HEALTH & BEAUTY – May/June 2022

TO SLEEP PERCHANCE TO DREAM?

BY RACHEL GARROD

Sleep is of course essential to our well-being. After a bad night’s sleep we feel understandably drowsy and groggy, often lacking in motivation and fo cus. Poor sleep affects our cognitive ability with respect to decision making and execution of goals. How much harder is it to exercise after a bad night’s sleep? We know that too little sleep, as well as too much, is associated with in creased risk of heart attacks, diabetes and stroke in men and women. The sweet spot seems to be between seven to eight hours of sleep a night. Brain health is also dependent upon adequate sleep, with research suggest ing six to eight hours of sleep reduces the risk of dementia. During sleep the brain cells grow smaller, allowing an opportunity to flush away damaging chemicals that accumulate between cells during the day. Even more compelling is that researchers in Toronto and Chicago found that better sleep not only reduced the likelihood of developing clinical Alzheimer’s disease, in people with a genetic risk, but also reduced the development of tangle pathology in the brain – another substance that accumulates in this dementia.

Whilst it is not always easy to get an adequate night’s sleep, there are a few things we can do to help ourselves. 1. Turn out the lights and close the blinds. Even very small amounts of ambient light in the bedroom have been shown to negatively affect metabolism the next day. 2. Stick to a routine. Being consistent in the time that we wake up and go to bed helps the body’s internal clock; changing it about at weekends can often be counter-intuitive. 3. Try to avoid the temptation to use your phone/tablet last thing at night. The light from most screens seems to “trick” the brain into thinking it is day light. 4 . Avoid alcohol before sleep. Whilst alcohol may help us fall asleep more quickly, it impacts negatively on the sleep stage, Rapid Eye Movement, which is thought to be particularly beneficial. 5. Try to keep active during the day. Being physically active helps us fall asleep quicker, and it has been associated with more restful sleep. As always, if you need help increasing your activity please get in touch.

Rachel Garrod (Ph.D. Physiotherapist) specialises in physiotherapy for older people with respiratory disease and other chronic illnesses. E-mail. rachelgarrod1@gmail.com / Tel. (+34) 699 501 190

L ATEST RESEARCH NEWS… THE BENEFITS OF PRUNES, GOLF AND COFFEE

MEDICAL MINUTES BY JOHN SCHIESZER

PRUNES PACK POWERFUL NUTRIENT PUNCH

Golf can provide benefits such as stress reduction and regular exercise. Due to its social nature and typically slower, controlled pace, people of all ages and physical fitness levels can play the sport. “The regular exercise, time spent outside enjoying nature, social interaction and even the friendly competition of a round of golf are all elements that can foster mental and physical well being,” said Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones, president of the Ameri can Heart Association and a professor at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. He said the past couple of years had been hard and many adults picked up some unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, such as more eating and less physical activity. “I think golfing can offer a great opportunity to start venturing back out into an enjoyable activity that can feed our hearts and our souls,” said Dr. Lloyd-Jones. “The American Heart Association recommends most people get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week. Golfing qualifies as a mod erate-intensity exercise, specifically if you are walking an 18-hole course, car rying your golf clubs.”

GOOD NEWS FOR COFFEE DRINKERS

A prune or six a day may help keep inflammation at bay, according to a new study looking at daily consumption. It found eating nutrient-rich prunes every day may be beneficial to bone health, and reduce inflammatory factors that contribute to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a loss of bone strength caused by reduced mineral density in the bones, which increases the risk of fracture, especially in older adults. Previous research has shown that the polyphenol extracts in prunes promote lower levels of oxidative stress and inflammation in a type of bone cell called osteoclasts. In a new study, researchers at The Pennsylvania State University explored the effects of prunes on bone health after menopause. Postmenopausal women with a bone mineral density score that was defined as low were divided into three groups. One group ate 50 grams of prunes (about six prunes) daily for 12 months. A second group ate 100 grams of prunes (about 12 prunes) daily for 12 months. A control group ate no prunes. The research team looked at blood samples taken from all volunteers before and after the trial and found significant reductions in inflammatory markers in both of the prune-eating groups compared to the control group. “Our findings suggest that consumption of six to 12 prunes per day may re duce pro-inflammatory mediators that may contribute to bone loss in post menopausal women. Thus, prunes might be a promising nutritional interven tion to prevent the rise in inflammatory mediators often observed as part of the ageing process,” said study first author Janhavi Damani with Pennsylva nia State University.

HIDDEN HEALTH BENEFITS OF GOLF

Drinking two to three cups of coffee a day is not only associated with a lower risk of heart disease, but also with living longer, according to the latest data. These trends are true for older adults both with and without cardiovascular disease. Researchers said new analyses provide reassurance that coffee isn’t tied to new or worsening heart disease and may actually be heart -protec tive. “Because coffee can quicken heart rate, some people worry that drinking it could trigger or worsen certain heart issues,” said Dr. Peter M. Kistler, with the Alfred Hospital and Baker Heart Institute in Melbourne, Australia. “This is where general medical advice to stop drinking coffee may come from. But our data suggest that daily coffee intake shouldn’t be discouraged, but rather included as a part of a healthy diet for people with and without heart disease. We found coffee drinking had either a neutral effect, meaning that it did no harm, or was associated with benefits to heart health.” Dr. Kistler and his team used data from the UK BioBank, a large-scale pro spective database with health information from over half a million people who were followed for at least 10 years. The current investigation showed that having two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with the greatest benefit, translating to a 10 per cent to 15 per cent lower risk of developing coronary heart disease, heart failure or a heart rhythm problem, or dying for any reason. The risk of stroke or heart-re lated death was lowest among people who drank one cup of coffee a day.

John Schieszer is an award-winning national journalist and radio and pod cast broadcaster of The Medical Minute. He can be reached at medicalmin utes@gmail.com.

While golf was once known as the game of kings, the American Heart Associ ation says you don’t have to be royalty or a professional player to reap health benefits from hitting the links at your local golf course. Studies suggest that golfing regularly (at least once per month) lowers the risk of death, especially among older adults.

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