Aging Well: The Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health - Softcover

Wei, Jeanne; Levkoff, Sue

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471082066 ISBN 13: 9780471082064

Publisher: Wiley, 2001

Synopsis

In this definitive, prescriptive guide to all aspects of aging, the authors-both top experts on aging at Harvard Medical School-offer a complete and highly accessible reference focused on the physical and emotional issues that affect seniors and their loved ones. Here is invaluable advice on a range of topics, from lifestyle choices to retirement and insurance options to coping with loss and other life concerns. Aging Well addresses such increasingly important subjects as:

* Safety risks associated with growing older

* Alternative medicine and the right questions to ask

* Assisting aging parents and other challenges of the "sandwich generation"

* Mail-order products for seniors

* Healthy-aging research and potential therapies

* How to optimize and strengthen your health if your body is affected by illness or disease

Aging Well contains what you need to know to help you and your loved ones live fuller, healthier lives, whether you're 40, 50, or older-because aging well is living well.

About this title

Review:

This resource is a great help for demystifying the aging process and helping you maintain a good quality of life. Aging well involves "reaching for a level of physical, social, and psychological well-being that is pleasant to both ourselves and others" and staying active in all three spheres, say the authors, who are both affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Aging Well presents a one-chapter overview of recommended self-care strategies (such as exercising, eating nutritiously, quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, and being careful about your medications). Next it explains how to make the health system work for you (including choosing a health plan, controlling the paper trail, and getting the most out of your doctor visits). Then the book zeroes in on particular health considerations in detail, with chapters on the heart, reproductive system, mind, senses (hearing, sight, taste, smell, pain), skin, musculoskeletal system (bones, muscles, joints), breasts, urinary system, respiratory system, gastrointestinal system, and more. Each chapter explains how that body system changes as it ages, what you can do to stay healthy, and problems that you may encounter. The writing is clear, and plenty of information is packed into each chapter. The last section, "Adapting to Life's Transitions," covers retirement, your home (making it accident-proof, getting help with everyday activities, housing options, long-term care), risks and rights (fraud, maltreatment), end-of-life decision-making, bereavement, and helping your aging parents. --Joan Price

From the Inside Flap:

What is normal aging? What physical and psychological changes can we expect as we get older? What can we do to stay healthy for as long as possible? Aging Well: The Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health is a definitive, prescriptive guide to all aspects of aging. Authors Jeanne Wei and Sue Levkoff, both top experts on aging at Harvard Medical School, offer us a complete and highly accessible reference focused on the physical, mental, and emotional issues that affect seniors and their loved ones. Drawing on the expertise from other leading Harvard Medical School colleagues, Dr. Wei and Dr. Levkoff answer a wealth of questions about growing older. From describing how our bodies change and how we can prevent illness to exploring retirement options to offering suggestions for coping with loss, bereavement, and end-of-life issues, Drs. Wei and Levkoff handle even the most difficult issues clearly and empathetically. In Aging Well, you’ll find invaluable advice on the importance of lifestyle choices in maintaining health and vitality, the types of insurance available today, and tips on making the health care system work for you. You’ll learn why sickness and dementia are not inevitable parts of aging, how to optimize and strengthen your health if your body is affected by illness or disease, and how to prepare for the unexpected. Aging Well addresses such increasingly important topics as:

• Safety risks associated with growing older
• Alternative medicine and the right questions to ask
• Assisting aging parents and other challenges of the "sandwich generation"
• Mail-order products for seniors
• "Healthy aging" research and potential therapies

Whether you're 40, 50, or older, Aging Well can help you and your loved ones live fuller, healthier lives.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0471082066
• ISBN 13: 9780471082064
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384