A petite blond with skin sun-kissed from living for three decades in Manhattan Beach, Jan Lesser sits with her husband Rick in the weathered beachfront home they share with a dog, three cats, and a small platoon of parakeets and turtles. Her carefree demeanor shows no trace of the ordeal she experienced nine years ago.
Seven Los Angeles Jewish Home residents sit silently in the library with their eyes closed.
Inhale deeply. Now exhale and release. Release any tension.
The residents have come to participate in a Meditation and Music session led by Anna Kocis, the assistant activities coordinator at the Jewish Home’s Eisenberg Village. Her soothing voice guides them as the sound of rainfall plays softly in the background.
From ads for wrinkle creams to calling seniors “dearie” and “young lady” to the “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” commercial, examples of ageism are rampant.
“I’m reading a great book about the middle-aged brain,” I recently told a friend, “but I can’t remember the title.”
Welcome to the boomer brain. Grasping for names. Walking into a room only to wonder what you went there for. Getting halfway through a book before realizing you’ve read it before.
When adolescents or young adults receive a diagnosis of cancer, their immediate concern involves dealing with the disease, not thinking about whether they might want children in the future.
Don Catlin is in a race. Part marathon, part sprint, the contest pits 65-year-old Catlin against world class Olympians, champion cyclers and professional football players. The endeavor requires endurance, persistence and discipline.
Finding a purpose in life can increase our longevity regardless of our age. That’s the conclusion reached by Patrick Hill of Carleton University in Canada who, with his colleague Nicholas Turiano of the University of Rochester Medical Center, examined data from a project called the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Study.
As a European kickboxing champion and the stunt double for Dolph Lundgren, Tony Messenger knows how to throw a punch. Even so, the Manhattan Beach resident strives for greater speed, balance and power. At the Center for Mechanical Medicine, Messenger has found new tools for honing his skills.
It was Winston Churchill who famously said, “Never give in—never, never never.” He could have been describing Rudolf Metzger and his Providence Saint John’s Health Center physician Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD.
