WORLD: Sore Feet - Soreness in the Lower Limb

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Sore Feet - Soreness in the Lower Limb

The lower limb is the location from your hip to the tip of your toes - pelvis, hip joints, buttocks, thighs, knees, calves, ankles, feet and toes . It's primarily made up of muscle and bone along with a network of blood vessels, lymphatics and nerves supplying the area. The lower limbs endure a majority of the body weight with the feet holding all this weight and dispersing the force to the ground. The pressure is increased while strolling and even running and it's fair to say that in regard to movement and weight bearing tasks, it's the lower limbs which are the hardest working areas of the body particularly in an active person. Pain thus remains frequent and quite often related to stress and excessive use of the muscles.

Meaning of sore feet

Sore feet is any distress, ache or agony on the ankles, top of the foot, soles and/or the toes. It is more prevalent after a period of long walking, running or any other physical exercise resulting in excessive use of the lower limbs. This might differ from individual to individual where a fit individual is capable of enduring greater physical effort. In a majority of of these cases, the discomfort is muscular and might involve the muscle tendons and ligaments. Having said that, discomfort or pain in the feet and legs can also arise from the overlying skin and subcutaneous tissue, blood vessels (arteries and veins), lymphatics (lymph nodes and vessels), nerves and bones.

There are many common systems by which one could encounter pain in the feet. It's often hard to segregate the precise cause, framework that's affected or system that is creating the pain or discomfort without taking other signs and symptoms into account.

• Skin, subcutaneous fat or connective tissue -impetigo, cellulitis or fasciitis.
• Arteries - peripheral arterial disease (PAD).
• Veins - vascular insufficiency, varicose veins or deep vein thrombosis.
• Nerves - neuropathy, neuritis or nerve root compression.
• Joint lining or joint cartilage - arthritis or arthrosis.
• Muscles and tendons - strain, tendinitis.
• Ligaments - sprain.
• Lymph nodes or lymphatic vessels - lymphadenitis or lymphangitis.
• Bone - osteitis, osteomyelitis, osteoporosis or fractures.

Sore Feet Causes

A few of the frequent reasons for generic foot soreness include :

• Bruises occur with injury to the feet. It may impact the outer lying parts like the skin, subcutaneous tissue and even the muscles but might occasionally stretch deeper to the bone. It might happen from overexertion of the legs and feet, slamming into a hard object, dropping a large object on the foot or pressure from tiny shoes or high heel shoes. There are many other reasons for foot injury which might cause bruising.
• Muscle strain related to overuse like standing for very long periods or walking and running for very long distances frequently cause generic ache to the majority of the feet. The tendons might also be involved therefore resulting in tendinitis. Even though any tendon can be involved, the big Achilles tendon is usually affected.
• Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is the narrowing of the arteries supplying to the legs and feet. There's less oxygenated blood supplying to the feet resulting in pain especially during an activity when the oxygen needs are higher. If a blood clot occludes the already narrowed artery then there might be severe damage to the tissue of the feet. This is called ischemia.
• Nerve problems might be linked to compression of the nerve roots as it comes out from the spine (pinched nerve), swelling of the nerve (neuritis) with injury or harm to the nerve as is normally seen in diseases such as diabetes mellitus (diabetic neuropathy).
• Bone problems may arise if there's injury to the bone, fractures or bone spurs. Stress fractures on the feet aren't unusual in a really active person in which tiny splits form in the bones from high-impact actions. Bony spurs are outgrowths of bone tissue that may arise from any bone. In the feet, it typically comes from the calcaneus and it is referred to as a heel spur.
• Calluses are thickening of our skin on the feet, generally on the areas subjected to pressure such as soles with extented standing or walking, or the sides of the feet and toes with sporting tight shoes. Calluses on top of the toes are called corns. Soreness of certain areas of the feet might be due to more distinct causes.

Sore Toes
Gout is an inflammatory situation of the small joints because of an accumulation of urate crystals. It's a type of arthritis although other kinds of arthritis might also impact the toe joints. Hammer toe is a toe joint disability causing it to be completely bent, curling downwards in a claw-like alignment. An equivalent problem is mallet toe affecting the upper toe joint whereas hammer toe influences the middle joint. Bunion is a bump at the base of the toe which may become swollen. It occurs with sporting tight shoes that push the big toe up against the other toes.

Sore Sole
Reasons for soreness on the soles of the feet, that might involve the ball of the feet and heels, include:

• Plantar warts are abnormal growths on the soles of the feet as a result of existence of the human papilloma virus (HPV). It has a tendency to occur on regions of the skin which were injured and have cuts or where calluses have been created.
• Plantar fasciitis is the swelling of the ligament sheath that lines the base of the feet from the toes to the heel. The soreness is usually a consequence of stretching or ripping of the fascia.
• Flat feet is where the standard arches of the feet are missing when standing up. This arch is created by the strong pulling of the muscle tendons of the feet. It might become loose as we grow old or injury.

Sore Heel
The heel might be impacted by exactly the same problems that may occur on the entire sole, especially plantar fasciitis and warts. Yet another standard reason for heel pain is using high-heeled shoes which may cause muscle stress, tendinitis and bruising of the bone and soft tissue of the heel.

• Calcaneal spur is a bony outgrowth on the large foot bone, the calcaneus, which makes up the heel of the foot. It might arise with continuous and severe influence on the heel related to running, certain sports and could also happen to overweight or obese individuals.
• Bursitis is swelling of the small fluid filled pads that decrease friction and thus assist with movement at various parts of the body where the bone and tendons may rub against one another. It might become swollen with extended overuse or in arthritis.
• Achille’s tendinitis is swelling of the thick band of tendons felt at the rear of the foot. This tendon attaches the calf muscles to the heel. It might become strained with excessive use of the calf muscles like running, walking up stairs or up an incline for very long periods, improper footwear during exercise, flat feet and trauma to the calves or tendon.

