A Healthy Environment, Wrinkles and Aging
Are you under the assumption that pollution is a modern day problem? Think again. In ancient times, the Greeks AND the Romans spewed huge amounts of toxins into the air extracting silver from lead.
The stench of an abandoned canal in Washington, D.C. clogged with animal carcasses and human waste was so bad it permeated the White House.
More than 70,000 chemical compounds were developed during the second half of the twentieth century. Many are credited with causing cancer in laboratory animals.
So, does this affect the way you look, aging , heart disease or stroke ? You better believe it does and while there are varied opinions. The environment has a direct effect on your skin and does impact the way you look. Overexposure to sunlight causes wrinkles which may require wrinkle treatment and increases your chances of skin cancer. , there are researchers who believe that as much as 25% of all cancers could be prevented if Americans reduces exposure to smog, pesticides, second hand smoke and other hazards that we breathe, drink, eat and absorb into our bodies. While there are many factors that cause cancer, heart disease and stroke that we have no control over such as heredity, our environment is something we can do something about.
It’s a killer – If you are a typical male smoker in your sixties or seventies, you began smoking at age 17 and have smoked about 27 cigarettes a day for 51 years. If you are a woman in the same range, you began smoking at around 24 and have been smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 45 years. And you have probably tried at least once or twice to quit like 80% of people who smoke.
Is it too late to quit? Absolutely not. Putting out that last cigarette as late as 60 to 80 can halt many of the worst effects of smoking. Yet 46% of older smokers don’t believe that smoking is that harmful or that quitting at this stage in their life is worthwhile. If you fall into that category consider this:
§ Within eight hours of quitting, your pulse rate and blood pressure drop and oxygen levels in your body will rise.
§ Within 24 hours of quitting, your risk of a heart attack decreases.
§ After one month, your circulation improves, your energy levels surge and your lung function expands by up to 30%.
§ After one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of someone who continues to smoke.
§ After five years, your risk of having a stroke begins to decline .
§ After 10 years, your chances of developing lung cancer are the same as that of someone who has never smoked.
Each time you take a puff you inhale more than 4,700 chemicals that have been shown to have effect throughout your body. Some of the milder effects are accelerated wrinkling of the skin, yellowing of the teeth and fingers and slower healing of wounds.
Here is a list of a few of those chemicals and what their common uses are:
Acetone paint stripper
Ammonia floor cleaner
Arsenic ant poison
Butane lighter fluid
Cadmium car batteries
Carbon monoxide car exhaust
Formaldehyde morgue preservative
Methanol anti-freeze
Naphthalene mothballs
Nicotine insecticide
Polonium 210 radioactive substance
Then along come the really dangerous effects of smoking including increasing the risk of disabilities like osteoporosis, hip fractures, cataracts, diabetes, tooth loss, and emphysema.
Smoking causes fatal complications. Every year, more than 400,000 Americans die of smoking related causes. That adds up to more than 1,000 a day making this the most preventable cause of death in the United States. 50% of those deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease and 30% by lung cancer.
Smoking hurts your heart. If you quit your risk of a heart attack is reduced by 50% in one year.
Smoking tops the list of cancer risks. If you quit even at age 65, your risk of developing lung cancer by age 75 is less than half of someone who continues to smoke.
Smoking is an addiction plain and simple. Don’t blame yourself if you have tried several times to quit and failed. The prime ingredient in tobacco is Nicotine and is one of the most addictive drugs known to mankind. Is it hopeless? No. Many people have quit and so can you.
This is not a book about smoking cessation, but here are a few tips to help you.
Set a quit date and stick to it. Experts report that those who set a definite date are more likely to stick with it. Avoid stressful times like holidays and don’t pick a date that is months away.
Quit cold turkey. If you do it this way, you will probably have a week to 10 days of withdrawal but then you’ll be almost over the hump.
Throw them away. On the date you quit, throw away all tobacco products. Every hidden cigarette should be ferreted out and disposed of. Get rid of lighters, matches and ashtrays as well.
Banish alcohol. Alcohol can affect your resolve and make it easier to light up again. You don’t have to quit alcohol forever, but spend at least of month of abstinence after you quit smoking.
Be prepared to fight the urges. As you go through withdrawal expect one or more of the following symptoms: upset stomach, difficulty concentrating, drowsiness, insomnia and irritability.
Once the nicotine is flushed from your body the withdrawal symptoms will gradually subside but they will probably never go away totally. That’s because one is never enough. If you smoke one you’ll smoke a dozen or more.
Change your rituals.
Short circuit stress.
Quit early in the week.
Stay in a smoke free world.
Give yourself daily pep talks.
Make a deal and reward yourself
Save those bucks.
Stall for time – delay lighting up.
Stay hydrated.
Cut down on caffeine.
Eat breakfast.
Although going cold turkey is the best bet, if you must do it gradually, the important thing is to QUIT!
Does it come from Grandma? – Genetics seems simple but is so complex that many scientists are still baffled by some aspects of the process. Genes are composed of millions of encoded nitrogen molecules that carry all of your reproductive blueprints. Every day 100 trillion cells depend on genes to tell them what they are supposed to be doing. The genetic code is a set of tutorials that tells the cells how to work properly. If one of those instructions is wrong, it changes how the cell functions. These erroneous instructions cause disease if they prevent the cell from doing the job it was designed to do and can cause the cell to die.
