If your favorite vegetable isnt in season, grab a frozen bag of it for the same nutritional value.

The editors at AARP have filtered through numerous medical journals and studies to identify the best actions you can take to achieve a longer, fuller life. We know there are no guarantees. But genetics account for just 25 percent of a persons longevity. The rest is up to you. With this collection of some of the most important longevity findings, youll have the road map you need to get to 80, 90, 100 or beyond.

You can eat a balanced diet even when fresh fruits and vegetables are out of season because frozen can be as good as or even better for life-extending nutrients. British scientists found that fresh fruit can lose nutrients after three days of refrigeration, while frozen fruits dont suffer the same fate. Another study similarly found that frozen blueberries contained more vitamin C than fresh ones.

2. Cut back on pain pills

Regular use of painkillers such as ibuprofen and naproxen including over-the-counter brands such as Advil, Motrin and Aleve may raise your risk of heart attack and stroke by 10 percent, according to a 2014 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel review. (Prescription-strength versions may increase your risk by 20 to 50 percent, even after just a few weeks of use.) Reserve these drugs for severe pain, and use the lowest possible dose for the shortest amount of time.

Consistently sleeping less than six hours a night nearly doubles your risk of heart attack and stroke, according to a review of 15 studies published in the European Heart Journal. Another study found that consistently sleep-deprived people were 12 percent more likely to die over the 25-year study period than those who got six to eight hours of sleep a night. These tips from the National Sleep Foundation can help ensure that you get good quality shut-eye, even if youre among the half of people over 60 who have insomnia:

Make the room pitch-black dark, and set the thermostat between 60 and 67 degrees.

Exercise every day. It doesnt matter what time of day you work out, just so it doesnt interfere with your rest.

Stick to a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and getting up at the same time each day.

Shut down your electronics an hour before retiring, as the light from some devices can stimulate the brain.

Replace your mattress if its more than 10 years old.

4. But dont always go right to sleep

A Duke University study that followed 252 people for 25 years concluded that frequent sex was a significant predictor of longevity for men. Marriage is good for the heart in more ways than one.

Marriage truly is good for your health and your longevity. The prestigious Framingham Offspring Study found that married men had a 46 percent lower risk of death than never-married men, in part due to marriages well-known impact on heart health. Indeed, a 2014 study by New York Universitys Langone Medical Center found that married men and women had a 5 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

No, you wont die from eating under-ripe produce, but new research shows that fully ripened fruit has more life-lengthening health benefits. For example, green bananas are low in fiber and high in astringent tannins that can cause constipation. Fully ripened pears and blackberries have more disease-fighting antioxidants. And in watermelon, a deep red color signifies more lycopene, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

7. Dont sweeten with sugar

A high-sugar diet boosts blood sugar, which in turn plays havoc with your heart by increasing levels of LDL cholesterol while lowering heart-friendly HDL cholesterol, and tripling your risk for fatal cardiovascular disease. The American Heart Association recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (25 grams) of added sugar a day, and men no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams).

8. Consider extra vitamin D

Vitamin D, a bright byproduct of sunlight, has many health benefits, including a link to longevity. But too much vitamin D increases your risk of dying as much as too little, according to a 2015 Danish study. So you want to get the right amount. Dont just rely on outdoor time to get extra vitamin D; the rate of skin cancer rises as we age, so its important to limit exposure. The smart plan: Ask your doctor if you would benefit from extra D in pill form. University of Copenhagen researchers found that the ideal vitamin D level is more than 50 nanomoles per liter of blood, but less than 100 nmol/L.

If coffees not your thing, green tea also has proven longevity cred, likely because it contains powerful antioxidants known as catechins that may help combat diabetes and heart disease. In a large study of more than 40,000 Japanese men and women, drinking five or more cups of green tea a day was associated with a 12 percent decrease in mortality among men and a 23 percent decrease among women.

Taking a break from work and going on a vacation is crucial to your well being. Not taking time off work might, indeed, be deadly. One study of men at high risk for coronary artery disease found that those who failed to take annual vacations were 32 percent more likely to die of a heart attack. And in the long-running Framingham Heart Study, women who vacationed just once every six years were eight times more likely to develop coronary artery disease or have a heart attack than women who vacationed twice a year.

The average American eats one serving of whole grains daily and that may be just a single morning slice of toast. But eating three or more servings each day can cut overall death rate by about 20 percent, according to a 2016 study from Harvard Universitys T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Have some oatmeal or brown rice, or get adventurous and go for quinoa, barley, even farro.

Eating hot chili peppers may add years to your life. In a 2016 analysis of the dietary habits of more than 16,000 men and women over 23 years, those who reported eating hot peppers reduced their risk of dying by 13 percent. Not a fan of those peppers? Even a little spice can have health benefits. Thats because the body produces endorphins to reduce the heat from the capsaicin in the peppers; those endorphins also reduce pain and inflammation.

Youve been told forever to drink low-fat or skim milk, or go for fat-free yogurt. But research published in the journal Circulation in 2016 concluded that those who consumed the most dairy fat had a 50 percent lower risk of developing diabetes, a disease that can shorten your life by eight to 10 years on average.

Staying adequately hydrated measured by urine thats light yellow or straw colored can also help prolong a healthy life by reducing the risk of bladder and colon cancer and keeping kidneys in tip-top shape. Bonus: It might even help you lose weight. Researchers at the University of Illinois found that those who sipped more H2O ended up eating 68 to 205 fewer calories per day.

15. Say yes to that extra cup

A few cups of java a day might keep the doctor away. Coffee does more than help you wake up; it also reduces your risk of stroke, diabetes and some cancers. And in a 2015 study published in the journal Circulation, Harvard researchers discovered that people who drank three to five cups of coffee per day had about a 15 percent lower [risk of premature] mortality compared to people who didnt drink coffee, says coauthor Walter Willett, M.D. Mind you, a cup is 8 ounces, so your 16-ounce Starbucks grande is really two cups by that measure.

A University of Maryland study found that Amish men live longer than typical Caucasian men in the United States, and both Amish men and women have lower rates of hospitalization. What are the Amish ways? Lots of physical activity, less smoking and drinking, and a supportive social structure involving family and community.

17. End the days eating by 9 p.m.

Not only is eating late bad for your waistline sleeping doesnt exactly burn lots of calories it also increases the risk of heart disease by 55 percent for men ages 45 to 82, according to a Harvard study.

In a study of 73,000 adults, most in their mid to upper 50s, vegetarians were 12 percent less likely than carnivores to have died from any cause during the six-year study period. The 2016 study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that mortality rates were lowest overall for pesco-vegetarians (those who eat fish occasionally), followed by vegans (those who eat no animal products), and lacto-ovo vegetarians (those who eat dairy and eggs).

The Mediterranean diet, with its reliance on fruits, vegetables, olive oil, fish and nuts, is one of the healthiest diets for both overall health and longevity. Harvard researchers, reporting in the BMJ in 2014, found that those who followed the diet most closely had longer telomeres, which cap the end of each strand of DNA and protect chromosomes from damage. Even those who only sporadically followed the diet reaped longevity benefits, researchers found.

Cutting your portions helps you cut calories, which aids in weight loss and more. If you want to reach 100, put down the fork, says Dan Buettner, who studies longevity hot spots around the world, such as Okinawa, Japan. Buettner found that the oldest Okinawans stop eating when they feel 80 percent full. A National Institutes of Health-funded study similarly found that cutting back calories reduced blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin resistance.

21. Drink less (heres a trick)

More-than-moderate alcohol consumption (generally, more than one drink a day for women or more than two a day for men) leads to a shorter life span. Heres one way to cut your intake: Pour red wine into a white-wine glass, which is narrower. Studies by Cornell Universitys Food and Brand Lab found that people poured 12 percent more into red-wine glasses. Youll also pour less wine into your glass if its sitting on the table, instead of in your hand, says Brian Wansink, the labs director.

Money might not make you happier, but it will help you live longer. A 2016 study by Stanford researchers published in JAMA found that people whose income bracket was in the top 1 percent lived nearly 15 years longer than those in the bottom 1 percent. The disparity could be attributed to healthier behaviors in higher-income groups, including less smoking and lower obesity rates, researchers say.

23. Or move to one of these states

If youre not wealthy, consider moving to California, New York or Vermont, where studies show that low-income people tend to live the longest. Loma Linda, Calif., has the highest longevity thanks to vegetarian Seventh-day Adventists, who live eight to 10 years longer than the rest of us. Nevada, Indiana and Oklahoma have the lowest life expectancy (less than 78 years).

Experiencing a sense of awe such as when viewing the Grand Canyon or listening to Beethovens Ninth may boost the bodys defense system, says research from the University of California, Berkeley. That awe, wonder and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests that the things we do to experience these emotions a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art has a direct influence upon health and life expectancy, says Dacher Keltner, a psychologist and coauthor of the study.

25. Get a friend with four legs

Owning a dog can help lower stress and boost physical activity. A few studies on the link between pet ownership and health have found that owning a pet can reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure, even improve the odds of surviving a heart attack. Now the American Heart Association has weighed in with a report published in the journal Circulation that recommends owning a dog, in particular, for those seeking to reduce their risk of deadly heart disease. Dog owners are more likely to be physically active and are also less vulnerable to the effects of stress, the report says.

Do you wake up looking forward to something? In a 2014 study published in the Lancet, researchers found that those with the highest sense of purpose were 30 percent less likely to die during the 8.5-year study period. In fact, doing something that matters whether its helping your children or interacting in a community of like-minded folks is correlated with seven extra years of life, according to researchers who study people in blue zones, areas of the world where folks live the longest.

Attending religious services once a week has been shown to add between four and 14 years to life expectancy, according to researchers who study blue zones. Dont belong to a church? Ask to join a friend at her services, or just drop in at a nearby house of worship; most have an open-door policy.

About 3,000 Americans die from food poisoning annually, say the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Even seemingly healthy foods like sprouts, cantaloupe, berries and raw tuna can make you sick or even kill you, says the FDA. Your action plan: Keep your kitchen pristine, wash your hands and utensils before and after handling food, separate raw and cooked foods, refrigerate perishable food promptly, and cook food to a safe temperature to kill deadly bacteria.

29. Consider mountain life

People residing at higher altitudes tend to live longer, a study by the University of Colorado and the Harvard School of Global Health revealed. Of the 20 healthiest counties in America, many are in Colorado and Utah. Researchers think lower oxygen levels might cause your body to adapt in ways that strengthen your heart and circulation.

Eating a handful of nuts five times per week can lower your mortality risk from certain diseases. In a European study of adults ages 55 to 69, those who ate 10 grams of nuts daily 8 almonds or 6 cashews reduced their risk of death from any health-related cause by 23 percent. As for specific ailments, consuming a handful of nuts at least five times per week lowers the mortality risk for heart disease (by 29 percent), respiratory disease (24 percent) and cancer (11 percent), according to a previous U.S. study. Sorry, peanut butter fans: Spreads didnt show the same benefits.

