I hate television (except when baseball, football, a Humphrey Bogart or Clint Eastwood classic is on). TV plays what makes money and what is hot. For example, watching the tube would lead one to believe that the entire country is about to retire. Invest here, save there and start right now! Imagine yourself- after saving just with this one company- living on a beach in Tahiti with some gorgeous babe young enough to be a grand-daughter.

In this economy the real reactions, on the planet I am living on, is one of the following: the under  thirty crowd, seeking only to cover the gas and food bill, think they have all the time in the world. When the better job arises, i.e. the ship comes in etc, they will begin to save for retirement. The middle age group may have some savings, but are stretched to the limit with business, family needs, and debts. They too wish to save for the Tahiti Days in the sun but conclude reality bites. Finally, the older than sixty-five group may have recently retired and are struggling to live on a fixed income. They may have had to put off retiring for another five or more years because of the crash in the housing or stock market scenes. The TV boys know only one thing. The baby boomers are planning retirement soon and are fearful about their future. They should not be more worried than any other generation, but TV advertising, to make a buck, certainly will make them more concerned. I have confidence in only one thing. The baby boomers may not be the greatest generation but they are the most inventive, self-reliant, and healthy generation America has ever seen. When it comes to health, the boomers drink less, smoke less, and live longer than previous generations. They dont live forever of course and the great killers are cardiovascular disease and cancer. Being self-reliant, the retired and soon to be retired Americans, ages sixty-five and older like to have clear directions in health protection and management. Just as in the financial world, the question regarding health recommendations is always, Is this or that recommendation really for me or is it for the other guy and a waste of time for me? The medical community is spending a good deal of time looking at the value of health recommendations for the over sixty-five age group.

We have good news and bad news. Not really bad but rather complicated news. Looking at prevention of cardiovascular disease, that is heart attacks, angina, congestive heart failure, strokes, and peripheral artery disease, there is great news here. For the over sixty five male or female who already have evidence of cardiovascular disease, keeping the blood pressure controlled, taking a statin in a dose that will ensure an LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) of less than 100 mg/dl, and adding a drug called a beta blocker will reduce the risk of a cardiovascular event or death by as much as twenty percent. This also applies to younger cardiovascular disease patients, but the main new finding is that the ship has not sailed for the older patient either. In a very recent study, the combination of statins and beta blockers not only reduces cardiac events but actually reverses the hardening of the arteries and plaque buildup in arteries (you have seen the diagrams on TV, I know it.) of patients with heart disease. How cool is that!

Dont pack for Tahiti just yet. While all these drugs protect the older population from some further heart attacks, etc, death finds a way to get them because cancer comes calling. The boomers are resourceful as I said. Nobody needs cancer screening more than the boomers. Deaths due to cancer of lung, breast, colon, ovary, pancreas, esophagus, and blood and lymphatic cancers erase the benefits in a statistical sense gained by the advances in preventing cardiovascular deaths in the over-sixty five group.

The good news is that newer screening tests combined with stopping smoking and regular check-ups can prevent or find early many of these cancers. Screening is like saving for retirement. It is never too early to find a cancer and it will pay huge dividends for your retirement. You will live to have one!

Advise therefore to the boomers who wish to see Tahiti  stop smoking, control blood pressure and cholesterol with statins and beta blockers, and get screened for common cancers. Oh yes, while in Tahiti, where a hat and use sunscreen.

Dr Costrini writes regularly For the Close Up section and may be contacted at ncostrini@georgiagi.com