TIME GOES BY - A Couple of Health Miracles
John Gear
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From: Ronni Bennett <ro...@ronnibennett.com>
Date: April 5, 2013 7:34:21 PDT
To: John Gear <Jo...@JohnGearLaw.com>
Subject: TIME GOES BY TIME GOES BY - A Couple of Health Miracles
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TIME GOES BY - A Couple of Health Miracles
I suppose “miracle” is in the eye of the beholder, but there are, to me, two health miracles all capable elders should adopt.
First, last month, Washington Post wellness writer Lenny Bernstein reported on 102-year-old Ray Clark:
“'I was getting a little lazy at home, and I decided I’d go down to the exercise club,' [Clark] recalled.
“That was more than three years ago, when Clark was 98,” writes Bernstein. “As he turned 102 last week, Clark was able to curl 40 pounds, work out vigorously on a rowing machine and deftly pluck bouncing eight-pound kettle bells from the air with the hand-eye coordination of a much younger man.”Here is Clark's trainer, 70-year-old Thom Hunter, talking about Clark's gym routine:
I'm going to quote reporter Bernstein at length because the evidence is so damned impressive:
“'If I had to do only one thing for the frail older person, it would clearly be weightlifting exercises, and not any other form of exercise,' said Maria Fiatarone Singh, a professor at the University of Sydney School of Medicine, who has been studying the value of strength exercises for the elderly for the past quarter of a century.
“In 1988, Singh and her colleagues put older people who were in nursing homes on an 'intense' (for them) resistance program and soon doubled and tripled their strength.
“In 2003, another of her studies showed that a year of weightlifting after a hip fracture — one of the most debilitating injuries of the very old — reduced nursing home admissions and mortality by more than 80 percent compared with other therapies.
“In 2012, a program of balance exercises and strength training significantly reduced falls among older people, according to another of her studies. Singh said she believes that more than 80 percent of people 85 and older could safely work out...”Exercise IS a miracle health “drug.” Just about every part of the human body and mind is improved with regular exercise and it doesn't need to be extreme to help you live a longer, healthier life. Of course, if you are starting anew, check with your physician first.
It is worth your time – and, perhaps, as an incentive - to read the entire story about Ray Clark.
My other health miracle is fish. It has been known for many years that regular consumption of fish and seafood can decrease the risks of heart disease, heart failure and heart attack while increasing blood levels of heath-giving omega fatty acids.
Now, results of a new study led by a group of researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Washington shows
”...that elderly adults who have greater blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids - found almost uniquely in seafood and fatty fish - could decrease their total mortality risk by nearly 27% and their mortality risk from heart disease by 35%.”Adjusting for cardiovascular, demographic, dietary and lifestyle factors in their study, researchers analyzed 16 years of data from 2700 volunteers age 65 and older who were healthy at the beginning of the study.
”Study volunteers with the greatest levels of all three types of fatty acids had a 27% lower risk of total morality due to all reasons.”There is no uncertainty about either of my health “miracles.” The only thing that changes with each new study is researchers' understanding of how exercise and fish consumption help keep us healthy, particularly in old age.
For me, fish is easy. What I have never liked is exercising for exercising's sake but fear is a great motivator.
Although expanded longevity is a nice benefit, I am much more concerned with living independently until I die and so I'll continue with stretching exercises, lifting weights and getting my heart pumping.
And when I am tempted to slack off (regularly), I'm going to let Ray Clark be my inspirition.
At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Dani Ferguson Phillips: Cousin Charlie
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