31. Keep watching LOL cat videos

Laughter really is the best medicine, helping to reduce stress, boost the immune system, reduce pain and improve blood flow to the brain. In fact, laughter has the same effect on blood vessels as exercise, report researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.

Studies show that loneliness increases the risk of early death by 45 percent. It weakens the immune system and raises blood pressure while increasing the risk for heart attacks and stroke. By contrast, people with strong ties to friends and family have as much as a 50 percent lower risk of dying, according to a study in PLOS Medicine. So visit a friend. And dont discount your online friends. A 2016 study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego found that those who use Facebook also live longer, but only when online interactions dont completely supplant face-to-face social interaction.

While babysitting every day is stressful, regularly watching the grands can lower your risk of dying by a third, according to a 2016 study published in Evolution and Human Behavior. That adds up to an extra five years of life, researchers say. They speculate that caregiving gives grandparents a sense of purpose, and keeps them mentally and physically active.

34. Try to stay out of the hospital

A 2016 Johns Hopkins University study found that some 250,000 patients die each year in hospitals from medical mistakes, such as misdiagnoses, poor practices and conditions, and drug errors. Sometimes the best way to avoid a grave condition is not to enter the system at all.

Reading gives muscle to your memory. Sounds like we made it up, but scientific research supports the longevity benefits of reading newspapers and magazines will do, but books are the best. As little as a half-hour a day of book reading had a significant survival advantage over those who did not read, said the studys senior author, Becca R. Levy, a professor of epidemiology at Yale.

Dont wait for annual checkups to consider your health. By then, a small problem could have morphed into a life-threatening illness. In one English study, researchers found that less than 60 percent of people who developed unusual symptoms in the previous three months had seen a doctor. Symptoms that might point to cancer include: unexplained weight loss of 10 pounds or more (this can be an indication of cancers of the esophagus, stomach or lungs); fever; extreme fatigue; changes in bowel or bladder habits; or unusual bleeding. Other unusual symptoms that could signal disease? A patch of rough, dark skin could indicate diabetes, and a strange color on your tongue could signal serious acid-reflux issues.

37. Visit the hardware store

Among the most common causes of unintentional deaths are carbon monoxide, radon and lead poisoning, the CDC reports. Make sure theres a carbon monoxide detector near every bedroom, and be sure to test and replace the batteries every two years. Was your home built before 1978, when lead paint was outlawed? One trip to the store can get you all you need to test for these toxic substances.

38. Practice home fire drills

Just 1 in 3 families have a fire-safety plan, says Robert Cole, president of Community Health Strategies, an injury-prevention education organization based in Pittsford, N.Y. People underestimate the speed of a fire. Many waste time figuring out what to do, or trying to take belongings with them. Everyone should know what to do and how to get out safely.

Studies show that female doctors are more effective communicators than male physicians. When Harvard researchers in 2016 analyzed Medicare records documenting more than 1.5 million hospitalizations over four years, they found that patients who received care from a female physician were more likely to survive and less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. In fact, about 32,000 fewer people would die each year if male physicians achieved the same outcomes as female physicians, the researchers said. Previous studies have suggested that female doctors are more likely to follow clinical guidelines and are more effective communicators.

40. Make peace with family

While we often stress about small stuff the guests are here, and were not ready! its the nagging, long-running forms of stress, such as a family dispute, that put your longevity at risk. Chronic stress hastens the cellular deterioration that leads to premature aging and a vast array of serious diseases, according to long-running research from the University of California, San Francisco. This sort of cell death turns out to be one of the strongest predictors of early diseases of aging and in many studies of early mortality, says lead researcher Elissa Epel. The remedy: Come to peace with the people in your life. Forgive your family, forgive yourself, put the past behind you so you can have more life in front of you.

Link:
50 Ways to Live a Longer, Healthier Life | Print Only | phillytrib.com - The Philadelphia Tribune

A GP who battled back to health after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer is launching Scotlands first ever all-round health improvement course.

Dr Laura Freeman, 36, was inspired to introduce the Complete Health Improvement Program (CHIP) after seeing its success with patients in North America.

The married mother-of-two, who is originally from Glasgow, returned to Scotland with her family earlier this year after spending nearly eight years working in Toronto, Canada.

It was there in 2016, soon after giving birth to her daughter, that she was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer. Her obstetrician had first discovered a lump while she was pregnant.

Because I was pregnant he left it until after she was born before I had my scan, then I had surgery when she was about six months old, said Dr Freeman.

At the same time I also had blood work done and my cholesterol was really high even higher than some of my patients that Id be getting into trouble over it. So that was an eye-opener for me. It really was a pivotal moment because Id thought I was healthy.

READ MORE: How Glasgow and Edinburgh's flagship hospitals battled crises in 2019

Dr Freeman made a full recovery, but the experience propelled her to study lifestyle medicine at Harvard University in Boston.

It was a lot about nutrition, which was amazing because in 18 years of studying and practising medicine, from medical school onwards, I had never been taught about nutrition.

But it also brought together ideas that you cant treat the person for a problem in isolation. Youve got to incorporate things like exercise and stress management and helping people to find purpose and joy and coping skills for all the stressful things we can be faced with.

Dr Freeman began putting what she had learned into practice herself and with her patients, encouraging them as much as possible to move to a plant-based wholefood diet.

She said: It wasnt very long before I started to see these really amazing results. People with diabetes were showing sugar levels coming down to normal. Cholesterol levels were coming down to normal.

People with vascular disease where they get pain in their leg from walking too far because their vessels are blocked were walking further and having less pain. In people with headaches, they were going away.

The list is endless, and I just felt something is really going on here.

In January, Dr Freeman will launch CHIP, a 12-week course which promotes a plant-based diet alongside exercise, stress management, sleep and mindfulness to improve wellbeing.

The programme was devised in 1986 by Dr Hans Diehl of Pritikin Longevity Centre, a Miami weight-loss resort.

READ MORE: Scotland's ultrasound pioneer dies - but daughters hope legacy of work on sonographer injuries will continue

To date, it has been trialled on around 80,000 participants worldwide, with evidence of sustained reductions in weight, cholesterol, and blood pressure, as well as significant improvements in the risk factors for chronic diseases including Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It has even been shown to cut depressive symptoms.

CHIP has been described by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine as achieving some of the most impressive clinical outcomes published in the literature, but until now it has never been offered in Scotland and is rare across the UK.

Dr Freeman hopes to be able to offer it through the NHS eventually, with GPs able to refer eligible patients, but initially CHIP will be run privately through a partnership with Glasgow vegan restaurant, Soul Food Kitchen.

READ MORE: Transparency row over fungal infection contracted by grandmother at scandal-hit hospital

Participants will pay 499 for the course which includes regular group meetings at Soul Food, blood tests and analysis, a cookbook, access to web-based training and education videos covering key aspects of lifestyle medicine, and a workbook.

I see my ultimate goal as being able to be in a position where I can reach out to people who cant afford to pay by making it available through the NHS, or at least at a lower cost, said Dr Freeman.

I really, really want this to work because Im passionate about it. I really believe in it and it would just be wonderful if we could show that Glasgow is not going to be the exception to CHIP.

This really is holistic healthcare and its proven best practice. Sometimes it can feel a bit overwhelming to people if they think theyve got to change everything but doing it through CHIP just makes it really practical.

"When you make one positive change it can be an upward spiral. So if you focus on your sleep and you get that better often you have the energy to exercise more the next day, and if youre exercising well maybe you dont feel like eating the junk food.

None of us are living the perfect life, weve all got something we could be working on.

See the original post:
GP who survived cancer bringing US-invented 'CHIP' course to Scotland after 'impressive' results for weight-loss and diabetes - HeraldScotland

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As we start a new decade, we can see hopeful signs of improvement for people with disabilities. At the same time, its hard not to notice more negative trends evidence that in some ways we may be heading in the wrong direction on disability issues and culture.

What will life be like for disabled people ten years from now? Will todays worrying trends turn into frightening realities? Or will we finally achieve some of the access, equality, and opportunity breakthroughs we have been working on for decades?

Lets first look at three ways things could end up much worse for disabled people in 2030, given current trends:

1. Division

The disability community could become even more bitterly divided than it is already by race, gender, and sexual orientation, between haves and have-nots, among conflicting political identities, and between groups of people with different kinds of disabilities.

Disability is an incredibly diverse set of experiences, encompassing physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional impairments and hundreds of specific diagnoses. And disability itself intersects with all other flavors of human experience and social identity. Despite this, the overall trend over the last 30 years has been for the disability community to come together as much as possible. Cooperation has contributed to historic advances, and these advances have in turn helped reinforce the value of unity.

Yet even now, we see that external threats and zero-sum, circle the wagons thinking threaten to overwhelm the drive for solidarity, shared experience, and collective action. It would be tragic for the disability community, (such as it is), to once again shatter into competing and mutually resentful camps tragic, but entirely possible.

2. The sinister side of innovation

Medical and technological advances could increasingly make disability seem like something people can choose to fix, and should further stigmatizing people with more persistent, ongoing disabilities.

Many people, including many with disabilities, view innovations in medicine, technology, and wellness as hopeful opportunities to cure and essentially conquer disability itself. Its a major component of technological utopianism, the belief that ever-advancing technology holds the key to fixing our most difficult social problems. And its true that technology has done a lot to liberate disabled people, through better wheelchairs and prosthetics, relatively cheap adaptive products, and of course computers and the internet. Medicine, too, is largely responsible for vastly improved everyday health and longevity for people with disabilities that once cut lives short.

Unfortunately, the impressive contributions of technology also fuels more problematic attitudes and sinister goals. People who believe that any affliction or disability can be fixed with the right tool, treatment, or lifestyle tend to develop a judgmental view of disabled people generally. And its not just about treatment. Already we can see an alarming interest in eliminating disabled people entirely from society, through prenatal screening, a renewed interest in eugenics, and an ever more permissive and sympathetic approach to assisted suicide. These threats may seem far-fetched and abstract now, but in ten years, how will society regard disabled people whose continued existence doesnt seem to belong in a world where every problem has a shiny new solution?

3. Back to institutions

Nursing homes, institutions and other controlled care facilities of various kinds could again be widely promoted and used as the solution to disabled peoples needs.

A large portion of the story of disabled people in the last 20 years has been the effort, on several fronts, to move disability care and services away from nursing homes, institutions, and other types of centralized facilities. Instead, we have moved towards disabled people being able to live in their own homes, on their own terms, with whatever services and support they need provided individually, in the community, and as much as possible under their own control. Disability policy has come a long way on this, benefitting people with physical disabilities, including older people with age-related impairments, people with developmental or intellectual disabilities, and people with mental health diagnoses, among others. The fairly obvious personal preference for greater independence, and the relative cost-effectiveness of these models can make continued progress seem inevitable.

