FOOD SAFETY AND 120 AND BEYOND

 Click HERE FOR BLACK PLASTIC, HEAT, AND LEACHING CHEMICALS

Source: The Atlantic

Better to be safe: Cooking with black plastic is something we should avoid as heat energizes harmful plastic compounds to migrate into our food. 

"People with the highest blood levels of PBDEs, a class of flame retardants found in black plastic, had about a 300 percent increase in their risk of dying from cancer compared with people who had the lowest levels, according to a study released this year." 

Black plastic food containers may be safe but how do we know if they contain flame retardants some of which are endocrine disruptors that disturb the body's hormone system, and may be associated with thyroid disease, diabetes, and cancer.

“When you’re using black plastic items, there’s going to be a risk that they could be contaminated,” Megan Liu, the science and policy manager at Toxic-Free Future."

This includes black plastic food trays, and children's toys.

HOW TO GET TO 120 AND BEYOND WITH A PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS

I've been diagnosed with the low-risk prostate cancer described in this link:  #1 Click HERE for details:   

"Low-risk prostate cancer often grows very slowly, or doesn't grow at all. Because of this, a treatment approach known as "active surveillance" can be considered as an alternative to radiotherapy or surgery. In this approach, the tumor is monitored regularly and only treated with radiotherapy or surgery if it grows."

Source: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/prostate-cancer/if-you-have-prostate-cancer.html

To be extra vigilant, Dr. Pasin (my excellent urologist) ordered my recent biopsy be sent to a DNA lab for further study to:

"help determine if there is a genetic mutation that increases risk of prostate cancer or if my family is at risk."

But there's been a delay, the lab is heavily backlogged: 

I just talked to Paula, Dr. Pasin's office manager. She has traced the prostate biopsy DNA delay back to an outside lab that is seriously backlogged. At my request she will:  1. ask Pasin to press Dr. Su (at the lab) to expedite. 2. She also agreed to get admin. names and phone numbers at Dr. Su's lab so that I can hound them.  Next, I will research other labs (not backlogged) that will shorten the wait time.      

#2 Click HERE for a decision aid for patients with my diagnosis.

#3   This link describes the genetics of prostate cancer that I've just begun to study since the DNA analysis may require family history information.   

Click HERE for DNA test details:

Source: https://www.urotoday.com/conference-highlights/aua-2021-program/aua-2021-prostate-cancer/131935-aua-2021-genetic-testing-in-advanced-prostate-cancer.html

Click HERE for HOW THE PROSTATE WORKS

While the prostate is part of male anatomy, females have homologous glands: Skene's glands which are a source of PSA, prostate-specific antigen in women.

Click HERE for female prostate.

Click HERE for more details

Additional links:

1. From Saint John's Cancer Institute:

https://www.saintjohnscancer.org/urology/conditions/prostate-cancer/

BETTER HEARING, LONGER HEALTHSPAN

Long ago, Apple entered the HealthSpan market by including an expanding array of sensors into their flagship wearables device: the iWatch. By turning AirPods into starter hearing aids and softening the stigma of wearing hearing aids, people can hear better while outwardly appearing to be listening to their favorite playlist. This feature will be available this fall in a software update for AirPod Pros.

Here's some background from The Atlantic.

“Hearing loss is arguably the single largest risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia,” says Frank Lin, the director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Click HERE for the complete article 

Lin and his colleagues have foundthat mild hearing loss doubles the risk of dementia, and moderate loss triples it. In this context, a hearing aid can look almost like a miracle device for slowing aging: In that same study, Lin also found that among older adults at increased risk for cognitive decline, participants who wore a hearing aid for three years experienced about 50 percent less cognitive loss than the control group.

Click HERE for Apple Hearing Health

NOURISH BRAIN NEURONS FOR BETTER MEMORY

 Ever walk into a room and forget what you were intending to get?  This started happening more often (up to 3 times daily) until Dr. Le, my neurologist, recommended B-12, B-6 Folic Acid for its role in nourishing neurons in the brain and nervous system and improving memory. So this would be a perfect add-in if you have a loved one dealing with memory issues.  But don't take my word for it, check out the research.

From WebMD

"Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that helps the body create DNA, nourishes the brain and nervous system. It occurs naturally in meat, fish, and dairy products.  A lack of B12 can put you at higher risk for a specific type of anemia that makes you feel weak and tired."

Brain Health

"Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient for the neurons in the brain. Brain atrophy, which refers to the loss of neurons in the brain, is associated with memory loss and dementia.

