Living Well, April

A Quarterly Magazinefor People 45 & Older

VOL. 2|APRIL 2011

The need to keep fit ....................................2Computer connections ..............................4Get up and go..............................................6How to improve health................................8

All photos byBOB SATNAN/DEMOCRAT

By Bob SatnanThe Sedalia Democrat

Karen Smith stops visiting with fellowbowlers long enough to step up and roll herframe. She grabs her ball, swings it and the ballhits the pocket — a perfect strike.

She quickly turns on her heel, claps herhands and announces, “I like that lane!”

Smith, 68, of Sedalia, sports a smile asbright as her yellow shirt as she gets back toher true focus: chatting with her teammatesand competitors in the Swinging Seniors leagueat Shooters Lanes in Sedalia.

“I’m lucky I can do all of this,” Smith says,in reference to pain she feels from injuries andarthritis. But the chance to be active and spendtime socializing keeps her bubbly personalityeven more effervescent.

Bonnie Gensler, 68, and her sister, LoisHarms, 70, make the trek up from Lincolneach Monday to take part in the league.Gensler contends, “I believe we (seniors) needto stay active both physically and mentally.”

There is plenty ofresearch to back upher claim.

Dr. Behfar Dianati,an internal medicinespecialist at BothwellRegional Health Cen-ter in Sedalia, focuseson the diagnosis andtreatment of health is-sues in adults. He saysthe physical activitythat the league mem-bers experience is beneficial, but the body isnot all that needs a workout.

“The mind is not an exception from otherorgans. Like any organ, if you don’t exercise it,it will lose function,” he says. Dianati adds thatas people get older and lose social connections,they don’t use certain parts of their brain, sothose areas’ functions go away, never to be re-gained.

Harms, who still works with kindergartnersin the Benton County R-2 School District, liveson a farm so she has plenty of chores to keepher busy. “I try to be as active as the Lord letsme be,” she says.

She comes from a sports-minded familyand played softball until age 60. But when itcomes to bowling, she says, “It’s a challenge.”

“I’ll give you a challenge!”Bill Wilson, 78, of Sedalia, has been in the

league “10 or 15 years” — seemingly makingwisecracks the whole time. So what motivatedhim to join the league?

“It’s fun, I get a little exercise and it gets meout of the house,” he says, adding that his wifeenjoys that last part the most.

Virgil Kitchen says the league gives him“something to look forward to.” The 96-year-old Sedalian is among the league’s top handicapscorers.

“I get a lot of pleasure out of doing this,”he says.

The Elder Care Café blog(eldercarecafe.net) notes that a key to keepingseniors active is finding out what they did in

the past to exercise orremain active and en-couraging them toparticipate in a like ac-tivity in some fashion.It also encouragesseniors — especiallythose who have notbeen active in a while— to start slow withsuch activities andbuild proficiency andconfidence; if frustra-tion sets in early, theopportunity to make

The need to keep fit,physically and mentally

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LIVING WELL Wednesday, April 27, 2011PG 2

The Swinging Seniors bowling league April 18 at Shooters Lanes in Sedalia.photos by BOB SATNAN/DEMOCRAT

getting out and getting movingmay be lost.

Gensler subscribes to the “useit or lose it” theory. She says thatthe bowling league provides men-tal and physical activity, as well ascamaraderie for the participants.

“You can come here and feelbad, but once you get to bowl”those bad feelings go away, shesays.

Gensler, who works for Reece& Nichols Golden Key Realty,works puzzles, has text-messageexchanges with her son and does alot of computer-based work tohelp keep her mind active.

“If you stay mentally fit, thephysical comes along with it,” shesays.

Dianati agrees, stating: “Themore you use your brain, the morereading you do, the more socializ-ing you do, the longer you canhave good use of your brain. It’slike that saying, ‘With a healthymind comes a healthy body.’”

While the bowling league, andplenty of other activities includingwalking or bicycling on the KatyTrail, playing golf or doing yogaare both low impact and beneficial,Dianati says another exercise isgaining favor: tai chi chuan.

He says a recent study showselderly who do tai chichuan, a slow-movingChinese martial artthat is said to improvebalance, strength andendurance, have fewerincidences of falling.

“It is the nature ofthe sport to use bal-ance, mental powerand physical power,”Dianati said, addingthat “socializing aspart of the classesstimulates parts of

brain, as well.”Another benefit of the bowl-

ing league and other group activi-ties for seniors, especially thosewho are living alone: Folks noticewhen you’re not there.

“Somebody is always checkingon somebody,” Harms said.

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LIVING WELLWednesday, April 27, 2011 PG 3

Karen Smith, 68, chats between frames with Bobbie Lee, 79,and Jack Drexler, 77, between frames during the SwingingSeniors bowling league April 18 at Shooters Lanes in Sedalia.Bonnie Gensler, 68, of Lincoln, makes her approach before rolling a strike.


By Travis McMullenfor The Democrat

For many, the Internet is a significantpart of their lives and any extended periodof time spent without access to it is timespent in complete agony. We live in a worldwhere a significant percentage of the popu-lation must constantly check their Twitterfeeds, Facebook accounts and email in-boxes or they might just go mad.

