Archive for May, 2010

Age Spots

YUCKY! There just isn’t anything that looks much worse that those ugly age spots that appear on the back of the hands, on the forearms, neck, chest, or the face. Some people call them “age spots,” while others might refer to them as liver spots, sun spots, lentigos, or lentigines. But all of those names refer to the very same thing. An age spot is a generally circular area of the skin that is darker than the skin around it. Age spots aren’t raised like a mole, they are just simply an area of skin that is a different color.

Age spots are caused by excessive exposure to the sun, heredity, or poor skin care. Sun exposure combined with aging, as you can imagine, is the primary cause of age spots.

It is so much easier to just avoid getting age spots than it is to fade them once they are on your skin. One thing that you can and should do to help at least lower the possibility of age spots is to be very careful not to be overly exposed to direct sunlight. We can’t avoid ever being exposed to sunlight, and we wouldn’t want to totally avoid it. A certain amount of sunlight is important for good health, but we can use sunscreen with a SPF of at least 30 when we go outdoors. Too many people forget to apply sunscreen to their hands, particularly to the backs of their hands. We can wear protective clothing and a good large brimmed hat, as well.

If you already have age spots, don’t despair. There are treatments available that can fade them, and there are treatments such as laser treatment that can actually eliminate them entirely. You will find products on the shelves of your local pharmacy and discount department store to help fade age spots, and these products are generally very safe and easy to use.

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Your Life After 40

Aging While Staying Mentally Alert

Dementia is all too common among older people. Seniors become forgetful. They can’t remember where they put things. They start forgetting important dates and appointments. They forget to eat or forget to take important medications. Sometimes older people become confused and don’t know where they are. But does it have to be this way? Well, maybe to a degree, and maybe at some point in life as the brain ages. But actually, dementia can be put off for a long time by simply actively taking steps to prevent it.

The first active step to take in helping to prevent dementia is eating a balanced diet. Too often, older people lose interest in food. Many older people live alone, and the idea of actually cooking a balanced meal every day just seems to be too much work and not worth the effort. They

will just open a can of soup or skip the meal altogether. But eating a balanced diet every single day can help to delay or even prevent dementia. The same diet that is heart healthy is also mind healthy. Add supplements if the diet isn’t supplying all of the necessary nutrients as well as plenty of antioxidants.

Another active step to take in helping to prevent dementia is staying physically active. Not many older people are going to run in the Boston Marathon, but just a simple 15-minute walk each day can help to keep the blood circulating and keep both heart and mind strong.

Socializing can also help to prevent dementia. Sometimes older people have only a television for company. They just look and listen until they doze off. Not paying attention and not participating becomes a habit that is conducive to bringing on dementia.

Engaging in mentally challenging activities like working crossword puzzles or learning a new skill will keep the mind active and healthy, too.

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Your Life After 40

Aging and Hair Loss

The thinning of hair as we age is so common that it is considered a natural part of the aging process. Both men and women can suffer from hair loss, but hair loss is more often associated with aging men. Hair loss occurs differently, however, for men than it does for women.

When a man’s hair begins to thin, the top of his head may become completely bald while there is still hair on the sides, front, and back of his head. This is sometimes called “male-pattern baldness.” A woman’s hair tends to just get thinner all over her head, and it is rare for a woman to become completely bald just because of natural hair loss.

There are three layers of skin ó an outer layer, called epidermis, which consists of epithelial cells; the dermis, which consists of connective tissue; and the hypodermis, which consists mostly of fat cells. Very simply put, hair loss occurs because a substance in the body, dihydroxy-testosterone (DHT), sends a signal to the cells in the hair follicles that cause these cells to divide less, so that the production of hair slows or stops.

Until recently, the only options open to those with thinning hair or baldness had were to get a toupee or a wig or just learn to live with a bald head or thinning hair. Today, however, there are other options.

There are many products on the market today that will help to not only stop hair loss but actually cause hair to regrow. These products can be found on the shelves of your local pharmacies or discount department stores, and there are a variety of choices. There are products for both men and women.

Hair transplants can also be done today. There are a variety of hair transplantation options available. Consult your physician to get more information.

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Your Life After 40

Aging and Sleep Patterns

You might have noticed that older people don’t sleep as long as younger people sleep. Or maybe you are an older person who realizes that it’s not just the “old gray mare” that ain’t what she used to be, but your sleep patterns as well.

There are a great many reasons that sleep patterns change as we age. Generally older people are less active during the day than they were in their younger years, and that lack of good old-fashioned physical exercise adversely affects sleep patterns as well as the length and depth of sleep. It’s important for older people to get as much physical exercise as possible during the daylight hours in order to improve their sleep at night. Naps should be limited to very early afternoon hours.

