We all forget things, so why is the biggest fear for most baby boomers cognitive decline? It is natural for cognitive performance to gradually decline with age. However, if we neglect exercise, good nutrition, sleep, and using our brains productively, more severe cognitive issues can threaten our independence and quality of life in older age. None of us wants to think we might be heading for dementia, yet ignoring early warning signs will not change the outcome, and we lose the early intervention advantage to slow or even halt any further decline. According to the experts, most people experience some cognitive loss by age 60, with widespread declines by age 75 (Schaie, Willis, & Caskie, 2004). The great news is there is now a fun interactive way we can assess our cognitive…
A team of researchers in 1986 from the University of the West Indies undertook an experiment that has changed our thinking about how to help children succeed. Poor Jamaican families with infants and toddlers were divided into groups. One group received hour-long home visits once a week from a trained researcher who encouraged the parents to spend more time playing actively with their children: reading picture books, singing songs, playing peekaboo. Another group of children received a kilogram of a milk-based nutritional supplement each week. The third control group received nothing. The interventions ended after two years, however the researchers continued to follow the children ever since. The results were surprising in that the added nutrition did not make the biggest difference; it was the encouragement of the parents to play.…
The value of feeling that we matter and make a difference should not be downplayed. Even if our careers and family life do not give us a sense of making a difference there are opportunities and great causes in our local area that will help us experience that feeling again. National Volunteer Week (21- 27 May 2018) has just passed. It was a week-long celebration to acknowledge the 6 million Australians who give of their time and skills to help others. Volunteering has been shown to have many positive benefits that go beyond mental and social health. A growing body of evidence suggests that people who give their time to others might also be rewarded with better physical health—including lower blood pressure, reduced stress and a longer lifespan. Volunteering regularly for the right reason,…
The Courier Mail recently reported on some research, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry that showed exercising hard for a minimum of one hour a week can reduce your risk of depression by a staggering 44%. Sweat turns out to be the best happy pill you can take!
The elderly are now being urged to eat their greens, with leafy vegetables in your daily diet said to ward off memory loss. US researchers found a daily serving of greens could make the brain function as if it were 11 years younger. A study of adults aged 58 to 99 showed those who regularly ate greens had a slower decline in memory tests and thinking skills. The vegetables have nutrients thought to protect the brain, including vitamins that block the build-up of proteins that lead to Alzheimer’s. Courier Mail 22/12/17…
Most Australian parents are confused over what constitutes healthy or unhealthy food, with treats now everyday snacks for toddlers and vegetables scarce on dinner plates. The latest Royal Children’s Hospital National Child Health Poll, a quarterly survey of almost 2000 households, has found that with processed foods now the norm, parents are struggling to decipher labels and ingredients, understand how much sugar is added, and appreciate the harm of high-fat, high-sugar foods on the developing brain and body. “It’s not all about parents being too lazy or kids being too fussy, this is showing that it’s actually really challenging to form healthy habits,” poll director and RCH paediatrician Dr Anthea Rhodes said. The survey of 3700 children found that a quarter of parents think fruit drinks are healthier than water;…
Excerpt from Cyndi O’Meara’s article on Wellness Daily website Scientific knowledge and understanding is expanding at an exciting pace. The connection between what we eat and its effect on what we think is no longer in question, yet there is so much more to learn, understand and implement from this emerging field of Gut- Brain connection. You most likely have experienced nervous butterflies at the start of a race or just thinking about speaking in front of a large audience. You have probably also eaten and drunk too much and had brain fog the next day. These everyday examples of the gut-brain connection working in both directions can be familiar to us. Cyndi O’Meara explains that, Stress, inflammation, a sluggish vagus nerve in your enteric nervous system and the microbiome in the gut…
Excerpts from Srini Pillay, MD article on Harvard Health Publishing Most of us recognise the benefits of getting fit, losing excess weight, reducing our stress levels and maintaining a healthy balanced diet. Despite our best intentions, it can be hard to maintain our efforts to improve these areas long term. Unfortunately just picturing ourselves as fitter, slimmer, less stressed and eating well only produces a limited amount of motivational force to actually constantly do something about it. If we think of our motivation level like money in a bank account, when we first decide we must get fit the motivation level tends to be high, so our account is high. Each day we draw some from our account to say, get up early and go exercise. Just imagine how much motivation…
If your child has just started Prep this year, you will have most likely been introduced to the stress of School Lunch! I must admit, I can’t remember it being such a big deal all those years ago when I was at school. It was pretty standard, a vegemite or peanut butter sandwich, a piece of fruit, a square of cheese and a fruit juice popper. Mum didn’t think too much more about it, and I was hungry so I ate it. Mostly we were too busy playing at little lunch so I was more than ready for big lunch. I didn’t have a brain break, mum didn’t have to worry about peanut allergy nor too many sugary drinks, and I certainly didn’t have one of those whizz-bang lunch boxes. Today, school…
