REVIEW POTPOURRI: Listening to a pile of 78s

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Listening to a pile of 78s

After listening to a pile of 78s that are both long forgotten and musically captivating, I wish I could write about each and every one of them, but, for reasons of time and space, can only pick a few; hopefully they can be heard via YouTube.

Ella Mae Morse

1. Capitol – #1922 – from the early ‘50s featured jazz/pop vocalist Ella Mae Morse performing Blacksmith Blues; and Love Me or Leave Me, the latter a 1920s hit for Ruth Etting and the title of a 1955 semi-fictionalized biopic with Doris Day portraying Miss Etting and co-stars James Cagney and Cameron Mitchell.

Morse was one of the several artists whom Johnny Mercer and Buddy De Sylva signed up in 1942 when they started Capitol Records and quickly earned a reputation for high quality music among collectors.

She sang with verve and had the pulsating arrangements of conductor Nelson Riddle who was kept busy at Capitol recording with Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra.

2. Decca – #28736 – had the Mills Brothers utilizing their uniquely smooth harmonies on Don’t Let Me Dream; and Pretty Butterfly, with lyrics by Sunny Skylar set to the tune of Antonin Dvorak’s Humoresque (Skylar, who died at 95 in 2009, supplied the English lyrics for the 1940s Latin American pop classics Besame Mucho; and Amor.).

The disc was recorded in 1953 and had superb big band arrangements from Owen Bradley, who usually oversaw country singers in Nashville such as Red Foley, Ernest Tubb, Patsy Cline, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee.

Donald Novis

3. Decca – #1833 – recorded 1939, had British tenor Donald Novis (1906-1966) singing Charmaine; and Angela Mia in a style best described as an especially syrupy imitation of Irish tenor John McCormack without McCormack’s distinctive vocalism.

Novis was accompanied by organist Eddie Dunstedter (1897-1974). Despite misgivings about Novis’s singing, I did enjoy this blue label Decca 78, which retailed for 35 cents.

Charmaine later became more famous as an early ‘50s hit record for Mantovani and his Orchestra and the theme song for his syndicated early ‘60s TV show .

4. Victor – #27869 – recorded 1943, had the phenomenal Tommy Dorsey (1905-1956) and his Orchestra in two selections.

Tulullah Bankhead

Side One’s I’ll Take Tallulah was a topic of the day roll call of then-famous movie actresses, Tallulah Bankhead being the honoree, and was written by the songwriting team of Yip Harburg and Burton Lane for the MGM musical Ship Ahoy; in 1947, Harburg and Lane would write the Broadway musical masterpiece Finian’s Rainbow. Dorsey’s lead singers Frank Sinatra and the Pied Pipers did the vocals.

The second side, Not So Quiet Please, was, for me, the main attraction, and a very exciting instrumental showcase for Dorsey’s young drummer Buddy Rich by composer Sy Oliver.

Rich also had a bad temper and, for some strange reason, started badgering the already bad tempered Sinatra who responded by throwing a glass pitcher of ice water at the drummer, which missed him by less than an inch. Later the two kissed and made up, even sharing an apartment for a brief period.

Frank Munn

5. A late 1920s dime store label Supertone – #S2113 – had tenor Frank Munn (1894-1953) giving sublime renditions of two classic songs from the very old days of the 1890s to early 1900s – the especially exquisite Silver Threads Among the Gold; and When You and I Were Young, Maggie. Munn was listed as the pseudonymous Frank Whalen. His singing had the phrasing, delivery, conviction and eloquence, qualities that were lacking in the previously mentioned tenor Donald Novis.

6. Victrola Red Seal – #87571– acoustically recorded in April 1920, on a one-sided ten-inch shellac, had the great Irish tenor John McCormack (1884-1945) and violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) collaborating in a very powerful song, When Night Descends, by composer Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). A quite exceptional disc from more than 100 years ago.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: What to Know Now to Help Protect Your Newborn from RSV

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You can protect your baby even before he or she is born by getting vaccinated against RSV while pregnant.

by Rebecca Norwick,
National Association of Nurse
Practitioners in Women’s Health

When I first started my career as a nurse practitioner, I saw pediatric wards fill each winter with children suffering from common infections that cause rotavirus diarrhea and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Since then and following the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine nearly two decades ago, hospital visits for rotavirus have notably decreased.

