Most of us expect that new technology and research will reduce the risks of taking medications. We want cars that handle well but we also want them to be safe and to protect us. If I’m going to be on a medication I want it to have the highest degree of efficacy and the fewest risks. In thinking like this, I understand my expectations are unreasonable but more importantly, I’m also assuming that someone else is taking care of the safety of my medications.

My personal story with a medication and the stories of my friends and family and what I’ve read from reputable sources have been convincing.  I realize anecdotes are not evidence but an anecdote that involved me is more important than any piece of evidence. I usually avoid anecdotes from the internet. It’s like watching a TV program that shows the horror of everything for pure sensationalism.

I am also very well aware that just because something is touted as natural or herbal doesn’t make them safe. Hemlock is natural. ST John’s Wart inhibits the effectiveness of other drugs such as the birth control pill and blood thinning tablets.

Our doctors used to make all our decisions. I’m convinced that technology, electronics and the Internet have turned that concept upside down. What I’ve also learned thru the years is that when a prescription is required there may not be a single choice of treatment available to every person. Each of us has unique needs depending on our age, medications we’re already taking and our physical well being.

Thankfully, electronics and the Internet now provide a mechanism for our doctors to share information with their patients; letting us know what they know. Keep in mind, however, that simply providing information doesn’t solve the health concern. Most of us want simple choices and we could be on information overload when it comes to our health with all the information that’s out there.

The Patient Package Inserts (PPI) is prepared by the company that produces the prescription and approved by the Food and Drug Association (FDA). It’s a legal document as well as information for consumers. It meets certain requirements the manufacturer must meet to comply with the full labeling. The problem so many of those guides can’t be read because they’re very difficult to understand the language and medical terms. Often times the font size is too small for people to read. I understand that the government has guidelines for type size, reading level and simplification but it doesn’t look like much is being followed.

The primary point I usually make to friends is “don’t believe everything you read” especially on the Internet. JOURNALISM IS MEANT TO ENTERTAIN. Even news and medical articles need to be entertaining. Reporters don’t keep their news balanced. They most often highlight the news that is sensational reporting on claims made one week and then erased the next week.

Most consumers are confused about the possible risks of drugs that were generated by news stories It appears that drugs are either magic pills or deadly. When a drug is approved press announcements highlight the potential benefits of the new drug. Companies should come back 10 months later after launch and have doctors tell how it’s working in their practice.

Most of us have opinions about the risk of a particular drug but few of us have all the facts and evidence. Science constantly reappraises what they have and medicine is no different. As areas of science become more complicated health care professionals are going to need to openly confront uncertainty and controversy.  And as consumers we shouldn’t demand agreement in science because new ideas challenge mainstream scientific experts and our own expectations.

I’m collecting information about how to figure out what the risk information is.  If you have any information on this topic let me know and I’ll add it to mine.

To your good health

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Freelance Health Writer Oakland County Michigan
Copywriter and content creator
Freelance Business Writer

Tagged with: benefits of medications • risk of medications • side effects medications

Filed under: Uncategorized

Osteoporosis is a disorder characterized by decreased bone mass and a structural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to a dangerous loss of bone strength. During our lifetime there is a constant modeling and remodeling of bone. However as we  age we start losing bone tissue faster
than we replace it.

 
Eventually the bones get porous which means they become more fragile and are liable to break. In women the loss of bone mass is precipitated by the onset of menopause when we produce less of the female sex hormones, the so-called estrogens.  Most of the time this happens between the ages 50 and 55.

 
Also in men a sufficient production of sex hormones is essential for maintaining a proper balance between bone formation and resorption. But in their case an increased bone loss will normally only be observed in later years.

The problem is fragile bones are more susceptible to fractures – but not all bones are equally at risk: most often fractures occur in the hip area, in the spine (vertebrae) and the forearm (wrist).

Diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis are based on the ratio between bone density and the risk of an osteoporotic fracture. Special diagnostic criteria for men don’t exist yet, so that for the time being they have to rely on the experience gained in female patients. Osteoporosis in men is also more difficult to detect because diagnostic methods are still rather inadequate.

Osteoporosis is usually considered a typical problem for women. It is true that osteoporosis strikes more seldom in men but  its consequences are often more disastrous and they also have to stay longer in hospital. 30% of all hip fractures and 20% of all vertebral fractures occur in men.

It is interesting to note that vertebral fractures are more prevalent in men than previously assumed, with a ratio of women to men of only 2 : 1. The so called “lifetime risk” has also been evaluated: during their lifetime men have a risk of 3 – 6% to suffer a hip fracture, the corresponding values for vertebral fractures and for wrist fractures being 2-5% and 2-3% respectively. It is estimated that in the US about 4 million men suffer from low bone density and are at risk for bone fractures.

The most important risk factor for osteoporosis for both men and women is age.

We all know that our life expectancy is steadily increasing and that the population segment represented by the age group of 80+ will significantly grow in numbers. For the countries of the European Union for instance, the forecasts tell us that the number of octogenarians will increase (from currently 4,5 millions) to 17,4 millions in the year 2050. That means that the number of hip fractures in men will be increasing by a greater percentage than in women. In other words, during the coming decades osteoporosis will no longer remain a disease affecting primarily women – there is no doubt that men will be equally at risk.

The root causes for the development of the disease also in men are significantly different from those seen in women. Due to different lifestyle choices and the already mentioned changes in their hormone balance, women possibly experience the onset of osteoporosis as early as during or immediately after menopause. In men, osteoporosis is still a disease whose underlying causes and therapeutic management have not yet been thoroughly investigated. One knows for instance very little about the typical symptoms that osteoporosis causes in men. In most cases men with osteoporosis complain about back pain. But often vertebral fractures do not cause pain and show no symptoms at all. But as the disease progresses, pathologic processes in the spine occur which usually lead to serious impairments.

Researchers believe that there are several risk factors for men that do not differ significantly from those affecting women. It seems that risk factors especially for hip and vertebral fractures could be the following:

• low body mass,
•  smoking,
•  excessive alcohol consumption,
• lack of physical exercise,
• and insufficient calcium intake.

In men, the so called secondary causes, such as underlying diseases and certain drug therapies, appear to play an important role in the development of osteoporosis. Nevertheless, many things remain still unclear as far as the development of osteoporosis in men is concerned. For instance, in 30 – 45% of all male osteoporosis patients no underlying risk factor nor any other medical cause for the illness can be detected.

Roughly in half of the men with osteoporosis the “normal” loss of bone mass associated with the process of aging is complemented by other precipitating factors: excessive alcohol consumption, hormonal deficits, corticoid therapy, or else diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, of the
thyroid or the parathyroid gland. Low levels of the male sex hormone are considered an important osteoporosis risk factor. To what extent such a deficit is responsible for the actual development of osteoporosis is still a subject under discussion.

Although it is true that men usually tolerate more alcohol than women, they ought to know that through various mechanisms alcohol can cause a loss of bone mass. This is due, inter alia, to the fact that alcohol intake leads to an increased elimination of calcium which is an essential
element in bone formation. When investigating cases of male osteoporosis one will therefore find that quite often alcohol is the chief culprit. So be careful and bear in mind that already the consumption of 60g alcohol per day may be damaging to the skeleton, since even in men such an amount would already accelerate bone loss.

To your excellent bone health!
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health Writer
Copywriter and Content Creator

Tagged with: fragile bones • osteoporosis in men

Filed under: Osteoporosis & Osteopenia • Uncategorized

I’ve been a health writer for a long time and I was shocked to learn that my good friend has osteoporosis. It’s hard to believe, looking at my friend, that she has brittle bones. She is fit, exercises, and hasn’t lost any height. She eats a wholesome diet, takes calcium, and had been on hormone therapy (HT) for 9 years.

When (I’ll call her Sandy) stopped HT at age 59, her doctor urged a bone-density test. I didn’t think she needed a test because I knew she had been on HT and had a healthy lifestyle. But when she told me her score and realized that her bone loss was significant, I understood why osteoporosis is called a silent disease. We both learned hard way that a dairy-packed diet, weight-bearing exercise, and calcium can’t guarantee you’ll escape brittle-bone disease. This is a message everyone should be heeding.

