Tough time ahead for senior citizens as deposit rates fall

Senior citizens and those depending upon interest income will have a tough time in 2009 as deposit rates which have already declined by 100 basis points in the past one month are expected to fall further as RBI is likely to further easy money supply.

Most of the banks including the largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI) has decided to cut down the peak deposit rates by another 100 basis points from January 1.


SBI, which earlier paid interest at the rate of 10.5 per cent (11 per cent to senior citizens) in October, will slash its peak rates on fixed deposits to 8.5 per cent.

The other large state-owned lenders like Bank of Baroda and Bank of India too have announced plans to cut deposit rates in the new year.

Deposit rates are expected to come down by another 200 basis points in the next six months as inflation has softened considerably, said a senior official of Oriental Bank of Commerce.


Making a case for "aggressive" reduction in interest rates, the Government in its Mid-Year Review of the Economy, tabled in Parliament said "there is considerable scope for monetary policy easing over the next six to 12 months to offset the global increase in demand for money that is being transmitted to India".

According to the Crisil Principal Economist D K Joshi, the declining inflation rate provides more leeway to the RBI to further slash interest rates. I expect a 100 basis point cut in both the repo (short-term lending rate) and reverse repo (short-term borrowing) rates."

Courtesy: PTI

Positive Aspects of Aging

Isn’t it ironic that the idea of having birthdays appeals to most everyone, but the idea of getting older doesn’t appeal to nearly as many people? Birthdays are truly a celebration of life. However, straining to see through the nearsighted eyes of a youth oriented society, many Americans tend to consider every birthday past 29 as a forerunner for loss.

Growing older does offer challenges, but it also pro­vides rewards. To assist in dispelling negative stereotypes of aging, we may need to be reminded of the positive aspects of aging.

You Are Wiser: It has been said that there is a mysterious ingredient that occasionally accompanies aging—wisdom. This must be qualified by the fact that aging is a process of becoming more of what we have been. Hopefully, we have learned how to live what we have learned. The first 40 years of life give us the text, the next 40 years supply the commentary.

You Are Mellow: Coping skills have become better. We are more tolerant of the little aggravations of life. We have learned that it is better to take things in stride. This can bring about a reduction in anger, anxiety, and impul­siveness. It is better to be kind than to be right.

You Are Confident: Later years can be a time to enjoy the benefits of experience from the life that has been lived. Many people get satisfaction and security out of reflecting on their accomplishments and realizing they have something to offer others.

You Are Your Own Person: Generally, you don’t experience an identity crisis. You know who you are, and you know what you like and don’t like. You don’t take rejection as personal. It can be liberating to realize the way people treat us is often a reflection of their own insecurities.

You Become a Grandparent: Grandchildren can re­mind us that we need to nourish the child that is within each of us. Grandchildren provide us with an opportunity to be curious, to be excited about life, and to be play­ful.As Michael Prichard says, “You don’t stop playing because you grow old; you grow old because you stop playing.”

Your World Broadens: By fostering friendships and making new ones, there can be a network of old friends and new friends as well as the extended family. It is rewarding to reach out to others and to stay involved in life.

You Are More Motivated: There is an increased awareness of how precious time is and a desire to use it more wisely. There is time for pursuing a variety of interests—such as lifelong learning, leisure activities, and volunteerism. Vital absorbing interests can promote good health and extend life.

Aging may be inevitable, but disease and disability are not. We’re not getting older, we’re getting better.

By Shirley VanDyke, Education Consultant, Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging

Courtesy: Ohio Department of Aging

Rights Of Senior Citizens, Hopes Hinge On New Constitution:WAKEUP CALL FOR NEPAL

After the death of my husband, I distributed all of my tangible and intangible property to my sons. Though I had preferred to stay with the youngest son, I could not live there, as I became the reason of quarrel for the son and daughter-in-law every passing day. I thought I would better live out of the home and one fine day I decided to leave while they were not around, Radhika Devi Singh, 86, (name changed) shared her pangs with The Rising Nepal.

