Resist the Loss, Strength Training

Written by: Krista Reader

Personalcare Physicans Strength Training!

You have heard us say it before, but one more time just in case you have forgotten.  As we get older, we can naturally lose 30% (or more) of our muscle mass between the ages of 40 and 75.  The best way we can protect ourselves and prevent this from happening is to commit to strength (or resistance) training.

Your muscles are important for everything you do. Whether you’re reaching for a box of cereal in the morning, climbing the steps outside your home and walking the dog, you need your muscles to move and function every day.

Strength training is the best solution to building and maintaining muscle mass to keep functioning at your best. Performing daily exercises with weights and learning to increase the difficulty as your body adjusts to the pattern gives the most physical benefits for your body.

In addition to the benefits for your muscles, strength training will also help you:

• Develop strong bones – By stressing your bones, strength training increases bone density and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• Control your weight – As you gain muscle, your body gains the ability to burn calories more efficiently, which can result in weight loss. The more toned your muscles, the easier it is to control your weight.
• Reduce your risk of injury – Building muscle helps protect your joints from injury and contributes to better balance, which can help you maintain independence as you age.
• Boost your stamina – As you get stronger, you won’t fatigue as easily.
• Manage chronic conditions – Strength training can reduce the signs and symptoms of many chronic conditions, including arthritis, back pain, depression, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis.
• Sharpen your focus – Some research suggests that regular strength training helps improve attention span and concentration as we age.

Strength training can be done at home or in the gym and here are some options for you to consider as you are building your program:

• Body weight – You can do many exercises with little or no equipment including push-ups (elevated or on knees if needed), front & side abdominal planks, dips, lunges and squats.
• Resistance tubing – Resistance tubing is inexpensive, lightweight tubing that provides resistance when stretched.
• Free weights – Barbells and dumbbells are classic strength training tools.
• Weight machines – Most fitness centers offer various resistance machines and there are tons of options for home gyms that are portable.

Getting started

Please make sure to check with your primary care physician before you begin a strength training program and plan to start slowly. Warm up with 5-10 minutes of active stretching and/or light aerobic activity, such as brisk walking. Then choose a weight or resistance level heavy enough to tire your muscles after about 12 repetitions.

To give your muscles time to recover, rest one full day between exercising each specific muscle group. When you can easily do more than 15 repetitions of a certain exercise, gradually increase the weight or resistance. Remember to stop if you feel pain. Although mild muscle soreness is normal, sharp pain and sore or swollen joints are signs that you’ve overdone it.

When to expect results

You don’t need to spend hours a day lifting weights to benefit from strength training. Depending on your goals, two to three strength training sessions a week lasting just 30-40 minutes are sufficient for most people starting a strength training routine. Two times per week is plenty if your goal is to just maintain your current muscle mass and at least three sessions if you are looking to build.

By exercising your entire body (not just the muscles you can see) you will prevent your body from losing muscle mass as you grow older and ensuring you keep your independent spirit both physically and mentally. If done properly, you will notice a difference in your strength and stamina in as little as a few weeks.

Strength training can do wonders for your physical and emotional well-being. Make it part of your quest for better health.  If you are just getting started, we highly recommend seeking the help of a professional trainer to ensure that you know how to most effectively exercise and avoid injury.  Please feel free to contact our Healthfit 4 Life Fitness Team for help getting started.

Memory and Aging

Written by: Dr. Marcia Whalen

Does it seem like you’re always looking for your keys when you walk out the door now? Are you repeating yourself during conversations or can’t remember small details? Are you concerned that your memory is getting worse?

A certain amount of memory decline is to be expected as our brains age but when should you be worried about significant “cognitive impairment” that may need medical intervention? At Personalcare Physicians, we are utilizing a diagnostic screening tool that can identify this subtle memory loss and distinguish normal aging from abnormal memory loss.  By detecting any signs of mild cognitive impairment of the brain early, we can help you to find and treat the cause.

The MCI Screen is designed to accurately measure an individual’s memory function. This short, accurate memory test can be performed in the comfort of our office. Answers are analyzed by a computerized scoring method with results provided to your physician to review with you. This diagnostic tool enables a physician to distinguish normal aging from subtle memory changes due to other medical causes. It is about 97% accurate.

