Exercise has a very important role in the general health and the quality of life of everyone, but especially in seniors. Seniors who walk tend to look younger, sleep more soundly and have fewer visits to the doctor. Walking for 30 to 60 minutes four to six days a week will help improve osteoarthritis and decrease the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Walking is the top recreational sport for seniors.
Although many seniors may be scared to start an exercise program because they are worried about injury, the health benefits of exercise outweigh the risk of injury. Walking is considered one of the best forms of exercise because it’s safe, cheap and easy. Unfortunately, foot problems can prevent seniors from starting or continuing with a walking program. Follow these tips to help avoid foot problems when walking:
1. Choose the right shoe. Make sure the shoe is supportive and bends only at the toes. The shoe should also be stable from side to side. If you can twist the shoe or fold it in half, it is too flexible. The shoe should have enough wiggle room for the toes, yet be snug enough to keep the heel from slipping.
2. Buy shoes in the afternoon. Feet swell during the day and it is better to fit your shoes at this time. The only exception to this rule would be if you always do your walks in the mornings. Make sure your foot is measured at the store to obtain your correct size. Feet change size over time. Most feet lengthen and widen over the years, increasing the shoe size. Don’t assume you’ve always been the same shoe size.
3. Start slowly with an easy pace. Try a short walk of 15 minutes and gradually increase the time each day.
4. If you haven’t walked before, make sure you start on a flat, soft surface. A great surface to start on is a level, dirt path. Don’t jump into climbing hills until you build some endurance.
5. Warm up before walks. Gentle stretching before and after walking can improve circulation and prevent injury. But, don’t over stretch. If you haven’t stretched before, be careful not to over do it. This can lead to injury.
6. Avoid walking in bad weather. Cold, wet weather makes surfaces slippery and hard and decreases visibility. Muscles can become tight and the feet can become numb, increasing the chance of injury.
7. Examine your feet after the walk. Look for areas of irritation, red spots, blisters or areas of swelling. Self-treating can turn a minor problem into a major problem. Consult a podiatrist if a problem persists.
8. Avoid cotton socks. The white cotton socks you’ve been told to wear all these years are not appropriate for exercise walking. Synthetic or wool socks will help wick moisture away from your feet as you walk. This will decrease your chance of fungal infections, excess rubbing or blister formation.
9. Walk in well-lit places. The darker the trail or road, the more difficult it is to see and the higher the chance you will have of tripping, falling or twisting an ankle.
10. Don’t walk through pain. As soon as you notice a foot problem, stop walking. If you continue walking with an injury you could be making the problem worse. If you feel it’s necessary to continue your exercise program, try using a stationary bike while you give your foot a rest. If a few days of rest does not resolve the problem, see a podiatrist.
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Posts Tagged ‘Heart Disease’
It’s a sad fact of life that much of the research published in the medical journals is depressing. These scientists spend their lives studying all the different ways in which people can die. There are only a few major breakthroughs each year. The rest of the time, the best you can hope for is a small step forward in understanding the problems. In the case of erectile dysfunction (ED) there is a clear trend emerging. In England, Dr Kirby who recently published Sleeping With Ed, has been co-ordinating research into the relationship between men with ED and cardiovascular disease. The current state of the research shows that the first symptoms of ED double the risk of developing heart disease within four years. The reason is easy to state. The usual physical reason for ED is that the artery leading into the penis does not dilate properly. This is a narrow artery. If there is a problem with this artery now, the same problem is likely to affect the larger arteries in the chest and lungs next. ED is a better predictor of heart disease than high cholesterol, high blood pressure or among smokers. The next phase of the research is to begin treating men with drugs to lower the levels of lipids and statins to see whether fewer cases of heart disease emerge. But in the UK, many doctors continue to view ED as a problem of lifestyle and not as the basis of predicting more serious health problems.
In the US, the Mayo Clinic has recently published an important new study demonstrating that heart disease can be slowed or halted by early medical intervention. This means treating all younger men between 40 and 49 who consult their doctors with ED as potential heart patients. So, when you go see your doctor about ED, do not be surprised if a range of tests for heart disease are ordered. For the record, between 5 and 10% of men under 40 are likely to experience ED. It then becomes increasingly common as men age. Between 40 and 60% of men over 70 are affected.
