Encouraging Health

Don Hayen has a handy way of deflecting the instant pity that comes when he reveals his Alzheimer’s disease: “But I haven’t lost my keys all day,” he quickly jokes.

Hayen is part of a growing new movement in Alzheimer’s: Patients whose disease is diagnosed early enough that they are still articulate and can demand better care and better research. They are giving a voice to a disease whose victims until now have remained largely silent, and powerless.

It’s a shift with big ramifications.

Alzheimer’s patients are joining their counterparts with cancer and HIV to lobby Congress for more money to hunt treatments. Some are advising top scientists to push for higher-stakes research even if it means higher risks. They’re even offering unprecedented glimpses into how a mind slowly unravels as they blog about their dementia.

“It’s labeled incurable and you end up being a vegetable. People think as soon as you’re labeled that way, you are. A lot of us aren’t,” says Hayen, 74, a retired San Diego, California, physician who joined about 30 other early stage Alzheimer’s patients last month for a lobbying blitz at the nation’s capital.

“I can still speak for those who can’t.”

More than 5 million Americans are estimated to be living with Alzheimer’s disease, although no one knows how many have been diagnosed. But research suggests as many as half of Alzheimer’s sufferers may be in the disease’s early stages. Doctors say they’ve begun diagnosing far more people who still have years of independent living ahead them than they did just a few years ago.

And this week, the Alzheimer’s Association begins pilot-testing a campaign in three cities — Richmond, Virginia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma — aimed at increasing early diagnosis. “Know the signs — early detection matters,” advertising will urge.

Diagnosis can be difficult. There is no single test for dementia. Memory problems aren’t always even the obvious first symptom; Hayen cites unprovoked anger and disorientation.

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In this ever more polluted world, sometimes you just can’t avoid a little bit of particulate matter in your lungs.

So go fish! Eating finny food not only reduces your risk for heart disease but also may protect your heart from air-pollution-induced arrhythmias.

Taking Heart Against Pollution
Short-term exposure to small airborne particles spewed from cars, power plants, and other industrial sources may cause an irregular heart rate. Serious stuff, because it could open the door to heart arrhythmias and even heart attacks in people who are over 60 or have heart or lung diseases.

Airing Things Out
But fish could help thwart that unhealthy chain of events. A study found that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may help alleviate those irregular beats. That’s just what happened when people over 60 who were exposed to particulate matter took a daily fish oil supplement. Fish oil supplements aren’t for everyone, though, and should be discussed with a doctor first.

What should I watch out for?
Do not take fish oil without your healthcare provider’s approval if you have:

AIDS or HIV
an allergy to fish or seafood
aspirin-sensitive asthma
bipolar disorder
high blood pressure
liver disease.
If you need emergency care, surgery, or dental work, tell the healthcare provider or dentist you are taking this remedy. High doses of fish oil may increase your risk of bleeding.

Females of childbearing age: If you are pregnant or breast-feeding, do not take large doses of this remedy without your healthcare provider’s approval.

Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist about any natural remedy that you are using or considering. If your provider does not give you specific instructions, follow the directions that come with the package. Do not take more or take it longer than recommended. Ask about anything you do not understand. Remember:

Natural remedies are not always safe.

You should not take them if you are pregnant or breast-feeding without your healthcare provider’s approval. They should not be taken by infants, children, or older adults without your provider’s approval.

They affect your body and may interact with prescription medicines that you take.
Natural remedies are not standardized and may have different strengths and effects. They may be contaminated.

What are the possible side effects?

Along with its desirable effects, this remedy may cause some unwanted side effects. Some side effects may be very serious. Some side effects may go away as your body adjusts to the remedy. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any side effects that continue or get worse.

Serious (report these to your healthcare provider right away): Unusual bruising or bleeding.

Other: Stomach pain, heartburn, nausea, loose stools, bad breath.

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Next time you feel a little overwhelmed, grab your Swiffer and give the kitchen floor a quick sweep.

Truth is, you shouldn’t dread housework. It actually — studies bafflingly show — has the power to cheer you up!

Dusting with a Smile
Chores and other forms of medium- to high-intensity activity may lift our emotions in a big way. And it doesn’t take much of a time commitment to do the trick. A recent study found that just 20 minutes once a week of any kind of activity — not just traditional things like walking, but also doing laundry, gardening, or washing windows — can keep people from feeling anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed.

Give Us Our Daily Exercise
For extra feel-good measure, try 20 minutes daily, not just weekly. That amount of physical activity improves well-being even more — in both men and women.

Step 1: Add intensity
The key to turning any household task into exercise is to pick up the pace or intensity and sustain it for as long as comfortably possible without resting.

