Fido's tail wags may reveal more than you think

NEW YORK (AP) — The way Fido wags his tail might reveal more about him than you know. Just ask another dog.
A few years ago, researchers discovered a subtle difference in how dogs wag their tails. When a dog sees something positive, such as its owner, it tends to wags its tail more to its right. The wagging tends to go left when it sees something negative, like an unfamiliar dominant dog.

Now, the same Italian researchers report that other dogs pick up on that difference, and it's reflected in their behavior and even their heart rates. Experts say the tail-wagging difference appears to be one way that dogs gauge how other dogs will respond to them.

"It's just fascinating that dogs pick up on it," said Evan MacLean, co-director of Duke University's Canine Cognition Center. For humans, he said, "it's a difficult thing to see."

MacLean was not involved with the study, reported Thursday in the journal Current Biology.
Giorgio Vallortigara of the University of Trento in Italy, an author of the study, said Fido is not deliberately sending a message. Instead, the tail-wagging behavior stems from how different emotional cues activate different parts of the brain, he said in an email. Read More.

Cancer patient Cecelia Carty hula-hoops her way into Harlemites

She's keeping hoops high.

A Harlem cancer patient has become a hula hooping heroine to the Uptown granny crowd, using a therapeutic form of exercise and inspiring graying ladies to shake up their routines.

Cecelia Carty, 50, marches up and down Lenox Ave. with her best friend Robin Green, 49, twirling a three-foot-wide, hot-pink ring and strutting to the R & B tunes that blare from their iPods.

The sweatsuit-clad pair conduct regular afternoon showcases, dancing from Carty’s home on W. 142 St. south to W. 135th St.

“I am blind; there’s not a lot of things that I can do,” Carty said during a recent performance in front of the Key Food supermarket on W. 140th St.

Carty became blind as a result of the chemo treatments, she says, and doctors removed two tumors from her brain during the summer. She’s also battling rectal cancer.

Green taught her how to hoop last year, in between chemotherapy sessions at Roosevelt Hospital on 10th Ave.
“It’s something for us to stay fit,” Green said. “It gets us out the house.”

Carty and Green hoop as often as Carty is able — she has been limited to about once a week since her brain surgery — and they’ve built a fan base of shoppers, store workers and straphangers who never fail to greet Carty with hollers and hoots.

Susan Watts/New York Daily News

Cecelia Carty (r.) is blind and suffering from a brain tumor and rectal cancer. It doesn't stop her from hula hooping around Lenox Ave. with pal Robin Green.

“You go, girl!” said Lucy Calderon, 64, a great grandmother who watched Carty do her signature backwards shuffle dance in front of Keane Pharmacy, near W. 139th St.

“People our age need to start working out,” Calderon said. “I think it’s wonderful what’s she’s doing. More power to her.”

Carty’s hoop is bigger than those used by children, and it’s filled with water so she burns more calories.

Read More

Alzheimer's caregivers: Tips to take care of yourself, too

(BPT) - Taking care of an ill loved one is never easy, but for the 15 million Americans who provide care for someone with Alzheimer's disease (AD), the emotional and financial toll of caregiving can be overwhelming. Last year, caregivers provided more than 17 billion hours of unpaid care for AD patients, amounting to $216 billion of care, according to the Alzheimer's Association. They often experience emotional stress, depression, health problems of their own and a loss of wages, the Association reports


"It's important for caregivers to take care of themselves as well, and to help those they care for find treatment options that can make it easier for both patient and caretaker to better manage Alzheimer's symptoms," says Dr. Richard S. Isaacson*, associate professor of neurology and director of the Alzheimer's Prevention & Treatment Program at Weill Cornell Medical College and a respected AD researcher who has several family members with the disease. "Just as there is no one solution for managing Alzheimer's symptoms, caregivers need to employ a suite of tactics in coping with their responsibilities - from stress-relieving habits and regular medical care for themselves, as well education about nutritional therapy and medication for patients."
Caregivers should keep in mind that helping themselves stay well is also helping the people for whom they're caring. If you're taking care of a loved one with AD, here are some ways you can help both yourself and the person in your care:

