The Most Dangerous Everyday Movement For Over-50s
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Will Harlow, the over-50s specialist physio, shows us the mistake to avoid if we want to stay out of hospital:
Here’s what’s going down
The risky movement: stepping down from a height becomes more hazardous after 50 because it combines leg strength, eccentric muscle control, and balance, any of which can go wrong.
Naturally, this can cause serious problems; a misjudged step can lead to a full fall rather than a simple stumble, increasing the risk of injuries such as hip fractures, wrist fractures, and head injuries. Indeed, in this video we hear the story of a woman in her early 70s who suffered all three after falling down just two (2) steps.
Three exercises that can help:
- Two up, one down: start with a sit-to-stand from a stable chair. At the top, shift your weight onto one leg and slowly lower yourself back onto the chair using that leg. If this is too difficult at first, you can raise the chair with securely stacked towels so you only have to lower yourself a small distance.
- Sideways step-down: stand sideways on a bottom step, using the handrail if needed. Put one foot on the step, push yourself up, then stick your butt out and bend your knee as you slowly lower your other foot towards the floor. Make the descent deliberate and controlled, taking three or four seconds.
- Heel taps: stand on a step facing forwards and slowly lower one foot until your heel touches the ground, then push yourself back up without transferring your full weight onto that foot. The supporting leg should be doing most of the work, while the handrail can be used for balance.
All three exercises specifically train your ability to control your body while lowering against gravity, which is the key physical demand of stepping down.
For more on all of this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy;
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Fall Special ← this is about how to not fall, and how to make it less likely you’ll be injured by a fall if you do
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What’s in the supplements that claim to help you cut down on bathroom breaks? And do they work?
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With one in four Australian adults experiencing problems with incontinence, some people look to supplements for relief.
With ingredients such as pumpkin seed oil and soybean extract, a range of products promise relief from frequent bathroom trips.
But do they really work? Let’s sift through the claims and see what the science says about their efficacy.
Christian Moro/Shutterstock What is incontinence?
Incontinence is the involuntary loss of bladder or bowel control, leading to the unintentional leakage of urine or faeces. It can range from occasional minor leaks to a complete inability to control urination and defecation.
This condition can significantly impact daily activities and quality of life, and affects women more often than it affects men.
Some people don’t experience bladder leakage but can sometimes feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. This is known as overactive bladder syndrome, and occurs when the muscles around the bladder tighten on their own, which greatly reduces its capacity. The result is the person feels the need to go to the bathroom much more frequently.
There are many potential causes of incontinence and overactive bladders, including menopause, pregnancy and child birth, urinary tract infections, pelvic floor disorders, and an enlarged prostate. Conditions such as diabetes, neurological disorders and certain medications (such as diuretics, sleeping pills, antidepressants and blood-pressure drugs) can also contribute.
While pelvic muscle rehabilitation and behavioural techniques for bladder retraining can be helpful, some people are interested in pharmaceutical solutions.
What’s in these products?
A number of supplements are available in Australia that include ingredients used in traditional medicine for urinary incontinence and overactive bladders. The three most common ingredients are:
- Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin seed extract)
- glycine max (soybean extract)
- an extract from the bark of the Crateva magna or nurvala (Varuna) tree.
The supplements have common ingredients. Author How are they supposed to work?
Pumpkin seeds are rich in plant sterols that are thought to reduce the testosterone-related enlargement of the prostate, as well as having broader anti-inflammatory effects. The seed extracts can also contain oleic acid, which may help increase bladder capacity by relaxing the muscles around the organ.
Soybean extracts are rich in isoflavones, especially daidzen and genistein. Like olieic acid, these are thought to act on the muscles around the bladder. Because isoflavones are similar in structure to the female hormone oestrogen, soy extracts may be most beneficial for postmenopausal women who have overactive bladders.
Crateva extract is rich in lupeol- and sterol-based chemicals which have strong anti-inflammatory effects. This has benefits not just for enlarged prostates but possibly also for reducing urinary tract infections.
Do they actually work?
It’s important to note that the government has only approved these types of supplements as “listed medicines”. This means the ingredients have only been assessed for safety. The companies behind the products have not had to provide evidence they actually work.
