Can You Prevent Age Related Macular Degeneration?

Age related macular degeneration affects an estimated 30 million people worldwide at an estimated cause of $300 billion dollars. The cause of this problem has been debated for years without  total agreement. Currently our understanding is that a number of factors are involved. First of all there is a genetic predisposition to develop macular degeneration. If someone in your immediate family has macular degeneration, your risk for developing it is about 70%. This is a higher rate of genetic predisposition than many other diseases.

Secondly, oxidative stress is a contributing factor. We have written extensively about oxidative stress in our book Live Longer Live Healthier. The retina is an organ that consumes large amounts of oxygen, a feature that makes it especially vulnerable to damage from free radicals that are produced as a by product of the cellular metabolism. To learn more about how free radicals are generated by your own body read the chapter on this subject in our book.

The third factor that contributes to the development of macular degeneration is environmental. Smoking is definitely a major causative factor. A poor diet is another. As we get older our metabolism tends to slow down and for most people less food is consumed. The aging body also has a reduced ability to absorb micronutrients from the gut contributing to nutrient deficiencies.

This problem is so severe that an estimated 5 to 10 % of adults over the age of 65 are clinically malnourished.  In another study it was found that 35% of patients in long term facilities were considered to be malnourished despite having access to proper nutrition. Furthermore a comprehensive nutritional survey in 2009 found that in patients over the age of 50, almost 50% did not meet their recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C and 90% did not meet the RDA for betacarotene, lutein or zeaxanthin.

A large study on nutrition and macular degeneration performed in Rotterdam concluded that a healthy diet rich in green leafy vegetables and fish was sufficient to prevent or delay the onset of macular degeneration. Unfortunately most older adults do not eat enough of the foods necessary to meet these criteria; therefore there is the need to supplement with the necessary micronutrients. We will discuss this in our next post.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

What Works Best For Knee Arthritis?

Our knees suffer from wear and tear over the years. It has been estimated that about one in seven adults will develop osteoarthritis of the knee. This percentage increases as we get older and goes even higher if we become obese. Unfortunately there is no cure for this problem other than surgery, but what has been learned about medical treatments?

There have been some controlled studies on the medical treatment of knee arthritis. The results published in the Annals of Internal Medicine contained some surprises.

The least effective drug was acetaminophen (Tylenol) even though it is the most commonly recommended. It was only slightly better than a placebo. The best of the oral drugs for pain relief was diclofenac, followed by ibuprofen and then naproxen. Celebrex was only slightly more effective than tylenol.

The most effective treatment for knee pain was an injection. There are basically two types of compounds injected into the knee for pain. One is a corticosteroid (cortisone). The other is hyaluronic acid (synvisc). Either of these were more effective than an injected placebo. A very interesting observation was that an injected placebo was as beneficial as any of the oral drugs. We are not surprised by this observation because it well known that the placebo effect is very powerful. In simple terms it means that if we are told that something will help us, chances are that it will.

A final thought that we repeat over and over again is that exercise and weight loss are important for overall health as well as reducing pain from arthritis of the knee.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Live Longer Live Healthier

Live Longer Live Healthier is the title of our new book. In the opening chapters we point out that Americans are living longer, but because of the poor lifestyle choices that most of us  make when we are younger, most of us will live the extra years in poor health.  This information to back this statement is readily available.

In the book we emphasize that the habits we cultivate when we are younger will profoundly affect the quality of our life as we get older. There is solid scientific evidence for this statement. For example a recent study published in the journal Circulation analyzed data on 1,478 healthy participants in the Framingham Heart Study. They found that the longer participants had elevated cholesterol during the prior 20 years  the greater their risk of having a heart attack after age 55. In fact for each decade that they had elevated cholesterol the risk for having a heart attack increased by almost 40%.

When it comes to matters of your health an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound  of cure.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Exercise To Calm Your Mind

Exercise is a cornerstone of the TriEnergetics program along with proper eating and stress management. Imagine my surprise when in the opinion column of the weekend Wall Street Journal I saw an article extolling the virtue of exercise as a refuge from the racket of everyday life. Better than that the article referred to some very important figures in literature and philosophy.

For example the danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said that "Health and salvation can only be found in motion."

Joseph Addison an 18th century English essayist said that exercise promotes a well tempered mind. He wrote, "I exercise my self an hour every morning upon a dumb bell that is placed in a corner of the room." Although I don't exactly understand or agree with what he did, I laud the effort.

