Travel, Leisure & Fun for South Valley Adults
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As you're turning over your closets, putting away your t-shirts, shorts and sundresses until next year, and bringing out the sweaters, you begin wondering how those fall clothes mysteriously got smaller over the winter. And then the realization hits: your New Year's resolution to exercise more and eat right has fallen by the wayside. It's all too common. According to recent research out of the Ohio State University, only 9% of Americans who make resolutions stick to them....
Alignment Health released its 2024 Social Threats to Aging Well in America survey on August 21, exploring the primary social and environmental factors, known as social determinants of health, preventing U.S. seniors from living healthier lives. In an online survey of more than 2,000 U.S. seniors ages 65 or older, aging in place (69%), lack of transportation and access to medical care (64%), and economic insecurity (56%) were the top three most-cited social barriers to their...
Have you ever felt like no amount of coffee or rest can shake off your lingering exhaustion? Do you wake up from a full night's sleep and still find yourself dragging? If so, you might be dealing with more than just tiredness; you could be experiencing fatigue. Fatigue is not just a fleeting feeling of sleepiness - it's a deep-seated exhaustion that can impact your daily life and point to more serious health conditions. However, these feelings are often dismissed as simply...
On August 22, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved and granted emergency use authorization for updated mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to include a single component that corresponds to the Omicron variant KP.2 strain of SARS-CoV-2. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have been updated with this formula to more closely target currently circulating variants and provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19, including hospitalization and death. The FDA's...
In early July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kisunla (donanemab) for the treatment of people living with early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, which includes mild cognitive impairment and the mild dementia stage of the disease, with confirmed amyloid plaques. Kisunla slowed cognitive and functional decline by up to 35% compared to placebo at 18 months in its pivotal Phase 3 study, and reduced participants' risk of progressing to the next clinical stage...
A summit convened by the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) has resulted in the identification of seven strategies for successful care of older adults with obesity. GSA outlines the recommendations in a new publication, Bringing Obesity Management to the Forefront of Care for Older Adults. This new publication expands the GSA library of resources on overweight and obesity, and supports The GSA KAER Toolkit for the Management of Obesity in Older Adults. The summit, held...
CDC has updated its recommendation for the use of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccines in people ages 60 and older. For this upcoming respiratory virus season, CDC recommends: • Everyone ages 75 and older receive the RSV vaccine. • People ages 60–74 who are at increased risk of severe RSV, meaning they have certain chronic medical conditions, such as lung or heart disease, or they live in nursing homes, receive the RSV vaccine. This recommendation is for adults who d...
Tulare County Public Health has received a report of a human case of West Nile virus in a Tulare County resident. Public health officials urge residents to take precautions against mosquito bites, as mosquito samples positive for West Nile virus and St. Louis Encephalitis virus (SLEV) have been detected in multiple locations within the county. The two viruses are very similar and are transmitted by the same types of mosquitoes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the West Nile virus is transmitted to...
"The Last Alzheimer's Patient" with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta premiered on May 19 on CNN. The episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" offers a groundbreaking look at the latest medical research showing that symptoms of Alzheimer's disease can be prevented, slowed and potentially even reversed. In a report spanning five years, Dr. Gupta follows Alzheimer's patients through their courses of treatment and explains why so many experts are calling...
Public Health officials in Tulare County have confirmed an adult case of measles was brought to the county by an international traveler. This is the first confirmed case of measles in the county since the disease was confirmed in an 18-month-old child. Public health officials are working to identify and trace potential exposures, determine if those exposed have been vaccinated for the disease, and evaluate their potential for developing and spreading measles. Anyone who has...
The Summer Olympics kick off on July 26, as the world’s best athletes gather in Paris to compete for gold medals. As you root on Team USA, perhaps you can draw inspiration from them as you think about your own fitness goals, or the goals of a loved one. For older adults, gathering with friends for various activities can be rewarding. While pole vaulting and wrestling might not be ideal at this stage in life, there are still plenty of options to have fun, engage in friendly competition, and stay active with others. Activity e...
On June 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee unanimously found that donanemab (from Eli Lilly) is effective for the treatment of early Alzheimer's disease, which includes mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's dementia, and that the treatment's benefits outweigh the risks. If approval is granted by the FDA, donanemab will be the second Alzheimer's treatment to be approved that changes the underlying course of the disease, and the third...
