May 19, 2012

100 is the New 50

Flickr by Michael Eaves

Don’t you just love results?

Nothing feels better than having a deal come together after months, or even years of hard brain-sweating work… or having your mirror show you proof that physical training works… or positive feedback from your scale well into your weight-loss program… or seeing your latest blood work which confirms the fact that your new diet, supplement program, added fiber and lifestyle changes are reversing your former sub-par condition. How about biomarkers that tell you, you are in fact growing biologically younger?

Do you know what makes me feel just about as good? When someone profits from my advice.

Here’s a longevity letter that I got from one of my subscribers, Michael Eaves:

“Hi David,

Just an update on my conversion to the Paleo diet.

Over the past 4 months, I have gone from 130 kgs to 105 kgs. I don’t count calories and don’t go hungry. My health has dramatically improved, e.g. sinus headaches gone, arthritis pain in my knee gone, swelling almost gone, general health very good.

I have a target weight of 85 kgs. That’s what I weighed when Donna and I married 30 years ago. Although reaching my target may prove impossible, as I have noticeably more muscle now, and it continues to increase even as I lose weight. Donna, after seeing the changes I’m making, has started cutting out wheat and corn based foods as well. She is 52 and going through menopause and had put on a fair bit of weight, most noticeably, abdominal fat. Since dropping wheat and corn, she has lost 2 dress sizes, most of the belly fat and over 10kgs in weight. Her muscle mass has increased and overall figure is much more pleasing, not only to me but to herself as well.

We are on our way to making 100 the new 50. But in order for it to happen for you, you will need to take action. Michael and Donna made some simple changes to their diet, and look at their amazing results. And without pain! The best part is, they are almost certainly helping ensure their longevity.

If you’re not familiar with the Paleo diet, the beneficial Paleolithic diet is mainly based on lean meat, fish, root vegetables, vegetables, eggs, fruits, berries and nuts. Paleo food contains a lot of water, fiber and protein, which makes it filling at low calorie intake. According to Dr. Loren Cordain in his best selling user-friendly book, The Paleo Diet (available in our Amazon store), there are seven keys to the diet.

  1. Eat a relatively high amount of animal protein. Author’s note: What if you are a vegetarian? You can eliminate the meat if you can get adequate protein from eggs or plant sources. As many as 30% of us can do well on a vegetarian diet, but most can’t.
  2. Eat fewer carbohydrates than most modern diets, but eat good carbs from fruits and veggies.
  3. Eat a large amount of fiber from non-starchy fruits and veggies.
  4. Eat a moderate amount of fat with more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats than saturated fats, and nearly equal amounts of omega 3 and omega 6 fats.
  5. Eat foods with a high potassium content and a low sodium content, and do not add salt to your food.
  6. Eat a diet with a net alkaline load.
  7. Eat foods rich in plant phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

Again, no grains, dairy and legumes to optimize your results. If total adherence takes too much fun out of your life, indulge once a week or more. Adhere as closely as you are comfortable.

Going Paleo is only one way to reverse aspects of aging. A Paleolithic diet positions you and me better to take advantage of the emerging age-reversal and repair technologies by extending our average lifespan. We have a long way to go before we can reverse the aging process itself. There is so much to learn. While we are doing that, why not put what we do know to work for you? After all, we have learned more in the past ten years than we have in all prior time. If you apply just part of what we have learned so far, I see no reason why you could not add ten to fifteen years to your lifespan if you are average. By doing so, you would dramatically reduce your odds of decline, agony, expense, dependence and immobility that most experience in their later years.

Another bonus will be your increased odds of surviving, in fact thriving, until we will truly be able to offer you rejuvenation and open-ended youthfulness.

Michael and Donna are on their way. Won’t you join them?  Share with Home Cures That Work your progress and encourage others to take the same anti-aging steps toward longevity and good health!

 

Best Time for Fitness

At what time in your life is fitness most important?

Today.

And it will be even more important tomorrow if health and longevity are your goals.

We get away with a lot when we are young. Our bodies are very forgiving. But as we age, if we want to avoid sickness, disease, immobility and dependence, fitness becomes increasingly important. Paradoxically, most of us exercise more, much more, when we are young. It’s a little easier, we have more time, and lots of it comes with play.

A recent article in USA Today by Janice Lloyd tells us that after 65, we should stay fit to stay healthier. But that applies to the after 45′s and 55′s, as well.

Ms. Lloyd cautions Baby Boomers to think again if they’re longing for a sedentary old age.