Sore Ball of Foot
The ball of the feet might be impacted by the conditions that affect the toes and sole of the foot. Problems that might cause soreness on the balls of the feet include :

Morton’s neuroma is a thickening of the nerve tissue between your toes normally occurring between your third and fourth toes. It often happens with wearing tiny footwear and high-heeled shoes. Metatarsalgia is swelling of the foot bones (metatarsals), especially at the head of the these bones. It is related to prolonged walking, running, wearing small shoes, bunions, hammertoe, being overweight, Morton’s neuroma and stress fractures.

Sore Top of Foot
The top of the foot, or dorsal surface, doesn't bear weight as is the situation with the toes, ball of the foot, sole and heel. Nonetheless it could be affected with problems that arise in these locations and thus resulting in inflammation. Tight shoes, dropping objects on the foot, poor circulation to the feet specifically if the dorsalis pedis artery is afflicted, and dorsal midfoot interosseus compression syndrome (DICS) might cause inflammation on the top of the feet.

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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: 10 Ways to Make Living With Arthritis Easier

NEW YORK, NY / WebMD / Healthy Living / February 24, 2012

Easy Rider

Arthritis pain limiting your movement? Don't let the dread of getting in and out of the car keep you confined. Try this instead: To get in, back into the seat and then swing in your legs. To get out of a car, do the opposite, swinging your legs out first. A beaded seat cover or a swivel seat, which can be installed, also make both maneuvers easier.

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INDIA: Losing your partner in your twilight years is tough

MUMBAI, Maharashtra / The Times of India / Life & Style / December 20, 2011

DEPRESSION

Learning To Live
By Anuradha Varma

Losing your partner in your twilight years is tough, says Anuradha Varma, but you need to move on.

Losing a spouse can be tough, that too when you are no longer young. Known as the Widowhood Effect, it leaves surviving spouses feeling lonely, lost and depressed.

Experts say that dependence on a spouse begins to increase once the children grow up and leave home. Losing a spouse means losing a confidante and companion. Clinical psychologist Seema Hingorrany explains, "I hear many people say that they don't know who to share their problems with anymore. They feel the children are busy with their own families and work. They feel that no one can take the place of a spouse."

Those who lose a partner in their twilight years, she adds, "go through extreme loneliness and depression, which could lead to physiological problems. There is also insecurity that accompanies advanced age."

A time of great stress
Research shows that immense grief may cause many to die within three years of their spouse's passing away. Elderly care-giving spouses are at a 63 per cent greater risk of death than older people not caring for their mates, according to the American Medical Association.

In a study involving 58,000 married couples, researchers at St Andrews University found that 40 per cent of women and 26 per cent of men died within three years of their partner. A study published in the Internal Medicine Journal in 2009 also reported that such bereavement can cause elevated heart rates, particularly during the early weeks.

Lack of will to live
Shweta (name changed) remembers her father, in his late 70s, losing the will to live after her mother died. Any effort to elevate his mood remained unsuccessful. He passed away a year later. Another elderly gentleman in his 90s was leading an active lifestyle, but the death of his wife saw his health deteriorating. At times, even having a large family around doesn't help the grieving spouse.

Remarks psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria: "For some time, the partner may need some time and space to deal with the grief. Old memories hound you for a while, since you have spent almost your entire life with that person and shared everything, emotionally and physically, which makes the absence unbearable. You meet people or go to places which remind you of your spouse. Elderly couples report they don't feel like living themselves after their partner's loss. However, avoiding and isolating yourself is not an appropriate solution."

Get independent
Support structures play a crucial role here. Points out Chhabria, "Handling your spouse's responsibilities and liabilities once the person is no more causes more stress. Picking up the pieces without your partner may not be easy. However, dealing with loneliness, emptiness and the depression is most important."

People who are still active and independent tend to move on faster than the ones who have been financially and emotionally dependent on their spouses. How can one survive such loss? One way is to stay occupied and gain independence. Chhabria adds, "Spiritual discourses can help some become emotionally stronger. Actively participating in senior citizens' groups may help in forming new friendships. Health is of prime importance, so morning walks, temple visits, catching up with old friends should be encouraged."

Seema recommends, "One should try to cultivate hobbies like playing cards or doing social work. Building bonds with grandchildren also helps; help them with their homework or attend PTA meets."

Meet your peer group
Old age can be especially tough for those who lack meaningful attachments and feel isolated by society, trapped in a cycle of loneliness and lack of dignity. Faced with hopelessness, death seems welcome. Astrologer Bejan Daruwalla, who is now pushing 80, says, "Many times, senior citizens feel completely betrayed. They feel they have been let down, done in, by those they had nurtured when they were younger and had the strength to do so."

An encounter with Dignity Foundation showed Bejan that there was hope for the elderly. The Foundation, which works for empowerment of senior citizens, also runs a companionship programme for them in Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Pune. Its founder Sheelu Srinivasan says, "We have volunteers, also seniors, who visit individuals in their homes. We get requests from many young people to help seniors living at home. Interaction with a peer group is very important. A person who loses a spouse at this stage in life can be very lonely. Sharing stories with similar people, giving vent to their emotions, rescues them from the brink of hopelessness." They also organise regular daily sessions of activities such as yoga, meditation and Tai Chi termed 'Kalyan Mitrata' on the Buddhist principle of "welfare for all," encouraging bonds with deep empathy.

Ultimately, it's all about relearning how to enjoy the little joys of life!

E-Mail: anuradha.varma@timesgroup.com

© 2011 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

JAPAN: Checking up on the elderly in disaster-hit areas

OSAKA, Japan / The Daily Yomiuri / National / December 6, 2011

By Yasuhiro Maeda and Tomoko Koizumi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

With the arrival of winter, residents in areas affected by the March 11 disaster have implemented measures to check on elderly residents living alone in temporary housing units.