However, it seems that there is literally no belief or practice of the past so awful that it cant be revived. Against all expectations of just a few years ago, there is a renewed interest in defending and even expanding disability service models that emphasize institutionalization, control, protection, and segregation. Traditional nursing homes still enjoy at best lukewarm acceptance. But innovators are hard at work coming up with exciting new communities and assisted living campus programs that are little more than high-end institutions with the same segregation and day to day control of disabled peoples lives that contributed to outrages like Willowbrook, which helped launch the movement against institutions in the first place. Straightforward advocacy for a wholesale return to institutions is becoming more common and accepted.

Maybe its just a fleeting fashion a nostalgic flirtation with old ways of doing things. But it could easily become a real trend, perhaps in response to underfunding, perceived unpredictability, and occasional failures of more individualized models like home care. Plus, misunderstood and fabricated financial pressures, and the fear of bad things happening always threatens to overwhelm hopes and ambitions for independence. Will most disabled people live independently in 2030? Or, will we be back inside closed facilities, wondering how we got here again?

Now that we have reviewed some realistic fears, lets look at three entirely feasible hopes for how life could actually be much better for people with disabilities by 2030:

1. Health insurance for everyone

There will no longer be any such thing as eligibility for complete health care, and long term services and supports for disabled people. It will be automatic for everyone.

Whether this means Medicare For All or some other hybrid model, the key is not just affordability, but stability. Today, people with disabilities have to worry constantly about sudden, even accidental loss of health insurance. Many of us rely on health insurance not just for standard health care, but also for adaptive equipment and home care. As a result, the constant need to maintain fragile eligibility factors into every major decision we make, including whether to marry, and whether and how much we can work if we have the opportunity.

Taking health insurance off the table, and fully covering home care for all who need it, would liberate disabled people even more than the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It would once and for all make unwilling placement in facilities impossible, and fulfill the true promise of independent living.

2. End of the poverty trap

Disabled people will be able to work, earn money, and save much more than they can now without fear of losing support benefits.

There are many factors that influence whether or not any particular disabled person is working for pay. As already noted, maintaining steady health insurance is both essential and complicated. The same is true for other financial benefits like Social Security, food stamps, and housing subsidies, not to mention any support services people with particular disabilities need to maintain safety and independence.

Eliminating any financial downside to working, or working more, would be a huge step in the right direction for disabled people, regardless of our ability and opportunity to work at any given time. Figuring out how to do this isnt difficult in the technical, policy sense. Whether or not the political will exists to do it will go a long way towards deciding how life with disabilities will be in 2030.

3. Accessibility is done

Physical and communication barriers in workplaces, businesses, and transportation will be almost unheard of.

Maybe it really will just take longer than we thought before the promise of the ADA is finally realized in full. Maybe the legal and practical tools are already in place, and we will reach some sort of final accomplishment by 2030 of full accessibility largely through time and the natural process of repairing and replacing the infrastructure. Or maybe we will ramp up the effort, (so to speak), with some combination of stronger mandates, tighter enforcement, and targeted funding.

Will we simply coast towards this final elimination of practical barriers to full liberation, equality, and mobility for disabled people? Or will it require something more? And can we do it in another ten years or less?

***

These two lists were informally brainstormed, not carefully surveyed and sorted. Ask any disabled person and they might produce completely different predictions. However, these negative and positive forecasts do accurately reflect the pessimism and optimism that exist side-by-side among people with disabilities.

Its also interesting that all of the predictions on the darkest timeline list are social threats, while the optimistic hopes are all about concrete policy. It could just as easily be the reverse. After all, the disability community faces dozens of policy threats too, while disability culture is arguably more vibrant and collaborative than ever before.

Stil, policy advancement alongside social stagnation or decline would be consistent with the disability communitys history. Our legal and policy victories have always tended to run a few laps ahead of our progress on social attitudes and beliefs about disabled people. Big systemic improvements have often been followed by backlash something we may be seeing right now, and not just with the disability community.

What if both lists come true by 2030? What if the disability wins strong material victories, but loses cohesion, community in effect, its soul]? What if portions of the disability community gain power, freedom, and respect, while we sacrifice the rest of us to rejection, shame, and confinement?

Of course, there are infinite possible futures for all of us. But the disability community has unique opportunities to shape the world it will inhabit in 2030. We just have to be clear about what we want, and what we are and arent willing to do to get it. Now is a good time to think about it, and seriously.

More here:
Disability Life In Ten Years: Fears And Hopes For 2030 - Forbes

"Let's not teach our children that apocalyptic thinking is right thinking," says Laurence Siegel. Apocalypticism "has always been wrong as a forecast, and it will continue to be wrong."

Siegel is a business consultant and the director of research at the CFA Institute Research Foundation. In Fewer, Richer, Greener, he argues convincingly that humanity has spent two centuries rising from our natural state of abject poverty, and that most of the credit for that goes market institutions and democracy. Parsing current trends, Siegel foresees world population peaking and then stabilizing by the end of this century. (Hence the "fewer.") He argues that economic growth will bring humanity much greater wealth and more adept technologies. (Hence the "richer.") And thanks to increased urbanization and steadily improving material efficiency, he thinks our species will tred more lightly on many natural ecosystems. (Hence the "greener.")

Let's take a closer look at each of those three forecasts.

"High death rates are the cause of high birth rates," explains Siegel. World population grew very slowly in the Malthusian past because, although people had lots of babies, more than half of them died before reaching adulthood. Modern sanitation and medicine and greater supplies of food meant falling death rates; that combined with still-high birth rates to produce a population explosion, with the number of people in the world rising from 1 billion in 1800 to 7.7 billion now.

The global total fertility ratethat is, the number of children each woman is likely to bear over her lifetimehas fallen from around 5 in 1960 to 2.42 now. The United Nations forecasts that world's total fertility rate will eventually fall below the conventionally defined replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman; the U.N. says population will then stabilize around 11 billion, and Siegel basically agrees.

So humanity is demographically transitioning from its natural state of high birth and high death rates to a more recent stage of high birth and low death rates to the low birth and low death rates seen in much of the world now. About half of the world's population currently lives in countries with below replacement fertility. The U.S.'s total fertility rate, for example, has dropped to a record low of 1.73 children per woman.

Why are more people around the world having fewer children? Incentives, explains Siegel. Rearing children in modern societies costs a lot, both in money and in foregone opportunities and pleasures. Given that about 99 percent of kids born in countries like the U.S. will make it to age 20, parents are choosing to spend more resources on fewer children, who will thereby be more likely to enjoy successful lives. "To put it just a little too crassly, in wealthy societies and increasingly in less wealthy ones, children have become a cost center (some would even say a luxury good), not a profit center," Siegel observes.

Siegel's projections of future population growth may in fact be excessively high. In a 2018 study, demographer Wolfgang Lutz and his colleagues at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis offer an alternative scenario projecting rapid economic growth, rising levels of educational attainment for both sexes, and technological advancementall factors that tend to lower fertility. They expect that world population could peak at about 8.9 billion by 2060 and then decline to 7.8 billion by the end of the century.

In any case, these trends mean that there will be many more old people in the future. Having worked most of his life in finance, Siegel offers some good advice how to prepare for retirement. He recommends that one "save a predetermined percentage of one's income escalating over time, until enough money has been accumulated to replace (when Social Security benefits are also included) 70% of the pay rate one has been earning just before retirement." At retirement he suggests using 15 percent of your savings to buy a deferred life annuity that kicks in at age 85, thus making sure that you still have income once you've spent down your savings.

As world population exploded, so too did economic growth, resulting in what the University of Illinois at Chicago economist Deirdre McCloskey calls the Great Enrichment. Siegel cites urbanist Jane Jacobs' trenchant observation: "Poverty has no causes. Only prosperity has causes."

The economic historian Angus Maddison calculated that global per capita income in 1 A.D. was $467 per year (in 1990 dollars). By 1820, global per capita income had risen to nearly $1,200 per year. Over the next two centuries, per capita GDP in current U.S. dollars rose to $11,300or, taking purchasing power into account, to nearly $18,000 per person.

Income, of course, is not equally distributed across the world. Some placesSomalia, Niger, Malawiare sadly stuck in Malthusian traps where per capita incomes are still below that global average from 1 A.D. The good news is that economic growth has taken off in many poor countries in recent decades, so their incomes are rising to converge with those of already developed nations. Inequality between countries is falling, and the global rate of abject poverty (people living on less than $1.90 per day) has fallen from 42 in 1981 to 8.6 percent in 2018. By one measure, half of the world's population is now middle-class or wealthier.

Siegel provides reams of solid data for similarly heartening global trends. Crop productivity, food availability, life expectancy, and education are increasing; violence is in decline.

So that explains fewer and richer. But is Siegel right that the world will be greener?

Economists have identified an inverted U-shaped relationshipthe environmental Kuznets curvein which environmental conditions initially deteriorate as economic growth takes off, then improve when citizens with rising incomes demand better environmental amenities. For example, research has found that rising incomes eventually lead to falling air and water pollution and the expansion of forests. Generally speaking, richer is cleaner.

These curves do not peak and turn downward by themselves. They do so with a mixture of private and government action, with the details differing from one country to another. In the U.S., the levels of six common air pollutantssoot, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxidehave fallen by an average of 74percent since 1970. Meanwhile, gross domestic product grew by 380 percent.

Siegel acknowledges that man-made climate change could pose significant problems for humanity as this century advances. But he notes that billions of relatively poor people face more immediate problems, including unsafe drinking water, uncertain food supplies, a dearth of educational opportunities, excessive local pollution, a lack of sanitation, andimportantlyno access to modern energy services. With respect to how best to prioritize between longer term environmental threats and fulfilling urgent needs, he writes, "There is no single answer. Economic growth will helpa lot."

Siegel sees ecomodernismas the way forward to a greener world. "Intensifying many human activitiesparticularly farming, energy extraction, forestry, and settlementso that they use less land and interfere less with the natural world is the key to decoupling human development from environmental impacts," states An Ecomodernist Manifesto, a document written by 18 scientists and activists in 2015. "These socioeconomic and technological processes are central to economic modernization and environmental protection. Together they allow people to mitigate climate change, to spare nature, and to alleviate global poverty."

Humanity may already be approaching peak farmland, as we grow ever more food on ever less land. Although Siegel doesn't mention it, global tree cover has expanded between 1981 and 2016 by 7 percent. That's a territory of about 865,000 square miles, more than three times the size of Texas.

In 1960, only one third of people lived in cities. This has now increased to 55 percent, making this the first time in history that more folks live in cities than in the countryside. By 2050, nearly 70 percent of people will be city dwellers. Compact cities are much more energy-efficient, in addition to providing people with much better access to economic opportunities, education, and medical care.

While energy efficiency and renewables will play significant roles in helping humanity to decouple from nature, Siegel is also clear-eyed about the need for greater supplies of energy to alleviate poverty through economic growth. His solution: modern nuclear power. "For most applications, nuclear power dominates both fossil fuels and renewables in almost every aspect: efficiency, safety, reliability, carbon neutrality, fuel abundance, and eventually, price," he argues.

