Deciding to become physically active can be one of the best things you can do for your health. Exercise and physical activity are not only great for your mental and physical health, but they can help keep you independent as you age. Now, let’s talk about getting started. How much activity do older adults need?… Continue reading How Older Adults Can Get Started With Exercise
Tag: older adults
Oral Health in Older Adults
One of the most important factors in healthy aging is good oral health. Having healthy teeth and a good mouth allows you to eat, speak, and socialize without difficulty. Because of their age, older adults are more likely to develop dental diseases, and their health complications may make access to dental services more difficult. As… Continue reading Oral Health in Older Adults
What You Need to Know about Binge Drinking
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent—or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter—or higher. For a typical adult, this pattern of excessive alcohol use corresponds to consuming 4 or more drinks (female), or 5 or… Continue reading What You Need to Know about Binge Drinking
Hypothermia: How to Avoid This Cold-Weather Menace
Exposure to winter cold can pose risks for older adults and those with chronic medical conditions. Older adults can lose body temperature quickly, and sometimes older people have trouble recognizing a drop in body temperature. Severe circumstances like those can cause hypothermia, a dangerous drop in core body temperature. And it’s important to remember that… Continue reading Hypothermia: How to Avoid This Cold-Weather Menace
Getting A Grip on Avoiding Disability
Older adults with good grip strength – the ability to grasp and hold on to or pull an object – are less likely to become disabled, researchers say. The information came from an analysis conducted by Chinese investigators of a study called SHARE. In that study, 30,434 people, age 50 or older, were surveyed every… Continue reading Getting A Grip on Avoiding Disability
Modifiable Dementia Risk Factor in Older Adults
For older adults, it may seem as though the die is already cast regarding their odds of developing dementia, but 2018 research from the University of Pittsburgh has identified a dementia risk factor among older adults that should be modifiable even well into old age. The study, which draws on data collected from following hundreds… Continue reading Modifiable Dementia Risk Factor in Older Adults
How Much Physical Activity Do Older Adults Need?
Regular physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as an older adult. It can prevent many of the health problems that seem to come with age. It also helps your muscles grow stronger so you can keep doing your day-to-day activities without becoming dependent on others. Not doing… Continue reading How Much Physical Activity Do Older Adults Need?
Can Older Adults Safely Donate Kidneys?
With increasing organ demand, living kidney donation from older donors has become more common. A new Clinical Transplantation study indicates that kidney donation among carefully-selected adults over 60 years of age poses minimal perioperative risks and no added risk of long-term kidney failure. A combination of an aging population and an overwhelming kidney transplant waitlist… Continue reading Can Older Adults Safely Donate Kidneys?
Chronic Illnesses and Functional Limitations Are a Risk in Older Adults with Heart Failure
A release from the American Geriatrics Society notes that heart failure affects more than 6 million people in the U.S.–most of whom are older adults. Roughly half the older adults who have heart failure also live with five or more other chronic health conditions. This group of people may have difficulty performing daily activities, such… Continue reading Chronic Illnesses and Functional Limitations Are a Risk in Older Adults with Heart Failure
Brain Stimulation Works for Younger Adults, not Older Ones
Brain stimulation, touted as a way to improve memory, works in younger adults but not older ones, new research shows. In a study published online for a forthcoming special issue on the cognitive neuroscience of aging from the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago tested these outcomes by… Continue reading Brain Stimulation Works for Younger Adults, not Older Ones
Progress, but Far from Perfection, on Avoiding Risky Sedatives in Older Adults
Although it’s widely known that the medications known as benzodiazepines present particular risks for people over 65, a sizable percentage of adults in that group still have a prescription for one, according to new research from three countries that have made a special effort to reduce their use. These medicines help many people sleep, or… Continue reading Progress, but Far from Perfection, on Avoiding Risky Sedatives in Older Adults
Quitting Smoking for Older Adults
“I’ve smoked two packs of cigarettes a day for 40 years—what’s the use of quitting now? Will I even be able to quit after all this time?” No matter your age, quitting smoking improves your health. If you quit smoking, you are likely to add years to your life, breathe more easily, have more energy,… Continue reading Quitting Smoking for Older Adults
Any Physical Activity in the Elderly Is Better Than None for Reducing Cardiovascular Risk
Any physical activity in the elderly is better than none at all for reducing cardiovascular risk, according to an 18-year study in more than 24 000 adults published in November 2017 in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. A release from the European Society of Cardiology quotes first author Dr. Sangeeta Lachman, a cardiologist at… Continue reading Any Physical Activity in the Elderly Is Better Than None for Reducing Cardiovascular Risk
Older Adults Need Better Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control
The leading cause of death in the elderly, the fastest growing segment of the population, is cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prevention of cardiovascular events in elderly patients presents a therapeutic challenge because this age group is generally underrepresented in clinical trials, and doctors often assume that it is too late to initiate preventive therapy in the… Continue reading Older Adults Need Better Blood Pressure and Cholesterol Control
AFib May Affect Walking and Strength in Older Adults
When older people develop atrial fibrillation — the most common type of irregular heartbeat – the condition accelerates age-related declines in walking speed, strength, balance, and other aspects of physical performance. That is the finding of research published in April 2016 in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. A release from the… Continue reading AFib May Affect Walking and Strength in Older Adults
A New Nutrition Picture for Older Adults
Experts have drawn up a new nutrition icon for seniors, with an emphasis on meeting older adults’ nutritional needs in terms of federal government’s 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines. Nutrition scientists at the Jean Mayer U. S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, with support from AARP Foundation, introduced… Continue reading A New Nutrition Picture for Older Adults
What You Need to Know About Zinc
From LabDoor.com What is Zinc? Zinc is an essential trace mineral that is intricately involved in hundreds of activities inside our cells. At the moment, research estimates that 100 to 300 different enzymes require zinc to accomplish their tasks. In many cases, zinc acts as a catalytic component for those enzymes, aiding the biochemical processes… Continue reading What You Need to Know About Zinc
Anesthesia Not Linked to Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults
Research done in 2016 suggests older patients should not feel reluctant to have life enhancing surgeries due to concerns that undergoing anesthesia may boost their risk of developing cognitive issues. In a study of more than 8,500 middle-aged and elderly Danish twins published in Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists… Continue reading Anesthesia Not Linked to Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults