There’s a good chance that your doctors aren’t paying much attention to your mental health if you’re over 55, less if you’re over 65, and even less if you’re over 75. It is true that as you age the rates of mood and anxiety disorders tend to decline. However, they still remain common in older adults especially in women and even more likely for those who have health problems.

The problem is that in spite of their occurrence they either are not treated at all or untreated. That is going to be a huge problem especially as the baby boomers reach 60 and older.

If you feel overly anxious or depressed you can’t be treated if you’re not diagnosed. Mention these feelings to your physician and work with your doctor when she takes your concerns seriously. If your doctor just shrugs off your concerns, you may want to consider changing doctors. After all, she is treating the whole person – mind and body.

And wouldn’t you know it women are more likely to be more at risk for anxiety and depression because they live longer than men and they’re likely to lose a spouse or be the caregiver when a spouse becomes ill.

One of the best ways you can protect yourself from mental decline is to get moving. In response to all our labor-saving conveniences we’ve become a sedentary society. This results in a deteriorated vascular system and a consequent decline in physical and mental health.

The word exercise derives from a Latin root meaning to keep, to ward off. To exercise means to practice, put into action, train, perform, use, improve.
Exercise is a natural part of life. My advice is to make it a daily part of your life.  WALK. More about walking in my next post.

In the meantime;

• Talk with your doctor if you feel depressed or highly anxious for two weeks or longer or how you feel interferes with your daily life;

• If you are diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder, ask about non-drug treatments as well as drug treatments.

• If you try drug therapy, monitor your symptoms to see if the therapy is helping. It can take several weeks to get full response, so you need to be patient to see if the medication works for you.

• Talk to your doctor about your concern about side effects; you may be able to try a different drug.

If you have any other tips for our readers, especially those based on your experience, let us know and we’ll share them with our readers.  You can type them in the comment box.

To your success in health and living.

Ruthan Brodsky

There are treatments which can lighten or remove liver spots or age spots  which will more quickly penetrate the epidermis, the top layer of your skin,  quicker than home remedies.

Medications Prescription bleaching creams with hydroquinone use alone or with retinoids and a mild steroid will gradually fade the spots over several months. You must use sun block if you use these medications.

Laser therapy which destroys the extra melanocytes that create the dark pigment without damaging the skin’s surface. They usually require several sessions to be effective and the treatment can be expensive.

Freezing or cryotherapy is applying liquid nitrogen to the spot to destroy the extra pigment. It is typically used on a single or small group of age spots and does have the risk of permanent scarring or discoloration.

Dermabrasion or sanding down the surface layer of your skin with a rapidly rotating brush. This procedure removes the skin surface and a new layer of skin grows in its place. Temporary redness usually results.

Chemical peel includes several treatments of applying an acid which burns the outer layer of your skin to get to the age spots. There are superficial and medium depth peels. As your skin peels new skin takes its place. Here, too, sun protection is a must.

Keep in mind that age spots treatments are considered cosmetic and it’s likely your insurance is not going to pay for it. Also check out the treatments with your dermatologist because you may be one of the unlucky ones that have side effects. Make sure your dermatologist or the technician is well trained in the technique you’re considering.

I welcome your your comments about these or any other medical treatments you had for treating those age spots. Type them in the comment window and let our listen

The best treatment for liver spots or age spots is not to get them in the first place. The problem is if you’re over 40 the chances are very good that they will begin to show up. In my previous post I wrote about what you need to do to prevent them.

My best advice continue to be USE SUNSCREEN. That’s what I do and I am fair skinned with freckles, a perfect model for age spots. As I mentioned, liver spots are usually harmless but if you dislike them and want to get rid of them you have several options.

Another reason to get rid of them is that they can make a giagnosis of skin cancer more confusing especially when the spots darken.

There are many face creams and lotions available in drugstores and department stores and on the Internet that you can use to fade the liver spots.  They may work well depending upon how dark the spot and how often you apply the cream. These creams need to penetrate through the base of the epidermis, the topmost layer of the skin, if they’re going to work.

