Holding Off Dementia

A new study by researchers at the University of Cambridge has discovered that people who have received more education are less likely to develop dementia. Previous studies have looked at this issue but have been unable to determine if it was education, and not its effects such as higher economic status or healthier living, that impacted the chances of dementia. This new study has found that dementia is in fact a direct consequence of the amount of education received earlier in life.

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What Are You Really Hungry For

Spiritual hunger can't be satisfied by stuffing yourself with food

Dr. Oz Explains What Diabetes Does to Your Body

One of the best explanations I've ever seen.

Salt: Still a problem

The CDC says only 1 in 18 Americans are meeting the toughest limits on salt consumption

New food pyramid

USDA's new dietary guidelines restrict salt, sugar and saturated fats

But the recommendations are ones Americans have largely avoided in the past. (Which is why Americans are so friggin fat and dying of fat related diseases!)

Eleven Tips for Exercising Regularly

By Gretchen Ruben

Exercise is one of the keys to happiness. Research shows that people who exercise are healthier, more energetic, think more clearly, sleep better, and have delayed onset of dementia. They get relief from anxiety and mild depression, comparable to medication and therapy. They perform better at work.

Also, although it’s tempting to flop down on the couch when you’re feeling exhausted, exercise is actually a great way to boost energy levels. Feeling tired is a reason to exercise, not a reason to skip exercise.

But even when you admit that you’d feel better if you exercised, it can be very hard to adopt the habit. My idea of fun has always been to lie in bed and read, preferably while also eating a snack, but I’ve managed to keep myself exercising by using all these tricks on myself:

1. Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the week. Along the same lines …

2. If at all possible, exercise first thing in the morning. As the day wears on, you’ll find more excuses to skip exercising. Get it checked off your list, first thing.

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Are Your Flip-Flops Damaging Your Feet?

By: Vicki Santillano

I celebrate the arrival of summer the same way every year: by throwing my winter boots and close-toed shoes into the back of the closet and slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops

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Inhaling Exhaust Linked to Premature Babies

Study links pollution from vehicle traffic to serious pregnancy and birth health issues.

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Barack Obama says shape up now

President Barack Obama eats his vegetables and exercises every day — and he really wants you to do the same.

From the White House garden to his picks for top health jobs, Obama is telling America’s McDonald’s-loving, couch-dwelling, doctor-phobic populace that things are about to change.

Don’t be fooled by the presidential burger
runs. Obama and Congress are moving across several fronts to give government a central role in making America healthier — raising expectations among public health experts of a new era of activism unlike any before.

Any health care reform plan that Obama signs is almost certain to call for nutrition counseling, obesity screenings and wellness programs at workplaces and community centers. He wants more time in the school day for physical fitness, more nutritious school lunches and more bike paths, walking paths and grocery stores in underserved areas.

The president is filling top posts at Health and Human Services with officials who, in their previous jobs, outlawed trans fats, banned public smoking or required restaurants to provide a calorie count with that slice of banana cream pie.

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10 Ways to Limit Health Risk from Cell Phones

French schools have banned cell phones because of concern over electromagnetic radiation. Here's what you can do to protect yourself and your children.

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Study: Fewer Americans Eat Well and Exercise

Exercise, eat lots of fruits and veggies, don't drink or eat too much and don't smoke.

If there's a simple formula for basic health, that's it. Study after study reinforces this relatively simple prescription for health -- but fewer and fewer Americans are taking the advice, according to a new study by the Medical University of South Carolina-Charleston, published in the American Journal of Medicine.

The researchers looked at National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 1988-1994, and compared it to the 2001-2006 period:

* The percentage of adults aged 40-74 years with a body mass index greater than 30 (the threshold that defines obesity) has increased from 28% to 36%.
* Physical activity 12 times a month or more has decreased from 53% to 43%.
* Smoking rates have not changed (26.9% to 26.1%).
* Eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables a day has decreased from 42% to 26%.
* Moderate alcohol use has increased from 40% to 51%.
* The number of people adhering to all 5 healthy habits has decreased from 15% to 8%.

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White tea -- the solution to the obesity epidemic?

Possible anti-obesity effects of white tea have been demonstrated in a series of experiments on human fat cells (adipocytes). Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Nutrition and Metabolism have shown that an extract of the herbal brew effectively inhibits the generation of new adipocytes and stimulates fat mobilization from mature fat cells.

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Heart Association: Hands-only CPR works

Thanks to betmo at life's journey (listed in sidebar under blogs) for sending this to me.

You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life.