So, this research is good news for two reasons. The first is that, having proved the link, it is now possible to prevent the early deaths of many younger men from strokes or heart attacks. Drugs to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol levels, improved diet and exercise combine in a regime to extend lives. All this is possible because you experience ED. The second reason is that levitra will offer immediate relief to the problem of ED. However, you should not buy levitra on the internet and self-medicate. You need careful guidance on dosage if you do start taking other drugs to control your blood pressure. That said, with proper guidance, there is no reason why, with levitra, you should not cure the ED, and live a longer and more satisfying life as a result.
Erectile dysfunction is a condition that most men fear worse than any other health problem. While this may sound quite illogical, knowing that there are many more serious diseases and conditions that can affect a man’s health, erectile dysfunction still remains to be one of the most unpleasant that can happen. And it will certainly happen at a certain point of a man’s life as almost all men experience erectile problems regardless of their age.
But what is erectile dysfunction?
Some men believe that erectile dysfunction (ED) is when they can get an erection from time to time. Occasional problems with erection are common in all men no matter what your friends would like you to believe about their abilities. A little stress at work, a close deadline you can’t stop thinking about, too much beer last night – these are only some of examples when erection can go wrong. But this doesn’t mean that you have erectile dysfunction! Doctors define erectile dysfunction as the inability to obtain and sustain an erection hard enough for successful intimacy in more than 25% of all attempts. And that’s a lot more than you probably encounter. However, if your statistics are saying that you have ED it’s time to pay your doctor a visit.
What can cause erectile dysfunction?
Before you rush off to buy Cialis, first learn what the causes of ED are because they are crucial for defining the right type of treatment to overcome the condition with. Erectile dysfunction usually has two types of causes behind it that are usually divided into physiological and psychological categories. Quite often there’s a mix of both categories, however by improving any of the factors you will be able to overcome the main cause too.
Psychological causes of ED:
- stress
- fatigue
- depression
- mental illness
- relationship problems
- lack of interest in the current partner
Physiological causes of ED:
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
- kidney disease
- heart disease
- alcoholism or smoking
- recreational drug abuse
- medication side effects
- physically deformed penis
- injuries in the penile area
As you may understand different causes require different methods and you can’t treat ED caused by depression with drugs like Cialis.
If you have a psychological factor causing erectile dysfunction then you will need a help of a psychotherapist, nothing more. An experienced profession is able to solve your problem in a couple of sessions without any medications or special procedures.
If your erectile problems are caused by physiological factors then you will need something more substantial than group therapy. First, by eliminating or improving the condition causing ED you will definitely experience improvements in your sexual abilities. For example, if you have diabetes lowering your blood sugar levels will contribute to better and stronger erections over some time. In most cases of when physiological factors are involved you can use drugs like generic Cialis to improve your condition. These drugs will increase the blood flow in the penile area that is usually affected by the majority of the mentioned conditions. If you are drinking, smoking or abusing street drugs you will notice substantial improvement in your erectile function after kicking these bad habits. Lifestyle changes can also be crucial for eliminating ED, especially if you have stationary work and don’t have much physical activity throughout the day. Exercise more, switch to a healthier diet and your erections will improve respectively!
There’s always quite a big slice of the population that’s down. For them, the world revolves through shades of grey into black and back again, and there’s nothing worse than meeting happy people to make them feel really bad. Somehow all the bitterness and resentment comes to the surface. It’s a Scrooge, “Bah, humbug!” day everyday, including Christmas, if the crowd around them is bouncing around being all joyful. Perhaps it’s a fear the happiness might somehow be infectious. They want to drive all these jolly people away unless, in a moment of weakness, they find a little joy creeps up and bites them on whichever part of the anatomy might be exposed. But, for whatever reason, unhappy people resist happiness with a real enthusiasm. Sadly, the increasing body of medical evidence is that this is shortening their lives.
