Boomer Corner

If not Immortality what about The 120 Club? Planning for the End of Your Life Mind Changes - When to Worry

Who will end up with your books and your tchotskes, My good friend Alexander Everett died in 2005 aged your gadgets and your garden tools when you change 85 on his ranch in Oregon. It wasn’t really a ranch, your cosmic address at the end of your life? more like an Ark. Alexander just liked to hang out

with animals, certainly not eat them. Hewas an It’s probably the easiest and least onerous part of your educationalist and an English eccentric much estate planning to make a list of all your possessions and influenced by Rudolf Steiner and Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy, who decamped to Oregon in the 1960s becoming a leading figure in the personal development movement that became popular at that decide who will get the stuff you have accumulated all these years. Will Junior get your porno movie collection? Your daughter might like some jewellery or family heirlooms; time. As a young man he had been crippled by polio maybe your best friend would appreciate your gadgets or but claimed to have cured himself. He was, he told garden tools. You have made your Last Will and Testament? me a member of the 120 Club, all of whom committed Good. That takes care of your estate, your possessions and themselves to live to be over 120 years old. Alas, financial accounts and settles your preferences. Or does it?

Alexander didn’t make it. He died 35 years short aged 85, which is respectable. Estate Planning

Somewhere around the age of 18 or 19 our bodies cease Planning for the dissolution and distribution of your estate is developing and from that moment on the various body not that cumbersome but you need to take a few things into clocks that comprise what is us, start their remoseless account, especially if you have property or a foot in two countdown to our eventual demise. How countries. Besides the bequests and provisions your last long we last from that point on depends on will and testament should appoint an executor who will take good luck, our genes, our lifestyle and how care of administrative and financial matters such as much money we have. The process doesn’t liquidating bank and investment accounts, your pension or usually start to manifest visibly until our mid-30s or so and, given good genes, psychologically we don’t usually start to feel old until our early 70s. retirement accounts, ensuring your assets go to the proper beneficiaries, paying any debts or taxes. It could also include selling your home or terminating your lease. And with foreign property rights restricted in Indonesia, be sure Here’s what we’re all up against: you don’t leave behind a can of worms your executor will have to deal with. Even if you have little in the way of assets or possessions, you should have a simple will because if you die intestate the legal system in your location will decide who gets your assets, no matter how massive or meager. Things are more complicated if you are the parent or guardian of a minor child, have an informally adopted or sponsored child and there’s no document stating what you want to bequeath them or who will care for them after your demise. By the same token, are you making some provisions for your faithful staff who may lose their jobs and probably have no retirement or financial cushion to fall back on? Another thing to consider is to make sure that your will does not contradict the account beneficiaries named on your retirement accounts, life insurance policies and the like. The person listed as the beneficiary on each of those policies will get the money even if your will says otherwise. Make sure your beneficiary designations are up to date and sync with any other legal provisions you have made. It pays to review the beneficiaries on all your accounts. You may not be ready to die and in fact may yet have a long bout of life ahead of you but remember that things change, people come and go in your life and situations alter. Be sure these changes are updated in your will. Including your will, make a list of critical documents that the will’s executor will need to settle your estate like your insurance policies, bank and investment account statements, credit and debit cards, pension and tax documents and pertinent information like your Social

How often do you walk into a room and wonder why Security or National Insurance numbers and make sure you you’re there? You focus hard, grit your teeth, and try to remember, but come up blank. You retrace your steps and somewhere on that journey back, it dawns tell your family or carers where to find them. This includes passwords so your online accounts can be accessed. Other on you why you wanted to go to the room in first practical directives should address the paying of any taxes place. A niggling thought knocks on the inside of due, utility bills, recurring payments or donations. Any time your head, “I hope I’m not losing my memory”. a major change occurs in your life, make sure your will and last directives reflect it. You start to notice that words escape you - words or names that you know you know. Try as you might, you can’t dredge them up. Then sometime later, or in the wee hours of the morning, the elusive word pops into your head unannounced, completely spontaneously. Relief floods you. ‘Nope, I’m definitely not getting dementia.’ You’ve just been using an object, like your favorite pen, your glasses, or keys, when your attention springs to something else and when it snaps back, you can’t for the life of you find the darned thing. You look high and low and then you look high and low again. Sometime during the day, you stumble across it, right where you’d laid it down, and wonder if you’re getting Alzheimer’s. If it isn’t enough that we doubt our own brain function, we hear or read more and more stories about memory loss. And there’s a good reason for that. There are nearly 45 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, and unless a cure is found, that number could easily triple by 2050.