If we can maintain and spread the institutionsfree markets, the rule of law, property rights, free speech, and democratic governancethat underpin the Great Enrichment, Siegel's forecast of fewer, richer, and greener will come to pass.

"Life has improved tremendously in the last 250 years; this book argues that it will continue to improve in almost every dimension; health, wealth, longevity, nutrition, literacy, peace, freedom, and so forth," he writes. "Without overlooking the many obstacles on the path of progress, my aim is to reinforce and help restore people's faith in the futureand help them understand why optimism is amply justified."

(Disclosure: Siegel quotes me in his book. Immodestly, I will note that my book The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the Twenty-First Century addresses many of these same issues and trends.)

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Apocalyptic Thinking Is Wrong - Reason

Life longevity may seem beyond ones control, but many healthy habits may lead a person to reaching a ripe, old age. These include drinking coffee or tea, exercising, getting enough sleep and limiting alcohol intake. Taken together, these habits can boost a persons health and put them on the path to a long life. There is another healthy habit one should try and incorporate into their diet which is backed by science and promoted by health advocates. What is it?

Apple cider vinegar is the most popular type of vinegar in the natural health community.

It is claimed to lead to all sorts of benefits, many of which are supported by science.

Some of the benefits of apple cider vinegar include aiding in weight loss, reducing cholesterol, lowering blood sugar levels and improving symptoms of diabetes.

Adding apple cider vinegar into your diet could also help boost life longevity.

READ MORE: How to live longer: Best diet to increase life expectancy - foods to eat and avoid

Apple cider vinegar is made in a two-stop process, related to how alcohol is made. First the apples are crushed to yeast, which ferment the sugars and turns them into alcohol.

Secondly, bacteria is added to the alcohol solution, which further ferment the alcohol and turn it into acetic acid, the main active compound in vinegar.

Organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar also contains mother which are strands of proteins, enzymes and friendly bacteria that give the produce its murky appearance.

DONT MISS

Some people believe that the mother is responsible for most of the health benefits, although there are currently no studies to support this.

Apple cider vinegar only contains about three calories per tablespoon, which is very low.

There are not many vitamins or minerals in it, but it does contain a small amount of potassium.

How can apple cider vinegar help to increase life expectancy?

Several risk factors of heart disease can be improved by apple vinegar consumption.

In a study with the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, the dietary acetic acid in apple cider vinegar was analysed on animals.

The study found that consuming apple cider vinegar could help to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels, along with several other heart disease risk factors.

Some health experts believe that apple cider vinegar contains anti-cancer effects. In another study, the effects of apple cider vinegar on cancer cells was analysed.

The study concluded that the vinegar can kill cancer cells and shrunk tumours. However, all of the studies were done in isolated class in test tubes, or rats, which proves nothing about what happens in a living, breathing human.

Apple cider vinegar is not a miracle or a cure-all product, however, the vinegar does clearly have some important health benefits and could aid in living a longer and healthier life.

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How to live longer: Adding this drink to your diet could increase your life expectancy - Express

If youre ready to make some changes in 2020, weve rounded up the best longevity tips weve learned in the past year. Whether its adding more chili peppers to your diet, taking enough steps every day, or spending quality time with the people you love, these are the easiest ways to give yourself a fighting chance at a long healthy life.

You might want to bring some spice to your life. A study found eating chili peppers was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, for the people who ate chili peppers regularly, the all-cause mortality risk was 23 percent lower than those who didnt. Upping your intake can be as easy as sprinkling red pepper flakes or chili powder into your food.

Past research has shown being an optimist contributes to 11 to 15 percent longer life span, on average, and to greater odds of achieving exceptional longevity. (Aka, in this case, living to 85 years old or longer.) While its hard to stay positive all the time, making it your mission to cut down on pessimistic thinking can do you good.

Taking 10,000 steps a day is kind of the gold standard in terms of health, but thats not always going to happen. So rest assured: Research shows those who took at least 4,400 a day had a 41 percent lower mortality rate than those who took only 2,700 steps. But dont stop there: The benefits only grew up until 7,500 steps, where they plateaued. Also, when you do walk, walk quickly because another study found fast walkers tend to live longer.

The residents of Okinawa, Japan, have the longest life expectancy in the world. Part of that is due to what theyre eating, and seven prime foods stand out: bitter melons, tofu, sweet potatoes, turmeric, brown rice, shiitake mushrooms, and seaweed. Make them part of your repertoire for a long, healthy life, too.

One thing wellness journalist and chef Candice Kumai swears by for longevity is the traditional Japanese custom shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. Shinrin-yoku is the practice of forest bathing and a way to connect to nature and I try to do thateven if thats looking at an ocean or a forest, Kumai says. Spend 10 minutes a day taking a walk, even just around your neighborhood. You dont need an actual forest to reap the benefits.

Theres definitely a sweet spot when it comes to sleep. Past studies have shown you shouldnt get too much or too little. With that being said, the final conclusion is this: Dont sleep less than six hours per day, and dont sleep more than 10 hours per day, as it can result in a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death. If you stay in the middle at 7 or 8 hours, youll be better able to keep yourself healthy now and in the future.

If you cant fall back asleep, use these helpful tips:

Eating too much sugar can certainly keep your from living a long, healthy life. Thats why experts say the key is cutting back, and you can help banish cravings by eating a specific combo. If youre physically craving something sweet, my go-to snack is five organic prunes and 10 organic raw almonds, eaten together, says functional medicine doctor Jill Baron, MD. Prunes have sweetness and many health benefits, including being high in potassium and fiber, as well as having alow glycemic load. And prunes eaten with almonds with give a great antioxidant boost and satisfy a craving for sweets.

Many things play into longevity, including your telomeresthe protective DNA caps that are on the ends of your chromosomes. While longer telomeres mean longer healthspans, shorter telomeres are linked to things like dementia and heart disease. And past research has shown theres a correlation between telomere length and quality relationships. In older people, having greater levels of social support isassociated with longer telomeres, says psychologist Elissa Epel, PhD. Thats why Epel says its so important to spend quality time with the people you love.

No, this isnt a trick. One study found you only need 30 minutes of physical activity a few times a week to stay healthy, and that included doing housework. Overall, the more activity a person did, the lower their risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease, says Scott Lear, the studys lead author. So get to cleaning and organizing. Your home will be spotless, and youll stay healthier and live longer because of it.

Japanese centenarians arent the only ones to look to for advice about longevity. Residents of Sardinia are also known for their impressively long lifespans, and they credit a handful of Italian foods as playing a part: barley, fava beans, cannonau wine, olive oil, kohlrabi, potatoes, sourdough bread, and tomatoes.

These are the healthiest foods to eat in the winter, according to a dietitian. Then find out some of the healthiest foods and drinks that came out this year.

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The 10 best longevity tips we learned this year for living a longer, healthier life - Well+Good

11.21.19

A recent article by The Harvard Gazette highlights the work of Dr. Sharon Inouye, a faculty member of Harvard Medical School and advisor to the Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge design committee. Learn more here: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/11/grand-challenge-encourages-innovation-in-aging/

Aging is a global phenomenon. By 2030, the number of people age 60 and over will reach 1.4 billion[1], with older people projected to outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history[2]. Today, thanks to increased longevity, we have...

BY John HAAGA, Director, Division of Behavioral and Social Research,Division of Behavioral and Social Research, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health John PHILLIPS, Chief, Population and Social Processes Branch,Division of Behavioral and Social Research, National Institute on Aging,...

Japan - AMED in collaboration with the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and seven other global organizations, today announced that it has joined the Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge, a multiyear international challenge seeking breakthrough innovations to extend human health...

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The official site of the Healthy Longevity Global Grand ...

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - DECEMBER 12: Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers looks on during the ... [+] game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on December 12, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. The 76ers defeat the Celtics 115-109. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The 2019-20 NBA regular season has been underway for quite some time now but, there is still some negativity in the air around it. The term load management, where a team intentionally rests a player to preserve their longevity, has become a bit of a Red Scare among fans. No, it isnt American politicians drumming up fear about resting players but rather the talking heads on most every sports show imaginable. It makes sense why they lean into the topic, negativity and drama creates an easy audience.

But, the fear appears to be nothing more than an illusion so far into this season.

So far, the NBA has only seen a handful of players who have sat out due to load management. Out of all of them, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is the only marquee player to recently make the list. But, fans were well-aware of Embiids sitting out as Philadelphia laid out their plan to rest Embiid before the season began. Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, the one player most associated with load management, used to join Embiid on this list. But, it has been recently discovered that he has been dealing with a left knee injury and the Clippers are doing their due diligence on protecting his health.

The problem is, fans will need more than the paragraph above to squash the negative connotation associated with load management. Especially when those with a larger platform will continue to drum up hysteria. One solution would be for the NBA to just shorten the number of games played. Financially, that doesnt make much sense for the NBA. Okay, well how about stretching out the length of the regular season to prevent back-to-back games? The NBA would then be competing even more with other professional leagues like the NFL, MLB and NHL for valuable time on national television. So, the two most obvious solutions dont seem probable at all for the NBA.

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. David Altchek, an attending orthopedic surgeon and co-chief emeritus in the sports medicine and shoulder service at the Hospital for Special Surgery as well as the Medical Director for the New York Mets and a medical consultant for the NBA, about the topic of load management and possible solutions for the NBA.

Altchek agrees that the most obvious solutions for the fans are also the most improbable for the NBA. Instead, he proposed an interesting idea that would mirror what the MLB does with its starting pitchers. If NBA organizations were to lay out a structured schedule that indicates when they are going to rest players, a lot of this negativity would likely go away. Granted, that transparency would eliminate any tactical planning between teams but fan support outweighs that risk.

Following with the theme of mirroring professional baseball, Altchek also proposed that teams could take the planned resting one step further by monitoring players minutes. Whether it is in practice, shootaround, travel, sleep schedules or in-game action, teams can actively monitor how much time and energy players expend to factor that into their planned resting schedule. Again, an added level of transparency between NBA organizations and the fans will only help squash the negative connotation associated with load management.

More than anything, time is the element that will help eliminate the negative connotation with load management. Right now, fully being able to grasp the nuances of resting players is difficult for fans to understand unless they were present for all behind the scenes operations of their favorite team. But, with time, the term load management will just become part of the vernacular and something that is accepted by fans. As it stands today, teams resting their players is a necessity in order to provide the best possible product for the fans every single night.

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Theres A Possible Solution For The NBA, Load Management And Fan Perception - Forbes

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A healthy lifestyle is essential to achieving optimal wellbeing and longevity. This infographic, "11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity," gives you useful tips to help you live a long and healthy life. Use the embed code to share it on your website or visit our infographic page for the high-res version.

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When it comes to health and longevity, there is no quick fix and no fountain of youth that will help you become healthy overnight. Being fit and healthy in order to reach a ripe old age takes effort and attention this is something that I repeatedly tell my readers.

