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Some fermented foods contain probiotics, beneficial microorganisms that can live in your intestines. These microorganisms help you stay healthy, potentially improving your immune function and reducing damaging inflammation. Eating prebiotics—high-fiber foods that are a source of nutrition for these healthful microorganisms—is essential to help these beneficial microorganisms grow and thrive.
Your eyes undergo natural changes that affect your vision as you age, but you are also more likely to develop eye diseases that may threaten your vision. These include age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Women are more likely than men to develop age-related eye diseases, partially because they live longer. Getting regular vision care and following a healthy lifestyle can help ensure that your vision remains intact.
Medical errors are less common than they used to be, but they still happen. Medication errors are particularly problematic. Being knowledgeable about medications, asking questions, and speaking up when something doesn’t sound right can help prevent many of these mistakes.
Lifestyle changes, such as 30 minutes of daily exercise, a healthy diet, and maintaining a normal body weight, may help to prevent symptoms related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
A study published Jan. 14, 2021, in TheNew England Journal of Medicine found that a combination drug therapy may provide some hope in helping people with methamphetamine use disorder.
A new study found women who reported using marijuana had more difficulty getting pregnant than women who didn’t use it.
Falls cause many serious and sometimes fatal injuries. For example: fractures can cause people to become temporarily or permanently disabled; long periods recuperating in bed can lead to pneumonia; and head injuries can trigger bleeding in the space between the skull and the brain. People who fall and are unable to move for hours may develop a potentially life-threatening breakdown of muscle tissue that can cause kidney failure. With so much at stake, it’s crucial to do everything possible to avoid falls, such as addressing underlying conditions that cause imbalance.
An mRNA vaccine is a new approach to vaccination. It induces human immune cells to make the same protein that’s on the surface of a virus, which then educates the immune system to attack the virus. In the case of the COVID-19 vaccine, the mRNA gets cells to produce the spike protein that’s on the virus. An mRNA vaccine may also have the potential to treat other conditions, such as cancer. There has already been some success in treating melanoma with an mRNA vaccine.
While over-the-counter hearing aids aren’t yet approved by the FDA, the devices are already in existence and are currently called “personal sound amplification products,” or PSAPs. They’re intended for people with perceived mild or moderate hearing loss. But not all PSAPs are the same. Experts recommend finding a PSAP that has easy-to-use controls and apps, customer service with advice about operating the devices, and a money-back guarantee with a 60-day return window. The devices should have several microphones, noise cancellation, and the ability to be customized to an individual’s needs.
Overseeing care for a loved one who is in a nursing home or an assisted living facility is challenging when phone calls are the primary means of communication. Asking certain questions during a phone call with a loved one—such as whether the person has seen anyone that day or been outside of his or her room—may offer clues. When speaking with staff, it helps to inquire about the loved one’s social contacts, mood, muscle strength, eating and sleeping habits, medication changes, continence, hygiene, and thinking skills.