Healthy eating for older adults Archive

Body roundness index, which is calculated based on a person's height, waist, and hip size, might be a more accurate measurement than body mass index for predicting weight-related health risks, according to a 2024 study.

Walking is one of the most accessible and versatile types of exercise. It can help people get the recommended 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week, and workouts can be adjusted to fit any fitness level. But sometimes walking becomes too routine. To make outings more exciting and challenging, people can do interval training, add hills or stairs, use walking poles, carry weights, incorporate body-weight exercises, or try to beat their best time on a route.

Of the cancer screening tests for men, tests for colon cancer has the strongest evidence for benefit. Men who opt in for prostate cancer screening may have more options beyond PSA blood testing to more accurately identify aggressive cancers. Other screening tests such as full body scans have not been shown to improve outcomes.

A 2024 study found that women who closely followed a Mediterranean diet were up to 23% less likely than women who didn't to die over a study period of 25 years.

A 2024 study suggests that cognitive changes are a more reliable signal than either age or biological signs of Alzheimer's disease to foreshadow an older adult's decision to stop driving.

A 2024 study suggests that having one or more tattoos may raise a person's risk of developing lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

People often aren't aware of the full range of conditions that physical therapy (PT) can effectively treat. PT can be used not only after surgery or injury, but also for stroke, brain injuries, balance problems, neuromuscular conditions, spinal cord injuries, and more. PT is also done to help people avoid falls, as well as for pelvic floor dysfunction and vertigo. People participating in PT work with physical therapists to determine goals and plan a course of treatment to meet those goals by improving mobility, strength, and flexibility.

People with anemia have an abnormally low number of red blood cells. Those are the cells that pick up oxygen from the lungs, deliver oxygen throughout the body, and return to the lungs with a load of carbon dioxide and other gases to be exhaled. Without enough red blood cells, the organs and tissues don't get a sufficient amount of oxygen. That can cause nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue, headache, or wooziness, which are often attributed to other causes. As a result, anemia often goes undiagnosed.

Artificial intelligence (A.I.) has made an astonishing breakthrough in our understanding of certain biological processes. A.I. has now determined the structure of nearly all proteins in humans, plants, and animals and is exploring the way they interact with each other and with other molecules. This understanding is considered the key to biological medicine, a code that scientists have never been able to crack completely. These advances are expected to speed the development of many potent medicines, vaccines, and cures for some diseases.

The combination of drinking alcohol and sleeping while on a plane puts a big strain on the body, especially the cardiovascular system. This is because blood oxygen normally drops slightly when flying high above sea level, sleeping, or consuming alcohol. The more contributors to low blood oxygen there are, the harder the body has to work to compensate by breathing faster and increasing heart rate. There's even more strain if someone has heart or lung disease, which places the person at a higher risk for a heart attack or stroke.