In one randomized trial, older adults with early-stage dementia who were given vitamin B12 supplements to lower their blood homocysteine levels demonstrated a slower rate of cognitive and clinical decline.

Another study found that low B12 levels, even within the normal range, contribute to poor memory performance.  More studies are needed before researchers can be certain of the impact of B12 supplementation on memory loss and dementia." 

Reduced Risk of Macular Degeneration

Supplementing with vitamin B12 is believed to lower homocysteine in the bloodstream, which may help prevent age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that can cause blindness in older adults. In one study of 5,000 women age 40 and up, those who took supplements of vitamins B12, B6, and folic acid had 34% fewer cases of macular degeneration after seven years than a placebo group. Their risk of severe degeneration was 41% lower.

Vitamin B complex and cognition Memory 

FROM THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY INFORMATION   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1123448/#B11

• Conclusions:  There is evidence that folate deficiency may contribute to the cognitive impairment of the ageing brain, sometimes leading to reversible dementia but also increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, perhaps by methylation related processes or by homocysteine mediated vascular or neurotoxic mechanisms.

• One reason for the apparently high incidence of folate deficiency in elderly people is that folate concentrations in serum and cerebrospinal fluid fall and plasma homocysteine rises with age, perhaps contributing to the ageing process.
• In a case-control study of 164 patients with Alzheimer's disease, cognitive decline was significantly associated with raised plasma homocysteine and lowered serum folate (and vitamin B-12) concentrations.
• In a prospective community based study of 370 healthy elderly Swedish subjects, folate or vitamin B-12 deficiency doubled the risk of subsequently developing Alzheimer's disease.  Recently the much larger and longer Farmlingham community based study confirmed that a raised plasma homocysteine concentration doubled the risk of developing Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's dementia.
• The selective effects of folate deficiency on episodic memory were suspected to be related to encoding and retrieval mechanisms. Wahlin et al extended their studies of the same populations to include a wider range of cognitive functions—spatial orientation, visuospatial functioning, perceptual motor speed, attention, short term memory, and verbal fluency. They found an overall effect of folate status on cognitive function, whereas the overall effect of vitamin B-12 status did not approach statistical significance, although it added to the effects of reduced folate status. In particular, there were specific effects on visuospatial functioning, cognitive shift and flexibility, attention, working memory, and phonemic search, but only marginal effects on spatial orientation, primary memory, and category fluency. The pattern of cognitive dysfunction is claimed to resemble that in normal aging—that is, impairment in tasks that involve little structure, are unfamiliar, speeded, and attention demanding and involve complex processing of information.
• Snowden et al studied prospectively 30 elderly nuns from the same environmental and nutritional background. They died at the mean age of 91 (range 78 to 101) years, and half had neuropathological lesions of Alzheimer's disease. Of 18 nutritional factors examined, only serum folate was significantly negatively correlated with atrophy of the neocortex, especially in the 15 nuns with Alzheimer's disease but also in those with minimal atherosclerosis and no infarcts.
• Unusually, folic acid in the form of methylfolate is present in cerebrospinal fluid in humans in concentrations three times greater than in serum.  The active transport mechanism for methylfolate across the blood-brain barrier strictly limits the entry of the vitamin, perhaps for reasons concerned with the excitatory (convulsant) properties of folic acid.

** Some studies suggest that folate deficiency affects the nervous system only at certain not very well defined critically low concentrations of folic acid or high concentrations of homocysteine.

• Other data, especially in relation to some cognitive impairments in otherwise healthy elderly people in the community, suggest more of a continuum, with folate levels related to performance even within the “normal range.” This raises questions about the optimum nutritional environment for the healthy brain, which may not be closely related to arbitrary blood levels.
• further clinical trials in precisely defined clinical categories are needed, but they should be long term (at least six months to one year) as the impact of folate is slow and cumulative over many months, perhaps because blood-brain barrier mechanisms limit entry to the brain. Small doses over the long term may be preferable to larger doses in the short or long term, not least because of risks to the nervous system, especially in vitamin B-12 deficiency and epilepsy.  It is not clear which folate formulation is preferable: folic acid, folinic acid, or perhaps methylfolate (the transport form across the blood-brain barrier).

*****The best way forward may be to undertake large scale community based studies of folate supplementation or food fortification to explore the preventive potential of the vitamin for mood and cognitive disorders. Such studies are being designed or undertaken for the possible prophylaxis of vascular disease and could be adapted to address the question of preventing or reducing depression and dementia, including vascular dementia, while taking into account the special requirements of the nervous system.

