Tai Chi For Seniors: Exercises, Benefits, and Tips For The Elderly
Tai chi, a form of Chinese martial arts that focuses on slow, controlled movements. It’s low impact and gives people with limited mobility a chance to improve their balance, range of motion and coordination. Research shows that tai chi for seniors can reduce the incidence of falls in elderly and at-risk adults by about 43 percent. With fewer than 34 percent of aging adults getting enough exercise, it’s important for caregivers, older individuals and people who work with seniors to know about this gentle but effective activity.
What Is Tai Chi?
Tai chi is an ancient way of moving that is practiced by more than 200 milli...
Source: Shield My Senior - January 8, 2018 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Vin Tags: Senior Safety Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 25th 2017
Fight Aging! provides a weekly digest of news and commentary for thousands of subscribers interested in the latest longevity science: progress towards the medical control of aging in order to prevent age-related frailty, suffering, and disease, as well as improvements in the present understanding of what works and what doesn't work when it comes to extending healthy life. Expect to see summaries of recent advances in medical research, news from the scientific community, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to help speed work on the repair and reversal of aging, links to online resources, and much more.
This content is...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 24, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
All of Medicine has a History of the Strange and the Wrong, Slowly Shed Over Time
All fields of medicine are characterized by a history of wrong ideas, many of them very strange from a modern viewpoint. These ideas were slowly winnowed out as technology advanced to the point of being able to prove them wrong, and as the culture of science advanced to the point of being taken seriously. Considerations of aging are no exception, and like most of the very complex issues in biology, this is arguably one in which the wrong and the strange persisted to a later date than was the case for other areas of medical science.
Many early theories of aging revolved around loss of some form of resource: that peop...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 18, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, December 4th 2017
In this study, we integrated atomic force microscopy (AFM) and molecular approaches to determine whether increased stiffness of aortic VSMCs in hypertensive rats is ROCK-dependent, and whether the anti-hypertensive effect of ROCK inhibitors contributes to the reduction of aortic stiffness via changing VSMC mechanical properties.
Despite a widely held belief that aortic stiffening is associated with changes in extracellular matrix proteins and endothelial dysfunction, our recent studies demonstrated that intrinsic stiffening of aortic VSMCs, independent of VSMC proliferation and migration, is an important contributo...
Source: Fight Aging! - December 3, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
No Great Surprises in a Recent Study of Skin Aging
A recent study of skin aging brings no great surprises. The authors are focused on epigenetic changes that alter the rate of production of various proteins, and thus also alter the behavior and function of cells and tissues. People with younger-looking skin at a given chronological age also tend to have younger-looking patterns of gene expression, the process of generating proteins from their DNA blueprints. Aging is a global phenomenon, and progression of all of its aspects tend to correlate to some degree in any given individual. Among the more easily identified differences in the epigenetics of skin aging are those rela...
Source: Fight Aging! - November 30, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Ovarian Cancer Does Not Exist; Effect on Gynecologic Cancer Surgery
When I was both a medical student and a pathology resident, I was intrigued by the fact that many ovarian cancers I looked at under the microscope consisted of columnar cells and often seemed to grow on the surface of the ovary. Various teachers told me that the neoplasms were mimicking peritoneal and tubal epithelium. Experts now assert that there is no such thing as"ovarian cancer" -- all such neoplasms are now thought to originate in the uterine tubes, thus explaining their histologic appearance (see:Tackling Cancer Myths: It ’s time to accept that ovarian cancer doesn’t exist). Here is an excerpt from thi...
Source: Lab Soft News - November 3, 2017 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Medical Consumerism Medical Education Medical Research Preventive Medicine Quality of Care Surgical Pathology Source Type: blogs
Attempts to Reverse Aspects of Ovarian Aging
Fertility clinics, just like "anti-aging" clinics, are a lucrative niche industry that has the potential to stop being sketchy and fraud-ridden just as soon as reliable rejuvenation therapies arrive on the scene. Given this, one might view these and a number of other similar industries as potential pools of funding to help bring the first rejuvenation therapies to the clinic. That has to be balanced against the bad publicity attendant with doing business in this part of the market, but considered in the long run, if the therapies work then will even justifiable initial skepticism much matter? The Society for Rescue of Our ...
Source: Fight Aging! - October 31, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs
Urinary incontinence: Common and manageable
As a primary care doctor, I see a lot of women dealing with the inconvenience, discomfort, and embarrassment of urinary incontinence (unintended leaking of urine). Some are comfortable bringing this up right away. Others suffer needlessly because they feel too shy or awkward to mention it.
The truth is, an estimated 45% of women experience some form of urinary incontinence at some point in their lives. That’s almost half of all women! It’s a very big deal. Urinary incontinence can negatively affect physical and emotional well-being. For example, women may avoid going out because they’re worried about having an accide...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - October 18, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Monique Tello, MD, MPH Tags: Kidney and urinary tract Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Exercise: Can a few minutes a day keep a hip fracture away?
This study is so important because it really gives all of us such a reasonable goal. Can we give it our strongest effort for one to two minutes a day? I think we can. It also shows that if we make a small, measurable, but regular change, we can all dance, run, jog, jump, or hop our way to better health!
The post Exercise: Can a few minutes a day keep a hip fracture away? appeared first on Harvard Health Blog. (Source: Harvard Health Blog)
Source: Harvard Health Blog - October 12, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Nandini Mani, MD Tags: Exercise and Fitness Health Osteoporosis bone health brittle bones Source Type: blogs
Offensive overselling of the #microbiome in breast cancer from the Cleveland Clinic
This study does not provide ANY proof of principle of this sort. You have not shown there are any pro-cancer bacteria. This is ridiculous and offensive. No wonder the news stories imply that this study is about preventing breast cancer. The press release from the Cleveland Clinic is deceptive. It makes claims about the work that are irresponsible, misleading, and potentially dangerous. The Cleveland Clinic should be ashamed.And thus the Cleveland Clinic is the winner of this edition of the Overselling the Microbiome Award.
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This is from the "Tree of Life Blog"
of Jonathan Eisen, an evolutio...
Source: The Tree of Life - October 9, 2017 Category: Microbiology Authors: Jonathan Eisen Source Type: blogs
Immune Cell Telomere Length Correlates with a Blended DNA Methylation and Immune System Biomarker of Aging
Epigenetic clocks based on the measurement of changing patterns of DNA methylation are perhaps the most promising approach to the production of a biomarker of aging - a way to quickly assess an individual's biological age, allowing assessment of the effectiveness of potential rejuvenation therapies in a rapid, low-cost manner. They are certainly far more accurate and useful on an individual basis than is the case for telomere length measured in the immune cells called leukocytes taken from a blood sample. The latter metric is really only reliable over large populations of individuals, and even then there are studies that f...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 28, 2017 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Giving Migraine Treatments the Best Chance - The New York Times
If you've never had a migraine, I have two things to say to you:1) You're damn lucky.2) You can't begin to imagine how awful they are.I had migraines – three times a month, each lasting three days — starting from age 11 and finally ending at menopause.Although my migraines were not nearly as bad as those that afflict many other people, they took a toll on my work, family life and recreation. Atypically, they were not accompanied by nausea or neck pain, nor did I always have to retreat to a dark, soundless room and lie motionless until they abated. But they were not just"bad headaches" — the pain...
Source: Psychology of Pain - September 25, 2017 Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: blogs
It ’s not gonna’ kill you to take hormone replacement
It’s not going to kill you to take hormone replacement therapy.
That’s the take home message from the latest analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative, the largest and longest randomized trial of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in menopausal women.
After almost 18 years of follow up in the WHI, there was no increase in overall mortality, including death rates from cancer, in women taking HRT for up to 5.6 years (estrogen plus progestin) or 7.2 years (estrogen alone). There was a non-significant reduction in mortality among those who started HRT between ages 50 and 59, the group most likely to be presc...
Source: The Blog That Ate Manhattan - September 22, 2017 Category: Primary Care Authors: Margaret Polaneczky, MD Tags: Hormone Replacement Menopause WHI breast cancer estrogen HRT Prempro Source Type: blogs
New treatment for endometriosis on the horizon
Let’s face it: managing your period is a hassle. There’s the cramping, the bloating, the bleeding, and the feeling a little cranky. Not to mention the need to remember to have tampons and ibuprofen on hand. There may also be the bad timing of a special occasion or a tropical vacation that complicates things further. But as aggravating as all this may be, for most women it’s just that: an aggravation, a nuisance that’s pretty easily dealt with.
But for about one in 10 women, their period, the week leading up to their period, and in some cases their entire month can be filled with severe cramps and pelvic pain that s...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - September 21, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Andrea Chisholm, MD Tags: Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs
Doctors have weight problems, too. Here ’s my story.
Eighteen months ago, I wrote about my plan for maximizing menopause preparedness. As with so many missions, this one has experienced both successes and failures. Since January 2016, I have grooved my exercise routine in the most awesome way. I am all over the TRX, doing Spiderman push-ups, incline presses, pistols and more. I get my cardio intervals, and I’m foam rolling. I feel stronger now than at any time since high school, and I’m proud of this accomplishment.
*sigh*
The eating, on the other hand, continues to be a challenge. Earlier this year a patient looked at me without expression and stated bluntly that I had ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 11, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: < a href="http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/catherine-cheng" rel="tag" > Catherine Cheng, MD < /a > Tags: Conditions Nutrition Obesity Primary care Source Type: blogs
