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Elder Health
Among the Ancients and
throughout the Middle Ages sage was in high repute
Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto?
'Why should a man die whilst sage grows in his garden?'
This page is to assist our Elders with health concerns. It is important because of the declining treatment and lack of service available to this segment of our communities.
"Naturally
Healthy
Options for Seniors" - Natural
Health Classes for Elders
Sponsor
a Class in Your Community
Thank you to Secure Horizons for sponsoring our very popular "Herbal Options for Seniors" classes in the Puget Sound area.
An apple (or two) a day can keep your memory from fraying...Apples and apple juice boosts the memory boosting brain chemical acetylcholine.
"Q10 CAN REDUCE SIDE EFFECTS"- A daily supplement of coenzyme Q10 could avoid serious damage to the heart & liver in people who are prescribed statins, cholesterol lowering drugs, says Julian Whitaker, a US medical doctor in a petition to the American Food & Drug Administration. The petition requests drug manufacturers to advise patients taking statins to take a capsule of 100-200 mg. of Q10. This is because statins disrupt the body's production of Q10, so increasing the risk of serious liver dysfunction & heart failure. Worldwide there are approximately 25 million statin users. Q10 is a natural substance produced inside the body cells. Mature Times
Older people who are short on vitamin B12 have more trouble recalling certain words, and low levels of B9 (folate) may add to the brain drain. Try adding salmon and beans to your diet to get B12 and folate.
Contrary to what most doctors today think, healthy individuals require about 2400-2800 mcg B12 daily. Shots are the best, high quality troches are next. It's the intracellular B12 that counts, not what is in the blood.
Folic Acid Protects The Brain:
A certain amount of mental decline is considered a normal component of aging; however, severe cognitive dysfunction related to aging is regarded as pathologic. Many researchers are studying methods to improve memory and other cognitive functions as we age. In a study of healthy people, ages 50-75, folic acid supplementation (800 micrograms daily for three years) resulted in better memory and cognitive speed scores compared to those who took a placebo. Individuals taking folic acid had memory scores comparable to people 5.5 years younger, and cognitive speed scores of people 1.9 years younger. The as-yet unpublished study, presented in June at the Alzheimer’s Association meeting, did not look at possible prevention of Alzheimer’s disease with
folate, but did show that moderate folic acid supplement can slow age-related cognitive decline.
Miller AL. The methionine-homocysteine cycle and its effects on cognitive function. Altern Med Rev 2003;8(1):7-19.
"ELIXIR GIVES ELDERLY MUSCLE" - Senior citizens could avoid aches & pains by taking athletes' natural amino acid supplements. These also help prevent muscle wasting after chemotherapy. Prof. Melinda Sheffield-Moore led the research at University of Texas. She said that a burden of ageing is weakness & muscle wasting. Muscle mass increased by 2-4% in the elderly given small amounts of amino acids, even without additional exercise. She said that with exercise this would strengthen muscles even more.
We offer specialized supplement plans for Elders
Three studies show dietary supplements improve health of seniors - Three recent clinical studies showed that dietary supplements can treat nutritional deficiencies in the elderly, boost their immune systems, combat short-term memory loss, reduce risks of Alzheimer's, and improve seniors' overall health. The first, conducted at Memorial University of Newfoundland, concluded that supplementation with moderate amounts of 18 vitamins, minerals, and trace elements improved short-term memory and overall cognitive abilities and strengthened immune system function in 86 elderly people treated over the course of one year. A separate study published in the May 2001 issue of Neurology found that seniors with low levels of folate and vitamin B12 have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. A third study, published in the August 2001 issue of Nutrition, showed that nutritional deficiencies greatly increase with age, and that supplement use helps eliminate these deficiencies in the elderly. However, a recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that the age group over 65 is least likely to discuss dietary supplements with doctors. PRNewswire, September 10, 2001.
How healthy living 'extends life'
It is already known that drinking a little red wine and cooking with olive oil may help us to live longer.
Now experts say adopting four simple lifestyle measures more than halves an elderly person's risk of dying early.
Being careful about diet and alcohol, exercising and not smoking cut death risk by 65% over 10 years, the researchers from Wageningen University found.
The research is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The secret to a long life
The researchers followed more than 1,500 elderly people aged 70 to 90 from 11 European countries over a decade.
They investigated the single and combined effects on life expectancy of four factors previously shown to have positive effects on health.
It's about a diet and lifestyle for a lifetime.
Helen Stracey from the British Dietetic Association
These were following a Mediterranean diet (high in fruit, vegetables and fish and low in red meat and dairy products), being physically active (about 30 minutes per day), moderate alcohol use (about four glasses of wine or equivalent per week) and being a non-smoker.
Alone, each of the factors were linked to a reduced the risk of dying.
Physical activity was the biggest single protector against death, with a 37% lowering of risk, while not smoking cut the risk by 35%, eating a Mediterranean diet 23% and moderate alcohol consumption by 22%.
When an elderly person adopted all four measures their risk of dying was 65% lower over 10 years.
During the follow-up, 935 of the elderly participants in the study died.
