What is Healthy Aging Anyway

by Nina

Dahlia by Melina Meza

It has only struck me recently that while we’ve written about what aging is and the many ways yoga can help foster healthy aging, we’ve never really addressed what “healthy aging” is. So I thought I’d take a moment to give an overview of the thoughts that Baxter and I currently have on this topic. At this point—we’re still just discussing these ideas—we consider healthy aging to have three important aspects:

• Compressed Morbidity
• Independence
• Equanimity

And the reason why we’re such proponents of yoga for healthy aging is that we believe yoga can help with all three of these aspects of healthy aging. For now, I’ll just give you a brief overview of how.

Compressed Morbidity. Last week I wrote a post Longevity vs. Morbidity comparing the difference between longevity and morbidity. The medical term “morbidity” refers to the period of time you spend in ill health before you die. Obviously we all would like—both for ourselves and for our loved ones—to keep this period of ill health as short (that is, compressed) as possible. A well-rounded yoga practice, especially one that includes stress management, can help by preventing some of the diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes that plague people during their older years.

Independence. Another goal I think we all share for ourselves and our loved ones is that we can continue to live independently and care for ourselves as long as possible. From our point of view living independently includes both the basic daily self care activities, such as dressing, going to the toilet, getting up and down from a chair, doing light housework, and so on as well as the ability to continue to do the activities we love (which I wrote about in my post Being Able to Do What You Love) for as long as possible. A regular asana practice—even one that is modified over time—will help keep us able bodied, rather than sliding into the stiffness and weakness that results from a sedentary lifestyle.

Equanimity. For me, maintaining emotional stability as we age is the most important aspect of healthy aging. For even if we can “compress” morbidity, we will certainly have to go through poor health at some point. And even if we can prolong our independence into old age, we may eventually have to face the loss of that, however briefly. In addition, even if we are ourselves blessed with long and healthy lives, we’ll all have to deal with losing people we love. So being able to handle the challenges ahead with balance and grace is crucial. But I also believe that this is where yoga has its greatest strength. Stress management practices help reduce stress, anxiety and depression. And meditation and yoga philosophy can help us keep grounded and strong. At least that is my fervent hope.

Baxter and I will be writing more on these topics in the weeks to come, but we’d also love to hear your thoughts, ideas and personal stories.

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Recommendations Often Given By Anti Aging Doctors

By Mary Hamilton

One of the most troubling and health challenging problem for most women is aging. Wrinkles, lines and other signs, when seen in face, can humiliate a person. Some ladies often envy young individuals who still have great skin and faces. After all, who would want to look old and become the object of ridicule by other people. Good thing that skincare medications and treatments are currently available.

Medical procedures and some technology can defy aging which is basically a great choice for many. First of all, potential patients should be looking for the anti aging doctors suitable of giving good results. The role of a doctor is very important apparently. And one thing medical practitioners do is to give advice to their patients. Here are key advice which most doctors give.

Diet regimen. Beauty might be difficult to achieve but its not impossible with enough perseverance. Start by eating green leafy vegetables and juicy fruits that contain the elements which your body needs. You must pick the freshest and healthiest dishes to stay juvenile looking for a long time. Proper diet and control must be given attention to prevent problems.

Take the prescribed and suitable supplements only. Some supplements are created for the sole purpose of defying aging and prevent unhealthy and bad diseases. Doctors advice and suggestions come first apparently. Or do your own research to figure out some essential information. Always have the idea so your decisions would not cause any regrets and problems.

Adequate time in exercise. Exercising daily, at the very least thirty minutes or so can somehow retain the youthful glow and beauty you long to have. Perform strength exercise and other tolerable training which can hone your figure and make it slender. Actually, the key to a successful exercise is to have the determination and even the diligence to continue this daily.

Be safe against the sun. Staying out of the sun will help fight wrinkles. However, you will get less vitamin D. On the brighter side, skin cancer prevention is also possible. A certain doctor once said that people must not avoid sun. In lieu of that, they should not get any sunburn which greatly affects the skin. Spend some time in the sun but bring lotion along with you.

Drink adequate amount of water. The water is believed to provide numerous benefits. Even if only contain basic elements, it can somehow improve the condition of your skin. In addition, such element is also responsible for flushing toxins to the body and provide the required nutrients. So, consider drinking enough water every day to keep you healthy and protected.

Avoid stress. We all know that stress is one of the evident reason why aging is possible. If you feel exhausted and tired, refrain from doing work. Once you feel stressed out, have some adequate rest. Overexposure to stress can somehow produce an old look on the face.

Have enough rest. Sleep is absolutely indispensable. Rest apparently diminishes with age. Always spare time for yourself by getting adequate sleep every night so you can wake up the next morning a lot healthier and better thus improving your health.

About the Author:

When you are looking for the facts about anti aging doctors, pay a visit to our web pages online here today. More details are available at http://energeticfitness.com now.