Many medications can also change our sleep patterns. Many medications that are commonly prescribed for older people are known to cause insomnia. If you have started taking a new medication and find that your sleep has suddenly become disrupted, you should speak to your doctor about the problem. There are many different medications that are used to treat problems, and a simple change in medication could improve your sleep.

Depression and stress are big fat thieves of sleep. Depression and stress are often constant companions of older people. Older people should actively seek ways to relieve their stress and depression, and there really are ways of relieving both. Yoga, for example, is a great stress reliever and it will have the added benefits of providing some easy physical activity. Plus, if you take a class, you will meet with other people, and the socialization will also help to relieve the stress and depression.

It is true that sleep patterns change as we age, but there are things that we can do to help improve our sleep and a good night’s rest is just as important in older years as it was in younger years.

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Your Life After 40

Will Detoxification Slow Aging?

The human body is a wonderful living design that is actually meant to be self-sustaining and self-healing. It works well usually, and for a very long time. As we age, however, the body’s systems begin to slow down and become less efficient at what they are designed to do.

The bowels are the sewer system of the body. The bowels are the place in the body where waste goes to be discarded. The bowels do lots of things, including absorbing excess water from digested food. Conditions in the bowel are, by nature, toxic. When we are young and all of our bodily systems are young and functioning in top form, our sewer system works very well and with few interruptions. We might have the occasional bout of constipation or diarrhea, and we sometimes get a little virus that causes some disturbance. But on the whole, the sewer system functions effectively.

As we age, however, and our bowels age right along with everything else, problems can and do develop. Our sewer system becomes less efficient. There can be a buildup of undigested food, toxins, bacteria, and fungus that can lead to some major difficulties.

There are many homeopathic doctors, herbalists, and even medical doctors who recommend a regular detoxification of the bowels. Detoxification can be accomplished in several different ways. The desired effect of whatever method is used is to return the bowels to a healthier and better-functioning state. There are hundreds and maybe thousands of products on the market that will provide detoxification for you. Talk to your doctor or an herbalist to find the product that is the best one for you. You will want one that not only cleans the bowel, but also replaces the “good” bacteria” that is needed for the system to work properly.

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Your Life After 40

Anti-Aging Supplements

I certainly do wish that somebody would finally discover the fountain of youth and that I could buy a couple of drops of the stuff so that I could look and feel young again. It hasn’t happened, and I’m not going to sit around waiting for it to happen. There really ARE anti-aging supplements out there that can help. They aren’t the fountain of youth, but they are the next best thing.

Our bodies age. There isn’t any way that we’d want to use to stop that aging process. The objective is for our bodies to age without looking or feeling older ó or at least not looking or feeling any older than they actually are.

The first things to do, though, before you start any supplements is to be certain that you are eating a well-balanced diet, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough exercise. You also need to double-check with your doctor to be sure that any supplement that you decide to take will not cause an adverse reaction with any prescription drugs that you might be taking.

The three herbs most often recommended for aging or anti-aging are ginkgo, bilberry, and hawthorn. All of these herbs are antioxidants.  Antioxidant nutrients are Vitamin C, Vitamin E, beta carotene, mixed carotenes, selenium, zinc, bioflavonoids, cysteine, and methionine (sulphur-containing amino acids), CoQ10, and glutathione. Be certain that your multivitamin contains enough of all of these nutrients, and if it doesn’t, add them.

There are also herbs that can help to restore the hormonal balance in your body. Peruvian Maca is the herb that is most often included in hormonal balance-restoring herbal products. As women age, and particularly after menopause, hormone imbalance becomes an issue, but HRT therapies have gotten a bad reputation for causing breast cancer. Talk to a herbalist about other herbs that can help restore hormonal balance.

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Your Life After 40

How Seniors Stay Fit

Just because people get older that doesn’t mean that they somehow quit worrying about staying fit. Some do quit worrying about it, of course. Those are the ones that you see out walking in the air conditioned comfort of the local mall for their health AFTER they’ve had a heart attack.

As people age, their choices for physical exercise change. Those choices don’t necessarily decrease, but they become different. Joints become arthritic, and bones become thinner and more prone to break; so rather than high-impact aerobic exercises, seniors opt for low-impact aerobics or water aerobics. Recreational walking replaces jogging for the same reason.

Many seniors enjoy such physical activities as bowling or golf. When they engage in such sports, they get what we like to call a “twofer.” The “twofer” is physical exercise and social interaction.

Seniors enjoy joining exercise groups that are age specific. They know that they can hold their own with others who are their age, and they don’t want to be embarrassed by not being able to keep up with younger people. There are many active vacation packages offered specifically for seniors that are very physically challenging, such as camping, hiking, and even mountain climbing.

The exercises that most seniors participate in to stay physically fit are recreational walking, golfing, fishing, and bowling, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). And you’ll find recreational walking clubs, golfing tournaments, fishing tournaments, and bowling leagues that are specifically FOR seniors if you want to mix exercise and socializing.