But here's the good news: there are a few simple lifestyle changes you can make to improve not only the quantity, but also the quality of your years. These changes are pretty basic, but can have a profound effect on your overall health once implemented.

One of the most basic health principles (and, sadly, the one people most often ignore) is eating a diet of whole, nutritious foods rather than unhealthy processed foods. Keep in mind that processed and junk foods are loaded with grains, sugar, and unhealthy calories that increase your insulin levels, which not only accelerates the aging process but also increases your risk of obesity and chronic disease.

I also highly advise against consuming genetically engineered (GE) foods. Not only are GE foods less nutritious than organically-grown foods, but they also pose many health risks. In fact, most processed foods today contain GE ingredients regardless of the fact that these GE components have not undergone long-term safety studies.

The best diet I would recommend for optimal health and longevity is one that's focused on whole, unprocessed foods preferably organic vegetables, grass-fed meats, raw dairy, and nuts acquired from healthy, sustainable, local sources. I also recommend consuming a good portion of your food raw, as well as adding naturally fermented foods to meals.

By implementing these basic diet changes, you can make a big leap toward longevity and optimal health.

For more useful tips in healthy eating, I advise you to follow the Mercola Nutrition Plan, which will guide you in choosing the right foods that will suit your unique biological makeup. The Mercola Nutrition Plan addresses your unique biochemical needs based on your specific genetics, allowing you to cure your health problems at the foundational level and giving you a more permanent solution for regaining your health.

Equally important to consuming a healthy diet is being physically active. According to studies, people who are sedentary are found to have a shorter lifespan. In fact, one study shows that reducing the average time you spend sitting down to less than three hours a day may increase your life expectancy by two years, and reducing the time you spend watching TV to less than two hours a day could increase it by 1.4 years.

I understand how difficult it is to avoid sitting down for prolonged periods, as computer work is very predominant today. Even I am guilty of spending a significant portion of my day sitting down. But to make up for it, I make sure that I get enough exercise daily. I also take frequent breaks every hour to stand up at my desk. I highly recommend Foundation Exercises, developed by chiropractor Dr. Eric Goodman, as well as short-burst high-intensity exercises, like Peak Fitness. You can read more about these techniques by subscribing to the Mercola daily newsletter.

Exercise also has some anti-aging effects, as proven by many studies. One study published in the American Journal of Physiology says that exercise triggers mitochondrial biogenesis, a decline of which is common in aging. This means that exercise can reverse significant age-associated declines in mitochondrial mass and, in effect, stop aging in its tracks.

Keep in mind that modifying your diet and exercising are not the only important factors of health and longevity. There are many other things that you need to implement to ensure that you will be optimally healthy.

I have created this infographic, 11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity, to summarize all the components that need to be addressed if you want to live a long and healthy life. Here, you will learn:

These guidelines form the basic tenets of optimal health. They are tried-and-tested foundational strategies that will not change, no matter what improvements modern science comes up with.

I urge you to follow these tips to significantly decrease your likelihood of disease and premature aging. Use these as the foundation of your overall wellness plan, and you will surely succeed in improving your health.

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11 Basic Guidelines for General Health and Longevity ...

From losing weight to reducing mortality, regular running has a lot of health benefits. But like everything else, too much of this aerobic exercise can be harmful.

Yes, you heard it right. Higher doses of this aerobic exercise can increase the risk of overuse injuries and sudden death while exercising. It is also worth noting that running more than usual does not come with increased health benefits.

Is Running More Better?

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine earlier this month reported that there is no association between increased rates of participation in running and longevity.

"Any amount of running, even just once a week, is better than no running, but higher doses of running may not necessarily be associated with greater mortality benefits," the study said.

Is Hardcore Running Good For Heart?

A study published in the medical journal Circulation reported that sports activities, like running, is tied to an increased risk of dying suddenly or shortly after exercise, especially when it is practiced vigorously.

"In this prospective study of 820 cases of sports-related sudden deaths and resuscitated cardiac arrests in a general population, we have identified a higher burden of this event than previously suspected from comprehensive surveys of sports-related sudden death in young competitive athletes," the study noted.

Does Increasing Running Speed Strengthen Tissues?

Several studies have proved that running can improve balance, aerobic endurance and metabolism. But a study published in the American College of Sports Medicine reported that an increase in running speed and lesser rest periods can lead to overuse injuries.

"Running is one of the most widespread activities during which overuse injuries of the lower extremity occur," the study said. "Modifications in training programs could help an injured runner return to running with decreased rehabilitation time, but it would be preferable to be able to advise a runner regarding injury potential before undertaking a running program."

This does not mean you should stop running because something is better than nothing. Running is packed with a lot of health benefits.

Even running for just 50 minutes a week could reduce your risk of high blood pressure, cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, disability and premature death. Continue running slowly and steadily. It will help you to stay fit for a longer period.

how to increase life expectancy through running, jogging Photo: Skeeze - Pixabay

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Too Much Of This Aerobic Exercise Can Harm You - International Business Times

A look at the Radio City Rockettes training room with Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, and Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopedic Institute, the Rockettes' new medical director, Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Tania Savayan, tsavayan@lohud.com

On a Monday afternoon, just days before opening night, Emily King, 22, a Radio City Rockette, dropped by an office at Radio City Music Hall.

King, who is in her second season as one of the famed dancers, came to see Dr. MelodyHrubes, the new medical director for the Rockettes, andElaine Winslow-Redmond,the director of athletic training, for a consultation.

It just provides a lot of security for us as performers," King said. "We know that if anything goes wrong, like they have our back and they are going to provide help where it's necessary.

November 6, 2019: Dress rehearsal for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Radio City Rockettes.(Photo: Zack Lane, Zack Lane/MSG Photos)

King,who is from Michigan and has a bachelor's degree in Commercial Dance from Pace University,is one of 80Rockettesknown for their signature eye-high kicks and a precisiondance technique that requires both artistry and athleticism.

Hrubes and Winslow-Redmond make surethe Rockettes are in top shape as they ascend the Radio City Music Hall stage multiple times a day to perform the Christmas Spectacular.

Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, left, the Radio City Rockettes' new medical director, and Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, give Rockette Emily King a pre-screening Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

While they range in height from 5-foot-6 to 5-10, the dancers succeed in creating the illusion that they are kicking at the same height through a combination of formation (tallest woman in the center) and technique.

They perform up to 16 times a week and can kick up to 650 times a day. Each 90-minute performance requires 160 kicks in high heels.Theunforgiving routine can put considerable strain on their bodies.

For Hrubes, that means preventing injuries before they happen.

Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Radio City Rockettes, left, talks about the program as Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, the Rockettes' new medical director, looks on Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

What is so interesting to me about dance is that it's choreographed, so there's a lot of biomechanical and overuse injuries that happen, said Hrubes, who practices with RothmanOrthopedic Institute, which opened a location in Harrison last month and is the official provider of orthopedic services to the Rockettes.

That's why we're so interested in how to prevent that, since they're doing the same thing over and over again.

October 22, 2019: The Radio City Rockettes rehearse for the Christmas Spectacular at the St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City.(Photo: Carl Scheffel, Carl Scheffel/MSG Photos)

A lot of what she sees with the Rockettes also applies to other athletes, said Hrubes, a specialist in sports medicine who has previously worked as a team physician for the United States Soccer Federation and with United States Gymnastics.

A lot of young athletes aren't taught to listen to their bodies;they think that if there's no pain, theres no gain. If I'm hurting, that means I'm just working hard enough, said Hrubes, talking about injury prevention. And actually pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong. So learning the difference between soreness and pain is super valuable because then they could actually learn to listen to their bodies.

Dr. Melody Hrubes of Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, left, the Radio City Rockettes' new medical director, and Elaine Winslow-Redmond, Director of Athletic Training and Wellness for the Rockettes, give Rockette Emily King a pre-screening Nov. 18, 2019 at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

That philosophy dovetailswith what Buchanan resident Winslow-Redmond has sought to do with the Rockettes since 2005.

A former Rockette who performed for 11 seasonsfrom 1994-2005,Winslow-Redmond said she was frustrated when, in her first season,she sought treatment for a shin splint a kind of stress fractureand found doctors who didnt fully understand what she did.

They would say things like, 'There's no hopping in tap dancing.' And I thought to myself, I don't think they understand what I do if they don't think I'm hopping while I'm tap dancing, she said."They didn't understand that I needed to stay in the show. I couldn't like just take a few weeks off.

November 7, 2018: Dress rehearsal for the upcoming Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.(Photo: Carl Scheffel, Carl Scheffel/MSG Photos)

She was eventually helped byan athletic trainerwho taught Winslow-Redmond how to prevent injury through her next 10 seasons. And she learned firsthand how important it is to focus on recovery after a show.

So I had great longevity and I was able to dance injury free for the rest of my seasons, she said.

Winslow-Redmond said she was bothered by the fact that the Rockettes didnt have an in-house trainer or doctor. So, whilecontinuing to dance as a Rockette, Winslow-Redmond, who hasa bachelor's in dance, took advantage of a tuition assistance program available to Rockettes to transition to other careers.

She got masters in physiology and nutrition at Columbia University and eventually became the Rockettes' trainer in 2005.

As part of herthesis, she analyzed five years worth of Rockette injury reports andshowed that the majoritywere preventable overuse injuries.

"Overall the choreography has gotten more difficult," she said. "So as we're challenging the Rockettes and they're rising to a higher level, their injuries are decreasing. Theres been a 78% decrease in injury. So that's the impact.

Her advice for current and aspiring dancers?

They should pair their dance training to incorporate a strength element so that they strengthen the muscles that tend to be weak on dancers.

She also emphasizes recovery. I push hard on recovery because I really understand the impact of many shows in one week," she said. Understanding the level of fatigue that I experienced and being able to teach them the necessary steps on how to recover and that pushing through is not always the way to go.

Rockette Emily King in the athletic training and wellness room at Radio City Music Hall Nov. 18, 2019 in Manhattan.(Photo: Tania Savayan/The Journal News)

For Rockette Emily King, working with Winslow-Redmond and Hrubeshas been helpful. Just in a preventative sense, the pre-screening is so helpful," she said. "They give us exercises to help prevent injuries that are specific to us, like things that we are susceptible to, which is incredible.

Dr. Hrubes and Winslow-Redmond offered advice for athletes on preventing injury:

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Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy covers women and power for the USA Today Network Northeast. Write to her at svenugop@lohud.com

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Keeping the Radio City Rockettes on their toes, with help from Westchester - Lohud

Welcome to the future of Preventive Medicine

Princeton Longevity Center is a next-generation medical facility providing the most advanced, integrated and individually tailored preventive medicine programs in the country. With focus on early disease detection and evaluating and modifying risk for future disease, Princeton Longevity Centers unique program gives you the ability to take control of your future health before the onset of symptoms or other indications of a problem.

