Reverse Aging News 02-10

Give your lover a sensual thrill, not the cause of a heat attack. Chocolate is one of St. Valentine Day's great pleasures. As presented in the anti-aging documentary "Reverse Aging Now" chocolate can be good for you. By choosing chocolate wisely, you can actually reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, the primary cause of death in the industrialized world. More importantly, if you give chocolate as a gift, you blend chocolate's emotional lift with genuine health benefits .

Raw cocoa has more antioxidants than green tea or red wine. Cocoa is also rich in bioflavonoids, especially epicatechin, which is absorbed at high levels. This compound increases blood flow in the arteries, according to a study at the University of California San Francisco. Chocolate is rich in magnesium, which affects nerve transmission, and chromium, which helps control blood sugar. Chocolate is high in fat, but the fat itself is largely oleic acid, the healthy fat also found in olive oil.

However, cheap chocolate is laden with hydrogenated fat, the worse possible type of fat. It both raises your bad cholesterol, LDL, and lowers your good cholesterol, HDL, increasing your risk of artery narrowing which can lead to stroke and heart attack. Avoid milk chocolate, rich in saturated animal fat. So choose a gift that is rich, dark, mildly sweetened to share with your lover in health, savoring a seductive taste together.

 

Excessive CT Scan Radiation Excess will Cause Cancer Deaths

CT Scans offer unprecedented diagnostic capability, yet a series of radiation overdose errors at Cedars Sinai medical center in Los Angeles prompted a closer look at the procedure with disturbing results. Normally a single CT scan uses the equivalent of 100 X-rays. It's a worthwhile technique if justified by symptoms, or if used sparingly in healthy individuals.

According to a December study in the Archives on Internal Medicine, the same procedure even on different machines at the same hospital can produce up to a 13 times differences in ionizing radiation. These overdoses are projected to contribute to thousands of cancer deaths. The adverse affect is multiplied by the soaring number of CT scans which topped 70 million last year, 23 times the number in 1980.
Here's our video report on how CT Scans can detect disease.

To minimize individual cancer risk, patients should track the number of scans they receive, question why they are needed and ask if other diagnostic options like magnetic resonance imaging,MRI, would suffice.

Low Sodium Stand Ins

Carolisa Pomerantz, the Associate Producer of the anti-aging documentary "Reverse Aging Now has been extremely heart conscious after a CT Scan revealed unexpected cause for concern. She has lowered her blood pressure by consciously cutting back on salt consumption. As she reminds us, "Sodium can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke although it is essential and found in every cell of our bodies. It's better to get 250 mgs daily – not 6,000. If you have high blood pressure you can cut your salt intake if you rely on fresh unprocessed foods even raw."

She shares these low sodium stand-Ins to add flavor and zest to any dishes you prefer. Remember to begin by adding lightly increasing as needed:

Basil
Chinese hot chili oil
Chutney
Cumin
Curry powder
Dill
Garlic
Horseradish
Lemon or grapefruit juice instead of vinegar
Mustard
Onions
Salsa
Salt-free commercial seasonings
Sesame Oil
Tabasco sauce

Sitting Can Kill You

New research shows that it’s not enough to get a single burst of physical activity every day. Sitting inactively for prolonged periods of time has a deleterious effect. In a study that tracked 17,000 Canadians for about more than a decade, researchers learned that people who sat more had a higher death risk, independent of whether or not they exercised otherwise.

"We don't have enough evidence yet to say how much sitting is bad," said Dr. Peter Katzmarzyk lead author of the study. "But it seems the more you can get up and interrupt this sedentary behavior, the better."

photo by graphiteBP

According to Dr. Elin Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, "After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals." She added that genes regulating glucose and fat storage in the body start to shut down.

We’ve already learned about how vitally important it is to get up and walk on an extended airplane flight to avoid deep vein thrombosis, but this new information is directly applicable not only to the workplace but to homes and schools. Researchers urge that physical activity be spread throughout the day. This lesson was taken to heart by the former US Senator from Wisconsin, William Proxmire, who conducted his business from a standing desk. In fact in northern Wisconsin and neighboring Minnesota several schools have added stand up work stations to their classrooms. Teachers are reporting greater attentiveness and more enthusiasm for class work.

Smoking Bans Cut Heart Attacks for All

Prohibiting public smoking has led to a drop in heart attacks in both smokers and non smokers according to a fall study issued by the Institute of Medicine. The researchers looked at 11 studies of heart attacks in areas where smoking was banned and found a decrease of 6 to 47%. In Pueblo , Colorado hospitalizations for heart attacks dropped 41% in the three years after smoking was outlawed in the work place.

Nearly 440,000 Americans die each year from smoking related illnesses. About 38,000 of these deaths are blamed on second hand smoke.

Prostate Surgery Hazards

An increasing number of men undergoing prostate surgery are choosing robot assisted minimally invasive techniques because they lead to reduced hospital stays. Unfortunately, compared to open surgery, side effects show an increase. A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that erectile dysfunction and incontinence appear more often with minimally invasive procedures. Yes, there was a lower risk of respiratory complications and need for transfusions, but after the surgery has healed what really matters to a man is whether or not the plumbing still works.

Recipe - Buckwheat

Don't forget to try our of our favorite winter hot breakfasts buckwheat, a healthy tasty alternative to oatmeal or other cereals. The Reverse Aging Now web site has a range of recipes geared to making healthy food tasty.

To see how one middle-aged man is applying anti-aging precepts to his own life, go to Anti-Aging Diary.com. To embrace anti-aging you need to make a mental as well as physical journey. It's not always easy, but well worth the effort. Remember to watch our anti-aging documentary, “Reverse Aging Now.

Herb of the Month - Pycnogenol

Pycnogenol, extracted from French pine bark in marine climate zones, improves blood sugar control and increases circulatory system flexibility reducing these risk factors for heart disease. Side effects are uncommon, but as with any other herb, if you start to take it, check with your prescribing physician to see if there is any potential of drug interaction or potential purity issues.

Reverse Aging News c. 2009 Checkmate Pictures - Paul M. J. Suchecki, Editor

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