Protecting Newborns Now

Today, we are in a similar position to help prevent RSV through a maternal vaccine given to protect infants at birth. Getting vaccinated while pregnant helps your body create protective antibodies that you can pass on to your baby. These antibodies can help protect your baby from diseases such as RSV during the first few months of life when they are most vulnerable.

While RSV can cause cold-like symptoms most of the time, it can be dangerous in infants and young children—and is the leading cause of infant hospitalization in the United States. RSV season usually starts in the fall and peaks in the winter in most regions, which is why the vaccine is typically given from September through January. Because the RSV vaccine is administered seasonally, the protection passed to the baby will last for their first RSV season.

The good news is that if you or a loved one is pregnant, the maternal RSV vaccine is available now at no out-of-pocket cost to you through almost all insurance plans, including Medicaid and employer-sponsored plans. You should receive the maternal RSV vaccine during weeks 32 through 36 of pregnancy if you are pregnant between September and January.

Vaccines have been recommended during pregnancy for decades and are our most effective tool against preventable respiratory diseases. They are also a critical part of routine prenatal care, adding an important line of defense against severe respiratory diseases that can leave pregnant people and their babies at an increased risk of complications. The maternal RSV vaccine can be administered during the same visit that you may receive other vaccines during pregnancy, including Tdap, flu, or COVID-19 vaccines.

All recommended vaccines are held to the highest standards of safety – meaning they are carefully studied and monitored for side effects. Having worked for 20 years in community health centers in underserved areas, I have witnessed firsthand the protection that maternal vaccinations provide. At one clinic, we even implemented a “cocooning” approach, vaccinating the entire family against flu to help protect newborns who are too young for vaccines. By ensuring the pregnant mother, father, siblings, and grandparents received their flu shots, we worked to minimize the risk of influenza spreading within families.

These days we can go a step further by providing early RSV protection to newborns during their first months of life. If you or a loved one is pregnant, ask your healthcare provider about the maternal RSV vaccine, along with other recommended maternal vaccines. Maternal vaccination is a powerful way to help strengthen your baby’s immunity and share protection before they are even born.

Learn More

For more information on maternal vaccines and their importance, visit www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pregnancy.

AARP NEWS YOU CAN USE: February one of Maine’s most beautiful time of the year

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by Joyce Bucciantini

February is one of the most beautiful times in Maine. Gone are the super short days of early winter, leaving us with more daylight to enjoy the great outdoors in Maine. Many cities and towns have winter-themed celebrations which might include snow sports, ice fishing, or maybe an opportunity for hot cocoa. These are great ways to fight off cabin fever and reconnect with our neighbors and friends. For those who enjoy warmer activities, there is always excitement to be found at the state high school basketball tournaments during the February school vacation week.

In between enjoying the bright winter weather and fresh air, we must also keep in mind a yearly task that we all must do, but few enjoy: get our taxes done! Yes, as surely as the new year moves forward, it is important to start making a plan for gathering our financial information and completing our tax forms. However, there is good news! The AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program offers free tax preparation services in 47 locations in Maine. Last year, 240 Tax-Aide volunteers filed 13,671 Federal returns helping Maine taxpayers receive $10.4 million in Federal refunds. They also filed thousands of state tax returns, all at no cost!

This remarkable program offers free tax preparation services, focusing on taxpayers who are over 50 years old and have low to moderate incomes. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide is offered by AARP Foundation in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service. All Tax-Aide volunteer counselors are IRS-trained and certified to prepare and file most types of federal and state tax returns for Maine taxpayers.

The online Tax-Aide Site Locator tool will help you find the Tax-Aide location nearest to you. This website provides the locations, the operating schedules and who to contact for making tax preparation appointments. Visit
https://www.aarp.org/money/taxes/aarp_taxaide/locations/ or call 1-888-227-7669 for more information.

