9 Habits That The World's Healthiest & Longest-Lived People Share

About 20 years ago, working for National Geographic, and with a grant from the National Institute on Aging, I started identifying and studying the longest-lived people, those who are in what we called the world's Blue Zones. These are people who have eluded heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and several types of cancer. 

My goal, in a sense, was to reverse-engineer longevity. Since only about 20% of the average person's life span is dictated by genes, I reasoned that if I could find the common denominators among people who've achieved the health outcomes we want, I might distill some pretty good lessons for the rest of us to follow. I discovered nine powerful lessons—the power nine—that underpin all five Blue Zones. Here they are: 

1. Move naturally.

2. Find purpose.

3. Downshift.

4. Follow the 80% rule.

5. Eat mostly plants.

6. Drink wine at 5.

7. Find belonging.

8. Put loved ones first.

9. Find the right community.

Read More from MGB Health

Effects of meditation therapy on fear of disease progress and mental health among acute myocardial infarction patients

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of meditation therapy on fear of disease progress and mental health among acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients. Methods: Totally, 120 cases of acute myocardial infarction patients admitted to Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University were divided into experimental group and control group according to the enrolled time. 60 patients with AMI treated from June to November 2018 served as the control group and 60 patients with AMI treated from January to May 2019 served as the experimental group. The patients in the control group received routine nursing, the experimental group carried out 4-week meditation therapy based on the routine nursing. Before and after intervention, the effect was assessed by Fear of Progression Questionnaire- ................................

 Conclusion: Meditation therapy can effectively decrease disease progress and promote mental health in patients with acute myocardial infarction. 

Read more at DOI 10.3760/cma.j.cn211501-20200929-04054

Covid: Cardiff mum trains to become nurse after husband's death

 

A mum-of-three whose husband died with Covid wants to become a nurse after seeing the "compassion" he was shown in hospital. (Nov 16)

Rachel Ohene-Adjei's husband, Eric, 46, died in April after seven weeks in intensive care at University Hospital of Wales (UHW), Cardiff.

Rachel said a consultant held her hand as she said goodbye to her husband.

She has started studying GCSE maths and English again on the road to her new career.

Read more at BBC News

Dementia breakthrough: The daily food to eat that 'strongly' reduces the risk of decline

 

THE THREAT of dementia looms large across the rich world, with people living longer than ever before. Fortunately, research continues to suggest brain decline can be frustrated, if not prevented. A recent study suggests a daily intake of a particular food is "strongly" predictive of a reduced risk.

............

Greater age-related FI decline increases Alzheimer’s disease risk, and recent studies suggest that certain dietary regimens may influence rates of decline.

However, it is uncertain how long-term food consumption affects FI among adults with or without familial history of Alzheimer's.

To fill in the gaps, researchers in the study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease examined how the total diet is associated with long-term cognition among mid-to-late-life populations at-risk and not-at-risk for Alzheimer's.

Among 1,787 mid-to-late-aged adult UK Biobank participants, 10-year FI trajectories were modelled and mapped onto dietary decisions based on self-reported intake of 49 whole foods from a Food Frequency Questionnaire.

UK Biobank is a large-scale biomedical database and research resource, containing in-depth genetic and health information from half a million UK participants.

After conducting their analysis, researchers found daily cheese intake "strongly" predicted better FI trajectory scores over time...

Read more at Express.co.uk

Dementia: Common over-the-counter medication linked to '44 percent' increased risk

 

DEMENTIA risk could rise by a whopping 44 percent if you take certain over-the-counter medication.  Express.co.uk / Dr Marilyn Glenville PhD.

"Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a medication to help reduce acid reflux," said Dr Glenville. "They are now thought to increase the risk of developing dementia by 44 percent because they increase the level of beta-amyloid in the brain." Experts at the Alzheimer's Association described beta-amyloid as a "microscopic brain protein". The amyloid hypothesis is that the sticky compound accumulates in the brains of dementia patients, disrupting communication between brain cells.

The Alzheimer's Society added: "According to the amyloid hypothesis, these stages of beta-amyloid aggregation disrupt cell-to-cell communication and activate immune cells.

"These immune cells trigger inflammation. Ultimately, the brain cells are destroyed."

Dr Glenville warned there are "several" other over-the-counter medicine that could have an impact on the way the brain works.

Anticholinergics – found in treatments for colds, flu, heartburn, and sleep problems – "block the chemical acetylcholine that your body needs to transmit electrical impulses between nerve cells".

Read More at Express.co.uk

‘It’s like a miracle’: The man who may be the first person cured of type 1 diabetes

 

 

Brian Shelton’s life was ruled by type 1 diabetes. When his blood sugar plummeted, he would lose consciousness without warning. He crashed his motorcycle into a wall. He passed out in a customer’s yard while delivering mail. Following that episode, his supervisor told him to retire, after a quarter-century in the US Postal Service. He was 57.

His ex-wife, Cindy Shelton, took him into her home in Elyria, Ohio. “I was afraid to leave him alone all day,” she said. Early this year, she spotted a call for people with type 1 diabetes to participate in a clinical trial by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The company was testing a treatment developed over decades by a scientist who vowed to find a cure after his baby son and then his teenage daughter got the disease.

