Despite making up only 14% percent of the U.S. population, those 65 and over consume more than one third of all prescription drugs. Senior citizens take an average of 25 prescriptions a year. No one wants to go back to the days before antibiotics, insulin, and other life-saving drugs, but doesn’t 25 prescriptions a year seem excessive?
Diet plays a crucial role in healthy aging from ensuring bone health to mental acuity. Vegetables, especially dark green vegetables, as well as legumes (beans and lentils), whole grains, nuts and seeds, are the best sources of magnesium, greater intake of which is significantly related to higher bone mineral density and strength, reducing osteoporotic fractures.
Created in 1982 by Yesavage et al., of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University Medical Center, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is a self-reporting screening questionnaire regarding feelings and/or thoughts for a specified amount of time, such as the previous week or two. Probably one the of the most widely used assessments, the GDS makes use of simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ assessment questions that make the process of assessment quick and easy.
