Healthy aging and longevity Archive

There's no one sound unique to a particular shoulder problem. That makes it hard to know what various shoulder noises are telling you. Possibilities include arthritis; bone breaks; rotator cuff tears; gas bubbles, loose parts, or bone spurs in the shoulder joint; neck problems; and bursitis. It's advisable to investigate shoulder noises if they happen, along with shoulder pain, weakness, or limited movement, or if the sound followed a shoulder injury. It's also smart (though not urgent) to ask a doctor about shoulder sounds that aren't accompanied by other symptoms.

Sugar is a carbohydrate that provides the body with energy and has an important role in nutrition. It is found in many healthy whole foods, but it is also abundant in unhealthy processed foods. The problem many people have with sugar is that they consume too much of the refined kind added to many processed food products, and not enough of the natural kind in fruits, vegetables, and grains.

In addition to major healthy lifestyle habits, such as exercising and eating a healthy diet, it's important to practice lots of little healthy habits throughout the day. Some should be observed every 30 minutes, such as taking a quick activity break and drinking a little water. Other habits, such as having a healthy snack or using eye drops, can be done every few hours. And some healthy habits help if practiced even just once a day, such as learning something new, chatting with someone outside of the household, or meditating.

The bacteria C. diff is responsible for half a million infections each year in the US. Many infections happen when people are hospitalized, but a recent report indicated that people can be infected without ever being hospitalized.

A mask-free, implanted device for sleep apnea that works by stimulating the tongue was approved by the FDA in 2014 as a second-choice treatment for people who are unable to tolerate a positive airway pressure machine.

Healthy feet are the foundation of an active lifestyle, but many people don't give their feet proper attention. Regular foot maintenance can help prevent pain and injuries and protect against infections. Helpful steps include maintaining basic foot hygiene, performing regular foot exercises, and wearing properly fitting shoes.

Around age 40, most people lose some height, and the decline accelerates with age. This "shrinkage" can be slowed by preventing osteoporosis and improving posture. Getting enough calcium and vitamin D can help increase bone density, and exercises for the back and abdominal muscles can help with posture.

The average person wakes up around four times every night. But as people age, the number of awakenings can rise as they spend more time in the earlier, lighter sleep stages and less time in the later deeper stages. This sleeping pattern makes them more sensitive to stimuli that awakens them. Older adults can avoid common stimulus by wearing earplugs and sleep masks to block noise and light, cutting back on caffeine and alcohol to avoid bathroom trips, and doing stretches before bedtime to reduce nighttime cramping.

Limiting meals to a certain window of time each day, an approach called time-restricted eating, didn't appear to help people lose any more weight compared with ordinary calorie restriction in a small randomized trial published in 2022.

In 2022, Pfizer voluntarily recalled some blood pressure medications, including Accuretic (quinapril hydrochloride plus hydrochlorothiazide), Accupril (quinapril hydrochloride), and two related generic formulations.