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Aging

2 years ago

The 3 Most Common Age-Related Diseases (and How to Help Prevent Them)

Heart disease, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease are among the most common age-related diseases in the United States. While aging increases the risk of developing certain conditions, lifestyle choices and preventive care can play a significant role in lowering that risk. While hitting 10,000 steps a day won’t guarantee perfect heart health, everyday choices — like regular movement, balanced nutrition and quality sleep — can meaningfully influence long-term wellness. Below, we examine three common age-related diseases and what you can do to reduce your risk. #1 Heart Disease The name alone may not sound too intimidating, but heart disease is the number one cause of death for people in the United States. In fact, it’s so common that one person dies from cardiovascular disease every 33 seconds. So, what is this silent but deadly killer that’s responsible for approximately 20% of the deaths in the United States? What Is Heart Disease? Otherwise known as cardiovascular disease, heart disease comes in many types that can affect people of all ages, and the risk of developing one of them only increases as you age. Some of the most common types include: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) CAD occurs when the major vessels supplying blood to the heart have difficulty sending it enough blood and oxygen. Cholesterol deposits are usually the main cause of CAD, and the condition generally develops over several decades. Heart Attack When CAD goes undiagnosed, individuals may not know they have it until the blockages cause a heart attack, which happens when the blood flow to the heart becomes severely blocked. How to Prevent Heart Disease While there’s no guarantee that you can be completely safe against cardiovascular disease, there are a few preventative measures you can take to lower your risk: Don’t Use Tobacco While this may seem obvious, there are approximately 28 million American adults who currently smoke cigarettes. Cigarette smoke lowers the amount of oxygen in your blood, increasing your blood pressure and heart rate

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Physiology

2 years ago

Medical Cardiovascular and Muscle Physiology: A Deep Dive Into Heart & Muscle Function

Ever found yourself lost in the labyrinth of graduate-level medical physiology courses, with course names and descriptions blurring together? Fear not, because we’re here to shed light on each course’s distinctive and essential contributions to the field. Today, let’s zoom in on Medical Cardiovascular and Muscle Physiology. This course delves deep into the intricate functions and regulation of muscles and the cardiovascular system. It uncovers how the body adapts to factors like exercise, environmental influences and diseases. But what sets Medical Cardiovascular and Muscle Physiology apart, and why should you make room for it in your already packed online course load? Join us as we unravel its fundamentals, explore its relevance for your future career and navigate its course structure. What Is Cardiovascular Physiology? Simply put, cardiovascular physiology is the study of how the heart and blood vessels work in tandem to pump blood through the body. Let’s dive into some of the basic components of the cardiovascular system: The Heart Responsible for circulating blood throughout your body, the heart works a 24-hour shift, 365 days a year. It beats approximately 115,000 times a day to ensure blood and oxygen are circulated through the body. Hearts have four total chambers, including two upper chambers called atria and two lower ones known as ventricles

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Physiology

2 years ago

4 Major Factors That Affect Drug Absorption in the Body

Before any medication can relieve pain or treat illness, it must first be absorbed into the bloodstream. But absorption isn’t automatic. In fact, several internal and external factors shape it. In pharmacology, the four major factors that affect drug absorption are: Physiological state of the patient Drug formulation and manufacturing Method of drug administration Chemical properties of the drug itself Below, we break down each factor with examples to show how the body processes medications differently from person to person. The 4 Major Factors That Affect Drug Absorption Drug absorption isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. How quickly (or slowly) a medication enters the bloodstream depends on four main factors: the patient’s physiological state, how the drug is formulated, how it’s administered and the drug’s own chemical and physical properties

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Aging

2 years ago

Starting a Business After Retirement: What Senior Entrepreneurs Need to Succeed

Just because someone retires doesn’t mean they leave behind the skills they spent decades developing. For many older adults, retirement marks the beginning of a new chapter — one that includes entrepreneurship. Starting a business after retirement is becoming increasingly common as retirees look for meaningful work, additional income or the opportunity to turn lifelong passions into profit. While older entrepreneurs often bring valuable experience, succeeding in today’s market means getting familiar with modern business practices and tools. Below are practical ways communities, organizations and institutions can support retirees who are ready to launch their own small businesses. Why Are More Retirees Starting Businesses? Many retirees enter entrepreneurship with established expertise, industry insight and long-standing professional relationships. Compared to younger founders, older business owners often have more defined goals and a clearer understanding of the markets they’ve worked in. With the right support, launching a venture later in life can be both practical and personally rewarding. Small Business Ideas for Retirees Rather than beginning entirely from scratch, many retirees build businesses that expand on prior careers or long-standing interests

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Physiology

2 years ago

What Is Disease X — and Why Are Scientists Preparing for It?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, one question has lingered in the background of global health conversations: What comes next? That concern has a name. Disease X. Disease X isn’t a specific illness. Instead, it’s a placeholder for a future infectious disease that could cause a global outbreak, similar to or worse than COVID-19. While no one knows exactly what Disease X will be, scientists are preparing now to reduce its potential impact. Disease X is a term introduced in 2017 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to describe a currently unknown pathogen with the potential to cause a serious international epidemic or pandemic. It was added to the WHO’s priority disease list to acknowledge a reality scientists already understood: The next major outbreak may come from a virus or bacterium we haven’t identified yet. What Is Disease X? Disease X appears on the same high-priority list as well-known threats like: COVID-19 Ebola Lassa fever Zika Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever The difference? Disease X hasn’t emerged yet. Why Does Disease X Worry Us? The fear surrounding Disease X isn’t just about the unknown. It’s that modern life could allow a new disease to spread faster and farther than ever before. Taken together, these factors explain why experts see Disease X as a serious global threat: 1