Chronic Inflammation

Aging people suffer an epidemic of outward inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, but chronic inflammation also damages brain cells, arterial walls, heart valves and other structures in the body. Heart attack, stroke, heart valve failure, and Alzheimer’s have all been linked to the chronic What’s the Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease? inflammatory cascade. Dementia is a general term for a decline in mental ability - a decline severe enough to interfere with the functioning Glycosylation of daily life. Dementia is not a disease, but rather a symptom, much like a fever is not a disease but a Diabetics age prematurely, but even non-diabetics suffer symptom of illness. from this chemical reaction, where protein molecules bind to glucose molecules forming non-functioning Some diseases with dementia as a symptom, such as structures. Glycosylation is most evident in senile thyroid problems, vitamin deficiencies, and depression dementia, stiffening of the arteries, and degenerative can be reversed if diagnosed early enough. But dementia diseases of the eye. is most commonly associated with Alzheimer’s. Methylation Deficit Alzheimer’s is an incurable terminal disease that damages the brain, breaking down the physical connections that are necessary to store new information, Our cellular DNA requires constant enzymatic action for retrieve old information, feel compassion, be able to maintenance and repair. Aging cripples methylation reason, and to problem solve. It progresses relentlessly, metabolism causing DNA damage that can manifest as until finally, if something else doesn’t get the person, cancer, liver damage and brain cell degeneration. they die of starvation because the brain can no longer communicate to the body the need to swallow. By now you’re probably squirming in your seat wondering what the symptoms of Alzheimer’s are? This is perfectly normal. Studies show that people are more afraid of getting Alzheimer’s than cancer. At least you have a chance with cancer.

Mitochondrial Energy Depletion

The cellular energy powerhouse, the mitochondria, requires a complex series of chemicals to maintain critical functions such as transporting nutrients through the cell membrane and purging the cell of toxic debris. Mitochondrial depletion lead to congestive heart failure, muscle weakness, fatigue and neurological disease.

Ten Warning Signs

According to the American Alzheimer’s Organization, there are 10 warning signs of possible Alzheimer’s Disease. All of these characteristics may not be present. It takes only one to suggest a trip to a geriatric neurologist.

Hormone Imbalance

1. Memory Loss that Disrupts Daily Life - not being able Trillions of cells in the human body are synchronised to to remember new information, forgetting important dates function by chemical signals called hormones. Aging creates hormonal imbalance that can lead to depression, End-of-life preferences or events, asking the same questions over and over. In contrast, a typical age-related change would be forgetting osteoporosis, coronary heart disease and loss of libido. names or appointments but remembering them later. In Now that the estate portion of your bounty is settled, have other words, you know that you’ve forgotten. Excess Calcification you given a thought to the other end-of-life decisions you need to make while still, as they say, of sound and competent 2. Challenges in Planning or Problem Solving – losing Calcium ions are transported into and out of cells through calcium channels into the membrane. Aging disrupts this process and the result is excess calcium in the cells of the mind? What about drawing up a Living Will that will instruct your nearest and dearest how you want to be cared for when you are no longer in a position to verbalise coherent the ability to do simple math, solving problems, organizing things, keeping track of recipes or monthly bills. Some people may experience changes in their ability to develop and follow a plan or work with numbers. In contrast, a brain, heart valves and arterial walls that can lead to thoughts? Remember there are very important instructions typical age-related change would be making occasional arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer’s. in regards to your end of life preferences that simply do not errors when balancing a checkbook or adding up numbers. belong in a Last Will and Testament since that document will not be read until after your death. 3. Difficulty Completing Familiar Tasks - sometimes people have trouble driving a familiar route or forgetting the rules of a game. My husband, Bob, was in year five of Alzheimer’s when he went out to do grocery shopping and didn’t come home for four hours. He was so scared when he found me again, he was shaking. The car was strewn with open maps he couldn’t make heads or tails of. A natural age-related change would be missing a street or freeway exit, but knowing you have. Or you may occasionally need tech help with your computer. 4. Confusion with Time or Place – people with Alzheimer’s can lose track of dates, places or seasons. Sometimes they forget where they are or how they got there. One night, Bob and I were in bed. He started to get up. “Where are you going,” I asked? I have to go home to my wife, he said. “I am your wife.” He sheepishly replied, “Oh” and crawled back into bed. A natural age-related change might be forgetting someone’s birthday but figuring it out later.

