Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
Breast Cancer Archive
Articles
Getting a start on growing stronger
Building strength and power is key to healthy aging, both physically and mentally. It may be easier than you think.
We probably don't need to remind you that your body changes with age. Age-related muscle loss begins at around age 35 and progresses slowly — at about 1% per year. But after about age 60, muscle loses mass more rapidly, so that adults who don't do regular strength training may lose 4 to 6 pounds of muscle per decade. Moreover, the lost muscle is usually replaced by fat.
Studies show that strength training not only can slow muscle loss, it can also help prevent or control conditions as varied as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis. And recent research indicates that it can also improve cognitive function, especially when added to aerobic exercise. As we age, strength training helps to preserve mobility and reduce the risk of falling. "What has been shown is that if you're looking at mobility problems, the most beneficial exercises that are those that focus on progressive training for strength and power," says Dr. Jonathan Bean, an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School.
The healing power of art
Creative activities can relieve stress, aid communication, and help arrest cognitive decline.
Image: © Katherine A. Gallagher Integrative Therapies Art Therapy Program at the Mass. General Cancer Center
The title of a recent documentary film, I Remember Better When I Paint, sums up the findings of a growing body of research into the cognitive effects of making art. The movie demonstrates how drawing and painting stimulated memories in people with dementia and enabled them to reconnect with the world. People with dementia aren't the only beneficiaries. Studies have shown that expressing themselves through art can help people with depression, anxiety, or cancer, too. And doing so has been linked to improved memory, reasoning, and resilience in healthy older people.
Antibiotic use linked to increased risk of precancerous colon polyps
Research we're watching
Recent evidence suggests that antibiotics, which affect the makeup of intestinal bacteria, might be associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. A team led by researchers from Harvard Medical School wanted to see if antibiotic use is also associated with adenomatous polyps, precursors of colon cancer that significantly increase the risk of developing the disease.
The team analyzed data from 16,642 women ages 60 or older participating in the Nurses' Health Study. They first looked at participants' antibiotic use from ages 20 through 59 and in the most recent four years. They also checked the results with the women's colonoscopies and found 1,195 cases of adenomatous polyps.
Why do I lose a lot of hair each fall?
Ask the doctors
Q. I have fairly thick hair in the summer, but it seems to thin out in late fall. Is there anything I can do now to prevent losing hair in a few months?
A. Sadly, no. What you've experienced is common to all of us. On average, about 90% of the hairs on our heads are in the growing phase and about 10% are in the resting phase. After a few months in the resting phase, the hairs are shed. It's normal to shed up to 100 hairs a day.
Should you have an annual pelvic exam?
By Hope Ricciotti, M.D., Editor in Chief
If you've come to expect a pelvic exam as a routine part of your annual well-woman physical, you may be surprised to learn that health experts disagree over whether it is necessary. The exam — in which the clinician inserts gloved fingers into the vagina to examine the cervix, uterus, and ovaries — has been routine for decades, but recently its benefits have been called into question.
In 2014 the American College of Physicians — an influential group of internal medicine specialists — issued a recommendation against routine pelvic examinations for women who aren't pregnant and have no unusual risk for or symptoms of pelvic diseases. However, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has stood by its longstanding policy recommendation — annual pelvic exams for women ages 21 and older — based on expert opinion. In March 2017, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — the pre-eminent medical guidelines organization — ruled that there is insufficient evidence to recommend either for or against annual screenings.
Drinking — and binge drinking — growing more common among older women
Research we're watching
A new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health indicates that the rate of drinking in general, and binge drinking in particular, is rising faster among women ages 60 or older than among their male contemporaries. When the researchers analyzed data from National Health Interview Surveys from 1997 through 2014, they found that the proportion of older women drinkers increased at a rate of 1.6% a year, compared with 0.7% for older men. Binge drinking — defined as imbibing four or more drinks within two hours — increased by 3.7% annually among older women, but held steady among older men. The results were reported online March 24, 2017, by Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
The researchers speculated that baby boomers, who tended to drink more than earlier generations did in youth, have continued their habits as they've aged. Whatever the reason, the trend doesn't bode well for older women's health. Because of biological differences, at any level of alcohol consumption, women have a higher blood alcohol concentration than men, putting them at greater risk of cognitive impairment and falls. It's a good idea to limit alcohol consumption to seven drinks a week, with no more than three drinks at a sitting.
Being overweight any time in adulthood still associated with a shorter life
Research we're watching
Previous studies have suggested that being somewhat overweight or even slightly obese may not be associated with a shortened life span. Some studies have suggested that being a bit overweight might even be healthier than being at normal weight. This has been referred to as the "obesity paradox."
A recent analysis of data from the Nurses' Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study has helped bring clarity to this paradox. Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Boston University School of Public Health assessed the maximum body mass index (BMI) over 16 years for more than 190,000 postmenopausal women and 35,000 senior men. They then tracked who died over a follow-up period averaging 12 years. They found that people with a maximum BMI in the normal range (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2) throughout life had the lowest risk of death. Those whose highest recorded BMI fell into the overweight or obese category were at elevated risk of dying from any cause, as well as dying specifically from cardiovascular disease, cancer, or respiratory disease, during the follow-up period.
Breast implants linked to rare lymphoma
Research we're watching
The FDA's medical device reporting program recently announced that as of February 1, it had received 359 reports of anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, in women who had received breast implants. Nine women had died of the disease. The FDA uses such reports to alert clinicians about potential significant side effects from approved drugs and devices, and as it gathers more information, the data may change. Many reports contained details of the implants, including whether the outside surface was smooth or textured and whether the filling was silicone gel or saline.
ALCL is usually found within a capsule of fibrous scar tissue that forms around an implant, not in the breast tissue itself. It appears to develop more frequently in women with textured implants, regardless of filling type.
Hip bursitis vs. arthritis: How to tell the difference
Fitness for longevity: Which type matters most?
Ministrokes linked to elevated risk of dementia
Continuous glucose monitors benefit people who don't need insulin
CoQ10: Should you take this popular supplement if you're on a statin?
Microplastics: A hidden health threat?
Oat vs. dairy milk: Nutrition, benefits, and downsides
What is tempeh? Benefits, nutrition, and how to use it
Healing after food poisoning
Whole grains may improve several heart risk factors at once
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