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Thanks to breakthroughs in medicine and nutrition in recent years, we are living longer than ever before. But this increase in life expectancy also brings an increase in the number of diseases, injuries and impairments that affect older adults. With this in mind, we at the local Visiting Angels office in Salem have created this series of articles to keep our older population and their families informed and to offer some practical advice for meeting the challenges faced by seniors and those who care for them. ——— While Parkinson’s disease is most commonly known for the ...

No one seems to play like in the old days

Many of us probably can remember pickup softball games on a neighborhood sandlot, getting together for an impromptu game of “kick the can,” “snap the whip,” or just going for a bicycle ride around the neighborhood with friends. I recall riding my bike with friends on summer days — or even on warm evenings during the school year — to gather at one of our houses. We had fun doing any of those types of things, or jumping rope, practicing our “gymnastics” or creating contests to see who could swing a hula hoop around our hips the longest. I had to be home by the time the ...

Teen dating violence focus: Prevention

Treating people in abusive ways will not be accepted. This is the clear message of those who want to prevent teen dating violence (TDV), which is a serious problem in the United States, advises youth.gov, a website of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is reported that nearly 1.5 million teens (1 in 3), admits being in unhealthy relationships. Girls 16-24 years old are three times as likely as any other demographic to be abused by a boyfriend or other intimate partner. Ten percent of both female and male teens reported physical dating violence in the past 12 months ...

Is it love… or addiction?

As I sat down to write this article an earworm began to play inside my head … Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love.” Do you remember it? A couple of the things I learned in college is that 1.) Everything is political; and 2.) Music, films, television shows, are political statements. Something I’ve learned since is that science has to define and explain everything. “Love” has been under the microscope, so to speak, for a long time. Some researchers say that whether a love relationship is good or bad, it is addiction because of the way it impacts a person’s life. In her ...

Candidates fund for themselves

Asking people for money is rarely fun. It’s probably more challenging if you’re wealthy but still are asking for campaign contributions. Several of the wealthiest Ohio Republican candidates for U.S. Senate are skipping those awkward discussions and writing their own checks, self-funding campaigns or at least coming as close as possible. If you didn’t know better, you’d think several of these Republican candidates are trying to buy the seat. Of course, we do know better. But the candidates have money to spend — with plenty left over — so that’s what they’re ...

Beware: What’s in that drug

Late last fall the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center of the Ohio Department of Public Safety released a report about “Potentially Lethal Counterfeit Tablets in Ohio.” The report said, “Counterfeit prescription tablets with fentanyl and other potentially lethal contents are present in Ohio and almost certainly growing in sophistication, likely impeding individuals, including law enforcement, from easily determining tablet legitimacy, as well as potentially contributing to an increase in accidental overdoses,” the unclassified report advised. Earlier the DEA (Drug Enforcement ...