https://smokefree.gov/ is a website that has many resources including on-line chat, ways to cope through the process, and trackers. You may find what you need and be ready to go for it!
Category Archives: Health Maintenance
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast cancer is the second most common kind of cancer in women. About 1 in 8 women born today in the United States will get breast cancer at some point.
The good news is that many women can survive breast cancer if it’s found and treated early. A mammogram – the screening test for breast cancer – can help find breast cancer early when it’s easier to treat.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a chance to raise awareness about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. Make a difference! Spread the word about mammograms and encourage communities, organizations, families, and individuals to get involved.
Why Strength Training?
Strength training: Get stronger, leaner, healthier
Strength training is an important part of an overall fitness program. Here’s what strength training can do for you — and how to get started.
Want to reduce body fat, increase lean muscle mass and burn calories more efficiently? Strength training to the rescue! Strength training is a key component of overall health and fitness for everyone.
Lean muscle mass naturally diminishes with age.
You’ll increase the percentage of fat in your body if you don’t do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose over time. Strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass at any age.
Strength training may also help you:
Develop strong bones. By stressing your bones, strength training can increase bone density and reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
- Manage your weight. Strength training can help you manage or lose weight, and it can increase your metabolism to help you burn more calories.
- Enhance your quality of life. Strength training may enhance your quality of life and improve your ability to do everyday activities. Building muscle also can contribute to better balance and may reduce your risk of falls. This can help you maintain independence as you age.
- Manage chronic conditions. Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression and diabetes.
- Sharpen your thinking skills. Some research suggests that regular strength training and aerobic exercise may help improve thinking and learning skills for older adults.
Strength training can be done at home or in the gym. Common choices include:
- Body weight. You can do many exercises with little or no equipment. Try pushups, pull-ups, abdominal crunches and leg squats.
- Resistance tubing. Resistance tubing is inexpensive, lightweight tubing that provides resistance when stretched. You can choose from many types of resistance tubes in nearly any sporting goods store.
- Free weights. Barbells and dumbbells are classic strength training tools.
- Weight machines. Most fitness centers offer various resistance machines. You can also invest in weight machines for use at home.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670
Health Benefits of Dogs and Cats
Numerous studies have linked dog ownership to weight loss:
- One year-long study found that walking an overweight dog helped both the animals and their owners lose weight. Researchers found that the dogs provided support in similar ways to a human exercise buddy, but with greater consistency and without any negative influence.
- Public housing residents who walked therapy dogs for up to 20 minutes five days a week lost an average of 14.4 pounds in a year, without changing their diets.
- A third study found that people who got a dog walked 30 minutes more a week than they did before.
Source: Harvard Health Publications
For additional information on the health benefits of dogs (and cats) check:
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/emotional-health/the-health-benefits-of-pets.htm
Nutrition Games (Crosswords, Sudoku, etc.)
Nutrition Crosswords for Adults: http://downloads.eatright.org/nnm/games/wordsearch/adults/index.html
Nutrition Crosswords for Kids: http://downloads.eatright.org/nnm/games/wordsearch/kids/index.html
Nutrition Sudoku: http://downloads.eatright.org/nnm/games/sudoku/kids/index.html
Rate Your Plate: http://downloads.eatright.org/nnm/games/quiz/RatePlate2016.html
What’s New in Dementia Prevention
Dementia Update
Dementia is the loss of mental abilities severe enough to interfere with your daily life. The symptoms include language difficulty, loss of recent memory and poor judgment. It generally takes hold after age 80.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) accounts for 60% to 80% of dementia cases, and can strike as early as age 45. It is caused by progressive nerve damage to the brain that leads to memory loss, impaired thinking and verbal communication, as well as personality changes. A person who is suspected of having AD may live for 2 to 20 years with the condition. Alzheimer’s can only be diagnosed by autopsy after death.
Can we prevent AD? Short of effective medicines to come, scientists recommend we focus on related factors we have some control over: cardiovascular health, diabetes, obesity and exercise. Here are some recent findings:
Cardiovascular disease:
It has declined in the U.S. along with the rate of dementia since 1982, according to a 30-year Framingham Heart study. Primary reasons are better control of blood pressure and heart disease. Yet, even as heart failure and stroke dropped during this time, 2 risk factors for dementia have increased: diabetes and obesity.
BEST DEFENSE: Reduce your heart risks to also protect your brain.
Diabetes:
Studies show type 2 diabetes increases the rate of mental decline, based on memory test scores and likely due to elevated insulin levels. One theory is that the same enzyme needed to break down excess insulin (in type 2) can also degrade beta-amyloid, a protein related to AD brain damage.
BEST DEFENSE: Start watching your blood sugar to help prevent or control type 2 diabetes.
Obesity:
How can a big belly damage your brain? It may be the deep layer of visceral fat cells in the abdomen that’s at fault. This fat produces hormones that can raise insulin levels and diabetes risk. A 36-year study of 6,500 Kaiser Permanente members ages 40 to 45 found that people who were overweight and had large bellies were 2.3 times more likely to get dementia than those who had a normal weight and belly size.
BEST DEFENSE: Ask your health care provider for a healthy weight-loss program that trims your waist.
Exercise:
Staying physically active is good for mental health. New studies detail these effects on brain health, suggesting that vigorous exercise may be 1 of the most powerful protections against AD. Among older adults with increased genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, those who exercised regularly maintained normal healthy brains; when they began sitting too much, the positive effects began to reverse.
BEST DEFENSE: These results required at least 3 hours per week of strenuous physical activity, the kind that produces some sweating and heart pumping at 70% to 80% of your maximum heart rate.
Dementia is a widespread concern. Based on a survey of 2,700 people age 18-plus in the U.S. and Europe, Alzheimer’s is the most feared disease, after cancer, in their future. And with good reason when you know its far-reaching effects: Many years of dependence take a staggering emotional, physical and economic toll on families and health care. The prevalence of dementia is large and will rise sharply as baby boomers age.
http://www.personalbest.com/PersonalBestHealthlines/ViewArticle.aspx?article=5017
August: National Immunization Month
For vaccine guidelines for adults, children, those who are pregnant and health care workers, check out the CDC webpage for information at:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html