Valid Information About Mitochondrial DNA And Aging

By Heidi Carver

Several years ago, scientists started to believe that aging is primarily caused by the mitochondrial DNA. If this type of gene gets damaged, then you would be able to see the effects directly on your skin. However, there is still a lot of argument going on with this matter. Thus, be able to know the truth behind this claimed theory courtesy of this short yet informative article.

Truth be told, the theory is not bulletproof. It has some flaws and other scientists were able to notice that. For example, mitochondrial DNA and aging may be related to each other but the former would only have an effect on the latter under well planned situations such as an implied mutation and that can only happen in a lab.

If you want a proof to this process, then you should be able to see the kind of experiment which has been performed on a lab rat. Scientists have managed to expand the hereditary gene in the body of the animal causing it to have wrinkles in just a short amount of time. They have used some medical equipment of course.

Moreover, this theory is not the only existing explanation as to why people could never help but age over time. It is just one point in the long list of conclusions in the world of health and science. Also, you have to know that mitochondrial DNA mutate naturally so there is really nothing that you can do to stop reaching old age.

On the other hand, the only fault that this gene has is its participation in the increase of the oxidation stress level in your body. It may be a tiny object but it can easily amplify and mediate the level under specific circumstances. However, keep in mind that as the owner of your body, you actually have full knowledge on what is stressing it out. There are a lot of things that you would be able to do to fight these factors. You would just have to do them at your own will.

On top of that, having mitochondria in your body is not a bad thing. This gene plays an essential and helpful role in both your nervous and digestive system. It is present in your system for a purpose. You just have to try your best in preventing it from reaching the mutation stage so you would be able to look as young as you are.

The genetic material may have a bad side to it but then you cannot help but have an unhealthy lifestyle as well. Moreover, people grow old all the time. Aging is definitely not unusual.

If the hormones in your body are not properly balanced, then that can contribute to your aging as well. Thus, have a complete set of supplements and vitamins for your health. Observe proper hygiene too.

Overall, mitochondrial DNA is something that you do not have to fear about. You can reduce the speed of aging on you own. You would just have to take all the necessary measures.

About the Author:

When you are looking for information about mitochondrial DNA and aging, pay a visit to the web pages online here today. You can see details at http://www.mytimechallenger.com now.

Helpful Tips About Health And Aging

By Mattie Knight

As people grow older, the body will no longer be as youthful and healthy is it used to be, just like how machines tend to experience wear ad tear the more that they are used, the same holds true for the human physique as well. Being able to find the right steps on how to stay in good health despite being older is something that everybody should be aiming for.

Still there are things that one can do if his intent is to make sure that he gets to stay on top of his wellness. Achieving both health and aging is actually more than possible. All that one really has to do is make sure that he knows what are the some of the steps that he can pursue or lifestyle changes that he can introduce to allow him to live healthier, better.

It is always important to be more conscious of the lifestyle choices that you are going for. As you grow older, it is always best to proactively choose the healthier ones. For instance, stay away from habit that are only likely to cause your wellness to deteriorate. So, lay off on the smoke. Minimize your drinking. Make sure that you take steps in reducing stress in your life as well.

Maintain a positive outlook. Keeping a healthy body does not only mean taking care of your physique. It means paying attention to your mental and your psychological wellness as well. All too often, people forget that. They have to remember that they can never be truly happy unless they maintain the right attitude. A positive outlook kick out those stresses off of life. So, one is happier, healthier as a result.

Keep yourself active. Oftentimes, the older people get, the more likely it is that they will forego staying active and doing exercise. This should not be the case. What you need to do instead is to continue engaging in activities that allows you to exert psychical effort. This helps you keep your body healthier and stronger. At the same time, it helps in keeping you trim the whole time.

Eat healthy. Watch out what you are stuffing on your mouth. Many people end up forgetting how much of an impact their food choices are going to have about their health. Stay away from food that are considered to be unhealthy choices for you. Stick to fruits and vegetables and other food groups that are meant to help keep you healthier the whole time.

Be sure to practice preventive measures when it comes to the many activities that you tend to take part of. You have to remember that your body is no longer as supple and strong as it used to before. The last thing you want to is to just go ahead and do things recklessly and cause yourself to be exposed to injuries and other related accidents.

Also, see your doctor regularly. This is a time when you need to really be more attentive to the fact that you have to see your doctor at least once a year. This is important so you are sure that if there are medical issues you are suffering from. They are detected early on and they are addressed as well.

About the Author:

If you are searching for information about health and aging, go to our web pages online here today. Additional details are available at http://www.agingwithhealth.com now.

Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

by Nina

As many of you may have realized by now, Facebook is very sneaky about which posts they show to who. From our end, we can see exactly how many people even see a post (as opposed to those who like it). And sometimes it’s a very small percentage of our over 10,000 followers, even when we’re sharing something pretty important.

So today I thought I’d give you a little tip about how to ensure that you always see the posts, that is, if you want to. (Why am I doing this on the blog and not on Facebook? Well, having tried this before, I know that if I write a post about how to use Facebook, Facebook will ensure it gets very little exposure. Oh, your algorithms are so clever, Facebook. I’m not being paranoid; it’s a business thing. Facebook wants us to pay to get more exposure for our posts, but you know we’re entirely not-for-profit, right?).

