HealthyLife Articles

Tag: Healthy Aging

Find Your Balance

SELF-CARE CORNER

Good balance is essential for healthy aging. The ability to maintain and recover your equilibrium as you move helps protect you from injury and falls.

Your independence depends on your ability to balance. Almost every activity necessary for daily life relies on safe movement. As people age, preserving balance protects quality of life and their confidence to move without fear.

Activities that require balance

Balance is a foundational skill that impacts almost every type of movement:

* Walking

* Housework

* Picking up kids or pets

* Getting up and down from the floor, bed, couch, or commode

* Cooking

* Navigating uneven or unexpected surfaces

* Shopping and carrying groceries

* Lifting, moving, and reaching for items

Factors that impact balance

Your brain uses information from your eyes, ears, and other body parts to constantly adjust your position in space. Anything that impacts these systems may negatively affect balance:

* Lack of physical activity

* Inner ear problems

* Lack of sleep

* Lack of strength

* Decline in coordination

* Vision changes due to cataracts, glaucoma, etc.

* Cognitive conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease

If you are concerned about your balance, talk to your doctor. It may be a sign of a more serious condition.

Improve balance

* Practice standing on one foot. Stay near a wall for support, but gradually challenge yourself to balance longer and with less support as you are able.

* Try walking heel to toe along a straight line.

* Use a wobble board. This strengthens your balance, muscles, and coordination.

* Go up and down stairs.

* Side step back and forth across a room.

* Do calf raises. Using a wall or chair for support, rise up on the ball mounds of your feet and slowly lower back down. Do 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions.

* Take yoga or tai chi classes.

* Lift weights to increase strength and preserve the muscle necessary to balance well.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Enhance Your Sense Of Taste

Mature Health: Over Age 50

Adding a lot of salt to foods, eating more sweets, and finding meals less enjoyable are signs that your sense of taste is fading. As you age, you may lose up to 50 percent of your taste buds. But you don’t have to resign yourself to a diet that tastes dull and bland. You can take the following steps to perk up your sense of taste.

* Eat fresh foods instead of canned or processed items. Fresh-cooked foods are more flavorful and have more texture, which adds to the enjoyment of food.

* Pep up your vegetables with flavor enhancers like savory herbs, lemon juice, slivered almonds, and sliced onions instead of extra salt.

* Marinate meats and fish in salad dressings or fruit juices before cooking.

* Include tart foods and beverages like salt-free pickles, oranges, and lemonade in your meals.

* Think visually. Colorful foods, garnishes, and an attractive table setting make meals more appetizing.

* Bring chilled foods to room temperature before serving. Flavors are more pronounced when food is warm.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Four Ingredients For A Happy Retirement

Mature Health: Over Age 50

Retirement involves major changes in your income, lifestyle, social life, and self-image. Not surprisingly, retirement can be very stressful-or blissful. Advance planning is a key ingredient for a happy retirement. A survey conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan found that 75 percent of those who had planned for retirement enjoyed it. Here are some specific ways you can make retirement less stressful and more satisfying.

Get a part-time job.

For some people, gradual retirement is easier to handle than being employed one day and unemployed the next. To smooth the transition, you may want to either work part-time at your present job for a few months or get a part-time job at another firm when you leave.

Practice living on a retirement budget before you retire.

And start saving for retirement as far ahead of time as possible. Don’t expect Social Security to cover all your expenses.

Take care of yourself while you’re young.

You can help to preserve your health by eating a low-fat diet, not smoking, drinking moderately (if at all), learning to manage stress, getting regular checkups, and being physically active.

Cultivate hobbies and other outside interests.

Fitness activities, community work, or academic studies can fill the void left by not having to report to work every day. To prevent boredom, consider a variety of activities-indoor and outdoor, mental and physical, group and individually oriented. And start thinking about projects you’d like to work on well before retirement, so you don’t stall out when the time comes.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Help For People Who Snore And Twitch

Mature Health: Over Age 50

Does your bed partner snore or toss and turn during the night? Does he or she periodically twitch like a mackerel out of water for no reason at all? Are you faced with two alternatives: Sleeping in the guest room or not sleeping at all?

Older adults-especially men-tend to develop two kinds of sleep disturbances. One is sleep apnea: Breathing stops for short periods of time and is followed by loud snoring. The other is nocturnal myoclonus, or restless legs-frequent jerking motions that sometimes awaken both the jerker and the person who shares the bed.

Sleeping with the head of the bed elevated can make breathing easier and discourage snoring. Since being overweight and drinking alcohol seem to aggravate both sleep apnea and myoclonus, losing excess pounds and avoiding alcohol can help. Sleeping pills, too, can aggravate sleep apnea, so people who have this problem should use other ways to get a good night’s sleep.

