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Aging: What Can You Control?
A New York Times article last month focused on factors that dictate how we age, specifically what contributes to frailty. One surprising factor that came out in this article is that undetected cardiovascular disease is thought to be a major reason for why people become frail as they age. While someone may not experience a heart attack or stroke, partly-blocked blood vessels can lead to mental confusion, weakness, and exhaustion. These symptoms lead to reduced physical activity (and I would expect reduced mental activity such as games and reading). Can you see the downward spiral?
One measure that can indicate problems, published by researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year, is that of not being able to walk a quarter mile in five minutes or less. The article states, "For each minute beyond five, the risk of dying in the next four years increased by a third, the risk of having a heart attack increased by 20 percent, and the risk of having a disability increased by half."
The article's author, Gina Kolata, reports that, "Investigators say that there is a ray of hope in the finding - if cardiovascular disease is central to many of the symptoms of old age, it should be possible to slow or delay or even prevent many of these changes by treating the medical condition."
While researchers say this news is good for middle-aged people who have the advantage of drugs to control their cholesterol and blood pressure before serious damage occurs to the blood vessels, I am encouraged for reasons other than the use of medication. We know that many risk factors for cardiovascular disease are controllable. In fact, one risk factor is a sedentary lifestyle, which is completely reversible! Other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, can be positively affected with exercise and nutrition.
The article disclosed a second finding - the cliche that you're only as old as you think you are. Negative images of aging were shown to produce negative outcomes (such as walking more slowly), whereas positive images had the opposite effect.
To me this is good news all around: we each have more control over the conditions of aging than previously reported by the medical community at large. Staying active, nourishing the body, challenging the mind, and feeding the mind with positive images... it looks to me that living well is the best medicine.
In Health,
Bonnie
One measure that can indicate problems, published by researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year, is that of not being able to walk a quarter mile in five minutes or less. The article states, "For each minute beyond five, the risk of dying in the next four years increased by a third, the risk of having a heart attack increased by 20 percent, and the risk of having a disability increased by half."
The article's author, Gina Kolata, reports that, "Investigators say that there is a ray of hope in the finding - if cardiovascular disease is central to many of the symptoms of old age, it should be possible to slow or delay or even prevent many of these changes by treating the medical condition."
While researchers say this news is good for middle-aged people who have the advantage of drugs to control their cholesterol and blood pressure before serious damage occurs to the blood vessels, I am encouraged for reasons other than the use of medication. We know that many risk factors for cardiovascular disease are controllable. In fact, one risk factor is a sedentary lifestyle, which is completely reversible! Other risk factors, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, can be positively affected with exercise and nutrition.
The article disclosed a second finding - the cliche that you're only as old as you think you are. Negative images of aging were shown to produce negative outcomes (such as walking more slowly), whereas positive images had the opposite effect.
To me this is good news all around: we each have more control over the conditions of aging than previously reported by the medical community at large. Staying active, nourishing the body, challenging the mind, and feeding the mind with positive images... it looks to me that living well is the best medicine.
In Health,
Bonnie
