Balance Your Health

Divorce Harmful To Middle Aged Women's Health

Divorce or widowhood leave a lasting scar on the health of middle aged and older people, especially women says a recent study. Remarriage may repair some of the damage done but those who remain single are less healthy than those who remarry.

The reports that married couples are healthier than single people were published several years ago. This new study, about what happens when the marriage breaks up, shows that there is a lot more stress that takes place than originally considered. This study looked at chronic conditions, mobility limitations, self rated health and depression symptoms during middle age. The research found that when marriage is disrupted with divorce or death, it has a long impact negatively affecting all four areas.

Participants in the study, published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, were at least age 50. One of the conclusions was that the health conditions that resulted after a marriage ended were worse than if the woman had been single her entire life.

What I found particularly interesting was that the study results motivated the question: when a middle aged woman is treated for high cholesterol or high blood pressure with medication, should the whole person be treated or just the obvious symptoms? The thinking is that it may be the loss of the marriage that is resulting in this condition due to the extremely high level of stress. Apparently, a toxic relation is toxic to a woman's whole health.

No such findings could be related to men. For men a problematic marriage may cause some emotional issues but not physical concerns. Obviously women are more affected by relationship issues than men and attach more importance to the emotions within relationships then men do. I am guessing that is why women have so many girlfriends - for support.

Your thoughts?

To your success at a well balance life.

Ruthan Brodsky

Vitamin D Makes a Difference

Vitamin D is important to bone health. I have written about that many times especially focusing on the importance of vitamin D for anyone over 50. That's because people age 65 and over generate something like four times less vitamin D than people in their 20s.

Even though it's more likely that someone 65 will be living in the Sun Belt, there's a competing tendency as we grow older to become more sedentary and remain indoors. That is especially true among those who have chronic health problems.

The good news is that we can make up for the lack of sunshine by getting vitamin D in our diets. However, that isn't always easy either. Not everyone likes fish or eggs. Even though many foods are now fortified with vitamin D, such as Cheerios or Grape Nuts, we can also take supplements to make up the difference.

My suggestion: find the best resources you can for vitamin D because now there's new studies to show that a deficiency of vitamin D can bring about impaired brain function. Scientists have now linked this fat=soluble nutrient's hormone like activity to a number of functions throughout the body, including the operations of your brain.

Studies have already shown that vitamin D activates and deactivates enzymes in the brain and reduces inflammation. New studies (University of Cambridge, England) now show that the lower a person's vitamin D level, the more negatively their performance is impacted on mental tests. What we don't know is if high levels of vitamin D enhance cognitive functioning.

Even so the recommended dosage is between 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily, about the amount your body synthesizes from 15 to 30 minutes of sun exposure two or three times a week.

How much vitamin D are you getting? How do you handle protecting yourself from the sun and skin cancer and getting enough sunshine to manufacture your own vitamin D? Share your stories with our readers.

To your success at balancing your health.

Ruthan Brodsky

Do Glucosamine & Chondroitin Releive Your Arthritis Pain?

You don't read anything bad about them and they are still very popular nutritional supplements, but research continues to report that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate do not work any better than a placebo to reduce the amount of pain from knee arthritis.

This was reported back in 2007 and a huge discussion ensued.  Some said the results were confusing and more study was needed. The original study, GAIT, was funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes, and happened to confirm other findings with smaller numbers of people, which showed that the supplements had few or no effects.

This was back in 2006. For another 18 months, however, the researchers continued to watch 572 volunteers and found that the two supplements did not appear to slow the loss of cartilage either taken alone or together. In fact the arthritis worsened in 24 percent of participants taking both which was similar to the results for the placebo.

The supplement manufacturers argued that the results of the GAIT study were not conclusive. As it happened, the researches took a second look at patients from the original 1,600 who were classified as having moderate to severe osteoarthritis. These patients did record a significant improvement when using the combination of chondroitin and glucosamine.