Conditions such as anxiety, sleep deprivation, ADHD, depression, thyroid gland disease, diabetes, metabolic encephalopathy, Vitamin deficiency, infections and medications can cause significant memory loss. The effects can often be reversed after finding the cause and with the appropriate treatment.

Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease and dementia are the first culprits patients associate with memory loss, and usually the worst case scenario. Through early diagnosis and treatment, doctors can work towards a reduced rate of memory decline and often allow patients to continue living a good quality of life for a long time.

A complete list of what may cause memory loss is available here, but in the meantime, take the following short test for yourself. Check off any of the following if you have found you are having increasing difficulty with the tasks.

Symptoms of Medical Conditions:

• Forgetting important details of things you have done in the past few weeks.
• Forgetting to do things you said you would do.
• Forgetting recent events or conversations.
• Retelling a story or joke to the same person because you forgot that I had already told them.
• Completing complex tasks at work or home (i.e. balancing checkbook, planning projects).

Symptoms of Normal Aging:

• Forgetting the name of someone you know well.
• Forgetting what you were going to say in a conversation.
• Forgetting what you were going to do when going into another room.
• Finding things you have just put down.
• Recalling a specific word you want to use.

If you’re worried about memory loss, give your personal physician a call to speak about options and possibly taking the short MCI Screen.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Written by: Dr. David Bloom

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men across the country. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and it is more important than ever to be aware of the warning signs and protect yourself and those you love with regular screenings.

Prostate Cancer is second only to lung cancer in the number of cancer deaths in the United States. The prostate organ is only in men, about the size of a walnut and occupies the space just below the bladder in the body. It plays a role in the reproductive system, but when cancer starts in the prostate, abnormal cells begin to grow out of control and may cause pain or other inhibit other bodily functions.

Although some men may not display any symptoms, others may experience difficulty before, during or after urination, continuous pain in the back, hips or lower pelvis or painful sexual activity.

If you have any symptoms that worry you, please visit your primary care doctor.  Identified early on, five-year survival rates are upwards of 97%.  Most prostate symptoms that men will notice are usually not cancer and more likely from Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (benign enlargement) or possibly Prostatitis (swelling, inflammation, possible infection).  But to differentiate and exclude cancer first is very important and thus a doctors visit or better yet, a complete full physical

A screening a fast and easy for patients and only have to be often as you and your doctor decide.   It is important to start screening early if there is a family history of prostate cancer, as well as with African-American men.  Most doctors begin the PSA blood test at age 50, but depending upon the indivdual patient’s histroy & physical, his doctor may begin younger – usually age 40.

Purple Potatoes: A New Health Craze?

Written by: Natasha Daguio

Who knew a strange-colored starch could be good for you?

Potatoes – in French fry form – have been blamed for increasing America’s waistlines, but a new study has shown that incorporating purple potatoes into a daily diet can lower blood pressure without causing weight gain

The study, conducted by a chemistry professor at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, fed 18 overweight and obese patients their normal, daily meal twice a day. The patients ate six to eight purple potatoes with each of their meals for four weeks before switching back to their normal diets without the potatoes.

While consuming the violet-skinned spud, on average, both the diastolic and systolic blood pressures of patients dropped between 3.5% and 4.3%. None of the subjects involved gained weight and even the patients on anti-hypertensive medications experienced lower blood pressure throughout the course of the study.

Purple potatoes have become increasingly popular and available in the past few years at chain grocery stores, as well as specialty food and farmers’ markets. The lavender tubers have higher levels of antioxidants that may protect the body’s cells from diseases. In order to capitalize on these benefits, the subjects in the study were required to microwave their potatoes instead of using other preparation methods.

In addition to the possible blood pressure benefits, red, white, brown and all other potatoes contain vitamin C, folic acid, potassium and iron. Although America chooses to fry most of its potatoes, the spud remains an important, nutritional factor in diets around the world.

The findings (unpublished as of this release) were presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver. Funding for the work came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s State Cooperative Potato Research Program.

Purple potatoes can be substituted in any recipe that calls for small yellow fleshed potatoes such as Yukon Gold.

As a reminder, always opt for color in your whole foods.  Modified, mass produced foods do not contain the same nutrient content as organic, local produce.  Check your local farmers markets, they might just be in stock!