Sit Up Straight! Bad Posture Increases Risk of Nursing Home Admission

I have never really paid much attention to my posture. Occasionally, I have become aware of the fact that I am slouching in my chair at work or in the car but otherwise I feel reasonably good about my body alignment. New research is proving that sitting up straight could, in addition to other benefits, reduce my risk of ending up in a nursing home.

A study published in the Journals of Gerontology says that having poor posture can as much as quadruple a person's risk of ending up in a nursing home. Several different factors lead into this.

1. Poor posture leads to weak muscles and bones. As balance decreases during a normal aging process, the risk of being seriously injured in a fall greatly increases.
2. Poor posture limits our flexibility. A less flexible person is not able to exercise and maintain an active lifestyle. Seniors with active lifestyles typically have smoother, controlled movements and are therefore less likely to fall and end up in a nursing home.
3. Bad posture leads to pain. Weaker muscles caused by bad posture many times lead to pain in the neck, back or legs. Often times, aches and pains like these are determined by how we sit and prevent us from being able to perform tasks for ourselves.

All in all, posture is a circular conversation. Those with bad posture will find themselves less able to exercise and maintain an active lifestyle due to their weaker muscles. Those with weaker muscles will find it more difficult to maintain good body posture. And around we go.

All in all, bad posture is both the harbinger and cause of an increased risk of nursing home admissions. So sit up straight!

Unconditional

Take three minutes and twenty three seconds out of your day and be in awe of love. This video is a beautiful picture of how we are called to love each other not only as spouses but as friends, neighbors, coworkers, strangers, and even enemies. We love because he first loved us. "You see God has loved us so unconditionally and I understand that God has put his love in my heart. And because I realize how much God has loved me that's how I too can love my lovely wife."

Potential Cure For Baldness From Somewhere You'd Never Suspect

In a story almost too strange to report, scientists feel that they are on the verge of finding a cure for baldness.

About half of men over the age of 50 go bald or develop male pattern baldness. Some of us(ahem), don't make it to fifty years of age before we begin to reap tremendous savings on  hair products and combs. To this point, there are very few remedies that can address the problem. There are medications which can slow the loss. There are transplant procedures which move hair growing skin from other parts of the body to your noggin. But there are no real solutions to the issue of hair loss.

In new research which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists at the Columbia University Medical Center took their testing to a new level. Previously, most of the research being done involved transplanting hair follicles and attempting to make them grow. This yielded varying results which merited no real acclaim. So they decided to cultivate not just the follicles but the surrounding cells as well. Rather than transplanting singular follicles they cultured three dimensional spheres of cells and transplanted them upside down in human skin tissues.

This is where is gets a little bit weird.

They then grafted the human skin cells onto the backs of mice and were dazzled to see 5 of the 7 grafts produce hair that lasted at least six weeks. "The hairs were still small, but the researchers are encouraged because they used human skin that normally is completely hairless — the foreskins from circumcised babies. Essentially, they generated hair growth in cells that normally have no capacity for sprouting hair."


Yes, you read it right. I can't make this stuff up.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2013/10/21/closer-to-a-cure-for-baldness/#ixzz2iYZyMmbH

Poor Sleep May Increase Risk For Alzheimer's

What happens when we sleep? We dream. We recover. We plan. We rest. During this all important 'down time' our brains and our bodies are flushing out toxins and chemicals in a manner which is impossible while we are awake. This is one reason why people tend to feel lousy if they haven't gotten enough sleep. I can remember my mom insisting that I go to bed early the night before a big test in high school. I didn't appreciate it much then. Nowadays, I would kill for a nap or an early bedtime. George Bernard Shaw was right. "Youth is wasted on the young."


In a recent study at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, scientists have made some fascinating discoveries regarding sleep and Alzheimer's. One of the brain's critical functions during sleep is to rid itself of toxic chemicals and proteins. One of these toxic proteins, Beta-Amyloid, is the protein which leads to the plaques and tangles of Alzheimer's disease. After studying 70 patients, scientists found that those who slept less or had lesser quality sleep had higher levels of beta-amyloid present in their brains.