For example, if you have three floors to mop, throw on some headphones with upbeat music, put some major muscle behind your scrubbing, and time yourself to see if you can get a sparkling result under a certain time limit. This will help you keep the activity intense enough that it counts as exercise.

Step 2: Get creative
Some activities already require a high level of energy, such as weeding the garden or raking the lawn. Turning up the burn on some other, less intense activities, such as washing dishes or dusting, may require you to be a little more creative.

Dirty dish dips
Has a mountain of dirty dishes come between you and your workout? Do both at the same time. Every 5 minutes, stop to use the kitchen counter for an upper body workout.
Areas worked: chest, arms.
Starting position: Facing counter; hands on edge of counter, arms straight; feet slightly farther than arm-length away from counter so that your body is at a slight angle.
Action: Without bending at your waist, slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the counter. Dip your chest toward the counter as far as is comfortably possible for you before returning to your starting position. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
Tip: Make sure both the counter and your hands are very dry and your feet can’t slip.

Backyard twists
Raking the yard is already a great workout. Do it for half an hour and you’ll burn about 171 calories, which is close to what you’d expend by running a mile. Boost the calorie burning even higher with this raking twist.
Areas worked: arms, shoulders, stomach, back, sides.
Starting position: Rake gripped in both hands, right hand lowest on the rake handle; arms extended to make a long rake stroke.
Action: Reach the rake out as far as you can and pull debris back toward your left foot by taking long, steady strokes while twisting your hips and upper body to the left. Do half your raking with this motion, then move your left hand below your right on the rake handle and do the rest with a left-to-right twisting motion.
Tip: Start by raking for only a few minutes with this motion and add time as you get stronger. This motion works well when sweeping floors, too. Consult your healthcare provider first if you have back problems.

Squeaky clean squats
Many household chores require buckets of water. Whether you’re mopping the floor, washing the car, or scrubbing windows, you can get a lower body workout with a couple of buckets half-filled with water.
Areas worked: arms, thighs, buttocks.
Starting position: Standing with one bucket handle gripped in each hand; feet shoulder-width apart; back, arms, and legs straight.
Action: Keep your arms straight down at your sides while you slowly squat by bending at the knee and hip joints. Lower yourself until your thighs are roughly parallel to the ground, then return to starting position. Repeat 10 times.
Tips: To avoid injury, keep your knees centered over your toes when squatting, do not allow your thighs to dip beyond parallel to the ground, and keep your back straight.

For more health tips, browse Encouraging Health.

Would you be willing to eat just a few extra string beans to reduce your risk of cancer? Heck, yeah!

And that could be all you have to do. A recent study revealed that eating just one extra serving of veggies a day could cut your risk of head and neck cancers.

More Is Better
Although one extra serving of veggies (or fruit) a day will help protect you, more is definitely better. In fact, the more fruit and veggies people ate in a recent study, the lower their risk of head and neck cancers. And it’s no surprise, really, when you think of all the cancer-squelching nutrients packed into produce — like flavonoids, carotenoids, plant sterols, phenols, and vitamin C, to name a few.

The Perfect Product Picks for Protection
Not all the fruits and veggies in the study had a major impact on head and neck cancer risk. The most significant protection was linked to these 9 overachievers: beans, peas, apples, peaches, strawberries, nectarines, peppers, tomatoes, and carrots. How’s that for lots of options?

Here’s a list of 10 veggies that are tops when it comes to phytochemical content.

Make sure the vegetables you eat the most are the most nutritious veggies you can eat.

If you’re a broccoli lover, you’ve picked a winner. From a list of 10 of the most commonly consumed vegetables in the country, broccoli holds the top spot for having the most phytochemicals — compounds everyone’s urged to consume because they protect against chronic diseases. At the bottom of the list? Cucumbers, described by some people as “water you can eat.”

The 9 runners-up to broccoli were spinach, yellow onions, red peppers, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, lettuce, celery, and cucumbers. Red peppers actually beat out broccoli in terms of having the highest levels of antioxidants. The same researchers also have rated 10 of the most popular fruits. Cranberries — with the most phytochemicals and the most antioxidants — topped that list, followed by apples, red grapes, strawberries, peaches, lemons, pears, bananas, oranges, grapefruit, and pineapple.

Food scientists aren’t ranking veggies just to satisfy their curiosity, by the way. They’re contemplating a bioactivity index (BI) for dietary cancer prevention to help grocery shoppers quickly spot the fruits and veggies that have the biggest health benefits.

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Your switch can’t always be turned to “On.” But when it isn’t, and needs to be, try a little top-to-bottom pressure.

Stimulating certain acupressure points on your body — starting with the top of your head and moving down to the soles of your feet — is a quick and coffee-free way to jazz yourself up.

This acupressure sequence recently proved very effective in a study.

Here’s how to do the wake-up rubs:
1. Lightly tap the top of your head several times.
2. Rub the spot on the back of your head where your skull meets your neck.
3. Use a thumb to massage the back of your other hand; rub the fleshy spot where the thumb joins the hand.
4. Massage the front of your legs, just below the knee.
5. Rub the soles of your feet, just below the ball.
6. Rub these points clockwise and then counterclockwise for 3 minutes. After that — presto! — you’re awake.

More Ways to Rev Your Engine:

It’s pretty basic, but get your ZZZs. Sleep loss is a major energy drain.

Brighten up with lights.

Grab yourself a cuppa — tea, that is.

Sound Sleep Advice:

Get on a schedule. Your body clock runs best when, like a baby, you get yourself on a regular sleep schedule.

Change your temperature. The ideal setting for ZZZs is a cool, dark room.

At night, eat foods that contain melatonin, a substance that helps regulate your body clock. That means oats, sweet corn, or rice.

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You know that rhyme every kid learns how to finish: “An apple a day . . .” Make that “A tomato a dayâ€? — it may be even better at keeping problems away.

Although tomatoes have gotten a bit of rotten press lately as their role in reducing the risk of prostate cancer has hit the “lack of evidence” skids, there’s still abundant reason to overindulge. Tomatoes are stellar sources of vitamins A and C, folate, potassium, fiber, and all kinds of protective antioxidants. And organic tomatoes are even better — when they’re grown without chemicals, tomatoes contain much higher amounts of flavonoids, which have antioxidant, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here are five healthy reasons to add tomatoes to breakfast omelets, lunch sandwiches, and dinner sauces and salads:

1. Lower your blood pressure. Try snacking on cherry tomatoes while driving your kid’s carpool or prepping for your Toastmasters speech. These fruits (yes, tomatoes are fruits, not veggies) may keep your blood pressure in check. In just 8 weeks, people with mild hypertension who got a daily “dose” of tomatoes saw their systolic blood pressures (the top number) drop a whopping 10 points on average, and their diastolic blood pressures (the bottom number) drop by 4 points.

2. Avoid colds and flu. When men who are deficient in carotenoids (like lycopene and beta carotene) drink tomato juice regularly, they bump up their ability to fend off bacteria and viruses. However, the immunity-boosting effects take a while to kick in. So if you start upping your T-juice intake today, you may stay a step ahead of sore throats and colds tomorrow.

3. Save your skin. Who knew this thin-skinned fruit would make a terrific natural sunscreen? But people who include lycopene-rich tomato paste in their diets for at least 10 weeks get much less intense sunburns when they’re exposed to UV light — another reason to enjoy all those tomato-sauced dishes that are staples of Mediterranean diets.

4. Control cholesterol. A tomato a day may keep artery and heart problems at bay. Four weeks of daily tomato munching can increase good HDL cholesterol by 15% while lowering artery-clogging LDL cholesterol.

5. Fight aging. Tomatoes are rich in two spectacular antiaging free-radical squelchers: lycopene and beta carotene. In some cells, these antioxidants reduce free-radical damage to DNA by 42%. Both youth-protecting nutrients are enhanced when tomatoes are heated or eaten with a little fat, like olive oil.

Browse Encouraging Health for more health tips.

Your switch can’t always be turned to “On.” But when it isn’t, and needs to be, try a little top-to-bottom pressure.

Stimulating certain acupressure points on your body — starting with the top of your head and moving down to the soles of your feet — is a quick and coffee-free way to jazz yourself up.

This acupressure sequence recently proved very effective in a study.

Here’s how to do the wake-up rubs:
1. Lightly tap the top of your head several times.
2. Rub the spot on the back of your head where your skull meets your neck.
3. Use a thumb to massage the back of your other hand; rub the fleshy spot where the thumb joins the hand.
4. Massage the front of your legs, just below the knee.
5. Rub the soles of your feet, just below the ball.
6. Rub these points clockwise and then counterclockwise for 3 minutes. After that — presto! — you’re awake.

More Ways to Rev Your Engine:

It’s pretty basic, but get your ZZZs. Sleep loss is a major energy drain.

Brighten up with lights.

Grab yourself a cuppa — tea, that is.

Sound Sleep Advice:

Get on a schedule. Your body clock runs best when, like a baby, you get yourself on a regular sleep schedule.

Change your temperature. The ideal setting for ZZZs is a cool, dark room.

At night, eat foods that contain melatonin, a substance that helps regulate your body clock. That means oats, sweet corn, or rice.

Browse Encouraging Health.

If your bathroom has become the place where you get your reading done, it’s time for a spoonful of psyllium.

Psyllium — pronounced “silly-um” — is a fiber supplement made from a Mediterranean plantain. A daily dose helps keep things moving right along.

