When
you get past 50, your mailbox gets inundated with advertisements concerning
your health. They think you have lots of money to spend, and they
want as much of it as they can get. Many are quack crap, slippery
gull traps to avoid. Some are downright sleaze. But a few offer something
of real value. Most of these are health newsletters.
We've tried several of them. Many are rather shallow, occasionally
merely trendy...telling you what they think you want to hear.
But two we have continued year after year...because they are genuinely
helpful, truly interesting, and clearly authoritative:
The New
England Journal of Medicine, HEALTHNEWS
Consumer
Reports, onhealth
The
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine just sent us an ad for their
Health
After 50
newsletter. It certainly looks interestingand their Web Site is
one of the best. In particular, look at their,
A Practical Anti-Aging
Plan
1.
Get Moving ...your single most potent antidote to aging: exercise.
2.
Don't Smoke ...it's never too late to quit.
3.
Follow a healthy diet ...rich in fruits and vegetables...low-fat...
4.
Use supplements wisely ...fill gaps in a sound
diet.
5.
Drink enough water ...older, you're
prone to dehydration.
6.
Avoid excessive exposure to the sun ...protective
pigment diminishes with age.
7.
Reduce stress ...meditation,
yoga, and exercise.
8.
Challenge your mind ...learn new
skills.
9.
Limit alcohol consumption ...If you don't drink, don't
start*.
10.
Cultivate satisfying relationships ...positive
social interaction...
11.
Consider preventative medicine ...reduce high blood
pressure...
Today,
such messages pop up everywhere. Medical research clearly points everyone
in these directions. Medical advisors on TV and in newspapers do, too.
Our Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) conducts a superb program
of lectures, "Healthy Talks," research summaries...guidelines to all aspects
of wellness: they, too, point us in these directions.
Look
at OHSU's "Virtual Wellness" site for an outline of one program that helps
people follow such routes.
Look
to this Explore Portland site for some exercise ideas and worthwhile social
interactions in Portland, Oregon. Look to our "Knowledge for Use" site for challenging
kinds of possibly unfamiliar skills: learn some ways of looking at
the world that are the ways that brought us several centuries of science...and might bring other, even more useful, outcomes. Just maybe...
*Good health is a complex weave of many factors. Some people perhaps should start according to some current research.
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