One in two women and one in four men age 50 and older will suffer an osteoporosis-related fracture.

Sobering Stats on Bone Loss
The fracture statistics are frightening enough, but they don’t tell the whole story. The figures include an estimated 300,000 hip fractures every year, and recovery is painful and difficult: After a hip fracture, just 15 percent of patients can walk across a room unaided after 6 months; 25 percent require long-term care and may become disabled. While there are steps you can take to stop osteoporosis–and even help rebuild fragile bone–the key to long-term health is assessing how strong your bones are now.

Knowledge–And Testing–Is Power
Healthy living is not enough. You need to be tested to know where you stand. If you have risk factors, such as a family history of osteoporosis, get a bone mineral density test (BMD)–a quick, painless measurement of the hip, arm, and other skeletal sites–earlier than age 65. That means getting checked at the onset of menopause or when you stop HT. Depending on the results of the BMD test, your doctor may recommend a more comprehensive dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), which measures the spine, hip, or total body.

It’s also important to be aware of the side effects of medications you take regularly. Drugs can leach calcium from bones. Be wary of overuse of steroids; medications for thyroid problems; some drugs for rheumatoid arthritis as well as heart and gastrointestinal diseases; and antiseizure medications. Constant dieting is also a concern because you lose muscle and bone, not just fat. High-protein diets, in particular, can be a problem. Avoid excessive protein intake–more than 60 g a day–since protein is acidic, and calcium is diverted from the bones to neutralize it.

New screening methods coming up within 5 years will evaluate not just the amount of bone you have, as current tests do, but also its quality. That’s important because once you’ve had a fracture, you have a two- to fourfold risk of another fracture.
But because it is 10 times more expensive than comparable medications, these drugs are reserved for severe osteoporosis. More common are the once-weekly pills that slow bone loss and reduce the risk of fractures within 6 months..

Ask your doctor about what else you can do to keep your bones strong and healthy. Ignorance does not lead to bliss. Talk with your doctor before menopause if you think you’re at risk. The key is to get tested to diagnose osteoporosis before it is full-blown.”

You could be at higher-than-average risk for osteoporosis if you:
·  Have a family history of osteoporosis
·  Weigh less than 127 pounds or are taller than 5’7″
·  Smoke
·  Drink more than two alcoholic beverages a day
·  Don’t exercise

Remember I’ve always said that you’re the captain of your body.
Take care of it and steer it well.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Healthy Writer
Business Writer

Filed under: Osteoporosis & Osteopenia

There is much research out there that says we each have our own internal body clock and that’s what sets our natural sleep schedule. If you’re a night owl it’s unlikely you’ll be very happy with a job as a weather broadcaster that starts 5 AM in the morning.

Most of us boast about not needing much sleep and that we only need 4 or 5 hours a night. Donald Trump says he gets by on 4 hours a night.

The fact is most adults need about 7 to 8 hours sleep a night and when we skimp on sleep we have a tough time doing our best. Americans, however, are scrimping on their sleep. More than half of us fall into the ‘not so good’ sleep profiles.

Night owls tend to emerge as teens. They tend to go to bed late and get up late and that often continues into adulthood. Others seem to grow out of the night owl habit a they get older. Sometimes it’s a problem especially when you aren’t ready to go to bed until 2 am and you have an 8 o’clock class.

The experts say the best way to get a good night’s sleep is to make it a priority. Seniors tend to get the most sleep – about seven hours a night. They may even take a nap once in a while and seldom feel tire. If you are serious about improving your sleep you may have to change some of your sleep habits.

• Use your bed for sleep and sex only. Keep your I Pad away. That will only stimulate you and keep you up.

• Keep your bedroom as free from light, noise and temperature extremes as possible.

• Drink very little if at all after 8 p.m. so you don’t spend half the night in the bathroom.

• If you do get up at night, avoid bright lights.

• I also recommend avoiding caffeine – coffee or tea, soda, over the counter drugs and a large dose of chocolate.
• If you feel the urge to snack before bed stick to carbohydrates, such as crackers, bread or something from a dairy product.

