Meditation Can Provide Help For Anxiety
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Researchers from Georgetown University Medical Center’s Department of Psychiatry worked with 89 patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders to measure how their stress-hormone and inflammatory responses were affected by mindfulness meditation classes. According to a press release from Georgetown, half of the participants took an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course, while the other half attended classes on stress management for the same amount of time. Continue reading “Meditation Can Provide Help For Anxiety” »
Do You Know What Prediabetes Is?
IN THIS ARTICLE
Who Gets Type 2 Diabetes?
You’re most likely to get this disease if you:
- Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
- Had gestational diabetes or gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
- Have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Are African-American, Native American, Latino, or Pacific Islander
- Are overweight or obese, especially around the middle (belly fat)
- Have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and a high LDL cholesterol
- Don’t exercise
- Are older. People over 45 are most likely to get it.
You should get tested for prediabetes if you meet the criteria above and you:
SLIDESHOW
A Visual Guide to Insulin Resistance
- Had an abnormal blood sugar reading in the past
- Have heart disease
- Show signs of insulin resistance, which means your body produces insulin, but doesn’t respond to it like it should
What Are the Symptoms?
Although most people with prediabetes have no symptoms, you might notice you’re extra thirsty, pee a lot more, or have blurred vision or extreme fatigue.
By-Lateral Knee Surgery, Should I Have It?
Have you or anyone you know thought of having knee replacement surgery? If so, I want you to know that I had it done in September of 2013. I have published an informative article, which I wrote, detailing the experience of getting both of my knees done within 48 hours.
There is light at the end of the tunnel my friends. I am living proof (pain free now for three years) and am so grateful to have had the surgery.
Something on Basic Dental Care for Senior Citizens
As we get older, dental care becomes more and more valuable to your overall health. Many senior citizens experience dental problems, but it’s good to know that these problems can be reduced and improved by a few simple techniques. Basically, changes take place in your mouth as you age — gums soften and the muscles in your mouth become weak. Saliva production is reduced as is the ability to chew your food.
Tooth decay may increase when we age – one of the results of reduced saliva in the mouth. It’s more difficult to use fillings to restore teeth because the decay often occurs near the gum line. Teeth often become brittle with aging because the pulp of the tooth becomes smaller, resulting in less fluid to the teeth. Teeth become brittle and can be easily chipped.
Periodontal disease often happens during the aging process. This causes swollen gums that bleed even when brushing your teeth. Loss of teeth can occur when food is trapped between the teeth and gums in tiny pockets. If you suspect periodontal disease, you should seek treatment immediately to avoid tooth loss.
You can improve your dental hygiene by practicing a few basic techniques, including:
- Brushing and flossing – It’s best to use a medium soft brush and paste. If you can’t appropriately grip a toothbrush because of arthritis or other joint problems, you can purchase a rubber strap that helps you secure a better grip. Be sure to brush your teeth, tongue and gums thoroughly after every meal. Flossing every day gets rid of debris that toothbrushes can’t reach and is essential to good dental hygiene.
- Rinse – As the flow of saliva is reduced, it’s more likely that food particles will damage your teeth and gums. Rinsing gets rid of the particles. Since some mouth washes are irritating to the gums, dilute it if necessary.
- Gauze wipes – If it’s difficult for you to brush or rinse, try wiping your teeth with gauze – this will help remove some of the debris found around the teeth and gums.
- Electric tooth brushes and irrigators – Electric tooth brushes are a boon to senior citizens. They’re easier to handle and very effective in cleaning teeth. Irrigators remove debris from teeth that toothbrushes miss, but can damage gums if it pushes food particles into gum pockets.
- Glycerine – A flavored lubricant that can stop irritation of the gums. It can also help stimulate saliva production.
A solid plan for better oral dental hygiene can reduce your risk for tooth decay and gum disease. If you have dentures, talk with your dentist about the difference in promoting good oral hygiene. Dentures are like your real teeth in that they can cause problems with gums if they aren’t properly taken care of.
Please, do your research on good dental hygiene and develop daily techniques that will ensure your dental health as you age. Your dentist can also help you develop a plan.
A Little About Depression and Aging
Did you know the longer we live, the more likely we are to suffer life-changing situations and grief in our lives that might bring on bouts of depression? We’re more vulnerable to changes and sometimes don’t have the energy or the money or any other means to change situations that happen to upend our lives.
Most elderly depression occurs when there is separation or loss. There’s a feeling of helplessness, especially if aging leads to poverty and isolation. Even a bout of bad weather may cause depression if an elderly person feels “stuck.” The elderly are certainly more vulnerable than the rest of the population and as physical and environmental changes lead to isolation, depression may occur.
There are a couple types of depression that you should be aware of. Short-term depression occurs in most all of us at some time or other in our lives, but severe depression is more serious and may require some type of medical care or intervention. Severe depression is when the feelings become so agonizing that it extends to every area of life, and the person suffering may think that there’s no solution. Continue reading “A Little About Depression and Aging” »
Have you heard that high-fat dairy foods are healthier than low-fat?
“The case against low-fat milk is stronger than ever,” announced Time magazine this spring.
“Some research suggests people who consume full-fat dairy weigh less and are less likely to develop diabetes, too,” the magazine-website declared.
Really? Based on what?
Time’s evidence: a new study reported that people who had higher blood levels of fats found in dairy foods had a lower risk of diabetes.
But the question Time didn’t ask:
Did these people get their higher levels from eating full-fat dairy products? Is that what they were eating?
Guess what? The researchers couldn’t tell because they didn’t ask. For all they knew, the study participants could have been eating low-fat, not high-fat, dairy.
After all, “a large amount of dairy fat comes from lower-fat dairy products like 1 or 2 percent-fat milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese,” says Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Whoops.
So maybe the study actually suggested the benefits, not the harm, of lower-fat dairy.
“You can’t simply generalize the results on the blood levels of those fats to the benefits of eating full-fat dairy,” Hu explains. You need to look at what people eat—not what’s in their blood—and when you do that you get a much different story than the one Time spread. Continue reading “Have you heard that high-fat dairy foods are healthier than low-fat?” »