March 24th, 2009
1) Muscles and joints— a little loss of muscle strength occurs between 35 and 40, but after that, strength tends to decline gradually for both men and women. By the age of 60, a man may lose up to 20 percent of his maximum strength and a woman may lose even more. Medical experts say that the decrease occurs because more protein is being broken down and less is being synthesized. The result is atrophy and loss of muscle fiber. The protein that has been lost is, in large part, replaced by fatty tissue.
Stiff joints also seem to be a fact of life for many people, beginning at about age 40. The health of joints depends on the strength of the muscles supporting them. Regular exercise—walking or running, weightlifting—is essential if you are to hold your own in the battle with aging muscles and joints.
Lower-back pain is also more common among people in their 40s and 50s. Researchers say that a slow, natural degeneration of the disks that cushion the vertebrae and stress can both contribute to back problems in middle-age people. But most people can overcome the pain and prevent further problems by strengthening the lower body and abdominal muscles through exercise.
2) Bone deterioration— strong bones are essential in order to prevent osteoporosis, a health problem which often afflicts older women. Osteoporosis causes bones*to become thin and porous enough to fracture or break easily. The condition accelerates at menopause and affects about 25 percent of women older than 65.
Studies have shown that the stronger a women’s bones are before menopause, the better her chances of avoiding osteoporosis. Adequate calcium intake and regular weight-bearing exercise—walking or running—are recommended to all women to ensure dense bones.
3) Sex— for most women, the hormonal shifts of menopause have little or no effect on desire or responsiveness. Many women at menopause, however, find sexual intercourse painful because of a drying and thinning of vaginal tissues. Many experts agree that the best treatment is to remain sexually active. Studies reveal that postmenopausal women who keep sexually active— with sexual intercourse at least once or twice a week—have considerably less vaginal atrophy than sexually inactive women.
As for men, evidence indicates that older men who keep in good physical condition can apparently maintain their output of sex hormones at the levels of young men. In fact, studies show that both men and women can enjoy sex into their eighties and beyond.
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March 24th, 2009
HOME
Homes with unvented kerosene or gas heaters, leaking chimneys and furnaces, and gas stoves are all at risk of carbon monoxide exposure. Low concentration of carbon monoxide can cause fatigue in healthy people and chest pain in those with heart disease. Higher exposures can cause impaired vision and coordination, dizziness, nausea, and death.
Here are several ways you can reduce the risk of carbon monoxide exposure in your home:
1) If possible, install a vented gas furnace and space heaters.
2) Have a trained professional inspect and clean your central heating system once a year.
3) If you have a gas stove, install an exhaust fan vented to the outdoors.
4) Don’t use charcoal indoors because it produces deadly amounts of CO (carbon monoxide).
A new device recently approved by Underwriters Laboratories is designed to prevent death from carbon monoxide poisoning. The new device resembles a smoke detector and is supposed to sound an alarm if the carbon monoxide in the air nears a dangerous level.
Records indicate that most of the 230 cases of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning reported each year are due to faulty appliances or damaged chimneys and vents. Others result from automobile exhaust in houses that have attached garages.
The new carbon monoxide detectors can operate on batteries or they can be plugged into a household electric outlet. Their sensors, unlike those in smoke detectors, must be replaced every 3 to 5 years, and cost from $15 to $20. The detectors themselves sell for $50 to $70.
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March 24th, 2009
For most people, anxiety and stress create discomforting muscle tension. To relieve such tension, it is necessary to “zero in’ on the tense muscles— usually in the back of the neck and upper back—and massage them until you feel them relax. Here’s an easy self-massage technique that, properly done, can relieve upper body tension:
1) Breathe slowly and deeply. Let your head drop forward, then cup the back of your neck with your hands. Press gently, so you will stretch your neck muscles without straining them.
2) Using thumbs and fingers, massage the back of your neck from the base of your skull down to your upper back.
3) As your muscles begin to relax, massage up from your shoulders to the back of your head, then around both sides of your head to your temples and back down again. Continue until your muscles are completely relaxed.
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March 24th, 2009
1) Cross-country skiing— this form of exercise is more strenuous than running, but it is an excellent way to burn off a great deal of fat without a lot of discomfort. There is also a relatively low risk of injury with cross-country skiing because the movements involve gliding rather than bouncing. Cross-country skiing is recommended for people who are already in good condition, because it requires skill, balance, and good arm and leg coordination. The starting cost is relatively low, and you can rent equipment.
2) Running— this exercise offers excellent long-term fat-burning potential. The injury risk with running is considered moderate for less than 35 miles per week and very high for more than 35 miles a week. The only equipment needed to start running is a pair of good running shoes.
3) Cycling— the long-term fat-burning potential from cycling is moderate. The injury risk from the exercise itself is low, but can be high if you cycle in areas of high traffic. Since it uses fewer muscles than running, and because it is not weight-bearing, you have to cycle about 40 minutes to equal 20 minutes of running or jogging.
4) Walking— if the total walking time is 30 minutes or less, or if the walking speed is less than 15 minutes a mile, the long-term fat-burning potential is moderate to low. II the walking time is more than 30 minutes, or the walking speed is more than 15 minutes a mile, the long-term fat-burning potential is moderate. The risk of injury with walking is
low.
