Senior Outlook Today

Medicare has redesigned its membership cards in an attempt to protect people’s identity from theft and prevent fraud. Here is what to know about your Medicare card. Private information, like your Social Security Number (SSN), will no longer be displayed. Your Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) will be a randomly-assigned, 11-digit number that will replace your Social Security number.

The mailing will start in April. The cards will be mailed by state over the next year. It is all automatic, you do not need to do anything. When you receive the new Medicare card, destroy your old one – be sure to destroy it so that no one else could use it.

Medicare Advantage cards not being replaced

Note that these are new Medicare cards, not Medicare Advantage cards. If you are a Medicare Advantage member, that membership card will not change. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) advises you to keep the new card with your Advantage card in case a provider might request it. Your Medicare benefits will not change at all with the new cards. The same goes for Medicare Part D stand-alone plan cards. Keep that card alongside the new Medicare card that proves your eligibility for Medicare Parts A and B.


[Read more…]

Suffering from arthritis? This ongoing health condition affects millions of people every year and yet few people talk about it. The truth of the matter is that if you don’t take action, it can impact every aspect of your daily life. Nobody wants that! Here are some of the small things you can do to stop arthritis from becoming a debilitating burden.

Try some compression therapy

Aching pain, stiffness, and swelling; these are all typical symptoms of arthritis. Should you wish to tackle the signs of the problem head-on, there’s one type of therapy that may work.

Extensive research has shown that using compression gloves can help to relieve the ongoing symptoms of arthritis in the hands. In using this method of targeted compression to manage pain, you encourage better blood circulation and take some of the stress off your joints.

Get some over-the-counter drugs

Of course, should you wish to go down the medicinal route, there is a wealth of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs available. While this option may seem like the easiest and most effective available, it’s important to understand what you’re putting in your body. [Read more…]

By Kosta Miachin

Healthy Gut was one of the most talked-about topics on food and health blogs in 2017, and still is very popular in 2018. Rightly so. More and more people complain about irregular digestion, bloating and food intolerances. Across all demographics, the awareness of what we put into our body, has risen.

A healthy and balanced diet is the precondition for a well functioning digestion. Eliminating sugary and processed foods, plus reducing alcohol and coffee to a minimum, should already set you up for good gut health and regular bowel movements. If you don’t suffer from a bowel related disease or intolerance, like gluten or lactose intolerance, eating a diet of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legume will already improve your digestion. Because in order to function properly, our digestive system needs the following nutrients:

probiotics, enzymes, omega 3 fatty acids and fiber.

However, there are foods that are especially beneficial for our gut, which we can mainly attribute to their high percentage of fiber.

So let’s take a look at 5 foods that boost your digestion.



[Read more…]

By Lisa M. Cini

We all know how miserable life can be without a good night’s sleep.  Sleep is especially important when there’s a lack of sunshine. Given how much time we spend inside during the winter (up to 90% of our day some studies say), we could all use more sunshine and/or shuteye.  Sunshine kicks off our circadian rhythm which is what sets our body clock to enable us to sleep well at night.   When we don’t have enough sun or sleep, we can feel depressed, anxious, excessively tired or irritable. I’m sure your family can elaborate on that the last one if you’ve ever been really sleep deprived.

The reality in my house right now is this – a colicky baby, only 100 times worse. How is that possible you say?  Well, the 5’6”, 135 lb. sleepless woman I’m speaking of can’t hear very well and has dementia.  My normally beautiful and pleasant 96-year-old grandmother lives with me, and right now, she isn’t sleeping.

Our house, in which lives myself, my husband, two kids, my parents, and my grandmother has become like the Russian sleep experiment in the 1940’s where they see how long you can stay awake before going crazy. Its 11pm and my grandmother been up for almost 62 hours.  She thinks we are lying to her about her grandsons, who are in actuality my brothers; she keeps telling me that something is horribly wrong with them and pleads with me to tell her.  I’m worn out, my husband is exhausted, my parents are teetering on sleep deprived and my beautiful, kind, classy grandmother has become a mean, paranoid, delusional night walker.



[Read more…]

Walking and standing may be something you didn’t put much thought into years ago, but as you get older, your body starts to morph and change in ways you couldn’t have anticipated. One of the ways that those changes occur is through your feet.

If you have been dealing with any type of foot issue that causes pain, such as overpronation, the answer may be found in well-made custom orthotics. Comfortable orthotics for foot conditions can be the difference between you getting through your day comfortably or struggling in pain throughout. Here are some key benefits associated with wearing quality orthotics.

Superior Foot Support

Even the most well-made shoe isn’t going to support your foot the way it requires necessarily. Feet are one of the most complex parts of the body with over 26 bones and more than 100 muscles each. This means that the variances in feet are common and exist in every foot. The right orthotic can be specially molded to the curves and angles of your foot. Even if you don’t want to opt for the custom options, many standard orthotics can provide you with premium support. You have three anatomical arches in your foot and making sure each one is properly supported is imperative to your overall health and mobility. [Read more…]

We don’t need to tell you about the benefits of vegetables and fruits. They saturate the body with vitamins. But what about people, who need a special diet? After all, not everyone can eat too sweet fruit without negative consequences. In this case, smoothies for diabetics will be an excellent option. The main thing is to remember to use the right products and avoid sugar, contained in many fruits.

Those, who suffer from type I diabetes, don’t have to limit the intake of protein, as it doesn’t increase the sugar level in the blood. But those, who have type II diabetes, should stay away from the mix of proteins and fats, especially animal ones. Vegetable and fruit smoothies prepared from properly selected foods will allow you to diversify the diet with unusual combinations of products and supply the body with much-needed vitamins, microelements, and fiber. Here are some excellent shake recipes for diabetics.

Radish smoothie with broccoli and green onions

Thoroughly wash3-4 medium-sized radishes with the sponge and cut them into quarters. Add 1 chopped, shredded cucumber, a sprig of green onions, and 2 small broccoli shrubs. Freeze the broccoli first – when it thaws out, its structure will become soft, and it will be easier to chop it.

Put all ingredients in a blender, pour 150 ml of low-fat yogurt or kefir, and shake. The taste of your cocktail should be spring-ish – juicy and bright. This recipe suits best for the Jenny Craig weight loss program. [Read more…]