I am often approached by women either in my practice or online who want to know the most “natural” way to approach menopause.
It’s really quite simple if you think about it. [Read more…] about Natural Menopause
Aging
Aging? Even You Can Walk Off The Extra Pounds
BOSTON As you age, walking can keep the pounds away, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Obesity Society, an organization of weight-loss researchers and care providers.
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh found that overweight middle-aged people who walked briskly for 30 to 60 minutes a day lost 7 pounds in a year and a half, while similar adults who didn’t exercise consistently gained seven pounds in that time.
In the second study, University of North Carolina researchers did an analysis of data on young adults, ages 18 to 30, over a 15-year period and found those who walked four or more hours a week were the least likely to gain weight as they aged.
For the complete article –> Click here
You’ll live longer with some physical activity
Even the simplest physical activity may lengthen lives — no sweating required, new research shows.
In fact, mundane physical activity like household chores may count.Sound too good to be true? That’s the finding from the National Institute on Aging’s Todd Manini, PhD, and colleagues.
“Simply expending energy through any activity may influence survival in older adults,” they write in The Journal of the American Medical Association‘s July 12 issue.
Does their theory hold water? Perhaps, says a journal editorial. Manini’s finding on longevity motion is “provocative and if documented by future research would have major implications for physical activity recommendations,” the editorialists write.
Age Related Macular Degeneration
A new study was just published by the Archives of Ophthalmology which showed that smoking contributes to the risk of developing Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD).
ARMD is particularly disturbing because it is progressive, there is no known cure and no way to reverse the loss of vision. It tends to run in families – for example, it affects my mother as well as all of her siblings. It is also more common in women.
What can you do?
- See your eye doctor (either ophthalmologists or optometrists) for a checkup.
- There are various vitamin/antioxidant preparations available which appear to slow the development and progression. It should contain vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc oxide, and copper.
- There is evidence that supplements containing lutein and zeaxanthin (in addition to the above) can also be helpful.
- Stop Smoking!
For further resources on ARMD:
Having trouble reading the fine print?
I don’t know about you, I swear that the print on the screen is getting smaller!
Of course, for a few years now (and especially since having Lasik done), I’ve been using reading glasses, but sometimes I just want to take a quick peak at the screen without having to find where I left yet another pair of glasses. (Do you keep them all over the house and in the car like I do?)
So this morning, I hit something on my keyboard and the print on the screen got larger. I had no idea what I did, so as usual, I googled the problem.
I don’t know about on Macs, but on a PC all you need to do (which was not what I did to begin with, but it still works) is hit:
- Control and the plus or minus sign to make the print (actually the entire page including graphics) larger or smaller.
Very cool!
Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen™
Smoking And Obesity ‘Age People’
This shouldn’t come to news to any us… excess weight and smoking are significant risks for many illnesses. Being overweight and a smoker will make you age faster in more ways than one.
You can read the findings below or go to BBC NEWS | Health | Smoking and obesity ‘age people’
Being overweight and a smoker makes a person biologically older
than slim non-smokers of the same birth age, UK and US researchers
have found.Smoking accelerated the ageing of key pieces of a person’s DNA by about
4.6 years. For obesity it was nine years. These genetic codes are important for regulating cell division and have been linked to age-related diseases.The study in the Lancet was based on 1,122 twins from a database held by St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The researchers looked at telomeres – strips of DNA that cap the end of chromosomes and appear to protect and stabilise them. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides, until there is nothing left, making cell division less reliable and increasing the risk of disorders. This happens naturally with ageing.
Accelerated ageing
Both smoking and obesity are important risk factors for many age-related diseases, therefore Professor Tim Spector and colleagues set out to see whether they might accelerate telomere shortening. Among the study sample, all women aged 18-76, 119 were clinically obese, 203 were current smokers and 369 were ex-smokers.
By analysing blood samples for DNA the researchers found telomere length decreased steadily with age, as expected. However, the telomeres of the obese women and smokers were far shorter than those of lean women and those who had never smoked of the same age. Each pack year – the number of cigarette packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoking – was equivalent to a loss of an additional 18% on top of the average annual shortening of telomeres. A woman who had smoked a pack per day for 40 years accelerated her ageing by 7.4 years, according to telomere length.
Chromosomal clock
Professor Spector, from the twin research unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, said: “What you are seeing here is that the entire body is ageing from smoking, not just your heart or your lungs. So you are accelerating your whole chromosomal clock by this activity which is an important message for younger people to think about. People would probably think twice if they knew that at every age they were five or seven years older than their contemporaries biologically because that has influences on their skin, brain and bones.”
Tobacco smoke contains poisons. The research suggests that these poisons may affect cells at one of the most fundamental levels. Excess fat is believed to disrupt the chemical proposition of the body in a negative way. Such stressors can damage the body. Dr Lorna Layward, research manager at Help the Aged, said the work supported what we already know about smoking and obesity being extremely damaging to health.
“While the research is not conclusive, we should take heed of the alarm bells. Most over 65s are not getting enough exercise which has massive implications aside from obesity, such as declining strength and mobility.
Giving up smoking is the biggest thing you can do reduce your chances of developing coronary heart disease. “In today’s fast-paced life, many of us say we don’t have time to exercise or eat healthily, but unless we change our ways we will soon have to find time to cope with ill health.”
Source: BBC Health