Robert Frost ended a 1946 poem "Directive" with this advice. "Here are your waters and your watering place. Drink and be whole again beyond confusion." We agree and advise everyone to to use exercise not only as a physical outlet but as a method for finding inner peace.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

How To Improve Your Memory

Do You Want To Improve Your Brain Fitness?

Many of us are concerned about how to stay sharp mentally. There is a lot of interest and a lot of money spent on mind games that have been designed to exercise your brain. There are also mobile apps such as Luminosity and Fit Brains that claim to boost cognitive ability and ward off mental decline.

Do they actually work?

David Linden a professor of neuroscience at the John Hopkins School of Medicine doesn't think so. He says "the effects are small and don't last very long."

So if the games don't work what does? Dr. Linden believes that the best way to maintain mental fitness is with physical exercise. "Walking 30 minutes a day has a greater effect than playing any brain game. Even moderate, low intensity exercise is five times more beneficial to cognitive tasks than playing brain games on your iPad" he says.

Research has shown that exercise increases the volume of the brain and elevate patters of activity. The effects are especially beneficial for middle aged people.

The bottom line is clear. Exercise your brain by exercising your body.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Healthy Eating

The dietary buzz word in the 1980's was low fat. In order to avoid fat the manufacturers created a new generation of "healthy" low fat treats. A perfect example are the SnackWells. All of these low fat foods had two things in common.

• They had less fat
• They had more empty calories from carbohydrates.

Think of carbohydrates as sugar because your metabolism rapidly converts starches to sugar.

As Americans ate more low fat foods and more empty calories they gradually became fatter and fatter. The result is the obesity epidemic that is now the number one public health problem. The reason  for the weight gain is easy to explain. It has to do with blood chemistry.  Remember carbohydrates are sugar. A bagel is no different than a candy bar. It is basically a carbohydrate that becomes sugar after it is digested. Sugar stimulates the body to produce insulin. Insulin in turn drives the fat cells into storage overdrive. This causes weight gain.

As people continue to overdose on low fat high carbohydrate foods their cells become more resistant to insulin. This causes them to gain even more weight and also increases their insulin resistance. The result in many instances is Type 2 diabetes.

The lessons to be learned is that fat in your diet is not necessarily bad. Refined carbohydrates in your diet are always bad. Eating a reasonable diet with a balance between protein, fats and whole grains is always good.

You are what you eat. A good rule to follow before taking a bite is to ask yourself whether this particular food will nourish me or it it just empty calories. To learn more about healthy eating refer to our book TriEnergetics.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net

Coconut Oil To Treat Alzheimer's

 According a recent book, coconut oil reduces the symptoms of Alzheimer's. Is this to good to be true? We think it is, but let's look at the science that attempts to explain  how coconut oil might improve the symptoms of Alzheimer's.

It has been proposed that ketones may help treat various neurological diseases. Ketones are the byproducts of the breakdown of fat in the body. Small amounts are normal, but in cases of severe fasts, uncontrolled diabetes or a very low carbohydrate diet abnormal amounts of ketones accumulate in the blood. This is a very serious medical condition and requires urgent and vigorous treatment.

So what does this have to with Alzheimer's disease? Dr. Mary Newport, a pediatrician, wrote a book about improving Alzheimer's symptoms with coconut oil and another medium chain triglyceride MCT. The book is based on her research to improve the condition of her husband whose health was rapidly declining. Her theory, based upon her library research, was that coconut oil would raise the level of ketones in his body. Ketones in turn were a possible way to reverse or improve his neurological condition.

Dr. Newport began feeding her husband coconut oil and MCT. She reported that this improved his memory, improved his depression and reduced his walking problems. A followup MRI showed that his brain had stopped shrinking. Was it the coconut oil?

We love personal reports like this and we are impressed by the improvement in her husband's condition. Better yet the treatment did not require drugs that were either expensive or having the possibility of serious side effects. Unfortunately it will take a number of controlled studies to prove whether there is some substance in the treatment.

Of course you can try it on a family member or on yourself if you are so inclined. Otherwise we recommend that you follow the advice of the Harry Nilsson song. "Put The Lime in The Coconut" drink it all up, and call the doctor in the morning.

Get more information in our book Live Longer Live Healthier

or visit our website at trienergetics.net