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They Also Serve Who Can't Stand the Weight
The "Diet" is as American as ... well, apple pie ... served hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream that's topped with melted caramel. Yes, the American lifestyle has achieved such an advanced level of sophistication that most of us can, and do, eat ourselves to death. My twenty-some years as a gerontologist tell me that as much as 75% of our health problems are the result of our American lifestyle. Too much of everything culinary. Too little of anything aerobic. The result, America is a Waist-Land, as in we can't make ends meet when it comes to putting on our belts.
Want to know how most Americans address the problem of being overweight? They feel that as long as they are DOING SOMETHING about IT, they have an excuse for being fat. For example, ever hear someone say "I'm TRYING to lose" as they retrieve another fist full of bread sticks from the basket at the center of the restaurant table. As long as they are DOING SOMETHING (and that something includes merely thinking) about their weight problem, their overeating is acceptable. That's why many Americans continue to gain weight, because they are DOING SOMETHING about it, like making payments on a piece of exercise equipment that they never use.
So what are the dietary options available to these "horizontally challenged", ugly Americans? Right. Go on a diet. But what are our options? By the way, please don't write me saying "fat people are offended by weight-loss advocates". Folks, I've seen fat, and it ain't pretty. So when you've got to shed a few pounds, just what are the options? Plenty. Unfortunately, some of the dietary options can leave you in worse shape AFTER the diet, then before. That's because diets are risky business. That's why our good friends at the National Institute of Health (yep, some tax dollars do go for worthwhile efforts) has categorized various types of diets so that you, the American public, can live more (tax-paying) years longer. Hmmm. And you thought the government publishes educational stuff because they're just a bunch of nice guys. Any how, take a look at these Types of Diets so if, and when, you do choose to lose ... you can pick an effective and healthy weight-loss program.
- Fixed-menu diet
A fixed-menu diet provides a list of all the foods you will eat. This kind of diet can be easy to follow because the foods are selected for you. But, you get very few different food choices which may make the diet boring and hard to follow away from home. In addition, fixed-menu diets do not teach the food selection skills necessary for keeping weight off. If you start with a fixed-menu diet, you should switch eventually to a plan that helps you learn to make meal choices on your own, such as an exchange-type diet.
- Exchange-type diet
An exchange-type diet is a meal plan with a set number of servings from each of several food groups. Within each group, foods are bout equal in calories and can be interchanged as you wish. For example, the "starch" category could include one slice of bread or 1/2 cup of oatmeal; each is about equal in nutritional value and calories. If your meal plan calls for two starch choices at breakfast, you could choose to eat two slices of bread, or one lice of bread and 1/2 cup of oatmeal. With the exchange-type diet plans, you have more day-to-day variety and you can easily follow the diet away from home. The most important advantage is that exchange-type diet plans teach the food selection skills you need to keep your weight off.
- Prepackaged-meal diet
These diets require you to buy prepackaged meals. Such meals may help you learn appropriate portion sizes. However, they can be costly. Before beginning this type of program, find out whether you will need to buy the meals and how much the meals cost. You should also find out whether the program will teach you how to select and prepare food, skills that are needed to sustain weight loss.
- Formula diet
Formula diets are weight-loss plans that replace one or more meals with a liquid formula. Most formula diets are balanced diets containing a mix of protein, carbohydrate, and usually a small amount of fat. Formula diets are usually sold as liquid or a powder to be mixed with liquid. Although formula diets are easy to use and do promote short-term weight loss, most people regain the weight as soon as they stop using the formula. In addition, formula diets do not teach you how to make healthy food choices, a necessary skill for keeping your weight off.
- Questionable diets
You should avoid any diet that suggests you eat a certain nutrient, food, or combination of foods to promote easy weight loss. Some of these diets may work in the short term because they are low in calories. However, they are often not well balanced and may cause nutrient deficiencies. In addition, they do not teach eating habits that are important for long-term weight management.
- Flexible diets
Some programs or books suggest monitoring fat only, calories only, or a combination of the two, with the individual making the choice of both the type and amount of food eaten. This flexible type of approach works well for many people, and teaches them how to control what they eat. One drawback of flexible diets is that some don't consider the total diet. For example, programs that monitor fat only often allow people to take in unlimited amounts of excess calories from sugars, and therefore don't lead to weight loss.
The U.S. Public Health (USPHS) believes that it is important to choose an eating plan that you can live with. The plan should also teach you how to select and prepare healthy foods, as well as how to maintain your new weight. Remember, says USPHS, many people tend to regain lost weight. Eating a healthful and nutritious diet to maintain your new weight, combined with regular physical activity, helps to prevent weight regain.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Brain Chemistry Undermines Low-Fat Diet
Nutrition Labels Really Do Influence Dietary Habits
Deadly Diets of Bulge Battlers
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Genes Don't Always Fit Longevity Profile
Want to live a long time? All you have to do is make it past 70, according to a study reported by the National Council on the Aging (NCOA). In fact, those who reach 75 and are in good health increase their chances of living several decades longer. Additional studies show that Americans live longer after the age of 80 than other national groups. As a case in point, those who live to 75 or 80, the odds of dying in the next several years level off. You might say that once you make it to age 80, you sort of coast the rest of the way.
The recent study reported by NCOA was conducted by the Florida Geriatric Research Program (FGRP) of Morton Plant Mease Health Care. FGRP's study of centenarians suggests that those who live very long lives often share a combination of
- good genes,
- sensible lifetime choices,
- a history of close and happy affiliations,
- a good mental attitude, and
- an ability to accept the limitations that come with longevity.