On Friday morning, temperatures dropped to below zero in many of the quake-affected areas, the lowest so far this winter. There are concerns elderly people living alone may become ill or die as they will have to withstand not only loneliness, but also the cold.

An elderly man walks in a temporary housing complex in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, on Friday.

In the Naka-dori area of Fukushima Prefecture, temperatures dipped below zero in the early morning.

At a 240-unit temporary housing complex in Otamamura, Fukushima Prefecture, four residents made the rounds of individual units to make sure yellow flags had been hung at the door.

The group called to residents inside, asking, "Are you OK?" or "How do you feel today?"

The flags, measuring 20 centimeters by 30 centimeters, are called "Shiawase no hata (happiness flags)," a name inspired by the film "Shiawase no Kiiroi Hankachi" (Yellow handkerchief of happiness), starring popular actor Ken Takakura.

Mitsutoshi Kamata, 56, head of the residents' association, came up with the idea of using the flags to confirm the safety of the elderly living alone. The association distributed the flags to 44 households, mainly those with residents aged 70 or older living alone.

The group decided those people should hang the flags in the morning and take them down in the evening. Other residents take turns checking the flags.

In mid-October, this system helped the residents discover a 70-year-old man unable to move due to a stomachache because his flag was left outside after dark. After being rushed to the hospital, the man was diagnosed as suffering from an inflamed gall bladder.

After an operation, the man was discharged two weeks later.

"The flag saved my life," the man said.

Residents at the Otamamura temporary housing complex moved there from Tomiokamachi, which is close to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. They say it is colder in inland Otamamura than in their hometown on the Pacific coast.

"I don't want our neighbors to die alone," Kamata said.

At a 70-unit temporary housing complex in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, personal alarms were distributed to all households at the end of October to enable residents to notify others if they have a problem by pulling the cord to activate the alarm.

The alarms were distributed in small bags containing an "Otasuke shiito (help sheet)" with a sheet to list information, such as any chronic illnesses, family doctors' names and emergency contact numbers. Elderly people were asked to carry the bags not only when they go out but also when they are home.

Shoetsu Shimizu, 62, who heads the residents' association there, asked volunteer organizations to donate the alarms.

"I'm worried about the elderly's health as it gets colder," Shimizu said.

In October, a 79-year-old woman living alone in temporary housing in the prefecture was found dead in her bathroom.

"Local government officials are patrolling temporary housing to keep an eye on those living alone. But there is a limit to what they can do," Shimizu said. "It's important to have a system to enable residents to notify their neighbors in case of an emergency."

Some complexes are trying to set up community gardens so residents will not stay indoors even on cold days. The gardens also provide communication opportunities for residents.

In Otsuchicho, Iwate Prefecture, Tono Magokoro Net, a volunteer group, played a major part in making a vegetable garden on unused farmland in the town's Kozuchi district.

Daikon radishes, spinach and other vegetables were planted, and residents from nearby temporary housing units gather in the garden on weekends.

Setsuko Sano, 59, who enthusiastically works in the garden, said, "Coming here allows me to chat with many people and brighten my day."

The organization plans to set up a total of three vegetable gardens in the town and use the vegetables grown there to make bentos for the elderly.

Ryoichi Usuzawa, 63, a member of the organization who lost his house in the disaster, said, "We'll keep an eye on the elderly, who tend to be isolated, and give them opportunities to go out."

Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake, some disaster victims living alone died while their neighbors were unaware they were in trouble.

Between 1995, when the quake occurred, and 1999, 233 persons in temporary housing died that way. Of those, about 64 percent were aged 60 or over.

Yasuhiro Yuki, an associate professor of social welfare studies at Shukutoku University, said, "Temporary housing complexes in the Tohoku region are far from towns and cities, and sometimes the elderly are reluctant to go out.

"When the weather is very cold, there are fewer events. So efforts to watch the elderly and prevent them from being isolated are especially important."

© The Yomiuri Shimbun
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights. 
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Pain can become particularly intense and hard to treat

BOSTON, Massachusetts / Harvard Medical School / HealthBeat / October 2, 2011

The pain-anxiety-depression connection

Everyone experiences pain at some point, but for those with depression or anxiety, pain can become particularly intense and hard to treat. People suffering from depression, for example, tend to experience more severe and long-lasting pain than other people.

The overlap of anxiety, depression, and pain is particularly evident in chronic and sometimes disabling pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, headaches, and nerve pain. Psychiatric disorders not only contribute to pain intensity but also to increased risk of disability.

Researchers once thought the relationship between pain, anxiety, and depression resulted mainly from psychological rather than biological factors. Chronic pain is depressing, and likewise major depression may feel physically painful. But as researchers have learned more about how the brain works, and how the nervous system interacts with other parts of the body, they have discovered that pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression.

Treatment is challenging when pain overlaps with anxiety or depression. Focus on pain can mask both the clinician’s and patient’s awareness that a psychiatric disorder is also present. Even when both types of problems are correctly diagnosed, they can be difficult to treat.

Treatment options when pain and anxiety or depression intersect

In patients with depression or anxiety, various psychotherapies can be used on their own to treat pain or may be combined with drug treatment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy. Pain is demoralizing as well as hurtful. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is not only an established treatment for anxiety and depression, it is also the best studied psychotherapy for treating pain. CBT is based on the premise that thoughts, feelings, and sensations are all related. Therapists use CBT to help patients learn coping skills so that they can manage, rather than be victimized by, their pain.

Relaxation training. Various techniques can help people to relax and reduce the stress response. Stress tends to exacerbate pain as well as symptoms of anxiety and depression. Techniques include progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, and mindfulness training.