"Now, I have no one to look after me. When I was physically and mentally sound, I used to manage and control all the family members and resources by myself. Until the age of 70, I was very healthy, sound and perfect. The family members would love and care for me too. But, now at 86, when I want somebody to be by my side, to fulfil my demands, to help me move in and out, to get water for me to drink and to take care of me; no one is here. I am totally alone. Everything pampered. I am deserted," shared Singh who is taking shelter at one of the elderly homes in the capital.

This is not the story of Radhika Devi Singh alone, with the advancement in medical science and technology, the life expectancy of the people has increased resulting in a large elderly population. Although the proportion of elderly is increasing both in absolute and proportional number, traditional family norms and values of supporting the elderly are eroding at an alarming rate causing problems for the security of the aged people, particularly above 65 years of age.

Depleting socio-cultural value system, occupational diversification basically agricultural to non-agricultural, higher mobility of economically active persons to towns abroad for job opportunities, and the gradual replacement of the existing joint family system with a nuclear family system have been identified as the causes behind the dismal state of the elderly.

On the other hand, Nepal Government’s social security system is also poor and that has not been able to cover all such elderly groups of the society.

The problems of elderly are growing day by day and they are being compelled to lead a lonely and deserted life due to the irresponsible attitude of the government, non-government organizations and their line agencies.

"Neither the government and the civil society nor the donor agencies give priority to the senior citizens who spent their whole life for the development of the nation," says Prof. Dr. Leela Devi K.C. president of National Senior Citizen Organisation Network, Nepal.

Dr. K.C. said that there were too many dreadful issues and problems of the senior citizens in the country, which were becoming aggravated further with the flow of time.

Although the ageing population is given top priority worldwide, plans and programme to address the problems of this feeble population are glaringly lacking in our part of the world and especially our own country.. The older population is increasing both in terms of absolute numbers and as a proportion of the total population, however, traditional family norms and values of supporting the elderly are waning.

Dr. K.C. says that if the government does not take any measure to mitigate the problems of senior citizens at the moment and ensure that their basic necessities are treated as the fundamental rights in the new constitution, the nation would have to face a lot of problems.

Prem Prasad Upreti, officer secretary at the Centre of Services for Helpless, says that it was high time to address the issues and problems of the senior citizens as the nation was going to draft a new constitution. He said though the government has provided some of the social security services, the senior citizens were deprived of such facilities. The official procedures performed by the government officials asking the elderly to present the citizenship certificate and migration letter has resulted in additional problems for them. "They often demand for the documents but many senior citizens living in such old age homes do not have citizenship and migration letter," he says.

He says that it was not the problem in the town only, the senior citizens hailing from the rural areas and are destitute have more painful stories to share. He says the number of senior citizen coming in search of shelter was increasing in the town.

Though the number of senior citizen coming to the shelter homes is increasing day by day, such home also lack proper management, care giving training and rehabilitation facilities.

Manohar Upreti, an advocate, says that besides this, the case of abuse of senior citizens was another big problem they were facing. The quarrel among the sons, domestic violence and poverty has played a very crucial role in pushing the senior citizens into a life of grief and pain. He says that in the absence of appropriate laws and their proper implementation, the senior citizens were bound to live a life of an animal even in their own home.

Upreti said that the government should increase access for elderly persons to basic rights and facilities (food, shelter, clothes, education and health) at home and in the society improving quality of services with simple procedures for elderly people with an effective implementation of government plan and policies.

He also says that the pilot ageing education should be incorporated in the schools to minimise generation gaps- mainstreaming ageing issues as children and youth could play instrumental roles to respect elderly people as grandparents and think-tank of the society, as in the traditional societies.

Despite this, the elderly people are more vulnerable to disease and need more care. They are prone to the diseases like alzheimer, dementia, ocular disorders, ENT, orthopedic, blood pressure, asthma, diabetes etc. but the ironically they are deprived even from general regular check ups.