She reports that “health experts at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America shed new light on exercise‘s value as a strong tool in combating diseases often associated with aging.”

“How you live after age 65 is vitally important,” says Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. “Up until then, a healthy life is dominated by your genes. After that, it’s predominantly about lifestyle. Exercise and nutrition become more important.”

Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular disease, sarcopenia, osteoporosis, obesity, arthritis, and certain cancers appear more often in later life. To help fight dementia, play memory games if you want, but it might be better to “invest in a good pair of walking shoes,” says Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, the gerontology society’s president and a board member of the national Alzheimer’s Association. That thinking is consistent with a study reported by University of Pittsburgh researchers in October showing older adults who walk 6 to 9 miles a week to stay fit have a lower risk for cognitive decline later.

One session at the meeting attempted to show how physical activity fitness can restore muscular strength in the elderly. The current genome study by Simon Melov of Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif., compares the genes of a young person whose leg is immobilized for two weeks in a brace with the genes of an older person who suffers from sarcopenia, a muscle-wasting disease affecting old people. Both age groups responded successfully to exercise and made improvements. But no one has to run a marathon to regain strength. Walking down a hospital wing can jump-start improvement, according to LaDora Thompson of the University of Minnesota’s department of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

She studied how physical therapy can reverse the damage of inactivity. Even standing and walking improve muscle strength.

Cancer patients have traditionally been advised to back off exercise and let their bodies rest and recover, but health experts here discussed new research that shows the benefits of exercise for people undergoing treatments.

One reason for all this emphasis on physical activity is the USA’s rapidly aging population. Life expectancy has soared to 79.9 years. Boomers currently have a 50% chance of being alive at 85. “Our job is to make use of the added years,” says Carstensen. “It would be immoral to receive this gift and squander it.”

Report-after-report, study-after-study, confirm these findings with health experts. What they don’t mention, and what almost everyone overlooks, is the overriding reason to stay fit. It could be your key to super-longevity and maybe even open-ended, disease-free youthfulness.

The reason most overlook this is they take a linear approach to the future. They assume the future will simply be an extension of the past. So they project incremental gains in lifespan, and they never consider emerging rejuvenation technologies which will translate to age-reversal. They don’t take into account the fact that progress is growing exponentially and is leading to limitless growth.

But you know better, and that’s why you’re going to hit the gym first thing tomorrow morning, isn’t it?

David Kekich (Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs) is President/CEO of Maximum Life Foundation that focuses on aging research, a 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to curing aging-related diseases. For more information, visit: www.MaxLife.org. David contributes to our column Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs. MaxLife is helping to make the anti-aging dream a reality with cutting edge Bio-Engineering research and products.

Best Anti-Aging. Of Dustmites and Bed Bugs.

What More Can Microscopic Bugs Do To Damage Our
Anti-Aging Beauty Efforts?

After a grueling week of moving, my wife fell asleep on our apartments carpeted floor. Not one to be driven by anti-aging beauty and it’s many expensive products and time consuming regimens, she thought noting of getting-up and going about her day.

As one of the more observant men of the species, I did have to point out how puffy her eyes were and pale her skin was. Not, of course, commented on her outer anti-aging beauty, rather simply making her aware of what a difficult night of sleep on the hard carpeted floor can do to her skin and complexion.

Well, that was all I had to say. Now, I was being enlisted to find the causes of these irregularities and treat them immediately with whatever was available. After all, she was really puffy. So off I went to determine the common causes of her afflictions, or allergies and what there was available to treat them.

I wasn’t in fact, the one who first came up with the dust mite theory. It was she, who blurted it out as we covered an almost complete list of possible carpet related causes of puffy eyes, sallow skin and fatigue (not to mention, the carpet wasn’t that comfortable a sleep). So beyond the substantial dust and poor breathing that a combined with a lack of oxygen can produce, we considered the environmental issues related to cockroach eggs, dander (pets), mites, chemical allergies, rug dyes, sleeping on hard surfaces and even bed bugs without the beds.

The initial consideration was that the difficult environment to breath, was a cause for the discolored skin not to mention the sleeping position). As it is, her shallow breathes often causes headaches. A night on the carpet would exacerbate this. In addition, we couldn’t know for sure if any bed bugs had contacted her directly, but certainly, despite the cleaning of the carpet that morning, any eggs, or carcasses would likely still be in the fibers. Few, if any vacuums can truly claim to rid the carpet of 99% of allergens, if that is what they truly are.