Hypnosis. During this therapy, a clinician helps a patient achieve a trance-like state and then provides positive suggestions — for instance, that pain will improve. Some patients can also learn self-hypnosis. One study showed that hypnosis training reduced both gastrointestinal distress and levels of depression and anxiety in 71% of those studied.

Exercise. There’s an abundance of research that regular physical activity boosts mood and alleviates anxiety, but less evidence about its impact on pain.

The Cochrane Collaboration reviewed 34 studies that compared exercise interventions with various control conditions in the treatment of fibromyalgia. The reviewers concluded that aerobic exercise, performed at the intensity recommended for maintaining heart and respiratory fitness, improved overall well-being and physical function in patients with fibromyalgia, and might alleviate pain. More limited evidence suggests that exercises designed to build muscle strength, such as lifting weights, might also improve pain, overall functioning, and mood.

Patients with anxiety or depression sometimes find that combining psychotherapy with medication offers the most complete relief. A randomized controlled trial, the Stepped Care for Affective Disorders and Musculoskeletal Pain (SCAMP) study, suggests that a combination approach might also work for people suffering pain in addition to a psychiatric disorder.

Double-duty medications

Some psychiatric medications also work as pain relievers, thereby addressing two problems at once. Just remember that pharmaceutical companies have a financial interest in promoting as many uses as possible for their products — so it is wise to check that evidence exists to support any “off label” (not FDA approved) uses for medications.

Patients may prefer to take one medication for the psychiatric disorder and another for pain. In this case, it’s important to avoid drug interactions that can increase side effects or reduce the effectiveness of either drug. Talk to your doctor if you are taking multiple medications.

Antidepressants. A variety of antidepressants are prescribed for both anxiety and depression. Some of these also help alleviate nerve pain. The research most strongly supports the use of serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) or tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) as double-duty drugs that can treat both psychiatric disorders and pain. The findings are more mixed about the ability of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) to alleviate pain.

All drugs may cause unwanted effects. SSRIs, for example, may increase risk of gastrointestinal bleeding. TCAs can cause dizziness, constipation, blurred vision, and trouble urinating. Their most serious side effect is a dangerously abnormal heart rhythm, so these drugs may not be appropriate for people with heart disease.

Mood stabilizers. Anticonvulsants are also sometimes used to stabilize mood. These medications exert their effects by constraining aberrant electrical activity and hyper-responsiveness in the brain, which contributes to seizures. Because chronic pain in particular involves nerve hypersensitivity, some of these medications may provide relief.

MORE INFORMATION

Anxiety disorders — which include panic attacks, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias — are among the most common mental illnesses, affecting more than 40 million American adults each year.

Thankfully, never before have there been so many therapies to help control anxiety. This report will provide up-to-date information on these treatments, including medications, exposure therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, hypnosis, meditation, and exercise.

Click here to read more »

© 2000-2011 Harvard University
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

CHINA: Several older people in state of shock after train crash

SHANGHAI, China / The Shanghai Daily / Metro / September 28, 2011

Shocked victims describe sudden, chaotic violence

By Dong Zhen and Xu Chi 

MANY victims were still in a state of shock well after yesterday's subway crash, after walking hundreds of meters through the narrow underground tunnel in the dark to reach the surface.

Chen Fengjun, 62, and Zhang Rui, both from Shanghai, were on their way to a tea party with friends when they experienced the shock of the crash.

Rescuers evacuate passengers after a subway train collision in Shanghai on September 27, 2011, where a crash between two metro trains injured more than 40 people, as more than 500 passengers have been evacuated from the trains after the collision, which was apparently caused by a signal failure. STR/AFP/Getty Images. Courtesy: Bloomberg News

"Everybody was thrown up and most hit the hand rails heavily," recalled Zhang, who suffered a bulge on her right forehead. She said she was still feeling dizzy and would go to the hospital by herself later.

The women were sitting in the lead carriage on the first train. It had parked for about 40 minutes before being run into by the following train.

Zhang said all the victims were asked to leave their phone numbers and names with the Metro authority before leaving, and those choosing to go hospitals on their own could deal with related issues later.

Chen said she saw at least 10 riders with bloody injuries inside her carriage. Noting that she was on the car "farthest from the collision point, it's terrible to imagine what took place around the rear end of the train."

Chen suffered cuts to her right leg and received first-aid by rescuers immediately after they emerged from the tunnel.

"The carriage was a mess and some people including children and seniors cried in pain," Chen said.

Zhang said "the train had stopped for so long and we did not know why. Some were getting impatient, and they started slapping the door to the driver's room to demand an explanation before the crash took place."

"I started feeling afraid and recalled the Wenzhou bullet train crash nightmare as the parking extended," Zhang said.

A train broken down on the rails was slammed into by a speeding train in the devastating accident in Wenzhou, which killed 40 people on July 23.

Yesterday's victims said the first rescuers arrived about 15 minutes after the crash and told them to leave the seats for the more seriously injured. They were later guided to leave the train through the driver's room and to evacuate by walking through the tunnel.

The crash was truly a heavy blow for one family as all the three family members, the parents and their daughter, were injured. They were seated in the first carriage of the second train. Mao Fengqin, 58, whose arm was broken in the accident, kept murmuring as she was trying to comfort her injured and terrified husband and daughter when they were waiting in line for CT scans at the Shuguang Hospital.

"There were at least three sudden brakes with strong forces that lifted up almost all the passengers on the seats and threw them to the iron protection rails or the ground," she recalled. "I saw glasses shattering. The whole carriage starting to tilt, and I heard everyone screaming desperately."

She said some iron materials on the train were crushed and deformed when the collision happened, with small, sharp pieces "shooting to their bodies and leaving small cuts."

Mao said the carriage was full of passengers, with the seats all occupied and many people standing. She and her family were all sitting. She said she was thrown against other passengers during the sudden braking, "hitting others on their heads to cause bleeding, and was eventually knocked against the iron protection rails," which broke her arm.