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Aging

2 years ago

6 Unique Careers in the Field of Aging

Whether you’re embarking on a career change, considering graduate school or interested in expanding your professional horizons, get ready to explore six unique careers in the field of aging. #1 Gerontechnology Specialist As the name suggests, a gerontechnology specialist uses technology to improve the lives of older adults. They bridge the widening gap between today’s ever-advancing gadgets and the often not-so-tech-savvy elderly, helping them to learn to use different kinds of equipment that can increase their independence and overall well-being. Some of the technologies they utilize with their clients include: Telehealth platforms that make remote checkups more efficient. Elderly-friendly smart home devices, such as smart locks, refrigerators and stoves that others can control remotely. Health monitoring devices, like smartwatches, blood pressure monitors and medication dispensers. #2 Public Health Administrator Public health administrators oversee and manage multiple aspects of public and private public health programs at the federal and local level, including those focused on the elderly. While your duties would vary depending on your particular sector (state, federal or private), some of your responsibilities would include: Designing and Developing Programs for Older AdultsTo better serve the older population, public health administrators work with a team of other professionals to create programs that address the well-being of older adults. Some of these programs focus on topics of interest to the elderly, including fall prevention, mental health support and disease management. Advocating for Elderly-Friendly PoliciesFrom Medicare and Medicaid to other long-term care services, public health administrators work alongside other policymakers to advocate for policies that promote the improved health and wellness of older adults. #3 Intergenerational Program Coordinator Do you enjoy bringing people together for the greater good? How about seeing their faces light up when they’re enjoying the company of new (and sometimes unexpected) companions? Intergenerational program coordinators plan and oversee programs that unify people from different generations. Why do they do it, you ask? For a multitude of uplifting and joyful reasons, such as: Forging positive relationships between unlikely individuals

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Physiology

2 years ago

How Does the Body React to the COVID-19 Vaccine?

First appearing in China near the end of 2019, COVID-19 spread to North America and Europe by February 2020. By November 2020, two major pharmaceutical manufacturers had developed vaccines that were shown to be about 95% effective, which means vaccinated test subjects were 95% less likely to get COVID-19 than unvaccinated ones. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved these vaccines for use within about a year of their inception. Prior to this, the shortest time in which a vaccine had been both developed and FDA approved was four years: for the mumps vaccine, introduced in 1967. At time of writing, there are three primary vaccines in use in the United States, generally known by the names of their manufacturers: Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. mRNA vs

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Aging

2 years ago

5 Causes Behind the Growing Baby Boomer Caregiver Gap

As baby boomers turn 80, the realities of an aging population and their increasing healthcare needs are becoming impossible to ignore. Long-term care, support with daily living and professional medical oversight are no longer distant concerns — they’re the reality for millions of families. While baby boomers often cared for their elders, their children are less likely to fill that same caregiving role. So, where does that leave older adults in the baby boomer generation? In short, with a growing caregiver gap. In this article, we’re digging into five causes of the caregiver gap in hopes that we can collectively work toward reducing it and provide baby boomers with optimal care during the next phase in their lives. Why Are Baby Boomers Facing an Aged Care Shortage? The baby boomer generation refers to individuals born between 1946 and 1964. Today, millions of baby boomers are entering their late 70s and early 80s, increasing demand for healthcare services, long-term support and caregiving assistance. The baby boomer caregiving gap refers to the growing mismatch between the number of aging baby boomers who require support and the number of caregivers available to meet their needs. As baby boomers age into their 80s and beyond, demand for long-term care services is accelerating faster than workforce growth. What’s Causing the Baby Boomer Caregiver Gap? While there’s no single cause behind the caregiver gap, several social, demographic and economic shifts have contributed to the growing shortage of support for aging baby boomers

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Physiology

2 years ago

What Organs Can You Live Without?

Our organs keep us alive, individually and in combination with other organs. There are about 78 organs in the human body, and each performs one or more vital functions. But do we really need all of those, or are there organs we can live without? As it turns out, we don’t exactly need all of our organs in order to survive. Let’s look at a few “unnecessary” organs, their purpose and why you can live without them. Appendix What It Does The appendix is somewhat of a mystery organ, as doctors and scientists aren’t 100% sure of its purpose. One common theory is that this little appendage to the large intestine is where the body stores good bacteria

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Physiology

2 years ago

High Altitude: How Our Bodies Adapt

Whether you’re climbing a fourteener or just visiting the Mile High City for a week of recreational fun, one thing is for certain — both locations are a lot higher than sea level. But what’s the magic number that dictates when you’ve reached a high altitude? The sweet spot is anywhere between 4,900 to 11,500 feet. If you go higher, you’ve reached the even more elusive (and slightly less oxygenated) very high altitude. So, while you’re sipping that CBD-infused latte in downtown Denver, it may not look or even feel like you’re on top of the world. But if you’ve only just arrived, we’re willing to bet that you might notice one or two of the side effects of being in a high-altitude location, like dizziness, headaches or nausea. So why do we face these occasional uncomfortable symptoms and how do our bodies adapt to such a drastic change in height? In this article, we’ll break down how we acclimate to high altitude, what altitude sickness is and how to prepare for your next high-elevation getaway. How Does Your Body Adapt to High Altitude? When you arrive at a high-altitude location, it would be wonderful if you could snap your fingers and bam — instantly adjust your body to its new environment

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