5. Trouble Understanding Visual Images and Spatial

Relationships - for some people, having vision problems is a sign of Alzheimer’s. They may have difficulty reading, judging distance and determining color or contrast, which may cause problems with driving. A natural age-related change could be visual changes due to cataracts or other eye problems. The western way to do that is to draw up an Advance 6. Problems with Words in Speaking or Writing - people Directive, a legal and binding document that outlines your with Alzheimer’s may have difficulty following a wishes if you become incapacitated due to illness or injury. conversation. They stop in the middle and are not be sure It sets forth the specific life- supporting or prolonging how to continue. The may struggle with words, forgetting measures you would like applied -or not- like resuscitation or CPR, or whether to end all life-saving measures. Your the names of things. I started to notice that Bob used the word ‘thing’ a lot instead of the object’s name. He would say, “Pass me that thing to stir this stuff with,” when what wishes should be written down and the document given to he wanted was a spoon to stir his iced tea. A natural agethe people most likely to be close at the time of your demise. related change would be sometimes not finding the right You should not leave these agonizing decisions to others. word or temporarily forgetting a word.

These instructions should include the type of care you wish to have, the medical team and the hospital you want to end 7. Misplacing Things and Losing the Ability to Retrace up in. If you wish to be an organ donor here in Indonesia you can register with Komite Transplantasi National (the Steps - a person with Alzheimer’s might put things in strange places. They may lose things and not be able to find them. They may accuse others of stealing from them. National Transplant Committee) or the Eye Bank (Bank This was a biggie for us. I would find towels rolled up with Mata Indonesia) ahead of time and stipulate that in your things from the bathroom I’d searched for. In his mind, Bob directive. was packing to be ready to travel because traveling was such a big part of our life together. A natural age-related change would be occasionally misplacing something but being able to retrace steps to find it. 8. Decreased or Poor Judgment – people with Alzheimer’s might experience changes in judgment or decision-making. They may be duped into giving money to telemarketers or pay less attention to grooming or keeping themselves clean. A natural age-related change might be making a bad decision from time to time, like buying something you didn’t need. 9. Withdrawal from Work or Social Activities - a person with Alzheimer’s may start to remove themselves from hobbies, social activities, work projects or sports. They may have trouble following TV programs. A natural agerelated change might be sometimes tiring of work, family and social situations and needing more alone time. 10. Changes in Mood and Personality – sometimes people with Alzheimer’s become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful, or anxious. They may be easily upset with others when they are out of their comfort zone. A normal age-related change might come from developing specific ways of doing things and becoming irritable when that routine is disrupted.

Fatty Acid Imbalance

The body requires essential fatty acids to maintain cell energy output. Aging causes alterations in the enzymes required to convert dietary fats into specific fatty acids the body requires. The effect of fatty acid imbalance manifests as irregular heartbeat, joint degeneration, low energy, hyper-coagulation, dry skin and a host of other conditions.

DNA Mutation

Numerous synthetic and natural compounds mutate cellular DNA and cause cancer cells to form. Aging cells lose their DNA gene repair mechanisms and the result is DNA genetic damage causes cells to proliferate out of control, i.e., turn into cancer cells.

