Encouraging Health

Low levels coincide with increased risk for the disorder, study shows

As men age they are more likely than women to develop symptoms of metabolic syndrome, including increased belly size, high blood pressure, and cholesterol and blood sugar abnormalities. Study findings also suggest that low male hormone levels may predict an increased metabolic syndrome risk.

For nearly six years, Dr. Annabelle Rodriguez at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., and colleagues looked at the relationship between metabolic syndrome in 618 men, average age 63 years, and the amount of male hormones circulating in their blood.

While levels of male hormones naturally decline with age, the researchers found that among study participants of the same age, those who developed metabolic syndrome had lower androgen levels, specifically levels of sex hormone binding globulin and total testosterone.

The distribution of the syndrome by age was 4 percent in men between 20 and 39 years, rising to 21 percent of men between 40 and 79, and then declining slightly to 18 percent for men 80 to 94 years old.

These findings are consistent with previous research showing an association between lower androgen levels and higher risk of metabolic syndrome, the investigators note.

As expected, other risk factors for metabolic syndrome included abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, low levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high triglyceride cholesterol and abnormal blood-glucose levels, the researchers report in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The problem of male hypogonadism and its contribution to metabolic syndrome is probably overlooked or not well appreciated by health care providers,” Rodriguez said.

Obesity, specifically abdominal obesity, is common in the U.S. population, and the frequency of this problem increases with aging. “Men should speak to their health care providers regarding the possibility of low androgen levels increasing the risk for the metabolic syndrome,” Rodriguez said.

Peruse older posts of Men’s Health issues right here at www.EncouragingHealth.com

metabolic syndrome

metabolic syndrome

Who isn’t pressed for time?

Gina Lombardi says That’s why we need quick, efficient ways to work out for those days when we can’t swing a longer bout of exercise.

The following workout can be done anywhere, anytime – no special equipment required. And it takes just 6 minutes!

*Lunges
Start with your feet together, then step out with your right foot into a forward lunge. Keep your back straight. Your right leg and thigh should form a 90-degree angle. Push back off the right foot and up to the starting position. Then repeat with the left leg. Do 24 lunges on each side.

*Push-ups
If you can’t do a full traditional military push-up, modify your technique by pushing up from your knees instead of your toes. Do 24 push-ups.

*Mountain-climbers
From a traditional push-up starting position, up on your hands and toes, lift your right foot and bring your knee to your chest. Touch the foot down and then return to the starting position. Then bring up the left foot. Do 24 repetitions on each leg.

*Bicycle crunches
Lying on your back, bring your left elbow to your right knee, and then bring your right elbow to your left knee. Do 24 repetitions on each side.

*Step-ups
Using the stairs or a sturdy chair, step up with your right foot. Bring your left foot up to touch the right foot and then step back down. Switch to the left leg. Do 24 repetitions on each side.

*V crunches
Start on your back with your hands at your sides. Then bend your knees and lift them up. At the same time, lift up your torso and bring it toward your thighs. Your thighs and chest should form a “V.� Then lower and repeat. Do 24 crunches.

If you have extra time, do this sequence of exercises twice or even three times in a row.

Aim to do this quick shape-up a few times a week and you’ll be surprised by how much you can accomplish with so little time.

Read about a stsr’s workout!

workout

workout

Past schooling slows disease onset, but once it hits, the mind goes rapidly

Having more years of formal education delays the memory loss linked to Alzheimer’s disease, but once the condition begins to take hold, better-educated people decline more rapidly, researchers said on Monday.

Their study, published in the journal Neurology, tracked memory loss in a group of elderly people from New York City’s Bronx borough before they were diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or another form of old-age dementia.

Every year of education delayed the accelerated memory decline that precedes dementia by about 2-1/2 months, according to the researchers at Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.

But once this memory loss began, the rate of decline unfolded 4 percent more quickly for each additional year of education, the researchers said.

Someone with 16 years of schooling might experience memory decline 50 percent more quickly than another person with just four years education, based on the findings.

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative brain malady that is the most common form of dementia among the elderly.

“An elderly person who starts to see memory loss might well deteriorate fairly rapidly, particularly if he or she has a high education or high IQ,” Charles Hall, a professor of epidemiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine who led the study, said in a telephone interview.

People with more years of formal education appear to have a greater “cognitive reserve,” Hall said, referring to the brain’s ability to keep working despite damage.

While better-educated people may be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s later than people with less education, it appears they have suffered brain damage but their “cognitive reserve” was able to hide and delay the effects, the researchers said.

The study started in the 1980s, tracking 488 people born from 1894 and 1908 and giving them periodic memory tests. The findings published on Monday were based on 117 of them who eventually developed Alzheimer’s or another dementia.

Read here for the
New Alzheimer’s Test.

Alzheimer

Alzheimer

you’ve taken a walk down the bread aisle lately, you know what a wall of bread looks like. Who has time to read every label for the best fiber deal?

So don’t. Before you head to your local health-food store, check out this list of some of the best low-calorie, high-fiber bread options on the market today — brand names included.

Top 4 Choices
A high-fiber diet boasts a whole lot of health benefits, write Steven G. Pratt, MD, and Kathy Matthews in their book SuperFoods HealthStyle. That’s because foods packed with fiber tend to brim with disease-fighting phytonutrients. Here are Pratt and Matthews’s top choices for breads that are high in fiber and nutrients, yet calorically moderate.

Manna from Heaven (Julian Bakery), 8 grams fiber, 85 calories per slice
Healthseed Spelt (French Meadow Bakery), 4 grams fiber, 81 calories per slice
Vogel’s Soy & Flaxseed Bread (Schwebel’s), 3 grams fiber, 100 calories per slice
The Original Bran for Life Bread (Food for Life Baking Company), 5 grams fiber, 80 calories per slice
A Better Breakfast
A slice of one of these fiber-rich breads in the morning will have you well on your way to the 6 grams of fiber RealAge experts recommend for your breakfast. But high-fiber toast isn’t the only way to start your day.

Why do I need fiber in my diet?
Dietary fiber is the part of plants that cannot be digested. There are 2 kinds of dietary fiber. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to keep foods moving through the digestive system. Soluble fiber holds water which, in turn, softens the stool for easy bowel movements. Fiber is an important part of your diet even though it passes through your body. A high-fiber diet can:

reduce cholesterol levels
promote regular bowel movements
improve blood sugar levels in diabetics
treat diverticular disease (inflammation of part of the intestine) and irritable bowel syndrome (abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation that come and go).
A high-fiber diet may help prevent some cancers, such as colon and breast.

If you do not have enough fiber in your diet, you may have
nstipation. Your bowel movements may be small, hard, and dry, which may lead to hemorrhoids or colon cancer.

Need some good news? check out Preparing for a crazy Christmas.

fiber, bread

fiber, bread

Do you slog into work even when you’re sick and stressed out? For your heart’s sake, stay home.

Reporting to work sick — especially if you’re not the picture of health to begin with (for example, you’re too heavy or you have high blood pressure or diabetes) — can put a strain on heart health. Here’s why you need to curl up in bed and call it a day.

Sick-Day Logic
Top three reasons to call in sick when you’re under the weather? One: Extra rest helps you recover. Two: Your coworkers don’t want what you have. Three: No deadline, expense report, or presentation is worth upping your risk of a heart attack. A what? That’s right. Researchers found that overweight, hypertensive, or otherwise unhealthy people who came to work sick had higher rates of heart attack than their call-it-in peers. Scary stuff.

It’s Just the Sniffles . . .
Researchers aren’t sure why working sick ups heart attack risk. It could be that the people who toughed it out were also more likely to ignore (read fail to get treatment for) other signs of health trouble — like chest pain or trouble breathing.

Or it might be that the stress of working sick does a number on people’s health. Whatever the reason, why risk it? Your pillow is calling.

sick leave

sick leave

Jumping rope. Some of us haven’t done it since schoolyard days.

But here are the top 10 reasons you should jump rope like you did in third grade — besides the fact that it will make you feel like a kid again!

Top 10 Reasons to Jump Rope
Do it to warm up. Do it to cool down. Or make a whole workout of it. Just do it. Martin Winkler, author of RopeSport: The Ultimate Jump Rope Workout, offers these 10 reasons to get hopping.

Jumping rope . . .

1. Burns up to 1,000 calories per hour. (Find out how many calories your other physical activities burn.)
2. Tones your entire body — arms, legs, trunk, and back.
3. Is easy to learn (master’s degree in Pilates not required).
4. Improves your game, whether you golf, swim, ski, or play tennis.
5. Is totally cheap (ropes can start at $3.99) and portable (a 4-foot by 6-foot area is all you need).
6. Looks cool . . . check out those boxers at the gym who know what they’re doing.
7. Can be a solo or group workout.
8. Is gender neutral.
9. Is family friendly. Give your kids a rope, too!
10. Can be a blast. Make up some jump rope tricks, and have fun with it.

Get Moving
Test your fitness level. Set goals for the future.

Dads, at times, have a difficult time knowing what to do with their Children. Exercise is a great way to ‘break the ice’. Want more Ideas? Over on www.allaboutfatherhood.com/ There is a great article on 10 Fun Things To Do With Your Kids This Week.

exercise, jumprope, fathers

exercise, jumprope, fathers

Actress Jaclyn Smith will never forget the day she found out she had breast cancer.

And she’ll never forget the lesson she learned in those very first moments of being a cancer patient.

