Wellness Secrets of a SuperAger

January 16, 2024 · 11:06 pm

New reasons eating less fat should be one of your resolutions

A UC Riverside study to motivate your new year’s resolutions: it demonstrates that high-fat diets affect genes linked not only to obesity, colon cancer and irritable bowels, but also to the immune system, brain function, and potentially COVID-19 risk.

While other studies have examined the effects of a high-fat diet, this one is unusual in its scope. UCR researchers fed mice three different diets over the course of 24 weeks where at least 40% of the calories came from fat. Then, they looked not only at the microbiome, but also at genetic changes in all four parts of the intestines.

One group of mice ate a diet based on saturated fat from coconut oil, another got a monounsaturated, modified soybean oil, a third got an unmodified soybean oil high in polyunsaturated fat. Compared to a low-fat control diet, all three groups experienced concerning changes in gene expression, the process that turns genetic information into a functional product, such as a protein.

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January 15, 2024 · 11:51 pm

Hospitalizations for scooter injuries nearly tripled in the US between 2016 and 2020, UCLA-led research finds

As a bike rider I confess that scooters scare the heck out of me.

UCLA-led research finds that scooter injuries nearly tripled across the U.S. from 2016 to 2020, with a concurrent increase in severe injuries requiring orthopedic and plastic surgery over the same period.

The study, which compared national trends in scooter and bicycle injuries during the period, also found that costs to treat those injuries rose five-fold, highlighting the financial strain these injuries pose to the healthcare system – a finding that “underscores a critical juncture for discerning the underlying causes of injuries and informing policies for injury prevention,” the researchers note.

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January 14, 2024 · 11:22 pm

“Good” Cholesterol Levels Linked to Dementia Risk

People with unusually high levels of HDL, the so-called “good cholesterol,” may be more likely to develop dementia, new research suggests.

Very high HDL cholesterol levels were not common among study participants and likely were linked to metabolic problems, such as diabetes, and not diet, according to a research summary from Monash University in Australia, where research team leaders work.

With more than 18,000 participants ages 65 years and older, the study was one of the largest yet to analyze the potential relationship between HDL cholesterol and dementia. Results of the study were published in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific.

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Tagged as brain, dementia risk, diabetes, fats, good cholesterol

January 13, 2024 · 11:18 pm

Hearing loss increases the risk of dementia

People who are hard of hearing spend more energy listening. That energy comes at the expense of other cognitive functions. Cognitive functions are the mental processes in the brain that enable us to think and solve problems, among other things.

In a new study featuring data from 573,088 people, researchers from the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark have found a link between hearing loss and the development of dementia. The study is the largest of its kind to date.

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Tagged as aging, brain, dementia, hearing, hearing aids, hearing loss

January 11, 2024 · 11:05 pm

Frivolous Friday …

Tony

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January 10, 2024 · 11:57 pm

Exercise Physiologist Shares 2024 Fitness Tips and Trends

Now, Alexander Rothstein, M.S., instructor and coordinator for the exercise science program at New York Institute of Technology, predicts this year’s fitness trends and tips to “shape up” in the new year.

While the popularity of at-home fitness offerings like Peloton and Tonal skyrocketed during the pandemic, Rothstein, an exercise physiologist, asserts that in-gym fitness has re-emerged as the main method of exercise for most Americans.

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“At-home fitness will always be an option—it’s exciting and convenient—but a lot of this equipment just ends up taking up space and not getting used enough to justify the expense and clutter. Most individuals will instead choose to pay for a gym membership,” he says.

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January 9, 2024 · 11:47 pm

New reasons eating less fat should be one of your resolutions

“Word on the street is that plant-based diets are better for you, and in many cases that’s true. However, a diet high in fat, even from a plant, is one case where it’s just not true,” said Frances Sladek, a UCR cell biology professor and senior author of the new study.

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Tagged as aging, edible oils, fat, obesity, soybean oil

January 8, 2024 · 11:23 pm

Fitness with no age limit …

For nearly 20 years, Stephen Ball has been a man on a mission: helping older Missourians stay healthy and get stronger through physical activity.

In 2005, the professor in the University of Missouri College of Health Sciences helped created a program called Stay Strong Stay Healthy (SSSH). Since then, the eight-week strength training program has helped more than 20,000 older adults across five states. Participants aged 60 and up are taught how to safely complete exercises — including squats, bicep curls and lunges — in a comfortable, friendly environment.

