French doctor still treating patients at 98

CHEVILLY-LARUE, France—When French doctor Christian Chenay saw his first patients in 1951, penicillin was state of the art.

Now 98 years old, he is still working and opens his surgery in the Paris suburbs 2 mornings a week for patients, some of whom he has treated for decades.

With no health woes of his own—he doesn't even wear glasses during his consultations—Chenay said a quiet retirement had no appeal.

"If you're over 60 they put you with the old people. One day you've got cards, the next day bingo, then there's sudoku... With all that you become a complete idiot. I'm better off being a doctor!"

Originally from Angers in western France, Chenay worked as a welder before becoming a doctor, ultimately qualifying as a radiologist before moving back into general practice.

His surgery does not look high tech—there is a fax machine but no computer on the desk—but Chenay says he keeps up to date with all the latest developments via his subscriptions to online medical journals.

He says a new development in his nearly 7-decade career is patients who erroneously diagnose themselves on the internet and then turn up at his surgery demanding drugs.

Many of his patients say they struggle to get appointments in Chevilly-Larue, which has 3 doctors for a population of 19,000, so they queue early to see Chenay who runs a drop-in surgery, promising to see the first 20 patients who sign up.

"(In France) we have the doctors, we have the sick people, but to bring the people together is really not easy," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron has faced months of unrest from hospital workers angry about tough working conditions and underinvestment, and Chenay said he had never seen a worse crisis in the sector.

The average retirement age for doctors in France is 67 and Chenay's son, who also practiced as one, has already given up work.

But Chenay does not see himself stopping.

"If you sit and watch TV all day you switch off pretty quickly, your head doesn't last long."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ageing Singapore: 90-year-old noodle vendor helps keep foodie culture alive

SINGAPORE - Leong Yuet Meng cannot walk more than 10 meters without assistance. Yet, the frail 90-year-old still runs a wonton noodle stall in downtown Singapore, selling at least 200 bowls on any given day.

Leong rises around 4 a.m. to do some accounting and prayers before her son drives her to the local market to buy ingredients for the day ahead.

From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she is hunched over a pot of simmering noodles, slicing char siu - barbecued pork belly - or serving bowls of bargain-price hot food.

"I try to do this as long as I can, but I am old," said Leong, one of many older food vendors or 'hawkers' in the Asian city-state.

"I am afraid that all the experience that I have accumulated over the years will be lost. None of my children can take over."

The city has about 110 hawker centers - open-air food courts set up to house former street vendors in an effort to clean up the island in the 1970s - and their over 6,000 stalls are mostly packed.

The government has said it will submit a bid this month to add its hawker culture to UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

"We're putting the finishing touches (on the nomination)," Yeo Kirk Siang, a director at Singapore's National Heritage Board, told Reuters. Nominations will be accepted until March 31 to be included on the list next year.

Celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay have effused over typically Singaporean dishes like chicken rice; some hawker stalls serve up the cheapest Michelin star meals at $2; and last year's Hollywood hit film Crazy Rich Asians showed its stars tucking into heaped plates at a famous Singapore night market.

But the enthusiasm cannot mask one underlying problem - Singapore's hawkers are getting older and their better-educated sons and daughters are increasingly shunning cramped, sweaty kitchens for office jobs.

The average age of hawkers is 59, according to a government report, well above the national workforce average of 43.

"UNESCO is not a silver bullet, it is just one of the things we need to do... to keep hawker culture alive," said Yeo.

FACING EXTINCTION?

To encourage Singapore's street hawkers to resettle into the centers in the 1970s, the government heavily subsidized hawker rentals.

While around 40 percent of older hawkers still enjoy low rents, new hawker stalls are sold in an open bidding process, often making rentals much more expensive, especially at popular sites.

One hawker, 38 year-old Lance Ngo, said that finding hawkers in their 20s "is more difficult than finding gold".

The government has introduced schemes in recent years to get veteran hawkers to pass on their skills to the next generation, teach business skills and subsidize equipment and rent to reduce overhead costs.

This has attracted some young hawkers looking for an escape route from dead-end office jobs.

"A lot of young people do see it as an avenue to be able to create and be their own boss," 32 year-old coffee stall owner Faye Sai said. "This has attracted younger hawkers and career switchers but that's a minority."

But others say more needs to be done to make the business more lucrative longer term.

"Before applying for that (UNESCO), I think they have to settle the problems in front of them first. Twenty years down the road when all the older generation pass away, who is going to take over?," said Alan Choong, a 24-year-old owner of Sino-Japanese fusion food stall Prawnaholic.

Lee Sah Bah, a hawker in his late 60s who sells Chwee Kueh rice cakes at less than S$2 a portion, says he also faces the prospect of his legacy dying out.

His 2 daughters - one a lecturer at a university in Melbourne and the other an accountant in Singapore - won't take over his business.

"I don't think hawker centers will exist in the next 50 years," Lee said. "It's too much hard work, we have to put in 16 hours a day sometimes. It's hot. Kids nowadays wouldn't want to work here."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Taiwan grandpa catches 'em all playing Pokemon Go on 15 phones

TAIPEI - Chen San-yuan turns heads as he cycles through a suburb of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

The reason why?

Attached to the front of his bicycle are 15 mobile phones which Chen, 70, uses to simultaneously play the augmented-reality game Pokemon Go.

The smartphone-based game requires players to 'catch' animated characters that appear in real locations.

Known as Pokemon Grandpa, videos of Chen and his fan-shaped phone setup cycling between "Pokestops" have gone viral on the internet and made him a minor celebrity in Tucheng district, where he lives.

"I used one cellphone and then kept playing and playing," Chen, dressed in a crisp, white long-sleeved shirt and pants, told Reuters Television on a recent outing.

"After a month, it became three cellphones, six cellphones, nine cellphones, 12 and then 15," he said, crediting his grandson with introducing him to Pokemon Go in 2016.

Chen said his gear cost more than $4,800 and he spends about $300 a month on virtual currency to use in the game.

Playing on multiple phones allows him to get to higher levels in the game more quickly and capture rarer creatures, he said.

The pensioner said he sometimes plays all night thanks to the custom-made portable battery packs that recharge the phones.

Chen's fellow players are amazed at his energy.

"He's able to take care of fifteen cellphones at once," said Shih Wun-sheng, 45. "From going out until returning home, Chen can remain energetic for six to seven hours, not feeling tired. That's really impressive."

Pokemon Go, jointly developed by Nintendo Co and Niantic Inc, has been the biggest hit so far among games using so-called augmented reality, where digital characters are superimposed on the real world. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Why Filipinos are prone to gout

MANILA -- Gout, or gouty arthritis, affects 1.6 million Filipinos, according to the Philippine Rheumatology Association.

In an interview on DZMM's "Magandang Gabi Dok", Dr. Eric Amante, a rheumatologist, said Filipinos are more prone to gout.

"Alam niyo siguro ang Pilipino, may lahi talaga tayong magka-gout. In fact, siguro tatlo o apat na dekada ang nakaraan, kahit sa US pinagaaralan nila ang mga Filipino, kasi mas mataas talaga ang level ng gout sa mga Pinoy. Maaring genetic to, tapos 'yung diet natin, mataas sa mga pagkain na nakakacause ng uric acid," Amante explained.

Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid production. The excess uric acid is then deposited in the joints, usually in the feet.

"Kapag hindi natin maiihi lahat, mailabas lahat, pupunta siya doon, at doon mamamaga ngayon 'yun. Kasi ang pagkakaintindi ng katawan natin, foreign body. So susugpuin ng katawan 'yun," Amante said.

This reaction causes swelling and inflammation in the joints. People suffering from gout sometimes experience difficulty in moving due to the pain in their inflamed joints.

While gout is often thought to affect the elderly, people as young as 18 years old can suffer also from gout.

Gout treatment includes taking medicines for the pain, as well as anti-inflammatory drugs.

According to Amante, those suffering from gout should visit a rheumatologist. Proper weight management and proper diet can also help prevent gouty arthritis.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

U.S. targets financial abuse of elderly

Americans over 60 lost at least $2.9 billion in 2010 to financial exploitation, a study finds. This 12% rise over two years is leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to begin looking into the types of scams affecting older consumers.



WASHINGTON — Federal regulators launched an investigation into the financial abuse of the elderly, citing a new report that advisors, planners, family members and others were ripping off seniors more than ever.

Americans over 60 lost at least $2.9 billion in 2010 to financial exploitation — ranging from simple home repair scams to complex insurance swindles. That figure was up 12% from 2008, according to a study released Thursday by MetLife Mature Market Institute, the National Committee for Prevention of Elder Abuse and Virginia Tech University.

The rise in abusive tactics led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to begin looking into the types of scams affecting older Americans and coming up with the best ways to prevent them. A specific focus will be on the credentials of people who tout themselves as financial advisors.

"The silent crime of financially exploiting the elderly is widespread, and it is devastating. It is critical for us to act," Richard Cordray, the agency's director, said at a White House forum Thursday ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.

"The generation that rebuilt and sustained this nation out of a devastating Depression, the dark hours of World War II and the anxious fears of the Cold War deserve our care now," Cordray said.

Tougher oversight by regulators is needed to prevent financial predators from preying on vulnerable elderly victims, said Patricia L. McGinnis, executive director of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, a San Francisco group that often deals with financial abuse.

"The bottom line is, you need to go after the predators. You need to punish them and you need to convict them," she said. "Put them in jail and make an example of them, but more importantly, get the money back for that victim. Make them whole again."

McGinnis described efforts by regulators and advocates to prevent the scamming of older Americans as a game of Whac-A-Mole.

A recent scam enticed senior citizens to put large amounts of savings into deferred annuities, reducing their savings to qualify for a particular federal veterans benefit. The veteran might get $1,000 a month from the benefit, but loses access to the cash for years. Meantime, the annuity salesperson earned a commission of 8% to 12%, she said.

Victims often are reluctant to fight back.

"I can't tell you the times I talk to people and they say, 'It was my own fault,'" McGinnis said. "They are very embarrassed."

The scams have increased as the economy has struggled. Survey results released this week by the nonprofit Investor Protection Trust found that 84% of experts who deal with financial exploitation of the elderly said the problem has worsened.

But there is a lack of comprehensive information on the problem, which the consumer bureau's inquiry could help solve, said Elizabeth Costle, director of the consumer and state affairs team at the AARP Public Policy Institute.

Financial predators often target the elderly because they are viewed as gullible, Cordray said.

"Many seniors have routines, and their predictable patterns make them easier targets for predators," Cordray said. "Abusers often assume that the victim will be too embarrassed or too frail to pursue legal action against them, and unfortunately that assumption is too often proven to be correct."

The agency's inquiry seeks comments from the public on several issues. They include detailing the unfair, deceptive and abusive practices targeted at the elderly, finding the types of financial planning resources, and evaluating the credentials of financial advisors. The agency will be accepting public comments until Aug. 13.

Cordray said that some people who tout themselves as experts on elderly financial issues have had only a few hours of inadequate training.

"We need to distinguish between the true experts and those engaged in predatory conduct," he said.

The qualifications of financial advisors are important as new retirees must decide what to do with lump-sum 401(k) payouts and often must juggle many complex options, Costle said. The ability to understand those options gets more difficult as people age.

"As people get older, particularly up into their 80s ….they're just less able to process financial information," she said. "They're more likely to be trusting of people and they open themselves up to more abuse, which is perpetrated both by strangers and by caregivers and family members who are close to them."

Congress and the White House have increased their focus on the issue.

Lawmakers included the Elder Justice Act in the 2010 healthcare reform law to coordinate federal efforts. As part of the law, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday announced $5.5 million in grants to states to "test ways to prevent elder abuse, neglect and exploitation."

source: latimes.com