Doctor’s Senior Exercise & Health Newsletter

December 1, 2004

Issue Vol. 4 No. 12

In This Newsletter
Introduction
Healthfully yours
Health Hints

Introduction***

The Doctor’s Senior Exercise & Health Newsletter is written monthly, solely for information to help seniors, baby boomers and anyone who may have an interest in staying healthy, living a vigorous, active lifestyle and combating the aging process. It does not constitute the practice of medicine and is not meant to prescribe treatments. It is offered strictly as an educational aid. Any medical problems you may have, we recommend that you seek the help of your physician or other healthcare professional. Discussing your intentions with your doctor is always the proper procedure. The newsletter also includes know-how in the form of useful tips and links to more extensive material on the Internet. You may wish to share this newsletter by sending a copy to a friend, neighbor or relative and suggesting they subscribe to it.

This newsletter is scanned for viruses and is virus-free before it is sent to recipients!

Website: http://www.doctorsexercise.com

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Healthfully Yours***

Remedy For Anti-Aging…

Over the years, people have been on a quest for the fountain of youth by finding a magic pill, potent or shot. Billons and probably trillions of dollars have been spent searching for this panacea, called “The Fountain Of Youth”. Unfortunately, the only thing they find closely resembling an anti-aging formula is cosmetic at best. You can’t watch television now without seeing people makeovers. The makeovers you see are truly fantastic in most cases, but that is as far as it goes. That is because these people have neglected their basic looks, and how they dress and present themselves to others. You have heard the expression, “Clothes makes the Man”, basically that is part of the make over, that combined with a nip here and a tuck there, is enough to change a persons appearance drastically.

Although, they may look younger, doesn’t mean their bodies have become years younger. Anti-aging means that what you do for your body is keeping you younger than your real biological age, and what you do is slowing the aging process, keeping you vigorous and strong throughout the senior years. The two most important things are your diet and exercise. In this newsletter we will discuss exercise. Diet will be another newsletter.

The aging process is directly connected to the amount of activity or inactivity. Therefore, a sedentary lifestyle will rapidly advance the aging process. Living a sedentary lifestyle impacts the body as a whole. It affects the major systems, such as the cardiovascular, respiratory, circulatory, hormonal and nervous systems. In addition the connective tissues, musculo-skeletal tissues, and cartilage are also affected.

In a sedentary lifestyle, a gradual erosion of these systems and tissues takes place. The onset of the erosion can be so gradual, the individual is not aware it is taking place, until there is a negative response in one or more of these systems, or tissues. These systems are so closely inter-related that if there is a glitch in one, it can affect one or more, causing a “snowballing affect”.

Inactivity over a period of time will therefore result in what is considered the “normal aging” process. This really is a great injustice to the individual who thinks this way, because this not the case at all. The prevention of, and forestalling the aging process is in the hands of each individual, and it is incumbent upon them to take the necessary steps to do so. By making a commitment to change their sedentary lifestyle is of course the first step in slowing the aging process.

What do we mean by making a commitment? Simply stated, the individual must find an exercise program that they are comfortable with and stick to it religiously. Finding such a program may prove to be a challenge. Should you find a program you like, you must dedicate yourself to it. As an example, I myself have devised such a program. In developing this program, my goal was to have a non-impact, total body workout, without any equipment or gadgets. It had to be one that could be performed at your convenience at home, or in a group setting at any location. It had to be a program that should only take 15 to 20 minutes of your time.

After developing and testing the program for over a year and finding significant improvement in those using the program, I decided to produce a video of it and place it on my website at: www.doctorsexercise.com .

Now, having done your homework, and having found the exercise program that suits you, what will your benefits be? How will this impact all the systems of your body? Read about these benefits in the Health Hints below.

Health Hints***

Cardiovascular:

Improvement in the body’s ability to transport oxygen from the air through the lungs to the vascular system. This is called “maximum oxygen uptake”, (VO2max).
This VO2max starts to decline after age 35 at approximately 1 percent a year.
By the time the individual reaches 60 years of age, the decline of VO2max has significant impact on their ability to carry on normal daily tasks, that they were able to perform easily at age 20.
This decline of VO2max is much greater in the individual who has led a sedentary Lifestyle.
The decline will be greatly reduced in the individual who has been an athlete, or one who exercised, or was very active through the years.

Pulmonary/Respiratory:

Respiratory changes take place, as we grow older. These changes occur in the lung tissues, as well as the costovertebral joints, that stiffen with age. Stiffening of these joints prevents the normal expansion of the lungs. Breathing becomes more difficult and in some cases labored. This of course reduces the oxygen uptake (VO2max).
The reduction of VO2max reduces the amount of blood that reaches the tissues.
Reduction of the amount of blood to the tissues reduces the body’s ability to carry on daily chores with difficulty in breathing and feeling tired and fatigued all the time.
With the reduction of blood going to the tissues, there is less oxygen reaching the muscles, causing a build up of lactic acid resulting in the muscles to become fatigued and less able to respond to the individuals’ needs.
Smoking, or being exposed to smokers will have a cumulative affect on the lungs.
Air pollution will also affect the integrity of the pulmonary/respiratory system.

Musculoskeletal:

Living a sedentary lifestyle, affects the bone structures. There is a loss of bone mass, and the result is, “osteoporosis”. With osteoporosis, bones will have a greater incidence of fracture.
As a consequence of the aging process, there will be a loss of the total number of muscle fibers, causing the muscle structures to be weakened.

. When this occurs the individual is weaker and is less able to perform normal everyday chores, as they should. After the age of 50, the increase of this muscle tone loss becomes increasingly more progressive.

All of the above are the results of the aging process we call normal. These changes have occurred primarily in those who have been living a sedentary lifestyle. However, there is very good news for those who wish to prevent this from rapidly advancing as we grow older, and for those who are experiencing this aging process. Age is not a barrier, and it is never too late to start exercising. The benefits that will occur can be just short of unbelievable. The individual will increase the muscle mass and tone. The bones will strengthen as they gain mass. The individual will have more flexibility, allowing them to have a much more vigorous lifestyle.

Where can you reap such benefits, just by investing 15 to 20 daily?

Doc Cane

Copyright, Disclaimer, and Trademark information Copyrightã 1997-2003 Emanuel M. Cane. All rights reserved. Except stated below, this material or parts thereof may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed by any means whatsoever without explicit, written permission from the author.

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