Older People

Sex doesn't stop at age 60, 70, 80 or beyond, according to a study published today that found many Americans stayed surprisingly frisky well into old age. The study of 3,005 adults ages 57 to 85 found the majority had an active sex life with a partner or spouse. More than half of sexually active older adults had sex two to three times a month - the same frequency reported among younger adults in a large 1992 national survey. The report, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found passions cooled as people aged, but said the declining interest in sex couldn't be attributed to age alone.

In WashingtonClinton offers new protections for elderlyThe greatest threat older Americans face is not a gun-wielding thug but "a telemarketer armed with a deceptive rap," President Clinton said yesterday. He proposed legislation to shut down telephone scams aimed at the elderly.The president said the sharply falling crime rate is a godsend to older people who once fearfully locked themselves into their homes, but new protection is needed for nursing home residents who "cannot lock the door against abuse and neglect by the people paid to care for them."

Responding to increased interest from senior citizens, Baltimore County is offering a wide menu of health and fitness classes for older residents, from yoga and aerobics to workshops on sexuality.In recent years, the elderly have become more aware of their health and the need to exercise and remain fit, say those who work with seniors.Baltimore County, which has the state's highest senior population at 138,000, is working to meet that demand."Historically, the message to older people had been: `Rest, relax, don't tax your weary body,' " said Dr. Michael Harper, a geriatric medicine and gerontology instructor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

It is one of life's most wrenching decisions. As the infirmities of age confront us, do we leave the familiarity and memories of our homes for somewhere more accommodating to illness?Given a choice, most people would rather remain at home. From that desire has sprung a national "aging in place" movement that helps people adapt their homes to allow them to stay in familiar surroundings, near friends and neighbors, for as long as possible.Gerontologists estimate that there are at least 1 million older people -- and probably many more -- living with mobility and health problems and that their ranks will soar as the baby boomer generation begins hitting age 65 in 2011.

Moving gingerly into a politically touchy area, Maryland officials are launching a study this week aimed at spotting -- and helping -- the elderly driver who might pose a danger on the highway because of failing body or mind.Starting tomorrow, the Motor Vehicle Administration will ask older drivers to take a no-risk battery of tests designed to measure their agility, memory and vision.Officials stress that the tests, to be offered at three MVA branch offices and at senior centers around the state, will not affect the volunteers' driving privileges.

When Louise Macnair, a widow who is now 93, crashed to the floor in the front room of her home, she knew the time had come "to push that button."She did, and within minutes, the people at Lifeline Systems Inc., the oldest and largest personal emergency response system, called the neighbor Macnair had designated as a "responder." Soon both the neighbor and an ambulance arrived.Macnair spent the next five months hospitalized with one complication after another from what turned out to be a broken hip. But in May 1995, to her great delight, she returned to the life she loved -- living alone in her own home in Cambridge, Mass.

HEY, MOM, I got the job!" are sweet words that a parent likes to hear at the end of a school year. When I said those words to my mother earlier this summer, she was glad for me but couldn't quite understand why her adult daughter would want a summer job. My husband was happy because I'd gotten something I wanted. My teen-age children were just glad the store was not in a mall where their friends might see me.So now I'm a cashier-in-training at a neighborhood nursery and craft store along with fresh-faced high school and college-age students.

'TC She is a 92-year-old woman -- anybody's mother, anybody's patient.Because of bad circulation, she developed a foot ulcer, for which surgeons offered two choices: Amputating the foot in a fairly simple surgical procedure, or a more complicated bypass operation to save her foot by grafting other blood vessels onto the decayed area.Her chances of walking were limited either way because of her severe arthritis. But her family wanted to save her foot. So she chose the bypass, and at first things went well.

Havre de Grace. -- Recently I discovered that I'm almost eligible for the senior discount at McDonald's, and in preparation for that major milestone I sent away for a baseball cap with a gray ponytail attached.It makes me look very distinguished, in a sort of '60s way, rather like a tenured professor of some useless discipline -- Semiotic deconstructionism? Gender studies? -- at an important university. I'm looking for a McGovern button to attach to it.No sooner did the cap arrive than, by a strange coincidence, I started getting torrents of mail from the old folks' lobby.

In recent years, America's senior citizens have fared relatively well from federal largess. But new budgetary realities cast a partisan pall over the fourth White House Council on Aging, held last week in Washington, D.C.It's still difficult to discuss Social Security, but it's no longer possible to ignore the fact that Medicare, an immensely popular government benefit, is projected to go broke by the 2002. To put that problem in perspective, information from the federal Health Care Financing Administration shows that by 2004 the cost of health care for people 65 and older will make up 50 percent of total health care costs, which could reach $2 trillion.

