Research projects are many regarding how not to succumb to the couch and shrivel up after retirement. Here are a few tips that will keep you going whether or not you are working and employed. Read the rest of this entry
I described the French research project in my previous post which reported people were happier not working after retirement. In this post, the flip side of the coin. Research that says people are happier and healthier when they are working and staying active after retirement.
In fact there is a 6-year study of 12,000 people which found that there were definite health benefits for people who keep working beyond the age of 58 and beyond retirement. This study was a joint project of the University of Maryland and California State University and published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.
This study reported on what they called “bridge employment” which is part-time employment, self-employment or temporary employment after retirement. The major finding was that retirees who continued to work in a bridge job experienced fewer major diseases than those fully retired. They also found improved mental health but only when the person was working within their career field. Even considering the health of the participants before retirement, employment status caused a difference in health.
What does that mean for you? My suggestion is that if you are not retired just yet, you may want to seriously consider looking for full or part time employment when you do retire. It seems reasonable to assume that what is called bridge employment is certainly justified when it comes to your health.
Are you thinking about working full or part time after you retire? If your decision is your choice and not because you can’t afford to retire, tell us why you made that choice. I am betting it will help others make their decisions.
To your success and healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky
I have this dear friend who closed his business 11 months ago and is floundering about what to do now. His father retired over a period of years and stayed in a warm climate for a couple of months and then for 6 and 7 months. His father could afford to enjoy a leisurely life when he retired and he did. He also had a couple of major health issues that curtailed his activity so retirement was a perfect fit at the time. But that was then and this is now.
My friend has been thinking about starting a new business, something part time I suspect, and is even willing to work for someone else if the person and work are suitable. So far he has arrived at a fat zero and encouraging him to look in this or that direction seems to make matters worse. So I mention the idea search when I see him because that’s all it is now, but I quickly move away from that topic.
Today a new version of retirement is emerging from the trauma of the credit crunch and the simple fact that we are living longer. Some of us will be living 30 and 40 years after retirement.
The messages are mixed. A European study recently reported that the newly retired are much happier since they stopped working. The same group of researchers also reported that workers slept better after retirement than previously. The participants were 15,000 French workers, most of them men, who answered questions 7 years before they retired and 7 years after their retirement. Workers who felt worse before retirement reported greater improvements when they retired.
The other side of the coin in my next post.
If you are retired are you at a happier place or has the economy made that question too difficult to answer. Let us know what you think.
To your healthy and successful retirement
Ruthan brodsky
I will probably understand a lot more about food additives when I finish reading David Kessler’s book, The End of Overeating. In the meantime I can think of a major additive that needs discussion.
Whenever we go out to dinner with a couple we’ve known for years, the wife always asks that no MSG be added. Years ago I thought that was a question you only asked when you were eating Chinese but I was quickly informed that cooks use this additive anywhere.
Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is an amino acid used as a flavor enhance in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. It is commonly associated with Asian foods and flavorings. Using MSG allows cooks or companies in processed foods, to reduce the amount of real ingredients in their foods such as the chicken in chicken soup. MSG reduces costs.
Since 1960 the use of MSG has cau8sed some concern when it was discovered that large amounts of MSG fed to infant mice destroyed nerve cells in the brain. This research forced baby food companies to stop adding MSG to their products. Even so, MSG may be hidden in infant formula, low fat milk, candy, drinks, over the counter medications, as a finder, as filler for nutritional supplements, and in prescription drugs.
Children are more sensitive to MSG than adults. Neonatal exposure to MSG can cause a permanent reduction in the secretion of growth hormone. Other reactions, by both children and adults, include headaches, nausea, weakness, wheezing, changes in heart rate, and difficulty breathing.
The following ingredients on a label also indicated MSG:
I don’t know if you can completely eliminate MSG from your diet but you certainly can take a good stab at it, mentioning it at restaurants, and certainly not cooking with the ingredient. I didn’t realize this topic of food additives was so big. I want to mention one more additive, artificial sweeteners, but that topic is huge by itself.
The wonderful thing about all this information is that it is never too late to think about doing it for yourself, for your kids and your grandchildren.
To your healthy aging success.
Ruthan
I have seen these labels before, when I purchased the product and sometimes when I first opened the jar or the can or the lotion. This time when I look at them I am seeing the ingredients with new thinking.
I understand that many people have been on the do not tolerate food additives for years and actively advocate their belief that this stuff is killing us. I am not there!. Right now I am in the exploring stage and my thesis about food additives is evolving. The first part of this thesis is that my options for products would be very small if I eliminated all the food additives that are suggested to delete. Secondly, I suspect it’s another one of that risk versus reward decisions. For example, is the risk of ingesting the food additive worse than the can of tomato sauce going rancid?