As her doctor gave her the diagnosis, “I was in a state of panic,” she says. “It was kind of surreal, and you don’t really hear what they’re saying.”

The lesson she learned that day: “Don’t go it alone,” she says. Her husband, Brad Allen, who was with her at the doctor’s office, was better able to focus and ask questions about the best treatment options.

Smith says she remembers she did manage to ask one question: “I said, ‘Am I going to be here for my children?’ He said, ‘98 percent, yes.’ ”

Five years later, Smith is indeed here for her children. She’s one of the 2.4 million women in the United States who’ve survived breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. According to a report out this week from the American Cancer Society, the death rate from breast cancer went down 2.2 percent per year from 1990 to 2004.

This means more life for these women, and more wisdom from them about how to survive a cancer diagnosis. (Smith, for example, travels the country talking to women about breast cancer as a paid spokeswoman for drug company Eli Lilly). Here, from Smith, singer Olivia Newton-John, and gynecological oncologist Dr. Carolyn Runowicz, herself a breast cancer survivor, is advice that can come only from having been there.

Want more inspiration? Check out In memory of Janie

breast cancer, jaclyn smith, Olivia Newton-John

breast cancer, jaclyn smith, Olivia Newton-John

A study
involving nearly 3,500 women in several countries suggests that Chinese herbs might be more effective in relieving menstrual cramps than drugs, acupuncture or heat compression.

Australia-based researchers said herbs not only relieved pain, but reduced the recurrence of the condition over three months, according to the Cochrane Library journal.

“All available measures of effectiveness confirmed the overall superiority of Chinese herbal medicine to placebo, no treatment, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), OCPs (oral contraceptive pill), acupuncture and heat compression,” said lead author Xiaoshu Zhu from the Centre for Complementary Medicine Research at the University of Western Sydney.

Period pain affects as many as 50 percent of women of reproductive age and between 60 percent to 85 percent of teenaged girls, leading to absences from school and work.

While the cause is still under debate, it is believed to be linked to an imbalance in ovarian hormones.

Chinese herbal medicine has been used to treat the condition for hundreds of years and women are increasingly looking for non-drug treatments.

The survey involved 39 trials — 36 in China, and one each in Taiwan, Japan and the Netherlands.

Participants given herbal concoctions were prescribed herbs that regulated their ‘qi’ (energy) and blood, warmed their bodies and boosted their kidney and liver functions.

In one trial involving 36 women, 53 percent of those who took herbs reported less pain than usual compared with 26 percent in the placebo group.

But the researchers said more studies were needed because of the relatively small numbers of participants in each of the trials.

menstrual pain, herbs

menstrual pain, herbs

Which color sauerkraut should you choose for this year’s Oktoberfest?

For extra flavonoids, opt for red cabbage. It packs 28 times more flavonoids than green cabbage does, which explains why red heads score off the charts in terms of antioxidant power. See all the good that cabbage can do.

Benefits Abound
The Germans are on to something. Turns out fresh or pickled red kraut is loaded with antioxidants. Like its cruciferous cousins — broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, and kale — cabbage is high in flavonoids that protect against cellular damage and aging. That’s why it’s touted as a lung-cancer thwarter, a brain booster, and a prostate-cancer stopper.

Cabbage in the Kitchen
So go ahead, invite this red head to dinner. Not a fan of red cabbage? Try this Southwestern Corn and Black Bean Salad. It’s got 2 cups of red cabbage, but you’ll hardly notice it. Or you can find the same antioxidants in berries, grapes, red wine, plums, and red onions.

Want more healthy recipes? Try Taco Soup

cabbage, mexican recipes, antioxidants

cabbage, mexican recipes, antioxidants

Want to feel good about your work, your family . . . yourself?

Try picking up that chin and pulling back those shoulders.

That’s right — carry yourself with confidence. Studies have found that people who consciously improve their posture actually end up improving their self-esteem. And it’s one of the keys to living a 360-degree life. What’s that, you ask?

Confidence Carry-Over
When you carry yourself with confidence, not only do you feel better about yourself, but you make a better impression on other people, too. You know, like that new boss you’re dying to impress.

The Surround-Sound Life
Another key to standing tall on life’s tilt-a-wheel ride? Living a balanced, 360° life, says Cathie Black, president of Hearst Magazines and mom of two. That means maintaining equilibrium between work and everything else. Sure, you can constantly pull 80-hour work weeks, but you won’t produce your best stuff if you do. Spending time with family, meeting new people, taking trips — having a life outside the office — is necessary in order to fuel your creative energies and recharge yourself.

You also need to ask yourself what you want most out of life, says Black — not once, but often, because the person you are at 21 is very different from the person you are at 35, 47, or 61. Priorities, dreams, and goals change. Refocus and go after yours!

want more tips for your home, health & work? Visit the blogs on www.451press.com

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