"The lights went off all of a sudden and the air-conditioning system also broke," said Mao's daughter, Mao Ying, 36.

"For the 15 minutes that we had been trapped inside, many passengers in the other carriages that had no ventilation systems felt dizzy and hard to breathe."

She said a man in his 70s suddenly collapsed and he was later helped by a batch of passengers who carried him to the train's first carriage, opening up the driver's cab and letting him lie down near a broken window.

Copyright © 2001-2011 Shanghai Daily Publishing House.
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

AUSTRALIA: Sensor to help catch elderly before a fall

SYDNEY, NSW / The Sydney Morning Herald / News / July 5, 2011

Belinda Tasker, National Medical Correspondent

More elderly people could stay living in their own homes longer thanks to a new clip-on device that predicts how likely they are to suffer a fall.

One in three Australians aged over 65 suffers a fall each year, with the medical costs associated with treating them reaching about $850 million.

But a new device developed by scientists at the University of NSW (UNSW) can predict who is most likely to fall and possibly be in need hospital care for injuries such as hip fractures.

The device allows the test to be done at home, at any time, by anyone, without supervision. Photo: tacojim/iStockphoto

Being able to work out who is the most and least likely to fall can help families determine how much assistance an elderly relative might need around the home to prevent a tumble or if they require more constant care.

The device, which clips onto a belt, works as a sensor to measure the performance of someone as they carry out everyday tasks like climbing steps.

The UNSW researchers tested 68 elderly people using the device and more traditional clinical assessment tests.

The results from the device matched those from the clinical tests in 99 per cent of cases, meaning the sensor could be a cost-effective way of elderly people measuring their own risk levels at home rather than relying on special clinics.

"We put the device on their waist and the idea was that they performed a scripted assessment and tests such as standing up and walking three metres and coming back and sitting down again, sitting in a chair and standing up five times and an alternate step test to simulate climbing stairs," lead researcher Dr Stephen Redmond said.

"We found those who had a greater risk of falling tended to perform the tasks with reduced stability.

"In the future, we hope that just by getting them to wear the sensor for a period of time we can unobtrusively estimate their risk of falling by monitoring how they perform activities like walking as they go about their daily lives.

"What we have learned so far tells us this is a very achievable goal."

There are already a range of fall detection devices on the market. While they sound an alarm when someone has fallen, they cannot predict if someone will fall.

Dr Redmond said the research team hoped they would be able to find more funding to carry out more trials of their fall predictor. He said he envisaged the technology developed by the UNSW team would be able to be incorporated into the fall alarms already on the market.

© 2011 AAP
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

UK: Isolation experiment mimics lonely life for elderly

LONDON, England / BBC Health News / July 3, 2011

A team of volunteers have cut themselves off from the world for a week, in an effort to reproduce the experience of more than a million elderly people who live lonely and isolated lives.  Watch video

Volunteers were unable to communicate with anyone and they also simulated the physical effects of ageing by using glasses that impaired their eyesight and by wearing gloves that restricted movement.

One of the volunteers, Caro Hart, said the impact of being alone and being physically limited left her feeling low.

Friends of the Elderly's Richard Furze said the experiment shows some understanding of the isolation felt by older people.

BBC © 2011
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Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

JAPAN: Fleeing crisis takes deadly toll on elderly

OSAKA, Japan / The Yomiuri Shimbum / National News / July 3, 2011

77 Fukushima evacuees died within three months

Nearly 80 elderly people who were evacuated from nursing homes near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant died within three months of the accidents at the plant that forced them to move, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

The 77 deaths are more than triple the 25 recorded at the nursing homes during the corresponding period last year.

Officials at the homes believe many of this year's deaths resulted from a decline in physical strength caused by moving far from the nursing homes and living in an unfamiliar environment. Many of the people who died had struggled to adapt to their new living conditions, the officials said.

The Yomiuri Shimbun surveyed 15 nursing homes--13 for elderly people requiring special care, and two for elderly people who cannot live alone or with their family due to financial and other reasons--within 30 kilometers of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

One nursing home just outside the 30-kilometer evacuation zone, run by a corporation that operates a home within the zone, also responded to the survey.

According to the survey, 826 elderly people were evacuated from 12 nursing homes near the nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

Based on the Law on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, the government instructed residents living within three kilometers of the nuclear plant to evacuate on March 11, the day after a massive earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling functions.

The next day, residents within 20 kilometers of the plant were told to evacuate. On March 18, the government asked elderly people at nursing homes 20 to 30 kilometers from the plant to leave the area.

The 77 elderly people who died after evacuating were aged 68 to 104--46 were in their 90s, 19 in their 80s, seven in their 100s, four in their 70s and one was 68.

AFP Photo

At least 20 died within a month after the nuclear accident, and 42 the following month, according to the nursing homes. The major causes of death were pneumonia and brain infarction, the survey found. Some died of old age, the nursing homes said.

A nursing home within 10 kilometers of the nuclear plant evacuated its 88 residents to emergency shelters, including a gymnasium in Kawamatamachi, Fukushima Prefecture. They were then moved to a nursing home in Tochigi Prefecture and elsewhere, but 10 died.

"Many of them had to stay on the gym's hard floor for a week. Some suffered from dehydration," an official of the evacuated nursing home said.

Nursing home Chojuso (house for longevity) in Minami-Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, evacuated 56 elderly people to 13 institutions in Tochigi Prefecture. According to Chojuso, 16 died in the three months after the nuclear accident.

A 67-year-old man whose 93-year-old mother died after evacuating to Ibaraki Prefecture from Chojuso said: "I want to thank everyone who helped my mother evacuate. However, I can't help wishing that she could have spent her final days in Minami-Soma, where she'd lived her whole life."