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“One thing I always preach when it comes to physical activity is: some is better than none, more is better than some, and too much is difficult to get,” Ball said. “As the United States population is aging, I want to make a difference by helping older adults stay independent as they age and send the message that you don’t need an expensive gym membership with a personal trainer to stay active. We created a community-based program so older adults can exercise with others who look like them in a more comfortable, social environment.”

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Tagged as aging, Exercise, exercise advice, Exercise Benefits, fitness, successful aging

January 7, 2024 · 11:17 pm

Even in midlife, disrupted sleep tied to memory, thinking problems later on …

People who have more disrupted sleep in their 30s and 40s may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems a decade later, according to new research published in the January 3, 2024, online issue of Neurology^®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study does not prove that sleep quality causes cognitive decline. It only shows an association.

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“Given that signs of Alzheimer’s disease start to accumulate in the brain several decades before symptoms begin, understanding the connection between sleep and cognition earlier in life is critical for understanding the role of sleep problems as a risk factor for the disease,” said study author Yue Leng, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco. “Our findings indicate that the quality rather than the quantity of sleep matters most for cognitive health in middle age.”

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January 6, 2024 · 11:12 pm

Hearing aids may help people live longer

Hearing loss affects approximately 40 million American adults, yet only one in 10 people who need hearing aids use them, research shows.

Those who don’t use hearing aids but should may want to make wearing them one of their New Year’s resolutions, according to a new study from Keck Medicine of USC published today in The Lancet Healthy Longevity. 

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“We found that adults with hearing loss who regularly used hearing aids had a 24% lower risk of mortality than those who never wore them,” said Janet Choi, MD, MPH, an otolaryngologist with Keck Medicine and lead researcher of the study. “These results are exciting because they suggest that hearing aids may play a protective role in people’s health and prevent early death.”

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January 5, 2024 · 10:57 pm

For the New Year – Experts Say Ease Into Exercise To Make It A Habit And Avoid Injury

It’s one of the most common new year’s resolutions, a recent study found 48% of Americans who make new year’s resolutions, resolve to begin a fitness routine. But the researchers found only 9% of Americans who make resolutions complete them, 23% quit their resolutions by the end of the first week, 43% quit by the end of January, and the numbers continue to drop from there.

When it comes to fitness, burnout and injuries are common reasons people abandon their resolutions quickly. In early January, many people who have not regularly exercised pack gyms or begin new running or weight training routines. Without proper preparation and form, injuries like painful hip and knee problems sometimes stop our well-intended resolutions before they become habits.

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January 4, 2024 · 11:09 pm

Frivolous Friday …

Hopefully you are faring well this far in the New Year …

Tony

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January 3, 2024 · 11:09 pm

Couch potatoes face same chance of dementia as those with genetic risk factors: Study

At the risk of being repetitious – eat less; move more; live longer. There, I said it. And along with the moving more, you are likely to be bolstering up your brain so it is fully functional in your senior years.
Sedentary older adults with no genetic risk factors for dementia may be just as likely to develop the disease as those who are genetically predisposed, according to a major study which followed more than 1,600 Canadians over five years.

The findings, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, shed new light on the relationship between genes, lifestyle risk factors and dementia.

Researchers, who tracked participants in the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, found that while carriers of a variant of the ‘apolipoprotein E’ genotype are more likely to develop dementia, inactivity dramatically increases the risk for non-carriers.

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January 3, 2024 · 10:55 am

Maximizing exercise benefits to improve mental health – ISU

A slew of studies in recent years has shown that exercise can reduce stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. Jacob Meyer, associate professor of kinesiology at Iowa State University (ISU), wants to know whether different types and doses of exercise benefit individuals, either on their own or integrated into a treatment plan. Unlocking the underlying mechanisms between physical and mental health is key to his overarching goal.

“If we can figure out what’s going on, then we can maximize those mechanisms and come up with the best program or prescription for an individual with anxiety or depression. Without it, we’re rudderless,” says Meyer.

Shedding light on resistance exercise training

One of his new research projects focuses on resistance exercise training. Also known as strength or weight training, resistance exercise sessions typically include multiple sets and repetitions with weight machines, dumbbells or resistance bands. Exercises that rely on body weight, like pushups and lunges, fall into this category, as well.

“Resistance exercise tends to be much more focused in a localized fashion, on the specific muscles being used. Aerobic exercise is more general. Aerobic exercise uses the cardio-respiratory system — your body’s system designed to deliver oxygen to your muscles,” explains Meyer.