Five steps to living longer without Alzheimer’s
Former “60 Minutes” host Andy Rooney once said, “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.” Well, a new study may make you feel that getting old is a great reward for a long, healthy life.
The research, published in The BMJ, reveals that if you stick with a healthy lifestyle you can reduce your risk for Alzheimer’s by 60 percent and live healthier, longer. The healthy habits were:
■ A brain-healthy Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay; it contains whole grains, leafy greens and other vegetables, berries, beans, nuts, lean meats, fish, poultry and olive oil and reduced consumption of cheese, butter, fried foods and sweets.
■ Late life cognitive activities (such as speed of processing games).
■ Moderate or vigorous physical activity (at least 150 minutes a week).
■ No smoking.
■ Light to moderate alcohol consumption.
The researchers found that those healthy habits increased lifespan and made it so men and women lived a larger proportion of their remaining years without Alzheimer’s. At age 65, women without Alzheimer’s who followed four or five healthy factors had a life expectancy of 21.5 years, while those with zero or one of the healthy factors had 17 years. Men who followed four or five of the healthy habits had a life expectancy of 23.1 years — 5.7 years longer than men aged 65 with zero or one healthy factor. And for info on how to benefit from living younger longer, consider preordering “The Great Age Reboot.”
Live(r) long and prosper
When Maya Angelou wrote “Life loves the liver of it,” and William James said, “Is life worth living? It all depends on the liver,” they weren’t referring to the 3-pound, cone shaped, reddish-brown organ that performs more than 500 vital functions designed to help regulate bodily chemicals. But they could have been, since the liver is so essential to overall health.
A startling report about children with liver disease clearly demonstrates that! The announcement, initially coming out of the U.S. and the U.K., identifies the unusual appearance of serious hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) in children. In the U.S., 12 states have reported a total of 32 cases, five requiring liver transplants, and one death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is searching for others nationwide. The World Health Organization says 228 cases have been reported in 20 countries and more are suspected.
The first U.S. cases affected kids in Alabama, from 1 to 6 years old. All had been infected earlier with adenovirus, which can cause cold-like symptoms, fever, sore throat, bronchitis, pneumonia, diarrhea and conjunctivitis. The theory is that young kids, sheltered from normal exposure to infections during the pandemic, have extra-vulnerable immune systems as they return to interaction with the outside world and that’s why they develop this complication.
If you have a child who previously had symptoms of adenovirus infection, especially gastrointestinal symptoms, keep an eye out (even weeks later) for jaundice, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, sore joints and/or muscles, itchy hives, dark urine or clay-colored stools. Ask your doc to check your child for possible hepatitis pronto.
More kids in crisis
The teen years are tough for many youngsters, and depression and anxiety became even more widespread among teens during the pandemic. According to a new study in JAMA Pediatrics, depression and anxiety symptoms during the first year of COVID-19 doubled among adolescents, and as the COVID-19 crisis dragged on, the rates became even higher, especially in older teens.
That may account, in part, for the alarming spike in drug overdose deaths among U.S. teens ages 14 to 18, even as overall drug use declines. A research letter published in JAMA says that “the death rate for drug overdoses in that age group … nearly doubled between 2019 and 2020, and continued to rise early in 2021, reaching a rate of 5.49 deaths per 100,000 adolescents.”
Another reason for the spike is that today’s drugs are highly addictive and potentially lethal — not like what was around even 20 years ago. The ever more common presence of the ultra-lethal fentanyl in street drugs accounts for 77 percent of adolescent overdose deaths.
If you suspect your teen is depressed or anxious or is experimenting with drugs, don’t write it off to normal adolescent behavior. Talk to him or her about the risks of trying street drugs even once — they’re super-potent and can addict or kill. Help is available at The American Academy of Child & Adolescent psychiatry at www.aacap.org, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (check out “If You Have a Problem with Drugs: For Teens and Young Adults) and Health Care Alliance for Response to Adolescent Depression at www.heardalliance.org.
New treatment for heart failure
“Star Trek” knows about transporter inhibitors: Lieutenant Commander Data used one while on a Federation mission scout ship to prevent himself from being beamed away by a USS Enterprise-E shuttlecraft. Sodium-glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors may provide similarly effective protection from medical woes for people with heart failure.
Known as SGLT2 inhibitors, this Type 2 diabetes medication lowers blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through the urine. But according to a new study in Annals of Internal Medicine, it is also hugely beneficial for folks with heart failure — regardless of whether or not they have diabetes. The researchers analyzed eight randomized, controlled trials that included more than 15,000 participants.
They found that after one year of treatment, SGLT2 inhibitors were associated with a 32 percent lower risk for hospitalization due to heart failure and a 26 percent reduction after two years. In addition, the medication reduced the risk of cardiovascular death by 14 percent. It seems to work by reducing the sodium content in heart cells which reduces a calcium overload that can cause arrhythmias.
But — and there is always a but — the medication does have side effects. The researcher highlighted the risk of genital infections and the Food and Drug Administration says that it also has been associated with kidney problems, leg and foot amputations, decreased bone mineral density and UTIs.
So if you have heart failure, ask your doctor about the benefits and risks of SGLT2 inhibitors for you. And check out the Cleveland Clinic’s “Living with Heart Failure” information at www.clevelandclinic.org.
Economic security may help you live longer (not smoking helps)
Although Adele (estimated net worth $182 million) might have a pretty good financial cushion to land on if she should get ill, it turns out the songstress did more for her health by quitting smoking than by having a series of moneymaking superhits. A new study shows that while money can buy you health care, it comes in second to the benefits that come from not smoking.
Researchers from Georgetown University’s Center for Population and Health followed 6,300 men and women ages 25 to 74 for 18 years. They found that after age 65, folks with $300,000 or more in wealth were 31 percent more likely to survive to age 85 than folks with any amount less than that. (But having more than $500,000 didn’t convey any additional health benefit at all — so there, Elon Musk!) And seven out of 10 folks with at least $300,000 had a chance of living until 85, while only around half of those with no assets did.
But after age 65, smoking is more powerful a determinant of your future than your economic status. The researchers found that lifelong nonsmokers were 37 percent more likely to survive until 85 than current smokers. So while starting young and being smart about your financial health is important for your physical health, not smoking is even more essential. Visit smokefree.gov for help quitting. Also, don’t vape. Live younger, longer.
Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic.
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