           The AARP-ILC consumer publication, “Getting Your ZZZZZZZZs: How Sleep Affects health and Aging,” takes a look at common sleep disorders, their effects on the brain and body and what someone who suffers from these conditions might do to get a good night’s sleep.

           “Not getting the right amount of sleep can become a serious health problem, and it is not a natural part of aging,” says Robert N. Butler, M.D., ILC-USA’s president and CEO in a written statement promoting the publication.

           “A large number of older persons often suffer from this medical condition and go unrecognized or are not treated appropriately,” he said.

           “According to the 12-page AARP-LLC consumer-oriented publication, sleep problems in your later years are caused by a combination of factors.  Sleep problems can result from physical changes associated with growing old.

            Sleep problems can also be caused by pain and discomfort associated with aging and traumatic life experiences, such as the death of a spouse, or the loss of a job.

           Even decreased physical activity and lack of exposure to sunlight can also  impact on a person’s ability to sleep.

           “Sleeplessness sets up a vicious cycle.  Older people have problems that disturb their sleep, which often affects their other body systems, especially hormone production and metabolism causing more problems that disturb sleep even more,” states the AARP ILC publication.

           “New studies highlight the signficant impact of sleep on physical and mental well-being, especially for older men and women,” the AARP-ILC publication points out.  Loss of sleep can lead to memory problems, depression and greater risk of falling.  Lack of sleep may also cause changes in the nervous system that affect cardiovascular health.

           According to the AARP-ILC publication, snoring may indicate as serious health problem, considered the most common form of sleep apnea.  This sleep disorder causes sleeplessness because the sleeper wakes up frequently from the lack of oxygen caused by this labored breathing.

          Findings from the Nurses health Study indicate that snoring was associated with hypertension as well as weight-related health problems.

          Several other research studies have shown that people who suffer from sleep apnea also have high rates of automobile accidents and are at risk for diabetes.

         Insomnia caused by depression, serious mental or physical illness, or unhealthy lifestyle choices, is considered another major sleep disorder. Proper treatment requires a physician to diagnose the cause.  In addition, obesity, alcohol, smoking, nasal congestion and menopause are also suspected of affecting a person’s ability to fall asleep.

          Meanwhile, report gives tips on getting your ZZZZZZZs.

          The AARP-ICU consumer publication notes a regular schedule of exercise and a healthier lifestyle can help you enhance the quality of your sleep.

          Recent studies also indicate taking short naps during the day of no more than 20 to 30 minutes may actually help a person sleep at night.

          Although medications can be used for short-term problems, it does not seem to solve long term sleep problems.

         Always check your medications.  Some actually act as stimulants.  Avoid alcohol and nicotine.  Both can disrupt your sleep.  Also, avoid overeating and drinking large quantities of liquids before bedtime.

          Finally, create a sleep-friendly bedroom.  A cool, quiet room can enhance your sleep. Make sure that your mattress is comfortable. Use the bed for only sleep or sex to strengthen the mind’s association between bed and sleep.

         Meanwhile, the AARP-ILC publication notes two  new ides, light therapy and two drugs, melatonin and valarian, are thought by some experts to be effective treatments for seniors with insomnia problems.  However, the authors of the publication call for more studies to ensure that these alternative treatments are safe and effective.

         “Our nation’s oldest adults need not accept poor sleep as a penalty for being old,” said Dr. Butler.  “As researchers learn more about how the human body controls sleep, effective treatments for sleep disorders in older and younger people, will become increasingly possible.”

         Call 212-606-3383 to get copies of “Getting Your ZZZZZZZs: How Sleep Affects Health and Aging.”  English and Spanish versions of this publication can be downloaded from the ILC-USA’s Web site at www.ilcusa.org.

            Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer covering aging, health care and medical issues.  He can be researched at hweissri@aol.com.