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide appointments fill up fast. It is a good idea to make your appointment early in the tax season. Then you can rest easy and enjoy all that the great Maine outdoors has to offer, or for indoors fun, check out an AARP Maine coffee social near you. Perhaps I’ll see you there!

Joyce Bucciantini is a retired middle school educator. She currently coordinates Delta Kappa Gamma’s Read to Me program, is a tutor with Literacy Volunteers-Androscoggin, and is an active AARP Maine volunteer. In her spare time, she enjoys her gardens, being outdoors and traveling.

THE BEST VIEW: If at first you don’t succeed…

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by Norma Best Boucher

I was never a good swimmer. Neither of my parents could swim, so I wore a life jacket throughout my early years. Of course, later on I was embarrassed wearing the jacket, so I figured I should learn to swim, but how?

The answer came during the summer I turned 10 years old – Girl Scout Day Camp.

What a blast! There were crafts, archery, songs, and swimming. The fun began when we got on the bus. Whoever said that singing “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” was boring was never on the bus with 35 10- to 12-year-old giggly girls loving to say the word “beer.”

After crafts and lunch came swimming. I was prepared. Even before visualization was in my vocabulary, I was practicing it. I imagined myself walking into the cold lake water and swimming gracefully from one dock to the other and back again.

I went up to the swimming instructor. All the girls were yelling and jumping off the dock. Mrs. Tobey was taking names, talking with the girls individually, and shouting instructions to the crowd. I finally managed to reach her and said, “Mrs. Tobey, I don’t know how to swim. What do I do?”

She said, “Jump in.”

“Jump in?” I thought. No, that was not part of my visualization.

I asked again. “Mrs. Tobey, I don’t know how to swim. What do I do?”

Without even so much as a look at me, she gently touched my back and not so gently pushed me off the wharf into the water.

“Help!” I yelled spitting out water.

I heard Mrs. Tobey yell something to me, but I was too busy flailing my arms and trying not to sink to hear what she was saying.

“Help!” I yelled again.

This time I heard what she was saying.

“Stand up!” she yelled.

What did she say? “Stand up!”

Oh, yeah. Stand up and go directly to the bottom where no one will hear my screams for help.

“Stand up!” she yelled again.

That was it. I was too exhausted to continue, so I put my feet down hard deciding to go straight down and to disappear. Everyone would see that she had drowned me when my dead body floated up to the top.

I pushed down really hard, and my feet hit the ground. The next thing I knew I was standing straight up with the water reaching up to my chest.

Although I never really forgave Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me, she did teach me to swim the dog paddle that summer. I was on my way.

I didn’t see Mrs. Tobey again until my tenth-grade year when my girlfriends decided to take a Junior Life Saving course at the local Boys Club. By then I could do the side stroke, so I thought, “What the heck? I can do this.”

In a matter of weeks I had forgiven Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me, and I had learned how to swim the breaststroke and the crawl. I did everything she taught us, but apparently, I didn’t do any of it very well. When I tried to save my friend with the tired swimmer’s carry, I was totally submerged under water and so was she. This did not look good.

I passed the written test with a 100, but I failed the swimming/ saving a person’s life part. My friends all passed and moved on to the next level, but I decided to persevere and do this level one more time.

Again, I scored a 100 on the written test, but this time Mrs. Tobey sat me down to say, “Norma, you did very well on the written exam, but you did not pass the swimming test again. You should not try to save anyone else’s life. Just be happy that you can save yourself. Oh, and please do not take this Junior Life Saving course again.”

I was devastated. I knew that I would never be a real lifeguard, but I wanted to be able to say that I had passed that junior course. I mean I had forgiven Mrs. Tobey for trying to drown me when I was 10 but forgive her for failing me two times at junior lifesaving? I had to think about that.

The semester ended at school, and as youth would have it, I forgot about my humiliation of failure and wanted to try something new.

I forgave Mrs. Tobey one more time, and in my youthful delusions I decided to remember the positive parts of her speech to me. “You got a 100 on the written test…you can save yourself…don’t take that swimming course again.”