* Therapy to mitigate AD symptoms - Coping with common symptoms of AD such as disorientation, forgetfulness and emotional imbalances are among the most stressful aspects of caregiving. Helping patients mitigate those symptoms can improve the quality of life for both the patient and caregiver. Some medications show promise in helping reduce symptoms, and a new medical food, Axona(R) by Accera, Inc. can further help some mild to moderate patients mitigate symptoms, especially when used in tandem with drug therapies.
Axona helps by providing the brain of mild to moderate AD patients with an alternative to glucose - the "food" which fuels brain function. A brain affected by AD doesn't process glucose into energy as efficiently as a healthy brain, creating a condition known as diminished cerebral glucose metabolism (DCGM)) which most often occurs in the areas of the brain involved in memory and thoughts. The easy-to-mix, once-daily prescription medical food Axona helps provide brain cells with an alternative energy source, which may help ease the effects of DCGM and enhance memory and cognitive function in AD patients. Doctors and caregivers of AD patients who use Axona report patients appear more alert and engaged in daily activities and interactions with others.

* Seek support - Caregivers provide a tremendous amount of support for both patients and those who love them, but they can use support too. If you are a caregiver, join a support group where you can connect with people whose experiences and emotions parallel your own. You can find a support group through the Alzheimer Association's website, www.alz.org. Don't be afraid to ask for help from family and friends, too. Something as simple as picking up laundry or groceries, or sitting with a patient for an hour while you run errands doesn't take much time away from someone else's schedule, but it could give you a much-needed break.
* Keep an organized schedule - Routine can be very comforting for AD patients, and a schedule can help caregivers stay on track and feel less stressed by day-to-day demands. Online calendars or apps for your mobile device can help you keep a schedule and stay organized. Be sure to schedule in some time to give yourself a break, along with doctor's appointments and medication timings.

* Avoid isolation - Withdrawal from society is common among dementia patients and can take a toll on those caring for them. Caregivers can feel isolated, too. It's important to connect with others. Seek social interaction that will benefit you and your loved one with AD, whether it's attending a weekly prayer meeting or a regularly scheduled dinner with family members.

* Keep things in perspective - The Alzheimer's Association outlines five key things to remember: Don't take behaviors personally; stay calm and patient; realize pain can be a trigger for behavior; don't argue; and accept upsetting behaviors as part of the disease. Remember, your loved one can't control his or her disease, but you can control your reaction to disease-related behaviors.

To learn more about Axona, visit www.about-axona.com/. For more information on AD, including tips for caregivers, visit www.alz.org.

*Dr. Richard Isaacson is a paid scientific advisor/consultant for Accera, Inc.

If you think this years Social Security increase is too small read what some of our members of Congress want to do to make future increases even smaller

Chained-CPI Supporters Believe This Year's Tiny Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Is Too Generous 