Gunma University Prof. Toshitaka Katada, an expert in disaster social engineering, said: "I believe so many people died in a short period because they couldn't cope with the change of living environment after moving from a familiar place. We need to realize that these elderly people, who are vulnerable to disasters, died without being able to tell us they were suffering.

"The government needs to establish a system in which nursing homes across wide areas cooperate following a disaster or nuclear accident," Katada added.

Relatives of at least 23 of the dead elderly people have applied for condolence money paid by local governments when people die due to the indirect influence of disasters, such as a decline in physical strength or worsening of chronic diseases caused by staying at an evacuation site for an extended period. Up to 5 million yen will be paid to the relatives of people who died for such reasons.

In the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, 919 of the 6,402 people who died in Hyogo Prefecture were not killed by the direct impact of the quake, such as by being crushed by a collapsed building, but died because of health problems resulting from prolonged life as evacuees.

There could be calls to have the nuclear plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., pay compensation for the elderly evacuees' deaths, according to observers.

© The Yomiuri Shimbun
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

INDIA: A different league of senior citizens

LUDHIANA, Punjab / The Times of India / News / June 30, 2011

By Deepti Dua, Times News Network

Avatar Singh, Surinder Paul Dua, Jeevanlal Shori, Ravinder Kumar Arora and Sudarshan Sharma — all residents of Dugri — are not the kinds to sit and discuss problems in their area. They are purpose driven senior citizens who have the guts to dream of and affect change.

The barren wasteland that was sort of an infamous landmark in Urban Estate of Dugri has transformed into a lush green park, all thanks to the five powerpuff men. Till three years ago the land was used to dump garbage and most residents cribbed about its condition. Now, it is a hot spot with swings for kids to play, benches and umbrellas where elders can relax, a fountain and a tube well too.

The change began when the five senior citizens got together and decided to take charge of the park's maintenance. The men did everything from going door-to-door and requesting residents to pool money, to constituting a special committee for the project. They also opened a bank account where the contributions were deposited.

Their hard work pays off every evening when the park turns into a lively hangout where women, children and elderly people spend time. Morning walkers also frequent the park to stay fit. Any public function or ceremonies are strictly not allowed in the park.

A gardener has been appointed to take care of the plants and ensure the park stays clean. To make the garden more attractive and beautiful, the flower plants have been bought from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Sheetu Chawla, a regular morning walker, said, "I am really lucky that I have a park so close to my house where I can go for brisk walks and stay fit. The greenery this has brought to our locality makes the scene pleasant and soothing to the eyes."

Another resident, Renu Shori, said, "After closing my boutique every evening I rush to the park for a walk. It infuses me with energy and helps to restore my energy."

Copyright © 2011 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

SOUTH AFRICA: Widow, 80, relives rape by intruder

PRETORIA, Gauteng / Pretoria News / June 28, 2011

She begged their attackers not to kill her husband while they were trying to strangle him with her jersey and she was throttled and repeatedly punched in the face while one of the intruders raped her.

This was the testimony of an 80-year-old woman on Monday in the Pretoria High Court. The dignified and composed woman pointed out her rapist in court, as being accused number one, Vincent Ramatsoma, 34, of Mamelodi East.

He has admitted to the rape. He said in his explanation of plea that he did have sex with the elderly woman on April 26, 2008, and that it was his intention to rape her. He is facing six charges, including murder, rape, robbery and various charges of contravening the arms and ammunition act, together with his two co-accused, Tshepo Bigboy Sekele, 28 and Ben Mmapeya, 26, also of Mamelodi East.

Apart from Ramatsoma admitting to the rape, all three pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Reliving the events of that night, the woman (who cannot be identified as she is a rape victim) told Judge Bert Bam that she was in the kitchen at about nine, washing dishes.

She thought she had locked the kitchen door, but it later appeared it was not properly secured. She meanwhile went to join her husband in the lounge, where he was watching television.

“The next moment I saw three men. One pushed me down on my chair and the other two went to my husband.  I was forced to take off my blouse and jersey while one of the intruders tried to throttle me. I was pushed down on the floor and the other two tried to throttle my husband with my jersey. I kept on asking them in Zulu not to hurt my husband.”

The victim said one of the men tried to drag her towards the bedroom, but she said she would walk. He then led her towards the bedroom. One of the other intruders then came to the bedroom with an iron and some rope.

“He shouted at me that I am a boer and that he was going to burn me and kill me. He swore at me and swore at my dead mother, using the most terrible language. I asked him whether he had a mother and a grandmother, but he just laughed at me. He then told me to lie on the ground, but I refused. He pushed me on the bed and pulled off my clothes, before he raped me. While raping me, he throttled me and repeatedly bashed me in the face with his fist until I could no longer see through my eyes. He threw my clothes at me afterwards and told me to get dressed.”

The victim said she was taken to the main bedroom, where she saw her husband was tied to a chair. The room was in disarray and the intruders climbed on top of her husband on the chair, to get to the top of the cupboard. They also emptied the safe of its firearms and took out her husband’s hunting knife.

“One of them tried to intimidate me by showing me the sharp blade.”

They took her husband outside and tried to force him to get his car started, but it had a battery problem.

When it did not start, they came to the woman to help them. She said she advised them to push the car until it started.

“I again asked them not to kill my husband. They said they would not and that they would tie him on the bed with me, which they did before they left.”

The woman said her husband had blood coming out of his ear and his mouth. Apart from his broken dentures, it seemed he had not suffered any other injuries.

But as the weeks went by, he became more and more disorientated and it was eventually established that he had blood on the brain. He died three months later.

The woman said her husband never recovered from the bad feeling arising from the fact that he had taught women self defence during his life, but that he could do nothing to protect her that day.

The case is proceeding.

Pretoria News © 1999 - 2010 Independent Online. ______________________________________________________ 
Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

CANADA: Nausea. dizziness, bleeding nipples: Why would anyone run a marathon?