In order to get maximum fat-burning benefits from walking you should try to set a brisk pace of at least 100 steps a minute and less than 20 minutes a mile. About 4< minutes of brisk walking is equal to 20 minutes of jogging.
5) Swimming— both the long-term fat-burning potential and injury risk are low Swimming is actually the most injury-free sport and it provides excellent benefits for th< cardiovascular system. It also tones practically all muscles. However, if you are overweight, swimming should not be your only exercise. Of all the people tested fo body fat, swimmers usually carry more fat than either runners or cyclists.
While swimming will help keep you lean and fit, you will not lose fat as fast as you would with land sports. Even with that drawback, swimming is a good starting program for overweight people who aren’t used to exercise.
6) Rowing— the long-term fat burning potential of rowing is high, and the injury risk is low. Either indoors or outdoors, rowing is an excellent fat- consuming exercise. It exercises most of the large muscle groups without placing stress on joints and it also helps develop the muscles of the upper body. It should also be noted that rowing causes back problems in some people.
7) Stair-climbing— while the long-term fat-burning potential with this exercise is high, the risk of injury is moderately low. While you are not really simulating stair-climbing, this exercise does require as much energy as running. But it places only about the same amount of stress on the joints as walking.
Treadmill— depending on the incline and speed, the long-term fat-burning potential is moderate to high. The injury risk is low. Treadmills require a good deal of balance and involvement, which enhances the exerciser’s motivation. The best pace on a treadmill is a fast walk or a slow jog.
9) Stationary Bicycling— like its counterpart outdoor cycling, the long-term fat-burning potential is moderate, and the injury risk is low with stationary bicycling. Stationary bikes are both stable and easy to use. This type of exercising has become popular because you can do two things at one time— exercise, and read a book or watch television.
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March 24th, 2009
These Taste Better Than Cola, And Are Good For You
To avoid consuming an excessive number of calories in the things you drink, try giving up cola. Most colas are overloaded with calories and have very little nutritional value. Instead of cola, try substituting more healthful drinks such as club soda, decaffeinated tea and coffee, fruit juices, and of course, water
This Tastes Just Like Chocolate… Plus It’s Healthy
You might not want to hear it, but chocolate is not especially good for you. Besides being fattening, it also contains a chemical—tyramine—which can trigger headaches. And since it is nearly all fat and contains caffeine, it should be avoided at all costs if you’re suffering from heartburn.
There is some good news, however. For those people who love the taste of chocolate, many people have found that “chocolate” frozen yogurt actually tastes like real chocolate, and it’s a healthier choice for dessert, or anytime. Try it!
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March 23rd, 2009
When a person becomes too sick or weak to stay in their own home, a retirement village or nursing home might be the only practical alternative. Doctors who look after people in nursing homes are occasionally asked by nursing staff to see a resident who is causing them trouble because they are thought to be having sex with one of their visitors … ‘Could you fix it please Doctor?’ The problem is not so much the activity itself, but the perception that a need for sexual expression in the elderly is an abnormality that needs to be ‘fixed’. The problem has even more to do with architecture than attitudes. If you actually look at the layout of some of the older institutions you will see that they virtually ignore any right to privacy. A flimsy curtain suspended from the ceiling in a room with four beds occupied by strangers is hardly conducive to a quiet cuddle for two people who may have shared the same bed for over fifty years.
Elderly homosexual people have particular difficulties in this area. Retirement villages and nursing homes are just not geared for people who prefer same-sex partners, and so aging will make the prospect of social isolation even more likely. The problem is probably greater for men than for women because society has less trouble accepting close and loving relationships between women than between men. In either case it is clear that this group of people have special needs as they age that are not being met by the current system. Part of the reason for this is that this group in the community has been virtually invisible until this generation. So what are the solutions?
The first is to somehow integrate the needs of elderly homosexual people into the existing structures. Now this may sound simple enough on the surface, but when you consider the potential barriers it is not as easy as it sounds. To overcome those barriers there would need to be special training or selective employment of nursing and domestic staff. The heads of various government departments and administrators of the nursing homes or retirement villages would need to be supportive of the idea and willing to spend the money to put the changes in place, and the relevant politicians would need to see some political gain for themselves.
The other option is to develop special purpose retirement and nursing home facilities to cater specifically for the needs of the aging gay population. This concept is already in practice for some ethnic and religious groups. Some might say that this approach is separatist, far removed from the cosier notion of everyone accepting the individuality of others. But we are trying to deal with realities here. No single solution is going to be the right one, so what we are talking about is choice, freedom and right to privacy.
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March 23rd, 2009
If you think you are having sexual problems for whatever reason, then a sex therapist can help. Working out the nature of the problem is the first step and that’s not always straightforward.
Some men think they are ‘impotent’ because they lose their erections before or soon after penetration. However if the erection disappears because he has already ejaculated, that’s an entirely different matter. We call that premature ejaculation. It’s a bit hard to come up with a definition for premature ejaculation because, like many sexual problems, it’s largely a matter of perception. Many women who orgasm quite quickly (often during foreplay) are not rapt in the concept of being pumped for ages.