Until recently very little attention was paid particularly in developing countries like Nepal about the dynamics of ageing in human beings. However, the continued increase in percentage of elderly people in the population is creating humanitarian, social and economic problems.

Though, the increase in the population of elderly in Nepal is not so rapid as compared to the developed countries (as high as 13%), it indicates the starting of the ageing dynamics in Nepal, which will have adverse effects on the Nepalese social structure and economy in the long run.

Against this backdrop, the problem of taking care and providing necessary goods and services to those elderly groups has to be increased and the policies and measures to address their problems should be taken immediately.

Source: http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/gopa.detail.php?article_id=11363&cat_id=10

Blood sugar loss may trigger Alzheimer's

A slow, chronic reduction of blood sugar to the brain could trigger some forms of Alzheimer's disease, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

The study of human and mice brains suggests a reduction of blood flow deprives energy to the brain, setting off a process that ultimately produces the sticky clumps of protein researchers believe is a cause of the disease, they said.

The finding could lead to strategies such as exercise, reducing cholesterol and managing blood pressure to keep Alzheimer's at bay, Robert Vassar and colleagues at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago reported.

"This finding is significant because it suggests that improving blood flow to the brain might be an effective therapeutic approach to prevent or treat Alzheimer's," Vassar, who led the study, said in a statement.

"If people start early enough, maybe they can dodge the bullet."

Alzheimer's disease is incurable and is the most common form of dementia among older people. It affects the regions of the brain involving thought, memory and language.

While the most advanced drugs have focused on removing clumps of beta amyloid protein that forms plaques in the brain, researchers also are looking at therapies to address the toxic tangles caused by an abnormal build-up of the protein tau.

Vassar and colleagues analyzed human and mice brains to discover that a protein called elF2alpha is altered when the brain does not get enough energy. This boosts production of an enzyme that in turn flips a switch to produce the sticky protein clumps.

The finding published in the journal Neuron could lead to drugs designed to block the elF2alpha production that begins the formation of the protein clumps, also known as amyloid plaques, Vassar added.

"What we are talking about is a slow, insidious process over many years," he said. "It's so mild (people) don't even notice it, but it has an effect over time because it's producing a chronic reduction in the blood flow."

Source:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28380970

Does an Indian spice hold the key for treating Alzheimer’s disease?

Researchers at the University of Southampton are investigating whether an Indian spice could hold the key to treating Alzheimer’s disease.

The study, funded by the Alzheimer’s Society, will investigate whether curcumin, found in the popular Indian spice turmeric, and a number of other drugs, could benefit people with Alzheimer’s.

The researchers will examine whether the drugs could counteract some of the brain changes that are characteristic of the disease. The study is one of eight new Alzheimer’s Society research projects.

Dr Amrit Mudher, lead researcher from the University of Southampton, says: “Dementia is a condition that is drastically underfunded and there are so many avenues of Alzheimer’s research being left unexplored. There is also no commercial gain in exploring existing drugs developed for other conditions, which is why it is so important that Alzheimer’s Society, as a charity, is able to fund this project.

“Indian communities that regularly eat curcumin have a surprisingly low incidence of Alzheimer’s, but we do not know why. Part of our research will investigate how curcumin may help protect the brain and prevent the disease.”

In healthy people, proteins in the brain’s nerve cells help them to communicate with each other. In Alzheimer sufferers these tau proteins become abnormal and disrupt the cells’ ability to communicate with each other and the nerve cells eventually die.

The Alzheimer’s Society previously funded research using genetically modified fruit flies with nerve cells containing abnormal proteins similar to those found in people with Alzheimer’s. Dr Mudher’s team will now use this model to see whether a number of potential drugs counteract the harmful effects of abnormal tau and warrant further investigation.

Dr Susanne Sorensen, Head of Research at the Alzheimer’s Society, says: “Unless we act now, one million people will develop dementia in the next 10 years. Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that robs people of their lives. A cheap, accessible and safe treatment could transform the quality of life of thousands of people with the disease. With the right investment, dementia can be defeated.”