In 2018, Speech Pathology Australia is hosting its second Swallowing Awareness Day on Wednesday 14 March. Like breathing, swallowing is essential to everyday life. Humans swallow at least 900 times a day, around three times an hour during sleep, once per minute while awake and even more during meals. Around one million Australians have a swallowing difficulty. Swallowing problems can occur at any stage of life. However, the knowledge of dysphagia and its implications remain largely unknown for most Australians. Swallowing difficulty (dysphagia) is any problem with sucking, swallowing, drinking, chewing, eating, controlling saliva, taking medication, or protecting the lungs from food and drink ‘going the wrong way’. It can be a problem with keeping the lips closed so that food, liquid or saliva doesn’t dribble out. Sometimes, the first sign of a swallowing…
Dr Bruce Ames is a world leader and authority on ageing and nutrition. His published research indicates that vitamin K plays an important role in vital functions within the body and has a significant effect on our longevity. According to the National Health and Medical Research Council, Vitamin K is the family name for a series of essential fat-soluble compounds needed for the chemical modification of a small group of proteins with calcium-binding properties (vitamin K dependent proteins). There are currently no good tests to indicate if we have a vitamin K2 deficiency. Dr Day suggests there are nine signs that could indicate if we are suffering from a vitamin K2 deficiency. These include: You bruise or bleed easily. You have a mouth full of cavities. You have osteoporosis or broken bones. You have heart disease. You have diabetes…
A woman named Heidi recently contacted the ABC Radio Perth Afternoons program and said that if she did not have a coffee for 10 hours, she suffered from nausea, headaches and shaking. While her symptoms might sound extreme, they are not uncommon or surprising, according to Laura Bajurny from the Alcohol and Drug Foundation. Coffee is a drug, a highly addictive drug at that, which is something that is easy to lose sight of considering how important it is to many people's lives. Persistent regular use creates a physical dependence or addiction. Cutting back is often difficult due the habitual social element as well as the chemical dependence. Caffeine is a powerful stimulant used to avoid feeling sleepy. While hard for adults to overdose on, children and teenagers are far more…
invites you to An Introduction to Hanna Somatics Learn easy and subtle movements to release chronically tight muscles. Regain mobility and move effectively with Hanna Somatics movements. In the workshop you will Learn about the three stress reflexes that Thomas Hanna identified and how to release these patterns in your movement. Learn a simple daily routine to awaken your body. Receive handouts on the three reflexes and movements. Receive an audio recording on the movements lesson. When: Thursday 22nd March 2018, 6:30pm-8:30pm. Where: Tyack Health Rehab Room, 148 Radford Road, Manly West, QLD. Who: Anyone who would like to move better and feel more comfortable in his or her body. Cost: $45.00. Spaces are limited to eight people. Please book your space by phoning Tyack Health reception on 3249 5333 or email andrearandall@tyackhealth.com.au. Please contact Andrea if you have any questions or…
"Evidence has long suggested that physical fitness may help to prevent dementia, but the latest study suggests it could ward off memory loss in those already living with it. A study suggests it is never too late to benefit from exercise, even after being diagnosed with the disease. When 70 pensioners were tested on memory and thinking skills, those with dementia who had better balance, strength and general fitness received better scores. Researchers led by University College London suggest this is because physical activity helps stimulate blood circulation in the front of the brain. Lead author Alice Hollamby said: “We understand that living with dementia poses many challenges … and the idea of improving their physical fitness may seem like an unachievable target. However, we encourage increased physical fitness in…
Research shows that shared reading experiences are highly beneficial for young people. Yet Senior Lecturer in Education, Murdoch University, Margaret Kristin Merga has discovered that nearly three-fifths of the WA children studied in her research reported that they were not being read to at home.
Excerpts from Dr John Day’s article ‘5 Life Secrets that Centenarians Know’.
Manly West local, Natalie Lynch, wants to see people use creativity to make positive changes to their lives. Combining her years of experience teaching Art in both Primary and Secondary schools, with her Art Therapy qualifications, Natalie started Studio Yellow.
Stress and stressful conditions can have serious physical and emotional consequences. Long term or extreme stress can cause conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder or break down. Both of which can have life time impacts. Because none of us know just how far we can push our stress limits before it’s too late, our best defence is to develop a way to manage stress at levels we know are manageable and within healthy limits.
It’s called walking, and the scientist says we should consider it just as important as any healthy food we eat. Reality TV shows have helped build a mental barrier in our minds that getting fit needs to be hard, expensive and time exhaustive. It doesn’t.
Rheumatic conditions is a broad term used to describe a range of disorders of the joints and connective tissues including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), gout, systemic sclerosis, psoriatic arthropathy and systemic lupus erythematosus. These diseases are a leading cause of disability in adults. This New Zealand study looked at how Rheumatic conditions are generally managed by podiatrists and the results demonstrated poor integration of podiatrists into multidisciplinary teams caring for patients with arthritic conditions. Few podiatrists reported being part of an established multidisciplinary team and sited barriers to inclusion.
