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Eating fatty fish such as salmon, trout or sardines twice a week was associated with a lower risk of diabetic retinopathy, according to a study of people with diabetes which was published in 2017 in JAMA. This is probably because fatty fish have a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, which encourage the development of blood vessel growth, including in the eyes. Omega-3’s have also been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease.
There were only 15 new coronavirus cases reported in Monterey County today, bringing the total to 42,031 cases. There were no new fatalities reported. Nationally, the number of cases were up by more than 2,000 from yesterday, coming in at 71,802. That brings the total number of cases to 28.231 million. Deaths rose by 2,424 to 503K and the CDC reported that there have been over 400K of cases and over 1,000 deaths from COVID-19 amongst health care personnel. In California, cases rose from 4,338 yesterday to 6,521 today. That brought the cume total to 3.544 million. There were 306 deaths reported in the Golden State, bringing the total to close to 50K.
If you have a senior loved one who you are struggling to find a Christmas present for, try resistance bands. They are great to give them some exercise while watching TV or just sitting around. You can find them on amazon.com and other web sites in the $10-$20 range. An easy exercise is to put the resistance band under both of your feet and hold the handles at your sides with the palms facing up. Then slowly curl your hands to your shoulders, keeping your elbows at your sides. Then slowly lower to the starting position, repeating as many times as it feels comfortable. Although it may seem inadvisable to go to Lovers Point for some fresh air and exercise because of the coronavirus, at least take them for a walk around the neighborhood once in a while. It’s good to get out of the house once in awhile!
There were 132 new coronavirus cases reported in Monterey County today. This brings the total to 42,016, with two new deaths reported. Nationally, the numbers are better. There were only 59,462 new cases reported, for a cume total of 28.2 million cases. There were 1,825 deaths, for a total of 501,014. In California, there were 4,338 new cases for a total of 3.5 million, with 205 new deaths. That makes for a grand total of almost 50K deaths in our state. On the good news front, a new study suggest that both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines may also prevent infections. The Mayo Clinic studied 31K people who had received at least one dose of either vaccine. They found the vaccines to be more than 80% effective at preventing infection for 36 days after the first dose. Vaccine efficacy was 75% 15 days after the first dose and 89% effective from 36 days after the first dose.
There was an article in the November 2020 Kiplinger’s Retirement Report (page 18) about the difficulties that many people are having getting their LTC provider to pay up. At Family inHome Caregiving we have dealt with a lot of LTC providers, and each one is different. We assist our clients by filling out the proper paperwork and giving the LTC provider the reports that they need in order to process the paperwork quickly. We have found that typically, it takes a couple of claims to figure out exactly what the LTC provider is looking for. However, once you get the kinks worked out, it is smooth sailing.
Everyone wants to keep their brains working in full order as long as possible, and the key can be healthy living, getting the proper amount of exercise and social interaction. The latter is easier said than done given the massive spreading of coronavirus. Although board games can be fun, with COVID-19 many seniors are turning to video games. According to an AARP survey, 44% of adults over the age of 50 played video games in 2019 versus 38% in 2016. That’s 10 million more older gamers! About a quarter of gamers play multiuser games, which can increase social interaction which will hopefully ward off early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease. Regular readers of my blog know that both my father and grandmother had this terrible disease when they passed away. There are great people at our local chapter of Alzheimer’s Association in Ryan’s Ranch. They also have a 24-hour hotline if you need support at 800-272-3900.
AARP Bulletin had an elder abuse alert for our area. The article profiled a 75-year old man who saw a charge on his credit card that he didn’t recognize for Amazon Prime. He did a google search for Amazon’s phone number and called the number, which turned out to be fake. They asked him to confirm his credit card number, as well as his Social Security number. “Scammers will buy and place fake ads that often elude the filters for the online search engines,†Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser told AARP Bulletin. They also tricked him into buying gift cards. “When people are searching for customer service numbers, they are in a hurry and quickly scan for the first phone number they see,†he said. Scammers are targeting Monterey County, and in particular rich pockets like Carmel-by-the-sea, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach.
Congratulations are in order for Carolyn Salvado, a retired school teacher who celebrated her 100th birthday by going to the UC Health Vaccination Center at UC Gardner Neuroscience to get a COVID-19 vaccination. “It’s important to get it [the vaccine],†she said, in order to stay healthy. She was greeted at the Vaccination Center by a bouquet of flowers, but had to celebrate her birthday with relatives via Zoom. This is her second shot, so hopefully she is good to go now.
Amazon Pharmacy jumped into the online prescription market in November, entering another highly competitive—but lucrative—space. The digital pharmacy offers free two-day home delivery and AARP Bulletin in their January/February 2021 Issue (page four) gave the service high marks. “We compared benefit prices against other retail options and found that its prices were often—but not always—cheaper,†said the AARP Bulletin article.