Disease Prevention, continued
Reduce Stress
Acute (short term) stress can be exciting (e.g. going over a rapid when river rafting) and be useful (e.g. getting out of the way of a speeding car). However repetitious acute stress and chronic (long term) stress can be bad.
Repetitious acute stress is going from one stressful situation to the next. This results in being stressed most of the time and can be quite addictive. An example of this is the drama queen.
Chronic stress after a while starts to have very negative health consequences.
Consequences of stress can include,
- Headaches
- Increased susceptibility to infections
- Hair loss
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Sexual dysfunction
- Obesity
- Depression, and inability to cope with daily life
If you want to read more about stress and aging see Stress is Aging.
Small amounts of sensible sun exposure? – at least enough vitamin D
The most recent statistics indicate that it is likely that at least half of the adult population is vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is important for proper functioning of the immune system, control of blood pressure, bone density and may play a role in protection against certain cancers.
Vitamin D is made in the skin in response to strong sunlight. It is also available in supplements. There is some recent evidence that it may be better to get vitamin D naturally. There are some doctors who are suggesting that small amounts of sensible sun exposure may be beneficial. If you want more information read more about sun exposure and about why the rates of melanoma may actually not be increasing.
However, the most important thing is to have sufficient levels of vitamin D in your body, whether this is from sun, supplements or both.
Quit smoking
This is a no brainer. Smoking increases the risk of a number of age-related diseases and is aging to the skin.
No or moderate alcohol consumption
Drinking too much alcohol is like smoking, the body is being poisoned. Moderate alcohol consumption has been shown in many studies to be beneficial. However, alcoholic drinks do a have a fair number of calories, so this should be considered if weight is an issue.
Get enough sleep
With modern lives, with so much going on, it often seems like we do not have enough time in the day. To make more time it is common to get less sleep.
Being chronically short of sleep has been linked to obesity, increased blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, possibly an increased risk of cancer, increased risk of having accidents and getting injured, impairment of mental processes, and an increased the risk of getting depression. Make more time for sleep.
If insomnia is a problem, then try to find a solution. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) seems to work for many people. Check out the blog post Sleep Problems for more info.
Maintaining a social network
There is overwhelming evidence that those who have a social network tend to be healthier.
Keep mind active and challenged
An active challenged mind will keep your brain functioning better and slow age-related declines in memory, reasoning etc. and can slow the rate of onset of dementia. Studies have shown that people who have jobs that require their mind to be continually active and challenged have a lower rate of dementia and a later onset if they do get it.
Try to challenge yourself with a range of different activities for maximum benefit.
The bottom line
Improving a few aspects of our lives can have a major effect on preventing disease.
previous [1] [2]