From the National Institutes of Health on B-12 

"Vitamin B12 is required for the development, myelination, and function of the central nervous system; healthy red blood cell formation; and DNA synthesis."

Similarly, supplementation with vitamin B12 alone or with other B vitamins does not appear to decrease the risk or slow the progression of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease in older adults. A Cochrane Review evaluated the effects of vitamin and mineral supplements on cognitive function and dementia in people with mild cognitive impairment. Taking these B vitamins for 6 to 24 months had no apparent effect on episodic memory, executive function, speed of processing, or quality of life, although one study found a slower rate of brain atrophy over 2 years."

Here's Mayo Clinic on B-12

"Left untreated, a vitamin B-12 deficiency can lead to anemia, fatigue, muscle weakness, intestinal problems, nerve damage and mood disturbances.  Research on the use of vitamin B-12 for specific activities and conditions shows:

• Heart and blood vessel disease. Studies show that the combination of these vitamins doesn't seem to reduce the risk or severity of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
• Dementia. Vitamin B-12 deficiency is associated with dementia and low cognitive function, but it's not clear whether vitamin B-12 supplements might help prevent or treat dementia."

Slowing the Aging Process

 Mitochondrial clues to slow aging.

Nominated for discussion at an upcoming Tai Chi Salon.

HOW TO AGE WELL STARTING IN YOUR 20'S

 INDEPENDENT LIVING

Most teenagers aspire to be on their own, to live a completely independent life. 

 

"The essence of Independent living is the freedom to make decisions about your own life and to participate fully in your community.”     -- John Evans

 

Most teenagers aspire to be on their own, to live a completely independent life. And we want to have that freedom throughout our lifetime. As adults we loathe the thought of ever going back to having someone else make decisions for us.

So here is a great way to hold on to the freedom of making your own decisions to 120&Beyond.  Imagine your 120th birthday party skiing on the slopes of Mammoth Mountain or Park City.

Click HERE for: IT'S NEVER TO EARLY (or too late) TO THINK ABOUT BONE HEALTH

Photo Credit: NY Times

CREATE A PERSONAL WORK OUT PLAN 

FOR EACH STAGE OF LIFE.

Click HERE for: HOW TO AGE WELL: STARTING IN YOUR 20'S

Includes:

"Exercise for Younger Skin.Exercise not only helps keep the inside of your body healthy, it also appears to slow and even reverse the effects of aging on your most visible organ — the skin. --Tara Parker-Pope

 Click HERE for: YOUNGER SKIN THROUGH EXERCISE

Click HERE for: A NEUROLOGIST'S TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR MEMORY

Click HERE for: SMALL CHANGES IN EATING HABITS CAN LOWER YOUR RISKS FOR MANY DISEASES

On my reading list:

Click HERE for: HREE STEPS TO AGE EXUBERANTLY

 

NATURE BASED GUIDED IMAGERY

Nature Based Guided Imagery reduces anxiety, increases positive pshchological health and wellbeing, enhances vitality, happiness, positive mood and self esteem. See the two research studies cited below. 

 

This is the first of a collection of Relaxation experiences.  Come back often.

 

PROCEDURE: Find a comfortable quiet place (in or out of doors). Listening with headphones is recommended but not required. 

 

A. Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight and your head at the "balancing point" requiring the least amount of muscle power. Start the video: allow your eyes to close (or watch the video and allow your eyes to close at your discretion). Follow the relaxation breathing activity. Follow the muscle relaxation activiey. 

 

B. As an alternative: listen to the sound track lying flat in a comfortable place. 

 

 

HISTORY: Just prior to a science test I would be asked by my students to "walk" them through a 5 minute guided imagery and relaxation exercise so their test performance would increase. I'd previously given them the data from peer reviewed research like this one: 

 

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10778243/ Today there is a greater need for anxiety and stress reduction thrdough Nature Based Guided Imagery. This peer reviewed study provides the data that illuminates the benefits of this activity. 

 

2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6176042/ Here is a quote Jessica Nguyen and Eric Brymer's research in the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine: 

 

Nature and Anxiety Research indicates that nature can facilitate various positive psychological health and wellbeing outcomes (Wheeler et al., 2012; Carrus et al., 2017; Fabjanski and Brymer, 2017; Lawton et al., 2017; Panno et al., 2017; Yeh et al., 2017; Schweitzer et al., 2018). For example, experiences in nature have been shown to enhance vitality (Ryan et al., 2010), happiness (Capaldi et al., 2014), mood and self-esteem (Barton et al., 2011), and reduce stress (Kaplan, 1995).