That means regular use over several weeks or months before you see any benefit. If this seems like a good option for you select an over-the-counter fade cream that contains hydroquinone, deozyarbutin, glycolic acid or kojic acid. WARNING: Some product, especially those that contain hydroquinone, may cause skin irritation after prolonged use.

If you have suggestions for other home remedies we want to know them. Type your formulas in the comment box and your results. Share what works for you.

To your success in healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

You may not like the way liver spots look on you but they are usually harmless and painless. In previous posts I explained how to prevent liver spots. In this post I’m writing about making an appointment with your dermatologist as soon as you realize one of your liver spots has changed its appearance.

Liver spots are usually flat, oval areas of increased pigmentation that look brown, or black and gray. When the liver spot color change, when it becomes an unusual combination of color, the borders become irregular or when it increases in size, it’s time to call the doctor.

Before your appointment make sure you are able to answer these questions so that you understand  what is taking place and the doctor can do a better and quicker diagnosis.

• When did you first notice the condition?

• Have you noticed any changes in the appearance of your skin?

• Is the condition bothersome?

• Have you experienced frequent or severe sunburn?

• How often are you exposed to sun or UV radiation?

• Do you use sunscreen and protect your skin?

Your doctor can diagnose age spots by visually inspecting your skin. If there’s any doubt, your doctor may do other tests such as doing a skin biopsy. That’s when a small sample of your skin is taken for microscopic analysis. I’ve had about a dozen and they were all done in the office using a local anesthetic.

Write down the questions you want to ask your doctor. Don’t be afraid to ask and speak up when you don’t understand something your doctor says.

• Are tests needed to confirm the diagnosis?

• What is my next step?

• What are my treatment options and please describe the pros and cons for each?

• What will the treatments cost?

• Does medical insurance cover the costs?

• What results can I expect?

• What kind of follow-up should I expect?

• What suspicious changes in my skin should I look for?

Keep in mind that it takes years of sun exposure for these dark spots to occur. Sometimes simply getting older can cause the extra production of melanin and age spots. Genetics also plays a role in how prone you are to developing those spots.

More on treating age spots in my next post.

“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus, we never concentrate our power#.  Anthony Robbins

There are many things that can keep you from concentrating and being able to focus.  Distractions is one of them.

External distractions are everywhere. Many of us carry the ultimate distraction in our pocket or purse: the smart phone, the iPhone or the Blackberry. The number of apps or applications for these phones has got to be close to a thousand if not already more. You could spend your entire day just click on apps- make a restaurant reservation, check stocks, golf scores, shopping lists, sales and coupons and on and on.

These outside distractions can be anything from too much noise to the humidity being too high because physical discomfort does have an impact on our ability to concentrate. For example, I could never play golf well when it rained. There were too many things to keep track of: keeping the towel dry, keeping my glove dry, dragging around an umbrella, and putting on and taking off the rain jacket. Way too many distractions.

If noise bothers you when you work, you need to find a place that is quiet or wear ear plugs. It may be that there isn’t enough light for you or the chair is uncomfortable. If you’re trying to concentrate sitting on an uncomfortable chair with poor lighting your back will start hurting and you’ll probably get a headache, two things that will make it even more difficult to concentrate.

Let us say you found the perfect place to do your work but you still cannot focus. This time you are daydreaming and feeling very unorganized. You are also thinking about the bills that need to be paid, tomorrow’s department meeting and your car is not running well. All of these things may be running through your head keeping you totally out of focus from your task.
For some people these rambling thoughts lead to negative thinking about not being qualified to do the task or feeling inadequate.

For others who have gone through this for years and wanted to change, they know how to self talk and tell themselves to stop right there and get a grip.
It takes practice to talk to yourself and have an immediate positive impact but it is the best solution. You force yourself to stop thinking negative thoughts and get back to your important target.

Learning to refocus your attention may take some time, but it is worth the effort. One of the reasons for refocusing is not only to complete the task and do it well but also to not waste your time so that you can do the things you want to do. Download “23 Tips to Make Your Time More Productive”   at Your Time Management Strategy and get started right away.