Let’s start with the European Heart Journal which, this month, is carrying an article suggesting that people who find peace and joy, if not excitement, in their lives are less likely to suffer from heart disease. This is not to say everyone should walk around in a state of pure contentment all the time. Everyone is entitled to periods when they feel angry, anxious or depressed. It’s a balance between dark and light. It seems the people who feel positive about themselves for longer, live longer. While those who lapse into longer lasting anxiety and depressive states are more likely to suffer heart attacks. This builds on an increasing body of research findings that happy people have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure and are less likely to contract diabetes. Just as important, people with a positive outlook are more likely to enjoy good sleep, only drink moderate amounts of alcohol and are better able to quit smoking. But, as with all science, there is a need for more research. The immediate article comes out of a ten-year study involving 1,740 participants. This is on the borderline of statistical significance. There should more more studies involving larger numbers of people to tease out all the complex strands that contribute to longer or shorter life expectancy.
For those of you interested in this issue, you will find it useful to look at http://www.springerlink.com/content/0474658172222350/fulltext.pdf. The most interesting studies involve groups of nuns who live 7 to 10 years longer than average. They live “stress-free” quite unlike the modern secular majority whose lives are blighted by worry and anxiety. As it stands, the medical profession prefers to deal with simple remedies. To keep health insurance costs to a minimum, physicians write out a prescription for xanax while signalling for the next patient to enter. Dealing with abstract notions of happiness is not in the program for time-crunched doctors. This is unfortunate because, although there is no evidence that happiness cures serious illness, it can always make the experience of illness more bearable. This does not deny that if you buy anti-anxiety drugs like xanax online, you will not find anxiety levels reduce. But there is a difference between an absence of anxiety and a positive attitude to life. The evidence is mounting that happiness improves longevity. So, if you want to avoid an early death, start looking for a little joy. You never know. It may just creep up on you and bite you when you are least expecting it. That bite could add years to your life.
Well, let’s begin our talk with the gossip and then get serious. It seems Gabourey Sidibe who was recently nominated for an Oscar for her role in Precious, has been approached by a weight loss company. It wants to help her lose weight and, of course, by doing so enhance its own reputation. What makes the story so interesting is the aggressiveness of the approach. Here is a young woman who is obviously not unhappy with the way she looks and is successful as she is. Yet a weight loss company thinks she should want to lose weight. Now we could assume this company is altruistic. It knows being obese significantly increases the risk of diabetes, arthritis, some cancers, a stoke or heart disease. If anyone overweight can lose between 5 and 10% of their body weight, these risks are reduced or completely disappear. So why look for celebrity endorsement? The answer lies in the national statistics.
In 2009, the National Institutes of Health reported obese people in the US represented 34% of the population while the number who were merely overweight represented only 32.7%. For the record, this classifies 72 million people as obese, i.e. their BMI is 30 or higher. In fact, the rate of obesity has doubled over the last thirty years and, being dispassionate about it, this represents a major market for weight loss products and services. Billions of dollars are at stake. Against this background, the San Diego Medical Center has been running a clinical trial on POSE. This is a new approach to bariatric surgery. The increasingly common lap band procedure requires the surgeon to enter the body through the abdomen and this inevitably leaves a scar. POSE is surgery performed using an endoscope. This is a device pushed down the throat and into the stomach without any need for an incision. Once inside the stomach, there are tools operated remotely by the surgeon. This allows the stomach walls to be sutured, reducing available space by about one-third. Thus, the effect is the same as in conventional surgery. Patients begin to feel full minutes after starting to eat. Thus, for those who have vanity issues and want to achieve a “body beautiful”, this form of surgery promotes weight loss without scars.
For the purposes of the trial, only people who have a long history of weight problems are being considered. But, if the trial proves a long-term success, you will probably see this type of procedure heavily advertized for people of all weights. It’s not our policy to argue people should not have surgery. There may come a time when people prove themselves so lacking in will power to diet and exercise that physically preventing them from overeating is the only way of saving their lives. But what does concern us is the notion that surgery should become the normal response to weight problems. As a nation, do we really want to spend millions of dollars every year on surgery when the solution to the problem is a diet, physical exercise and phentermine? Just think for a moment. Phentermine is an effective appetite suppressant. Why do people using it not lose weight in the long term? Because they continue to eat massive portions of unhealthy food. People are unable to prevent themselves from overeating. What does that say about the character of Americans? We have become a nation of food junkies, so addicted to eating, we cannot stop even when we know it’s killing us.