• Give your pet his own bed. You don’t need to share yours. Noise, movements or even allergic reactions can spoil your sleep.

• If you’re a workaholic, working long hours and burning the midnight oil, it’s likely you’ll get less than 6 hours of sleep a night. The result is you’re often tired and make errors at work and compensate for your sleep with catnaps. Think about how you could change your lifestyle just a bit to get a better night’s sleep.

If you think you may have a sleeping disorder talk to your doctor and see a sleep specialist.

To a good night’s sleep for all of us
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Freelance Business Writer
Freelance Copywriter

Tagged with: avoid nicotine • napping • sleeping problems

Filed under: Sleep

As you get older there are dozens of conditions that can increase your risk of becoming disabled including having a chronic illness. Other possibilities that can negatively impact your energy and cognitive abilities include low physical activity, slower gross motor coordination, poor lower-extremity function, being hospitalized or being female.

For example, if you lose the ability to walk independently, the over all quality of your life will also be downgraded. Long term disability also leads to higher rates of being sick, to death, to depression and social isolation. Older people who lose mobility are less likely to live in the community and will probably need daily care.  Community mobility includes walking a quarter of a mile from your home and driving a car which keeps you busy with your community.

A study that was published in the February 2012 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reported that of the 60,000 men and women ages 20 to 88 that were studied, those in the high and medium fitness groups had less than half the risk of dying of dementia than those in the low-fitness group.  In other words, physical exercise may extend life expectancy and put off cognitive disease.

Exercise, in fact, may negate your genetic risk of Alzheimer’s. You may be able to offset that  propensity by exercising according to an observational study at Washington University in St. Louis. A PET scan was used to image the brains of 163 participants, ages 45-88, who scored normally on a clinical assessment for cognitive decline. 52 carriers of APOE esilon-4, a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s were identified. The most build up were of carriers who were sedentary. It is thought that physical activity may trigger changes in metabolism and cerebral functioning that reduces the build up.

The combination of aerobics plus weights will give you the best results to combat cognitive disease and metabolic syndrome. That’s the conclusion of another 8-month study involving 198 men and women, ages 18-70 who were overweight and had unhealthy measures of blood lips such as triglycerides. Weight –training also boosted strength, as expected, and aerobic improved fitness. The combination resulted in a drop of metabolic syndrome.

If you have a busy schedule or prefer playing cards 6 days a week and find no time for daily exercise think about 30 minutes a day. If that seems like too much time then try 15 minutes a day or 90 minutes a week. Anything is better than nothing. In the Oct. 1, 2011 issue of The Lancet  a report was published that  stated from as little as 15 minutes of daily exercise, and each extra 15 minutes of daily activity gave everyone an additional 4% lower risk of death. It seems like a no brainer- incorporating physical activity into your busy lives is a must.   I’m not sure you’ll live any longer but I feel fairly confident in saying the quality of your life will be better.

To a successful aging,
Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Health Writer
Copywriter and Content Creator
Freelance business writer

Filed under: Fitness and Nutrition

There is so much information about how to lose weight in every medium: TV, in print, on line, support groups, coaching, and counseling. They still do not work because most diets are temporary quick fixes that satisfy our typical American mindset for a quick and easy solution and immediate gratification. When we want to lose weight we want instant results and without much effort. Many diets even introduce unrealistic long term success and may be harmful to our bodies.

 
We spend billions of dollars on weight loss programs and yet more than half of the U.S. adult population is overweight. For sure something is not working.

 
I am a firm believer that once you know and understand why you are gaining weight you will discover that it is painless to change your lifestyle.

 
Part of the problem is that a weight loss program usually promotes a standard approach and caloric intake for everyone such as 1200 calories for all, without considering your lifestyle, values, health history, activity, metabolic rate and food preferences. In other words, you need to learn what makes you gain weight.

 
One of the areas you should know about is how fats in your food can prevent you from losing weight, and even add to your weight gain.

 
Trans fats are one of those culprits although it used to be worse a few years ago then it is now. Food manufacturers are now required to list trans fat on the food labels and many states have banned restaurants from using trans fats.

 
Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. However, a small amount of trans fat is found naturally in some animal-based foods. Trans fat, like saturated fat, raises the bad cholesterol, LDL, and reduces the good cholesterol, HDL.