You may suffer one or both of these sleep disturbances and not even know it unless your partner complains-and you should take the complaints seriously.

Sleep apnea may seem like nothing more than a nuisance, but it can be life-threatening if left untreated. So if you or your partner has this problem, see a doctor.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Six Ways To Build Better Brainpower

Mature Health: Over Age 50

Research shows that older adults who lead active, stimulating lives keep their brains fit and healthy, too. Your mind needs “exercise,” just like the rest of your body.

Some mind-stimulating tips include:

* Learn something new-or try something different-every day. Studies show that curiosity keeps people mentally sharp.

* Play mind-stretching games such as Scrabble, chess, and cards.

* Do the crossword puzzle in the daily newspaper.

* Read books and magazine articles about subjects of interest to you.

* Attend lectures, plays, and exhibits, and watch educational television.

* Use memory aids, such as appointment calendars, “to do” lists, and Post-it notes.

Also, concentrate on what people say, repeat what you want to remember out loud, and associate an action with an object (like leaving your tote bag near the door so you remember to take it with you when you leave).

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Stress Relief For Caregivers

Mature Health: Over Age 50

If you’re the primary caregiver for a spouse, parent, or other relative, you face a tough challenge. Here’s what you can do to make the workload easier.

* Set up the sickroom on the main floor, so you don’t have to continually go up and down stairs.

* Purchase or rent equipment that will make caregiving easier. Examples include an electric hospital bed, an over-bed table, and a walker or wheelchair.

* Keep clean bed linens, towels, washcloths, hand lotion, drinking cups, and other supplies in or near the sickroom.

* Develop a daily schedule and stick to it.

To reduce the stress of your ongoing responsibility:

* Delegate some tasks to family and friends.

* Investigate community services that provide transportation, deliver meals, and provide other kinds of help.

* Enlist the services of a home health care agency. The social service or discharge planning department of your hospital, Social Security Administration, local agency on aging, county public health department, or your physician, can refer you to an agency in your area.

* Plan to get out of the house to shop or socialize at least one day a week.

* Find out if the cost of hiring help to care for someone at home is covered by your medical insurance provider, Medicaid, or Medicare. The Veterans Administration may be able to provide financial assistance for veterans’ medical or nursing care.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
How To Care For Mature Skin

Mature Health: Over Age 50

As your skin ages, the sebaceous glands produce less oil, and the skin loses elasticity. The result is dry, wrinkled skin-unless you take steps to prevent (or minimize) those effects. Here’s what to do to stay one step ahead of Mother Nature.

* Shower or bathe with a mild soap or transparent glycerin soaps to prevent dry, flaky skin. Don’t use deodorant soaps on your face-they’re too harsh for sensitive facial skin.

* Avoid alcohol-based astringents, toners, or after-shave lotions, which dry the skin.

* Apply a moisturizing lotion immediately after showering or bathing. (Dry skin makes wrinkles more noticeable, so using a moisturizer makes wrinkles less noticeable.)

* Use a room or furnace humidifier during the winter months, to further prevent dry skin.

* When washing dishes or working with strong detergents, protect your hands with rubber gloves.

* Apply sunscreen lotion with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher whenever you go outdoors.

If you’re thinking about having a face lift, chemical peel, or collagen injection for wrinkles, contact your local medical society for the names of board-certified surgeons or dermatologists with experience in the procedure you’re considering.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
10 Ways To Get The Most Out Of Midlife

SELF-CARE CORNER

Are your best years ahead? A national survey of women between the ages of 35 and 49, sponsored in partnership with the National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health and Teva Women’s Health shows that more than three-quarters of women in midlife say the best years are ahead, not behind. Yet midlife is notoriously known as a time of crisis. Women’s health expert, Dr. Judith Reichman, tells how women are seizing the midlife moment and making new choices related to their health.

If you have not already joined the ranks of women enjoying midlife, here are 10 ways to get the most out of these years:

1. Don’t obsess about those 8 glasses of water each day. Drink when you are thirsty and when you are exercising briskly. Too much water reduces the impact of electrolytes and strains the bladder.

2. Focus on family bonding. Often midlife crises for women are not an age phenomenon but rather due to the very significant changes that occur in the lives of our growing-up children and our maturing (we hope) partners.

3. Spend more time with your partner. Don’t wait until the nest is already empty. This is the time to rediscover why you fell in love in the first place.

