With overweight and obesity growing at an alarming rate in this country, excess weight is rapidly becoming a health and an economic burden. Being overweight is a risk factor for several chronic diseases including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke and chronic liver disease.

November is American Diabetes month. If you have diabetes, you are at greater risk for blindness even if your vision appears fine. Did you know that the longer someone has diabetes, the more likely they are to develop a condition known as diabetic retinopathy? Diabetic retinopathy is damage to the blood vessels in the retina. A simple dilated eye exam may be all that’s needed to prevent vision loss. The early treatment of diabetic eye disease can prevent blindness.

I was driving to work in Michigan on June 23 of this year when I got a message to call my sister Dee in Pennsylvania. Dee said Mom was in the hospital because her diaphragm was pressing on her lungs, and she had extreme difficulty breathing. The only way doctors could keep her alive would be to put her on a respirator. Knowing that Mom had a “do not resuscitate” order, I told Dee that Mom wouldn’t want to live under those circumstances. We needed to let her go.

You may laugh about “senior moments,” unless you are having them more frequently. Then fears about Alzheimer’s may start to cross your mind. If that happens, begin to log a date and time for each memory lapse. Also record whether you took any medications or supplements before the lapse occurred. After two week of notes, begin to look for patterns. You might learn that lapses seem to occur soon after you take a medication or supplement. If so, there is great hope!

People with diabetes are 20 times more likely to get end-stage renal disease.
Your kidneys are the filters of your body. They filter out the toxins that our bodies make themselves or take in. When the kidneys can no longer do this, this is called end-stage renal disease. There are only two treatment options for this—kidney dialysis or kidney transplantation. Luckily, there is much that can be done to prevent end-stage renal disease.

Pamela Marcovitz, M.D.

What are you doing to stay heart healthy?

 

Many women already know some of the basic practices like not smoking, getting enough exercise, and eliminating trans fats from our diets.  But, have you ever thought about the effects that stress and lack of proper sleep can have on your heart?

In this edition, The Senior Advocate welcomes biochemist Sandy Baumann as a new columnist.  She will offer you information about current developments in nutrition and complementary medicine, as well as insights about the mind, body, spirit connection.

It’s hard to believe that the flu season will soon be upon us.  Each year at this time, I remind my patients to schedule to get their flu shot. I thought I would take the opportunity to also educate readers on the importance of this yearly preventive health measure.  

Best-selling author and mind/body expert loretta laroche offers helpful consumer tips for coping with holiday stress

We all know that regular exercise plays an important role whether you are trying to lose or maintain a healthy weight. Did you know that eating properly and lowering your cholesterol if it is too high can be just as significant steps in the process? Combined these factors can determine how effectively you can reach your goal

Did you know you can boost your vitamin D levels with sunshine and improve your health at the same time? You may be deficient in this vitamin and not know it. For example, because of recent about Vitamin D, I began taking 1,000 IUs of vitamin D in January. Then I vacationed in February in sunny Hilton Head, where I began reading Textbook of Bio-Identical Hormones by Dr. Edward Lichten. In the Vitamin D chapter, he wrote that he took 5,000 IUs of Vitamin D3 daily for a year to resolve his insomnia.

February may have been American Heart Month, but spreading awareness of heart disease in women needs to be done throughout the year.  As an active member of the “Go Red For Women” campaign, I wanted to share some of the most frequently asked questions I hear so that you, too, can help yourself or someone you love.

By Jeffrey Deitch, DO

Medical Director, MPRO – Michigan’s Medicare Quality Improvement Organization

   Now that winter is here, it's time for you to focus on keeping yourself healthy so that you can enjoy the season to its fullest. One way that you can stay healthy is by getting your pneumoccocal pneumonia shot (or vaccination). I’m sure you have the numerous articles about influenza (or flu) in the paper, especially amid the recent vaccination shortage, but I don’t believe that consumers hear enough about the dangers of pneumoccocal pneumonia. 

Alzheimer’s Disease - Affects and Prevention Tips

By: Jodi Heuvers

 “Where’s the garbage can?” is what he said, but what he meant to say is “that’s a pretty flower”. At least, that’s what Timothy Rice thinks his brother-in-law meant to say when he was visiting him in an assisted living facility.

Managing diabetes means controlling your blood sugar level. Often, that’s easier said than done during the holiday season. If you’re one of the 10 million U.S. seniors who has diabetes, think twice before you take another helping of figgy pudding.