One Critical Mistake That Costs Seniors Their Mobility
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Will Harlow, the over-50s specialist physio, advises what to do instead:
Nose over toes
Often considered the most important test of mobility in later life (or in general, but later life is when it tends to decline) is the ability to get up off the floor without using your arms.
Many seniors, meanwhile, struggle to get out of a chair without using their arms.
Now, sitting in chairs in the first place is not good for the health, but that’s another matter and beyond the scope of today’s article.
If, perchance, you struggle to get up from a chair (especially if it’s low/deep, like many armchairs are) without using your hands, then here’s the way to do it:
- While practicing, cross your arms in front of you, so that you cannot use them.
- Shuffle yourself towards the front of the chair. No, don’t use your arms for this either, do a little butt-walk instead, to get you to the front edge of the chair.
- Lean forwards to position your nose over your toes (hence the mnemonic: “nose over toes”; memorize that!), as this will put your center of gravity where it needs to be.
- Now, push with your feet to rise up and forwards; slowly is better than quickly (quickly may be easier, but slowly will improve your strength and balance).
For more on all of this plus a visual demonstration, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
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End the Insomnia Struggle – by Dr. Colleen Ehrnstrom and Dr. Alisha Brosse
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We’ve reviewed sleep books before, and we always try to recommend books that have something a little different than the rest, so what makes this one stand out?
While there is the usual quick overview of the basics that we’re sure you already know (sleep hygiene etc), most of the attention here is given to cold, hard clinical psychology… in a highly personalized way.
How, you may ask, can they personalize a book, that is the same for everyone?
The answer is, by guiding the reader through examining our own situation. With template logbooks, worksheets, and the like—for this reason we recommend getting a paper copy of the book, rather than the Kindle version, in case you’d like to use/photocopy those.
Essentially, reading this book is much like having your own psychologist (or two) to guide you through finding a path to better sleep.
The therapeutic approach, by the way, is a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance-Commitment Therapy (ACT), which work very well together here.
Bottom line: if you’ve changed your bedsheets and turned off your electronic devices and need something a little more, this book is the psychological “big guns” for removing the barriers between you and good sleep.
Click here to check out End the Insomnia Struggle, and end yours once and for all!
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Why Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Is More Likely Than You Think
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Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): More Likely Than You Think
COPD is not so much one disease, as rather a collection of similar (and often overlapping) diseases. The main defining characteristic is that they are progressive lung diseases. Historically the most common have been chronic bronchitis and emphysema, though Long COVID and related Post-COVID conditions appear to have been making inroads.
Lung cancer is generally considered separately, despite being a progressive lung disease, but there is crossover too:
COPD prevalence is increased in lung cancer, independent of age, sex and smoking history
COPD can be quite serious:
“But I don’t smoke”
Great! In fact we imagine our readership probably has disproportionately few smokers compared to the general population, being as we all are interested in our health.
But, it’s estimated that 30,000,000 Americans have COPD, and approximately half don’t know it. Bear in mind, the population of the US is a little over 340,000,000, so that’s a little under 9% of the population.
Click here to see a state-by-state breakdown (how does your state measure up?)
How would I know if I have it?
It typically starts like any mild respiratory illness. Likely shortness of breath, especially after exercise, a mild cough, and a frequent need to clear your throat.
Then it will get worse, as the lungs become more damaged; each of those symptoms might become stronger, as well as chest tightness and a general lack of energy.
Later stages, you guessed it, the same but worse, and—tellingly—weight loss.
The reason for the weight loss is because you are getting less oxygen per breath, making carrying your body around harder work, meaning you burn more calories.
What causes it?
Lots of things, with smoking being up at the top, or being exposed to a lot of second-hand smoke. Working in an environment with a lot of air pollution (for example, working around chemical fumes) can cause it, as can inhaling dust. New Yorkers: yes, that dust too. It can also develop from other respiratory illnesses, and some people even have a genetic predisposition to it:
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: a commonly overlooked cause of lung disease
Is it treatable?
Treatment varies depending on what form of it you have, and most of the medical interventions are beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say, there are medications that can be taken (including bronchodilators taken via an inhaler device), corticosteroids, antibiotics and antivirals of various kinds if appropriate. This is definitely a “see your doctor” item though, because there are is far too much individual variation for us to usefully advise here.
However!
There are habits we can do to a) make COPD less likely and b) make COPD at least a little less bad if we get it.
Avoiding COPD:
- Don’t smoke. Just don’t.
- Avoid second-hand smoke if you can
- Avoid inhaling other chemicals/dust that may be harmful
- Breathe through your nose, not your mouth; it filters the air in a whole bunch of ways
- Seriously, we know it seems like nostril hairs surely can’t do much against tiny particles, but tiny particles are attracted to them and get stuck in mucous and dealt with by our immune system, so it really does make a big difference
Managing COPD:
- Continue the above things, of course
- Exercise regularly, even just light walking helps; we realize it will be difficult
- Maintain a healthy weight if you can
- This means both ways; COPD causes weight loss and that needs to be held in check. But similarly, you don’t want to be carrying excessive weight either; that will tire you even more.
- Look after the rest of your health; everything else will now hit you harder, so even small things need to be taken seriously
- If you can, get someone to help / do your household cleaning for you, ideally while you are not in the room.
Where can I get more help/advice?
As ever, speak to your doctor if you are concerned this may be affecting you. You can also find a lot of resources via the COPD Foundation’s website.
