Health and Wellness Info

There are many active residents in our community who want to stay independent. There are resources available for helping people remain in their own homes and have aids for helping to live a lifestyle that is fostering independence (such as arthritis aids, etc.). According to JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Assoc.) recent research, from Dr. Nicola T. Lautenschlager of the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia, and her colleagues, ''participation in an at-home physical activity program can modestly improve cognition in older adults with memory problems, but who do not have dementia.

For their study, they had 170 subjects, 50 years of age or older, either in a physical activity program or to a comparison ''control'' group that received usual care. Participants were encouraged to perform moderate intensity physical activity for at least 50 minutes three times a week. A total of 138 subjects completed an assessment after18-month. People in the exercise group, on the average, performed 142 minutes more physical activity per week than did the control group of people.
''To our knowledge, this trial is the first to demonstrate that exercise improves cognitive function in older adults with subjective and objective mild cognitive impairment,'' the researchers conclude. Although the improvements were small, they are ''potentially important when one considers the relatively modest amount of physical activity undertaken by participants in the study.''

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, September 3, 2008

About Cathy

I am enjoying retirement from nursing. I have done a bit of every type of nursing including being a Public Health and Occupational Health Nurse, Telemedicine RN, teaching a college health course, taught First Aid and Parenting courses, pediatric nurse, and worked in clinics in surgery, general practice, and OB/GYN.
I enjoy beach walks, aerobic exercise, patio gardening, swimming, pool, reading, computers, good food with friends, and acting as a facilitator to motivate as I have a 'sales personality', and love coordinating activities for residents. I'm happy with all the activities going on and the wonderful coordinators for the groups.  I look forward to more "newcomers" joining any of our organized group activities.

Target Heart Rate for exercising

Subract your age from 220 to find your maximum heart rate (ask your health provider to help you determine your target heart rate)
220-____(age) = _________(maximum heart rate)
Multiply your maximum heart rate by the correct percentage to find your target heart rate (most MD's recommend starting with a low percentage like say 50% and work up to no more than is recommended for your age and health condition so please consult your MD prior to any aerobic exercise program as I am not an MD and don't know what percentage you need to go by)
_______________ x __________ =_______
Maximum heart rate x (percentage) (target)

Glycemic Index important for preventing and living with Diabetes and obesity

www.glycemicindex.com

Body Mass Index

www.nhlbissupport.com/bmi/..............compute your BMI (Body Mass Index)

Soar BioDynamics engineer/PhD working on less invasive screening for prostate cancer

see website for details: www.sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2009/6/15/newscolumn3/html

For Cancer support: www.gildasclub.org and www.twc-wla.org have combined (concept/ original  idea of Bernie Siegel, MD.)