A 2014 clinical trial examined a combined pumpkin seed and soybean extract called cucurflavone on people with overactive bladders. The 120 participants received either a placebo or a daily 1,000mg dose of the herbal mixture over a period of 12 weeks.
By the end of study, those in the cucurflavone group went to the bathroom around three fewer times per day, compared with people in the control group, who only went to the bathroom on average one fewer time each day.
In a different trial, researchers examined a combination of Crateva bark extract with herbal extracts of horsetail and Japanese evergreen spicebush, called Urox.
For the 150 participants, the Urox formulation helped participants go to the bathroom less frequently when compared with placebo treatment.
After eight weeks of treatment, participants in the placebo group were going to the bathroom to urinate 11 times per day. Those in the Urox group were only going around to 7.5 times per day. And those who took Urox also needed to go to the bathroom one fewer time during the night.
Finally, another study also examined a Creteva, horsetail and Japanese spicebush combination, but this time in children. They were given either a 420mg dose of the supplement or a placebo, and then monitored for how many times they wet the bed.
After two months of taking the supplement, slightly more than 40% of the 24 kids in the supplement group wet the bed less often.
While these results may look promising, there are considerable limitations to the studies which means the data may not be reliable. For example, the trials didn’t include enough participants to have reliable data. To conclusively provide efficacy, final-stage clinical trials require data for between 300 and 3,000 patients.
From the studies, it is also not clear whether some participants were also taking other medicines as well as the supplement. This is important, as medications can interfere with how the supplements work, potentially making them less or more effective.
What if you want to take them?
If you have incontinence or an overactive bladder, you should always discuss this with your doctor, as it may due to a serious or treatable underlying condition.
Otherwise, your GP may give you strategies or exercises to improve your bladder control, prescribe medications or devices, or refer you to a specialist.
If you do decide to take a supplement, discuss this with your doctor and local pharmacist so they can check that any product you choose will not interfere with any other medications you may be taking.
Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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The Thyroid Connection – by Dr. Amy Meyers
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Many people’s thyroids aren’t doing an amazing job, and instead are underactive or overactive, either of which will have a big impact on many areas of health. And yet, it tends to go underdiagnosed. Why?
Dr. Meyers makes the case that many doctors don’t do the right tests, and if they do, often refer to benchmarks that are based on science that was cutting-edge in the 1970s, and declare things “within acceptable ranges” that are not only not optimal, but also likely to get worse if not addressed.
While advocating for proactive (and more comprehensive) testing, once a thyroid condition is identified, she argues for lifestyle interventions as the thing to try first, since many people’s thyroid conditions can be managed this way without the drawbacks of various medical treatments. Nevertheless she does discuss the medical options too, even if she strongly recommends trying out her 28-day plan first.
The style is very accessible pop-science, with minimal jargon, albeit a generous bibliography. She can be a little bit salesy in her presentation, but it doesn’t take away from the valuable content.
Bottom line: if your energy levels aren’t what they used to be, and you’re not positively sure (i.e. you had tests and understand the numbers) that it’s not thyroid issues, then this book is well-worth checking out.
Click here to check out The Thyroid Connection, and get yours in order!
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What you should know about bipolar disorder
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Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by dramatic mood shifts. It affects approximately 40 million people worldwide, often significantly disrupting their daily life. But medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes can help many people manage their symptoms and live healthy lives.
Read on to learn more about its symptoms, treatment options, and more.
What are the symptoms?
People with bipolar disorder typically experience periods of high energy and an elevated mood (mania), which may be followed by periods of depression.
Symptoms of mania may include:
- Increased energy or agitation
- Excessive self-confidence
- Needing much less sleep than usual
- Speaking quickly or talking more than usual
- Racing thoughts
- Making risky or impulsive decisions
Symptoms of depression may include:
- Feeling sad, hopeless, or worthless
- Losing interest in things that typically bring you joy
- Weight loss
- Sleeping too much or too little
- Tiredness
- Having trouble concentrating
- Suicidal thoughts
These symptoms can be debilitating without treatment.