Yes, it all seems quite gross when considering what might be in the microscopic world of carpet fibers, but consider if you will the minute size of some chemical molecules and the damage just a few parts per million of them can do to our bodies and minds. For this reason it is very wise to limit the use of deep pile carpets in your home and to take considerable care when cleaning them, whether you have reactions or not, (I’m not one to label every reaction an “allergy.” That is for the Western docs to chase down. In fact, our body’s immune systems are often quite capable of dealing with these environmental hazards if it is healthy enough and that last comment is key).

We should also consider the individual in question and what their medical backgrounds are? In this case, she had certain weaknesses to allergens and the dust alone could cause her to retain water and increase blood flow to the under-eye area. For myself, I didn’t suffer the same “reactions” to sleeping on the caret. Perhaps because I didn’t sleep, but a little upright walking, cool air and water to help drain out the nights lethargy and possible mites and bed bugs, did the trick over the course of the day. If we had had some cucumber, I would have recommended that too!

What long-term impact this would have on her anti-aging beauty appearance was limited at best. Many individuals are concerned about constant puffy eyes and allergic reactions. On the face, continued exposure to these harsh sleep environments will have an affect, such as broken blood vessels, darkening circles (pooling blood under the eyes, puffiness) and the like, but nipping the reactions before they become ingrained is the key and women are better at this than men. Men, you should take note of this.

 

 

by Lorne Caplan, adapted from www.hs-zc.com

 

Protect120

Glutathione, our body’s most powerful antioxidant, has just been supercharged to dramatically increase its ability to penetrate our cells starting with your skin.

Every once in awhile a major new product comes on the scene that is so advanced that it takes a quantum leap over similar products in its category. Such is the case with Protect120.

But first an explanation. Glutathione, or GSH as it is often called, is our body’s most important antioxidant. It is produced in abundance when we are young and helps:

  • Dramatically boost the immune system.
  • Reduce inflammation.
  • Support release of toxic chemicals from our body.

Our body, starting with our skin, needs antioxidants to combat oxidative stress or the by-products produced by the energy from our cells. Think of it in terms of a car.

A car uses gasoline or energy to create power. The power then creates exhaust emissions. Our cars have a catalytic converter to filter the exhaust and remove toxic chemicals. A similar analogy can be made with GSH and our body’s need to reduce the oxidative stress produced by the cells in our body.

Since the GSH in our bodies helps to reduce the oxidative stress, it also boosts the immune system and may help prevent certain diseases. In over 20,000 studies, GSH deficiency has been proven to be a factor in dozens of conditions in which the body is low in GSH. When present GSH has been proven to support normal response to inflammation, chronic fatigue, autoimmune reactions, Parkinson’s, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart issues, autism, multiple sclerosis, skin disorders, digestive problems, lung , arthritis and other concerns.

But, there is a problem. As we age, we produce less GSH. Our bodies become more susceptible to disease, and our skin ages – just when we need GSH the most.

THE MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

GSH cannot be taken as a supplement. Take a GSH pill and it gets destroyed in the stomach. Inject it into your blood and it will get destroyed within a few minutes by the enzymes in your blood.

Some companies have resorted to creating supplements that help in the production, by the body, of GSH but there is limited success with this method.

SCP, however, has created a molecule in a cream base that can be easily absorbed by the skin and reach its cells where it’s antioxidant properties are  is most needed. The results can often be felt quickly. Not only does Protect120 supplement and nourish the skin cells, it also stimulates the cells to produce more GSH naturally. You will love the look and feel of your skin.

Protect120 is intended for cosmetic benefits to the skin only and is not intended to deliver glutathione through the skin to other body tissue. Please be advised that such transdermal delivery may occur, but that is not the intent with which this product is sold.

THE SECRET IS IN THE MOLECULE

The key to making Protect120 easily absorbed by the cells is that it is 1) fat soluble and 2) small enough to pass through the walls of the cell.

Up until now, most GSH supplements were destroyed in the stomach or in the bloodstream and were water soluble. Our scientists determined that the best method to reach and penetrate the skin cells in our body was if our molecule was fat soluble.

The next challenge was to make the molecule small enough so it could be absorbed by the cells. This challenge took them almost ten years of research before they achieved their goal.

Protect120 has been tested for safety and GSH is perfectly safe for practically any application. Patents have been applied for and are pending. Finally, we are in the process of testing our products against many of the most popular GSH products being sold on the market to determine how much better and more effective our product is over every other product.

AVAILABLE DIRECTLY FROM US

If you wish to experience the power of Protect120, order a tube.

