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PUMPING IRONY: Crime and Punishment
By Craig CoxWith our grandson suddenly testing boundaries — and challenging our rusty child-rearing skills — we find ourselves hearkening back to some time-tested wisdom.
Department: Pumping Irony
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PUMPING IRONY: Risky Business
By Craig CoxAlready struggling before the pandemic struck, assisted-living facilities are hanging on for dear life — just like their residents.
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PUMPING IRONY: Distant Relations
By Craig CoxThe modern nuclear family liberated us from the stifling constraints of the traditional multi-generational household, but it has exacted a painful toll on the elderly and is gradually losing its luster.
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PUMPING IRONY: Safety First?
By Craig CoxRegular visits from our grandson have suddenly required more careful consideration even as the lessons he teaches us become increasingly more poignant.
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PUMPING IRONY: Coffee Klatch
By Craig CoxRitual can help ease our anxiety during uncertain times, even if it involves grinding your own beans.
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PUMPING IRONY: Season’s Greetings
By Craig CoxWho knew that our springtime of social isolation could spark so much conviviality?
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PUMPING IRONY: Falling Apart, Coming Together
By Craig CoxA brief outing to the grocery store demonstrates how the current pandemic can both test and heal us — if we remain open to all its lessons.
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PUMPING IRONY: The Confinement Conundrum
By Craig CoxThe COVID-19 pandemic is forcing millions of elderly Americans to stay at home, where they’re forced to confront another major health challenge: loneliness.
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PUMPING IRONY: Life, Death, and Language
By Craig CoxWords matter when you’re facing a serious illness, and the traditional “risk-versus-benefit” approach to treatment options doesn’t always lead to the healthiest choices.
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PUMPING IRONY: Drink to Your (Brain) Health?
By Craig CoxRecent research suggesting that poor hydration may be impairing cognitive function in older women has me wondering why thirst-averse geezers like me are somehow spared.
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PUMPING IRONY: Medicare Mischief
By Craig CoxA recent shift in Medicare reimbursement policies is roiling the home-healthcare industry. It should give pause to folks banking on a single-payer solution to our busted system.
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PUMPING IRONY: Life Everlasting?
By Craig CoxA renowned genetics pioneer argues that medical advances will someday allow humans to live well past 100 years. I can’t help wondering what would be lost in the process.
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PUMPING IRONY: Short-Circuited
By Craig CoxDanish researchers suggest that my diminutive stature as a youth makes it more likely I’ll develop dementia. I think they may be short-sighted.
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PUMPING IRONY: The Perils of Pedaling
By Craig CoxNew Zealand researchers have found that bicycling to work may enhance your longevity. My own experience suggests they may be ignoring the possibility of fatal collisions.
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PUMPING IRONY: Strong Medicine
By Craig CoxNew research on muscle mass and heart disease reminds me of a harsh lesson my dad taught me long ago: Never assume anything.
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PUMPING IRONY: Is There a Nurse in the House?
By Craig CoxThe nation is facing an unprecedented nursing shortage just as new evidence suggests that a nurse-led approach may improve the care of our elders.
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PUMPING IRONY: Time for a Tune-Up?
By Craig CoxResults of a new study threaten to upend decades of longevity research and perhaps require physicians to act more like car mechanics.
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PUMPING IRONY: Stuff Happens
By Craig CoxMysterious aches and pain are always going to erupt as we grow older; it doesn’t mean we’re doomed to a future of frailty.
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PUMPING IRONY: A Working Hypothesis
By Craig CoxMy path to retirement has long been littered with financial obstacles. Recent research suggests that may not be such a bad thing.
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PUMPING IRONY: “Oh, You Shouldn’t Have!”
By Craig CoxWe were determined not to exchange Christmas gifts this year. Then reality intervened.
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PUMPING IRONY: Pick Your Poison
By Craig CoxJust as new research warns heart-healthy older folks that taking aspirin to prevent a heart attack could be fatal, another study suggests regular doses could fend off cancer. I just wish it would work when I get a headache.