Cardiovascular disease, such as heart attacks and strokes, caused 371 of these deaths, 233 were due to cancer and the remaining deaths were from another cause or the cause was unknown.
Mediterranean lifestyle
Failure to follow the four healthy lifestyle measures accounted for 60% of all deaths and of deaths from cancer and 61% of deaths from cardiovascular disease, the researchers estimated.
The study authors said: "A Mediterranean diet, rich in plant foods in combination with non-smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, and at least 30 minutes of physical activity per day is associated with a significant lower mortality rate, even in old age."
Dr Meir Stampfer and Eric Rimm from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, the US, said there was now enough evidence for the relevant health agencies around the world to act upon.
"As a society, the US spends billions on chronic disease treatments and interventions for risk factors.
"Although these are useful and important, a fraction of that investment to promote healthful lifestyles...would yield greater benefit," they said.
Helen Stracey from the British Dietetic Association said: "We are talking about good concrete evidence here.
"This shows that it's not just diet alone. It's about a diet and lifestyle for a lifetime.
"There are no quick fixes."
She said it was particularly important given the growing ageing population.
"Lets face it, the immediate pleasures of eating and the fact that people may have not got into the habit of being physically active as they should be. Life passes them by.
"It's a bit like pensions. It's not their immediate concern.
"We need to start thinking 'I want to have a healthy, actively elderly life,'" she said.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3679224.stm
Published: 2004/09/22 10:13:23 GMT
More on Blood Pressure Care - High blood pressure not often treated in elderly
"Many more men and women are now living healthy and active lives into their 80s and 90s. As clinicians, we should not loosen our management of high blood pressure just because a patient has had the good fortune to reach an older age," said Dr. Daniel Levy, co-author of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"For these patients, managing high blood pressure may make the difference between living many more healthy years, or spending those years recovering from a debilitating stroke or heart attack," said Levy, who is the director of the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, Massachusetts.
The researchers tracked participants from the earliest phase of the study that began in 1948 and their offspring who enrolled two decades later.
They found 74 percent of people aged 80 and older had high blood pressure, compared with 63 percent of those aged 60 to 79 and 27 percent of those younger than 60. Yet less than two-thirds of the people in the two older age groups received treatment for their conditions.
Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mm Hg and diastolic pressure of at least 90 mm Hg. Normal is less than 120 mm Hg and 80 mm Hg.
Federal guidelines suggest treating hypertensive patients with two or more drugs, and one should be a diuretic.
But the study found only one-quarter of the women and about one-third of the men being treated for hypertension were properly treated with drugs.
Good natural health care helps you stay free from problematic diuretics and hypertension drugs.
Guardian 18.2.06 "DRUG REACTIONS DEPEND ON AGE"
There are big differences in the way children & adults process medical drugs. Researchers at Medical College of Wisconsin say the difference
is
so large that drug companies should consider the safety consequences. Over 12 enzymes in organs & tissues play key roles in enabling
drugs to work or breaking them down into safe by-products. This varied wildly & children are especially likely to suffer bad reactions to
medical drugs tested on adults.
Exercise and Aging Green Seniors
"SIMPLE LIFESAVER" letter from Helen
Woollin. -
My 100-year old mum wasn't expected to survive a stroke, which left her unable to move, speak, swallow or open her lips. Her GP agreed her final hours should be spent in my care, supported by nurses.
At first she deteriorated rapidly from dehydration - her veins were too fragile to take a drip. So I made wafer-thin ice cubes, which slipped easily between her lips. As these dissolved without choking her, I then made with them with barley water & added powdered vitamins & minerals. I gave her one every 30 mins. As her swallowing reflex returned I added thin porridge or soup. By the end of the week she took food from a spoon. She is still very much alive & has celebrated her 101st birthday. Why is this simple procedure beyond the expertise or imagination of hospitals?
Patient Education - Creating Health Institute has focused on education for more than a decade because of the lack of this important part of health care in the main stream medical system. People are not educated about drugs or diseases, much less prevention, by doctors, nurse practitioners and pharmacists or other health care professionals in the way they did until the mid-80s. Patients are not encouraged to advocate for their own health either, so no wonder a recent report tells us how many people are lacking the ability to understand what the medical system and health care practitioners are doing to them.
Landmark Study -
A pilot study with wide-ranging implications for the elderly, health-seekers of all ages and reflexology enthusiasts has been conducted at non-profit Oregon Research Institute
(ORI) in Eugene, Oregon. The randomized, controlled study of 48 individuals tested the results of cobblestone-mat walking three times a week with 45 minute sessions over 8 weeks. The mat-walking is noted to be"... rooted in traditional Chinese holistic medicine and principles of
reflexology..." (See below.) As noted in a Press Release from ORI: "A recently completed study on the study benefits of 'stone stepping,' an exercise method popular in China indicated that older adults experienced significant improvements in mental and physical well-being, including reductions in blood pressure and pain levels...more
We have many programs and publications for patient education, including our very popular diabetes program and our little book, Blood Pressure Care Naturally.