HealthyLife Articles

Category: Mature Health: Over Age 50

  • Healthy Aging

    Mature Health: Over Age 50

    Grandparents playing with 2 young grandkids.

    Physical activity is a cornerstone of healthy aging. Studies show people who exercise regularly live longer and may live better, without pain or disability.

    If you exercise on a regular basis, good for you! Keep it up! If not, now is the time to start. Check with a doctor before you begin an exercise program. Choose activities you can do and enjoy. Start out slowly and progress slowly. Some exercise is better than no exercise.

    Research shows that eating a Mediterranean-style diet has both physical and mental health benefits that support healthy aging. This eating style includes plenty of vegetables and fruit, whole grains, healthy fats, more fish and less processed foods.

    Staying mentally active is linked to physical and mental health and may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Find ways to lower stress and increase emotional well-being.

    Exercise your memory and your mind. Continue to learn new things. Read. Join a club.

    Health at Home Lifetime book by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. www.HealthyLife.com. All rights reserved.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Help For Bladder Control

    Mature Health: Over Age 50

    Image of mature women smiling.

    Many people are inconvenienced and embarrassed by urinary incontinence-they leak urine when they laugh, cough, sneeze, or lift heavy objects.

    Incontinence can be caused when muscles used to control the bladder weaken due to childbirth or prostate surgery. Neurological complications caused by injury or stroke, or neurologic disease (like multiple sclerosis) can also weaken bladder control. So can diabetes. But the most common cause of urinary incontinence in the older population is what doctors call urge incontinence or bladder instability: Frequent, involuntary bladder contractions release small amounts of urine.

    If urinary incontinence is a problem for you, see a urologist, a doctor who specializes in problems and diseases of the urinary system. Medications, biofeedback bladder training, exercise, or surgery can improve or cure urinary incontinence.

    To help manage urinary incontinence:

    *  Empty your bladder at least every 2 hours.

    *  Avoid highly spiced foods, which irritate the bladder. Avoid caffeine and alcohol at least 4 hours before bedtime.

    *  Practice Kegel exercises to improve bladder control. To feel the muscles to be exercised, practice stopping the flow of urine.

    Then practice the following three exercises.

    *  Squeeze these muscles for 3 seconds, then relax the muscles for 3 seconds. Do this ten times, three times a day.

    *  Squeeze and relax the muscles as quickly as possible. Repeat ten times, three times a day.

    *  For women only: Imagine pulling up a tampon in the vagina. Hold for 3 seconds. Then bear down as if having a bowel movement, holding for 3 seconds.

    *  If you wear sanitary pads or incontinence pads, change them often to prevent odor and infection.

    A Year of Health Hints book by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. www.HealthyLife.com. All rights reserved.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine