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AN OLDER WOMAN'S HEALTH GUIDE by Joan & Others Mintz

AN OLDER WOMAN'S HEALTH GUIDE

By

Pub Date: Oct. 29th, 1984
Publisher: McGraw-Hill

A wide-ranging, comfortable guide to the physical, emotional, and social concerns of women over 65 (as distinct from the numerous recent books that deal with the problems of aging, from 40 or 50). The group responsible, the Older Women's Health Project (an affiliate of New York University Medical Center), ran a series of health education classes for older women; these classes, and further research, alerted the authors to issues of particular interest at this age. ""Wellness"" is defined, and the information is divided, along physical, emotional, and social lines. And the news is that there's news here. On physical matters, we learn that ""tooth loss and denture wear are not a normal part of aging. . . Recession of the gums, increased dryness of the mouth, and a decreased sense of taste are normal aging changes, as, happily, is decreased susceptibility to tooth decay."" There are also solid tips on avoiding over-medication. There is a firm no that you might not expect: ""Three physical disabilities militate against older persons continuing to drive: defective vision, defective hearing, and severe hypertension."" The general separation of fact from the common-knowledge aphorisms that so often plague older women--along with consideration of all the difficulties of old age (divorce or widowhood, loneliness, unorthodox options for annoyance disorders)--together make this guide special.