I had been hearing my girlfriends discussing a new swimming course at the Boys Club. Again, Mrs. Tobey was the instructor. I mulled over the pros and cons. There was no testing involved. I would learn new swimming strokes. I would improve and maybe pass Junior Life Saving next time. I found no cons to the class.

I was about three minutes late to the first class. Mrs. Tobey was giving instructions to the girls who were standing next to the pool. I walked in. There was a low suction noise as the door to the pool closed. Instinctively, Mrs. Tobey turned to acknowledge the sound.

I smiled to say non-verbally, “Sorry I’m late.” and “Here I am, again.”

I wish I could describe accurately the expression on her face, but it would take a better writer than I.

Suffice it to say there was one second of pure horror in her facial expression when she realized that I was going to be in her newest swimming class – water ballet.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Fruit flies have some benefits

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Fruit fly

Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

Now, you’re very familiar with Drosophila melanogasters aren’t you? They usually show up in your kitchen at the most inopportune time.

They are called fruit flies, also known as vinegar flies. Those pesky little bugs that annoy the dickens out of you, but are actually very beneficial to humans.

This species is one of the most commonly used model organisms in biology, including studies in genetics, physiology, microbial pathogenesis, and life history evolution because they are easy to take care of, breed quickly, and lay many eggs.

About 75 percent of known human disease genes have a recognizable match in the genetic code of fruit flies, and 50 percent of fly protein sequences have mammal tendencies. These flies are being used as a genetic model for several human diseases including Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. The fly is also being used to study mechanisms underling aging and oxidative stress, immunity, diabetes, and cancer, as well as drug abuse.

As important as they are in the laboratory, I don’t need them in my kitchen. So, first, how to identify the source of the fruit flies, and what you can do to get rid of them.

The developmental period of the fruit flies varies with temperature. The shortest development time (egg to adult), seven days, is achieved at 82°F. Development times increase at higher temperatures due to heat stress. Females lay up to 400 eggs into rotting fruit or other suitable material such as decaying mushrooms. They hatch after 12-15 hours. The resulting larvae grow for about four days while molting twice, at about 24 and 48 hours after hatching. During this time, they feed on the microorganisms that decompose the fruit, as well as on the sugar of the fruit itself. Then the larvae undergo a four-day-long metamorphosis after which the adults emerge.

Fruit flies can be spotted around fresh fruits/vegetables, rotting fruits and vegetables, drains, garbage and damp organic materials.

Populations tend to be greatest in late summer and early fall as they infest fruits during the harvest season. With the end of summer season, many homeowners often encounter fruit flies in and about their kitchens and near garbage storage areas.

Occasionally, pomace flies, similar in appearance to fruit flies, may infest the home from standing water, like a forgotten mop pail or an open sewer drain.

Newly-emerged fruit fly adults are attracted to lights, but egg laying females will not leave fermenting materials.

How to get rid of them? Sanitation is the first measure of defense, even though there are various traps and sprays that are used to kill fruit flies, it is necessary to eliminate the source in order to eliminate them.

Look first in areas where vegetables and fruits are stored outside refrigeration. Also look for fruit fly sources in garbage cans, under appliances and recycling bins. Remember the larvae can only survive in decaying organic matter that is moist. Also, fruit fly larvae may feed on the sides of the drain and in the drain trap if there is an accumulation of organic debris there.

A space spray such as CB80 Pyrethrin can be used as a quick kill, reducing populations of flying insects.

If you can eliminate the source, don’t allow them to get established, you won’t have to worry about eradicating them.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What is the historical significance of the number 12 for the Boston Red Sox?

Answer
It was the number worn by Elijah “Pumpsie” Green, the first black player to play for the Boston Red Sox, the last team in major league baseball to integrate.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Maine Speaks anthology

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Maine Speaks anthology

Lawrence S. Hall

The 1987 Maine Speaks anthology contains what has elsewhere been often considered the most famous 20th century short story from our Pine Tree State – The Ledge, by Lawrence Sargent Hall (1915-1993).