In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR -- rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives -- works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults.

Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing.

Exercise: The Least You Can Do

Build Muscle: A seven week study of 22 couch potatoes found that those who did just one set of ten repetitions of seven strength training moves (about 10 minutes of lifting) three days a week gained as much strength as those who did a 30-minute, three set routine.

Boost your Mood: In a recent study of 48 men and women, spinning on a bike for ten minutes led to a mood lift and drop in depression and fatigue - similar to what they'd get riding three times as long.

Protect Your Joints: After tracking nearly 4,000 women in their 70's for three years, researchers found that those who reported often having arthritis pain needed only 75 minutes a week of moderate exercise like brisk walking to reduce the frequency of symptoms by nearly 30 percent.

Manage Your Weight: A study of 13,711 men and women revealed that just 70 to 75 minutes of brisk walking or about 40 minutes of jogging a week is enough to begin shrinking your waistline. And targeting the waist is important because belly fat is directly tied to heart disease, diabetes, and early death.

Quell Stress: There are significant changes in the autonomic nervous system - fewer incidences of the fight-or-flight stress reflex being triggered - with just 70 to 75 minutes a week of exercise.

O Magazine/Nov 2007/pg 201

Daily morsel of dark chocolate cuts blood pressure

A nibble a day of dark chocolate helped lower blood pressure without packing on the pounds, German researchers said on Tuesday.

Prior studies have shown foods rich in cocoa like dark chocolate offer heart benefits, but researchers have worried the added sugar, fat and calories would cancel out any good the chocolate might do. Now it seems just a 30-calorie (0.126 kilojoule) bite of dark chocolate -- equivalent to 6.8 grammes or a quarter ounce -- can lower blood pressure without weight gain or other negative side effects.

Continued...

Choosing The Right Calcium Supplement

There are two basic types to consider. But no matter which you choose, don't take more than 500 milligrams at once- your body can't absorb much more than that.

• Calcium Carbonate: The most common type of calcium and least expensive. It's found in Tums, Caltrate, and most of the chewables. Since stomach acid is required to dissolve it, it's best absorbed when taken with food. Calcium carbonate can cause gas. If this happens to you, choose calcium citrate.

• Calcium Citrate: Because it already has acid in it, you don't have to take this supplement with food. It's found in Citracel and Solgar. It doesn't cause gas, as calcium carbonate sometimes does, but the pills tend to conatin smaller amounts of calcium, so you might have to take up to four a day to get your full dose.

Know Your Bones

In your 50's

• Increase your calcium intake. Estrogen levels drop with menopause, and the rate of bone loss accelerates - to about 1 to 2 percent a year. This is the time to step up your calcium intake to 1,200 milligrams a day. Some experts believe you should also increase your vitamin D intake to 1,000 to 1,500 I.U., but talk to your doctor first.

• Pay attention to back pan. Sudden pain in the back may be caused by a vertebral fracture. This is very common in women over 50 and often go ignored. It should be checked by a doctor because one vertebral fracture will predispose you to a second.

• Have your bone density tested three to fiver years after menopause. The gold standard method is a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, which typically measures bone density in the hips, the spine, or the whole body. Other tests, involving high resolution CT (also known as CAT) scans or ultrasound, are also available; all are painless, quick and covered by most insurance plans.

• Discuss treatment with your doctor. Once you know your bone density, devise a plan of action. While there is no cure for osteoporosis, a variety of medications - including bisphosphnates, hormone therapy, and selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs)-can help limit bone loss in post menopausal women.

Real Simple, May 2007

Know Your Bones

In your 40's

• Keep an eye out for skipped periods. This could be a sign that you're entering perimenopause, which means it's time to step up your bone protection plan by doing more strength training exercises and taking calcium supplements. When periods become irregular the real slide in bone mass begins.

• Watch out for sneaky bone robbers. On overactive thyroid can accelerate bone loss, and type 2 diabetes may increase your risk of fractures. These conditions become more common in your 40's.

• Assess risk factors. If you've ever suffered a fracture as an adult, if you have a family history of osteoporosis or fractures, if you are very thin or currently smoke, if you've ever had an eating disorder, or if you went through menopause before age 40, you have an increased likelihood of developing osteoporosis.
  

• Discuss hormone therapy with your doctor. Short-term hormone replacement therapy to control perimenopausal symptoms like hot flashes is not considered risky and can be good for the bones. Over time some HRT can increase the risk of heart attack or breast cancer to discuss the pros and cons with your doctor.

Real Simple, May 07