Immune Dysfunction

For a variety of reasons, the aging immune system loses its ability to attack bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. In aging humans, excessive levels of dangerous cytokines are produced that cause the immune system to turn on its host and create auto-immune diseases,, such as allergies, lupus, anemia, rheumatoid heart disease and arthritis.

Your instructions should also indicate your wishes for preferred last rites, burial, cremation or repatriation preferences, appoint a funeral service and a trusted relative or friend who agrees to take care of all that. Also don’t forget to leave behind a list of family and friends you want notified. ‘Next of kin’ may not be near if you have Non-Digestive Enzyme Imbalance family in another country. Indonesian Immigration and Internal cellular functions depend on multiple enzymatic your consulate also need to be informed. reactions occurring with precise timing. Aging causes enzyme disturbances in the brain and liver, which result in And now for the big caveat: Remember that every country severe neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or has its own norms and regulations when it comes to persistent memory loss. Impaired liver function results in durable health care and appointing a health care proxy. If toxic damage to every cell in the body. you plan to die in Indonesia you are well advised to inform yourself of the practices here. In fact, a quick survey Digestive Enzyme Deficit among a few Bali lawyers reveals that unfortunately, the

Indonesian law system does not recognise a Living Will. The aging pancreas often fails to secrete enough digestive However, you can draw up a private statement letter enzymes, while the aging liver does not secrete enough regarding your medical directives and wishes on how bile acids. The results are the chronic digestive problems medical personnel should treat you in case of a lethal many face as they age. condition. This statement letter only indicates your wishes and does not have the strong enforcement capacity like a

Excitotoxicity will. It behoves you to discuss these matters with your private physician now and see where you stand. The aging brain loses control of its release of neurotransmitters such as glutamate and dopamine, and this results In the end it doesn’t really matter - or does it to you? When to Get Help in devastating brain cell damage and destruction. Statistics claim that nearly half of people age 55 and older The Alzheimer’s Organization suggests that if you or a don’t have a will. I bet the percentage is even higher for loved one has any of these characteristics to get it Circulatory Deficit not having a Living Will. Yet it is important to document checked out, sooner rather than later. your end-of-life preferences and communicate those to Microcapillary flow of blood to the brain, your family and/or the people that are likely to be near you It’s important to find a specialist who understands the eye and skin is impaired as a part of at that crucial time. Putting a plan in place for things like elder brain. Bob and I were given misinformation by a normal aging. The result is that disorders of the eye (such as cataract, macular degeneration, glaucoma) are the No.1 age-related degenerative disease. Major medical care and funeral arrangements helps ensure that upon your death, your wishes are carried out and that family squabbles are avoided over your dead body. In terms of funeral arrangements, you can leave the psychiatrist and neurologist because they didn’t know much about dementia. Both said they hoped their brain would be in as good a shape as Bob’s when they were his age. This plunged us back into denial and kept us from getting help early on.and mini-strokes are common problems arrangements to a competent service like Antara Bangsa *** associated with circulatory deficit to the Funeral Services. Expats in Bali concur they are very The next time you go into a room and forget why you’re brain. good and take care of the details. there, or a good friends’ name escapes you, or you misplace your glasses for the umpteenth time in a day, Oxidative Stress Don’t wait to put your affairs in order. Now, while you are just chalk it up to natural age-related changes Free radicals are unstable molecules that have been implicated in most diseases associated with aging. Antioxidants have become popular supplements to still hale and healthy and still have control of your belongings and the execution of your last wishes, is the best time to put some order in your end of life preferences. unless you can’t retrace your steps, the friend’s name not only doesn’t come back but the person looks unfamiliar, and you’re sure someone stole those missing protect against free-radical-induced cell damage, but few Don’t wait until life’s inevitable loops throw you a curve and glasses. people take the proper combination of antioxidant beat you to it. supplements needed to do any good. Susan’s book Piece by Piece: Love in the Land of Alzheimer’s is available at Ubud’s Ganesha Book Store, Threads of Life, or on Amazon.

By Adrian By Shari By Ines Wynn By Shari By Susan Tereba

The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2020 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz

Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz