The rewards of a giving spirit
When Mark Twain said, “It is better to give than receive — especially advice,” he was being clever, for sure. But he overlooked the especially powerful benefit that giving bestows. Good health.
Researchers from Ohio State University have discovered that people who are emotionally giving and believe they have even more to give have lower bodywide inflammation than folks who aren’t generous. And chronic inflammation is an instigator of everything from achy joints to heart disease, cancers, diabetes, depression, gut woes and more.
The study used data on more than 1,000 middle-age adults. The info on their social connections, plus how much they were available to support their family and friends, was compared to their blood levels of interleukin-6, a marker for inflammation. And bingo! People who had positive social relationships and believed they could give even more support in those relationships had lower IL-6.
If you feel tapped out — without more to give — you can develop a giving spirit by adopting these four techniques.
■ Practice daily stress reduction techniques including exercise and meditation.
■ Take 10 minutes in the morning and 10 in the afternoon to sit, observe those around you (wherever you are) and think about your friends and family.
■ If someone does something nice for you — as small as opening or holding a door, for example — pay it forward as soon as you can.
■ Write out a list of acts of kindness and giving that you can do for friends and family. Start small. Try to do one today. More tomorrow.
Understanding the latest aspirin caution
In 1965, when Herman’s Hermits sang “Can’t You Hear My Heartbeat,” Peter Noone (Herman) wasn’t asking his doc if he’d developed heart failure — he was more concerned with his risk for a broken heart. But heart failure is risky, too.
It’s a medical condition affecting more than 6 million Americans that happens when the heart muscle doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. Faulty heart valves, high blood pressure or narrowed arteries, as well as a heart attack or a blood clot, may initiate it. Symptoms include shortness of breath and fatigue, and it may lead to kidney and liver damage and arrhythmia.
Well, it turns out that regular aspirin use — often prescribed for the prevention of heart attack and stroke — is linked to a 26 percent increase in the risk of heart failure in folks who smoke, are obese, have high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
A study, published in ESC Heart Failure, looked at data on 30,827 individuals (around age 67) at risk for developing heart failure. When the study started, 7,698 of the participants were taking aspirin. During the 5.3-year follow-up, 1,330 participants developed heart failure.
What this means for you. We wonder: Were aspirin takers sicker from the start and more likely to develop heart failure anyway? So … if you’re on a doctor-prescribed aspirin regimen, DON’T STOP TAKING IT. Talk with your physician about the risks and benefits for you; if the study info is relevant to your health; and alternative ways to protect yourself from heart attack or stroke.
Alcohol triggers irregular heartbeat
Sir Walter Scott once wrote that, “of all vices, drinking is the most incompatible with greatness.” Well, according to research published in JAMA Cardiology, that’s about right. Seems that if you stack drinking up next to having a poor diet, regular caffeine consumption and insufficient sleep, only drinking consistently causes an irregular heartbeat, aka atrial fibrillation or A-Fib.
There were 466 participants with A-Fib (and taking medication for it) in the randomized clinical trial. They used a mobile electrocardiogram device and a phone app to log in for 10 weeks whenever they experienced or consumed potential triggers of A-Fib, such as drinking alcohol and caffeine, sleeping on the left side or not getting enough sleep, eating a large meal, becoming dehydrated, having a cold drink, sticking to a particular diet and exercising.
Most participants thought caffeine would be the No. 1 trigger: It was not. In fact, there was no association between caffeine and A-Fib. This is in line with an earlier study from the University of California San Francisco that found that the relationship between caffeine and arrhythmias is pretty darn good — it appears it may have a protective effect.
Turns out that drinking alcohol was the only tracked activity that consistently resulted in significantly more reported episodes of A-Fib.
So, if you’re being treated for A-Fib and you drink alcohol, you might want to stop for a month or two to see if it noticeably reduces episodes of irregular heartbeat. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to make such a potentially lifesaving difference so quickly?
People weren’t designed to take it easy when they get older
C.S. Lewis, author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” once said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” And Supreme Court Justice from 1902 to 1932, Oliver Wendell Holmes penned, “Men [and women, we say] do not quit playing because they grow old; they grow old because they quit playing.”
Evolutionary biologists and biomedical researchers from Harvard University agree. They’ve published a paper that shows that human beings aren’t made to take it easy as they age. You’re made to remain physically strong and active! Seems the body is designed so that physical activity later in life shifts your energy toward all the built-in mechanisms that extend good health.
A longer health span — that’s a younger RealAge — to go along with a longer lifespan is the combo you want to cultivate.
It works like this: In older age, physical activity turns on specific genes that kick out health-compromising elements and activate health-enhancing ones. Exercise also creates micro-tears in muscle fibers, cartilage and bone that signal your positively stimulated biochemistry to kick into repair mode, so that you build back better. And, of course, physical activity also prevents excess fat storage and burns calories. But if you don’t do anything to stimulate such improvements, you slide into progressively worse health.
So, start exercising today! Whether you’re walking 10,000 steps a day, doing aerobics and strength-building or playing a sport (best — all the above!), you’re helping your body accomplish what it’s designed for, to live healthfully with as young a RealAge as possible.
Are your medications raising your blood pressure?
Greg Harris was the 20th century’s only major-league pitcher to throw with both his left and right arm (using a six-fingered glove!). This century, Pat Venditte is the only one who regularly pitches with both arms — and because of him, MLB put in the Venditte Rule. No pitcher is allowed to change arms in the middle of an at-bat. The batters were just too confused by that!
If switch pitching seems confusing, think about how confused the millions of folks taking multiple medications are when it comes to knowing what’s being thrown at them. In this country, 24 percent of you have taken at least three prescription drugs in the past 30 days!
The result? You may end up with a new health issue — like high blood pressure — as you successfully medicate for another problem, such as depression. Then you have to take your antidepression meds AND start on an antihypertensive. Or, if you’re already being medicated for HBP, you have to up the dose or add another medication to that routine.
That’s the alarm being sounded in a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. A nationally representative survey found that 18 percent of U.S. adults with high blood pressure also take medications such as antidepressants, prescription NSAIDs, steroids, anti-obesity drugs, decongestants, immunosuppressants and estrogens, that may cause HBP. If that sounds like you, talk to your doctors (notice that’s plural) about your medications’ impact on your blood pressure. Many medications known to raise BP have effective alternatives without this side effect.
Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of “The Dr. Oz Show,” and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. To live your healthiest, tune into “The Dr. Oz Show” or visit www.sharecare.com.
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