TORONTO, Ontario / The Globe And Mail /  Fitness / June 27, 2011

Positive Life in Old Age
Despite the constant risk of injury, more and more people are running marathons - and they’re not stopping at one

DAVE McGINN

Nausea. Dizziness. Dehydration. Cardiac arrest. Torn Achilles tendons. Shin splints. Stress fractures. Groin strains. Calf strains. Dislocated kneecaps. Plantar fasciitis. Plica syndrome. Pulled hamstrings. The possibility of losing control of your bodily functions and experiencing what the running community euphemistically refers to as a G.I. incident. Bleeding nipples. The chance, however, slight, that the exertionmay literally kill you.

Considering the physical toll, and the damage running 42.2 kilometres can do to the body both in the short and long term, it’s fair to ask, why would anyone in their right mind want to run a marathon?

Yet more and more people are putting themselves through such agony. Races have proliferated to the degree that they now clog the calendar. In Canada’s biggest city, for instance, the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Marathon agreed to move from the fall to the spring since it was too close to the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon; its new date now overlaps with the Mississauga Marathon.

South of the border, more than half a million people finished a marathon last year, an 8.6-per-cent increase over 2009, which saw a nearly 10-per-cent increase over the previous year, according to Running USA. While no organization tracks such figures in Canada, most large events have seen steady gains over the past decade, and the growing number of races held each year is proof that more people are increasingly going the distance.

“The growth curve is very steady,” says Alex Coffin, founder of MarathonCanada.com, a site devoted to promoting marathon running in Canada. “If you’re [organizing] an event, trying to create a niche for yourself, basically the only time left is in the dead of the winter or the middle of the summer.”

The cliché may be that marathon runners are goal-oriented, Type-A personalities, but all the people participating in events can’t all fit that profile. While plenty are still driven by competing, many more simply want to complete the race.

“Especially now that you have the walk-run type training program, where that’s very acceptable, it’s opened itself up to the full spectrum. You still have the A type who’s concerned with what his or her time is and how that relates to their age group and all that, but you get a lot of people [for whom] it’s all about the medal,” you receive upon completion, Mr. Coffin says.

Injury, however, remains a possibility for any runner.

Running is so hard on the body that Chris Woollam, the medical director of the Mississauga Marathon, thinks people should run only one marathon – just to say they’ve done it. After that, they should keep to 10K or half-marathon races in order to put less stress on the body.

“You’ve got that ambition, you’ve wanted to run a marathon to say you’ve did it. I understand that,” he says. And, yes, running marathons have many benefits – losing weight, improved blood pressure and positive self-image among them, Dr. Woollam says. The downside is injuries from overuse, such as shin splints, iliotibial band injuries and patellofemoral syndrome.

Dr. Woollam also points out that a handful of people have died at Canadian marathons in recent years from heart attacks.

“There’s always that risk of dying, and the longer you go, the more likely that’s going to happen,” he says. In fairness, people are probably at a higher risk of heart attack sitting at home on the couch eating chips than if they were out running, Dr. Woollam adds.

Brian Webb, a 32-year-old who ran the BMO Vancouver Marathon for the first time this spring. It wasn’t a smooth trip to the finish line. Five weeks before the race, Mr. Webb suffered a pinched nerve in his knee, pulled his hamstring and threw out his hip. “I could hardly move.” But having finished the event, Mr. Webb is now eager to run more marathons. “It’s something I would be very interested in doing again.”

Of course, despite the pain, running feels good, whether it’s the elusive runner’s high or just the flood of endorphins that course through the body after exercise.

Completing a marathon is often seen as the ultimate goal for many runners, says Brian Torrance, the elite athlete co-ordinator for the BMO Vancouver Marathon.

“It seems like it’s always that logical step. It doesn’t matter if you can run a 29-minute world class 10K. Usually the question is, ‘Well, have you run a marathon?’ ” he says.

And once you’ve done it, chances are you’ll want to do it again. Matt Radford, a 28-year-old in Toronto, took his first running clinic in 2009. He completed his first marathon, the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, last year.

“Primarily I was drawn to it because I thought I couldn’t do it,” he says. Mr. Radford is hoping to run another marathon this fall (although he currently is off the road with a stress fracture).

Lowell Greib, founder of the Sport Lab, an injury prevention, therapy and nutrition clinic in Huntsville, Ont., says that while there is a vast range of possible injuries, runners who train properly can likely avoid many if not most of them.

“If there’s a training schedule and a nutrition schedule and all this kind of great stuff, [if you] allow for physiological change, allow for neurological development, you don’t run into problems,” he says.

Every runner knows injury is possible, but the sense of accomplishment that comes from reaching the finish line or logging a personal best and winning bragging rights is too tantalizing to stop many from ascending running’s Mount Everest.

© Copyright 2011 The Globe and Mail Inc.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Elderly man who killed his wife dies awaiting sentencing

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania / Philly.com / The Daily Delco / June 22, 2011

Stephanie Farr

Ernest Rayfield will never be sentenced by anyone on this earth for stabbing his 87-year-old wife to death.

Rayfield, 89, died this weekend while awaiting sentencing in Delaware County Court for the slaying of his wife, Mary Agnes, last year.

The elderly couple had been together for 63 years but towards the end, Mary suffered from Alzheimer's disease. When questioned by police following the slaying at the couple's Springfield home on Aug. 29, Ernest Rayfield said he just "couldn't take it anymore" and had stabbed his wife several times in the chest.

He was charged with murder and related offenses but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in December. Several days later, a judge allowed Rayfield to be released on bail in to the care of his son until his first scheduled sentencing on Feb. 22.

That sentencing was continued until May and, then again, until September 20.