They say wisdom comes with age, butwe all still hear the jokes about youth being

tied to electronic prowess. These days itmight seem that children are born with nat-ural computer abilities — as though eachnewborn is issued a foam keyboard andmouse and will be able to utilize the Inter-net within hours of coming into the world.

There are millions of children alivetoday who have never and probably willnever live in a world without Internet ac-cess, without laptops and touch-screenphones and will never have to be withoutthe endless resource that is the Internet.

But there are others who are steadfast intheir belief that the Internet has never andcan never do anything for them. There aresome who are willingly being left behind.But the Internet is one of the greatest in-novations of mankind and it can improvethe life of each and every one of us if weonly let it.

It can be easier to develop new skillsearlier in one’s life, sometimes, but nobodyshould let a little inexperience get themdown. Anyone, at any age can learn justabout anything if they put their mind to it.The world’s collected knowledge is availablewith the click of a few buttons.

You can use the Internet to make con-nections to people you used to know, oreven people you would like to know.

As previously mentioned, Facebook, thewildly popular website whose creation wasthe basis of 2010’s smash-hit movie “TheSocial Network,” is pretty much the interac-tion center of the net. It started out as anonline meeting space for college studentsbut it quickly turned into much more thanthat. Facebook and the Internet at largeoffer a level of long-range interaction thatcan’t be achieved through phone calls andtraditional mail, even when combined.

One can interact with old friends, dis-tant relatives, classmates, celebrities andpoliticians through Facebook and servicessuch as Twitter. Social networking sitesmake it easy to find exactly who you wantto find — you can search by city, state, orschool or just search for the names of thepeople that you’ve lost contact with.

And one of the best things about theInternet is that no matter what you might

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like, no matter what you’re into, you canfind people who feel exactly the same wayand would love nothing more than to dis-cuss those things with like-minded people.

Maybe you collect taxidermy moose,build ornate masks out of old beer cans,regularly sit in forest clearings and pick at aguitar or you’ve just been desperately seek-ing serious “Mork and Mindy” discussions— whatever it is you do, there are otherswho do it too and they can be found on theInternet. You’ll find more of anything thanyou could ever hope to find.

And almost anything that man has or iscurrently creating can be purchased or soldon the Internet. Your favorite childhoodsnack or regional beverage can be shippedto you by the boxload. That old part youneed for your classic car restoration can befound on the Internet. A stuffed rabbitnearly identical to the one you used to playwith, before your mother threw it out can

be acquired. There is even one website ded-icated to the selling of discontinued sodas.

Any nostalgic craving can be in-stantly fulfilled and nearly any tele-vision show, movie, book orpicture you could ever want toexperience again can betracked down either forfree or for a nominal fee.

I know a number ofyoung people who wouldbe more than happy tohelp you use the Internetto its maximum potential.The entire world sits ondigital storage spaces sittingin the dusty backrooms ofbuildings and it can be yourswithout much effort at all.

New band-aid procedure treats lumbar stenosis painIf you are over age 50 and su�er from lower back pain that is relieved by leaning forward – such as on a shopping cart – or sitting down, you may be experiencing the symptoms of lumbar spinal stenosis.

LSS is a degenerative, age-related narrowing of the lower spinal canal that causes pressure on the nerves and leads to pain and immobility. LSS is a common condition

diagnosed in 1.2 million Americans each year.In the past, if conservative pain treatment using medications, physical and chiropractic therapy

and epidural steroid injections failed, all that was available was open spine surgery. Now there is a new band-aid procedure called Minimally Invasive Lumbar Decompression

that doesn’t change the stability of the spine.“This new treatment �nally allows me to treat the cause of the stenosis,” said Daniel Bruning,

a physician and co-founder of PainCARE. During the MILD procedure, the physician removes the bone or tissue causing pressure

on the nerves through a puncture the diameter of a pencil. There are no incisions, implants, stitches or staples – only a band-aid is required.

The new procedure has a very high success rate for the right patients, and in most cases patients can go home the same day. There is no down time or rehabilitation as there is in traditional LSS surgery.

“Studies on patients around the country have been nothing short of dramatic,” said physician and PainCARE co-founder Kimber Eubanks.

For more information, see PainCARE’s website at www.kcpaincare.com



Spring is in full force and a mid-Mis-souri spring means it’s about time to getout and do something.

And if you’re looking for something todo, then there’s probably something in thecity of Sedalia that you’ll find interesting.

One of the best local destinations isthe Daum Museum of ContemporaryArt: it is a world class art museum situatedright here in Sedalia on the State FairCommunity College Campus. Admissionis free to the public and a rotating pieceschedule ensures that you can go back as

often as once a month and still have anew experience each time. There are per-manent and traveling displays of past andcurrent masters and no matter what kindof art you’re into there’s going to besomething for you.

It is closed on Mondays. It is openfrom 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Fridayand 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sun-day. Come on down and see that evenSedalia can carve out its very own place inthe art world. You might be surprised bysome of the people who are representedat the Daum.

