Want to know why you’re aging so well? You can look to your mother for the answer. Recent studies have shown that the genes that moms contribute to their children directly affect how well the child will age. If the mom happens to pass on certain mutations, then the child will age more quickly. But whether or not your mother passed along good genes or bad, there are some ways to help yourself age well: Sleep. When you sleep, your body has the chance to restore itself. It also forms new connections and memories in the brain. So if you
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Posts by Freedom Home Care
Link Discovered between Sugar and Alzheimer’s Disease
In the Unites States alone, there are over 5 million Alzheimer’s patients, and that number is poised to double within the next 20 years. Why so high? That’s what scientists are trying to figure out. As a newly published study suggests, we may have more answers as to what causes Alzheimer’s disease. The newest culprit? Sugar. There has long been a link between diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease, but it seems that even adults who do not have diabetes but have higher blood sugar run a greater risk. Blood sugar levels rise and fall throughout the day in everyone. The problem
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Are You a Super Ager?
Do you have a brain that puts you in the pristine category of Super Ager? If so, Northwestern University is looking for you! They are going to begin researching exactly what makes a super ager so, well, super. They will be doing brain scans, running tests, and eventually examining the brains of the super agers after they have passed. Do you have what it takes to do this study? Northwestern scientists are being very selective and have only found 35 super agers out of the over 400 applicants. But even if you aren’t a super ager, what can you do
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Advances in Medicine: Stimulating Nerves to Treat Diseases
There’s a new treatment that’s common for several conditions – nerve stimulation. Attaching electrodes to the brain and peripheral nerves is fairly new but it is having amazing results for various diseases. Here are three that are benefiting from this new technology. Rheumatoid Arthritis – This condition happens when the immune system becomes over stimulated and begins attacking the patient’s joints, making the joints painful and losing range of motion. Although medication is the common way to slow this, now doctors are testing to see if neural implants will work better. They connect it to a spinal nerve that regulates
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3 Things That All Seniors Want
What do seniors really want? That is a question many people are trying to answer. As baby boomers are becoming older we are seeing a new kind of senior emerging in the population. Gone are the days of spending all day playing bingo and bridge. Many seniors want new adventures and actually thrive on having fun. Here are some of the things that many seniors in the modern times are seeking as they age: Activity. Seniors, now more than ever, are getting active. Many are taking advantage of senior exercise classes, but others also regularly practice yoga, take up running,
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Is Your Immune System Causing Alzheimer’s?
As you know, new research is constantly testing theories about Alzheimer’s disease and new ideas are always popping up. One of the most interesting and current theories is that a senior’s immune system may be the culprit in causing dementia. To discover this, scientists had to start at the very beginning: infancy. They noticed that when the brain was forming in babies, it often created too many connections. When certain connections were determined to not be needed, the immune system would send out a set of special proteins to eliminate them. This keeps the baby’s brain working smoothly as he
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Can Limiting Calories Extend Your Life?
It sounds simple enough: severely limit your caloric intake and you will live longer. But does it work? Scientists decided to test this theory that has been touted by health experts for years to see if they had really found a “longevity diet”. Using rhesus monkeys, which are very genetically similar to humans, they fed some only 70% of a normal diet. The remainder they let eat freely. And, although the restricted monkeys had better cholesterol and triglyceride levels, the monkeys basically had the same life expectancy. This is different from earlier monkey research that seemed to suggest that calorie
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3 Ways To Overcome Social Isolation
As more baby boomers enter their senior years, they are beginning to make choices as to how they want to live. Many seniors choose to remain at home to maintain independence, but social isolation can become an unintended side effect. Here are some ways to overcome it: Volunteer. Getting active in your community is a great way to stay social while helping others. Having trouble finding ways to help? Offer to help keep up the gardens for the local park district. Answer phones for your PBS telethon. You can even read newspapers to the blind over the radio. Have some
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3 Reasons to Dance The Night Away
Do you love to dance? Are you a whiz at disco? Are your jazz moves legendary? If so, you’re on your way to some healthy senior years. Everyone knows that physical activity is essential for a healthy life, but it seems that dancing has some added health benefits. Doctors and researchers are finding new reasons every year to get down and boogie. Here are a few specific reasons to tie on your dancin’ shoes. It fights dementia. Studies show that if a senior dances (or, in the case of the study, waltzes) at least twice a week, he is much
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Would You Live Forever?
With science and technology advancing every day, it’s not hard to think that in fifty years from now people may be living well into their hundredth years. According to a survey, many people think that in less than 40 years the average life expectancy could be 120 or older. But the question is, do people really want to live that long? It really comes down to quality of life. Those who believe that they will have a good quality of life in their advanced years are all for medical advancements to increase life expectancy. Those who fear having a declining
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