Hormone Replacement a Fountain of Youth?
by Jose Sonik
With aging, comes reduced hormone levels. Does reversing the hormone levels reverse aging?
Not exactly, but it might come close.
Human growth hormone is a hormone that predominantly increases height. While doing so, it also increases muscle mass and bone density. HGH is at its highest levels during childhood and puberty. As we mature, the levels decrease, beginning a sharp decline at around age 30. At around that time, bone density declines, muscle mass reduces, and physical disorders like diabetes increase.
Until now, some of the more desperate aging generation have taken HGH in the hope of reversing aging, but research has not corroborated their theory.
But now, something new is in the air. According to Natalie Angier of the NY Times: “In a clinical trial of 21 healthy men ranging in age from 61 to 81, researchers found that after six months of injections of a genetically engineered version of the natural body hormone, the men emerged with bodies that by many measures were almost 20 years younger than the ones they started with.”
Aging was measured only in the distribution of body weight. The men were found to have increased muscle mass and decreased fat. The scientists hypothesize that some bulk went to internal organs, which shrink with age, but aren’t sure. The men’s skin also increased in thickness and youth, and bone density increased.
Of course, the significance of this improvement is debatable. HGH is known to increase muscles mass and reduce fat, but without really increasing strength. And what’s the point of muscle without strength? Similarly, the change in appearance was not correlated to an increase in performance of organs or body.
And as with all drugs, there were the side effects. HGH can cause swelling in the face, arms, and legs; arthritis; diabetes; hardened arteries, high blood pressure, and heart failure; and abnormal growth of bones and organs, among others.
November 17th, 2008 - Posted in Boomers, aging, drugs, health, long term care, research, seniors | | 0 Comments
Lifestyle Tips to Prevent Cancer
by Edna Milay
Sometimes it seems like everything causes cancer. Then it seems like everything prevents it. What advice should you follow and what can you regard skeptically until further research actually proves something? Here are a few lifestyle tips for cancer prevention. All are well proven to correlate with reduced cancer risks.
1. A little alcohol affects men and women differently. Men actually benefit from a small daily intake of spirits, while women should not exceed a single drink a day, if even that much.
2. Avoid processed meats at all cost, and limit your consumption of all red meat. Fish and fowl are rich in all the proteins you need without the unhealthy fats that come along with.
3. Along the same lines, try to avoid overdosing on sodium and salt, which most people do. The average salt intake is already well above the necessary limit, so any reduction on your part can only be good.
4. Whole, unprocessed foods are your best bet. Fruits, veggies, and things that grow from the ground are healthy. Foods with ingredients you can’t pronounce or that don’t resemble any naturally occurring edible should be shunned. And while you’re at it, aim for a variety of veggies and fruits. Different foods have different vitamins and minerals, so take in as much as possible.
5. Exercise. About 30 minutes of activity per day, enough to get your heart rate up, should do the trick.
6. Avoid fat, especially saturated and hydrogenated. Hydrogenated fats, found in margarine and most junk foods, are directly linked to cancer risks. Processed sugar is also a known evil. Reduce your calorie intake as much as possible, a strategy linked to longer life overall.
November 13th, 2008 - Posted in cancer, exercise, food, health, health care, heart disease | | 0 Comments
Hips and Hormones
by Jose Sonik
Some news from the science front! Hormone replacement in women is linked to hip replacement - and childbearing is linked to knee replacement. These two new findings come out of England where 1.3 million women were followed since 1996.
Hormone replacement therapy is quite common among post-menopausal women, particularly those at risk of osteoporosis. Estrogen prevents bone-loss, which in turn prevents osteoporosis. But it seems to have a negative affect on join strength. Notable, estrogen with progestragen was more closely correlated with hip replacement than estrogen alone or tibolone.
The second finding is more startling. It’s well known that running, excessive jumping, climbing, and carrying heavy things can damage the knees, but nobody ever thought to apply that to carrying children. Though, when you think about it, some of those babies can get quite heavy.
