Wellness Corner

One of the things that we are most concerned about as we start to age is that our bodies and / or our minds are going to give out on us. One of the best ways to prevent this type of physical or mental deterioration is to stay as active as possible into our later years.

One report is suggesting that elderly people should engage in the act of volunteering after retirement in order to keep themselves active. They are further suggesting that this volunteering should be in the form of taking actions that improve the environment.

Environmental volunteerism has benefits to the society as well as to the individual. The elderly person who is out there cleaning up rivers is someone who is going to be more physically active than someone volunteering in a place where they sit around all day answering phones or stuffing envelopes.

And seniors are in a unique position to truly understand the impact of human activity on the environment which means that they may lend an important perspective to the cause. Ultimately, we are all going to live longer and healthier lives is our environment is in better condition.

Question of the Day: Will elderly people have a better quality of life as they age if they engage in volunteerism?

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We hear a lot about the relationship between tobacco and cancer. Everyone knows that you shouldn't smoke because smoking leads to cancer. So wouldn't you be shocked to find out that researchers are working on a vaccine for cancer which actually includes tobacco as one of the ingredience in the vaccine?!

"Researchers in the US took antibodies from patients with a type of lymphoma, grew them in genetically modified tobacco plants, extracted them, and reinjected the individualized vaccines back into the patients, where in most cases it produced an immune response that helped to fight the cancer." (source)

The truth is that this isn't so shocking after all. Many times the ingredients used in a product don't really have the same effect as they would when used in an entirely different product. What's interesting here is really that researchers even thought to try this! And what's really important to take away from it is the fact that there could one day be a cancer vaccine out there.

Question of the Day: How can tobacco be used to create a cancer vaccine?

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One of the most important questions that medical researchers have asked in recent years is how to keep adults healthy as they age. One of the clear answers seems to be to keep them active. Physical and psychological activity help to keep both body and brain working properly into the later years of life.

A new study from Australia suggests that one form of physical activity that may be particularly beneficial to aging adults is resistance training. This form of exercise appears to be able to improve muscle strength, increase power and enhance physical functioning. It also appears to prevent later-in-life diseases.

Basically, the goal of resistance training is to build strength. This strength allows for greater health, a better quality of life and ultimately more independence for adults as they age. These are the things that anti-aging medical experts are seeking to find.

Question of the Day: Is resistance training a form of anti-aging exercise?

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There is a new study being undertaken which addresses a topic that isn't often covered by medical researchers. The topic is that of risky drinking. Sure, we hear a lot about the risks of drinking but most of those studies are related to the problems that occur when teens and young adults engage in risky drinking behavior. It's not nearly as common to study the effects of risky drinking on seniors over the age of 55 which is precisely what this study is doing.

"It is now estimated that 60% of older people coming into hospital because of repeated falls, confusion, chest infections and heart failure have undiagnosed alcohol problems." (source)

One of the things that the study wants to find out is whether or not the researchers are correct in their hypothesis that older people suffer the consequences of risky drinking at a much lower consumption rate of younger people. The study will also explore what can be done to treat seniors who have been identified as having this problem.

Question of the Day: How does risky drinking impact the elderly?

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People are highly interested in all of the different subtopics that make up the topic of anti-aging. Their specific interests may vary. Some people want to know how to improve their quality of life as they age whereas others are interested in the medical advances being made to extend the length of life. However, the fact that people are interested in the topic doesn't change a whole lot from person to person.

Why?

Here are some of the major reasons that we as a society are interested in anti-aging:

- We fear aging. When we fear something, we want to work to understand it. Aging still eludes as so we are still afraid of it and therefore want to know more.

- We want to feel good. There is a belief that getting old means getting sick of body and mind. Anti-aging is of interest because it works to fight against that belief.

- We are interested in science. Humans have long been trying to push the boundaries of their existence. Anti-aging medicine aims to defy the process of aging and death and is therefore a highly interesting area of study for many people.

- It has so many facets. Because of the fact that there are so many different aspects to anti-aging, there are many different ways that we can be pulled in to this topic.

Anti-aging has been of interest to people for a long time and will likely continue to be of interest.