Over the years they’ve tried to define premature ejaculation by a variety of methods — not being able to last two minutes after penetration, or a certain number of thrusts and so on. The definition I like is that a man or his partner wishes he could last longer.
One of the myths about the best way to deal with premature ejaculation involved the man distracting himself by reciting some list, like the American presidents. ‘George Washington, John Adams … oops! What is it about Thomas Jefferson?’ or ‘That was great darling … at least a Woodrow Wilson!’ Sports fans could try lists like the batting averages of the cricket Tests since 1912 … ‘What do you mean “You’re out”? Don’t you think there is a certain irony about trying to enhance a mutually erotic experience by pretending you aren’t doing it?
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March 23rd, 2009
Coping with parenthood takes a tremendous ability to adapt. Another sort of relationship that is likely to be threatened by a baby is the one that is stable to the point of inflexibility. These people don’t like the unexpected, so strict routines are established and any disruption causes anxiety. Dinner is supposed to be on the table at six o’clock, shirts washed and ironed and hung in the wardrobe ready to wear, the house clean and tidy at all times, lights out at ten and sleep until the alarm goes off at six. Well, you can imagine the effect of night feeds and the huge additional workload of caring for an infant around the clock make it impossible to stick to those old routines.
Even the most adaptable relationships can take some adjusting and many people just don’t expect the degree of change, including the differences in their sexual needs. One mother told me, ‘We were very sexual before the baby arrived and it came as a great shock to me that I wasn’t the slightest bit interested for ages afterwards. My breasts were always a really important part of stimulation for me and it just wasn’t the same going to bed wearing a nursing bra. My libido didn’t come back until I’d stopped breastfeeding. Actually, I found feeding was almost a sexual experience in itself. It’s not like an orgasm you’d get with your partner, but it’s certainly incredibly sensual.’
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March 23rd, 2009
Repartnering or remarrying has its own set of sexual difficulties. There might be an ex-partner or two to consider and it can be difficult to avoid the comparisons of personality, size, shape and sexual performance.
When there are children involved it can get very complicated. One of the main problems for a new relationship is that there never seems enough time to be alone and that will be intensely frustrating. The system of jealousies can be incredibly complex. The reactions of children will depend a lot on their age but seeing your parent relating physically or sleeping with a person who is not your other parent can create confusion, resentment and even anger at any age. If your parents’ relationship was strained for some time you may never have seen the adults around you engaged in any sort of intimate behavior before and that can be particularly confronting. Children can be very protective of their parents and new partners may find themselves competing for attention, physical affection and personal space with their partner’s child. Stepparents may feel inhibited about showing affection in front of each other’s children for fear of setting off a reaction. So establishing a blended family raises a multiplicity of sexual issues that will take time, patience, understanding and a big dose of common sense to unravel.
The main answer to dealing with relationship problems and breakdowns is early preparation. Obviously the example set by your own parents is a vital element, but in any relationship the backgrounds of the two people will be different in some respects. Just because one of you knows how to communicate emotions, it takes two to tango. It would be like sending a message over the radio when your intended audience is tuned to another station. The missing link is relationship education by specially trained teachers in schools. In fact, understanding relationships is so integral to our emotional survival that it needs to be a cornerstone in the education system. To survive in the modern world we need the ‘four Rs’ … Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic and Relationships.
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March 23rd, 2009
Finding out about an STD can be a double whammy. A married woman in her forties found out she had trichomonas after she developed a vaginal discharge that smelt like old socks. As her only partner was her husband she put two and two together. ‘We had a huge scene at home. I told him there was no point denying it because there was only one way I could have picked this up. I was so furious that he could have put me at risk like this. He didn’t even have the sense to wear a condom with her. It took me months to get over my anger with him for the other woman … and the infection.’ This particular situation is one that needs a closer look. Obviously, apart from celibacy, the next safest situation is for both partners to be monogamous.
But it’s not enough to silently hope that your partner, no matter how committed they may be to the relationship, will never have a sexual encounter with another person. If you look at the statistics, the truth of the matter is that the majority of married men and women will have an extramarital liaison at some time. Denying this reality or just refusing to acknowledge it or talk about it leaves far too much to chance. Some therapists argue that it is not necessarily the affair itself, but the exposure of the affair or the fear of what it might do to the relationship that actually does the damage. The feeling of betrayal and loss of trust that follow can tear a relationship apart. Catching an STD and then having to tell your primary partner is a sure way of exposing an extracurricular relationship, and it can be devastating.
However, the discovery of an STD may have nothing to do with infidelity, so it’s essential to have your facts right before you pick up the phone to call your lawyer. (For that matter call a counsellor before you call a lawyer.) Find out all you can about the infection. Take chlamydia for example. By the 1980s it had become the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection in North America, Europe and Australia, so its impact has been widespread. Chlamydia is one infection that can lay dormant for years before it is detected, so even though it may be found on a test today it may have been the result of a sexual contact some years before. It can go on causing damage for all that time with no symptoms at all, until it ultimately leads to infertility in both men and women.
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