Now begins the chicken and the egg conversation. Scientists are not sure whether poor quality sleep is an early indicator of Alzheimer's or whether those people with poor sleep habits are placing themselves at a greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Those studies will almost certainly follow. For now, it should remind us all of the importance of getting a good night's rest.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2470255/Alzheimers-linked-poor-nights-sleep.html

Heavy Drinking Over Time Can Produce Alzheimer's-Like Symptoms

It might not be Alzheimer's. Part 1.

It's called the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome and it is usually something that physicians look for in patients who have abused alcohol over long periods of time. However, you don't have to abuse alcohol to suffer from the affects of it.

Alcoholism causes thiamin deficiency. Thiamin is an essential vitamin in the brain which causes proper neuron function as well as aides in energy production. When there isn't enough thiamin present in the brain the neurons may become damaged and die.

 Individuals whose bodies don't absorb food nutrients properly are also at risk especially those who may have undergone surgery for obesity

"Most commonly, Wenicke-Korsakoff syndrome is seen in alcoholics because heavy drinkers typically are poor eaters. Alcohol also interferes with the proper absorption of nutrients from the digestive system."

Folks who suffer from Wernicke-Korsakoff will appear drunk even if they are not.

Symptoms include:

• confusion
• abnormal gait and eye movements
•  hallucinations
• vision problems
• memory loss
• imaginary remembered experiences
• incoordination 

Treatment options:
As soon as someone is diagnosed with this condition they need to be hospitalized so that they can receive treatment such as a thiamin replacement. Much of what might have been lost can be recovered such as eye movement, coordination,  and vision problems. Unfortunately, the loss of memory and cognitive function is not usually helped by thiamin replacement.

Prevention:
The best idea to prevent Wernicke-Korsakoff is to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet and not to abuse alcohol. If you follow that suggestion then doctors believe that your chances of ever developing the syndrome are virtually nonexistent. However, if you have any sort of malabsorption problems it might not hurt to have a conversation with your physician.

New Program Pairs Seniors with Dementia and Preschoolers

A special program in New York is pairing elders with dementia and young people. At a custom-designed facility in Mt.Kisco, New York, seniors who are struggling with dementia spend their days working with preschoolers. "The kids look right past the dementia, connecting instead with the people who have gotten lost underneath."

"My Little Friends," directed by Megan Mylan from David Shenk on Vimeo.

A Possible Cure For Alzheimer's AND Parkinson's AND Huntington's?

Gone are the days of sensational headlines created only to assist newspaper hucksters in their quest sell the most copies. Well...wait...uhm...

News broke early this morning about an exciting discovery in the world of science. A chemical has been discovered which has been shown to stop brain deterioration. Let me say that again. The chemical stops the deterioration of the brain.

Every day it seems like there is someone new standing on a rooftop claiming that their vitamin or food additive or diet program or brain therapy is the next big thing in the fight against Alzheimer's. These outrageous claims are typically only rivaled by the ever-increasing list of foods, chemicals, technologies, and TV programs that we should avoid because they undoubtedly cause Alzheimer's. In Reality-ville, where I live most of the time, no one knows what causes Alzheimer's and no one knows how to stop it.

However, when all of the people who typically disregard Chicken Little start looking up at the sky it is worth taking notice.

In Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, something goes wrong with specific proteins in the brain. The brain's natural response to this foul up is to stop producing proteins. This "chemical helps brain cells ignore the broken proteins, keep functioning and stay alive."

Perhaps what is so exciting about this discovery are the potential ramifications of the chemical. While scientists are quick to caution that even if successful it could still be a decade before it is available, there is a distinct possibility that they have have found a way to beat Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's. And that is worth shouting about.

So EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24478942