Healthy Aging For Dummies E-Book

Brent Agin

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Seitenzahl: 617

Beschreibung

Look to this book for advice, techniques, and strategies to help people stay vigorous and healthy as they grow older. People are becoming increasingly knowledgeable about managing their health as they age. Healthy Aging For Dummies explains how people can embark on a healthy lifestyle that will enable them to feel young, both mentally and physically, even as they're getting older. It covers tips and advice on choosing the ideal physician; starting an exercise program; learning to meditate; taking the right vitamins and herbs; dealing with or preventing heart disease, cancer, and dementia; replacing negative thinking with positive thinking; and building memory and learning skills.

Leseprobe

Healthy Aging For Dummies

by Brent Agin, MD, and Sharon Perkins, RN

Healthy Aging For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007941225

ISBN: 978-0-470-14975-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Brent J. Agin, MD, has been in private practice for the last five years and is recognized by the community as the go-to medical advisor in the field of healthy aging. He sees patients of all ages and maintains a diverse array of clientele, including professional athletes and celebrities. He’s board certified in family medicine, receiving both his undergraduate degree and his MD at Michigan State University. He completed his internship and residency at the University of South Florida.

Dr. Agin offers family medicine, but his practice also provides aesthetics and weight loss assistance. He’s the medical director of Novus Medical Detox, which provides private detoxification for multiple addictions. With a strong interest in nutrition, he’s developed a supplement line and all-natural, rapid weight loss program, The TRIM Diet (www.trimlifestyle.com), while doing dietary and weight-loss consulting nationally.

In his free time, Dr. Agin enjoys golf, soccer, and fishing. He lives in Palm Harbor, Florida, with his wife Cindy and their two daughters.

Sharon Perkins is an RN with over 20 years of experience and an author of six For Dummies series books. She enjoys both jobs equally but enjoys her three grandchildren, five children, two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, family, and friends more! She lives in New Jersey but spends a lot of time gallivanting around the country.

Dedication

We dedicate this book to all the readers who are going to make positive changes in their lives. In the book, we offer a lot of information and tips to improve your lifestyle and health; all you have to do is go for it! Feeling healthy is the goal, and this book is your motivation. To date, whether it’s mental or physical health, neither of us has ever met a person who hasn’t been able to get healthier if he or she tried. Conversely, the people who’ve really put their hearts and souls into the effort have beat odds time and again and have achieved amazing personal goals. So here’s to you and to the rest of your healthy lives!

Authors’ Acknowledgments

From Dr. Agin: I would like to thank the coauthor Sharon Perkins, my literary agent Barb Doyen, and the team at Wiley Publishing. With these folks’ help I was able to accomplish a major goal in my life. For this, I acknowledge their guidance and patience and thank them dearly for the opportunity. I would also like to thank my family, friends, and co-workers for their support.

From Sharon Perkins: I think my list of people to thank grows longer with every book I write. I thank everyone who’s had to help me through some tough times in the last year (you all know who you are), and I thank God and my agent, Jessica Faust, for the opportunity to write this book and take my mind off a difficult situation. Thanks also to Kristin DeMint, our Project Editor, to our Copy Editors — Pam Ruble, Carrie Burchfield, and Sarah Faulkner — and to the rest of the Wiley team; I always enjoy working with all of you. And to Brent, who made this job easy.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

Project Editor: Kristin DeMint

Acquisitions Editor: Tracy Boggier

Copy Editors: Sarah Faulkner, Carrie A. Burchfield, Pam Ruble

Editorial Program Coordinator: Erin Calligan Mooney

Technical Editor: Philip G. Hays, MD

Senior Editorial Manager: Jennifer Ehrlich

Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker

Editorial Assistants: Joe Niesen, Leeann Harney

Cover Photos: © Image Source/Corbis

Cartoons: Rich Tennant, (www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinators: Heather Kolter, Erin Smith

Layout and Graphics: Stacie Brooks, Reuben W. Davis, Alissa D. Ellet, Melissa K. Jester, Christine Williams

Special Art: Kathryn Born, MA

Anniversary Logo Design: Richard Pacifico

Proofreaders: Broccoli Information Management, Jessica Kramer

Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC

Special Help Vicki M. Adang

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies

Joyce Pepple, Acquisitions Director, Consumer Dummies

Kristin A. Cocks, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies

Michael Spring, Vice President and Publisher, Travel

Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User

Composition Services

Gerry Fahey, Vice President of Production Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

What You’re Not to Read

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : So You Want to Look and Feel Young Forever . . .