Question of the Day: What makes people interested in anti-aging medicine?

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One of the things that has taken place as humans start to live longer and longer is that they are more likely to die of specific diseases than of "old age". As a result, the majority of medical research that is done to improve the quality of life for aging adults is focused on how to cure specific diseases related to aging (such as Alzheimer's or diabetes). It can be argued, however, that it would be more effective to combat the general health issue of aging rather than trying to fight specific diseases.

The basic sentiment behind this argument is the belief that curing individual diseases has a limited effect on the number of lives that are going to be improved as a result of success. In contrast, delaying or reversing aging altogether would have a widespread effect and could ultimately lead to the avoidance or reduction of a multitude of the different diseases that are impacted by aging.

Learn more about this argument here.

Question of the Day: Should we be working to cure individual diseases or focusing our efforts on reversing aging?

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Men who are dealing with prostate cancer may undergo a variety of different aspects of treatment. One of the most common aspects is to use androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to prevent the male hormones from continuing to feed the prostate cancer. One of the major drawbacks of this treatment is that it has been shown to weaken the bones and to lead to more bone fractures in aging men. A new study reports that the bone drug denosumab can be successfully used to strengthen the bones in these males in order to reduce fractures while still allowing for full treatment of the prostate cancer.

The study was an intensive three-year study which proved that men who took the drug were able to achieve a significant increase in their bone mineral density despite the fact that were using ADT therapy to prevent the spread of prostate cancer. This is comparable to similar studies completed in women regarding the use of the drug to increase bone mineral density. This could prove to be an effective addition to prostate cancer treatment regimens in the future.

Question of the Day: What should be done to reduce bone fractures in men who are going through hormone therapy for treatment of prostate cancer?

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One of the most important areas of study in terms of longevity is the study of Alzheimer's and dementia. This is because people are not only seeking to live longer lives but also want to maintain a high quality of life into these later years. Diseases affecting the brain's memory are devastating to the aging individual.

There is hope for those people who have been studying these diseases. A new study indicates that it may be possible to detect Alzheimer's in the early stages using specific biological markers. Earlier detection means earlier treatment which can ultimately mean a higher quality of life into the later years.

The biological marker in this study is a look at the size of specific brain ventricles. It has been found that an increase in the size of these ventricles is directly associated with the development of Alzheimer's. Being able to see this in the early stages can lead to the possibility of early treatment.

Learn more about this important study here.

Question of the Day: What can be done to reduce or eliminate Alzheimer's in order to enhance the quality of life as we age?

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Yesterday we reported on the fact that an increasing number of elderly people say that they are having active and satisfying sex lives even after the age of seventy. One part of that study that wasn't mentioned in our report was the fact that when the sex fails to be satisfying at this age, both men and women tend to blame the man in the relationship. There may be many reasons for this but one of them is certainly the issue of erectile dysfunction which is something that must be dealt with by men as they age. A new study indicates that the best method of preventing erectile dysfunction might actually be to engage in more frequent sexual intercourse.

This study was of men aged 55 to 75 so it doesn't specifically address the over-seventy population but does include this population as a part of the study. The study looked at whether the men had sex at least once per week or less than once per week. Those men who were having sex less frequently than once per week were twice as likely to experience problems with erectile dysfunction. Could this be a case of "use it or lose it"?

Question of the Day: What causes men who have infrequent sex to be more susceptible to erectile dysfunction as they age?

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As a society, we have started to recognize that elderly people do indeed have sex and that they enjoy it. Now that there are Viagra commercials on TV, this isn't something that is kept underground. However, it's not something that we really talk about too openly and it's still an area of medical research that needs additional exploration.

One recent study which delved into the area of sexuality among older people has found that the number of people around the age of seventy who are having sex has increased significantly in the past thirty years. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that there has been a corresponding increase in the number of elderly people who report having good sex.

There are many different reasons for this. More open discussion about female orgasm, medical aids to assist with the hormonal imbalances caused by aging and a general willingness to talk more about sex in older years may all contribute to the larger number of people at this age who are reporting that they have healthy sex lives.

Question of the Day: What has caused the great increase in the number of elderly people reporting that they have healthy sex lives?

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