Category: harvardhealth_news_UNDEFINED

A strong core can stabilize your spine to help keep your lower back healthy and pain-free. The muscles, ligaments, and nerves surrounding the spine can weaken with age or from an injury, which can make movements like twisting, stretching, lifting, and bending difficult. The “big three” exercises—the curl-up, the side plank, and the bird-dog—can help develop a stable spine by strengthening the entire core musculature, from the abdominals to the whole back.

During his lifetime, a man loses about 30% of his muscle mass. Older men can maintain and even regain muscle by combining regular weight training and a proper diet, including adequate amounts of protein. Research suggests that to help counter lost muscle mass, healthy older adults need 1.2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day. This is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in pounds by 2.2 and then multiplying by 1.2.

Approximately one in three people ages 65 to 74 has age-related hearing loss. Research continues to show that people with hearing loss who get fitted for hearing aids tend to be more active. Some science has even suggested wearing hearing aids is linked with fewer cognitive issues and a lower risk of depression and dementia.

Researchers found that high levels of nonsexual intimate touch, such as hugging, holding hands, and cuddling, was associated with greater relationship satisfaction.

Scientists continue to explore the health benefits vs. risks of aspirin therapy. One new analysis suggests that regularly taking aspirin may protect against several types of digestive tract cancers, such as bowel, stomach, gallbladder, esophageal, pancreatic, and liver cancers.

Scientists found that slower gait speed and cognitive decline may be related, as both may be affected by similar factors, such as atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and abnormal deposits of beta-amyloid and tau proteins in the brain.

Strokes can be prevented through lifestyle changes, such as exercising more, quitting smoking, losing weight, or eating a healthy diet, even if changes aren’t made until midlife, according to a study by Harvard researchers. Compared with women who didn’t make beneficial lifestyle changes, women who quit smoking, lost weight, or exercised for 30 minutes or more each day had an estimated 25% reduction in stroke risk, and women who ate a healthier diet had an estimated 23% reduction in risk.

Not all cases of urinary incontinence can be prevented, but a woman can reduce her risk by maintaining a healthy weight, quitting smoking, and exercising regularly. Kegel exercises can strengthen the muscles in the pelvis that support the bladder.

Walking an average of an hour a day may reduce a woman’s risk of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week.

Anxiety can produce physical symptoms, such as headaches, stomach upset, and tightness in the chest. Sometimes this sets up a vicious cycle, in which anxiety triggers physical symptoms, and the symptoms magnify anxiety, which makes them even worse. Doing distracting tasks or relaxation exercises can help break this cycle. People should seek professional help if symptoms can’t be controlled.