 
On the other hand, fat is important in nutrition because it is a major source of energy for your body and aids in the absorption of some vitamins. Both animal and plant-derived food products contain fat, and when eaten in moderation, fat is important for proper growth, development and maintenance of good health. As a food ingredient, fat provides taste, consistency, and helps us feel full.

 
You can avoid trans fats by looking at the food labels. You can avoid fried foods when you order at restaurants and fast food eateries by staying away from French fries, fried chicken, and donuts. Many companies, however, have changed how they fry their potatoes and chicken and are no longer using trans fats. They will usually advertise no trans fats on their web sites or even the restaurant window. You can usually ask before you order about which fats are being used in the food preparation.

 
And do not be fooled. Fats are high in calories. All sources of fat contain 9 calories per gram making fat the most concentrated sources of calories. By comparison, carbohydrates and protein have only 4 calories per gram.

 
Let’s face it. It’s been 7 months since you made your January promise to lose weight this year. So far, nothing has happened other than putting on a couple of pounds. If you missed your goal to lose weight, try developing a healthier approach to what you eat. Focus on your overall lifestyle rather than just the numbers on the bathroom scale.

 
The problem with setting weight goals is that it can become down right depressing when you continually miss your target and even gain a pound or two. However, if you stick with it, improve your diet and increase your physical activity, you will lose weight.

 
There are four steps you need to take.

• First, set very specific goals for yourself, goals that are doable. Start with one goal such as exercising 4 days a week instead of two or eating 2 green vegetables daily or serving raw carrots and celery for snacks.

• Secondly, don’t empty your pantry or frig of treats that could easily put weight on you. You need to know that having tempting treats around and you not eating them will help your powers of resistance. Limit those foods. For instance, consider having dessert when you go out to eat but omit desserts at home.

• Third, and what I consider the toughest, is to keep a food diary. You really have no idea about how much you consume until you start writing everything down. Research shows that people who keep a food diary lose twice as much as people who don’t.

• And finally, watch out when you go to a restaurant. You’re not in charge of the ingredients and they could be loaded with saturated fats, sodium and transfats. My best advice is to do more cooking at home because then you can control what you eat.

Besides, it will save you money. If you must eat out, however, order lean protein such as fish or chicken, and broil or bake it. Special sauces are usually loaded with calories.

 
If you have a couple more steps we can add to make sure weight loss programs are successful, let me know. Type them up in the Comments windows so we can share them.
To your successful aging.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky

Copywriter and Content Creator

Freelance Business Writer

Tagged with: lifestyle for weight loss • trans fat • weight loss programs

Filed under: Nutrition and Weight

You are like most of us and probably tend to gain weight. Doctors become concerned about your waist because it’s a good forecast of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. This is especially true among older men because they lose muscle mass as they age so their weight stays constant but their girth expands.

It’s easy to let your waist expand because you’re getting up less and less. You aren’t involved in many activities and you don’t exercise very much. You sit in front of your computer or in front of TV; sit at your desk, sit when you’re on the phone and you sit in the car. So instead of building up muscle mass and bone become more fat.

Researchers already know that we can control the size of fat cells through calorie intake. Now they are researching whether we can control the number of fat cells through exercise.

We also know that people who do exercise tend to reduce overall body fat as well as our guts or hidden intra-abdominal fat, which is the dangerous kind. Strength training also helps reduce total body fat but aerobic exercise is the best.

The problem is most Americans gain one or two pounds every year as they get older.  That adds up to lots of pounds over a life time. The good news is that regular, moderate-intensity exercise helps to keep the weight from creeping on, which then lowers your risk for diabetes and heart disease.

That is a good enough reason for me to do something aerobically at least six or seven times a week and if I’ve been sitting a lot at my desk, I will exercise twice in a day. It’s part of how I want to look and the fact that I do pay attention to by glucose numbers.

You probably don’t pay any attention to your sugar numbers unless you’ve already been diagnosed with diabetes. If you consider yourself a sophisticated health care consumer, I bet you can recite your cholesterol numbers but not so much about your sugar.