This finding creates one of those tight corners often created by conflicting medical advice. Exercise during pregnancy is highly recommended, but it’s important to avoid unduly stressing the knees. Here are a few recommendations:
1. Swimming. Swimming takes the weight off your legs while getting your heart rate pumping. An outdoor pool or swimming no more than once a week because of the chlorine and ammonia that can build up over indoor pools.
2. Rowing, weightlifting (from sitting position), and similar exercises are healthy and will also get you ready to start carrying around a 10 lb baby.
3. Biking on a stationary bike will support your weight while giving you great aerobic exercise.
4. Yoga is both relaxing and healthy and a good idea any day.
November 11th, 2008 - Posted in exercise, fractures, joint replacement | | 0 Comments
Children, Hormones, Knees, and Hips
by L. Hauben
Some news from the science front! Hormone replacement in women is linked to hip replacement - and childbearing is linked to knee replacement. These two new findings come out of England where 1.3 million women were followed since 1996.
Hormone replacement therapy is quite common among post-menopausal women, particularly those at risk of osteoporosis. Estrogen prevents bone-loss, which in turn prevents osteoporosis. But it seems to have a negative affect on join strength. Notable, estrogen with progestragen was more closely correlated with hip replacement than estrogen alone or tibolone.
The second finding is more startling. It’s well known that running, excessive jumping, climbing, and carrying heavy things can damage the knees, but nobody ever thought to apply that to carrying children. Though, when you think about it, some of those babies can get quite heavy.
This finding creates one of those tight corners often created by conflicting medical advice. Exercise during pregnancy is highly recommended, but it’s important to avoid unduly stressing the knees. Here are a few recommendations:
1. Swimming. Swimming takes the weight off your legs while getting your heart rate pumping. An outdoor pool or swimming no more than once a week because of the chlorine and ammonia that can build up over indoor pools.
2. Rowing, weightlifting (from sitting position), and similar exercises are healthy and will also get you ready to start carrying around a 10 lb baby.
3. Biking on a stationary bike will support your weight while giving you great aerobic exercise.
4. Yoga is both relaxing and healthy and a good idea any day.
November 3rd, 2008 - Posted in aging, drugs, health, joint replacement, seniors | | 0 Comments
It’s Not the Firm Handshake, It’s the WARM Handshake
by Ruth Folger Weiss
Add this to your “it’s nice to know” file:
Physical warmth impacts on how we view other people and, creates a causal scenario where we then treat the other person in a warm or cold fashion.
To ascertain how temperature affects emotions, Lawrence Williams, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and John A. Bargh, PhD, professor of psychology at Yale University conducted a study on undergraduates.
Students were casually asked to hold a tester’s cup of coffee for a moment prior to entering a room; half the participants were asked to hold a cup of warm coffee and half were asked to hold a cup of iced coffee.
The students were subsequently given a portfolio of information on an unknown person described with words like intelligent, skillful, industrious, practical, and cautious. They were then asked to respond to a questionnaire evaluating the person’s personality. Interestingly, those who had held the warm coffee were much more likely to score the “person in question” as warmer than those who had held the iced coffee.
“It appears that the effect of physical temperature is not just on how we see others, it affects our own behavior as well,” Bargh says. “Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer — more generous and trusting .”
In the boardroom and in your social life, never underestimate the importance of an outreached hand, especially when it’s a warm one!
October 24th, 2008 - Posted in Boomers, Family, Friendship, Relationships, aging, alzheimers, health, health care, heart disease, long term care, medical, research, seniors | | 0 Comments
The Sense of Touch: Soothing Pain Relief
Touch and massage can relieve pain and improve mood in cancer patients.
A study comparing the results of touch therapy and massage therapy found that both relieved pain and improved mood, but massage was twice as effective. Furthermore, there was an increase in pain relief as treatment continued over time.
The results are important, suggesting a non-medical way for cancer patients to receive pain relief.
It’s been long known that touch has a soothing affect on the human body, but there have been few studies supporting it.
Touch therapy consists of a therapist placing their hands on specific spots on the body and applying light pressure for a few moments. The treatment comes out of the holistic healing movement and has not garnered much support among those in the medical field.