Chapter 1: The Fountain of Youth, at Your Fingertips

Life Expectancy in the 21st Century

The Basics of Pro-Aging: The Best Actions You Can Take

If Staying Young and Healthy Is So Easy, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

Modifying Your Lifestyle: The One True Source of Hope

Chapter 2: The Four Major Health Concerns about Aging (And How to Prevent Them)

Cancer: The Four Most Common Forms

Diabetes

Cardiovascular Disease

Osteoporosis

Chapter 3: Evaluating Your Health and History and Setting Goals for Wellness

Investigating and Writing Down Your Medical and Family History

Visiting the Doc

Determining Your Goals and Putting Them on Paper

Pushing for Persistence to Successfully Reach Your Goals

Part II : Workin’ on Your Framework

Chapter 4: Putting Your Best Face Forward

Your Mouth, from Cradle to Golden Years

Open Wide! What You Need to Know about Oral Health

Tending to Your Oral Cavity — Your Mouth, That Is

Can you Say “Eh?” Cleaning Out Your Ears

Examining and Preventing Age- Related Eye Conditions

Chapter 5: Loving the Skin You’re In

A Primer on Your Body’s Shell

Fleeing the Free Radicals: Recognizing and Preventing Extrinsic Skin Damage

Recognizing and Managing Skin-Damaging Diseases

Inspecting Your Skin for Cancer

Aging Beautifully: A How-To Guide for Interested Folks

Chapter 6: Building Bones and Preserving Joints

Examining Your Bones’ Biggest Role

The Big Dilemma: How Your Bones Change Over Time

Maintaining Healthy Bones

Treating Osteoporosis

Maintaining the Parts that Join Your Bones

Coping with Joint Pain and Arthritis

Combating an Aching Back

Part III : Using Nutrition to Extend Your Expiration Date

Chapter 7: You Are What You Eat: Nutrition 101

The Importance of Nutrition — and Why You Should Care

How Nutritional Needs Change As You Age

Figuring Out Which Types of Foods You Need

Counting Calories and Determining Your Daily Need

Picking the Right Macronutrients (Protein, Carbs, and Fats)

Positive Nutritional Habits for Healthy Living

Reading Food Labels

Chapter 8: Supplementing Your Daily Diet

Knowing Which Vitamins and Minerals You Need (and How Much)

Deciding Whether You Need to Supplement Your Diet

The Absorption Factor: Comparing Supplements

Adding a Pinch of Good Bacteria: Probiotics

Using Herbs and Plants for Health and Healing

Part IV : Getting Physical

Chapter 9: Maintaining a Healthy Weight and Fitness Level

Understanding Healthy Body Weight

The Tolls of Extra Weight

Assessing Your Current Level of Health

Custom-Designing Your Plan with Balance in Mind

When Weight Just Won’t Come Off: Considering Weight-Loss Surgery

Succeeding at the Hardest Part: Maintaining Your Healthy Weight!

Chapter 10: Strengthening Your Heart

Understanding the Anatomy of the Heart

The Importance of Aerobic Activity and a Heart-Healthy Diet

Aerobic Exercise — Ready, Set, Go!

Chapter 11: Building and Fine-Tuning Healthy Muscles

The Importance of Muscle Maintenance and Strengthening

Calling All Muscles: Report for Duty!