However, before today (February 2, 2025), I was totally unfamiliar with the story, and the writer, let alone the resulting popularity after it was first published in 1959; I simply started reading it out of curiosity and became sucked into its skillfully drawn atmosphere of suspense and dread.

The plot depicts a fisherman taking his 13 year-old-son and 15-year-old nephew out early one Christmas morning to a rock ledge off the Maine coast to shoot ducks. His boat is moored at an outlying island where the three take a skiff roughly 300 yards further to the ledge.

They are bagging birds by the dozens, highly anticipating the delicious eating; in the excitement of the moment, they don’t notice that the skiff has loosened and floated dangerously far away until only visible in the distance and they are now stuck on the ledge with no means of getting off before high tides.

Meanwhile, the freezing cold waves are rising around the ledge. I am not going to reveal the ending.

But I will provide a couple of passages conveying the situation, atmosphere and attitude, sometimes simultaneously, as in the first example:

“They had it figured exactly right for today. The ledge would not be going under until after the gunning was over, and they would be home for supper in good season. With a little luck the boys would have a skiff-load of birds to show for their first time outside. Well beyond the legal limit, which was no matter. You took what you could get in this life, or the next man made out and you didn’t. ”

As can be seen, with situation, the preceding quote conveys the seemingly careful planning of every detail in this venture, leaving little to chance – “They had it figured exactly right”; with atmosphere, the imminent danger – “the ledge would not be going under”; and with attitude, the rationalizing dishonesty of the fisherman in taking “what you could get in this life. ”

The second quote hints at the possibility of a lurking bombshell in one otherwise perfectly nice day:

“This could be one of those days where all the right conditions masked an incalculable flaw.”

One of Hall’s beliefs was that he considered great fiction more true to life and fact to be mere fact because great fiction seeks out the truth behind mere facts. “Fiction….reveals beyond what perhaps happened what could, or would, or should happen.”

Elsewhere, he stated that he wrote “out of fascination with the experience of humankind living on this planet.”

Hall got his undergraduate degree from Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, in 1936 and a Ph.D from Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1943, doing his thesis on another Bowdoin alumnus, Nathaniel Hawthorne, which he later published.

During World War II, Hall worked for the Office of Strategic Services, better known as the OSS, an earlier incarnation of the CIA where he ran a censorship unit.

From 1946 to 1986, he was an English professor at Bowdoin and resided on Orr’s Island, near Harpswell, where for a few years he also ran a boat yard.

In 1999, novelist John Updike included The Ledge when he edited The Best American Short Stories of the Century, praising it as “timeless – a naturalistic anecdote terrible in its tidal simplicity and inexorability fatally weighted in every detail.”

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Gershwin & Ravel; Herbert Kegel; Leroy Vandyke

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Gershwin & Ravel

George Gershwin

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue – Adolph Drescher, pianist; C.A. Bunte conducting the Pro Musica Symphony Orchestra.

Ravel: Bolero – Samo Hubad conducting the Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Sony Music Special Products BT 22444, cassette, 1991.

The late 1980s tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union and its Iron Curtain precipitated, among other benefits, a flood of available classical recordings from very talented artists such as, to name a few examples, pianist Dubrovka Tomsic and conductors Anton Nanut, Marko Munih, Heinz Rogner etcs. Often the companies of inexpensive releases used pseudonyms but Google has proved useful for spotting them.

Maurice Ravel

The names on this cassette release however were real people. Pianist Adolph Drescher (1921-1967) collaborated with Maestro C.A. Bunte (1927-2016) in a very good Rhapsody in Blue, arguably the most frequently recorded piece of George Gershwin (1898-1937) while Samo Hubad (1917-2016) conducted Bolero, a piece that remains, for many the most popular; and for many others the most disliked piece that Maurice Ravel (1874-1937) ever composed. Hubad achieved a strikingly good performance.

I have read that Ravel himself was quite pleased with what he achieved with the piece as a tour de force.

The 1991 release date may be a reissue of 1960s tapings since pianist Drescher died in 1967.

Herbert Kegel

Mahler Symphony #3 – Herbert Kegel conducting the Dresden Philharmonic; Weitblick SSS0029, two CDs. Recorded March 25, 1984.