Source: http://www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/news/2008/dec/08_240.shtml

Active life helps eyesight of the elderly: study

Keeping an active lifestyle can reduce the risk of developing an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) gradually destroys the central vision of the eye. It is linked to ageing but scientists have found that physical activity such as walking and climbing stairs has a protective effect against it, Health News reported. Exercise helps to reduce the odds of developing wet, (exudative) AMD - a form of the condition in which new blood vessels grow behind the eye causing bleeding and scarring, which leads to distorted vision and impaired sight.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, USA, studied the impact of exercise on 4,000 men and women in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin over 15 years. The volunteers were between 43 and 86 years old when the study started in 1988-1990. They were questioned about how much exercise they did and were assessed every five years. About 25 percent had an active lifestyle and nearly the same number climbed more than six flights of stairs each day. The effects of physical activity were still noticed after consideration of other risk factors such as weight, blood pressure and smoking.

Engaging in an active lifestyle or walking more reduced the risk of developing exudative AMD over 15 years by 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively. The researchers could not rule out other factors but added that the report provides evidence that a modifiable behaviour, regular physical activity, such as walking, may have a protective effect for incident AMD.


Source: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=153453

Need for unity in care for aged stressed in Indian International Symposium

UN International Institute on Ageing Director Joseph Troisi stressed that all sections should work unitedly in providing quality care to elders in India.

In his keynote address at the International Symposium and Conference of Gerontology and Geriatrics (ISCGG-08) and 14th biennial meeting of Association of Gerontology (India) here, Dr Joseph said US led in quality care of the aged compared to India due to united work by all sections of the society for healthy ageing.

In many countries, the need for training in the field of aging had been recognised. The past decades had seen the emergence of a number of programmes and services for older persons.

He said he reiterated in the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing and various UN General Assemblies, the very implementation of the plan fundamentally required national capacity building and training to meet the challenges of population ageing.

The existence of national plans of action, programmes and services,though important, were not by themselves effective indicators of a country's implementation of the recommendations of the Madrid Plan. They depended fully on the individual country's human capacity to implement and oversee the policies and programmes.

Good health and socio-economic status are two most important pillars of successful ageing, he added.

This three day event in Temple town of Tirupati in India was oragnised by Centre for Research On Aging,Department of Psychology,Sri Venkateswara University from 16 to 18 Dec 2008 and was an historic moment for Ageing in India.The session was divided into Bio-Gerontology ; Geriatrics and Psycho-Social Gerontology. The excellent discussion on NPOP (National Policy for Older Person) and Care Givers and Care Providers added value to it.

Sailesh Mishra from Silver Inning Foundation once again demanded an Sepertae Ministry or National Commission for Elderly and also asked all the Political party to inculde Elderly and Elder care in their Manifesto.There is an urgent need to address Psycho - Social issues and problems of Elderly.He emphasized on proactive and activist role for Senior Citizens in India.

Everyone accepted to have an Joint National Forum to fight for Elder Right in India.

ISCGG Chairperson D Jamuna said young and senior gerontoligists of reputed institutions across the world participated in the scientific programme of the conference reflecting the cross-cultural perspective of ageing.

Every one from Who's who in Aging in India like Prof. P.V.Ramamurti - the father of Gerontology in India,Dr.S.D.Gokhale and his Team from ILC-I, Sailesh Mishra and Amruta Lovekar from Silver Inning Foundation,Ms.Anupama Dutta from Helpage India,Dr.Abha from Anugrah India ,Dr.Gangadharan from Heritgae Hospital,Dr.Jacob Roy from ARDSI, Dr.P.Vysamoorthy from SSS Global ,Dr.Indira Jaiprakash,Dr.A.B.Dey , Prof.Thakur ,Prof Arun Bali and representative from Association of Gerontology, India and 18 countries were present at this important event.