Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

Cellphone use and brain changes

New research has shown that when you put a cell phone next to your ear for 50 minutes while sitting in a positron emission tomography — or PET — scan machine, even though the phone is on mute, there is a 7 percent increase in activity (as measured by blood glucose levels) in the area closest to the cell phone’s antenna.

What does this mean?   Since brain research is the “new frontier” no one knows for sure, but experts are recommending caution.   They are saying you might consider switching ears while on the phone, don’t use them when your signal is weak and DO NOT sleep close to your phone.   Allow at least 5 feet between you and your phone while sleeping!

Hysterectomy and heart disease

If you are a big Dr. Oz fan, you probably heard about this Swedish study from 2010, which suggests an increased risk of heart disease in women who have had a hysterectomy before age 50.

Please keep in mind that there are a NUMBER of factors involved here.   First of all, did your hysterectomy include the loss of your ovaries?   How high were your HDL (good cholesterol) levels before your hysterectomy?   Did you begin using a low-dose of bioidentical estrogen after your surgery?    After my hysterectomy, I started using a low-dose Vivelle patch to maintain a healthy level of estrogen in my blood.

The risks for heart disease are much greater for those who no longer have ovaries and have had no hormone replacement after a hysterectomy.   Estrogen is protective of the heart and bones, and when these levels are lowered drastically, you MUST begin to pay closer attention to your heart and bone health, just like in natural menopause.

The hunt for the biological causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

In early April, the National Institutes of Health will hold a scientific workshop on the still-mysterious chronic fatigue syndrome, attempting to suss out the potential biological causes of the disease.

Learn more here.

The Boomers and Alzheimer’s

The Alzheimer’s Association would like you to know that they consider Alzheimer’s to be ” the defining disease” of our generation.

Awareness is the first step towards defeating this devastating illness.

Learn more about it here!

Here’s an article about how caffeine helps with memory loss and here’s one about the “social cure.”

Leukemia genes discovered

Three groups of mutations which cause acute myeloid leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, have been identified by scientists.   The researchers suggest their work on mice, published in Nature Genetics, could lead to new treatments.

Learn more here.

Heart disease and healthy habits

Over half of all cases of the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance could be avoided by “clean living”, like avoiding smoking and eating more healthily, say scientists.   If individuals were to maintain a healthy weight and normal blood pressure and abstain from tobacco, 57% of all cases of atrial fibrillation (AF) could be averted, US experts say.   This study in Circulation journal is based on nearly 15,000 patients.

Learn more here.

Hepatitis A and liver health

Here’s a great article on keeping your liver healthy!

Stay on Tamoxifen treatment

Women who cut short their Tamoxifen treatment before the recommended full five years risk their breast cancer returning, experts warn.   Up to half of women stop taking the drug prematurely but in doing so significantly reduce their survival odds, says Cancer Research UK.   Data shows for every hundred women who complete the full course, six fewer will have a recurrence of their cancer.

Read more here.

Depression and arthritis pain

Depression may make the pain of knee arthritis worse, a new study says.   These findings may explain why some patients with this condition report experiencing a high level of pain, even though their X-rays indicate otherwise.

Learn more here.

Long term effects of gastric banding

Gastric bands for obesity may help people lose weight, but patients frequently experience problems with the device years after they’ve had the procedure, a new study finds.

Nearly 40 percent of patients in the study had some type of major complication with their band 12 or more years after they had the surgery. Major complications include things like infection or erosion of the band. About half the patients had to have the band taken out, and 60 percent required additional surgery.

The findings suggest gastric bands are not the answer to the obesity epidemic, the researchers say.

Learn more here.