Princeton Longevity Centers Comprehensive Preventive Exams combine the newest and most advanced technology with the most in-depth assessment available to detect potential health problems. Our preventive medicine experts will show you simple, easy adjustments you can make that wont dramatically impact your lifestyle but will give you the tools you need to maximize your future health and keep you looking and feeling years younger. Our individually tailored programs will improve your health and longevity, enabling you to make the most of your future years for you and the people who depend on you.

Named one of the countrys top centers for a Comprehensive or Executive Physical exam by the Wall Street Journal and Forbes Magazine, the Princeton Longevity Center provides you with an unparalleled level of personal care and attention.

When you visit Princeton Longevity Center, youll be met by a team of professionals that provides an extensive series of medical assessments, diagnostic tests and health screenings. On the same day well review all your results with you and give you as much time as you need to ask questions about them. Individualized attention from a team of Physicians, Exercise Physiologists, Registered Dietitians, Nurses and Patient Care Coordinators is a hallmark of our preventive medicine center, and sets us apart from other wellness centers. Patients come to Princeton Longevity Center because were not a hospital-based exam we are the specialist in prevention and early disease detection.

You will find that one day with Princeton Longevity Center will provide more insight into your health and future health than all your previous routine annual exams combined.

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The Future of Preventive Medicine: Princeton Longevity Center

Fast food is a hallmark of modern living, and while it may be convenient, it's not doing us any favors.

A new study from Penn State, West Virginia and Michigan State universities suggests it's one of several factors contributing to a decline in American life expectancy.

The research, published this week in the journal Social Science & Medicine, found that people living in communities with more fast-food restaurants are living shorter lives. Another major factor found to negatively impact life expectancy was the number of people in a community with jobs in the extraction industry, which includes mining, quarrying and natural gas production. A third key factor was a community's population density, with people living in rural areas having a longevity edge over those in more urban environments. In this case, more people is not necessarily merrier.

Life expectancy defined as the length of time a person born in a specific year can expect to live is one of the most critical ways to gauge a society's overall health. But, after making steady gains over the previous decades, American life expectancy flat-lined in 2014 and then began reversing. From 2014 to 2017, the average years in an American life rolled back from 78.9 to 78.6 years.

"American life expectancy recently declined for the first time in decades, and we wanted to explore the factors contributing to this decline," lead author Elizabeth Dobis of the Penn State-based Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development explained in a press release. "Because of regional variation in life expectancy, we knew community-level factors must matter."

For the study, the team looked at how life expectancy in 2014 has changed from a 1980 baseline on a county-by-county basis. They ended up combing through data from more than 3,000 counties enough to build a comprehensive statistical model that weighed the impact of 12 community variables. They were also able to control for personal variables that are already established as factors on lifespan, including sex, race, education and alcohol use.

"By analyzing place-based factors alongside personal factors, we were able to draw several conclusions about which community characteristics contribute most strongly to this variation in life expectancy."

Their findings? People who lived near fast-food restaurants are having time shaved from their lives.

But that factor wasn't the only thief of time. People who worked in "extraction industries" i.e. mining and oil and gas extraction were also dying younger than those who did not. The population density of a community also had an adverse impact on lifespan. Indeed, the researchers found people living in less dense, rural communities lived longer lives, on average.

It seems at least a few of the reasons why people move to the city conveniences, jobs, and simply to be around more people are also bad for their health.

How bad, exactly?

"For example, for every one percentage point increase in the number of fast-food restaurants in a county, life expectancy declined by .004 years for men and .006 years for women."

Expanding on that grim arithmetic, for each 10 percentage point increase in the number of fast-food restaurants took a 15- to 20-day hit on life expectancy. Researchers found a similar relationship between oil and gas jobs and how long people lived.

"Another interesting finding was that lower population density, or living in more rural areas, is associated with higher life expectancy," study co-author Stephan Goetz adds. "This suggests that living in large, densely-settled metropolitan areas, with all of their amenities and other advantages, comes at the expense of lower life expectancy, at least in a statistical sense."

One thing that stood out to researchers, regardless of a community's density, was how strongly people living there acted like an actual community. Factors like access to doctors and how well people supported each other were seen as having a positive impact on life expectancy.

"We were surprised by the strong positive contribution of social capital to life expectancy within communities," says coauthor Goetz. "Places with residents who stick together more on a community or social level also appear to do a better of job of helping people in general live longer."

What does proximity to fast food have to do with longevity?

A new study looks at the community factors behind the dip in American life expectancy.

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What does proximity to fast food have to do with longevity? - Mother Nature Network

Dr. Coleen Kivlahan knew what the result of her coronavirus test would be the moment she stepped outside her San Francisco home and sensed she was smelling a forest fire, a symptom that can accompany loss of smell.

Then that persistent cough kicked in. Those are two of the lasting symptoms. So it was no surprise that she tested positive on Wednesday. The surprise was that it had been at least 85 days that she has been infected with the coronavirus and 62 days since she first tested positive. That she is both alive and still has symptoms may be some kind of record for longevity for suffering the disease without hospitalization.

I belong to the very small club of persistent positives, said Kivlahan, who is executive medical director for all primary care at UC San Francisco. She has seen some 60 UCSF colleagues come down with the coronavirus, almost all going through a miserable few weeks and then test negative and be allowed to return to work.

For Kivlahan, the worst of the symptoms are over. She narrowly avoided hospitalization and the dreaded intubation. She is able to get out of bed and even enjoy the luxury of walking up a flight of stairs. But she has lived essentially in isolation with her husband at their home in Crocker-Amazon since March 6, 10 days before the citywide shelter-in-place order, and has no idea when it will end.

We dont know why I am persistently positive and when I am going to turn negative, she said in a phone interview following her test on Wednesday. Im anxious to join the world again.

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at UCSF, does not know Kivlahan and is unfamiliar with her case. But this is the first time he has heard of a patient still testing positive for the coronavirus nearly three months after infection. Within eight days of the onset of symptoms, the virus is normally dead.

I would be shocked if that is live virus, he said of Kivlahans positive test this week. My gut sense is that it is persistent fragments of the virus. This patient may be the exception, but no one really knows.

Chin-Hong said there are not enough data yet on COVID-19 survivors, but with other viruses there have been survivors who develop chronic symptoms like the ones Kivlahan cannot shake.

This is a club, she says, that I dont want to be in.

Kivlahan, who is 66 and in otherwise excellent health, is not sure when she joined the club. It was either Feb. 25 or March 3, the last two days she took time away from her administrative and faculty duties to work in the urgent care clinic at UCSF Parnassus.

On both days she wore a face mask and so did her patients, but there was no coronavirus test available to UCSF patients at that time, and on either day she was examining patients with the standard COVID-19 symptoms of fever and a cough.

I spent a lot more than 10 minutes closer than 6 feet with each patient, she said, so I was a direct hit.

As head of the clinical services side of primary care, Kivlahan oversees hundreds of doctors and thousands of patients, of all ages. She was among 100 UCSF leaders to attend the first strategic meeting on dealing with the coming pandemic, on March 6, three days after she had seen patients in the clinic. The meeting took most of a day, and late in the afternoon as she was hearing about the symptoms to recognize in patients, she started feeling them chills and a fever. She got home just in time for her first cough.

It sounded just like the cough I had been hearing in the clinic, she said. I was having trouble breathing. I knew something was very bad.

She rested through the weekend and on Monday morning she went to UCSF for a nasal swab test and it came back negative, for both influenza and COVID-19. She was sent home to rest and began work on a meticulous medical diary that may serve as a case study some day.

Ive had malaria three times for my work overseas, she said, and I knew there was something severe about this virus.

The journal details her temperature, pulse rate and oxygen level any time she felt symptoms. It also details how, on March 11, her husband, Dave, developed the same symptoms. He also tested negative for the coronavirus but positive for human metapneumovirus, an upper respiratory infection known as HMPV.

Suddenly, we were both quite ill and had to figure out how to get food and medicine, and isolate from each other while being each others only caregiver, she wrote.

On March 15, Kivlahan tested negative for the coronavirus for the third time, but positive for HMPV and bronchitis.

She was given a 12-day course of steroids, and her symptoms waned. Her husband recovered, and she felt well enough to resume working while in bed as shed done all along. But she was hit with a second wave on March 25. She lost her voice, and by nightfall the cough had taken over. She had alternating chills and night sweats so bad that she changed the sheets twice.

The next morning, March 26, she made one of her now too-frequent visits to the UCSF Respiratory Care Clinic. It was one of lifes small strange victories that she finally tested positive for the coronavirus.

I felt relief actually, she wrote. I knew it had been hiding away, under the banner of HMPV, and waiting to take hold of me.

Within a few hours of the diagnosis, she lost her sense of smell and taste for food, which have been revealed in studies to be telltale symptoms. Neither one has come back.

I have a fake smell of smoke from forest fires all around me, she said. It always got worse around 6 p.m. with fever, burning eyes, headaches, nausea. By nighttime shed be so short of breath I couldnt get out of bed to go to the bathroom, and usually I walk 5 miles a day.

But by morning she would feel that she was on the mend, until it started up again. Through it all, she was determined not to go to the hospital and did not want intubation.

For elderly people who are intubated, the mortality rate is high, she said. I was not confident that that was how I wanted to die.

She had the advantage of being able to constantly test herself with a digital thermometer, plus a device that measures the oxygen in the blood and a pulse cuff to measure her blood pressure.

They let me know where I was on the continuum, she said. I prayed that I would be conscious and cognitively clear enough to make a good decision to stay at home until I could not stay at home anymore.

That came on March 31. Her temperature spiked to 102.1, and the dry cough was so bad she packed up for the hospital. Dave was ready to drive her to UCSF.

I said, Give me one more hour, she recalled, and it slowly stabilized.

One of the mysteries is why Dave caught HMPV but it never advanced to COVID-19. He and Kivlahan have joined a UCSF study on couples, one of whom tests positive and the other doesnt. Chin-Hong said she is a model candidate for a second UCSF study being mounted called LIINC (Long-term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus) being set up at San Francisco General Hospital.

How nice, she says, another club to belong to.

One of the first studies on survivors was published by the JAMA Network on May 22. Researchers at Hunan Normal University in China tracked 60 adult patients who had recovered from COVID-19 and been released from the hospital. After 14 days of home quarantine, they were tested again. Ten of the 60 still tested positive for up to 24 days after discharge. An earlier study suggested that patients could test positive up to 30 days after recovery.

But all of those patients were symptom-free. Kivlahan still has the lingering dry cough, tightness in her chest and an elevated heart rate. She still has not regained her sense of smell or taste. Saturday will make at least 88 days since she was infected.

What makes me unusual, and I share this with a small group of people throughout the world, is that my COVID nasal test remains positive this far out from my illness onset, she said. Thus we are in limbo trusting that we are not infectious and that maybe we have antibodies that protect us if exposed ... or maybe not.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @samwhitingsf

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KEY POINTS

How to live longer is a quest that almost everyone engages in. A lot of people are conscious of the kind of food they eat, as well as the kind of beverages they drink. One hot drink that has been proven to help in lowering mortality is green tea. By drinking this daily, you would be able to increase life expectancy.