And while you’re on the campus ofState Fair Community College you might

want to catch a play at the theater. At 7:30p.m. April 27, 28 and 29 and at 6:30 p.m.April 30, the State Fair Community Col-lege Plywood Players will put on a playcalled “Urinetown”.

The Plywood Players, named after“Plywood U”, the nickname assigned tothe temporary structure that was firstidentified as State Fair Community Col-lege have put on a number of productionsover the years with student casts and arecurrently taking on the Tony Award win-ning musical “Urinetown” which tells thestory of a small town that has their rest-room privileges metered by the UrineGood Company.

Get up and go: There’s plenty to do around Sedalia

And if that makes you hungry formore than Sedalia offers another venuefor good old fashioned plays, musical per-formances and talent shows: There’s al-ways something worth seeing at Sedalia’sown Liberty Center. It has been one ofthe cultural bastions of old Sedville foryears and years. It is associated with anumber of talented groups and offers anumber of important expression servicesto the people of Sedalia.

The first showing of their most recentproduction will be at 7:30 p.m. May 6.“Arsenic and Old Lace” is a classic ofAmerican theater, which centers on thechaotic family life of a drama critic livingin Brooklyn.

But maybe you’re not looking for any-thing quite so high class - maybe you wantto see some rough and tumble gridiron ac-tion. The Mid-Missouri Outlaws footballteam, three time champions of the CentralPlains Football League and current con-tenders in the American ProfessionalFootball League hold their home gamesright here in Sedalia, at the MathewsonExhibition Center on the Missouri StateFairgrounds.

Admission is $5 and the Outlaws’ nexthome game will be at 7 p.m. May 14against Sioux City. For such a low priceyou can’t help but come and support ourOutlaws as they continue their rise to-wards the top of Midwestern arena foot-ball.

But you know, maybe you just want to

get out and do something: Historic KatyTrail, the remnant of the Missouri lines ofthe once mighty Missouri-Kansas-TexasRailroad, twists through mid-Missouri andis a popular destination for walkers andbikers all over the state.

The trail, used by many including atight knit community of bicycle rid-ers is the place to go if you want tocover a lot of ground without havingto deal with any cars or any of the annoy-ances of city life. It’s just you and the trailand you can cover as much or as little of itas you want to. Be careful: time might slipaway from you and you might just findyourself a couple of cities over wonderinghow you got there.

This is just a sampling ofthe things that you cando in Sedalia thisspring: get out thereand find your favorite.


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We all try to eat more vegetables and takemore walks but there is one thing that some domultiple times on any given day that is going toseriously affect their health in the long run.

“Tobacco use is the leading preventablecause of death in the United States,” accordingto the Center for Disease Control.

It’s not easy to quit smoking or chewing,but here are some easy tips for kicking the to-bacco habit and ultimately improving yourhealth.

There is, of course, the old reliable nicotinepatch. It’s essentially a sticker that will assist inthe recovery process by slowly pumping thebody with smaller and smaller amounts ofnicotine until the addiction has been beaten en-tirely.

Nicotine gum and lozenges work in thesame way — the nicotine addiction is chippedaway by alternative nicotine sources.

Many have used these methods to quit

smoking but the problem it presents for othersis that not all tobacco habits can be attributedto a chemical addiction to nicotine alone.

For some, it is less about what they are ac-tually smoking and more about the actual act ofsmoking it. Some are addicted to the idea ofsmoking a cigarette more than the tobaccocontained within. They will make any excuse tosmoke, light up for any reason. They smoke be-fore, during and after anything they do becausethey like the motion so much.

For the person that smokes out of traditionthere is a relatively new device on the market:the electronic cigarette. They come in a numberof colors, shapes and sizes (some even actuallylook like cigarettes) and provide the cigarettesmoking experience. They are essentially metalcigarettes and can do slightly different thingsdepending on your personal preference.

The healthiest kind of e-cigarette allows forthe inhaling of nothing more than water vapor.It’s for the kind of addict who just misses theact of smoking and doesn’t care as much aboutthe replication of the chemicals.

Others produce a vapor that tastes likenicotine but doesn’t essentially contain any ofthe chemical, making the transition betweenreal cigarette and e-cigarette easier because theexperience is similar. Some are addicted to thetaste of the cigarette instead of the cigarette it-self.

A third kind produces vapor that does actu-ally contain nicotine - this is probably the mostcommon because it is the most effective. It is,to a certain degree trading one addiction foranother that is slightly healthier. The e-cigarettevapor, even at its worst, is still much better foryou than any sort of real cigarette smoke.Vapor does not hurt the throat and lungs likepure smoke does.

But even after all of that the most effectiveand most common method of smoking cessa-tion is going “cold turkey”. It means just stop-ping - waking up one morning and using all ofyour willpower to prevent yourself from smok-ing. It means testing your own sense of selfpreservation and mind over matter.

It will be hard and some just won’t be ableto do it — cold turkey isn’t for everyone.

But no matter how you do it you’ve got todo it — your health depends on it.

It’s never too late to improve your health

Living Well, April

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Living Well, April