Anyway, you can explicitly request for any public page that you follow that you see posts from that page first thing in your feed. Here’s how to do it on a personal computer. (See below for phones.)

1. Start by going to the page and looking at the button where you originally Liked the page.

2. Click on the downward-pointing arrow. You will see a pop-up window that looks like this.

3. Click "All On" to see all notifications. If you like, click See "First" to ensure you'll see our posts at the beginning of your feed.

That’s all you have to do! If you give it a try, let us know if it works well for you.

On Phones. If you're trying to make the same change from a phone, try this: If you've already liked the page, you should see a Follow button to the right of the Like button. Click the Follow button and select "See First." If you haven't yet liked the page, click the Like button first, and you should then see the Follow button.

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Aging Diabetes and Yoga Stereotypes That Are Truly Dangerous

by Melitta Rorty

Tracks by Brad Gibson

When most people think of diabetes, they think of diabetes associated with obesity (particularly abdominal obesity) and older age. When the mass media uses the term diabetes, it almost always is in reference to Type 2 diabetes, but never stated as such. Yet fully 20-25% of all cases of diabetes are Type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes, which is an autoimmune disease that can occur at any age, including in the elderly, and which requires exogenous insulin for survival.

The stereotypes, widely held both by the general public and medical doctors, are that Type 1 diabetes is strictly a childhood disease and Type 2 diabetes is a consequence of older age and obesity. A particular danger for those who acquire Type 1 diabetes as adults is that they will be misdiagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes, an altogether different disease with different genetics, causes, treatments, and potential cures. The consequences of misdiagnosis are extreme:  rapid onset of diabetic complications and even death.  Fully 10% of people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes have the autoantibody markers for Type 1 autoimmune diabetes and have been misdiagnosed; that equates to millions of people in the United States alone who are misdiagnosed.

I, myself, experienced the harsh reality of misdiagnosis. In 1995, at the age of 35, I was hospitalized in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), but because of my age, I was misdiagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes (by an endocrinologist who is a medical school professor), despite having zero risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. I was removed from life-saving intravenous (IV) insulin and released from the hospital, treated only with oral medications for Type 2 diabetes, a disease that I do not have.  Thankfully, I remained misdiagnosed for only about a week, because in that time I read all the literature about diabetes that was provided to me at the hospital, and realized that the symptoms I had (extreme weight loss, diabetic ketoacidosis, blood glucose 7 times normal, massive ketones in urine) were that of Type 1 diabetes and not Type 2 diabetes. When I confronted the endocrinologist who (mis)diagnosed me, to his credit he admitted he had made a mistake and apologized. Then he changed my diagnosis to Type 1 diabetes and put me on exogenous insulin. Since that time, I have come to know hundreds of others who have been similarly misdiagnosed, and I have worked diligently to dispel the myth that Type 1 autoimmune diabetes is a childhood disease.

Sadly, not much has changed since 1995 and misdiagnosis is still extremely common today, in spite of widely available diagnostic tests that can assist with obtaining a correct diagnosis.  As stated in a recent Wall Street Journal article on the problem of misdiagnosis,

"Most of my [adult Type 1 patients] have been misdiagnosed as having Type 2," says Robin Goland, co-director of the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. "Once the right diagnosis is made the patient feels much, much better, but they are distrustful of doctors and who could blame them?"

In the United States, a medical doctor faces no repercussions if he/she misdiagnosis a person as having Type 2 diabetes when in reality the person has adult-onset Type 1 diabetes. The governing bodies (the Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus; the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists) describe the different diseases that fall under the umbrella term “diabetes,” but they do not identify any protocols for differentiating amongst the different diseases. So there is no requirement to diagnose, classify, and appropriately treat the different diseases that fall under the term “diabetes.” If there were a standard or guideline, doctors would be held accountable to the minimum standard of care:  anything less would be malpractice. From my perspective, the lack of guidelines appears to be about limiting medical liability, not about enhancing patient care and saving lives.

If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with diabetes and for any reason you suspect it may not be Type 2 diabetes, request that your doctor run autoantibody tests and the c-peptide test. Dr. Lou Philipson, Director of the Kovler Diabetes Center (University of Chicago) says:

“What I teach is that it is always important to ask oneself why a given patient has diabetes and what kind they have [Type 1, Type 2, or another form of diabetes]. Do not assume. If you have doubts, get another opinion, or get a referral to a see a specialist. Persistence can be life-saving.”

How does all this relate to yoga and healthy aging? I started practicing yoga six months before my first symptoms of diabetes. When I was newly diagnosed, I was in extreme despair—I thought my life was ruined. But yoga saved my life then by allowing me some space and freedom from constant thoughts about my disease. And yoga continues to save my life today by helping me stay calm and focused despite the daily grind of self-care that those of us with Type 1 diabetes must do. I recommend yoga to anyone who has to live with the stress of chronic illness.

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