The Evergreen Studies

A study conducted in Japan by the Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine showed how daily green tea consumption could result in reducing mortality. The study involved 40,530 people aged between 40 and 79.

The participants did not have a history of coronary heart disease, stroke, or cancer at the start of the experiment. They found after the 11-year experiment that green tea did wonder for the overall health of the participants and significantly reduced mortality rates. green tea for longevity Photo: Free-Photos - Pixabay

In another study that was published in ScienceDirect, it also ascertained how consuming green tea was associated with the same great benefits as with other studies concerning mortality rates.In the above study, the researchers from the Department of Epidemiology at Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine investigated around 14,001 elderly citizens who were between 65 to 84 years old.

They completed a questionnaire, which asked them about the frequency of their green tea consumption. The researchers found that those who consumed up to 7 cups of green tea a day lived longer compared to those who consumed less than a cup.

As per the Division of Health in Warwick Medical School, it showed how green tea would create highly favorable effects, especially on getting the heart healthy and avoiding cardiovascular diseases.Aside from this, they also found out that green tea can help lower bad cholesterol. It also staves off high blood pressure. With all these great benefits that green tea provides to the body, you will experience what it is like to be healthier the moment you consume green tea.

More Longevity Tips

In addition to drinking green tea daily, try to engage in a more active lifestyle. Try to engage in cardio exercises daily; you can spend 30 minutes a day to exercise. Also, try to control your blood sugar and blood pressure. Getting these under control will also help in giving you more years.

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Beverage For Longevity: Drink This Hot Cup Daily To Increase Life Expectancy - International Business Times

Were living longer these days, but that hasnt stopped newer branches of medicine from trying to enhance and further extend our lifespans.

Researchers in longevity medicine and biogerontology are studying drugs and compounds that can prevent and reverse aging on the cellular level.

Over the past few years, public interest in longevity issues has grown, but that interest is mostly in health-extending therapies, not simply life-extending therapies. Most people are interested in living longer, but only if they can also be healthier longer, Sonia Arrison, author of 100 Plus: How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith, and founder of Singularity University in California, told Healthline.

While many people are focused on lifestyle changes, the addition of drugs rapamycin and metformin are two that Arrison mentioned gives humans more options to extend their lives as well as the quality of their lives.

Compared with preventative drugs such as statins to avoid having a heart attack, anti-aging drugs fight multiple diseases at once instead of focusing on one ailment, Arrison added.

A person who goes by the name Reason, a technologist and author on FightAging.org, which highlights health- and longevity-enhancing medical technologies, told Healthline that the drugs are targeting a wide range of age-related ailments and diseases.

All age-related diseases are age-related because they are caused by the processes of aging, which is to say an accumulation of damage in cells and tissues, Reason wrote in an email.

Read more: Botox may have long-lasting, anti-aging effects

The field of geroprotection involves understanding cell senescence, which is when cells stop dividing.

When senescent cells no longer divide, they stop functioning, so organ health deteriorates. Cell senescence also causes the release of proinflammatory cytokines, which damage tissues.

This arena involves the use of geroprotectors, which are compounds that can stop or reverse cellular aging, and senolytics, which are compounds that can pinpoint and destroy senescent cells.

This is why researchers are looking into geroprotectors and senolytics, which requires long spans of time to understand.

In essence, todays researchers may never see the outcomes of the research theyve started because it can take decades to study. Nevertheless, scientists continue to try to understand these compounds and how they can alter our cells.

Researchers are also looking into our cells telomeres, which are short segments of DNA in our chromosomes that protect cells from wear and tear that comes with aging. As cells divide, they can shorten and no longer protect the chromosome or cell.

Lengthening them is the focus of recent research. Last year, a BGRF study was able to lengthen human telomeres.

A recent report in the journal Cell detailed how peptides were able to boost the life span of mice. The study examined how cell therapy could reverse poor age-related kidney function, fur loss, and frailty in mice.

Scientists are looking into whether or not the approach can also prolong the life span of mice. Human safety studies are in the works.

Reason said there are two schools of thought when exploring extending life through genetic pathways.

One approach is to alter cellular metabolism and make cells age more slowly, but the work is difficult and expensive. The other is to fix old tissue because we understand how it compares with young tissue.

No one yet fully understands everything these [older] cells do to us, but the fastest way to find out is to get rid of them, and we know that doing that in mice extends life and reverts aspects of aging, Reason explained.

Either you slow down the damage, or you repair the damage. Aging is damage. It is in the how of achieving one of those goals that all the complexity starts up, Reason added.

Read more: Beer may keep your DNA young, study says

The Human Aging Genomic Resources (HAGR) website recently released DrugAge, a database of lifespan-extending drugs and compounds.

It includes 418 compounds that were recorded from studies on 27 different model organisms.

HAGR already operates the GenAge database of age and longevity-related genes in humans and model organisms. They also operate AnAge, which has aging and longevity records of more than 4,000 species, the GenDR database of genes associated with the life-extending effects of dietary restriction, and LongevityMap, which includes more than 2,000 human gene and genetic variations linked to longevity.

DrugAge incorporates earlier efforts by Biogerontology Research Foundation (BGRF) scientists, who produced Geroprotectors.org. Right now, its the largest database of its kind.

According to the research teams from BGRF and the University of Liverpool, pharmaceuticals have not targeted most age-related pathways. The research is only focused on a small number of pathways that are currently known.

The goal behind the database is to pave the way for discovery of new life span-extending and health span-extending compounds.

I am confident that it [DrugAge] will gain widespread use in the aging research community, and represents a significant milestone along the way to the coming paradigm shift in modern healthcare away from single disease treatment and toward geroprotective multi-disease prevention, Dmitry Kaminskiy, managing trustee of BGRF, said in a statement.

Franco Cortese, deputy director and trustee of BGRF, said in a statement the database will be extremely valuable for biogerontologists. The BGRF did not respond to Healthlines request for comment.

Already, researchers are using the data to identify trends and develop a better understanding of the comparative effects of geroprotectors on organisms.

Arrison is excited when she sees people teaming up globally to battle human disease and decline something that the DrugAge team is hoping to do with their database.

The more knowledge the health community can get, the better. The wonderful thing about the internet is that knowledge gets distributed faster, making the quest for cures that much quicker, Arrison added.

Read more: Study breaks down aging process, may lead to solutions

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Longevity and Anti-Aging Drugs

In the 1920s, Joseph Pilates created a now extremely popular form of exercise. He came up with a series of movements that not only incorporated stretching but also encouraged the body to build muscle. He coined the fitness approach after himself, calling it Pilates and it wasnt long before this unique workout grew in popularity over the years, with over 10 million active practitioners.

While Pilates shares some similarities with yoga, particularly the emphasis on the mind-body connection, Pilates places stronger importance on balance, flexibility as well as muscle toning. In fact, Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that uses various apparatus that not only provides a unique workout, but it also provides a number of health benefits that are sure to boost your longevity.

The hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for memory and cognitive function. Unfortunately, beginning in our late 20s, we begin to lose at least 1% of the volume of the hippocampus. Thankfully, research has discovered that our brains can create new cells thus slowing down, and possibly reversing, brain shrinkage. So whats one way to do this? Leading an active lifestyle. Doing so wont only help to protect your IQ, but it may also reduce the risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers.

For instance, research published in the reported in the Journal of Physical Activity & Health found superior brain function in a group of people after they had practiced Pilates or yoga when compared to aerobic exercise. Additionally, a separate Chinese study found a cognitive increase in people after 10 weeks of Pilates training.

Yes, a strong core can help to achieve those sculptured abs that so many of us crave, but theres more to it than that. In fact, as core muscles are the center of the body, a strong core can help to maintain function, balance as well as stability. A strong core can also mean less strain on the neck and shoulders.

Unlike a traditional crunch, being a full-body workout, Pilates helps to more effectively strengthen your abdominal muscles. In fact, research published in the Musculoskeletal Care journal found that doing a Pilates routine over a period of 12 weeks helps to boost core strength.

Around 80% of adults will experience low back pain at some point in their lifetimes. Yet it seems that a low-impact class may help to address the discomfort. This is because, as mentioned, Pilates strengthens the core muscles and this helps to support the back, and encourage proper alignment.

According to a case study from the NHS, after visiting 50 specialists, a woman suffering from back pain went on to discover that Pilates was the one thing that helped to cure her ailment. Another study, found in the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, revealed that a Pilates program provided significant pain relief after a 12-month period.

Attending a Pilates class may help to fix that poor posture that you get from slouching at your desk all day. Did you know that poor posture can eventually cause backache, neck ache, as well as headaches? Whats more, its also been linked to depression (1).

Thankfully, Pilates can help to prevent all of these issues by fixing your posture. This is because it focuses on your core muscles, which strengthens your back, and it encourages proper alignment and posture.

Flexibility is less about how well you can do the splits and touch your toes, and more about your ability to move. Unfortunately, we lose our flexibility as we age so its important to engage in activity that will help to improve it.

Pilates encourages stretching, and this can help to enhance ones flexibility. For instance, research published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness noted an improvement in flexibility in participants after an 8-week Pilates routine.

If youre looking to better manage your weight this year, then look no further than a Pilates class.

For one, Pilates helps to create stronger muscles as well as a much leaner look. That said, the fitness approach may also encourage some forms of weight loss. According to a study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, a group of overweight women, who were living a sedentary lifestyle, practiced Pilates three times a week for eight weeks, and they lost weight and inches in their waist.

The movements may not seem as intense as your average cardio workout, but Pilates definitely has some fat-burning capabilities.

If youre having trouble sleeping, then maybe you should make Pilates part of your bedtime routine.

Pilates has a calming influence on your mind, and thats often what we need when were struggling to get some shuteye. In fact, a study presented at a SLEEP Conference found that people were less likely to battle sleeping issues if they walked, ran or practiced Pilates.

Pilates not only stretches and strengthens the core muscles, but it also does the same for your diaphragm, allowing for deeper breaths. Deeper breathing allows for a boost in both your lung capacity and strength. This also means improved blood circulation, which boosts your bodys functionality.

As mentioned, Pilates places a strong emphasis on the mind-body connection, and this then serves to increase self-awareness. This self-awareness allows us to identify issues at a much quicker rate, resulting in us not only recognizing the issue at hand but also addressing it.

This can range from small muscle aches to joint pain, to even something more mental. Pilates will help train you to be more aware of these issues so that you can address them as soon as possible.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, Pilates can also help to strengthen your pelvic floor which can do wonders for your sex life. In fact, as it is the month of love, here are a few yoga poses that you can adopt to boost your sex life.

Bian, Z., Sun, H., Lu, C., et al. (2013). 2013. 295986. 10.1155/2013/295986.

