Category: aging well

What Is the Key to Japanese Centenarians’ Long Lives?

Data from people who live well over 100 years have revealed a unique gut microbiome community that affects bile acids. STORY AT-A-GLANCE Data from a group of centenarians whose average age was 107 revealed gut microbiota that include Odoribacteraceae, which reliably produces a bile acid called isoallo-lithocholic acid, are important to preventing illness A strong…


The Health Risks of Sitting at Home

Decades of fitness research remind us that physical activity is one of the best preventive measures available to help us avoid disease. It’s one of the pillars of good health, alongside nutrition, sleep, and hydration. That reality holds even more significance now as we deal with COVID-19 and the physiological fallout of social distancing and…


For Older Adults, Smelling the Roses May Be More Difficult

The reports from covid-19 patients are disconcerting. Only a few hours before, they were enjoying a cup of pungent coffee or the fragrance of flowers in a garden. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, those smells disappeared. Young and old alike are affected — more than 80% to 90% of those diagnosed with…


What You Can Do Now to Prevent Osteoporosis

About 60 percent of women and 40 percent of men over 50 have low bone mass, and those numbers increase with age. The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that 50% of women and 25% of men over  50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture during their lifetime. Bone is constantly being broken down (by cells called osteoclasts)…


Choline During Pregnancy Tied to Better Attention in Kids

Children of mothers who got more than the recommended amount choline while pregnant had better long-term cognitive outcomes, a new study finds. The study comes as nutrition experts continue to push for more research into the nutrient—and warn that getting too much could boost our risk for cardiovascular issues. The study was published in Journal…


Chiropractic Maintenance

Talks about prevention within a chiropractic office don’t occur as often as the normative lower back and neck pain talks typically will. Many times, patients will come to a chiropractor’s office with what’s called a “chief complaint,” something that has suddenly happened (or has been bugging them for some time) that has made life much…


We Need a New Paradigm for Final Wishes

For decades, Americans have been urged to fill out documents specifying their end-of-life wishes before becoming terminally ill—living wills, do-not-resuscitate orders, and other written materials expressing treatment preferences. Now, a group of prominent experts is saying those efforts should stop because they haven’t improved end-of-life care. “Decades of research demonstrate advance care planning doesn’t work….


Research Links Frailty to Dementia Risk

A new study published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry suggests that seniors with frailty who adhere to a healthy lifestyle could reduce their risk for dementia. Researchers are seeing increasing evidence that taking steps toward healthier actions can significantly affect cognitive health. Researchers analyzed data from more than 196,000 adults older than…


Using Stress to Make You Stronger

As we gain deeper insight into the metabolic pathways that turn food and air into the electrochemical miracle of the human body, we also learn ways to maximize our physiological potential. That insight becomes particularly relevant amid a global pandemic and the widespread prevalence of chronic disease. The torrent of stress we encounter each day…


Creativity Is Self-Care

We are all creative. People who believe they’re not creative wrongly assume that if they don’t have a creative outlet or are not gifted in a particular artistic expression, they’re not creative. In truth, creativity is a human attribute gifted to each of us, though some have cultivated it more fully while others have abandoned…