It’s been proven over and over and over again that STAYING physically fit is a better option than trying to get physically fit after a hair-raising trip to the emergency room. Before you start any exercise program, however, you need to get your doctor to pronounce you healthy enough.

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Your Life After 40

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Aging Skin Care

There isn’t much we can do about the increasing number of candles on our birthday cakes, nor would we want to. Growing older is what we want to do (considering the alternative); we just don’t want our skin to show the effects of growing older.

There are three basic things that we can do to help our skin look younger than the candles on our birthday cakes say that we are. Those three things are: sunscreen, moisturizers, and humidifiers.

Sunscreen: The sun’s rays do more damage to the skin than any other single force outside our bodies. The term that dermatologists use to describe the aging caused by the sun’s rays is “photoaging.” Photoaging happens over a lifetime of unprotected exposure to the sun. The best defense is avoidance, but we can’t avoid the sun’s rays altogether, and we wouldn’t want to. Wearing a good sunscreen every time we are exposed to the sun’s rays, however, is the next best thing to avoidance, and it is something that we can all do. Use a sunscreen with a SPF or 30 or better and buy makeup products that have sunscreen in them.

Moisturizers: Believe it or not, dry skin does not cause wrinkles, but dry skin makes wrinkles appear to be deeper than they would appear on well-moisturized skin. Applying moisturizers topically to the skin is important, but it is just as important to drink plenty of water every day in order to keep your skin well moisturized.

Humidifiers: There are dozens (probably hundreds or thousands) of humidifiers on the market. They prices range between a few dollars to many hundreds of dollars. But any humidifier that will add moisture to the overly dry air caused by air conditioning or heating will help keep your skin looking better and help to prevent wrinkles.

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Your Life After 40

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Recognizing Elder Abuse

Child abuse is a heinous crime that the world abhors. Evil people abuse children because they are weak and helpless. Elders are abused for the very same reasons, they are easy targets. They are weak and defenseless, so those who are bigger, stronger, or just plain evil can and do abuse them. The sad thing is that elders can be abused right under the noses of those who love them, and their loved ones will not recognize what is taking place as abuse.

Most people think of abuse in general as being either physical or sexual abuse, but there are other kinds of abuse that are just as bad. Violations of an older person’s rights, emotional abuse, neglect, financial fraud, and invasion of privacy are also ways in which elders can be abused.

Learn to recognize the various forms of abuse that your elderly loved one could be suffering:

Physical Abuse: Physical force, hitting, or punching is, of course, recognizable physical abuse, but when restraints are left on too long, bruising can occur, and so can muscle atrophy; and this, too, is a form of elder abuse. Overmedication is another form of physical abuse that is really difficult to recognize sometimes.

Emotional Abuse: The signs that might be obvious when an elder is being emotionally abused are if the elder appears upset or agitated, or if they appear particularly fearful around certain people.

Neglect is Abuse: When an elderly person’s physical needs are not met, it IS abuse. When the elder is not provided with food (and the right food), water, prescribed medications (correct dosage and at the specified times), shelter, clothing, and help with personal hygiene needs, this is abuse by neglect.

Financial Abuse: When an elderly person’s funds or assets are misused by any person or institution that has control of the funds or assets, it constitutes abuse by financial exploitation. It’s illegal, not to mention immoral.

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Senior Travel Opportunities

We are living longer and healthier lives than any generation that has preceded us. When people retire at age 65 or earlier, they have many, many years of healthy active life ahead of them. It isn’t time to pull up a rocking chair, sit down, and mold. Oh no! It is time to go see the world or as much of it as you want to see or can afford to see.

There is no reason at all why seniors can’t travel just like the rest of the world. There are, however, certain precautions that seniors need to take.

The first thing that a senior who is planning to travel should do is visit their doctor and get his opinion and recommendations about your travel plans. There isn’t anything that can more quickly ruin a trip than illness or injury, and you need to know where you stand physically. You may also want to get your prescriptions filled ahead of time so that you have plenty of all of your medications for the entire trip plus any delays that might occur.

The second thing that a senior who is planning to travel should do is get travel insurance. Travel insurance is a good idea for travelers of all ages, but it is certainly vital for seniors who travel.

The third thing that a senior who is planning to travel should do is to talk to a travel agent to discuss any mobility or dietary issues. It would be really disappointing to get to a site that you’ve been waiting your whole life to see, only to find that it wasn’t wheelchair or walker accessible. Dietary needs are another issue that needs to be discussed and planned for. People with special dietary needs can travel, but it does take preparation.

Just plan well and then go for it!

See you next time,

Your Life After 40

Click here for awesome abs


Burn fat away easily here


Cleanse your body in 10 Days!


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The Great Cholesterol Lie