Adult Health

Some requests that have come my way . . .

1) Tried and tested measures of stress, especially for adults. Tests or measurements (surveys, instruments that have been researched and tested).

Some possible resources for you :

• A Journal Article from the American Heart Association.
• A study published by the American Heart Association.
• Everly, George S. Clinical Guide to the Treatment of the Human Stress Response. 2nd ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
• “Disorders of extreme stress (DESNOS) symptoms are associated with type and severity of interpersonal trauma exposure in a sample of healthy young women.” Ford, JD; Stockton, P; Kaltman,S; and Green, BL. Journal of interpersonal violence. 2006 Nov; 21(11): 1399-416.
• “Symptoms of traumatic stress and substance use in a non-clinical sample of young adults.” Edwards, C; Dunham, D; Ries, A; and Barnett, J. Addictive behaviors. 2006 Nov; 31(11): 2094-104.
  

2)How often do the benefits for medicare change? Are there changes annually or do changes occur during the year? Are the benefits better in 2006 than they were when medicare was initiated?

Based on the Official Website, you first need to know which plan of Medicare you (or your loved one) is on in order to find out if your section of Medicare has had its benefits changed recently. After browsing some of the information and Q&A pages, it appears that changes to the Medicare plan occur annually. From the Official Website of the U.S Department of Health & Human Services, I learned that Medicare was created in 1965. For more information regarding the improvement of benefits, please visit The Medicare Rights Center

3)How much blood does the average heart pump per minute, hour, day, year?

5 quarts, 75 gallons, 1,800 gallons, 657,000 gallons

Source : “The Human Heart : a living pump.” National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Washington, DC. 1995.

4) Can you help me find articles or books about women's experiences with aging, particularly how they feel about themselves and their bodies as they age? Actually, anything on men's experiences with aging and their aging bodies would be helpful as well. I'm especially interested in any articles/studies that use a social psychological perspective.

Some possible resources you might find helpful :

• “Pilot study comparing physical and psychological responses in medical qigong and walking.” Kjos, V and Etnier, JL. Journal of aging and physical activity. 2006 Jul; 14(3): 241-53.
• “Chronic psychological distress and risk of Alzheimer's disease in old age.” Wilson, RS; Arnold, SE; Schneider, JA; Kelly, JF; Tang, Y; and Bennett, DA. Neuroepidemiology 2006; 27(3): 143-53.
• “Expression and ambivalence over expression of negative emotion: cross-sectional associations with psychosocial factors and health-related quality of life in postmenopausal women.” Michael, YL; Wisdom, JP; Perrin, N; Bowen, D; Cochrane, BB; Brzyski, R; and Ritenbaugh, C. Journal of women & aging. 2006; 18(2): 25-40.
• “Gender and marital-history differences in emotional and social loneliness among Dutch older adults.” Dykstra, PA and de Jong Gierveld, J. Canadian journal on aging = La revue canadienne du vieillissement. 2004 Summer; 23(2): 141-55.
• Furman, Frida Kerner. Facing the mirror : older women and beauty shop culture. New York : Routledge, 1997.