There is good reason to know your blood glucose. Diabetes typically begins to wreck its damage on your organs and body years before it’s diagnosed. The American Diabetes Association estimates at least a couple of million people walking around with the disease and have absolutely no clue. They also feel fairly confident that there are millions more who are in the danger zone known as prediabetes.

The point is if you are in the prediabetes phase there is still time for you to make some simple changes in your lifestyle so that you can prevent the onset of diabetes  Untreated and undiagnosed diabetes can kill you just as surely as heart disease can.

What that means is that if you are over 45 you should have a fasting blood glucose test. If the reading is normal, the test should be repeated every 2 or 3 years, depending upon what your doctor advises. Your doctor may want to repeat it yearly depending upon your family history and the condition of your health.

Make a note and know your numbers.

To your healthy aging

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky

Copywriter and Content Creator

Freelance Health Writer

Tagged with: lost muscle mass • prediabetes • sedantary • waistline

Filed under: Uncategorized

The diet industry is saturated with unhealthy weight loss misconceptions which have helped lead to an explosion of very poor behaviors. None of them do much to encourage good health and well-being in the long run. It doesn’t take long to realize that in our day and age for some people “good health” equals “fad dieting!”
In truth, there’s no quick fix to either losing weight or good health. Being healthy is a constant and ongoing battle. Here are 10 of the fattest lies about dieting:

•  You don’t need to exercise to lose weight

Obviously you can lose some weight without exercising. However the best way to lose it and keep it off is to combine a healthy diet with regular exercise.

•  Skipping breakfast helps you lose weight

Studies indicate that when you cut out breakfast, you’re more likely to take in extra calories later in the day to compensate. Besides it’s not good for your metabolic state and mood either. I recommend a little protein for breakfast helps with weight loss.

• Eating late at night hinders weight loss

There have been several studies in which a group of volunteers were given a large lunch and small evening meal for one test period. Then a small lunch and large evening meal during a second test period. Results showed the large meal eaten late at night did not make the body store more fat. It’s not when you eat that’s important, but the total amount you consume in a 24-hour period.

•  Low fat foods are better for you
• If a product claims to be “fat free”, more than likely you’ll find the sugar content is high. Remember, “fat free” doesn’t necessarily mean “low calorie” or “calorie free.” Check the nutrition label carefully.

It’s also worth pointing out that you do need some fat in your diet. Try to avoid trans fats where possible, and replace most saturated fats with unsaturated fats found in healthy oils, avocados and nuts.

• Fruit juice is as good as eating whole fruit

It’s better to eat foods as close to their natural form as possible, and that’s not fruit juice doesn’t really fall into this easily. Although not inherently bad for you, you’d certainly be much better eating the whole fruit, rather than taking in empty calories from juice.

• Weight gain is inevitable as you age

Admittedly, metabolic rate does drop with age, but simply eating a little less would fix that. The problem for most people is that activity levels decrease as they age. So, if you want to make sure you don’t gain extra pounds as you get older, increase your activity level and watch your calorie intake.

• Quick weight loss is best

In truth, slow and sustained weight loss is much better. That way you’re more likely to lose excess fat, not muscle. And, you should be able to maintain your weight loss long-term.
Everyone gains a few pounds over the holidays.It is 100 percent possible to enjoy your holidays and still lose weight, or at least stay at a constant weight. If you assume you’ll gain weight during the holidays, it’s a bit like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Start out with the right mental attitude instead, and be positive about what you can achieve.

• It’s my “slow metabolism” which prevents weight loss

Unfortunately, people are becoming increasingly more sedentary, and it seems likely this is a crucial factor in the increasing problems with weight gain.

• Fattening foods lead to rapid weight gain

In actual fact, real weight gain is a pretty slow process. If you eat a very fatty meal and the scales are saying you’ve gained a few pounds, it’s highly likely this is due to fluid. If you hang in there, and get back to eating healthy again, those few extra pounds will resolve themselves.

