Meditation Equals Antidote to Alzheimer’s, Our Hospitals Are Killing People, Americans Break Record for Working Past 65, Theranos May Be All Hype, and Dr. Heimlich Does the Heimlich

By Steve Moran

I spend a lot of time looking at all kinds of stories and articles on the internet. A few . . . maybe 5 or 6 are just plain cool. Some are cool but not worth turning into an article and others are cool and really have nothing to do with senior living, but I am thinking you might think are cool too.

Meditation the Antidote to Alzheimer’s

It is way too early to say, but a study out of Germany indicates that meditation can slow or even reduce the apparent age of the brain. If this is true, maybe in the future we will see meditation as a significant component of life enrichment programs in senior living communities.  

Our Hospitals Are Killing People

According to a report out of Johns Hopkins medical errors are the third highest cause of death in the United States behind cancer and heart disease. Some of it is incompetence, much of it is communication problems and variability in how care is delivered.

‘I’ll Never Retire’: Americans Break Record for Working Past 65

Never before has there been a time when such a high percentage of age 65+ folks are still working. There seem to be several reasons for this including the fact that people are living longer and healthier and the need for income. It is unclear what impact this will have on senior living, but likely something.  

Dumb Money Backs What Looks to Be Worse than a Loser

I first time I heard about Theranos, a company that claimed to be able to do just about any blood test with a tiny amount of blood at a fraction of the cost of traditional clinical labs, it sounded believable and amazing. Even better it was something that could be done at every corner drug store. It looks like maybe the hype was all hype.

Dr. Heimlich Does the Heimlich

Decades ago Dr. Henry Heimlich taught the world to use the Heimlich Maneuver to open a blocked airway. He had never actually had to use it in real life. Now at age 96 he is living at the Deupree House, which is owned by Episcopal Retirement Services, and at dinner a fellow resident was choking. He moved in, performed his world famous technique and saved a life.

Do you have something that ought to be included in the feature? Please let us know.