Take care of yourself!
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- Don’t smoke. Just don’t.
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Type 2 Diabetic Foot Problems
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It’s Q&A Day!
Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!
This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!
As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!
So, no question/request too big or small
Q: I’d like to know more about type 2 diabetic foot problems
You probably know that the “foot problems” thing has less to do with the feet and more to do with blood and nerves. So, why the feet?
The reason feet often get something like the worst of it, is because they are extremities, and in the case of blood sugars being too high for too long too often, they’re getting more damage as blood has to fight its way back up your body. Diabetic neuropathy happens when nerves are malnourished because the blood that should be keeping them healthy, is instead syrupy and sluggish.
We’ll definitely do a main feature sometime soon on keeping blood sugars healthy, for both types of diabetes plus pre-diabetes and just general advice for all.
In the meantime, here’s some very good advice on keeping your feet healthy in the context of diabetes. This one’s focussed on Type 1 Diabetes, but the advice goes for both:
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The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners – by Jessica Aledo
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There are a lot of Mediterranean Diet books on the market, and not all of them actually stick to the Mediterranean Diet. There’s a common mistake of thinking “Well, this dish is from the Mediterranean region, so…”, but that doesn’t make, for example, bacon-laden carbonara part of the Mediterranean Diet!
Jessica Aledo does better, and sticks unwaveringly to the Mediterranean Diet principles.
First, she gives a broad introduction, covering:
- The Mediterranean Diet pyramid
- Foods to eat on the Mediterranean Diet
- Foods to avoid on the Mediterranean Diet
- Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet
Then, it’s straight into the recipes, of which there are 201 (as with many recipe books, the title is a little misleading about this).
They’re divided into sections, thus:
- Breakfasts
- Lunches
- Snacks
- Dinners
- Desserts
The recipes are clear and simple, one per double-page, with high quality color illustrations. They give ingredients/directions/nutrients. There’s no padding!
Helpfully, she does include a shopping list as an appendix, which is really useful!
Bottom line: if you’re looking to build your Mediterranean Diet repertoire, this book is an excellent choice.
Get your copy of The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners from Amazon today!
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Reverse Inflammation Naturally – by Dr. Michelle Honda
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This book is in some ways not as marketable as some; it doesn’t have lots of colorful healthy food on the cover; it doesn’t even have a “woman laughing alone with salad” (you know the stock photo trope), let alone someone looking glamorous in a labcoat with a stethoscope draped over their shoulder despite listening to hearts not being a regular part of their job as an immunologist or such.
What it does have, instead, is a lot of very useful information, and much more than you’ll usually find in a book for laypeople.
For example, you probably know that for fighting inflammation, a green salad is better than a cheeseburger, say, and a black coffee is better than a glass of wine.
But do you know about the roles, for good or ill, of prostaglandins and linoleic fats vs dietary fats? How about delta-6-desaturase? Neu5Gc and arachidonic acid?
Dr. Honda demystifies all of these and more, as well as talking about the impacts of very many foods and related habits on various different inflammation-based disease. And of course, almost all disease involves some kind of inflammation (making fighting inflammation one of the best things you can do for your overall disease-avoidance strategy!), but she singles out some of the most relevant, as per the list on the front cover.
She also talks a lot of “pharmacy in your kitchen”, in other words, what herbs, spices, and plant extracts we can enjoy for (evidence-based!) benefits on top of our default healthy diet free (or at least mostly free, for surely none of us are perfect) from inflammatory agents.
Not content with merely giving a huge amount of information, she also gives recipes and a meal plan, but honestly, it’s the informational chapters that are the real value of the book.
Bottom line: if you’d like to reduce your body’s inflammation levels (and/or perhaps those of a loved one for whom you cook), then this book will be an invaluable resource.
Click here to check out Reverse Inflammation Naturally, and reverse inflammation naturally!
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8 Signs Of Iodine Deficiency You Might Not Expect
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Health Coach Kait (BSc Nutrition & Exercise) is a certified health and nutrition coach, and today she’s here to talk about iodine—which is important for many of our body functions, from thyroid hormone production to metabolic regulation to heart rate management, as well as more superficial-but-important-too things like our skin and hair.
Kait’s hitlist
Here’s what she recommends we look out for:
- Swollen neck: even a slightly swollen neck might indicate low iodine levels (this is because that’s where the thyroid glands are)
- Hair loss: iodine is needed for healthy hair growth, so a deficiency can lead to hair loss / thinning hair
- Dry and flaky skin: with iodine’s role in our homeostatic system not being covered, our skin can dry out as a result
- Feeling cold all the time: because of iodine’s temperature-regulating activities
- Slow heart rate: A metabolic slump due to iodine deficiency can slow down the heart rate, leading to fatigue and weakness (and worse, if it persists)
- Brain fog: trouble focusing can be a symptom of the same metabolic slump
- Fatigue: this is again more or less the same thing, but she said eight signs, so we’re giving you the eight!
- Irregular period (if you normally have such, of course): because iodine affects reproductive hormones too, an imbalance can disrupt menstrual cycles.
For more on each of these, as well as how to get more iodine in your diet, enjoy:
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Further reading
You might also like to read:
- A Fresh Take On Hypothyroidism
- Foods For Managing Hypothyroidism (incl. Hashimoto’s)
- Eat To Beat Hyperthyroidism!
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
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