Drink Up
Psyllium, found in products like Metamucil, bulks up stool and improves digestive flow by sucking water into the bowel. Make sure to take a rounded teaspoon with lots of water, or you’ll feel as if you just ate concrete.

Add psyllium to a breakfast drink. Like this Banana-Cocoa Soy Smoothief:

Banana-Cocoa Soy Smoothie

With plenty of protein from both tofu and soymilk

Ingredients
1 banana
1/2 cup silken tofu
1/2 cup soymilk
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon honey

Directions
1. Slice banana and freeze until firm. Blend tofu, soymilk, cocoa and honey in a blender until smooth. With the motor running, add the banana slices through the hole in the lid and continue to puree until smooth.

More on When It’s Slow
If you’re bothered by the occasional “backup” (as most of us are), try these other tips for getting things going:
Don’t skip meals. Eating moves waste through your gastrointestinal tract.

Make friends with fiber.

Put your best foot forward.

Quench it. Stay hydrated with noncaffeinated, nonalcoholic beverages.

Adding a few key foods to your menu could help control your cholesterol.

A diet that incorporates soy-based foods, almonds, soluble fiber-rich grains and veggies, and plant sterols from cholesterol-lowering margarines could significantly lower unhealthy LDL cholesterol within weeks, a recent study suggests. Keep single servings of soy drinks, almonds, and bran cereal on hand to make cholesterol-lowering snacking easier.

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A walk on a treadmill or a walk in the park? Either one will get you fit, but the walk in the park may make you feel a whole lot better!

Research confirms it: Exercising in a green environment puts you in a better frame of mind than working out in a sterile gym. Go figure!

The Green Scene
In a study, people walked on a treadmill and viewed pictures of urban areas or images of rural scenes with lots of green spaces. The result? Besides bringing down blood pressure, viewing the green scenery improved energy and activity levels, raised self-esteem, and boosted mood.

Loving Life
Here’s more on living the happy life:
All work and no play . . . can make you a real stress case.

Train yourself to be an optimist. You’ll be happier and healthier.

Good Vibrations

Is that glass half empty or half full? Your answer may affect your blood pressure.

Older people who have a sense of self-worth, feel happy and hopeful, and enjoy life have lower blood pressure compared to their more pessimistic peers. Here’s how good feelings can reach all the way into your blood vessels.

Good feelings can help reduce levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that’s related to high blood pressure. So the benefits of good feelings don’t stop at just feeling good. Researchers speculate that the chemical and neural reactions people have to positive thoughts and feelings may help keep all of the body’s various systems in balance. So your heart, your arteries — even your immune system — benefit.

Have you harnessed the power of positive thinking? Here’s how to cope, adapt, and react to life’s trials and tribulations in more positive ways:
Try to look on the bright side during times of change.
Make a list of the possibilities and opportunities that could come out of any obstacles you face.
Surround yourself with happy, positive people. They may rub off on you! And strong social ties help you power through the tough times in life.

For more health articles, browse Encouraging Health.

Looks like there may be yet another reason to kick sugar and white flour out of your diet: eye health.

Cutting back on processed carbs could lower your risk of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in people 60 and older.

The Carb Connection
What makes refined carbs so bad for your peepers? Seems their high glycemic index may be partly to blame. High-glycemic-index foods boost a whole bunch of bad things linked to AMD — like increases in oxidative stress, inflammation, and blood-fat levels.

See the Future
Along with replacing the “bad” carbs in your diet with high-fiber whole grains, try these other sight-saving steps:

Figure out if changes in your vision are normal.
See if it’s time for a checkup.
Make sure your diet includes these four super eye nutrients:

Four Friends of Eye Health

Rely on four special nutrients to help reduce your risk of a common eye problem by up to 35 percent.

Diets that contain ample amounts of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, and zinc are associated with a greatly reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that is common with aging and can lead to blindness. Good sources of these nutrients: fresh produce, nuts, fortified cereals, and supplements.

Diet plays a role in many disease processes, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 55. In a recent study of people in this age group, those who reported the highest intake of vitamin C, vitamin E, beta carotene, and zinc were significantly less likely to develop AMD than those who had the lowest intake. Fill up on oranges, mangoes, and strawberries for vitamin C. Turkey, chicken, and fortified cereal are great sources for zinc. Almonds and peanut butter, or a supplement, can help boost your intake of vitamin E. Sweet potatoes, apricots, and peaches are excellent sources of beta carotene. Other nutrients that appear to be beneficial for eye health include lutein and zeaxanthin. Like beta carotene, they are carotenoids found in various kinds of fruits and vegetables. Good sources of lutein include spinach, peas, and green bell peppers. Good sources of zeaxanthin include corn, spinach, orange bell peppers, and tangerines.

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