Three-fourths of the FGRP centenarians had parents who lived well past 80 and into their 90s. One 103-year-old reported that his father lived to be 105. Parents who escaped cancer and stroke seemed to contribute to the chances of their progeny’s doing the same. Heredity, however, is not the whole story. James Rowe, MD gerontologist, president of Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, and director of the MacArthur Foundation Consortium on Successful Aging believes that other factors are more important. "Only about 30 percent of the characteristics of aging are genetically determined. The other 70 percent are linked to lifestyle," he says.
So what characteristics make up that other 70 percent?
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GOOD HEALTH
Few had experienced serious illness in the past 20 years of their lives.
The majority had never smoked.
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EDUCATION
40% of the FGRP respondents reported they had college educations, a percentage that seems remarkably high when one considers that most folks didn't attend college in the early 1900s.
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STRONG MARRIAGES
These elders had long marriages, ranging 70 to 30 years.
To sum it all up, most centenarians do seem to have learned to deal with life on its own terms, to accept the loss of loved ones and optimistic. With assistance from advanced medical technology and miracle drugs, society can expect the number of these centenarians to increase dramatically in the future.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Timing of Childbirth Linked to Longevity
Gerontologists Seek Longevity Prescription
Is Longevity An Equal Opportunity Event?
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Link to Alzheimer's Linked to Strokes
Aging is a strange phenomenon. You might say it's a good news, bad news situation. The good news is that medical science makes daily progress on fighting the diseases of aging. The bad news is that no matter how long you live, you're gonna die of something, sometime. Well, if you're the type that gets rattled by good news, bad news scenarios, you just might want to skip this article, because it's a bad news, worse news scenario. Meaning, some folks suffering from stroke are at an even greater risk to alzheimer's disease. (Have a nice day.)
Scientists already know that people who have inherited the E-4 variant of the apolipoprotein (apo) gene are at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease. Now they say that having the gene may also signal a higher likelihood of having stroke or another vascular disease in the brain. The study’s lead scientist, Charles DeCarli, M.D., says that people who have the apoE-4 gene variant and high blood pressure have smaller brain volumes and more abnormal white matter in the brain and thus may be more susceptible to "silent strokes," which take a toll over time.
The research findings were presented at the 24th American Heart Association International Conference on Stroke and Cerebral Circulation. Not only do the brain changes lead to a gradual deterioration of memory and motor skills, they also may place the person at risk for Alzheimer’s disease, says Dr. DeCarli. "When you go swimming, you wear a bathing suit instead of pants so that you won’t be weighed down when you get in the water," explains DeCarli, of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas. "By the same token, a smaller brain volume, excess white matter abnormalities or silent stroke, can ‘weigh you down’ and make you more susceptible to the effects of early Alzheimer’s disease."
DeCarli says people who have the apoE-4 gene variant and high blood pressure or other vascular
risk factors are at particularly high risk of having a stroke. Vascular disease affects the blood vessels
in the brain, says DeCarli. "People who do not have vascular disease and apoE-4 are not harmed, but if you have high blood pressure or other vascular disease and this apoE-4 gene allele, it really hurts your brain," says DeCarli. "It sets you up for some cognitive impairment. It reinforces the genetic risk for brain injury related to hypertension and vascular disease as you age."
Researchers are not sure how apoE-4 affects the brain, but DeCarli notes, "The apoE-4 may impair
brain recovery from injury of any type, whether it’s Alzheimer’s or other vascular disease or head
trauma. Having apoE-4, therefore, may increase one’s chances of a poor outcome following any
brain injury." In silent strokes, people don’t have any of the classic warning signs such as sudden headaches, dizziness or loss of motor skills. Silent strokes occur when smaller blood vessels in the brain are blocked or rupture. Silent strokes aren’t as damaging, at least initially, as strokes that occur when the carotid arteries in the neck are blocked or burst. But silent strokes do take their toll over time. When the smaller vessels are unable to deliver oxygen and blood to the brain, cells die. Over time, brain cells that control functions such as memory and motor skills die off, leading to difficulty in memory, concentration and even walking.
Men who did not have the gene variant had 3.3 cubic centimeters of their brains affected by
silent stroke. Those who had apoE-4 had more than three times -- 10.4 cubic centimeters -- the
amount of white matter hyperintensities in their brain.
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Aspirin Alone Protects Some Against Stroke
Can Super-Aspirin Prevent Alzheimers?
Genetics Offers New Clue to Alzheimer's
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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Budget Cuts Deep Wound In Medicare
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) has called President Clinton's fiscal 2000 budget proposal a mixed bag for Americans needing long term care. President Clinton's proposal to launch a $10 million long term care public education initiative is an important step in helping Americans understand that Medicare does not cover most long term care services," said AHCA Vice President Linda Keegan. "Unfortunately, while giving with one hand, the President has taken away with the other." Yep, you gotta really keep your eyes on ol' Bill's hands.
In his fiscal 2000 budget, the President also proposed dramatic cuts in the amount Medicare pays nursing homes for bad debt. This cut comes on the heels of deep cuts in Medicare payments to providers, including inadequate funding of a new prospective payment system for skilled nursing facilities. "Fixing Medicare for seniors means more than simply fixing the trust fund," says Keegan. "As Americans live longer, they are more likely to develop chronic or debilitating illnesses. Under the president's budget, seniors' access to Medicare long term care services will continue to be limited, and the additional cuts will ultimately hurt providers' ability to offer quality services."
Keegan urged the Administration to deal with long term care as health policy, not budget policy. "The Administration's goals of cost control are noble, but more cuts simply inhibit providers' ability to deliver needed quality services."
See related articles in the AgeVenture archives.
Quality Patient Care Counts on Nurse Count
Medicare's MSA Risky Business for Seniors
Is The New Medicare Careless Healthcare?
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
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