The late East German Maestro Herbert Kegel conducted a phenomenally exciting and eloquently shaped performance of Gustav Mahler’s longest, sprawling Symphony and one I also consider a masterpiece, having collected over 40 different recordings. Kegel was very gifted whether conducting Beethoven, Mahler, Carl Orff, Alban Berg or Dimitri Shostakovich.

He also struggled most of his life with depression and committed suicide during the early 1990s.

Leroy Vandyke

Leroy Vandyke – Auctioneer; and I Fell in Love with a Pony Tail; Dot 45-15503, seven inch vinyl 45, recorded 1956.

Still living at 95, country singer Leroy Vandyke recorded two very hokey and, despite hokey, quite enjoyable songs, Auctioneer being hugely popular.

All Star Trio

All Star Trio and their Orchestra – Hortense, Medley Fox Trot; and Never Mind, Fox Trot; Victor 18863, recorded 1922, ten inch acoustic shellac.

Three very gifted musician, including a xylophonist, and their backup orchestra played two very perky and enlivening dance tunes . An intriguing example of roaring ‘20s dance music from 103 years ago.

The 1920s and ’30s generated a rich recorded legacy of dance bands which, in turn, provided employment for numerous giants of the World War II big band era, such as Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, Glenn Miller, etc.

AARP Maine Vital Voices survey highlights needs and concerns of older Maine residents

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In an ongoing effort to better understand the needs and attitudes of older residents in the state, in 2024 AARP Maine conducted a Vital Voices survey with 708 Maine residents aged 45 and older. Conducted tri-annually, the survey data highlights older Mainers’ interests and concerns, assesses awareness on select topics, and signals advocacy and outreach priorities for the state office. The 2024 Vital Voices survey included issues such as health care, financial security, energy costs, caregiving, livable communities and housing.

“AARP Maine is dedicated to improving the lives of Mainers aged 50 and older, as well as their families,” said Noël Bonam, AARP Maine State Director. “Through state-specific surveys such as Vital Voices, we gain valuable insights into the needs and desires of older adults in Maine. Our research bolsters our efforts to advocate for fair utility rates, seek support for Maine’s family caregivers and provide resources on health and retirement security.”

Results from the AARP Maine Vital Voices survey include the following:

Caregiving is a pressing issue for Maine adults 45-plus according to the survey:

Seventy percent are currently providing care to a loved one or have done so in the past.

Eighty-seven percent say it is extremely or very important to be able to stay in their own home as they get older.

Twenty-seven percent say that it is extremely or very likely that they will provide care on an unpaid basis to an adult loved one in the future.

Eighty-five percent of current or past caregivers said that they spend their own money on transportation, medical devices, direct care or home modifications, to help care for a loved one.

“Maine is home to 166,000 family caregivers, which is 12 percent of the state’s total population,” explains Bonam. “With the average caregiver spending over $7,000 out-of-pocket each year to care for a loved one, we know that this issue is of paramount importance in the state with the oldest population.”

Earlier this month, AARP Maine announced its 2025 Legislative Priorities, noting that Maine lawmakers have an opportunity to create a lasting, positive impact for Maine’s family caregivers by codifying Maine’s Respite for ME program. Launched in the fall of 2022 and funded by the Maine Jobs and Recovery Act, the Respite for ME pilot program provided eligible family caregivers with grants that enabled caregivers to access services such as respite care, assistive technology and other resources. AARP Maine calls on our lawmakers to work together to reinstate the Respite for ME program since the pilot program ended in the fall of 2024.

Utility costs are a concern for older Mainers:

Eighty-one percent say that an increase in electricity bills would be a problem.

Only 20 percent (one in five) Maine residents say their elected officials are doing enough to keep electricity affordable.

Sixty-seven percent have seen their electricity bill go up in the past 12 months.

“High utility rates, coupled with rising housing, food, and medicine expenses, force many vulnerable, older adults to make tough choices,” said Bonam. “Mainers need more consumer protections, and AARP Maine is committed to ensuring that all Mainers have access to fair and reasonable electric rates. Any discussion of rate changes must be transparent and allow for public engagement.”

