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6A Daily News – Saturday, June 16, 2012 Glory Days & maturity BALTIMORE (MCT) — Norman Harvel is grow- ing old under a mountain of debt. At 60, Harvel faces med- ical and credit card bills top- ping $80,000. Yet Harvel is unable to work, having been injured at a job site more a decade ago. The former building maintenance work- er now lives on $904 a month in Social Security disability benefits. "I was so sick and tired of getting the bills, so I would throw them away," Harvel said from his tiny basement apartment in Dundalk, Md. "I've had to try to tell myself that it's something I will wake up from." lifestyles Seniors struggle under growing debt load up debt over years of taking care of his sick wife, Loret- ta, who died last year at 63. She had diabetes, was on dialysis and required two open-heart surgeries, Harvel said. leading factor contributing to the indebtedness of gray- ing Americans. Workers are paying more for employer-spon- sored health insurance, while costs for medical care are skyrocketing. Eligibility for Medicare doesn't begin until age 65, and it does not cover such expenses as hearing aids, dental care and long-term nursing care. Meanwhile, more older Across the country, baby boomers and other older Americans are drowning in debt, say credit counselors, elder law attorneys and economists. "It's supposed to be the golden years, but it's not, at least financially," said Nicholas Del Pizzo III, a Dundalk attorney whose clients include many finan- cially struggling seniors seeking bankruptcy help. From 1992 to 2007, the MCT photo Norman Harvel faces mounting debt accrued from medical procedures and medicines for him and his late wife and he is considering filing bankruptcy. percentage of households of people in their mid-50s and older with housing and con- sumer debt rose from 53.8 percent to 63 percent, according to the Washing- ton-based Employee Bene- fit Research Institute's research using government data. The problem is even more acute for those 55 to 64, with 81.7 percent carry- ing debt. average overall debt for these 55-and-older house- holds more than doubled, to $70,370, according to EBRI. In the same period, the In Harvel's case, he piled lier, the largest percentage increase among all age groups, according to a sur- vey by Demos, a New York- based public policy insti- tute. Health care bills are a Moreover, other older Americans are haunted by student loans years after they, or their children, left school. Adults 50 and older owe 17 percent of the nation's $870 billion in stu- dent-loan debt, according to a March report by the Fed- eral Reserve Bank of New York. consumer debt as families cut back on spending and saved more money, not all older Americans can follow suit. Not only are most older Americans past their prime earning years, but many must dip into their savings to stay on top of bills — while those still working may make less than they did in previous years. Low-income seniors homeowners are carrying mortgage debt into retire- ment. Making matters worse, declining housing values have cut into what had been a safety net for older Americans and retirees: their homes. Some older consumers also are saddled with credit card debt. Among Ameri- cans 65 and older, for instance, the average amount of credit card debt rose to $10,235 in 2008 from $8,138 three years ear- The financial crisis also depleted savings and retire- ment accounts, contributing to a "perfect storm" of pre- carious finances among older Americans, said Marceline White, executive director of Maryland Con- sumer Rights Coalition. One illness or emer- gency can throw a senior into debt, White said. "If everything goes per- fectly, they could manage," she said. "If something goes wrong, something unex- pected happens, they don't have the liquidity to move on." with excessive debt are hav- ing a hard time digging out in an environment in which "job growth is slow and salary increases are mini- mal," said Craig Copeland, a senior research associate at EBRI, who wrote the study on debt among the elderly. David Jones, president of the Association of Inde- pendent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies, said debtors age 60 and older now represent the fastest- growing segment seeking help at member offices across the country. While recent govern- ment data shows declining cially evident in the past two years, a period in which the eldest of the baby boomers began retiring, Jones said. The trend has been espe- Bell's palsy is frightening but not life threatening DEAR DOCTOR K: I recently had what turned out to be an attack of Bell's palsy. Can you tell me about this condition? DEAR READER: Bell's palsy is a sudden paralysis involving the nerve that con- trols the muscles on one side of your face. The nerve becomes inflamed and swollen and stops working properly. All of a sudden, you look in the mirror and see a different face: a droop- ing mouth, a sagging eye- brow and lower eyelid, and an eye that won't fully close. Bell's palsy is not life- threatening, but few illness- es are more distressing. Suddenly you look very dif- ferent. You may have trou- ble with your ability to speak, taste, eat, sleep or enjoy food. It may cause teary eyes, excess drooling, numbness, ear pain or hypersensitive hearing on your affected side. Bell's palsy usually begins without warning and develops quickly over the course of hours — and there's no way to prevent it. The condition is caused by a viral infection that inflames the facial nerve; the most common culprit is herpes simplex, the same virus that causes cold sores (fever blisters). Treatment usually begins with prednisone, a corticos- teroid. This drug reduces inflammation and swelling in the nerve and decreases pain. Initiating corticos- teroid treatment within three days of the start of symp- toms may increase your chance of a full recovery. I think this treatment should be started in virtually all patients with Bell's palsy, as soon as possible after it starts. Some doctors prescribe a combination of prednisone and an antiviral drug that attacks the herpes virus. Whether or not the antiviral drugs do much for recovery is not clear. Many of my colleagues here at Harvard Medical School prescribe antiviral drugs, along with prednisone, in severe cases of Bell's palsy. I agree with this. In the most severe cases, Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. surgery has been performed with the goal of relieving pressure on the swollen and inflamed nerve. Electrical stimulation of that nerve, to try to "wake it up," also has been tried. These proce- dures are unproven, but they are worth considering in severe cases of Bell's palsy that are not improving with other treatments. If Bell's palsy is affecting your ability to close your eyes, your cornea can become dry and vulnerable to being scratched. Protect your eyes by wear- ing glasses or sun- glasses. Keep your eyes moist by using artificial tears fre- quently during the day and lubricate at night with a sterile eye ointment. Even though the symptoms of Bell's palsy are frightening, there's a good chance your facial nerve will work properly again. Most people start to improve after two weeks and recover completely within six months. The odds that you will experience a complete recovery are greater if the symptoms were milder at the start, and if you began to have improvement in the first three weeks after the condi- tion began. LASSEN MEDICAL GROUP 731 Main Street Suite 1A Red Bluff, Ca. 96080 Abbey Loso ~ Owner of Abbey's Hair Works 19 Years Experience in the Industry as a Hairstylist, Salon Owner & Beauty School Instructor Certified Framesi Master Colorist Highlights~Lowlights~Corrective Color~ Trendy Cuts~ Razor Cuts & Fades Specializing in: Abbey's philosophy is to offer superior service at a reasonable cost. 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