Pay attention to these myths when you can’t loose weight even working hard the gym and loading up on fruits and vegetables. Here are a few ways you can help yourself loose those 2 pounds or 20 pounds:
1.    Do not starve yourself. If you follow a very low calorie diet in attempts to speed up your weight loss, you may be doing more harm than good. When you eat too few calories, you metabolism slows.
2.    Set small achievable goals. Take 10% of your weight right now, and work on losing that percentage of pounds.
3.    Reward yourself with non-food items. Every time you reach a goal, or just feel like you have done a good job with your health, reward yourself with a pedicure, or buy a new book.
4.    Remind yourself that slow weight loss is the best weight loss. Numerous studies show that when you lose 0.5 pounds to 2 pounds per week, you are less likely to gain this weight back in the end. This also means that you are likely losing pure fat, and not muscle.
5.    Find a buddy. If you can not find someone to support you in-person, join a support group online a local support group in your area.
6.    Keep a food log online or on your phone. This way you can hold yourself accountable to what you put in your mouth. It will help you focus on areas you can improve on.

I feel confident you’ll find these ideas helpful. They are ageless so pass them on to your younger relatives and friends.

To your healthy aging.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Copywriter and Content Creator
Freelance Business Writer

Tagged with: food log • healthy weight loss • your metabolism

Filed under: Dieting and Weight Loss

A recent important research finding focused on the effects of age stereotypes on health and longevity .Researchers at Yale University’s Department of Epidemiology and Public Health carried out a longitudinal study of 660 people over the age of 50.

First they were asked about their agreement with the popular stereotypes that as you get older you lose your pep, things get worse, you are less useful, and you are less happy. Researchers then tracked the sample for decades. Interestingly, the results showed that those who disagreed with the stereotypes lived seven-and-one half years longer than those who agreed with them. This is a greater gain in longevity than that associated with low blood pressure, low cholesterol, a healthy weight, abstaining from smoking, or exercising regularly.

I was reminded of these findings and their importance when I first heard about the Red Hat Society (www.redhatsociety.com). The society, an informal group of some 25,000 chapters began, as Sue Ellen Cooper, the “Queen Mother” of the group describes, “a result of a few women deciding to greet middle age with verve, humor and élan.” The red hat and purple clothing that is worn in fun by the group, is inspired by Jenny Joseph’s poem, “Warning,”
which contains the lines:

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
 And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
 And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people’s gardens.

The poem finally becomes broadly inspiring, with the line:
“But maybe I ought to practice a little now?”

There are important implications here for the aging population and all those professionals who work with them.

It also reminds me of Professor Campbell discussing mythology on Public Television and telling us all to “follow our bliss.”

Specifically, there are important benefits to be derived from “breaking the rules,” from acting in ways that challenge the common stereotypes of age as a diminished stage of life. Nothing should be given up because it “isn’t fitting for people our age.” Challenging the stereotypes may not only add zest to life, but add years to the lifespan.

Maybe this is the time to learn the tango, take up scuba diving, see the dawn from the night-side, visit an Ashram, camp in the wilderness, write poetry, or go deep sea fishing. As increasing numbers join in breaking the common expectations, the future may be altered for the next generation.

Researchers also found that our body image is very important to women in terms of how they live their lives and how they feel about themselves.  In this study, 144 women, ranging in age from 18 to 87, were evaluated in terms of how they felt about their bodies and how happy they were.  The group was divided into young women, middle-aged women and older women.
The major hypothesis of the study was that the higher the bodily esteem, the happier the person.  There was also a question about how the age groups might differ over the life span.  Would young women’s concerns be different from older ones?

The Body Esteem Scale, used to measure one’s satisfaction with one’s body, was divided into 3 different dimensions:
sexual attractiveness, weight concern, and physical condition.  A Life Satisfaction Index was given to assess general levels of happiness.

The results were both expected and surprising. The happiness of young women was most strongly related to sexual attractiveness and physical condition, but not to their concerns with weight.

For middle aged women, all three variables seemed important in terms of their happiness.
However, most surprising, the happiness of older women was not correlated with either their physical condition or concerns with weight. Rather, for these women their feeling of sexual attractiveness was the only significant predictor of happiness. The more sexually appealing older women rated themselves, the happier they were.