Gaskell, L,Williams, AE.A qualitative study of the experiences and perceptions of adults with chronic musculoskeletal conditions following a 12week Pilates exercise programme.Musculoskeletal Care.2019;17:5462.https://doi.org/10.1002/msc.1365

Gothe, N., Pontifex, M. B., Hillman, C., & McAuley, E. (2013). The Acute Effects of Yoga on Executive Function,Journal of Physical Activity and Health,10(4), 488-495. Retrieved Feb 11, 2020, fromhttps://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/jpah/10/4/article-p488.xml

Kibar S, Yardimci F, Evcik D, et al. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2016 Oct;56(10):1139-1146.

Rydeard, R., Leger, A.,Smith, D. (2006) Pilates-Based Therapeutic Exercise: Effect on Subjects With Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain and Functional Disability: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 36:7,472-484

avkn R, Aslan UB. The effect of Pilates exercise on body composition in sedentary overweight and obese women. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2017;57:1464-70. DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.16.06465-3

Wilkes, C., Kydd, R., Sagar, M., Broadbent, E. (2017). Upright posture improves affect and fatigue in people with depressive symptoms. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry. Volume 54, Pages 143-149, ISSN 0005-7916, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2016.07.015.

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Pilates: 9 Longevity Benefits of This Physical Workout - Longevity LIVE

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Hello. I am Alexandra Vinograd. I am an attending physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Establishing intravenous (IV) access is a common but challenging procedure in pediatrics. Difficulty in placing an IV can lead to treatment delays, diagnostic delays, pain for the patient, and anxiety for the family members watching their child undergo multiple IV sticks. Point-of-care ultrasound has become routine, particularly for invasive procedures in the emergency department.

We conducted a study that examined whether ultrasound-guided peripheral IV access would improve the first-attempt success rate when compared with traditional IV access in children. We enrolled 167 patients with presumed difficult IV access, based on a previously validated scoring system. We randomly assigned patients to receive ultrasound-guided IV access or traditional IV access. First-attempt success was nearly twice as high in the ultrasound-guided IV group than in the traditional IV access group85.4% vs 45.8%. In addition, there were, overall, fewer attempts in the ultrasound-guided IV group than in the traditional IV access group.

Because it takes time to locate and set up the ultrasound, we were concerned that this procedure could cause delays in time to IV placement. In fact, the opposite was true. For children who received an ultrasound-guided IV, the time from randomization into the study to IV flush was 14 minutes; in the children in the peripheral IV access group, the time from randomization to IV flush was 28 minutes.

We were also concerned about how long the IVs would last. In adults, studies show that 32% of ultrasound-guided IVs may fail within 48 hours of insertion. This would mean that the children would require multiple sticks again to replace IVs that no longer worked. In our study, however, the ultrasound-guided IVs lasted much longer than the traditionally inserted IVs; we found no difference in the type or number of complications in either group.

In adults, vessel depth and the location of the IVs have been shown to affect how long they last. IVs placed in shallower vessels and in the antecubital area or the forearm are more likely to last longer than those placed in the upper arm. In our study, 93% of the ultrasound-guided IVs were placed in the forearm. We also used longer IV catheters, most commonly the 48-mm, 22-gauge catheters or the longer 20-gauge catheters. This probably meant that more of the IV catheter was seated in the vein, promoting a longer survival of that IV.

In our study, the ultrasound-guided IVs were placed by a dynamic technique wherein the provider took the transverse probe, located the vessel on the patient's forearm, identified that it was a vein and that it was not pulsatile, and that they were able to track it forward easily so they would be able to place the IV. The provider then took the catheter, typically a longer catheter, entered the skin at a 45-degree angle, identified the tip of the IV [it appears as a white dot at the top of the ultrasound screen], advanced the probe, and then advanced the ultrasound, each time making sure to advance the tip of the needle into view.

They continued until they entered the vein. Then they flattened out the catheter and continued tracking inside the vessel until the entire IV was seated in the vein.

In this study, attending physicians, fellows, and nurses placed the ultrasound-guided IVs. The three nurses who enrolled patients had a 91% first-attempt success rate. We have continued to train nurses in our department to place ultrasound-guided IVs. It has become standard of care at our institution to use ultrasound-guided placement in children with difficult IV access.

On the basis of our study results, showing a decreased number of first attempts at sticks and overall a lower number of IV sticks, decreased time to IV placement, and increased longevity without increasing complications or the type of complications in children with ultrasound-guided IVs, we believe that ultrasound-guided IV access should be standard of care for children presenting to the emergency department with presumed difficult IV access.

Alexandra M. Vinograd, MD, MSHP, DTM&H, is an attending physician in the emergency department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She was lead investigator of the recent study examining first-attempt success, longevity, and complication rates of ultrasound-guided peripheral intravenous catheters in children, discussed in this commentary.

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Ultrasound-Guided IVs in Kids: How and Why - Medscape

AI can be used for the early detection of virus outbreaks that might result in a pandemic. (Photo by ... [+] Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

AI detected the coronavirus long before the worlds population really knew what it was. On December 31st, a Toronto-based startup called BlueDot identified the outbreak in Wuhan, several hours after the first cases were diagnosed by local authorities. The BlueDot team confirmed the info its system had relayed and informed their clients that very day, nearly a week before Chinese and international health organisations made official announcements.

Thanks to the speed and scale of AI, BlueDot was able to get a head start over everyone else. If nothing else, this reveals that AI will be key in forestalling the next coronavirus-like outbreak.

BlueDot isn't the only startup harnessing AI and machine learning to combat the spread of contagious viruses. One Israel-based medtech company, Nanox, has developed a mobile digital X-ray system that uses AI cloud-based software to diagnose infections and help prevent epidemic outbreaks. Dubbed the Nanox System, it incorporates a vast image database, radiologist matching, diagnostic reviews and annotations, and also assistive artificial intelligence systems, which combine all of the above to arrive at an early diagnosis.

Nanox is currently building on this technology to develop a new standing X-ray machine that will supply tomographic images of the lungs. The company plans to market the machine so that it can be installed in public places, such as airports, train stations, seaports, or anywhere else where large groups of people rub shoulders.

Given that the new system, as well as the existing Nanox System, are lower cost mobile imaging devices, it's unsurprising to hear that Nanox has attracted investment from funds looking to capitalise on AI's potential for thwarting epidemics. This month, the company announced a $26 million strategic investment from Foxconn. It also signed an agreement this week to supply 1,000 of its Nanox Systems to medical imaging services across Australia, New Zealand and Norway. Coronavirus be warned.

Its CEO and co-founder Ran Poliakine, explains that such deals are a testament to how the future of epidemic prevention lies with AI-based diagnostic tools. "Nanox has achieved a technological breakthrough by digitizing traditional X-rays, and now we are ready to take a giant leap forward in making it possible to provide one scan per person, per year, for preventative measures," he tells me.

Importantly, the key feature of AI in terms of preventing epidemics is its speed and scale. As Poliakine explains, "AI can detect conditions instantly which makes it a great source of power when trying to prevent epidemics. If we talk about 1,000 systems scanning 60 people a day on average, this translates to 60,000 scans that need to be processed daily by the professional teams."

Poliakine also affirms that no human force available today that can support this volume with the necessary speed and efficiency. Time and again, this is a point made forcefully by other individuals and companies working in this burgeoning sector.

"When it comes to detecting outbreaks, machines can be trained to process vast amounts of data in the same way that a human expert would," explains Dr Kamran Khan, the founder and CEO of BlueDot, as well as a professor at the University of Toronto. "But a machine can do this around the clock, tirelessly, and with incredible speed, making the process vastly more scalable, timely, and efficient. This complements human intelligence to interpret the data, assess its relevance, and consider how best to apply it with decision-making."

Basically, AI is set to become a giant firewall against infectious diseases and pandemics. And it won't only be because of AI-assisted screening and diagnostic techniques. Because as Sergey Young, a longevity expert and founder of the Longevity Vision Fund, tells me, artificial intelligence will also be pivotal in identifying potential vaccines and treatments against the next coronavirus, as well as COVID-19 itself.

"AI has the capacity to quickly search enormous databases for an existing drug that can fight coronavirus or develop a new one in literally months," he says. "For example, Longevity Vision Funds portfolio company Insilico Medicine, which specializes in AI in the area of drug discovery and development, used its AI-based system to identify thousands of new molecules that could serve as potential medications for coronavirus in just four days. The speed and scalability of AI is essential to fast-tracking drug trials and the development of vaccines."

This kind of treatment-discovery will prove vitally important in the future. And in conjunction with screening, it suggests that artificial intelligence will become one of the primary ingredients in ensuring that another coronavirus won't have an outsized impact on the global economy. Already, the COVID-19 coronavirus is likely to cut global GDP growth by $1.1 trillion this year, in addition to having already wiped around $5 trillion off the value of global stock markets. Clearly, avoiding such financial destruction in the future would be more than welcome, and artificial intelligence will prove indispensable in this respect. Especially as the scale of potential pandemics increases with an increasingly populated and globalised world.

Sergey Young also explains that AI could play a substantial role in the area of impact management and treatment, at least if we accept their increasing encroachment into society. He notes that, in China, robots are being used in hospitals to alleviate the stresses currently being piled on medical staff, while ambulances in the city of Hangzhou are assisted by navigational AI to help them reach patients faster. Robots have even been dispatched to a public plaza in Guangzhou in order to warn passersby who aren't wearing face-masks. Even more dystopian, China is also allegedly using drones to ensure residents are staying at home and reducing the risk of the coronavirus spreading further.

Even if we don't reach that strange point in human history where AI and robots police our behaviour during possible health crises, artificial intelligence will still become massively important in detecting outbreaks before they spread and in identifying possible treatments. Companies such as BlueDot, Nanox, and Insilico Medicine will prove increasingly essential in warding off future coronavirus-style pandemics, and with it they'll provide one very strong example of AI being a force for good.

The rest is here:
How AI May Prevent The Next Coronavirus Outbreak - Forbes

Don't let the word "basic" fool you, though: There's quite a lot that goes on with our cells. As we get older, our cells accumulate damage, which is what's known to drive the aging process and play a role in our long-term health.

One of the major causes of cellular damage is oxidative stress, which happens when there's an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants in the body. Free radicals are molecules with unpaired electronsand because electrons are unstable when they're not paired up, a free radical will zip around the body, reacting with other molecules in desperation to stabilize themselves. Free radicals don't just come from exposure to the sun or products with toxic ingredientsthey're a normal, natural byproduct of our cells generating energy (which means even healthy habits like strenuous exercise can lead to more free radicals in the body). Left unattended, these reactive free radicals can lead to damage in the fats, proteins, and DNA that make up our cells.

Thankfully, our cells have a natural way to do damage control. Antioxidantslike vitamins A, C, and Ein our cells help stop the chain reaction of free radicals (they do this by donating an electron to a free radical to stabilize them, without making themselves unstable). But when there are too many free radicals racing around and not enough antioxidants to get them to relax, oxidative stress occurs, and over time, that free radical damage can accelerate aging and disease.

More here:
2020 Is All About Cellular Health Here's How To Get Started With Cellular TLC - mindbodygreen.com