Note the non-greasy, fragrance-free cream and how easily it spreads and is absorbed into your skin. Use it on problem areas or on any large area such as your arms and legs. Experience the anti-aging benefit to the look and feel of your skin. And if you have a chance, read on the Internet about the healing power of Glutathione or GSH and the numerous conditions it impacts when present in the body: reduce inflammation, boost immune system, rid toxic chemicals and help to heal autism . Each tube has 4 ounces of cream and should last a few months depending on usage.

Experience the benefits of one of the most important scientific breakthroughs in biotechnology and join those who have discovered Protect120. Order your tube at no obligation today.

Email teri@stem120.com or call 702-949-5995 for a tube of Protect120.

 

Fibromyalgia Patients Age Faster But Relaxin May Help

Fibromyalgia patients appear to age significantly faster than the general population. The basic characteristics of fibromyalgia patients are described in Yue, U.S. Pat. No. 5,612,051, METHOD OF TREATING INVOLUNTARY MUSCLE DYSFUNCTION WITH RELAXIN HORMONE.

Fibromyalgia patients often times have memory loss, sleep disturbance and cognitive dysfunction and affective dysfunction. These fibromyalgia patients frequently mimic symptoms shown by the elderly population of the ages of late 70s through age 90 and beyond. This type of central nervous system dysfunction occurs much earlier in fibromyalgia patients (who are in their 30s and 40s), together with pain, muscle tightness and weakness, fatigue and various problems associated with this disease.

These problems frequently include irritable or spasm bowel, osteodegenerative and osteoporotic changes of the spine, dysautomonia (dysfunction and poor control of internal organs), and others. Many late manifestations of the dysautomonia and other age-related changes in one’s body, e.g., bladder control, swallowing difficulty, circulation, bony changes, etc. in the elderly population also occur rather early in the fibromyalgia population. Osteodegenerative and osteoporotic changes of the spine are extremely prevalent in the fibromyalgia population.

Fibromyalgia patients appear to age much earlier and faster than the general population. Degradation of the connective tissue occurs prematurely. Growth of the skin, hair and nails is retarded, while wound-healing and immuno-response to infections, stress and injuries are blunted. Other premature aging symptoms include dyspepsia or GI tract problems, control of hollow organs and its sphincters, chemical sensitivities, hypoglycemia, and others. All of these findings reflect premature aging of the body parts and functions resulting in premature derangement of the internal and external environments or milieu of the fibromyalgia patient.

As supported by the inventor’s current clinical observations, relaxin supplements given to the fibromyalgia patients restores most of these premature-aging symptoms and problems. Accordingly, relaxin functions as an essential hormone within a normal person’s body to prevent premature aging of his/her body parts and functions. If a deficit of relaxin leads to fibromyalgia and premature aging, then age-related decline of relaxin likely explains the normal aging of one’s body parts and functions. Since many of the aging symptoms and problems are similar in the fibromyalgia and elderly populations, a deficit of relaxin early in one’s life leads to fibromyalgia and its related premature aging difficulties, and age-related decline of relaxin leads to normal aging difficulties in the elderly population.

Genetically-blessed individuals with healthy genes who live a long, healthy life may be related to abundant production of relaxin throughout their life. Taking a relaxin supplement will be an artificial way of improving a person’s health status and mimicking these genetically-blessed individuals.

Therefore, relaxin supplements given to the elderly can prevent premature aging of internal organs, skin, joints and other body parts and functions. The elderly can be kept healthy with relaxin supplements until some organs break down according to their internal clock or predetermined life span. Slow, degenerative, and vegetative death may be avoided.

Whac-A-Mole

Did you ever play Whac-A-Mole?

You know, that’s the game where “moles” keep popping up through holes in a board, and the purpose is to whack them on the head with a mallet as fast as you can. The only problem is, no sooner do you whack one, that another pops up from another hole. You can work yourself into a frenzy trying to keep up.

This really ages me, but Whac-A-Mole reminds me of a famous skit from the “I Love Lucy” show. It must have been televised about 50 years ago. Lucy (Lucille Ball) was working on an assembly line in a candy factory. She was standing behind a conveyor belt, and her job was to package the individual pieces of chocolate as they were delivered to her station.

The only problem was, no matter how fast she put them in boxes, they would come a little faster. Pretty soon, she started popping some in her mouth to keep up the pace. But they came faster still, faster than she could package them and eat them. So her cheeks started filling up until she looked like an overly ambitious chipmunk. It was hilarious to me as a child. But it’s even funnier now that I can appreciate the “I love Lucy” skit’s reflection of real life.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed, kind of like Lucy?