Have you heard the one about Sen. John McCain being old? Maybe this one, from The Tonight Show With Jay Leno: "John McCain says he has a list of about 20 names of potential vice presidential candidates. I don't want to say John McCain is old, but the list begins 'Hear ye! Hear ye!' " Ba da boom. Since he announced his candidacy for president, there has been no shortage of jokes about the age of McCain, who turns 72 this month. From late-night talk shows to blogs and Web sites, many observers find the Republican candidate's white hair, lumbering gait and grandfatherly disposition fodder for humorous discussion.

In 1953, K. Dale Williams Sr. bought a new Plymouth for $1,975. That was a wince-worthy sum back then, but Williams remembers cringing even more when he was offered - for $13 more - a handy-dandy little gadget called a turn signal. "It was an option back then, turn signals," Williams, 77, said. "And back-up lights." Over the years, Williams has learned that turn signals are far from optional; they're vital. As are such good driving practices as checking mirrors and blind spots before moving an inch, merging smoothly and safely, and adhering to the three-second rule when following another car. As district coordinator of AARP's Safe Driving Program for motorists 50 and older, Williams has been teaching lessons like those to drivers in his peer group since 2001.

Print is having some issues at the moment, which may be like saying New Orleans took on some water. Insults fly, playground-style, about how long one published entity or another will be alive. Microsoft's CEO says no ink-on-paper newspapers or magazines by 2018; someone else says there'll be no Microsoft by then either. Newsweek will be gone in five years, predicts a columnist willing to bet dinner on it; I prefer steak, the magazine's editor shoots back. A study released last week by the Internet research firm Nielsen Online revealed a part of the problem: People in the computer age are probably reading more than they ever have, so it's difficult to convince them to do more of it. It's the same 24-hour day that's always existed, recalling Mark Twain's quote about the wisdom of investing in land because they're not making any more of it. People on average spend two hours a day, or more in many cases, reading online at work or home, according to the latest Nielsen study involving about 30,000 users.

John Hopkins geriatrician Dr. Robert Burton has heard far too many stories like that of Nancy Schmidt, the 74-year-old woman who was attacked in her Remington home this week. "I think older people are particularly vulnerable to crime ..." Burton said, ticking off horror story after horror story of patients he has known who have been similarly victimized. "Particularly single women living alone are somehow preferentially targeted." From 1993 to 2002, people age 65 or older were less likely to be victims of violent and property crimes than younger persons, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Think technology business, and you'll likely imagine a company run by a 20-something or even younger upstart. At RWD Technologies Inc., a Baltimore consulting and training company, the founder turned 84 in March. But don't ask Robert W. Deutsch about his retirement plans. He doesn't have any. Deutsch is just as active in the company today as when he founded it 20 years ago. Deutsch, who gave up his chief executive duties four years ago but remains the board chairman, oversees the private company's research and product development efforts.

Swimmer Leianne Crittenden recently has racked up a national championship, a world championship and a world record, but she's not some promising college athlete. "For an old lady I do OK," the 51-year-old attorney and masters swimmer says with a laugh. "When I go against 20-year-olds, sometimes I beat them. I think they're sort of surprised - they say, `Who is that woman with the wrinkles?'" Crittenden isn't an anomaly. The notion that age offers only diminishing returns when it comes to fitness is being blown to bits - particularly in endurance sports.

The Carroll County Public Library's new bookmobile is a 21st-century full-service library on wheels, complete with satellite capability and low-floor accessibility for wheelchairs and baby strollers. "That's the beauty of it. With the satellite, we can hook into the library system, and people can place their holds, and we can do searches for books," said Connie Wilson, who supervises the bookmobile staff. "Anything they can do in a branch, they can do here." The satellite dish folds flush with the roof when traveling or not in use, then can be raised when needed.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that MedImmune has addressed problems at its FluMist manufacturing plant in Europe. The move clears the way for the agency to also consider an application requesting that a new version of the influenza vaccine be approved for use in children younger than 5. In May, the FDA sent a warning letter to the Gaithersburg company and said it would withhold approval of the drug for younger children until problems...

Sex doesn't stop at age 60, 70, 80 or beyond, according to a study published today that found many Americans stayed surprisingly frisky well into old age. The study of 3,005 adults ages 57 to 85 found the majority had an active sex life with a partner or spouse. More than half of sexually active older adults had sex two to three times a month - the same frequency reported among younger adults in a large 1992 national survey. The report, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found passions cooled as people aged, but said the declining interest in sex couldn't be attributed to age alone.

More than 200 older Howard County residents have been granted relief under the county's revised senior property tax credit law, and hundreds more are awaiting word on their applications, according to a county official who said the tax break is likely to cost the county much less than the $1.5 million first thought. At the same time, two members of a citizens task force that successfully recommended changes to a more generous law passed just before last year's election complained at a meeting last week that the current measure is too complicated for older people -- a contention that county officials disputed.