Change in seasons: Ideal time to review healthy aging habits

  • Author: Health Informer
  • Filed under: Health News
  • Date: Sep 1,2009

Omega-3, Antioxidants and Lutein Crucial to Baby Boomers’ Health

As summer winds down, school schedules may not be top-of-mind for empty-nesters. But keeping with the spirit of the back-to-school season, September provides a perfect time to brush up on nutrition lessons, take stock of your medicine cabinet and challenge your daily health routine.

“While we can still take advantage of summer’s fresh produce, ensuring a consistent supply of whole foods throughout the year can reap benefits for those focused on aging as healthfully as possible,” says Michael E. Rosenbaum, M.D. “Chlorella, a super green food sourced from a fresh water algae, contains the widest range of essential nutrients available in any single food source, including potassium, all B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, iron and 18 vital amino acids.” Though beneficial for all life stages, Sun Chlorella can especially help aging adults thanks to these health rewards:

The Power of Omega-3: Perhaps the most scientifically established nutrients on the market, omega-3 essential fatty acids have been shown to improve cardiovascular health and cognitive function in adults. In addition to being the most easily absorbed form of chlorella thanks to its unique pulverization process, Sun Chlorella brand also contains plant-based omega-3 and omega-6 to help keep your heart strong and mind sharp.

Energy and Antioxidants: As with other green foods, chlorella contains superior levels of chlorophyll, the foundation for plant growth and sustainable life. When considering that Sun Chlorella has the highest amount of protein of any edible plant form, it’s no surprise that regular Sun Chlorella users consistently report increased energy levels. Vitamins C, E and Beta-Carotene content also makes chlorella high in antioxidants — molecules that scavenge free radicals in the body, supporting healthy aging.

Seeing Green: While many vision factors are beyond our control, adequate levels of vitamin A and especially lutein — a naturally occurring carotenoid found in leafy greens — have exhibited positive clinical results with two eye-related conditions. First, lutein’s ability to increase macula pigmentation has been shown to have a direct effect on preventing Age-related Macular Degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss. Lutein’s role in cataract prevention — which affects a reported 20.5 million Americans over age 40 — has also been suggested in human clinical trials.

Source: www.sunchlorellausa.com


A high-tech device that expands the visual field of patients with tunnel vision has passed a collision test in a walking simulator, according to scientists at Schepens Eye Research Institute, in a study published in the September issue of Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science.

The study found that patients wearing this innovative device, consisting of a tiny camera, pocket-sized computer and a transparent computer display on a pair of glasses, were able to correctly judge potential collisions when “walking” in a virtual shopping mall. (Incorrect judgment could result in over reaction and actually contribute to an accident.)

“This is additional evidence that these glasses can help people with this debilitating condition,” says Dr. Eli Peli, who invented them several years ago and has been testing and refining them ever since.

In previous research, Peli and his team found that the glasses significantly improved a person’s ability to detect objects not in his/her visual field. The current study is the first to test the glasses while a person is in a potential collision situation.

Approximately one in 50 Americans over age 40 suffers from an eye disease, such as glaucoma or retinitis pigmentosa, that can lead to tunnel vision. Tunnel vision occurs when peripheral or side vision is destroyed, leaving only a small window of central vision. Tunnel vision can often cause the individual to bump into or trip over obstacles. “Navigating city streets or buildings can be quite challenging,” says Dr. Peli.

To deal with tunnel vision, patients have relied on long canes to warn them of obstacles just in front of them. Glasses that act as reverse binoculars, miniaturizing and pulling in the missing parts of their visual field, have been tried in the past, but made things so small that detailed visual information is sacrificed.

With Peli’s glasses, the transparent display allows patients to retain their ability to see detailed visual information, while also viewing a superimposed minified outline version of a wider visual field. The tiny computer-video system provides updated outline information 30 times per second. When a patient becomes aware of a possible obstacle or important object in the superimposed outline image, he/she can avoid bumping into or tripping over it.

Because the minified outline can strongly distort perception of distance and obstacle location, and only provides coarse information about the scene, Peli and his team wanted to know if patients were able to use the device to make correct judgments about potential collisions. They tested normally sighted subjects and tunnel vision patients in a large virtual mall environment that presented a series of collision scenarios — people and objects appearing from different distances and directions. They asked the subjects to estimate the risk of collision in these scenarios with and without wearing the tunnel vision device.

The team found that, even without any adaptation or training, all tested subjects were able to make decisions using the device as accurately as when directly looking at obstacles with natural vision. The distortion of minification did not seem to affect their judgment.

The research team, which includes Dr. Gang Luo and Dr. Russell L. Woods, says that the next step is to refine the device and evaluate its utility in patients’ daily life.

“From this study, we had an idea about how we could make an intelligent collision detection system. We have started to develop such a system that can automatically provide warnings about potential collisions. It can help patients with tunnel vision, as well as completely blind people,” says Dr. Luo.

Schepens Eye Research Institute is the largest independent eye research institute in the nation and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School.

Source: Schepens Eye Research Institute


New Index Measures Impact of Economy on Healthcare Experience of Consumers

Americans have grown increasingly confident about their ability to pay for healthcare services.

A new report — Thomson Reuters Healthcare Indexes(TM): Consumer Confidence — found that consumer confidence related to healthcare expenditures increased 12 percent between March and July.

The analysis is based on telephone surveys of 3,000 households each month from March through July 2009 — part of the Thomson Reuters PULSE Healthcare Survey. PULSE polls more than 100,000 U.S. households each year about their healthcare behaviors, attitudes and utilization, making it the nation’s largest and longest running privately funded healthcare survey.

Consumers were asked about their ability to pay for medical care and the likelihood they would postpone or cancel care during the next three months due to economic concerns.

Here are the key findings:
– Healthcare Consumer Confidence Rises: Overall consumer confidence increased 12 percent between March and July.
– Payment Confidence Index Up 18 Percent: A sub-index reflecting respondents’ belief that they will be able to pay for their healthcare expenses in the next three months rose 18 percent during the study period.
– Patients Say They Are Less Likely to Postpone Care: Sub-indexes that reflect respondents’ anticipated ability to access routine care, urgent care, medical testing, elective surgery and therapies all increased between 8 percent and 15 percent.
– Older Americans Most Confident: Overall confidence levels and rate of improvement of confidence were both highest among seniors.
– Insurance Coverage Has Powerful Effect on Confidence: Those without insurance coverage had overall confidence levels 80 percent lower than
average in July.

“These findings are consistent with data we’ve been seeing for everything from hospital discharge trends to opinions about healthcare reform,” said Gary Pickens, chief research officer for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters and lead author of the study. “There is growing optimism among many healthcare consumers, but also is a clear disparity in outlook between those with higher income levels who have insurance coverage and those who are uninsured. This gap needs to be an area of focus for healthcare professionals and policymakers.”

A copy of the study is available here (free registration required). This analysis is part of a series of research papers assessing the impact of the current recession on the healthcare system.

Source: Thomson Reuters


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