Michael Mattson, spokesman for the Delaware County District Attorney's Office, said the prosecutor on the case is awaiting a copy of Rayfield's death certificate. Once that is received, the prosecutor will ask that the case be nolle prossed, or not prosecuted, and thus, dropped.

"You can't prosecute someone when they're dead," Mattson said.

Rayfield's attorney did not immediatley return calls for comment.

© Copyright 2011 Philadelphia Media Network Inc.
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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.  
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.

USA: Elderhood - A Buddhist Approach to Aging Well

NEW YORK / Huffington Post / Religion / June 21, 2011

By Lewis Richmond
Buddhist writer and teacher

This March I turned 64 -- one year away from Medicare, two years away from Social Security. So there it is: I'm a baby boomer, a Buddhist, and one individual face to face with his own aging. But I'm not alone. Each day and every day for the next twenty years, 10,000 boomers will turn 65. This is a fact with enormous implications for our politics, our society -- and, I believe, our spiritual life.

Forty years ago, when my Buddhist teacher Shunryu Suzuki was in his mid-sixties and the students around him were mostly in their 20s and 30s, someone asked him, "Why do we meditate?" He replied, "So you can enjoy your old age." We all laughed and thought he was joking. Now that I am the age he was then, I realize he wasn't joking at all. Some aspects of growing old can be hard to enjoy, and a spiritual practice can definitely help. This isn't just theory; the Handbook of Religion and Health by Koenig et al. presents research showing that people who have a regular religious attendance or practice live, on average, 7 years longer than those who do not. That research result is even more significant when we remember that for the first time in human history, people will be living in relative good health into their 70s, 80s, and even 90s. What are we all going to do with that extra gift of time?

Photo of Lewis Richmond Courtesy: upaya.com

For the last several years I have been developing a contemplative approach to growing old and aging well. I have come to believe, as my teacher did, that spiritual practice can help us to age gracefully, and that the last part of life is a fruitful time for spiritual inquiry and practice. As part of my research, I logged on to Amazon, put in the search word "aging" and sorted by descending best-seller. Yes, there were a lot of best-selling books with the word "aging" in the title. But when I looked more closely I could see that most of the titles really weren't about aging per se, but about postponing, disguising, or reversing aging. It was only when I set aside sales rank as my criterion that I found some good books with a spiritual approach to aging. Two of my favorites are The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully by Benedictine nun Joan Chittister, and Spirituality and Aging by gerontology professor Robert C. Atchley.

What other resources do we have for accepting aging with grace, about learning the lessons of wisdom that aging teaches, about investigating the deep questions of our human life? 2,500 years ago, the Buddha had a lot to say about the inevitability of loss and change. What could all of us aging folks learn from his teaching today?

The Buddha taught that "everything changes," and many of today's Buddhists repeat that teaching as a patent truism. But suppose we were to rephrase those words to say, "Everything we love and cherish is going to age, decline, and eventually disappear, including our own precious selves?" Suddenly this "truism" takes on a different coloration and urgency. It's all going to go, the Buddha is saying, all of it -- everything that matters to us. In fact that process is always happening; everything is aging, all the time. How is it that we didn't notice?

When we are young, we don't notice. In youth, life is full of opportunity, and when things go wrong there are do-overs and second chances. But on the downhill slope of life, we start to notice the worrisome finitude of time. We go to more funerals, we visit more hospitals, we view the daily news with more distance, and we start to feel an autumnal chill in the air. There are joys too, of course -- grandchildren, time for travel (if we can afford it!), the pursuit of long-dreamed-of avocations and new beginnings, as well as the energizing impulse to "give back" to community and society.

There is also a fresh opportunity to look to the inner life, to revisit the deep questions that a busy career and family responsibilities might have long pushed into the background. A regular contemplative practice can indeed be a part of this journey, and Buddhism offers rich resources in this area. In my upcoming book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser (Gotham Books, January 2012) I offer many such contemplative practices -- from traditional meditations on breath, gratitude, and compassion, to more innovative reflections on time, worry, fear, and what I have ecumenically termed "the inner divine." The last section of the book -- "A Day Away" -- is a guided personal retreat that uses these contemplative exercises as a way to reflect on aging in all its many dimensions. I use the term "elderhood" to refer to the totality of this effort.

Elderhood is the culminating stage of a life fully lived. When the time comes, we can (although we may not always ) assume the mantle of elderhood as a kind of birthright, and traditional cultures have all honored and supported elderhood, giving their elders specific roles and tasks to do. In today's wired, youth-oriented world, elders don't typically garner that same kind of respect. These days, each of us has to imagine and construct our own expression of elderhood, and find ways to bring it forward.

Recently I read an online article which described a group of elderly Japanese who volunteered to help with the cleanup of the damaged nuclear reactors. They vigorously refuted any notions that they were some kind of "suicide squad." They were just being practical, they said. "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live,"one said. "Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer." Some might say these elderly Japanese were just expressing a strong cultural value of sacrificing individual well-being for the good of the group. But elderhood is culturally specific; it shows up in different ways in different times and places. Elders are not the same as identified leaders; often elders are invisible, behind the scenes, shining like gold nuggets at the bottom of the stream.

I thought their offer was a particularly courageous expression of elderhood. Elderhood means to take responsibility, to mentor, to offer perspective. The nuclear crisis in Japan is only one of many dire situations the world over that cry out for a mature, seasoned response. I think contemplative practice can give us inner strength and help us develop the resources to assume our elders' role in a troubled and often rudderless world that needs us, now perhaps more than ever.

This blogger's books

Work as a Spiritual Practice: A Practical Buddhist Approach to Inner Growth and Satisfaction on the Job
by Lewis Richmond

A Whole Life's Work: Living Passionately, Growing Spiritually

by Lewis Richmond







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Credit: Reports and photographs are property of owners of intellectual rights.
Seniors World Chronicle, a not-for-profit, serves to chronicle and widen their reach.