Review-Journal Aging Expo offers tips on healthy living

Feel unprepared to face the issues associated with getting older?

The Las Vegas Review-Journal is ready to present its inaugural Successful Aging Expo Las Vegas to help.

“We are all getting older,” says Mark Ficarra, publisher for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, of the reason for the event.

The expo, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Cashman Center, is designed to give people the best tips to age successfully.

While it may be geared toward an aging population, it is never too early to start looking at these topics.

“We have over 40 seminars,” Ficarra says.

There are also exhibitors with booths ranging from health and medical professionals to financial institutions.

Ficarra says the number of vendors they have been able to secure went beyond expectations.

He estimates between 8,000 and 10,000 people will participate in the event.

“We want to try to make this a world-class event,” Ficarra says. “So there will be free food, entertainment and raffle drawings every hour.”

The event will cover financial planning and estate planning, healthy living and diseases such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes.

People can also hear from experts such as Las Vegas Fire and Rescue public education and information officer Tim Syzmanski.

About two or three times per week, Syzmanski goes into nursing homes, senior community centers and other places to teach people about the importance of fire safety.

“We put on a 45-minute program to teach seniors about fire prevention,” he says. “There are a bunch of recommendations seniors don’t think of.”

But when thinking about growing older, safety risks are usually put on the back burner.

“(Fire safety) is not something a lot of people think about,” he says.

But Syzmanski says, nationally, fires kill about 800 seniors per year. He’s heard stories about people unable to sleep. In the middle of the night they get up to cook something but then fall asleep while waiting for the dish to finish.

“And that’s how a lot of the fires start for them,” he says. “So I’ll give them simple tips like prepare cold cuts or cheese and crackers.”

Other tips include switching out regular flame candles for light-emitting diode candles and the problem with smoking around an oxygen tank.

“That is a big problem here in Las Vegas,” he says. “They don’t realize they can catch fire from that.”

He also talks about not trying to take on fires if one starts in the home.

“A lot want to use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire,” he says. “But burns, even if it is a second-degree burn, is considered a life-threatening condition for seniors.”

Although fires kill seniors, there are safety issues they should be concerned about. For example, about 16,000 deaths nationally per year result from falling.

It’s not just the immediate effects of the fall. Seniors are sometimes unable to bounce back after a serious fall.

“Usually within five years after an incident you’ll see the death of the person,” he says.

Syzmanski also reviews tactics for staying hydrated throughout the day and being mobile.

“They should walk a little bit every day,” he says. “Even if it is just down to the driveway.”

He recommends carrying cellphones everywhere.

“So you can always call 911 if you need to,” he adds. “But it has other functions. You can use it as a flashlight. Also, you can use it for the brain-building games it has.”

By keeping the body and mind active, he says it prepares them to have better response times.

“So if an emergency does come up, you react a little quicker,” he says. “You might be able to escape more quickly if you can think clearer.”

He tries to make them realize the limits of the body.

“I used to climb ladders easily,” he says. “The other day, my wife asked me to clean the window. I was up on the ladder and it began to shake. I had to face my limit. We aren’t young forever.”

Syzmanski says it helps seniors to have someone their age talking to them.

“They know I can relate to their experience,” he says.

Syzmanski has been a firefighter for 44 years.

“Which means I started right after high school and I’m in my 60s,” he says. “I’m in the same age group as them.”

Besides the seminars and vendors, people will have a chance to also meet the publisher and staff members from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Ficarra says the company plans to bring this event back annually.

“We might change the month in which we host it,” he says. “But it will be back.”

Contact reporter Michael Lyle at mlyle@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5201. Follow @mjlyle on Twitter.