Even with these results these two supplements remain popular, especially glucosamine. This supplement has gained such widespread credibility by the public and among health care professionals that it is often recommended for older people to help relieve pain from arthritic joints.

So what does all of this mean for you? I think the finding in those with moderate to severe pain is important but should be interpreted cautiously. The problem is that industry sponsorship of drug trails usually produces biased results and most of the earlier studies were underwritten by supplement manufacturers. They may not have fabricated the results of the study but publicly funded studies, such as Gait, are larger.

My opinion, the supplements aren't very effective and if you are reluctant to give them up at least they won't cause you any harm. However, it appears that you are tossing away your money needlessly.

I know several people will stop taking these supplements once they learn more about them.  Will you continue knowing what you know now?

To your success at balancing your life.

Ruthan Brodsky

Alzheimer's Disease: Is Prevention Possible?

It is true that getting older is a risk factor for Alzheimer's. However, getting older does not cause the disease. If it were, then everyone would get Alzheimer's and many people live to over 100 years without any signs or symptoms.

Study Says Organic Food Isn't Healtheir

I always thought that organic food was supposed to be healthier and more nutritious then conventionally grown food. Looks like I may be wrong.

Interestingly, my first question is how is Whole Foods going to deal with the challenge of this new study conducted by British researchers and published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The researchers examined all the relevant research for the past 50 years eliminating studies the authors believed weren't scientific. It was undertaken because there has not been any independent statement on the nutrition question.

Coffee Lovers Get Great News!

Coffee does you no harm. In fact, it may be somewhat good for you!

How’s that for great news.

I enjoy coffee, especially early in the morning and late in the afternoon. Sometimes it’s with an extra shot or two – depending on what needs to get done for the rest of the day.

The news is from an 18 to 24 year study of 125,000 Americans which found no link between coffee consumption and increased risk of death, even for hose who consumed more than six cups a day. In fact, heavy coffee drinking was associated with decreased risk of death, especially from cardiovascular causes among women.

Both regular and decaffeinated coffee was associated with a small decrease in risk which suggests the benefit probably comes from something besides caffeine. The possible benefits are reducing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some cancer. Coffee consumption was also associated with lower death rates from chronic liver disease and cirrhosis and from diabetes.

Granted, the benefits are modest but oh my goodness – something to drink that’s enjoyable and even a little bit good for you.

Will wonders never cease!

Your thoughts!

Ruthan

Ruthan Brodsky helps health care professionals and entrepreneurs market their services and products through content marketing and information products.

www.balanceyourhealth.com , www.upsideofaging.com

www.theagingofanorexia.com

Statins the Miracle Drug: Sounds Too Good to be True

In the May issue of DukeMedicine Newsletter, six major-very major- benefits of statin drugs were listed. What’s more each benefit was reinforced with at least one published study or report. These benefits include:

• Preventing stroke
• Reducing deaths from respiratory disease
• Reduce the possibility of heart failure
• Help protect against heart attacks
• May Reduce coronary artery disease
• May Prevent Alzheimer’s

Only two paragraphs in the article are devoted to two drawbacks:

Acupuncture Relieves Fibromyalgia Symptoms

Many health insurance policies now cover acupuncture expenses. It took a long time in coming but the proof is there that acupuncture can help physicians treat patients. As a result, more physicians are prescribing acupuncture for their patients.

Grapefruit's POW Factor for Meds

I have been known to say ‘there’s good with every bad” and the recent research on the impact of grapefruit on medications is simple proof of that.

We already know that eating grapefruit results in strong reactions with some medications causing them to become toxic. This is especially true for the cholesterol reducing statins like Zocor and Lipitor and it also holds true for patients on the drug Plendil and other drugs for blood pressure, heart rhythm, depression, anxiety, allergies, and impotence.

As a result and in spite of themselves, it looks like Big Pharma is getting into nutrition because the grapefruit effect emphasizes the variability of how drugs are metabolized and how the food we ingest can have a huge impact on a drug’s performance.