Kaweah Health Rehabilitation Hospital has received a three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF International) for its Acute Rehab Program. CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor whose mission is to promote the quality, value and optimal outcomes of services through an accreditation process that focuses on enhancing the lives of the individuals supported by the organization. Kaweah Health Rehabilitation...
On February 22, Adventist Health celebrated the opening of its advanced cardiac catheterization lab at Adventist Health Tulare. The community celebrated the ribbon-cutting with a sparkling cider toast and set off confetti poppers outside the hospital's main entrance. Attendees also toured the cath lab and received a step-by-step explanation from staff on the daily processes. "We're thrilled to expand specialty care for our Tulare County community," said Joe Croft,...
United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley (UHC) announced it has received a $2 million grant from the State of California Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) under the Song-Brown Health Care Workforce Training Program’s 2023 Primary Care Residency Application. This grant will support the launch of a new Internal Medicine Training Program, aimed at addressing the critical shortage of internal medicine doctors in the Central Valley. UHC is one of 18 recipients awarded grants of $1 or $2 million d...
People who experience sleep apnea may be more likely to also have memory or thinking problems, according to a preliminary study released in early March and presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 76th Annual Meeting in mid-April. The study shows a positive association but did not determine whether sleep apnea causes cognitive decline. Sleep apnea is when people stop and restart breathing repeatedly during sleep, which can lower oxygen levels in the blood. Symptoms...
Health officials are on high alert as measles outbreaks have been reported in multiple states in the U.S. and cases are rising globally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health alert on March 18 to draw attention to the global spread of measles ahead of the spring and summer travel season. The American Medical Association (AMA) echoed the CDC's warning, emphasizing the importance of vaccination to prevent the spread of measles. AMA President Dr....
A new study in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences has found people with multiple chronic conditions reported persistently high levels of anxiety and depression, and worse physical function. And compared to white study participants, those who identified as non-white experienced worse health-related quality of life as multiple chronic health conditions increased, the study found. “As people get older, it’s not just that they develop hypertension and that’s it. It’s that these c...
A caregiver, sometimes referred to as a caretaker, is anyone who provides care for another person. Millions of people living in the United States take care of a friend or family member with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. Sometimes caregivers live with the person or nearby, other times they live far away. For many families, caring for a person with dementia isn't just one person's job, but the role of many people who share tasks and responsibilities. No matter what...
The number of older adults with disabilities - difficulty with walking, seeing, hearing, memory, cognition or performing daily tasks such as bathing or using the bathroom - will soar in the decades ahead, as baby boomers enter their 70s, 80s, and 90s. But the health care system isn't ready to address their needs. That became painfully obvious during the COVID-19 pandemic, when older adults with disabilities had trouble getting treatments and hundreds of thousands died. Now,...
Women who consume higher amounts of protein, especially protein from plant-based sources develop fewer chronic diseases and are more likely to be healthier overall as they age, according to a study led by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University and published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Analyzing self-reported data from more than 48,000 women, the researchers saw notably less heart disease, cancer and diabetes, and cognitive and mental health de...
A potential advancement in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease was announced earlier this year by researchers at the West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI). A first in-human study, featured in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, demonstrates that focused ultrasound in combination with anti-amyloid-beta monoclonal antibody treatment can accelerate the clearance of amyloid-beta plaques in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Anti-amyloid-beta monoclonal antibody the...
Kaweah Health is welcoming Dr. Michael K. McLean, cardiothoracic surgeon and Stanford Medicine faculty member. Dr. McLean is the first of three Stanford Medicine cardiothoracic surgeons who will live and work in Visalia as part of the Kaweah Health Cardiothoracic Surgery Program, working together with the Stanford Medicine Cardiac Surgery Program. “The Kaweah Health cardiothoracic program has a long history of providing award-winning care, and with Stanford Health Care, we will work to help ensure that our community c...
New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) found that daily strawberry consumption could help reduce the risk of dementia for certain middle-aged populations. In 2022, UC's Robert Krikorian, Ph.D., and his team published research that found adding blueberries to the daily diets of certain middle-aged populations may lower the chances of developing late-life dementia. He said the current research into strawberries is an extension to the blueberry research. "Both...
Like any typical car or house or society, the pace at which parts of our bodies fall apart varies from part to part. A study of 5,678 people, led by Stanford Medicine investigators, has shown that our organs age at different rates - and when an organ's age is especially advanced in comparison with its counterpart in other people of the same age, the person carrying it is at heightened risk both for diseases associated with that organ and for dying. According to the study,...