At this point I don’t know and I suspect my answer would be: it depends. It depends on whether:
My thinking about food additives is moving where so much of my deliberating travels: the answer isn’t black or white. There may not be, there probably isn’t a yes or no. It all depends.
I am sure you have thought about food additives more than once. What is your take on the topic? It certainly fits in with the go green movement and seasonal fruits and vegetables and organically fed meats and poultry. How far do you go with food additives? Type your comments and let’s share some of our thinking.
To your successful healthy aging,
Ruthan
Before people develop Type 2 diabetes, a condition called pre-diabetes usually takes place. Interestingly, this condition arrives gradually but usually without warning. There may be no signs of it or the signs are so insignificant that no one pays attention. However, if you are 45 years or older, pay attention, because that is the age when problems with blood sugar control usually begin.
Also known as impaired glucose intolerance by the medical profession, prediabetes is a term that refers to the 41 million people I the U.S. who have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.
Recognizing the importance of diagnosing pre-diabetes because treatment of the condition may prevent type 2 diabetes as well as all those complications associated with type 2 diabetes. Doctors now know that the complications associated with prediabetes, such as heart and blood vessel disease and eye and kidney disease, take place before the diabetes diagnosis is made.
You are at risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes if you fall within one of these categories:
Treatment for pre diabetes
A 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in weight makes a huge difference.
Treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
In other words, choose a healthy lifestyle and stay with it.
I’d love to learn about your ways that you deal with your sugar problems especially if they work well for you. I’d like to share them with our readers. Scroll down to the blank window and write your suggestion in the blank window.
Thanks for your participation.
To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky
If you are not exercising, if you are overweight, and if you are eating a diet heavy in starchy, sugary goods, you are setting yourself up for diabetes. Read the rest of this entry
Your blood pressure tends to get higher as you get older. You may have gone thru life with a normal bp for your first 45 or 55 or even 60 years and then your doctor tells you your bp is up. Read the rest of this entry
When your head is pounding, your eyes light-sensitive, every sound is a roar and you feel nauseated, the chances are good you are having a migraine headache.
A headache that comes and goes over the years and long-lasting is most likely a migraine or a vascular headache related to blood vessels. Symptoms include recurrent pain, throbbing, and pressure all of which can last for days.
There are many causes for migraines including stress, insomnia, barometric pressure, altitude changes and some foods. It is no longer unusual these days to find that children and teens also suffer from migraines along with adults.
Recently a new association for migraine has come to light, the patent foramen ovale (PFO) or a hole in the heart. Usually this congenital defect closes on its own, but many people live their whole lives with it open and without negative effects. However, for some it can be the cause for a stroke or migraines.
There is no proof of this yet and research is ongoing, but one out of every four to five patients with migraines have holes in their hearts. Apparently closing the PFO provides relief from the migraines and people who have their PFO closed feel more energetic, and their hands and feet feel warmer.
Preventive therapy usually includes an anti-inflammatory, seizure medication, or an anti-depressant heart medication. A physician may also order a migraine-specific drug that turns off the pain center in the brain.
Whatever the treatment, the advice is to see your physician first.
According to recent research published in Neurology high blood pressure is linked to memory problems in people over age 45.
We have been told repeatedly that our blood pressure should be at least normal which is something less than 120 (systolic) over 80 (diastolic) – often written as 120/80mm Hg and read as 120 over 80 millimeters of mercury. High blood pressure or hypertension is when your blood pressure is higher than normal for an extended period of time.
We have this general idea that high blood pressure puts us at greater risk for heart attacks and strokes. We also now know that we could have normal blood pressure as young adults and even thru those hectic times of raising kids and creating some kind of life for ourselves and family, but as we age our arteries and veins lose their elasticity and it’s more likely our pressure will raise above normal.
Those of us who are wise enough to realize the serious risks of hypertension will take our meds to control the pressure. For those who haven’t made up their mind just yet, your risk of growing old without a quality life has just increased with this new research. For every 10-point increase in the blood pressure reading, the odds of a person having cognitive problems were 7% higher.
The study involved over 20,000 participants, age 45 and older. Close to 50 percent were already taking medication for high blood pressure but another almost 8 percent of them already had memory and cognitive problems. The thinking is that by preventing or treating high blood pressure, we could potentially prevent cognitive impairment which is a precursor to dementia. Research already shows us that high diastolic blood pressure leads to the weakening of small arteries in the brain which can cause small areas of brain damage.
It seems to me that you don’t have to be a genius to figure out that you need to do what you need to do – diet, exercise, meds – to control your blood pressure.
To your healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky
