MEDITATION—YOUR PATH TO LESS STRESS Meditation can be your pathway to not only less stress, but also can help you prevent or manage different medical conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma, depression, chronic pain, or sleep problems. I try to find time at least once a day to slip into a meditative state where I’m completely relaxed and completely in the present. After an especially busy day, I’ll also use meditation to lull me off to sleep. I searched online for a full introduction to meditating and found this article by the Mayo Clinic Staff, Meditation: A simple, fast...
SCIENTIFIC MIRACLE: CANCER DISAPPEARS IN ALL TRIAL PATIENTS WITH EXPERIMENTAL DRUG A small group of people with rectal cancer just experienced a miracle: their cancer completely vanished after an experimental treatment. In a trial by doctors at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, patients were given a drug called dostarlimab for 6 months. The trial resulted in every single one of their tumors disappearing. Scientists say these kinds of results have never been seen in the history of cancer research. I found the original June 5, 2022 online article from MSK: Rectal Cancer Disappears After Experimental Use of...
SIMPLE BODY-WEIGHT EXERCISES With the continuing pandemic, you may not be ready to go back to the gym. Instead, consider body-weight exercises. You can do them anywhere and you don’t need any equipment. Plus, they can be as effective as training with free weights or weight machines. If you consider yourself fit, please refer to my May 2020 post, Why Functional Fitness is Important for Seniors for a great all-body set of exercises including squats, lunges, planks, chest press, row & chop. However, if you’ve had a long layoff or are returning to exercising after an injury you’ll want to...
NEW EXPERIMENTAL OBESITY DRUG HAS AMAZING CLAIMS Over the past few weeks, I’ve begun hearing about a new “miracle drug” from Eli Lilly named tirzepatide to fight obesity. You may have someone dear to you that has Type 2 diabetes or who just cannot manage to lose weight that would greatly benefit from this new drug. For more details, I found an online New York Times article by Gina Kolata from May 1, 2022 titled Patients Taking Experimental Obesity Drug Lost More Than 50 Pounds, Maker Claims. Here are excerpts: An experimental drug has enabled people with obesity or who...
ARE YOUR RUNNING OR JOGGING? When I say, “I’m going out for a run,” I realize that I’ll actually be jogging. Even then, I break up my jog with fast walking; 5 minutes of jogging followed by a minute of walking. This way I can keep moving for a good hour or two. But if I actually ran, I’d probably poop out after 10 minutes. Thus, I can certainly feel the difference. Still, I wanted to find out a bit more of how running compares to jogging. I searched for a while and found this comprehensive online article from Asics,...
PROCESSED MEATS ARE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH I’m sure you’ve heard that processed meats are among the least healthy foods you can eat. Still, I’ll happily down a couple of wedges of pepperoni pizza or a few slices of bacon if offered. But now I’m hearing that even in small amounts—if eaten regularly—processed meats can greatly increase your risk of not only heart disease but also some cancers and even Alzheimer’s disease. So I searched online for some specifics. One of the best sources I found was the May 17, 2021 UCLA Health online article titled The effects of processed...
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR COGNITIVE RESERVE I pay immediate attention to any article I come across that gives suggestions on how to prevent or postpone Alzheimer’s disease. This week I received an email with a short Harvard Medical School article presenting the concept of cognitive reserve. It mentions research that found individuals with no apparent symptoms of dementia who at autopsy were seen to have brain damage consistent with advanced Alzheimer’s. Intrigued, I searched online and found a more-detailed recent Mayo Clinic Article on the subject. Harvard Article Here are excerpts from the Harvard online article: What is cognitive reserve?...
TRY TAKING SAMe TO CONTROL YOUR ARTHRITIS PAIN Osteoarthritis (OA), which most of us just call arthritis, is extremely prevalent in older adults. In fact, it’s the most common age-related joint disease and affects more than 80% of people older than the age of 55. I’m no exception. I have arthritis in my hands and my knees. But I also have an aversion to most prescription drugs, so I’ve been taking a supplement called SAMe (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) to control my arthritic pain. SAM-e is a compound that’s made naturally in the body and plays an important role in normal bodily function....
RENEW FRIENDSHIPS FOR BOTH HEALTH & JOY I’m sure you’ve read that regularly connecting with friends reduces your risk of dementia and other diseases associated with aging. Even though I produced art events for 50 years and count hundreds of artists as good friends, I myself am more of an introvert than an extrovert; I don’t mind spending time alone writing or reading or exercising. And I often wait for my friends to call me first. However as I get older, I’m now making an extra effort for both joy and health to reconnect with friends I’ve lost contact with...
PASS THE LEGUMES, PLEASE Legumes—in spite of its rather fancy name–is merely the class of vegetables that includes beans, peas and lentils. They are among the most nutritious foods available. They’re high in protein, thus can be a healthy substitute for meat, because they’re low in fat, and contain no cholesterol. Beans and other legumes are also loaded with fiber, which is especially important to us older adults because adequate fiber intake can reduce the risk of heart disease and diabetes and even help with weight loss. Another benefit of legumes is that they’re packed with vitamins and minerals including...
