Healthy Aging: Body, Mind & Spirit

Baby Boomers and Hepatitis C

February 22, 2012 on 10:30 am | In Aging well, Boomer Health Issues, Chronic illness, Death and dying, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders | No Comments

Hepatitis C has surpassed HIV as a killer of U.S. adults, and screening all “baby boomers” could be one way to stem the problem, according to two new government studies.

One half to two-thirds of us do not realize we have it until cirrhosis sets in. That’s because the initial infection causes no symptoms in most cases. Instead, the virus silently damages the liver over the years, and people may only discover they are infected when they develop irreversible liver cirrhosis.

Get a blood test today and learn more from Reuters here!

Why do we continue to eat too much?

February 21, 2012 on 12:27 pm | In Aging and purpose, Aging well, Andropause, Back pain, Boomer Health Issues, Brain Fitness, Brain plasticity, Breast cancer, Chronic illness, Colon cancer, Death and dying, Depression and aging, Diabetes, Diet and Aging, Drug addiction, Food addiction, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Heart disease, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Lung cancer, Menopause, obesity research, Preventative behaviors, Preventative screenings, Transforming negative thought patterns, Weight gain | No Comments

Here comes another magic pill to save the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight or obese at this point. The latest fantasy is that Qnexa will come in and save the day, because without it we apparently will continue to eat ourselves to death. I see gigantic profits for this drug company, because you will need to stay on this drug FOREVER to keep your weight down.

Since I found the much-needed training and self-discipline to lose my extra weight, I find myself outraged daily by the risks some will take to lose weight.

We apparently can find NO self-control or discipline and instead choose to use very scary drugs and surgeries, rather than simply making the decision to stop indulging ourselves daily.

When others ask me how I lost the weight, the first thing I say is, “You have to really want it.“ One woman my age responded with, “Oh, but I LOVE pasta!“ Ah, but do you love pasta more than life itself?

Most of us have a serious starch addiction. Think of it as a heroin problem, because it will kill you in the long run just as surely as heroin will, except that it’s worse because this is something we need to consume everyday.

Can you make the decision today to only eat about one-third as much starch, sugar, and fat as you have been eating, and replace those calories with high quality protein, vegetables and fruit?

Losing weight requires that we each make some hard, conscious choices, not excuses about how we eat. Sure, it’s easy to blame it on your mother, commercialism, your unique metabolism, but that does not change the fact that unless you decide to stop eating so much and make radically different food choices, your chosen lifestyle will most certainly kill you.

The next question is how much and how long do you want to live? If you see obesity as a slow way of killing yourself because you don’t enjoy your life, get help! This is an entirely different issue which can only be resolved through counseling.

We all think there must be some secret, magic formula to living healthy. I often recall a conversation I had with a friend decades ago. This friend was in great shape in college, and had lost sixty pounds while still in high school. So I asked, “How did you do it?“ His excellent answer was: “I stopped eating so much!“

Slow walking may predict future health problems

February 19, 2012 on 2:15 pm | In Aging well, Boomer Health Issues, Chronic illness, Death and dying, Diet and Aging, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Heart disease, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Memory loss, obesity research, Preventative behaviors, Preventative screenings, Weight gain | No Comments

Now here’s some scary research from the BBC!

Ever since I read this yesterday I’ve been taking special interest in how fast everyone around me walks!

How your circadian rhythm effects immunity

February 18, 2012 on 11:15 am | In Aging well, Boomer Health Issues, Brain Fitness, Brain plasticity | No Comments

The time of the day could be an important factor in your risk of getting an infection, according to researchers in the US. They showed how a protein in the immune system was affected by changes in the chemistry of the body throughout the day.

The findings, published in the journal Immunity, showed the time of an infection changed its severity.

Learn more over at the BBC.

Women and heart disease

February 18, 2012 on 9:59 am | In Aging well, Boomer Health Issues, Chronic illness, Death and dying, Diet and Aging, Food addiction, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Heart disease, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Menopause, obesity research, Preventative behaviors, Weight gain | No Comments

The cardiologist Dr. Oz says: “The sad truth is that the ailments I operate on are usually preventable.” And more and more of them are found in his women patients.

Learn more here!

More positive news for coffee drinkers!

February 17, 2012 on 8:03 am | In Aging and purpose, Aging well, Andropause, Boomer Health Issues, Brain Fitness, Brain plasticity, Chronic illness, Depression and aging, Diabetes, Diet and Aging, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Menopause, Preventative behaviors | No Comments

Drinking two cups of joe each morning may help lower your chances of developing depression.

New research shows that drinking just two cups a day may reduce depression, and the more coffee you drink the less you may feel depressed.

Coffee is also known to reduce your risk of developing many other diseases by blocking the chemical processes of diabetes, Parkinson’s, inflammation, and some cancers.

But keep your coffee consumption to the morning hours, or it may negatively effect your sleep cycle!

Antidepressants versus a placebo

February 17, 2012 on 7:54 am | In Aging and purpose, Aging well, Andropause, Boomer Health Issues, Brain Fitness, Brain plasticity, Buy Local - Fort Collins, Chronic illness, Depression and aging, Drug addiction, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Menopause, Preventative behaviors, Preventative screenings, Transforming negative thought patterns | No Comments

New research shows that for those minimally depressed, taking an antidepressant provides only a minimal effect which is “clinically insignificant.”

For those, the chemical ingredients are not as important as the “expectations of healing.” Expectations are POWERFUL!!!

Learn more on 60 Minutes this upcoming Sunday night (Feb. 19th).

Obesity and BPA

February 16, 2012 on 10:11 am | In Aging well, Andropause, Boomer Health Issues, Buy Local - Fort Collins, Diabetes, Diet and Aging, Food addiction, Fort Collins writer, Health Psychology, Improvements in health care, Learning from our elders, Menopause, obesity research, Preventative behaviors, Weight gain | No Comments

Exposure to even minuscule amounts of synthesized substances — used in everything from pesticides to water bottles — can scramble hormone signals, scientists say.

This interference can trick fat cells into taking in more fat or mislead the pancreas into secreting excess insulin, a hormone that regulates the breakdown of fat and carbohydrates.

Among the most ubiquitous of these so-called endocrine disruptors is bisphenol A, better known as BPA, a common ingredient in plastics and food-can linings.

Learn more over at the Huffington Post.