Staying Healthy Archive

The right dose for bone health depends on key factors.

If you're wondering how much vitamin D will keep your bones healthy, you're not alone. Supplements of no more than 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D and 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day don't do much. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine said high-dose vitamin D (800–2,000 IU) reduced hip fractures by 30%. "The exact dosage that's required is still very controversial," says Dr. Jill Paulson, an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Staying active and connected can extend optimal physical and mental health in the 90s. Pursuing leisure activities and not smoking are also key.

Q. I have recently noticed that my eyes are frequently dry. I have used saline eye drops, but they don't seem to help much. Is this normal?

A. Dry eyes is a common condition that affects about 10% of men. Typical symptoms include burning, redness, and the sensation that you have something stuck in your eye. Paradoxically, excessive tearing is another common symptom of dry eyes.

A Swedish study in BMJ identifies the secrets to living a long, healthy, and enjoyable life—after 75. Just do this: maintain a healthy weight, don't smoke or drink, cultivate a web of social connections, and enjoy regular leisure-time activities. In the study, scientists tracked the lifestyle and health status of 1,800 older Swedes for up to 18 years.

Half of the study group lived into their ninth decade. The scientists calculated the number of years of added life attributable to various behaviors. The leading lifespan-extenders were maintaining rich social networks (1.6 years added) and continuing to engage in a variety of leisure activities, including gardening, sewing, and volunteer work (up to 2.3 years). For anyone at any age, the same behaviors add up to a healthier life.

A bad night's sleep can leave you feeling pretty tired the next day. Put a string of those together and nagging fatigue starts to set in.

Getting good sleep, in the right amount, can make a big difference in how you feel. Too little or too much sleep can increase your perception of fatigue. And even if you get enough hours of sleep, you might find yourself dragging the next day if that sleep was interrupted by frequent awakenings or was of poor quality.

Low glycemic foods help you feel full longer; help keep blood sugar even.

Bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereal, dairy foods, fruits, and vegetables are staples in many diets. All deliver carbohydrates. For providing calories, one carbohydrate is as good as another. When it comes to health, though, some are better than others. Picking good carbs can help you control your weight and ward off a host of chronic conditions, from diabetes and heart disease to various cancers. One way to identify good carbs is with the glycemic index (GI). This tool measures how much a food boosts blood sugar.

Q. Is the avoidance of wheat a good thing?  I feel better since I've been on a wheat-free diet, but I've noticed it's harder to get the amount of fiber I need.

A. You're right that we all benefit from fiber in our diets. We need about 20-35 grams a day, but most of us get less than half of that. Getting adequate fiber reduces a person's risk of heart disease, diabetes, high blood cholesterol, and many gastrointestinal disorders. Wheat, rye and barley are all good sources of fiber, but they also contain a protein called gluten.

Now that flu season is here you may be scheduling your annual vaccination against influenza. But this can also be a good time see if all of your shots are up to date. It's important, since immunization to disease doesn't last a lifetime.

"Pretty much everything gets weaker as we age—our joints, heart, lungs, kidneys, brain. The same thing happens to our immune system," explains Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of the division of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

News briefs

If you made it a point to go jogging in your 50s, don't feel all those miles underfoot were for naught. A study published online Aug. 27, 2012, in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that the greater your mid-life fitness level, the lower your odds are of developing several chronic diseases, including heart failure, stroke, diabetes, colon cancer and Alzheimer's disease. And for those who did develop chronic diseases, a high level of mid-life fitness was also associated with delaying the onset of these diseases. Mid-life fitness was defined using a formula involving body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, alcohol consumption, glucose levels and age. The research involved more than 18,000 subjects.