Preventive care Archive

Playing pickleball can boost cardiovascular health, but this popular sport can leave older players prone to injuries. Preventive strategies including taking a class to learn proper form; choosing supportive gear such as well-fitting shoes and sleeve braces; warming up before playing with squats, lunges, and heel raises; and doing lower-body strength-building exercises a couple of times per week.

Anorexia of aging affects about one-quarter of older adults, and women more often than men. The condition is marked by diminished appetite and can prompt a breakdown of muscle and bone mass that can lead to frailty, falls, delayed recovery from illness or surgery, and earlier death. Risk factors include changes in smell and taste, swallowing problems, slower digestion, medications that lead to dry mouth, dental problems, cognitive decline, and loneliness or social isolation. Treatments can include exercising, boosting protein intake, and medications.

People may choke on their own saliva when talking quickly, laughing, or turning their head. Other causes include postnasal drip or dry mouth, which medications may trigger. Certain health conditions can also affect swallowing.

A 2024 study found that people who follow a diet with a higher ratio of plant-based protein to animal-based protein may have a lower risk for cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease compared with individuals who eat a lower plant-to-animal protein ratio.

A 2024 research review suggested that drinking more water can help people stave off a variety of health problems as well as promote weight loss.

In a large 2024 study, people who ate more plant-based proteins than animal proteins had the lowest risks of developing cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease, compared with those who ate more animal proteins than plant-based proteins.

Overhead reaches become more challenging with age. This is due to reduced range of motion, declining balance, and weak muscles. As a result, simply reaching up for an object can lead to shoulder injuries, neck injuries, or falls. Avoiding these injuries requires extra care when reaching up: estimating if something is too heavy before lifting it, using a step stool to reduce the reach, finding something to hold on to while reaching, and determining in advance where to set down an object.

Doctors are rethinking their recommendations about a supplement used to help slow dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). They're advising people to keep taking the pill even when they reach the late stage of the disease. Previously, the supplement-a cocktail of antioxidant nutrients known as the AREDS2 formula-was believed to slow disease progression only in the beginning and intermediate stages of dry AMD. New evidence suggests the supplement might also slow vision loss in late-stage dry AMD.

Social media sources may share misleading information about canola, soybean, and other seed oils. But these oils, which consist mostly of unsaturated fat, can be a good source of heart-healthy fat when combined with whole, fresh foods rather than in processed foods like crunchy, salty, or sweet snack foods. Consuming unsaturated fat in place of saturated fat (found mainly in animal-based foods) is linked to a lower risk of heart attack and death from heart disease.