Archive for the ‘Senior’ Category
Seniors Can Reduce Risk of Colorectal Cancers
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For seniors who are concerned about taking affordable, preemptive steps to promote their senior health, here are five steps that, if taken, can greatly reduce the risk of contracting colorectal cancer. The results are from a study in Europe that were recently published in a medial journal in Britain. The researchers found that folks who lost weight, limited their consumption of alcoholic beverages, stopped smoking, maintained a healthy diet and exercised about 30 minutes a day reduced their risk of colorectal cancer by more than 20%. This was the first study that combined all five factors, because earlier studies had considered these factors individually in isolation from the others. It is not certain why following these recommendations helps to prevent colorectal cancer, but suffering from high insulin and diabetes are known risk factors for colorectal cancer. Lack of physical activity and obesity lead to high insulin states, that typically lead to the growth of cancer cells. The European study found that women who lost weight sufficient to reduce their waist size to 35 inches and men to reduce their waist size to 40 inches were in the healthy zone. In terms of alcohol consumption men who consumed no more that 14 drinks per week and women no more than 7 were also remained in the healthy zone. In summary seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health would be well advised to implement these five lifestyle recommendations.
Vitamins Make Senior Brains Healthy
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Many supplements claim to increase the power of our brains, but they do not always provide the details. Seniors who are concerned about fostering their senior health especially in regard to their brains need to know the details. Every year research has been providing additional data that vitamins perform a vital part in maintaining memory and brain function in mature adults which certainly includes seniors. For some time it has been known that the B vitamins and folate that are found in green leafy vegetables, legumes, and other foods have attracted special attention. For example a folate deficiency has been implicated in depression and various forms of dementia in seniors. Combined deficiency in folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 appear to raise the level of homocysteine which may be linked to the development of AD. Elevated levels of homocysteine are certainly known to be a marker for decreasing cardiovascular health.
It turns out that one of nutrients that is very healthy for the heart, omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, provides a key element for defending the brain against brain aging. The other elements that assist in defending the brain include the antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E. Seniors need to be aware that they need to consume some of the foods that provide the full spectrum of vitamin E such as nuts and avocado, because the vitamin E typically found in multivitamin supplements contains only one of the components, the alpha component, of vitamin E.
Why Metformin Is A Health Friendly Drug For Seniors!
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Typically the prescription drug metformin is prescribed for folks with type 2 diabetes, but it turns out that it has anti-aging properties that cover a broad spectrum. Best of all metformin has been used for many years without showing any of the serious type of side effects that have been caused by the used of so many prescription drugs. It was originally a botanical compound that was derived from the French lilac (Gallega officianalis). As an added bonus due to its long time use as a prescription drug it is no longer covered by patent, so it is available to seniors as very low cost generic drug. Taking metformin under a doctor’s supervision should be considered seriously by seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to promote their senior health. Recent studies have revealed that metformin can play an influential role in promoting health for seniors beyond treating type 2 diabetes. Meformin use has been shown to promote anti-cancer activity against a variety of cancers including breast, pancreas, colon, and prostate cancer. Medical studies have revealed that metformin can act both as a cancer preventative and by interferring with the growth of cancers that have already started.
Seniors Need Immune Defense Against the Return of the H1N1 Virus
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Last winter we were fortunate that the H1N1 virus did not claim as many lives as it might have claimed had it blossomed into a pandemic such as the 1918-19 flu virus. Back in 1918-19 the H1N1 flu virus killed at least 50 million worldwide. What needs to be noted is the sequence of the assaults on the human population in those two flu seasons. During the first year not many people died of the virus, but the next year it returned with a vengeance and killed most of the folks included in the 50 million deaths due to the flu. The second round was deadlier, because it had mutated. Similarly last year saw fewer deaths due to the H1N1 flu virus than had been expected, so this winter if the H1N1 flu virus returns it may mutate and result in the large number of deaths that occur when a flu pandemic strikes. Fortunately there is good news for seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to protect their senior health against winter flu viruses such as the H1N1 virus by building up their immune system. Numerous studies have shown that a deficiency of vitamin D is linked to influenza infections. The Harvard Medical School, that normally recommends getting vitamins through food, makes an exception for supplementing with vitamin D. The good news is that the vitamin D supplements that duplicate the form D3 made by our bodies in sunlight are very inexpensive. The D3 form that is more readily absorbed by our bodies is preferred over the less potent form D2. Together with eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep, supplementing with vitamin D3 will support a layered defense against infection by the H1N1 flu.
Can Testosterone Help Prevent Obesity in Senior Men?
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Currently many articles on health are raising serious concern about the number of Americans who are not just overweight, but who are obese. The concern is based on the observed rapid progression from overweight to obese and then to conditions such as type 2 diabetes, artherosclerosis and cancer. It turns out that as testosterone levels decrease as men age that the markers of inflammation rise. One of the markers of inflammation is the C-reactive protein (CRP). Rising inflammation due to lowering testosterone levels contributes to the development of obesity and its related conditions including cancer and artherosclerosis. Much of the obesity in senior men is centered in the abdominal region. When this occurs the fat, which is deposited because of the testosterone deficiency, adds to the inflammation in the body and a vicious circle is initiated. For senior men who are concerned about promoting their senior health by taking appropriate preemptive aging steps to reverse testosterone deficiency is a large, important one. The first item on the agenda for senior men is to have their doctor perform the test to check their testosterone level. In the event that it is low, then testosterone replacement therapy is available from qualified physicians. For those senior men who need to raise their testosterone levels doing so will improve their cardiovascular health and help them avoid cancer.
Glucose Control Needed For Preemptive Aging
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The latest medical and nutritional studies are strongly emphasizing the serious need for controlling glucose levels as a major factor needed for preemptive aging. For seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to safeguard their senior health, glucose control is a critical matter. Our blood glucose levels play a crucial part in controlling our longevity. If our blood glucose is high either before or after eating it becomes a risk factor for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and increased mortality. The research findings about the dangers of high glucose are so clear that the International Diabetes Federation has issued a a warning to folks that do not suffer from type 2 diabetes that a glucose level over 140mg/dl after a meal is a major risk factor for a number of diseases including cancer and conditions known to cause serious injury to our cardiovascular health.
High glucose levels are harmful to our health, but low glucose levels provide real health benefits. Keeping glucose levels low is one of the benefits of caloric restriction which can be attained by limiting calories consumed by a healthy and nutrient-dense diet which has foods with a low glycemic index. When these foods are consumed the glucose levels fall, because the blood sugar is used up quickly by the body’s many different processes. This is very good news for seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health.
Is Vitamin D Really a Cancer Fighter?
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The information being published about vitamin D in the health media are generally very favorable about encouraging folks to make certain that they get sufficient vitamin D. It turns out that vitamin D is not really a vitamin, but it is a hormone that interacts with more than two thousand genes in our bodies. We have vitamin D receptors everywhere in our bodies. In terms of cellular health vitamin D has been shown to support the prevention of certain cancers including cancers of the prostate, breast, pancreas, and colon. All the medical studies performed to date indicate that more is better when it comes to the level of vitamin D in the blood.
For example in the case of breast cancer, women who are deficient in vitamin D when they are diagnosed with cancer are more than 70% more likely to die of it compared with women with sufficient levels of vitamin D. After heart disease, breast cancer is the deadliest killer of women in the United States. Exposure to the sun and a vitamin D rich diet significantly reduce the risk of breast cancer for women.
For men only heart attacks and lung cancer claim more men that prostate cancer. Exposure to sunlight that allows our bodies to make our own vitamin D has been shown to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by more than 65% for men who had the highest exposure to sunlight. Those men who had the lowest exposure to sunlight were three times more likely to develop prostate cancer. This is good news for seniors who want to take preemptive aging steps to foster their prostate health.
Seniors Need This DNA Friendly, Anti-Aging Compound
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This super anti-aging compound is found in every cell in our bodies. Maintaining high levels of this compound is required in order to maintain excellent health and genuine longevity. The name of this compound which was discovered back in 1888 is glutathione, but its importance for senior health was not appreciated for nearly a hundred years. The earliest studies in the 1920′s and 1930′s focused on its role in protecting the eyes of seniors from cataracts, macular degeneration, and a host of other eye diseases. Later in the 1980′s research in the United States established the link between high levels of glutathione in the blood and tissue with folks who experienced robust health and extreme longevity.
The following items provide very good news for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health. In terms of aging, damage to DNA is one of the causes of accelerated aging, but glutathione assists strongly in DNA repair. When it comes to cardiovascular health, one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease is oxidation of fats in the blood which can be greatly reduced by glutathione. The damage to DNA strands has been linked to cancer; glutathione has the ability to prevent DNA damage and repair damage after it has occurred which makes it one of the most powerful cancer preventers known to modern medicine.
Seniors can increase their intake of glutathione by consuming cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. In addition they can take the supplement N-acetylcysteine (NAC) which is broken down in our bodies into glutathione.
Tea Party Can Boost Senior Cardiovascular Health
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In a recently published report from Europe, researchers reported some very good news for folks who drink lots of tea. The good news they report concerns how much tea drinking lowers the risk of dying from coronary heart disease. The researchers followed their clients over a thirteen year period. The number of folks in the study exceeded 35,000. During that time folks who consumed between 3 – 6 cups of tea per day lowered their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by more than 44%. The people involved in the study were screened prior to initiation in the study and monitored during the next thirteen years in order to check for any developing cardiovascular conditions or deaths due to cardiovascular disease. The report did not identify the tea as either black tea or green tea, but given the history of black tea consumption in Europe black tea was probably provided the majority type of tea consumed by the participants. It turns out that both black tea and green tea contain compounds that have been linked in previous studies with lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease. What is significant about this European study is the large number of pre-screened participants and the length of time they participated in the monitored study. This is very good news for seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to foster their senior health by boosting their cardiovascular health.
Preemptive Aging Foods for Seniors
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Seniors who are concerned about taking preemptive aging steps to safeguard their senior health need to take the first step and choose foods that promote senior health. The foods at the top of the preemptive list are the foods that preempt cancer which is one of the leading enemies of senior health. The good news for seniors is a follows. Foods that preempt cancer are some of the tastiest foods around. In the first place are all the colorful berries that include blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, and so on. Most of the berries contain tumor fighting compounds such as polyphenols and ellagic acid which are the enemies of cancer. Another winner is chocolate as long as it is 70% cocoa which is true for some of dark chocolate bars. It turns out that cocoa contains polyphenols similar to the berries and it also contains antioxidants. As an added bonus, cocoa contains a class of chemicals known as catechins that offer protection against cancer and heart disease. Finally seniors can moderately choose daily to imbibe a glass of red wine for its high concentration of resveratrol content that is provided by the grape skin. The resveratrol contributes in some unknown way to suppress metabolites associated with cancer growth. In summary, drinking a daily glass of red wine, eating some dark chocolate, and consuming a variety of berries throughout the week can provide an array of preemptive aging foods for seniors who are concerned about protecting their senior health against cancer.
