We have waited through a long winter but finally spring has arrived and is starting to win over with warmer temperatures and longer days. Soon summer will fill the sky with bright sun and sunglasses will be daily eyewear.

But for those with diabetes, sunglasses may not be enough protection against the damaging effects of the sun’s rays.

The Joslin Diabetes Center Beetham Eye Institute offers these tips:

* Diabetic eye disease can be painless until it reaches very advanced stages, and the earlier you can catch it, the more likely you can preserve your sight.

* You can have perfect vision and still have diabetic eye disease.

* An annual dilated eye exam can identify eye complications early on.

* If your doctor finds early signs of diabetic eye disease, a number of treatments may be recommended, including laser eye surgery, contact lenses, glasses and medications.

* Keeping your A1C (an average of your blood glucose levels over a couple of months) on target, controlling blood pressure and quitting smoking also can help preserve vision and prevent vision loss.

270 Medicare recipients in Tennessee will soon have someone to help remind them when to take their medications. As part of a Medicare program to reduce hospitalizations, a new device called the Med-eMonitor will alert patients when it is time to take a pill.

These “smart pillboxes” will also monitor whether a patient has missed a dose or taken the wrong medication and send an alert over a standard phone line to a secure Internet site which will prompt a follow-up call from a health professional.

The Med-eMonitor is programmed with each patient’s individual schedule and alerts the patient with a sound - usually a song - when it is time to take medication.

Web-linked pillbox reminds patients to take meds

A bill that has passed the House and now needs Senate approval, will give Medicare the right to negotiate drug prices and bargain directly with the pharmaceutical companies. Drug companies are lobbying hard against this legislation.

AARP is urging all members and all seniors to contact their Senators on April 4, AARP’s National Call to Action Day, to urge their senators to pass this bill and give Medicare the ability to negotiate lower prices for their 43 million beneficiaries.

For instructions on how to join the Call to Action, see the AARP website.

The results of a study conducted at the University of Queensland, Australia show that for women in their 70s, the key to avoiding the pain and limitations of arthritis is to keep moving.

The study involed both middle-aged and older women. It was found that for older women, an hour of moderate physical exercise per week lessened chances of developing arthritis symptoms and that 2½ hours of physical activity is even more effective at keeping arthritis symptoms at bay.

These results were seen only in the older (72-79) group. Women in middle age (48-55) did not experience the same benefit.

Just Keep Moving, Ladies