Healthy aging and longevity Archive

Validation is a valuable communication technique that can help people feel heard and understood. When used correctly it helps us understand  another person's feelings and establishes trust, particularly in situations with heightened emotions.

Simple coping strategies like counting to 10 are often useful to help you avoid an outburst. But as multiple challenges in recent years have amped up stress levels, those strategies may not be enough. So what steps can you take to avoid reaching your boiling point?

Headaches can have many triggers from allergies to stress, or even hunger. Understanding headache triggers can help you avoid one in the future. Here's a look at the most common triggers for each kind of headache.

Many chronic conditions seem to be related. Examples include obesity, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease; hearing loss and dementia; obstructive sleep apnea and high blood pressure; various autoimmune diseases; and obesity and joint problems. People with chronic conditions should ask their doctors about the risk for associated diseases.In some cases, they should have certain health screenings to check for them. In other cases, additional screening isn't automatic.

Tens of millions of people who've had COVID-19 suffer with persisting symptoms. The condition is called long COVID. Symptoms, such as fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and disrupted sleep, can seriously impair the ability to function at work and at home. Vaccines and antiviral drugs appear to offer some protection against getting long COVID. But more information is needed. The National Institutes of Health has committed over $1 billion to discover how to better diagnose, effectively treat, and ultimately prevent long COVID.

Neck pain is often the result of strained neck muscles that become irritated from everyday activities. Examples include watching TV for hours at a time, sleeping without enough neck support, slouching, looking down at a smartphone for long periods, lifting heavy dumbbells, or getting stressed out. Ways to avoid such neck pain include using pillows to better support the neck on a couch or in bed, sitting up straighter, keeping electronic screens at eye level, lifting weights that aren't too heavy, and practicing stress management.

An estimated 32 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis, and although exercise is often difficult and painful, a regular resistance training program can help them stay active, improve their level of function, reduce pain, and perhaps avoid the condition worsening to the point where they need a joint replacement. Consulting with a physical therapist is recommended to find the right program to meet a person's needs, fitness level, and limitations.

Research into the health benefits of alcohol has not provided a clear answer. Some findings suggest that alcohol helps protect against heart disease and lowers the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and drinkers tend to live longer than nondrinkers. Other studies say these benefits are less clear. If you don't drink alcohol now, there are no health reasons to start drinking. If you do enjoy it, it's best to have no more than 2 drinks in the same day.