“Bipolar disorder can often significantly impair your ability to work, function in your daily life (including things like self-care), and hinder your ability to maintain personal and professional relationships,” said Marie A. Fowler, a licensed clinical social worker, in a February HealthCentral article.
While symptoms can emerge at any time, most people start experiencing them in late adolescence or early adulthood.
What are the types of bipolar disorder?
Bipolar I disorder: People with bipolar I disorder experience mania. Some may also experience periods of depression or “mixed states” of both depression and mania.
Bipolar II disorder: People with bipolar II experience periods of depression and hypomanic episodes, which are a less severe form of mania.
Cyclothymic disorder, or cyclothymia: People with cyclothymic disorder have an unstable mood most of the time, experiencing hypomania and mild depression for at least two years.
People who experience significant mood changes and do not fit the criteria above may be diagnosed with unspecified bipolar disorder.
What causes it?
Researchers don’t know the exact cause of bipolar disorder, but genetics likely play a role. More than two-thirds of people with the condition have at least one family member who has also been diagnosed with it.
Other potential contributing factors include structural brain differences, traumatic life events, and stress.
How is it diagnosed?
If you have symptoms of bipolar disorder, talk to a health care provider first to rule out illnesses like hyperthyroidism, which can cause similar symptoms.
In addition to running lab tests, your health care provider will ask questions about your symptoms and may refer you to a psychologist or psychiatrist for further evaluation. To receive a diagnosis, you must have experienced at least one episode of mania or hypomania.
Early diagnosis and intervention is important since living with bipolar disorder increases your risk of substance use disorder, anxiety, and suicide.
How is it treated?
Bipolar disorder is a lifelong mental health condition, but you can manage symptoms with therapy and medications like antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Talk to your health care provider about your medical history and other other medications you take before starting any new protocol.
Some health care providers may also recommend practices like exercise, meditation, and maintaining a regular sleep schedule to support treatment.
Maintaining treatment is important, even when you’re feeling stable. “Staying active in bipolar disorder treatment will reduce [the] recurrence of manic and depressive episodes and improve your overall quality of life,” Fowler said.
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm or is anxious, depressed, or upset, or needs to talk, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. For international resources, here is a good place to begin.
This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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This Mobility Test Is Linked To How Long You’ll Live
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Can you do it?
Sit-to-rise
The sit-to-rise (STR) or sitting-rising test (SRT) is a quick mobility assessment where you sit down on the floor and stand back up again using as little support as possible, measuring how well your strength, mobility, balance, coordination, and control work together.
- How the test works: start with 10 points total—5 points for sitting down and 5 for standing up.
- How points are deducted: lose 1 point every time you use a hand, knee, elbow, or another support, and lose 0.5 points for wobbling or losing your balance.
- What higher scores suggest: scores between 8 and 10 are associated with strong physical capability, good overall function, and the lowest mortality risk in research studies.
- What mid-range scores suggest: scores between 5 and 7.5 may indicate emerging physical limitations or reduced movement quality.
- What lower scores suggest: scores below 5 are linked with reduced physical resilience and substantially higher mortality risk in long-term studies.
What the science says: studies involving thousands of adults over 40 found that lower SRT scores were consistently associated with higher mortality risk over subsequent years. Indeed, each additional point on the SRT was associated with roughly a 21% improvement in life expectancy in the cited research.
In terms of expectations, you should know that perfect scores are common in people aged 16 to 25, but fewer than 8% of adults over 55 achieve a perfect 10.
However! The good news is that if you don’t score well, you can practice and then score better.
You may be thinking: but I use a wheelchair and physically cannot stand at all, what does this mean for me? And the answer is: nothing, really. The research wasn’t done with your body in mind, and therefore the results may not reflect your healthy longevity. Likely a different test is needed, and the grip strength test is generally considered a good one that has similar associations (due to being inversely associated with frailty, and therefore positively associated with healthy longevity).
For more on all of this plus demonstrations of the incorrect ways of doing it and suspiciously no demonstration of the correct way, just a slightly edited bit where she sort of teleports from sitting to standing (we suspect she cannot do it and was embarrassed to admit it and hoped nobody would notice), enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
4 Tips To Stand Without Using Hands
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Outlive – by Dr. Peter Attia
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We know, we know; this diet, that exercise, don’t smoke or drink, get decent sleep”—a lot of books don’t go beyond this level of advice!