The Two Types of Muscle- Related Training

Putting Your Strength- and Flexibility-Increasing Plan into Action — Safely

Preventing and Treating Muscle-Related Injury

Part V : Sharpening the All-Important Mind and Spirit

Chapter 12: Keeping Your Mind and Memory in Tip-Top Shape

Starting at the Top: Basic Brain Anatomy

A Microscopic Look at the Aging Brain

Identifying and Coping with Brain Disease

Keeping Your Brain Young

Improving Your Memory

Chapter 13: Decreasing Stress to Live a Longer, Better Life

Your Body’s Built-In Response System: How It’s Supposed to Work

Observing the Tolls of Chronic Stress

Understanding the Big Picture: Why Chronic Stress Is a Concern as You Age

Measuring Stress

Working through Stress with a Professional

Making Personal Strides to Reduce Stress

Chapter 14: ZZZ . . . The Infinite Importance of a Good Night’s Sleep

Why Adequate Sleep Is Crucial to Your Health

How Sleep Does Its Job

How Sleep Changes as You Age

Understanding Your Biological Clock: The Circadian Rhythm

Resuming Your Rhythm When You Veer Off Track

Getting Back to Sleep When Your Eyes Are Wide Awake

Seeking Professional Treatment

Chapter 15: Don’t Worry, Be Happy: The Keys to Maintaining Health and Vitality

The Importance of a Positive Attitude

Embracing a Healthy, Balanced Approach to Life

Staying Active and In Touch with the World

Connecting with Your Spiritual Side

Connecting with Others: The Significance of Support

S-E-X: Why Getting It On May Help You Live Long

Part VI : The Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten Medical Myths that Can Affect Your Health

High Cholesterol Is Linked to Weight

High Blood Pressure Is Caused by High Stress

Women Shouldn’t Worry About Heart Disease

Osteoporosis Is a Normal Part of Aging

Only Smokers Get Lung Cancer

People with Darker Skin Don’t Need to Wear Sunscreen

Herbs Are Natural, So They Can’t Hurt You

The Older You Get, The Less Sleep You Need

As You Age, You Can’t Build Muscle

Eating Late at Night Is Less Healthy Than Eating Early

Chapter 17: Ten Foods to Help You Age Healthfully

Blueberries

Broccoli

Dark Chocolate

Green Tea

Nuts

Oatmeal

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Soy

Tomatoes

Yogurt

Chapter 18: Ten Mind Games to Boost Your Brainpower

Crossword Puzzles

Sudoku Puzzles

Strategy Games

Jigsaw Puzzles

Word Games

Short-Term Memory Quizzes

Sports

Optical Illusions

Visualization and Meditation

Philosophical Reasoning

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Make Your Home Safer as You Age

Preventing Falls

In Case of Fire . . . Plan Ahead

Be Sure Your Meds Are Safe

Stock Your Emergency Supply Kit

Update Your Life-Saving Skills

Let Lighting Lead Your Way

Reach Easily

Bathe Safely

Prevent Poisoning

Make Sure that You Can See Clearly Now

Appendix: Health, Lifestyle, and History Self-Assessment

Personal Information

General Health Survey

Just for Women

Just for Men

Physical Fitness

Nutritional Health

Family History

Introduction

If you’re like many folks today, you realize that not only are people living longer than they used to, but also some of those people are living amazingly well while looking great. What’s their secret to living such an independent, active, and radiant lifestyle? The answer lies in their healthy lifestyles — an approach to life we revisit multiple times in this book. The goal of this book is to educate you on the healthy choices you can make that reward you with a healthier, longer, happier life.

Some of the greatest threats to healthy aging come from disease and illnesses that cut your life short and the unhealthy choices that may have caused them. The good news is you can prevent many of these illnesses. Consider these facts:

Nearly 80 million U.S. adults have some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD), and someone in the U.S. dies every 36 seconds from CVD.

More than 20 million people have diabetes, and adults with diabetes die from heart disease at a rate two to four times higher than adults without diabetes.

Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths in people with diabetes.

Nearly 70 percent of Americans are overweight and more than 30 percent are obese.

These statistics focus on only a few health conditions, but we could give you similar numbers for many other ailments that people encounter as they get older. Wonder where all these statistics come from? In this book, many of the statistics we quote are from the World Health Organization (WHO), so if we don’t cite a source, you can assume that WHO is it. So with this information in mind, take a look at some of the secrets to healthy aging. Here are a few keys to success:

Prevention: By arming yourself with solid knowledge and making changes to your current lifestyle, you won’t necessarily live longer (although you may), but you willlive a better quality of life.

Moderation: Easy does it and in small doses. Making small but significant changes in your life can make a difference over time.

Timing: Start now! Whether you are 20-something or 70-something, you are the CEO of your body, and it’s up to you to manage it.