Maybe your job or business throws you problems faster than you can solve them. Or by the time you answer three emails, five more pop into your inbox. Or do you manage to lose ten pounds, only to gain back eleven? No sooner do you pay your bills then you have another stack. You clean your house, your car, your clothes, yourself, and they get dirty all over again. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up, isn’t it?

And the very technologies that are designed to make life easier often make it more frantic.

All this leads to chronic stress, and chronic stress shortens your life.

Resist a Reaction

Since my purpose is to extend your life, I’d like to identify a common thread that runs through Whac-A-Mole, the “I Love Lucy” episode and all the overwhelming items I mentioned that lead to stress. In one word, it’s “reaction.”

If you want to bring sanity to your life, one of the most anti-aging habits you can adopt is pro-action. Quit reacting to everything around you, and take control, one day at a time.

Outsource or delegate all the stressful and endless repetitive tasks to someone better equipped to handle them. Identify what activities give you the most satisfaction, and spend your time on those. You’ll not only boost your health and longevity, but you’ll marvel at how quickly you recharge and how rapidly you prosper as well.

Drugs – Will They Kill You or Cure You?

In 1977, Dr. Charles Carson and I never heard of each other. However, the next year, separate but similar incidents in each of our lives bonded us… until last week. That’s when Chuck’s amazing life, and thirty-four years of pain and suffering came to an end. And antibiotics may have had a hand in it… but not in the way you might think.

First, let’s address the drug issue, and then we’ll get back to Chuck.

Are Prescription Drugs Good or Bad For You?

The answer is “both.” They can cure… and they can kill. In fact, The Journal of the American Medical Association reports about 113,000 annual deaths due to drug medical errors and non-errors, and negative effects of drugs.

If you read Life Extension Express, you saw my opinion on drugs. Especially their chronic use to treat symptoms such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, headaches, weight gain, etc. One example, weight loss drugs, have the worst record of all in terms of side effects and success rate. In 1977, a research project showed a modified diet consisting of eight to ten servings a day of fruit and vegetables lowered blood pressure as well as drug therapy. Many things can be treated naturally or avoided altogether that doctors throw drugs at.

Do You Know How America’s Health Compares to Other Developed Countries?

Not too well. Yet we consume 50% of the world’s prescription drugs. The other 95% of the world’s population takes the rest. That would be a good testimonial for drugs if we led the world in health, longevity and aging. But we don’t. We lag behind almost every other developed country. In fact, we are ranked a pathetic forty-second in the world in longevity. Don’t buy into the story that you have to live on medications for lifestyle-related diseases. Statistic prove otherwise.

Symptom treating may mask and actually increase the underlying causes. In almost all cases, if you treat only a symptom you are going to make the disease worse. The symptom is there as your body‘s attempt to heal itself. Medication almost always causes an imbalance to your system. Most medicines are blunt instruments, and no one really knows what they’ll do once they’re inside of you. So, the deadly paradox of chronic drug use can often deceive you into thinking you are doing your body favors, when in fact you may be masking the cause and sabotaging your biochemistry. You could be playing with deadly medicine—short-term gratification that costs you long-term health and satisfaction.

Do you know how big a vested interest the medical and drug industries have in keeping you sick and keeping you on medications? Why do you think they spend twice as much on advertising as they do on research?

Drugs Can Be Life Savers

Drugs and nutrients can both cure and prevent disease. But only pharmaceuticals have government sanction. And Big Pharma protects its turf.

So, keep thinking “cause” and not treating “symptoms.” Take drugs when necessary. They can be life savers. But avoid chronic use unless you are well informed and well advised. The few hours you invest over time could reward you with revitalized health and extra years to appreciate it.

There may be times when you should thank your lucky stars that drugs are available though. Antibiotics used properly are a common example. In fact, if it weren’t for antibiotics, I would have been gone years ago. That’s what is so ironic about Chuck’s death. We shared a strong skepticism and  distrust of many of Big Pharma’s products, but he was much more distrustful. So distrustful, in fact, that he ignored his doctor’s prescription for antibiotics when he was hospitalized for pulmonary fibrosis. His doctor also suspected pneumonia and gave Chuck antibiotics. He dismissed them and died the next day.

Would he be alive if he took his drugs? I don’t know. I do know there is a time to trust and a time to distrust Big Pharma, and those should always be informed decisions.

What Pain Meds Do NOT Do

Chuck and I bonded due to our personal spinal cord injuries. He was a smart guy, and his grandmother told him if he wanted to walk again, he’d have to figure out for himself how he was going to get cured. In 1979, he founded the Spinal Cord Society, a non-profit foundation dedicated to curing paralysis. I was one of the start-up donors and opened a local fundraising chapter where I invested most of my energy until I decided aging was a more important challenge.

One of the things Chuck and I shared was chronic pain as a side effect of our injuries. Recently, my pain medication stopped taking the edge off, and the pain got more severe. So, I visited a specialist who worked with a lot of spinal cord injury pain. He prescribed methadone, you know, the drug used to get addicts weaned off heroin. Yep, I said what you are thinking. I asked him if that wasn’t an awfully strong drug, was it addictive and what the side effects were. He assured me it is now the preferred drug for my neuropathic pain syndrome, that it blocks three separate pain receptors and that it is perfectly safe at the doses I would be taking.

Here’s what it DID NOT do:

  • Relieve my pain

Here’s what it DID do:

  • Made me sick to my stomach
  • Made me weak
  • Made me dizzy
  • Slowed down my heartbeat dramatically
  • Made me itch
  • Decreased my appetite

It’s been a miserable month, especially the last week.

Sure, I checked the side effects before I took the medication methadone and read the long list that you see with nearly every drug. And even though I was encouraged by the doctor’s assurances that is was perfectly safe, I started at less than ½ dose and gradually worked my way up. As I increased dosage, I gradually started getting sick. When I really felt sick and weak, I checked the side effect list again. My symptoms jumped off the page, and I stopped taking it.

A Massive Amount of Drug Companies’ Marketing Budgets Target Physicians

They brainwash doctors. Then doctors give what they think is good advice, and lots of patients get better. But some get sicker with side effects, and some even die from their medications.

By the time we cure aging, science will deliver us personalized, targeted, safe and effective drugs. Until then, be careful.

Twenty years ago, when I suggested to Chuck that we should cure aging, he said “We’ll work on aging once we cure paralysis”. I’m sad he won’t be around to see either. Our paths slowly diverged when I founded Maximum Life Foundation. He set great examples as to how research should be managed, and that knowledge is now reinforcing the aging research agenda.

Remember to Exercise…Exercise to Remember

Studies Show Physical Activity Decreases Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

Exercise is touted as an integral part of fitness, health and maintaining a trim physique, but what if it also could benefit the brain? Recent research suggests that physical activity could be an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 5.3 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and it is now the seventh leading cause of death. No cure for Alzheimer’s exists right now. Regular exercise, however, has been shown to improve cognitive performance in older adults, and researchers say regular exercise and physical activity is better than supplements and prescription drugs in treating the advance of Alzheimer’s.

Researchers from the University of Washington conducted a six-month clinical trial with 33 participants, 17 of whom were women. All showed early signs of Alzheimer’s disease and were between the ages of 55 and 85.

Physical Agility for Mental Clarity

The experiment participants underwent a six-month intensive aerobic training program, spending 45 minutes to an hour four times each week on a stationary bicycle or treadmill. At the end of the six months, the participants saw improvement in mental agility, while the control group showed no improvement. Researchers are planning further studies to conduct larger and longer duration trials, following volunteers for years instead of months, for more conclusive data as to whether exercise can prevent full-blown cases of Alzheimer’s.

Exactly how Alzheimer’s affects memory is not understood fully, but researchers theorize that protein fragments, known as amyloid plaques, begin to cluster in the brain, causing larger, more tangled strands of other proteins to appear, which lead to symptoms of dementia often associated with Alzheimer’s.

But how does exercise stop this from occurring? Researchers Allison Bonner and Sandra O’Brien Cousins of the University of Alberta say exercise increases activity in the cortex of the brain, boosts the immune system and may “moderate the arteriosclerotic disease process of the brain,” Bonner and Cousins said in a 1996 paper published in Activities, Adaptation & Aging.

Resist Alzheimer’s with Resistance Training

Other similar studies have been conducted, where researchers have measured the health benefits of resistance training for women between the ages of 65 and 75 who are most at risk for developing Alzheimer’s. In one study, after one year of physical activity training, women who had completed the training showed better scores on mental acuity and conflict resolution tests than those who didn’t, according to an article, “Regular Exercise and Resistance Training Are Good for the Brain,” published on alzinfo.org.