A genetic mistake is called a mutation. Having a mutation does not mean that you are pre-determined to get a disease. It just tells you that you should be more cautious about monitoring your overall health.
For instance only 5% of breast cancer is hereditary. But among women who have a history of breast cancer AND carry either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 (BRCA means breast cancer) gene the lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 80%. Women who have an inherited breast cancer gene may contract the disease 10 to 15 years earlier but it’s also true that almost half won’t get breast cancer until after age 60.
For most people the likelihood of developing inherited forms of cancer are about as likely as being struck by lightning and winning the lottery on the same day. But if your family does seem prone to a particular disease, it may be worth taking some precautions.
If you have a parent who died of a heart attack or a sibling who died of stroke at a young age that is something to share with your doctor as well as make some lifestyle changes like exercising, eating properly and not smoking.
Genetic testing is now available, but at a very high cost. Unless there is dramatic evidence that points to potentially serious genetic predispositions in your family tree, you’re much better off taking normal precautions by living healthy.
Your environment and disease – We all carry a degree of toxins in our cells. Take DDT for example. The use was banned in 1972 after research indicated the suspicion it contributed to breast cancer. But, traces of DDT remains in the foods we eat and the water we drink for more than 50 years, we all have trace amounts in bodies.
Trace amounts probably will not cause you harm, however, 30 chemicals have been proven to cause cancer in humans while another 400 have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and are suspected of causing human tumors.
Pollution increases the risk of heart attack.
Breast cancer rates appear to be higher in industrial areas.
Certain cancers are more common among farmers who use
Pesticides.
Radon is linked to lung cancer.
The damage created by these hazards increase as we age. The body gradually loses the ability to rid itself of toxins that can damage your lungs, kidneys, liver and other major organs.
Here are some tips to lower your intake of air born pollutants:
Stick to side streets as you walk for exercise.
Avoid outdoor activities during rush hour.
Live in a smoke-free environment.
Clean your indoor air with a HEPA filter.
Pay attention to local outdoor pollution alerts.
Try some of these hints to avoid pesticide poisoning:
Eat plenty of vegetables and soy products each day.
Reduce your intake of beef, pork and chicken.
Wash and peel all fruits and vegetables carefully.
Keep your kitchen free of pesticides.
Exercise – We all know it. Exercise is good for you but, if you are over 60, breeze on by the advertising that touts ‘buns of steel.’ Recent research indicates that moderate exercise will give you as much protection from disease as the extensive exercise regimens touted by those much younger than you.
Experts now tell us to use a two-part exercise program that includes aerobic exercise like walking or bicycling to condition your heart plus strength training exercises such as calisthenics and low-intensity weight lifting to build muscle and cut fat. To begin you should only exercise two or three times a week but should work toward at least five times a week.
Easing into a routine like this gradually should be your goal. By age 60 almost everyone has some degree of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, joint irritation or lack of flexibility. Exercising lightly will not aggravate these conditions, but will actually help them.
Exercise will also keep your heart young, drive down high blood pressure, build up good cholesterol, improve balance, enhance sex life, increase mental acuity, elevate mood, control diabetes, decrease cancer risk, strengthen bones, ease joint pain and much, much more.
Get started properly. Get a physical so you know that your body’s systems can handle additional physical stress.
Warm up for at least 10 to 15 minutes using slow-walking, stretches or light calisthenics. As you get older you body need to ease into exercise gradually because your system is down about one third and takes longer to warm up and cool down.
Exercising more than 30 minutes at a time will help you lose weight if you do it three to five times a week and follow a proper diet. But if you don’t need to lose weight, three 10 minute sessions each day will be beneficial for protection against disease.
Schedule a regular workout time. Dress for comfort. Have plenty of water along so as not to dehydrate.
Half of your exercise routine should include aerobics and the best aerobic exercise is walking, especially if you are over 60. Start out by timing yourself and gradually increasing the distance over time. Keep your pace constant, slow down on hills and track the temperature. If it’s hot or humid your workout will seem harder. As you become more comfortable with your routine, try some variation like shortening steps, trying weights or swing your arms as you walk.
Here are some basic guidelines to follow for strengthening exercises:
Keep it slow – perform exercises slowly spending two seconds in the lifting phase of each exercise and four to six seconds in the lowering part. Moving too fast reduces the benefits and you could actually hurt yourself.
Always inhale before lifting, exhale while lifting and inhale as you lower the weight to get the best benefit.
Select just a few exercises to begin with, a few for the upper body and a few for the lower body. You can always increase as your routine helps you to gain stamina.
Use music to help establish a rhythm.
Pick the right kind of shoes. Walking or running shoes absorb the shock of your stride because of a slightly elevated heel that also helps prevent injuries to leg muscles and tendons. Tennis and other types of athletic shoes absorb impact of sideways movement and quick turns. Buy new shoes often even though they may last for years. That is because the shock absorption only lasts for a few months.
Wear loose fitting clothing for comfort, don’t drink coffee or any diuretics before or while exercising and exercise vigorously enough so that you can’t talk and exercise at the same time!