Practice: Much of the way you live is based on habits — some good, some bad — formed over a lifetime. Incorporating new routines in place of old habits takes some getting used to. In time and with consistent practice, these lifestyle changes can replace old habits and become second nature.

It’s never too early or too late to start taking care of your body. The sooner you treat your body as if it’s the only one you’re going to get, the sooner you’re on your way to healthy aging. Your body needs continuous respect and appreciation and if treated well can provide a wonderful, healthy life.

About This Book

This book is an excellent choice if you want to maximize your body’s potential now and for as long as you own it. Whether you want to make a small adjustment, need some fine-tuning, or have to make a major overhaul, you find helpful advice in the pages of this book.

Our goal is to lay out the reasons why your body ages, explain the normal course of aging, and show you how aging is accelerated by your lifestyle choices. We’ve also given you information on how to prevent or reverse the effects of aging, disease, and illness.

You may be a 20-something looking for some tips on strength training and nutrition, while also wanting to know how to prevent illness while you’re still young. On the other hand, you could be in early retirement or even beyond that point, looking to recreate the energy and great health you had when you were younger, while getting up to date on the important preventative health exams. Either way, we present you with useful material in an easy-to-follow fashion to help you achieve your goals. If you happen to be passionate about a particular topic (like muscles or nutrition), don’t worry — we cover every subject in detail and even refer you to other For Dummies books in case you just can’t get enough!

Conventions Used in This Book

To help you navigate easily through this book, we set up a few conventions used consistently throughout the book:

Anytime we want to highlight new words or terms defined in the text, we italicize them.

Boldfaced text is used to indicate the action part of numbered steps and the keywords of a bulleted list.

We use monofont for Web sites and e-mail addresses.

When this book was printed, some Web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If you come across these instances, rest assured that we haven’t put in any extra characters (such as a hyphen) to indicate the break. So, when typing one of these Web addresses in a Web browser, just type in exactly what you see, pretending as if the line break doesn’t exist.

What You’re Not to Read

That’s right — you don’t have to read this book cover-to-cover to find helpful information. Any text you find in a gray box is a sidebar. Sidebars contain interesting but unessential information. If you’re in a hurry to get to the meat of the chapter, feel free to skip them and return to them later. Another area you can skip over, if you wish, are the places marked with a Technical Stuff icon. If you’re the type who wants to know all the technical details, you’ll enjoy these two areas; otherwise you can move on without missing essential information.

Foolish Assumptions

This book is for anyone who wants to live a healthier life, and we figure that means just about everyone! If you’ve picked up this book, we assume you fall into one or more of these categories:

You’re alive and want to stay that way for awhile, and you want to do so disease- and illness-free, as independent as possible, and with your mind as sharp as a tack.

You’re having some health issues and are willing to make some modifications to your lifestyle to be healthier but aren’t sure what to do.

You have no interest in reading a dry medical textbook; you want an easy-to-follow reference book with some helpful “how-to’s” and “show-me-the-ways.”

You want a book that gives you the straight facts about what you need to know about how your body and mind work in order to make wise choices for healthy living, as well as how to adapt your lifestyle choices according to your age.

You want to get a few laughs while you digest the information, because aging isn’t always so easy to cope with.

How This Book Is Organized

Healthy Aging For Dummies is organized into six parts. Each part addresses a major area of the hows, whats, and whys of healthy aging. Because of this organization, it’s simple to find the topic that you’re looking for. Here’s a quick overview of what you can find in each part.

Part I: So You Want to Look and Feel Young Forever . . .

If you want something badly enough, you must be willing to work for it. There’s no Fountain of Youth, and there’s no free lunch, either. In these chapters, you find out how to assess your current health, evaluate your challenges and strengths, and set your mark on what you desire most. More importantly, we show you how to achieve your goals.

Part II: Workin’ on Your Framework

The chapters in this part discuss the fundamentals of caring for your permanent fixtures and structures, such your teeth, skin, and joints. As for your teeth, tooth loss is not solely a sign of aging — it’s often a sign of poor dental hygiene, so we tell you what to do to keep those choppers for life. Your skin is your body’s first line of defense against disease and illness, so protect it and care for it. We tell you how. We also fill you in on why bones become weak and brittle as the years pass, what lifestyle factors accelerate this process, and what you can do to prevent it.