To your healthy aging success.
Ruthan Brodsky

Losing concentration and the ability to stay focused have been specific concerns I’ve heard more of my clients and students talk about these days. The good news is that it’s not about something that is medically wrong. It is more about our environment and lifestyle: the sound bytes, the continuous influx of multiple communications, the acceleration of changing technologies. All this on top of the multiple responsibilities as you age, dealing with the more complicated family relationships such as with your children’s in laws and dealing with your elderly parents. Then there’s the fact that it is taking you longer just to get in and out of the car.

Your mind is a wonderful thing. You have about 50,000 thoughts each day and it is those thoughts, your perspective, that create your world. If you think about it you have the ability to create any kind of world you want because you are in control of that world and your thoughts. It is up to you and I which thoughts we want to give priority.

I agree that it is more difficult to concentrate if you are even vaguely aware of what is going on in the world around you.  It’s not like you were in school, went to the library and studied in a cubby for a couple of hours. Today you are continually bombarded with information and new ways to communicate.

Concentration means intense mental focusing on the topic, the thought of your choice, and giving that topic complete attention. It actually is no different than hibernating in the library cubby to study for an exam   when you were in school.  You just need to hide from more interruptions and possible involvements. This requires practice and finding out what you need to do that works for you.

I am betting there were times in your life in which you were able to focus intensely on a project or task or maybe your putting for the last 9 holes. But it worked and you were successful. Life does get in the way and giving something your complete attention takes practice. It is a skill that you learn and some are better at it than others.

I’m convinced that improving, or at the very least maintaining your concentration is required as you get older because your mind and body work more slowly than they did 20 or 30 years ago and more time is spent on a task to complete it. In other words, getting something done requires  more time spent without interruptions and distractions and that does require practice.

I believe this topic is important enough for me to continue writing about and to answer questions that you may have about staying focused as you age. Use the Comment window and let me know your questions or issues that you would like discussed. If you don’t want your comment published, let me know that too.

To your successful healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky

Too much sun brings on liver spots. Golfers get them on their right hand but not on their left because they wear a golf glove on their left hand. They appear from too much sun. Just so you won’t forget, too much sun not only causes irregular coloring or pigmentation of the skin it also puts you at high risk of early wrinkling, cellular damage, thinning skin, actinic keratoses (scaly patches) and skin cancer.

To prevent sun spots you need to limit your sun exposure – it’s that simple. And if you must be in the sun, use sun protection, a broad-spectrum sunscreen which blocks both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (USB) rays.

• Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours from 10 am to 4 pm.

• Wear protective clothing such as long sleeved shirts and long pants and wide brimmed hats.

• Use sunscreen 30 minutes before going outdoors so that your skin has time to absorb the sunscreen. Then reapply according to the label usually about every hour.

About that left over sunscreen from last year. You can use it. Sunscreens are formulated to remain stable and at original strength for up to three years so you can use a sunscreen from one summer to the next. Discard those sunscreens if it’s after their listed expiration date or it’s more than three years.

Keep in mind, however, that if you use sunscreen the way you should, frequently and a lot, there should not be much left over. You should be using about 1 ounce, the amount in a shot glass, to cover all the exposed parts of your body. All of which means if you have a 4 ounce bottle of sunscreen, you’re going to use a bottle in 4 applications.

Treatments of age spots in my next post.

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky

Liver spots have absolutely nothing to do with the liver. And so far I haven’t found a very good reason why they’re called liver spots in the first place except maybe they’re colored and shaped like your liver.

Liver spots are dark spots that appear on your skin due to long-term sun damage. They are usually flat, brown-black spots that occur most often on those areas that have had the greatest sun exposure such as the backs of the hands, face, forearms, forehead and shoulders. If you wear shorts for golf or tennis you are going to find liver spots on your legs.

Also called age spots, they are simply melanin deposits also called solar lentigines when the sun’s ultraviolet radiation damages the color-producing cells of the skin. These cells, called melanocytes go into overdrive and produce too much color giving us the age spots.

They vary in size from freckle-size to more than a centimeter across. When they group together they look more prominent. They are common in adults over age 40 although they can affect younger people as well and they typically show in people with a fair complexion but you can find them also on darker skin depending upon sun exposure.