Massage therapy is more vigorous, including pressing, rolling, and finger pressure at trigger points. Though not common in the hospital, massage therapy is a commonly offered as part of a physical rehabilitation program. Now, it may become an option for patients receiving painful treatments for debilitating diseases.
October 8th, 2008 - Posted in cancer, health, health care, long term care, medical, pain, rehab, research | | 0 Comments
Defining Palliative Care
Barely half the hospitals in the USA have palliative care programs.
If you aren’t sure what palliative care is, that’s part of the problem.
Palliative care is a care program that includes management of pain and other debilitating symptoms and increased communication and care coordination between physician and family. Palliative care increases the quality of life for patients with complex prognoses . . . Greater palliative care has been linked to lower death rates, fewer intensive care admissions during a patient’s final months, and lower overall expense per patient.
The statistics speak, and palliative care has been increasing around the nation, but it is still almost unavailable in many rural hospitals and the south. The trend is upward, but the problem is still widespread.
The best way to receive palliative care is via hospice care, delivered in specialized institutions, such as nursing or assisted living facilities. Such facilities are smaller, more specialized, and less hectic than hospitals, permitting them greater latitude in customizing the service their patients receive.
Palliative care utilizes a broad range of services for one goal: relieve suffering and increase quality of life. When paired with standard medical treatment, the results is a more comfortable treatment and faster recovery.
October 8th, 2008 - Posted in Family, aging, alzheimers, back pain, exercise, health, health care, long term care, medical, medical news, pain, rehab, seniors | | 1 Comments
It Isn’t All About Plaque
Amyloid beta plaque on the brain has long been associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and often considered the cause of mental decline.
Apparently, this is not true.
A British study used an immune response to almost completely remove the plaque from subjects’ brains, but this did not have any affect on the progression of their dementia.
This stymies the idea of an anti-amyloid approach to fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Even if amyloid beta plaque has something to do with the onset of the disease, it clearly doesn’t have an ongoing affect. Researchers must look for another mechanism triggered concurrently that could be affecting cognition.
August 8th, 2008 - Posted in aging, alzheimers, dementia, health, medical news, research | | 0 Comments
Antihistamine Can Reverse Mental Deterioration
~ Zev Driller
An old antihistamine drug may come back on the market one day – to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Dimebond, once sold in Russia to treat allergies, may have the happy side affect of reversing cognitive decline. Test subjects taking Dimebond actually improved their scores on cognition tests, compared to both the control group and their own baseline scores. Alistair Burns, M.D., of the University of Manchester in England, and Robin Jacoby, D.M., of the University of Oxford in England, believe it attacks several mechanisms of dementia that could make it affective in treating mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
Dimebond was only on the market temporarily, and in Russia. It was pulled when better, targeted antihistamines were introduced, making it superfluous. For that reason, it was never approved for use in the United States, and has not received much notice elsewhere.
August 7th, 2008 - Posted in aging, alzheimers, dementia, drugs, health, medical, seniors | | 0 Comments
Exercise from the Couch
by Bill Diblasio
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get the benefits of exercise without expending more energy then swallowing a pill?
AICAR, an old drug that has long been recognized for its ability to stimulate the creation of mitochondria, might be the pill for you.
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, producing the energy that powers our body. Recently, AICAR was administered to mice who were kept sedentary. After a few weeks, the AICAR mice raced regular sedentary mice, and ran 44% farther and 23% longer.
AICAR seems to mimic the effects of aerobic exercise, increasing stamina, but not building strength. It is being investigated as an aid in fighting diabetes and aging, and for uses in heart bypass surgery. Athletes need not apply.
Of course, the fact that AICAR works in mice doesn’t mean it’ll work in humans. Furthermore, it might have unpleasant side effects. And, as many researchers have hastened to point out, it doesn’t mimic all the myriad of benefits a person gets from real movement and exercise, which includes many chemical reactions besides mitochondria.
August 3rd, 2008 - Posted in aging, drugs, exercise, food, health, seniors | | 0 Comments