4. Rev up the love life. You are free to go on dates with your partner-real dates!

5. Periodically reevaluate your choice of birth control. The second-highest rates of unplanned pregnancies occur in midlife.

6. Worry more about you. PMS gets worse with age, and work and family responsibilities continue to rise, so it is important to establish de-stressing routines, including setting aside time to exercise and visit with friends.

7. Cut down on salt, reduce your caloric intact by 100-200 calories per day and boost your calcium and vitamin D intake. By midlife, most women are at high risk for high blood pressure and heart disease. Cutting salt can save your life and set up your family for healthy habits as they get older.

8. Embrace your desire to sleep. Now is the time to develop good sleep habits to prepare you for the next stage of life as hormonal changes during menopause increase sleep troubles.

9. Do something you thought you would never have time for. Take up a new hobby or go back to an activity you love-knitting, dancing, learning, or volunteering. Do something that makes you feel good about yourself.

10. See your doctor. You have always made sure everyone else in the family gets a yearly check-up, but what about you? Schedule those yearly health screenings and don’t neglect your own health.

Judith Reichman, MD, is an attending physician in gynecology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and author of Slow Your Clock Down: The Complete Guide to a Healthy, Younger You.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
Guard Against Denture Trouble

Mature Health: Over Age 50

Forget the image of dentures sitting in a glass of water next to the bed! Dentures require active care, not just a nightly soak. Improper denture care leads to bad breath, unsightly stains, diseased gums, and damage to the dentures. Daily dental hygiene should include these measures.

* Brush your tongue and gums with a soft brush to keep your breath fresh and your gums healthy.

* Brush your dentures at least once a day with denture-cleaning products.

* Rinse your mouth with a mild salt-water solution (1 teaspoon of ordinary table salt in 1/2 cup warm water) after meals and before going to bed.

* Don’t leave your dentures where they can be lost or accidentally damaged.

How you eat can also protect your dentures, so take these precautions.

* Cut your food into bite-size pieces.

* Chew your food slowly and avoid biting down hard.

* Dentures make your mouth less sensitive to both heat and cold. So check the temperature of food and beverages before eating or drinking to avoid burning yourself.

To help keep your dentures fitting properly, see your dentist at least once a year. See your dentist if you have any of the following problems.

* Gums that bleed or hurt after brushing.

* White or red spots in your mouth that don’t clear up within two weeks.

* Dentures that become damaged. (Don’t try to repair dentures yourself.)

* Difficulty talking, eating, and chewing when wearing your dentures.

* Dentures that slip and don’t fit well.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026
A Matter Of Balance

WELL-BEING

A fall for a senior is not simply a matter of shaking it off and standing back up. A fall could mean a broken hip or a bruise, and some seniors really “can’t get up.” Falls are a major threat to the health and independence of older adults.

The best solution is preventing falls in the first place. And a recent study in the British Medical Journal pointed to the success of exercise programs in reducing falls that cause injuries and broken bones.

Risk factors for falls include muscle weakness, especially in the legs, and poor balance-all linked to lack of exercise or certain medical conditions. Poor vision and confusion can also lead to falls. Even some medications can cause dizziness. To lower your risk for falls, CDC recommends you do four things:

1. Exercise to improve balance and strength.

Walking, using a stretch band and lifting weights increase muscle strength. Yoga and tai chi improve balance. Follow your doctor’s advice for exercise.

2. Have your doctor or pharmacist review all prescribed and over-the-counter medications you take.

Some, when taken alone or with other medications or alcohol can make you dizzy or sleepy and raise your risk for falls. Also, let your doctor know if you feel lightheaded when you get up from sitting in a chair or out of bed. Before you get out of bed, sit on the edge of it for a minute or two and get up slowly.

3. Get an eye exam from an eye doctor at least once a year.

Follow his or her advice for wearing corrective lenses and/or using low-vision aids. Get treatment for cataract, glaucoma, macular degeneration and other eye conditions as needed.

4. Make your house safer.

* Keep the inside of your house well lit. Use night lights.

* Have secure handrails on both sides of all stairs.

* Keep stairs and walk paths clear from clutter and tripping hazards.

* Install grab bars in the tub/shower and next to the toilet. If needed, use a shower chair that has rubber tips on the legs and a hand-held shower.

* If you use throw rugs, use ones with nonskid backs. Or, put nonslip rug pads or carpet tape underneath rugs.

* Wear sturdy shoes with thin, nonslip soles. Avoid going barefoot.

* Avoid using a step ladder or a chair to stand on. Keep items you use often in easy-to-reach places.

* Be mindful of where your pet and his or her toys are to avoid tripping over them.

© American Institute for Preventive Medicine

January 23, 2026