The good news is that age spots are usually harmless and don’t require medical care although you may not like the way they look. The problem is when you get age spots they are usually accompanied by other signs of sun damage including deep wrinkles, dry and rough skin, fine red veins on your cheeks and nose, and thinner, more translucent looking skin – all signs of aging. As if you needed another reminder.

However you should call a doctor when you see changes in how your liver spots look because that can be the beginning of skin cancer. Look for any that become darker, rapidly increase in size, have an irregular border or are an unusual combination of colors.

More on how to treat and prevent those age spots in my next post. In fact, I will be writing about your skin and sun damage for the next week or so. It’s the first week in July and I’ve become very aware of sun damage and skin problems having visited the dermatologist. I was lucky with this season’s inspection but my husband wasn’t; he has three basal cell cancers that require attention and that’s with wearing sunscreen – at least some of the time. My goal is to poke you into being more aware of how to care for yourself, including your skin, regardless of your age.

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky

In my previous post I wrote about the dangers of exposing your skin to sun because of the high risk of skin cancer.

In a new report in The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal, two University of Washington professors wrote about tanning as an addiction. The authors write that some people seek a tanned appearance helps because it helps them feel relaxed, sociable and in a good mood.

As a result, the incidence of skin cancer, including the potentially fatal melanoma, continues to rise. This year, for example, about 70,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed among Americans.

I’ve heard this argument forever, that getting a tan protects them from getting burned in the sun. That is the one excuse so many use when they go on a cruise in the fall or to Mexico during the winter.  It simply is not true. In fact, a tan represents skin damage. Even a brief exposure to ultraviolet light can cause mutations in the DNA of your skin cells.

The problem is that as you get older you are more susceptible to these mutations because your immunity isn’t as strong. The result is, even if you don’t get cancer, you will have that leathery looking skin, that’s loose and wrinkled making you look a lot older than you are.

The report stated that frequent tanners showed signs of both physiological and psychological dependence and just as for smokers or for heavy drinkers, the tanners may know the risk but pay no attention to the possibilities. Although the research numbers are small, there are several other studies which indicate an addiction with frequent tanners.

The recommendation: teach them about the dangers of sun exposure when they’re young, at a very early age, to always use sun screen. Make it as habitual as seat belts.

To your successes in healthy aging.

Ruthan

I admit to just a touch of that summer tan because I think I look more vibrant. At the very least, the freckles sort of blend together and I don’t look so blotchy. But I am careful about sun exposure and it paid off this week.

I went to the dermatologist (skin doctor) for my semi annual body skin check and lucked out with only 4 burning off of possible precancerous growths. She applies liquid nitrogen to the lesions which are usually benign. Even so the higher possible risk of becoming squamous cell carcinoma is there if left untreated so my dermatologist burns them off.

My husband, who happened to have an appointment that same morning, was not so lucky. The dermatologist  used the liquid a couple of times and then took 4 biopsies off his face. They’re sent to a lab and in a few days we will get the results. Whatever the outcome I know it will be caught early because he gets checked out more than twice a year and we’ll treat it with whatever surgical procedure is required.

The problem is, however, that it is summer and few people are as conscientious about exposing ourselves to the sun as we are. That means more time is spent exposing the skin to the ultraviolet radiation of the sun, the major cause of skin damage and cancer.

Our daughters lather sunscreen on their children before they play outdoors or go swimming. I haven’t seen either of them put any cream on themselves. I’m even to the point of wearing sun protection clothing and for sure long sleeves and full length trousers in the sun, even when I’m playing golf. The protection is working.

However, the concept of protecting yourself from the sun isn’t working for most Americans even thought the market for sun screen products is huge. Even though tanning yourself is good for my doctor’s practice because that’s what she mainly deals with – the damage done to your skin from the sun, I can appreciate her frustration when some of her patients are tan all year round because they visit tanning booth.

Obviously, the concept that a tan is equated with good health is stuck in our cultural thinking. Last Tuesday, Jane Brody wrote a piece in The New York Times that tanning is addictive. She even wrote about one Canadian who said he traveled all over the world to maintain a tan throughout the year.

More in my next post. In the meantime, send me any questions you have about tanning.  I will find your answers or let you know where to go.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky