Good morning and welcome to agebuzz… Headlining today’s topics:

-Number Cruncher: PBS Presents Ric Edelman On Retirement Planning

-Thin Down: Why Do Some Seniors Experience Significant Weight Loss?

-Health Disparities: The Plight Of Older Black Women In Late Life

-Snooze Control: How To Adjust Your Diet To Sleep Better

-You Can Bank On It: Instructional Videos To Learn Online Banking

-Sweepstakes: Meet The Senior San Francisco Street Sweeper Who’s Gone Viral

-The Last Word

Number Cruncher: PBS Presents Ric Edelman On Retirement Planning: Ranked the #1 Independent Financial Service Advisor for several years by Barron’s, Ric Edelman is an award winning source of essential financial planning and retirement advice. This week, PBS stations across the country will air a special featuring Edelman discussing investment strategies, social security and estate planning. To sweeten the deal, for anyone who pledges at least $20/month to their PBS station for a year, Edelman and his firm will schedule a one-on-one personal financial session, a service normally costing $800. So, do good by contributing to PBS and do well by receiving Edelman’s investment advice. And find out when your local PBS station is broadcasting the show Here.

Thin Down: Why Do Some Seniors Experience Significant Weight Loss?: You know the look- older people who look anorexic yet feel fine. Is there something about growing older that leads to such weight loss in basically healthy people?  Apparently so, at least according to researchers in the United Kingdom. Appearing in the journal Appetite, a new study suggests that production of peptide YY, a hormone that signals to your body that you are full, increases as you age. So it may be that the 15-20% of seniors who experience a loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss are responding to this hormone increase. Further research needs to confirm these findings but it’s possible this study will lead to new therapeutic approaches for these seemingly anorexic elders. Want more info on this new research? Read Here.

Health Disparities: The Plight Of Older Black Women In Late Life: There is clear data to show that black men and women experience health disparities in comparison to their white counterparts across the age spectrum. Now there is also strong data to show that these disparities take a real toll in old age.  In particular, older black women experience many more life-limiting disabilities than older white women do. The causes of this greater disability are likely rooted in lack of access and inadequate health care in their youth. The results are that in later life, black women live shorter lives than white women and those lives are more debilitated as they age. To better understand this phenomenon, Read Here.

Snooze Control: How To Adjust Your Diet To Sleep Better: We all know how essential a good night’s sleep is to our well being, and yet many of us experience sleep problems as we age. While many factors contribute to disrupted sleep patterns, it’s possible that changes in your diet- both when and what you eat- could help pave the way for a better night’s sleep. There are of course the obvious changes, such as cutting back on your caffeine intake, and that unfortunately may include chocolate. But did you know that as we age, we produce less melatonin, so that incorporating something like melatonin-rich tart cherry juice into your diet could make a difference when you go to sleep? To learn more about how diet changes might produce sleep changes, take off your sleep mask and Read Here.

You Can Bank On It: Instructional Videos To Learn Online Banking: While some of us cling to our paper checkbooks and pencils, the world as we know it is leaving us behind, and banking is moving online.  For many seniors, the thought of managing accounts, paying bills or depositing checks through a computer or a mobile phone is an anathema- yet the reality of online banking is here, and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) wants to help seniors get on the bandwagon. Through a series of short videos, the NCOA explains to viewers all of the ins and outs of online banking, including how to address security concerns. To better understand this new way of banking, and ease your fears in the process, Watch These.

Sweepstakes: Meet The Senior San Francisco Street Sweeper Who’s Gone Viral: In its column “The Regulars,” The San Francisco Chronicle features stories about “ordinary” San Franciscans. But there’s absolutely nothing ordinary about 67-year-old Suu Ngo, which is why a video telling her story has been a viral sensation. Having emigrated from Vietnam as a single mother in 1985, this hard working grandmother rarely has time to catch her breath, and that’s the way she likes it. Caring for her grandchildren since her daughter’s death, Suu Ngo has always balanced work and child care, and as she sees it, as long as she remains strong, she expects to continue on in her job as a street sweeper for the San Francisco Dept. of Works for as long as she can. She’s bold, joyful and passionate about her love of work and adopted country. She’s wowed the internet- now let her wow you. Watch This.

THE LAST WORD: “Age appears to be best in four things: old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.” Francis Bacon