Part III: Using Nutrition to Extend Your Expiration Date

Your body uses food as fuel to operate at maximum efficiency. The better the fuel, the better your body runs. While your body can survive on a diet of French fries, soda, processed meats, and cream-filled pastries, you pay a price. This part provides you with guidelines for using nutrition and supplements to help your body perform at its best for the long haul.

Part IV: Getting Physical

The human body is meant to move, and most people don’t use their bodies to their full capabilities. Your muscles ache to be worked to the point of fatigue in order to rebuild and do it all over again. This part aims to get you excited about revving up your body to do what it craves. In turn, your body serves you well in the long run.

Part V: Sharpening the All-Important Mind and Spirit

For many folks, losing their memory (or their mind) is one of the biggest concerns of getting older. In this section, we explain the differences between normal memory loss and memory loss due to disease, how to improve your memory, and how maintaining an upbeat outlook on life positively influences your overall health and well-being.

Part VI: The Part of Tens

This part presents helpful information in lists of ten items each. You can read about ten myths and get the facts behind them. Find the ten proven most healthy foods, play ten mind games to stretch your brain power, and discover ways to make your home safer as you age.

In addition, we threw in a handy Appendix with a questionnaire to help you and your doctor determine your current state of health. From there, you can create a roadmap for healthy living.

Icons Used in This Book

This book uses icons — small graphics or images in the margins — to mark certain paragraphs of information that you may find useful. Here’s the rundown of the helpful icons we use in this book.

When you see this icon, you’ll find a helpful hint about doing something to help you age gracefully.

This icon denotes critical information that you need to take away with you. Be sure to read it.

Once in a while, we go a bit deeper into the info on aging. This icon tips you off to that type of information. You can skip over these icons and still be able to age with perfection, but the info they contain enhances your understanding of healthy aging ever further.

The Warning icon cautions you against something that’s potentially harmful. Be sure to read and heed the information with these icons.

Where to Go from Here

You don’t have to start at Chapter 1 and read straight through this book. Just like all For Dummies books, this one is set up so you can read any chapter, in any order, and still come out ahead. Sound good? Then keep on reading. (Starting wherever you want, of course.)

We’re partial to this book and would love for you to read the whole thing, but if you don’t have the time to do so (or just don’t feel like it), we recommend that you make sure to read Chapter 3, because we believe it’s one of the most critical chapters in the whole book. It covers what you should know about your family’s health history, what checkups you need when, and how to create a plan for healthy aging. We encourage you to check out why setting goals and creating a plan is so vital. After you have your goals and an action plan in place, you can better use the information in this book. We’ll be with you every step of the way.

Part I

So You Want to Look and Feel Young Forever . . .

In this part . . .

Why is 40 the new 30 or 60 the new 50? If people are actually looking and feeling younger today than they did 50 years ago, how are they doing it? What are the biggest roadblocks to living a longer, healthier life, and how can you maneuver around them?

In this part, we reveal the secrets to looking and feeling younger so you can evaluate your health, habits, and wellness goals.

Chapter 1

The Fountain of Youth, at Your Fingertips

In This Chapter

Understanding the current life expectancy

Uncovering proven methods to combat aging

Looking at the staggering numbers of preventable deaths

Over the years, thousands of people have searched for the elusive Fountain of Youth, and although some have claimed to have found it, for most, it remains a hidden treasure. Great strides have been made in uncovering the secrets to aging healthfully and lengthening the lifespan, but there’s still progress to be made. As much as you may wish otherwise, most people know there’s no magic pill for good health and longevity. It takes commitment, work, and sometimes even denial of self — giving up poor eating habits, couch potato lifestyle, and the stressful schedules so many are addicted to — to stay healthy as you get older. You may be taking care of the externals but skipping over the basics of good health, which are also the basics of aging well.

You can’t skip over the basics so easily, though. Balance is a big key in life, and healthy aging is no different. Skipping over essential healthcare is like ignoring routine maintenance on your car — the end result can be costly and dangerous.

Healthy aging is a current hot topic, and you can thank the baby boomer generation — the oldest of these people are now heading into their 60s — for today’s emphasis on youthful, healthy aging. In this chapter, we discuss why people are living longer and better today than in previous generations, what impacted life expectancy a century ago, and what impacts our health and longevity today.