AARP Maine will continue working to address current laws that cause undue burdens to electricity customers. Any costs, particularly those covering government subsidies which are transferred to ratepayers, should be re-evaluated and restructured in a fair and reasonable manner.

Financial security in retirement is on the minds of survey respondents:

Eighty-one percent believe having enough income or savings to retire is extremely or very important.

Eighty-nine percent say having adequate Social Security benefits is extremely or very important.

Ninety-one percent feel that having financial security throughout their lives is extremely or very important.

“We know that Mainers 50-plus continue to experience financial strain whether they are working or already retired,” said Bonam. “It is critical that both elected and appointed leaders work to address these important issues that affect Mainers 50-plus and their families.”

To read the complete results from the AARP Maine Vital Voices survey, click here for the chartbook and overview.

“AARP’s research highlights older Mainers’ voices at a moment when they need to be heard,” said Bonam. “AARP is listening, and we’ll use these findings to inform our work and help older Mainers and their families access important tools, resources and engagement opportunities as they age.”

To learn more about AARP and our work in Maine, visit www.aarp.org/me and follow us on social media @aarpmaine.

To review complete results from the AARP Maine Vital Voices survey, click here.

Methodology

The Vital Voices survey of 708 Maine residents age 45 and older was conducted between July 17, 2024 and July 28, 2024. All data have been weighted by age, gender, and race/ethnicity according to 2022 American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates. Survey results have a 3.7 percent margin of error.

FOR YOUR HEALTH: Hints To Help You Have A Better New Year

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If you struggle with mental health issues, a simple test can help your clinician if they are considering medication as a course of treatment.

(NAPSI)—The holidays have ended, and a new year has begun—a time when many embrace a fresh start by setting New Year’s resolutions.

This year, why not consider solutions rather than resolutions? The distinction is small but important—acting versus thinking. Mental health professionals think it’s a better way forward into 2025.

Expert Advice

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Elizabeth Johnson believes that the resolution mindset is an obstacle to action. “When we get stuck in our new year’s resolutions, part of it is just that we’ve gotten stuck in the process, stuck in the details, stuck in the weeds if you will,” Johnson said. “It’s struggling with ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ thinking patterns and reasons why maybe we haven’t been able to follow through and stick to those resolutions.”

Johnson recommends a new approach for her patients—and for us: simpler, concrete solutions with measurable results.

“Instead of setting a big resolution to try to lose 25 pounds, maybe setting a simple solution to reduce drinking soda to one can a day,” she offers. “For some, that’s quite a goal and quite a change, but it’s simple and it’s achievable and it’s measurable.”

Solutions can also mean an increased focus on your mental health. For those suffering from mental health conditions such as major depressive disorder, setting and attaining goals can seem even more overwhelming. One important step for 2025 could be to find a mental health professional. Or, if you’re already taking medication for depression, anxiety or ADHD and still struggling, it may be helpful to talk to your clinician about the GeneSight test.

The GeneSight Psychotropic test analyzes how your genes may affect your outcomes with medications commonly prescribed to treat depression, anxiety, ADHD, and other mental health conditions. The GeneSight Psychotropic test provides clinicians with information about which medications may require dose adjustments, may be less likely to work, or may have an increased risk of side effects based on a patient’s genetic makeup. Along with a complete assessment of clinical and patient specific factors, Johnson uses the GeneSight test to help inform her medication treatment decision making.

“The GeneSight test is imperative to me as a clinician,” says Johnson, “but also a game changer to my patients. When I’m working with a patient, often multiple medications have failed them, and they are sick of feeling like a guinea pig.”

Johnson concludes, “The GeneSight test offers me a little bit more of a roadway to making a medication choice. And when you are anxious or depressed, lost, any light bulb, any hope, is such a blessing in that moment.”

Prioritize your well-being – Physical and Mental

As we step into a new year, prioritize your well-being—both physical and mental. Explore solutions that help you thrive and achieve your goals, moving beyond the usual resolutions for lasting success.