To ensure that Social Security benefits do not erode over time, they are adjusted every January. Notwithstanding the annual adjustments, those benefits do not keep pace with inflation. Shockingly, rather than make those adjustments more accurate, some politicians support making them more miserly, through a change, known as the "chained CPI" -- a cruel and deceptive benefit cut, hitting hardest the oldest of the old, the poorest, and those disabled at young ages, including our brave wounded warriors.
The 2014 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is scheduled to be released soon by the Department of Labor, though the exact announcement date is uncertain because of the government shutdown. Although the precise COLA adjustment will depend on September's inflation numbers, it will reportedly only be about 1.5 percent. This adjustment will be received by 57 million seniors, workers with disabilities, children who have lost parents and others. This adjustment will also apply to Supplemental Security Income benefits, which provide income for the very poorest elderly and disabled, as well as to a variety of other benefits.
The 2014 COLA, the fourth smallest inflation adjustment since automatic COLAs began in 1975, will be of little help to seniors, people with disabilities, and survivors. Most are already struggling to make ends meet. Medicare premiums, out-of-pocket health and long-term care expenses, housing, food, and other costs keep rising. Those fortunate to have savings have seen those savings shrink, and sometimes disappear. The Great Recession, stagnating wages, job loss, unindexed employee pensions, declines in the value of homes and diminished returns from investments have taken a heavy toll on the old and are contributing to the retirement income crisis facing working Americans. Having their Social Security benefits gradually but inexorably lose value because they do not keep pace with inflation makes it even harder for those on fixed incomes to make ends meet.
Today's Social Security COLA understates inflation experienced by the elderly and people with disabilities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces another measure geared to specifically measure the living costs of seniors, called the CPI-E, or experimental Consumer Price Index for the Elderly. It tracks the cost of the basket of goods seniors actually consume, taking into account, among other things, the higher health care costs for seniors. It rises about 0.2 percentage points more per year on average than the current CPI, thereby better protecting beneficiaries against inflation. The higher rate is largely because seniors -- and people with disabilities -- have, on average, higher medical costs, and those costs have been rising more rapidly than other goods and services.
No one is getting rich from Social Security. Benefits are extremely modest, by virtually any standard. But they are vitally important. About two-thirds of seniors rely on Social Security for half or more of their income. As a group, disabled beneficiaries rely on Social Security for a majority of their family income. In short, Social Security beneficiaries have little flexibility in their household budgets. They paid into Social Security throughout their working lives, and have earned a COLA that should keep their benefits at pace with inflation.
Many in Congress seem to think that the Social Security benefits that our seniors and people with disabilities receive today -- under $15,000/year on average -- are too high, and have made cutting them one of their primary goals in Washington's serial budget crises. But as a recent survey from the National Academy of Social Insurance shows, the American people strongly disagree. Seventy-one percent would prefer a package of changes that includes changing to the CPI-E to more accurately reflect the level of inflation experienced by seniors. We wholeheartedly agree, and with the 2014 elections only a year away, Congress would do well to heed their will.
Although many in Congress talk about the need to cut "entitlements" -- an insulting reference to Social Security and Medicare, both earned benefits -- they do not seem to have the courage of their convictions. They propose cutting the COLA through the so-called chained CPI, a technical, hard-to-understand change, rather than say straight-out that they want to pull $127 billion dollars out of the pockets of their constituents over the next 10 years. And even though most politicians have promised not to cut the benefits of persons aged 55 or older, many are fully prepared to break their word. Read More

 

Seniors to get small Social Security increase in 2014

The cost-of-living adjustment in Social Security for 2014 is likely to be very small, marking the fourth year in the last five that recipients receive little or no increase in benefits.

Social Security benefits are expected to rise between 1.4% and 1.6% next year, according to the American Institute for Economic Research. That follows a 1.7% increase in 2013 and no increases in 2010 and 2011. A 3.6% adjustment in 2012 has been the only significant rise in benefits in recent years.

The increases have been small because inflation has been tame. But it's not clear that these adjustments really cover the increasing costs faced by retirees, who have different spending habits than the overall population.
For example, seniors spend more on health care than the younger population, and government figures show the cost of medical care rose 2.5% over the past year. Read More.

Will Obamacare Affect Medicare? Myths and Facts

When pollsters ask Americans what they know about the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the typical response is a quizzical shrug. The ACA, also known as Obamacare, remains a great mystery to many people, even though it was signed into law in 2010.

 When AARP holds town hall meetings, officials have found that the public is equally unclear about Medicare, the government health insurance program for Americans with certain disabilities or who are more than 65 years old, and whether it will change under the ACA.

Until now, the country's 49.5 million Medicare beneficiaries have mostly felt the impact of health care reform in their doctors' offices, where preventative services such as annual wellness checkups, immunizations and tests for cancer, cholesterol and diabetes are now covered without co-payments. But with full implementation of the law on the horizon, questions about how one will affect the other abound.

 "There always has been confusion about Medicare," says Dr. Gail Wilensky, a policy analyst who directed Medicare and Medicaid from 1990 to 1992 and served as a senior health and welfare adviser to President George H.W. Bush. "Now there's more confusion than usual because of the focus on the Affordable Care Act and how it does or does not relate."
Here are five myths and facts surrounding Medicare and the ACA.

Medicare is ending. False. Obamacare is not replacing Medicare. In fact, AARP representatives say that Medicare will become stronger once the ACA is fully in effect. "Medicare's guaranteed benefits are protected in ways they hadn't been protected in the past," says Nicole Duritz, AARP's vice president for Health Education and Outreach. Read More.

Why Do Our Best Ideas Come to Us in the Shower?

You’re in the shower, mindlessly scrubbing your toes when—bam!—a prophetic thought pops into your head. Maybe you finally solve that glitch bugging you at work. Or maybe you learn something terribly more important. The meaning of life, perhaps. Or what the 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper are.
Those aha! moments aren’t locked inside a bottle of Irish-scented shampoo. Soaking yourself in suds, though, does have a lot to do with it. The shower creates the perfect conditions for a creative flash, coaxing out your inner genius. Oh, and it makes you clean, too.

