Health, Wellbeing & Family

If you’re a grandparent raising grandchildren, there’s a special AboutSeniors page for you here. Or perhaps you are looking for something for your parents or want to cut through and get to the important aspects of aged care housing or issues such as elder abuse. On the Health, Wellbeing and Family page, you’ll find all the relevant resources and news about aged care, health or even sport and exercise.

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Family health tree

Tracing your family tree and where you came from is fun and educational but it can also save the life of a loved one.

Genetic research and medicine has made massive leaps in recent years, being able to pin-point factors that can increase your risk of diabetes, asthma, heart disease and mental illness, to name a few. A little knowledge about the ailments and illnesses suffered by your kin can lead to early diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening conditions.

Sharing this information with family is also important, so recording it in an easy to understand manner will increase the usefulness of the information to all involved. The Centre for Genetics Education has an easy to complete form, which records family members, their relationship to you, dates of birth and death and any health problems they suffered. Showing this to your family doctor can help him or her single out any specific genetic illnesses to which you may be susceptible and increase your chances of receiving successful treatment.

For more information on genetics and to complete your family health tree, visit the Centre for Genetics Education.

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Sweet seniors

Seniors in the U.S.A. are outraged about a ban (due to health concerns) on donated doughnuts to senior citizen centres. The moral of the story? Never get between an American and his or her doughnut!

New Yorkers are well known for their strong personalities and the feisty seniors who have been campaigning about this ban are no different. There’s a been a right old hullabaloo about taking away the day-old doughnuts, even though authorities have pointed out some arrive mouldy and eating them risks health problems. But patrons of the senior citizens clubs say they’re mature enough o decide what to eat and some 250 people signed a petition blasting the proposed ban.

But, the Washington Post reports, there’s a compromise on the table: small amounts of doughnuts, cakes and other baked goods can be served, but not stored, at the senior citizen centres. But Joe Hajkowski, 75, is not happy. “Ludicrous”, he says. He doesn’t like doughnuts himself, but more than that, “I don’t like the way they are treating the seniors.”

A good point Joe. But be careful what you wish for…

To read more click here