It is the case that all the older women in this sample were in relatively good health, but these results do suggest that within a given range, neither weight nor physical condition are overwhelmingly important to one’s happiness in the later years.  Yet feeling sexually attractive to others may be a valuable resource for happiness.

Interestingly the research also showed that the older women rated themselves as happier than the other two groups.  And too, they also rated their physical condition as positively as the other groups.  While they exercised the fewest hours per week, they also exercised more days a week than the other two groups.

From: Women’s Perceived Body Image: Relations with Personal Happiness by Rachel Stokes & Christina Frederick-Recascino, Journal of Women & Aging, 2003, 15, 17-29

Hope you enjoyed this post,

Regards Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky
Copywriter and Content Creator
Business Writer

Tagged with: acting your age • follow your bliss • red hat society

Filed under: Aging Gracefully

The number of Web sites offering health-related resources grows. Many sites provide valuable information and  others may have information that is unreliable or misleading. Please consider these important questions  as you look for health information online. Answering these questions when you visit a new site will help you evaluate the information you find.

1. Who runs this site? Any good health-related Web site should make it easy for you to learn who is responsible for the site and its information. Is  the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)  clearly marked on every major page of the site, along with a link to the NCCAM homepage. Is there a link to the Mayo Clinic?2. Who pays for the site? It costs money to run a Web site. The source of a Web site’s funding should be clearly stated or readily apparent. For example, Web addresses ending in “.gov” denote a Federal Government-sponsored site. You should know how the site pays for its existence. Does it sell advertising? Is it sponsored by a drug company? The source of funding can affect what content is presented, how the content is presented, and what the site owners want to accomplish on the site.

3. What is the purpose of the site? This question is related to who runs and pays for the site. An “About This Site” link appears on many sites; if it’s there, use it. The purpose of the site should be clearly stated and should help you evaluate the trustworthiness of the information.

4. Where does the information come from? Many health/medical sites post information collected from other Web sites or sources. If the person or organization in charge of the site did not create the information, the original source should be clearly labeled.

5. What is the basis of the information? In addition to identifying who wrote the material you are reading, the site should describe the evidence that the material is based on. Medical facts and figures should have references (such as to articles in medical journals). Also, opinions or advice should be clearly set apart from information that is “evidence-based” (that is, based on research results).

6. How is the information selected? Is there an editorial board? Do people with excellent professional and scientific qualifications review the material before it is posted?

7. How current is the information? Web sites should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis. It is particularly important that medical information be current. The most recent update or review date should be clearly posted. Even if the information has not changed, you want to know whether the site owners have reviewed it recently to ensure that it is still valid.

8. How does the site choose links to other sites? Web sites usually have a policy about how they establish links to other sites. Some medical sites take a conservative approach and don’t link to any other sites. Some link to any site that asks, or pays, for a link. Others only link to sites that have met certain criteria.

9. What information about you does the site collect, and why?

Web sites routinely track the paths visitors take through their sites to determine what pages are being used. However, many health Web sites ask for you to “subscribe” or “become a member.” In some cases, this may be so that they can collect a user fee or select information for you that is relevant to your concerns. In all cases, this will give the site personal information about you.

Any credible health site asking for this kind of information should tell you exactly what they will and will not do with it. Many commercial sites sell “aggregate” (collected) data about their users to other companies–information such as what percentage of their users are women with breast cancer, for example. In some cases they may collect and reuse information that is “personally identifiable,” such as your ZIP code, gender, and birth date. Be certain that you read and understand any privacy policy or similar language on the site, and don’t sign up for anything that you are not sure you fully understand.

10. How does the site manage interactions with visitors?

There should always be a way for you to contact the site owner if you run across problems or have questions or feedback. If the site hosts chat rooms or other online discussion areas, it should tell visitors what the terms of using this service are. Is it moderated? If so, by whom, and why? It is always a good idea to spend time reading the discussion without joining in, so that you feel comfortable with the environment before becoming a participant.

This information was accumulated from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)

If you have other suggestions for ways to evaluate let me know. Type them under “Comments”

To credible web sites on health.

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky

Copywriter Oakland County Mich

Business Writer

Tagged with: credible websites with health information • online medical information

Filed under: Treatment