Caregiving Archive

Aspirin falls short in improving colon cancer test results.

Research we're watching

The World Health Organization has some advice for people who want to reduce their risk of dementia — pay attention to your overall health. Specifically, the organization's new guidelines recommend regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, regulating blood sugar levels, and keeping cholesterol within recommended limits.

Experts also recommend giving up unhealthy habits, including drinking and smoking. In short, strategies that you already know are good for your heart and overall health are also good for your brain. Preventing dementia is a focus because it has become a growing health problem, which affects some 50 million people around the world. The WHO estimates that nearly 10 million people each year develop the condition.

Ask the doctor

Q. How much sleep do we really need, and what happens if we get too little or too much?

A. We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, so you've asked an important question.

Take advantage of the many delivery options to keep your diet fresh, healthy, and full of variety.

Getting groceries or prepared meals without leaving your couch is easier than ever in this era of home delivery. That's important for people who have difficulty getting to the grocery store because they don't drive or because they're struggling with a chronic condition.

But the many options for food delivery may have you wondering where to begin. Here's a look at some widely used services and what to keep in mind when you use them.

Prescription and over-the-counter medications may affect you differently now.

Despite the beneficial effects of medications, some drugs need to be used with increasing caution as you age. Drugs that caused few if any side effects in your youth can now cause discomfort or even put you at risk for serious problems such as falls or bleeding.

What's different in older age?

Even though you may have taken a medication for decades, your body may react differently to it later in life. One reason for this is that your metabolism has slowed down. Some medicines need to be processed by your liver to benefit your health; slower digestion and liver function mean it may take longer for a drug to get into your bloodstream. Later, remnants of the medicine need to be eliminated from your body by the liver and kidneys. Slowdowns at this stage mean it may take longer for a drug to leave your body, so its effects last longer.

Keeping your shoulder muscles flexible will help prevent injury.

The shoulder is the body's most complicated joint. It's where the ends of the collarbone, upper arm bone, and shoulder blade meet. And it's prone to arthritis (a wearing away of the cartilage between the bones), as well as tears or tendinitis (inflammation) in the rotator cuff — the group of tendons that helps you raise and rotate your arm. Shoulder pain can keep you from being able to raise your arms to get dressed, or reach up to a cupboard or out to a door.

But an easy way to stave off shoulder problems is to regularly stretch the muscles that support the joints. "The muscles need to be long and flexible to stay healthy. You're more vulnerable to injury when your shoulder muscles are tight and restricted," explains Clare Safran-Norton, clinical supervisor of rehabilitation services at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

News briefs

Vitamins and supplements won't help stave off dementia, but a healthy lifestyle might, suggest new guidelines released May 19, 2019, by the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO warns that the number of new dementia cases around the world — currently 10 million per year — is set to triple by 2050. While there's no cure for any kind of dementia (such as Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia), the WHO says it may be possible to delay the onset of the disease or slow its progression. The key: managing modifiable risks, such as chronic disease and unhealthy habits. The guidelines recommend that you keep your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar under control; get lots of exercise; and eat a Mediterranean-style diet (which emphasizes olive oil, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and fish; minimizes red meats and processed meats; and includes a moderate amount of cheese and wine). The WHO also advises that you don't smoke and you avoid harmful use of alcohol (no more than one drink per day for women, no more than two drinks for men). But don't count on supplements to help you stave off dementia. The WHO says there's no evidence that vitamin B, vitamin E, multivitamins, or fish oil supplements help reduce the risk for dementia. The agency recommends against using supplements as a means to ward off cognitive decline.

Image: © kali9/Getty Images

News briefs

Losing a loved one is never easy, and sometimes it can take years to grieve for a partner, parent, or child. That grief often comes with adverse health effects, such as stress, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, and heart problems. But long-lasting grief doesn't come only from a family member's death, suggests a study published online April 4, 2019, by PLOS One. Researchers evaluated questionnaire responses from about 9,600 people who'd lost close friends and found this type of grief can last up to four years. Women in the study were particularly hard hit by loss of a close friend, experiencing more problems with mental, emotional, and social health than men. Study authors say the passing of a close friend should be considered a substantial experience that warrants help (like a support group) to minimize the negative effects of grief.

Our take: Grief of any kind poses a health risk, whether it's due to the loss of someone dear or a dramatic change in life, such as a job loss or a move to a new city. During such times, be especially vigilant about reporting disturbing new symptoms to your doctor.

News briefs

Eating food that's ultra-processed — not just chips or cookies, but also things like breakfast cereal, deli meat, or canned fruit in syrup — makes people overeat and gain weight, compared with eating food that's unprocessed. That's according to a small randomized controlled trial published online May 16, 2019, by Cell Metabolism. It involved 20 men and women who stayed at a research facility for a month and were randomly assigned to one of two diets. One group was given ultra-processed foods (such as a breakfast of a bagel with cream cheese and turkey bacon), and the other group was fed unprocessed foods (such as a breakfast of oatmeal with bananas, walnuts, and skim milk). After two weeks, participants were switched to the opposite diets. Both diets were evenly matched for total calories, macronutrients, fiber, sugars, and sodium, and participants were allowed to eat as much or as little as they wanted. But they ate more calories when they were eating ultra-processed foods, compared with when they ate unprocessed foods, and they gained more weight on the ultra-processed diet. Why? It's not exactly clear, but researchers did find that appetite-suppressing hormones decreased and hunger hormones increased when people ate processed foods. Bottom line: Eat whole, unprocessed foods with as few ingredients as possible.

Image: © 4kodiak/Getty Images

Sedentary time is one of the greatest threats to heart health.

First, the good news: more Americans than ever are considered active. A new report on heart disease and stroke statistics, published March 5, 2019, in Circulation, found the proportion of active adults increased from about 60% to 73% between 2007 and 2016.

Now, the bad news: despite this impressive increase, the same report found that almost one-quarter of American adults still don't meet the federal guidelines for physical activity.