Learn More

Visit GeneSight.com to learn more about how the GeneSight test can help inform your mental health medication treatment plans.

VETERANS CORNER: The difference between Neuropathic and Radiculopathic conditions

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Veterans Administration facility at Togus. (Internet photo)

by Gary Kennedy

As I mentioned last time, I would begin to show you some of the comparisons which seem similar in nature but are definitely not the same and it should never be assumed by anyone, especially non-medical employees that they are. I am also very much set in my way when it comes to discussing any and all changes to a veteran’s record with the veteran and the veteran’s medical team. Short of that I believe the veteran’s diagnosis/prognosis are being jeopardized.

There are reasons for having a medical side and an Administrative side when it comes to the evaluation of a veteran’s disabilities. I will use a case of my own here as it is a fairly common deal evaluation and one I have seen many times throughout the years. I recently issued a letter addressing V.B.A. as the recipient, as changes were made to my record which I only recently become aware of. It seemed that it was taken for granted that Neuropathic conditions were the same as Radiculopathic conditions. This is an understandable mistake, but in any case a mistake. It’s not too complicated so I will continue to try to explain. First, I should state that Radiculopathy is often mistaken for Neuropathy because both conditions cause similar symptoms, such as pain, weakness, numbness and tingling. At times it is explained as insects crawling around the surface of the skin. “Basically”, the difference between Radiculopathy and Neuropathy is caused by a pinched nerve in the spinal cord, while Neuropathy is caused by nerve damage to the peripheral nervous system. Radiculopathy can be caused by a herniated disc, thickening of the spinal ligaments, spinal infection, benign growth on the spine, and bone spurs in the spine. Your doctor’s involvement is very important here in order to reserve the correct diagnosis and treatment. Lay persons should not become involved with the doctors opinion. In this particular comparison there are several Neuropathies and the same can be said for Radiculopathy. It can be very complicated if you don’t know what you are talking about and a targeted approach to conclusion can become confusing.

Radiculopathy and Neuropathy area both complex and painful disorders. They both have possibility of numerous complications. To understand the difference between things, you need to compare at least two specific items or concepts. John Hopkins has spent much time on this subject and it can become very complicated if you embrace all the approaches they use in order to find exact, particular solutions. We lay persons need to stick with the basics and find general solutions. Our problem here is to determine if the two situations can exist together. The doctors will figure out the particulars.

The reason for this article is to establish that Neuropathy and Radiculopathy are separate and distinct unto themselves. According to Cleveland Clinic as well as Mayo Clinic, it is very possible to have both Radiculopathy and Neuropathy. (Ex. One case involved a patient with L-5 radiculopathy and peroneal nerve entrapment neuropathy). Radiculopathy deals with damage to the nerves associated with the spine, Peripheral Neuropathy is damage to the secondary nerves located at the peripheral of the body. Remember, Neuropathy occurs outside the brain and spinal cords. Also, abnormal sweating, heat intolerance, problems with blood pressure, swallowing, bowel & bladder problems as well as sexual dysfunction are neuropathic in nature. Radicular is inflammation of the root of a “spinal” nerve such as the sciatic nerve, to name one. The clue is, it comes from the spine, not outside. So, if you are exploring your medical records and you have applied for sciatic conditions and also bowel/bladder problems you can see that neurogenic and radicular can and will both be used regarding the nerve involvement.

You always need to be vigilant when it comes to how your records are being interpreted and handled. You could be in the losing end of the stick. If you don’t understand something placed or taken from your record, don’t let it go without an answer or you will always have doubt. Also, you don’t want to be on the losing end of a situation when it could cost you not only financially but medically. You are your own best advocate when it comes to your healthcare. So, in this particular example you are dealing with Neuropathic which are nerves that (Peripheral Neuropathy is shortened to Neuropathy) run from outside of the spine down and radiculapatic which is referred to as pinched nerves, damage to nerve roots in the area where they leave the spine. (Commonly referred to as Sciatica). Just remember there is an absolute difference between Neuropathy and Radiculopathy, two entirely different words.

I hope your holidays were great and you remembered those with less. God bless.