Read more at the Irish Times

Supplements offer ‘significant’ gains for Alzheimer sufferers

 The first trial of its kind on the impact of nutritional supplements on people with Alzheimer’s disease has shown significant improvements in patient mood, ability to function and memory, a conference has heard.

Prof John Nolan of the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) at Waterford Institute of Technology said the findings are “significant” for treatment of the condition. Prof Nolan co-led the two-year study mainly in the southeast of Ireland.

“This is not a silver bullet, but this is really important,” he told The Irish Times.

“We are spending billions of euro on medicines that don’t work in Alzheimer’s disease. We have to use this information now. It is not going to fix this disease but can it help with the symptoms of the disease.”

Read more at the Irish Times

September is Yoga Month

 

Yoga is an ancient and complex practice, rooted in Indian philosophy. It began as a spiritual practice but has become popular as a way of promoting physical and mental well-being. There are many different yoga styles, ranging from gentle practices to physically demanding ones. Differences in the types of yoga used in research studies may affect study results. This makes it challenging to evaluate research on the health effects of yoga.

 

Research suggests that yoga may:

• Help improve general wellness by relieving stress, supporting good health habits, and improving mental/emotional health, sleep, and balance.
• Relieve low-back pain and neck pain, and possibly pain from tension-type headaches and knee osteoarthritis.
• Help people who are overweight or obese lose weight.
• Help people quit smoking.
• Help people manage anxiety or depressive symptoms associated with difficult life situations.
• Relieve menopause symptoms.
• Help people with chronic diseases manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.

Find out more about the health effects of yoga and get tips on how to practice yoga safely from our “Yoga for Health” eBook.

Download Yoga for Health eBook from NCCIH

Scientific innovations harness noise and acoustics for healing

From the original stethoscope, invented more than 200 years ago, to the fleeting chirp of gravitational waves, sound has reverberated throughout the history of technological and scientific advances.

Today, the role of sound in science extends beyond the range of audible frequencies: Ultrasonic and other silent acoustic waves have made their way into researchers’ repertoire, helping them push the boundaries of conventional medicine and research. 

In examples from four Stanford labs, scientists are investigating the full spectrum, harnessing the nuances of noise and the power of acoustics to generate inventive, if not unexpected, technologies that show just how potent the combination of sound and science can be.

Read more at Standford Medicine

24 inspiring women (you might not know of) who are changing the world

Image by Jeyaratnam Caniceus from Pixabay

To mark International Women’s Day, we’re shining a light on 24 inspiring women who may have escaped your radar. From food to foreign policy, and from electronics to economics, they’re all changing the world by working on solutions

1. Clare Courtney and Karolina Koścień of Heart & Parcel

Manchester-based Heart & Parcel brings women together to cook and pick up English language skills in the process. With the support of more than 70 volunteers, the women prepare dishes that are then sold (in non-Covid times) at markets and supper clubs. Heart & Parcel was founded by Clare Courtney and Karolina Koścień: friends with a love of food and the connections and relationships that surround it. 

The team has adapted during lockdown, including to set up a YouTube channel full of English language resources and recipe videos from its recently published cookbook. It is also holding an online festival to mark International Women’s Day.

Read more at Positive.News

Immunity from Covid-19 lasts up to six months after infection – Hiqa

Immunity after Covid-19 infection can last up to six months, the State’s health watchdog has advised.

This is twice the 12-week period that currently applies as guidance in Ireland.

Post-infection guidance for close contacts should be extended to six months in line with the new evidence, according to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).

Hiqa’s recommendation will be considered by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet), which had asked it to review the international evidence and expert opinion on the issue.

The studies Hiqa examined were conducted prior to last December. Since then, new variants of Sars-CoV-2 have been found and the vaccine rollout has begun.

Read More on the Irish Times Website

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Information and Guidance

We are currently balancing the needs of the emergency with our ongoing need to protect the public by upholding nursing and midwifery standards in Ireland. We have created this section to provide information on common questions that have been put to us as the regulator of nurses and midwives in the context of COVID-19.

See Guidance from NMBI 

Vitamin D: Can the sunshine vitamin help to put Covid in the shade?

 

Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay 

What would you do if you realised there was a cheap and widely available vitamin that might have the potential to protect us against becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 and help us to fight the virus?

This is a question that Dr Daniel McCartney, a lecturer in human nutrition and dietetics at the Technological University of Dublin, asked himself last year. His answer was to form the Covit-D Consortium with eight fellow medical professionals and academics from different specialist disciplines including respiratory medicine, immunology, geriatric medicine, endocrinology, biochemistry, molecular medicine, public health and nutrition and dietetics.

This group is now calling on the government to recommend a daily dose of 20 to 25 micrograms (mgs) of vitamin D for every Irish adult as a preventative treatment for Covid-19. They also want the government to provide vitamin D supplementation to vulnerable groups such as frontline healthcare workers, those with pre-existing conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure and older adults, especially those living in nursing homes.

Read more at the Irish Examiner

2 new electronic books now available through AIT library to support the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5

 

Dear all

Please find below details and links (using your AIT single sign on credentials) for two new electronic books now available through AIT library to support the Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5. These books are also available through a catalogue search

 

 

DSM-5® Guidebook : The Essential Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
The Mental Health Diagnostic Desk Reference: Visual Guides and More for Learning to Use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR),

 

 

 

Please note: we have also acquired a second (short loan) print copy of Diagnosticand statistical manual of mental disorders : DSM-5.