What Dr. Attia offers is a multi-vector approach that covers the above and a lot more.
Themes of the book include:
- The above-mentioned things, of course
- Rethinking medicine for the age of chronic disease
- The pros and cons of…
- caloric restriction
- dietary restriction
- intermittent fasting
- Pre-emptive interventions for…
- specific common cause-of-death conditions
- specific common age-related degenerative conditions
- The oft-forgotten extra pillar of longevity: mental health
The last one in the list there is covered mostly in the last chapter of the book, but it’s there as a matter of importance, not as an afterthought. As Dr. Attia puts it, not only are you less likely to take care of your physical health if you are (for example) depressed, but also… “Longevity is meaningless if your life sucks!”
So, it’s important to do things that promote and maintain good physical and mental health.
Bottom line: if you’re interested in happy, healthy, longevity, this is a book for you.
Click here to check out Dr. Attia’s “Outlive” on Amazon today!
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Full Body Stretches (Without Getting On The Floor)
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When it comes to exercise, do you love getting down on the floor? No?
If you don’t, then mobility coach Alisa Zuravskaja has just the thing for you:
Stick to this
This routine uses a dowel rod (or broomstick) to unlock your hips, spine, and shoulders. We’ll be doing warm-up, mobility, and active stretching. Here’s what it looks like, step-by-step:
- Warm up:
- Hold the dowel overhead and lower it to meet your lifted knee, alternating sides.
- Put the dowel across your upper back, and rotate your torso from side to side with your hips facing forwards.
- With the dowel behind you, make controlled torso circles forwards and backwards to loosen your mid-back.
- If you take your time and prioritize good form, you should feel the difference (in a good way!) before proceeding to the exercises below.
- Good morning: with the dowel behind your head, hinge forwards from your hips while keeping your spine long and chest open, then return upright.
- Hamstring sweep: with a wide stance and soft knees, hinge at your hips and sweep your chest in a smooth arc from one side to the other, stretching your hamstrings and engaging your core.
- Shoulder mobility: hold the dowel in one hand and rotate it behind your back to the other hand, passing it around your body slowly and with good, steady control.
- Wrist stretch: hold the dowel in front with both hands; twist your wrists one way, then the other, feeling the stretch through your wrists, shoulders, and arms.
- Lateral squat & twist: hold the dowel at hip level, shift into a side squat, twist your torso towards your bent leg, lean forwards slightly, and reach the dowel towards the floor.
- Forward fold: with the dowel behind your back, hinge forwards from your hips, fold your torso towards the floor as your arms lift up and over your head, then return to standing.
- Side bends: with one end of the dowel on the floor, and the other arm overhead reaching to the side, bend through your torso to stretch your the side of your body.
- Spine rotation (lift and twist): hold the dowel in front with wide arms, lift one arm and rotate your torso towards that side, stretching your shoulder, chest, and upper back.
- Spine rotation (parallel hold): with the dowel held straight at hip level, lift it to shoulder height as you rotate your torso to one side, keeping the dowel parallel to the floor, then return to center.
- Hips, glutes & balance: using the dowel for support, lift your knee, hinge forwards from your hips, extend your back leg while lowering your chest, then return to the start to do the other side.
- Hip abduction & curtsy lunge: using the dowel for balance again, lift your leg out to the side, then step it diagonally behind you into a curtsy lunge, returning to standing before repeating.
- Sumo squat: with a wide stance with toes slightly out, hold the dowel and lift your arms parallel to the floor, lowering into a squat while keeping your chest tall, stretching and strengthening your inner thighs and groin as you do.
- Full body stretch: with the dowel overhead and your arms straight, reach upwards as you inhale, then exhale as you fold forwards, relaxing your back; repeat with gentle side-to-side swaying.
For more detail plus visual demonstrations that make it much easier than it might sound, enjoy:
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Want to learn more?
You might also like:
3 Standing Abs Exercises You’ll Actually Feel Tomorrow
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- Warm up:
