7 Easy Ways to Build Strong Bones...

Jump 10 times, crush some cans and other tips to boost bone density Bone building reaches a peak during adolescence but then slows after age 25. In addition to this natural bone loss, we’re less likely to perform high-impact, bone-stimulating exercises (such as jumping) after age 50. This adds up to an increased risk of osteoporosis and bone breaks and fractures. Fortunately, you can build stronger bones at any age. A recent study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion shows that people who jumped 10 times twice daily increased bone density by .5 percent compared with those who didn’t and lost about 1.3 percent. (Note: the study did not include women with osteoporosis; jumping is not recommended in cases of weak bones.) Experts offer these seven easy tips for men and women to keep bones strong throughout their lives: Snack on yogurt and other calcium-rich foods. Including yogurt, cottage cheese and other low-fat dairy foods adds bone-strengthening calcium to your diet. “In addition to dairy products, choose fish with bones such as salmon, sardines or whitebait,” says registered dietitian Laura Jeffers. For additional benefits, serve these foods with a side of dark leafy green vegetables or broccoli, which also contain calcium. Other bone-building snacks include almonds, dried figs, calcium-fortified tofu and, if you prefer non-dairy, soy milk. Take a hike. Try to engage in at least 30 minutes of exercise every day, by jogging, brisk walking or aerobics — at whatever level of ability, says Susan Randall, of the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF). “As you build stamina, increase the duration and intensity of your exercise,” she says. To see real improvements in bone density, you need to push your intensity, says Cleveland Clinic physical therapist Maribeth Gibbon....

What’s Causing Your Leg Pain, Burning and Numbness?...

Leg discomfort can knock you off your feet for a variety of reasons — but it should never be ignored Aching calves, burning legs, numbness in the feet — pain and discomfort in the lower extremities is a common complaint that sends many of us to our doctors seeking relief. But unless the cause is something obvious, like a fall, pinpointing the source may require some medical detective work. Trying to tough it out, though, will not get you any closer to the answers. “Leg pain that comes on acutely with a bang, is severe and doesn’t resolve within minutes probably needs to be seen right away,” as it could be a sign of a more serious condition, says Dr. Benjamin Wedro, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin and an emergency physician at Gundersen Medical Center in Lacrosse, Wis. “There’s no trophy for suffering.” Here are some of the potential causes of leg and foot pain: Blood Vessel Distress Pain that occurs when walking or exercising may be the result of claudication or decreased blood supply to the legs. This condition is most often a symptom of peripheral arterial disease, or PAD, a narrowing of the arteries that deliver blood to your limbs, typically caused by the buildup of plaque or fatty deposits. Smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity are major risk factors for PAD. “The leg pain from PAD tends to occur when you’re active,” says John Fesperman, a family nurse practitioner at Duke Primary Care in North Carolina. “When you’re active, muscles need more blood. The lack of adequate blood triggers pain, which is known as intermittent claudication. Once you stop moving, the pain usually disappears.” Deep vein thrombosis, or DVT,...

Why Now Is the Time to Leave Guilt Behind...

You need to take care of yourself when caring for someone else Nothing’s more important than family and friends, right? Few disagree, and we cherish the people we can depend on. In fact, you may be one of those people: When something goes wrong and a relative or pal needs you, you’re there, no questions asked. While that’s a great trait, it can come at a steep price: your health. In fact, it could be that one of the biggest risks to your health isn’t backed-up arteries or sky-high blood sugar, but something that’s usually associated with Freud and your mom: Guilt. If you’re so focused on being there for everyone else, there’s a good chance you’re not spending enough time prioritizing your own health. Dr. Jordan Metzl, author of The Exercise Cure and a sports medicine doctor at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery, puts it this way to his patients: “If you’re taking care of everybody else, are you taking care of yourself? People in their 40s, 50s, and 60s have often dedicated their whole adult lives to taking care of others, and sometimes neglected their own health.” Regular workouts — hard to fit in under the best of circumstances — are one of the first things to go when you put others first, says Jennifer Huberty, an associate professor in the School of Nutrition and Health Promotion/Exercise and Wellness at Arizona State University. Huberty sees it all the time with the midlife women she works with in Fit Minded, the book club-based program she created to encourage physical activity. “I hear a lot, ‘I have to go home and feed my family.’ That’s baloney,” says Huberty. “Nobody’s going to die if you eat dinner at 6...

Boomers Just Want to Have Fun...

An argument for keeping play at the top of your priority list Summer nights, the kids in my neighborhood used to gather in our yard, a convenient corner lot, to play a hide-and-seek game. Whoever was “It” counted to 20, screamed “Bloody Murder,” and the heart-pounding hunt in the dark was on. If you were found, you helped locate others before they raced to the safety zone. During the days, girls from three blocks around gathered to play Barbies under our shady maple tree, often leaving the elaborate houses we built for our dolls set up overnight so we could resume play the next day. When it rained, we read or played cards — our parents taught us bridge so we could substitute in their games when necessary, but mostly we played Old Maid or Kings Around the Corner or penny-betting games of Michigan Rummy. We also had Clue, Mystery Date and endless rounds of Monopoly. The games you play as a child help form who you become as an adult, not just because of how you use your mind and body. Childhood play shapes how you enjoy your leisure time and is part of your self-identity deep into adulthood. Earlier this month, I saw a wonderful exhibit, Toys From the 50s, 60s and 70s, at the Minnesota History Center. You can take a walk down memory lane by looking at the attached slideshow based on it. Yet, as we age, as times change, what, how and how much time we spend at play changes, too. The Study of Play Julie Brown, assistant professor of gerontology at Ohio University, studies the importance of play across the lifespan. When she first started researching the relationship between play and quality of...

Are Your Loved One’s Dementia Symptoms Reversible?...

Too often, doctors and caregivers see symptoms of dementia as permanent when the problem may be a simple infection Among the myriad ways my kids have it better than me: As a child, I had only two grandparents, one of whom died when I was still very young. But my kids, at least the older two, were born with a full complement of grandmas and grandpas, plus a great-grandmother, and while the ranks of grandparents have thinned somewhat in recent years, that 98-year-old “Nanny,” my wife’s grandmother, endures. In fact, Nanny continues to live on her own, in an Upper Manhattan apartment, with the support of her walker, a daytime home-care aide, and a delightful pet cat. She manages her finances and keeps up with her large extended family, limited in conversation only by her somewhat impaired hearing. So it was a surprise to many of us when she recently started to show fairly sudden and pronounced signs of dementia, characterized by mood swings, a far less sharp conversational tone, and paranoia, especially about her finances. Still, given her age, many of those around her imagined that this was it, that she had finally succumbed to dementia and would face declining faculties for the rest of her life. We were wrong. After a few weeks, Nanny was taken to her doctor to find out what the cause of her dementia might be. As it turned out, she was not suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or, in fact, any permanent dementia-causing syndrome. She had a simple urinary-tract infection, which was treated with antibiotics, restoring her previous sharpness. I should have been able to come up with this diagnosis. My late mother long lived with, and eventually died from complications of, vascular...

How To Beat the Winter Blues...

Vitamin D and bright lights really do work for seasonal affective disorder The official beginning of winter that arrived on Sunday, Dec. 21, marked the darkest day of the year. Around this time, some of us feel a familiar pall as the gloom outside seems to creep into our psyches. Symptoms of depression that occur during the late fall and winter are known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. People who live in places with long winter nights are at particularly high risk for this malady. But there are ways to combat the suffering. Bright Light Therapy  Therapy with a special high-intensity lamp has been proven to make a difference in brain chemistry, though scientists don’t know exactly why that happens, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA). “There’s been plenty of research to back that up,” said Sue Abderholden, executive director of the Minnesota branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. For bright light therapy to work, you will need between 30 and 90 minutes of exposure to it each day, according to the APA. Your doctor can give you instructions. One method is to sit about two feet from the light with your eyes open, but without looking directly at the lamp. Early mornings, when the therapy can simulate sunrise, may be best. A Minneapolis man said he takes his light therapy lamp out of the basement each year in early- to mid-October. “I know it’s coming, that dark period,” said Lee, 60, who asked to be identified only by his first name to avoid the stigma associated with depression. He uses the lamp for about a half-hour each morning, while reading the paper and eating breakfast. “If I don’t use it for two, three, four...

7 Back Pain Myths Busted...

Experts explain why these common pieces of advice are wrong Approximately 80 percent of Americans can expect to experience back pain at some point in their lifetimes. If you find yourself hurting and decide to search online for “back pain solutions” you’ll find reams of information — some of it contradictory and even harmful. Check with your doctor if you’re having pain. And listen to what top experts say about the most common back pain myths and what really works. Myth No. 1: A fitness ball is better than an office chair for your back. Reality: The idea of sitting on a cushy ball instead of a traditional office chair seems like an easy way to strengthen your core and ease back pain, but the lack of support can be less than ideal. “Plus, simply sitting on the ball does not automatically activate your core,” says Nara Yoon, a physical therapist practicing in Manhasset, N.Y. Using your core involves consciously engaging your core muscles, as well as finding the right size ball and practicing proper posture. A ball should enable you to sit with your thighs parallel to the floor. “If it’s too small your hips will drop below your knees and promote a slouched posture,” says Yoon. In addition, posture may suffer once core muscles fatigue. If you decide to try a fitness ball, alternate it with a traditional office chair throughout the day, and especially at the first sign of back fatigue. Myth No. 2: You should always get a massage. Reality: When you’re in pain, a massage may help in some cases and hurt in others, depending on the cause of the back pain. “For instance, the lower back may feel tight because of a muscle...

Fiftysomething Diet: Make a Healthier Breakfast...

After 50, your body requires smarter morning choices to get you through the day If you want your brain to be alert, start the day with a healthful breakfast — you’ve heard that since grammar school. But when you’re over 50, your brain must be on alert even before you sit down at the breakfast table: You can’t just grab the nearest cereal box or whip up a batch of pancakes to start the day. Well, you can — but you need to make smart choices, and that’s where we can help. Studies show that, in addition to enhancing your brain power, making smart food choices in the a.m. can help fiftysomethings keep blood sugar on an even keel, lower cholesterol levels and ward off Type 2 diabetes. The tricky part is that your older body needs fewer calories — but it doesn’t need fewer nutrients. Your body won’t be very forgiving if you feed it sugary buns, fried donuts or fatty breakfast sandwiches. The solution: Remodel breakfast so that it’s nutrient-dense yet lean and light. When you do this, it will be just as flavorful, it not more so. It’s not all that complicated. Just keep a few key points in mind: Don’t be too stingy with calories. Your body has fasted all night and now’s the time to refuel so that you have energy to start the day right. A lightly active fiftysomething woman can aim for 450 to 500 calories, which is what the sample breakfasts below provide. Men can add another 100 to 200 calories by increasing the portions. Always include a healthy amount of protein (at least 15 grams) and plenty of fiber, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 grams. Stick with...