Jeffrey Kaye, director of Layton Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Oregon Health and Science University, told The Oregonian, “The challenge now is to understand, at a scientific level, what elements of physical activity really do enhance brain function, and what level, what dose of activity is needed.”

Third-year College student Haley Carpenter has a family with a history of Alzheimer’s disease, which can be passed down from generation to generation.

“It’s been hard watching a family member struggle with dementia and the progression of Alzheimer’s,” she said.

But Carpenter said she remains optimistic that progress is being made in Alzheimer’s research, especially after learning about the benefits of exercise in her Contemporary Health Issues class.

“I already try to remain as active and healthy as possible and am glad to see my grandparents have incorporated daily physical activities such as biking and doing some weight training,” she said. “I do think adding more weight-bearing exercises like walking and running — if possible — could be beneficial as well.”

David Kekich (Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs) is President/CEO of Maximum Life Foundation that focuses on aging research, a 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to curing aging-related diseases. For more information, visit: www.MaxLife.org. David contributes to our column Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs. MaxLife is helping to make the anti-aging dream a reality with cutting edge Bio-Engineering research and products.

Too Busy To Think?

Are you like me? More often than not, I get too busy to think.

I’m painfully aware that an hour of effective thinking is worth a month of hard work. Are you? Then why is it most of us don’t spend enough productive time thinking and planning? Is it because we just get too busy? I have concluded that the answer is “Yes”.

Remote Control Minds

That’s a pity — and inexcusable. I know better, and so do you. So, why do we persist? Routines might be one answer. Routines suppress thinking and idea generation. We get stuck in comfortable remote control modes. Interruptions are another answer. How many times a day do you instantly react to someone or something that interrupts your schedule? If you think about it, these are moving parades of stress creating events. Imagine how much easier and less stressful the rest of our lives would be if we took time out for regular, private focused thinking.

Most of us don’t though, and entire industries are built around this human weakness. Consultants abound to think for us. Let’s take a look at estate planning.

Profit Plan for Life, Not Death

We typically spend more time planning our death than planning our lives. That’s because planners do it for us because we are too busy. There are big profits here. They call themselves financial planners, retirement planners, estate planners or life insurance salespersons. They get our attention by pointing out the big benefits to us from their planning. Our estate taxes are reduced, our assets don’t get tied up in probate, our loved ones get taken care of, our favorite charities benefit, and our businesses are protected.

But, how about us? The success of all this thinking and planning depends on our dying. Well, that sucks.

In all fairness, many of these planners perform good services. I just want to obsolete them, that’s all. Most of them are clever and resourceful, and they can find other lines of work as society evolves. And evolve we will. I see a whole new industry springing up that plans for our longevity enhanced lives. Wouldn’t it be more rewarding to help someone plan their long life than their death?

Now let’s get back to thinking. Thinking takes work. But it also saves a lot more work. Try this for one month:

Mind-Storming A Mindset For Life

Set aside a half hour a day, or at least two to three times a week, to sit in a quiet spot where no one and no thing will disturb you. Shut off your phone and email. Close your door, and give instructions to everyone in your household or office to not disturb you except for extreme emergencies. Better yet, find a quiet peaceful place away from your home or office.

Take a tablet and a pen, and write your most pressing challenge or your biggest goal at the top of the paper. Then open your mind to any and every possible idea, solution or plan you can think of. There are no bad ideas. Write them out as fast as you can think. About the time you think you have exhausted your ideas, you will come up with your best solutions. That’s because we usually write down the obvious at first, a lazy way of thinking. So, stretch a little.

How about taking some time to plan what you want to do in fifty years or longer? You are not too busy to think and plan the next 5 decades of living. When you get into this mindset, you’ll tend to start laying out steps to help ensure you live fifty more years. These steps could include your changes in your diet, fitness program and more.

Now here’s a critical key: After you finish your mind-storming, review your list carefully. Isolate your best ideas and immediately ACT on them. This is the step that makes your hour of thinking worth a month of hard work.

David Kekich (Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs) is President/CEO of Maximum Life Foundation that focuses on aging research, a 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to curing aging-related diseases. For more information, visit: www.MaxLife.org. David contributes to our column Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs. MaxLife is helping to make the anti-aging dream a reality with cutting edge Bio-Engineering research and products.

Are You Triggering High Blood Pressure While You Sleep?

Less Sleep Associated with High, Worsening Blood Pressure

According to a new study carried out by Dr. Rachel Ben-Shlomo of the University of Haifa-Oranim and with Prof. Charalambos P. Kyriacou of the University of Leicester, just one “pulse” of artificial light at night disrupts circadian cell division.

“Damage to cell division is characteristic of cancer, and it is therefore important to understand the causes of this damage,” notes Dr. Ben-Shlomo. (Read on to see how to avoid this and high blood pressure.)

The current research was carried out by placing lab mice in an environment where they were exposed to light for 12 hours and dark for 12 hours. During the dark hours, one group of mice was given artificial light for one hour. Changes in the expression of genes in the rodents’ brain cells were then examined.

Earlier studies that Dr. Ben-Shlomo carried out found that the cells’ biological clock is affected, and in the present research, she revealed that the mode of cell division is also harmed and that the transcription of a large number of genes is affected. She states it is important to note that those genes showing changes in their expression included genes connected to the formation of cancer as well as genes that assist in the fight against cancer.

Sleep Deprivation and Health Effects

I know how hard it is to remember even a fraction of what we read. So, here’s reminder of some information and advice I gave you in Life Extension Express about quality sleep.

Losing sleep for even part of one night can trigger the key cellular pathway that produces tissue-damaging inflammation. Your body perceives sleep deprivation as stress and responds by producing deadly stress chemicals. A single night of reduced sleep significantly impairs your ability to function. As you add days, impairment becomes cumulative.

As a result, this sleep deprivation:

  • Spikes your blood pressure
  • Increases mood swings, stress and irrationality
  • Reduces your ability to adapt to change
  • Impairs performance
  • Saps your energy
  • Slows reactions and impairs memory, judgment and decision making no matter what you do.

Worse, you are often the last to notice or admit it. This has been clearly proven in clinical studies as well as in brain scans.

 

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Quality sleep helps your blood regulate stress hormones, which maintains your nervous system. Over time, a lack of sleep could hurt your body’s ability to regulate high blood pressure. Aim for 7-8 hours a night of quality sleep.

Even more alarming is, lack of sleep contributes to:

  • High Blood Pressure
  • Heart Disease
  • Diabetes
  • Obesity
  • Weakened immune system
  • Depression
  • Cancer
  • Stroke

Also, a single night of sleeping just four, five or even six hours can impact your ability to think clearly. Sleep deprivation can cause changes in your brain activity similar to those experienced by people with psychiatric disorders.

So, lack of adequate sleep is definitely pro-aging. And if that’s not enough reason to get enough quality sleep, consider the fact that sleep deprivation makes you a less active lover.

Quality Sleep Solutions

The average person needs seven to eight hours of quality sleep a night. Some need more, and some need less. That means deep, undisturbed sleep.

Helpful hints for stress-free deep, rejuvenating quality sleep:

 

  • Get regular exercise, but do not exercise shortly before going to bed.
  • Adopt a regular schedule for quality sleep.
  • Keep your TV out of your bedroom.
  • Go to bed earlier and get up earlier, rather than going to bed later and getting up later.
  • If you drink coffee or tea, drink them early in the day.
  • Reduce interruptive noise, even if you need to use some type of white noise machine. Heavy drapes can also reduce noise.
  • Keep your bedroom as dark as possible.
  • If you normally get up during the night to urinate, stop drinking liquids late in the day, and urinate right before bedtime.
  • If you drink, do not have more than one or two alcoholic beverages in the evening. Excess alcohol disturbs your quality sleep cycle.
  • Take a warm bath before bed.
  • Keep your bedroom cool, under 70° F.
  • Use a deep relaxation technique, or listen to a deep relaxation audio right before sleep.
  • Quit working at least an hour before turning in to give your mind time to unwind.
  • Supplement with: melatonin; sleep-inducing herbs such as kava, chamomile, valerian and/or ziziphus spinosa; 200-500 mg of calcium citrate; or 200-400 mgs of magnesium citrate right before bedtime.

Sleep allows the heart to slow down and blood pressure to drop for a significant part of the day. However, people with sleep deprivation raise their average 24-hour blood pressure and heart rate. This may set up the cardiovascular system to operate at an elevated pressure. Those who lack quality sleep continue to be significantly more likely to be diagnosed with high blood pressure if they are sleeping five or fewer hours per night.

David Kekich (Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs) is President/CEO of Maximum Life Foundation that focuses on aging research, a 501(c)(3) corporation dedicated to curing aging-related diseases. For more information, visit: www.MaxLife.org. David contributes to our column Living Healthy to 120: Anti-Aging Breakthroughs. MaxLife is helping to make the anti-aging dream a reality with cutting edge Bio-Engineering research and products.