Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/69416
Glory Days & maturity Marty Ross trudged toward the front of the restaurant, one delib- erate pace at a time. A maze of tightly packed tables and chairs stood between him and the stage, demanding careful navigation from the 72-year-old. So when he finally arrived at the micro- phone after several seconds of silence, the comedian nicknamed "the wrinkled rebel" sounded relieved. And slightly out of breath. He opened with a joke: "It's a long walk from over there," Ross said, about 20 feet from his starting point. Mel Kohl, 55, who complained about voice-automated phone systems. "The worst is 4-1-1," he said. And laugh the elders did. They laughed at comedian "They say, 'Please say city and state.' I say, 'Downey, California,' and she says, 'Denver, Col- orado'!" They chuckled at Anita Cheek Milner, 76, who bemoaned the indignities of shopping. More than 100 seniors in the audience exploded in laughter, nodding in agreement. Some clutched walkers at their sides, others sat in wheelchairs. A few had bumped their heads on the way in the door. They all under- stood Ross' joke. For a few hours at Senior Comedy Afternoon inside Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, Calif., aging was funny. "Just being old is a laugh," said audience member and local resident Eileen Aaron-Sacher- man, 84. who covered topics including memory loss, spoiled grandchil- dren and treacherous roadways. "Anyone drive behind an old person recently?" he asked. "Lots of fun, isn't it? I just want to say I'm sorry, I don't know how this happened. I look down at my dashboard and I'm going 6. And I think, 'I should slow down!'" It's comedy for seniors, by seniors, and while the sun is still up. No profanity, no raunchy talk, just old-school, G-rated humor for people who say their brand of entertainment is in short supply these days. And they cracked up at Ross, "I can go into an antique store and remember everything," she said. lifestyles Afternoons cater to an age group that knows the humor in growing old LOS ANGELES (MCT) — MCT photo Seniors laugh at comedians performing at Bonnie Barchichat's Senior Comedy Afternoons at Don the Beach- comber in Huntington Beach. be dirty," said Charlie Motsko, 85. "Profanity doesn't improve real humor." Ronel Leonard, 71, adds another dimension to the discon- nect some seniors feel. "If it's funny, it doesn't have to people," Leonard said. "Most of it doesn't have anything to do with me." "Most comedians are talking about current events and young Why the shift in values? "Comedy hasn't changed a bit," Leonard conceded. "But we have." So the jokesters did their best to keep it clean and provide a few hours in which seniors could revel in old age rather than worry about its consequences. The show rotates venues; the March program was hosted by Don the Beachcomber, a Hawai- ian-themed restaurant that resembles a giant version of Dis- neyland's Enchanted Tiki Room. Previous shows have been held at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and the Improv at the Irvine Spectrum. For $38.50 a person, the seniors sipped iced tea and enjoyed a simple meal of time- tested dishes like chopped salad, clam chowder, grilled salmon and two scoops of ice cream before the show began. Giving seniors such an after- noon out was the goal for pro- ducer Bonnie Barchichat, 59. The Fountain Valley, Calif., woman got the idea after taking her now 92-year-old mother to an improv show in Irvine, Calif. "She just hated it," Barchichat recalled. "The comedian was filthy and the humor just wasn't getting to her. I was embarrassed for my mother. ... And it stuck with me." Soy may be getting bad rap in relation to breast cancer DEAR DOCTOR K: I'm a breast cancer survivor. Can soy foods such as tofu or soy milk increase my risk of a cancer recur- rence? DEAR READ- ER: I wish I had a simple and reassur- ing answer. Soy has a complicated rela- tionship with breast cancer. Many breast cancer cells have receptors for estro- gens. Receptors are like a lock, and estrogen is like a key. When the key enters the lock, and fits it, breast cancer cells start to multiply. A component of soy, tamoxifen, a drug used to prevent recurrence in women with estro- gen-sensitive breast cancer. As a result, some clinicians advise breast can- cer patients to limit their consumption of soy or avoid it altogether. Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. isoflavone, binds to estro- gen receptors just like estro- gen does. That could stimu- late the growth of breast cancer cells. It also could interfere with the effects of example, Asian women have a much higher intake of soy (mainly because they eat a lot of tofu) than U.S. women, but have lower rates of breast cancer. Of course, there are many dif- ferences in the lifestyles and environment between Asian and U.S. women, so that statistic doesn't tell us much. On the other hand, some studies suggest that soy may protect against breast cancer. For in favor of soy. Last year, at a scientific meeting, researchers presented evi- dence that showed no link between eating soy foods and increased risk of recur- rence or death among women diagnosed with breast cancer. Like the stud- ies mentioned above, this study compared women in Asia with women in the U.S. Unlike the studies above, however, this one focused specifically on women with breast cancer. The study involved more than 18,000 breast cancer survivors in the United States and China. In the U.S., the average daily intake of soy isoflavones was 3.2 milligrams (mg). That's about the amount in one-quarter cup of soy milk. The Chinese women had an average daily intake of 45.9 The tides may be turning mg (the amount in two to three servings of tofu). After nine years, there was little difference in risk of breast cancer recurrence or death between women who ate the most soy isoflavones and those who ate the least. Keep in mind that these findings refer to soy foods, not soy supplements. Sup- plements can have as much as 80 mg or more of isoflavones in each pill. That's more than the highest average daily intake of soy isoflavones in the study. And whole foods, unlike supplements, contain other nutrients that may interact beneficially with the isoflavones. Here's what I tell my patients in this confusing situation: I don't think there is good evidence that women without breast can- cer should eat more soy foods in order to protect against breast cancer. I also think breast cancer sur- vivors can eat soy foods in moderation. An occasional serving is probably fine — tofu every once in a while to replace red meat, for exam- ple, or soy milk instead of cow's milk. Saturday, June 9, 2012 – Daily News 7A