Mind Your Mindless Tasks

Research shows you’re more likely to have a creative epiphany when you’re doing something monotonous, like fishing, exercising, or showering. Since these routines don’t require much thought, you flip to autopilot. This frees up your unconscious to work on something else. Your mind goes wandering, leaving your brain to quietly play a no-holds-barred game of free association.
This kind of daydreaming relaxes the prefrontal cortex—the brain’s command center for decisions, goals, and behavior. It also switches on the rest of your brain’s “default mode network” (DMN) clearing the pathways that connect different regions of your noggin. With your cortex loosened up and your DMN switched on, you can make new, creative connections that your conscious mind would have dismissed.

Read More.

Ask the Senior Advisor

DEAR SENIOR ADVISOR:  I turned 70 ½ this year, so I have to start taking required minimum distributions (RMDs) from my IRAs.  I don’t want or need these distributions, and I’m concerned that they might push me into a higher tax bracket, or even affect the taxes on my Social Security.  Is there anything I can do to avoid an RMD?  —AFFLUENT RETIREE

DEAR AFFLUENT: You can’t duck RMDs, but you can give them away, within limits.  Those who are 70 ½ and older are permitted to transfer up to $100,000 from their IRAs to the charity of their choice each year. You can transfer less, of course—for example, you can arrange for your RMD to be paid directly to a charity instead of to you.

You don’t get a tax deduction for doing this, you get something better—the amount transferred is not included in your income at all, even though the RMD rule has been satisfied. Thus, the RMD won’t interact with your tax return in any way.

This popular tax strategy is slated to expire at the end of this year.  Although it’s been renewed with regularity, it remains something of a political football.

See your tax advisor before making any final decisions.

Busted: The top 4 most common pet myths

(BPT) - It's no secret that Americans love their pets. When it comes to U.S. pet ownership, 39 percent of households own at least one dog, and 33 percent own at least one cat, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Furry family members bring joy and excitement to a household, and providing the best care possible helps ensure pets have a long, healthy life.

Unfortunately, with so much information available, it's easy to become confused about what's really best for them. To cut through the clutter, Dr. Ashley Gallagher, veterinarian at Friendship Hospital For Animals and petMD contributor, sheds some light on some of the most common pet myths.

Myth 1: If cats have nine lives, what do dogs have?
Cats' curious nature and quick reaction times are likely the basis of the nine lives reputation, but in reality owners need to remember that both cats and dogs only have one life. That is why it's important to schedule regular veterinary visits to ensure your pet has a long, healthy and happy one. Going to the veterinarian shouldn't only be reserved for times when your pet is sick. Your pet needs annual wellness check-ups, vaccines, dental exams and nutritional consultations, just like humans do.

Myth 2: Table scraps are OK.
Did you know that one ounce of cheddar cheese for a 20-pound dog is like a human eating more than one and a half chocolate bars? That same piece of cheese for a 10-pound cat is like eating almost three full chocolate bars! Table scraps are basically empty calories for cats and dogs. They need precisely balanced nutrition for their specific life stage and special needs to remain healthy. A food like Hill's Science Diet is great because it gives them exactly what they need without any excess nutrients that might be harmful.

Myth 3: Dogs wag their tail when they are happy.
Dogs wag their tail for many reasons; the most common is that they are either happy or nervous. Cats will also wag or flick their tail when they are upset or thinking. Pets communicate via complex body language rather than vocal expression like humans. Learning to read what your pet is telling you will go a long way in helping to build a fulfilling relationship. Ask your veterinarian for advice if you feel stuck learning your pet's body language cues.

Myth 4: Letting my dog out in the yard is enough exercise.
Dogs and cats both need plenty of physical activity and mental stimulation to stay healthy. If you just leave your dog out in the yard alone they might not get much of either. It's important to take them for walks, play fetch or simply run around together. Not only will it make for a happier, healthier dog, but it will also help to strengthen your relationship. Cats should be kept indoors for their safety, but there are plenty of toys that work their brains and their bodies at the same time. Visit your local pet store to find some toys that fit the bill.
Each pet is unique, so ongoing care, including precisely balanced nutrition, regular wellness visits to the vet and daily play periods are all good things that keep your pet healthy and living well for many years to come.