The Effects of Aging on Your Digestion

As we age, our gastrointestinal tract does too. That means that it is important to monitor the foods you eat not only to maintain a healthy weight, but also to ensure that you are taking the best care of your digestive system. Here are five ways that your digestion can change as you age and tips for taking the best care of yourself and your health.

1. Chewing  

As you age, chewing food can become more difficult, especially if you have dentures or poor dentition. You may not think of chewing as part of the digestive process, but it is in fact the first and most important step in taking care of your digestive system. When you chew, you are breaking down the food so that the stomach acid and intestinal enzymes can later break it apart into nutrients to be absorbed into your intestines. 

 

In order to avoid choking on your food or slowing down your digestion, make sure to chew your food as thoroughly as possible or to cut up your food into smaller pieces. Also, it is important to continue visiting the dentist on a regular basis, about twice a year to make sure that your mouth is healthy and ready to chew. Taking calcium and vitamin D supplements or getting them through your diet can also help to your digestion and other aspects of your internal health. Women ages 50-70 should get about 1,200 mg of calcium and 600 IUs of vitamin D and men of the same age should get 1,000 mg of calcium and 600 IUs of vitamin D daily. 

 

2. Swallowing

After chewing, the next most important aspect of your digestion is swallowing your food properly. As you age, your esophagus, or the pipe that connects your mouth with your stomach, does not contract like it used to, making it more difficult to swallow larger pieces of food. Indeed, when individuals over 50 need to swallow large pieces of food, it can take 50 to 100 percent longer for the food to make its way to you stomach because your esophagus muscles are out of shape. 

 

One of the most common conditions among aging individuals is called gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which can cause pain or a burning sensation in your chest when you digest and even the narrowing of your esophagus. Although there is not cure for a narrowing esophagus, one way to prevent this condition and to maximize your digestion with age is to chew your food slowly and in small pieces and to exercise and maintain a healthy weight. Avoid foods high in fat or sodium, which can worsen the feeling of heart burn or reflux, and if the symptoms still do not subside, it is recommended to visit your doctor for medical treatment.

3. Your Stomach 

At the end of your esophagus lies the entry into your stomach called the lower esophageal sphincter. As you age, this ring-like muscle at the opening of the stomach gets weaker, once again contributing to heartburn and acid reflux. The muscle fails to relax properly, which allows acid and sometimes other stomach contents to make their way back up the esophagus pipe. 

 

It is important that if you have suffered from heartburn or indigestion in the past to take note of the foods that may make you feel that way. Spicy and highly acidic foods are some of the major triggers for this condition, along with citrus fruits and high-fat foods. It helps to eat smaller meals that are low in acid and sodium because this can dramatically decrease your chances for heartburn. 

 

Another common condition to watch out for in your stomach is called H. Pylori, or a bacteria on your stomach lining that can cause ulcers or sores in the morning or when your stomach is empty. The infection can be detected through blood tests and endoscopy, a small tube inserted in your mouth that extends down to your stomach. If you discover that you have H. Pylori there is no need to worry because the condition can be treated with a combination of antibiotics and acid-suppressing medications. 

 

4. Intestines

With age, your intestines start to get lazy when it comes to absorbing key nutrients like calcium, vitamins A, B-12, K and D. This is because the muscle movements get slower and the colon function also changes. As a result, adults from ages 50 and up may experience more constipation and have a greater risk of developing colon cancer or diverticulitis, a condition in which small pouches in the colon become infected. 

 

As mentioned above, it is recommended to make up for these missing vitamins either in your diet or with supplements. You can relieve your constipation by increasing your daily fiber intake and decreasing your intake of fatty and high-cholesterol foods. In order to naturally increase your fiber intake, eat more whole grains and try to have a fruit or vegetable with every meal. Here are some great ways to naturally increase your daily fiber intake. 

 

 5. Your Liver

You may not know that people ages 60 and over have a greater risk of developing gallstones, or hard crystals that form in the gallbladder when your liver is unable to process the cholesterol and other parts of its bile. Bile is a substance you need to digest fat, which is made by the liver, but is stored in the gallbladder. Your risk for gallstones increases with age because the because the bile duct at the opening of your intestine narrows, forcing the bile to stay in the gallbladder for longer periods of time, which causes it to harden. 

 

In order to help prevent the formation of gallstones, which can be painful and often require removal surgeries, it is recommended to strictly control your fat intake so as not to overwhelm your gallbladder. Unfortunately, if you have gallstones you most likely won't experience symptoms, and if you do it is usually a mild pain in the pit of your stomach or the upper right part of your belly. The pain can even spread to your right upper back and shoulder blade. If you experience or have experienced any of these symptoms, it is important to immediately contact your doctor. 

 

Lastly, make sure that you remain in constant consultation with your doctor about your digestive health, and ask for extra blood or breath tests the next time you have a check-up.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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Is Mouthwash Good or Bad For Your Health?

Mouthwash has quickly become a staple product in many households, a bottle might even be sitting in your bathroom cabinet next to the toothpaste right now. Even with a hefty price tag for an oral care product, mouthwash earned quite a lot of fans, with over 200 million people using it daily in the United States alone. Honestly speaking, this is isn’t surprising given that it is marketed as a miracle cure - a product capable of preventing gum disease and cavities, getting rid of bad breath and even whitening your teeth. But can mouthwash actually do all that, and even if so, are there any dangers to using mouthwash for a long period of time? Scroll down for the answers.

Can Mouthwash Do What It Claims?

Mouthwash really appeals to our senses with its refreshing minty sweet flavor and that clean feeling in your mouth. However, these feelings are quite misleading, as mouthwash is actually not nearly as effective at cleaning your teeth as it seems, which is why it can't replace regular brushing and flossing.

In recent years, the effectiveness of mouthwash has been increasingly questioned as well. For one, it has been long observed that mouthwash cannot get rid of bad breath for a long time, but it turns out that the vast majority of mouthwash can also do very little for plaque reduction and gum disease prevention.

1. Gum Disease Prevention

Certain kinds of mouthwash, namely those that contain an ingredient called chlorhexidine have been known to help prevent the spread of gum infections in people with acute cases of gum disease, but these should NOT be used for more than a week or two since they can cause brown staining and encourage tartar formation.

2. Plaque Reduction

There is some evidence suggesting that using a mouthwash twice a day can reduce the amount of plaque on the teeth, but all of these studies looked at a good oral hygiene altogether, and not at mouthwash alone, so we can’t reliably conclude that it’s the mouthwash and not brushing and flossing that’s contributing to the plaque reduction.

3. Protection From Cavities

Mouthwash that contains fluoride may help protect your teeth from cavities, but only if you keep it in your mouth for a minute, which most people don’t; interestingly, the same effect can be achieved by not rinsing your mouth with water after brushing your teeth with toothpaste that contains fluoride.

Sure, if you need to mask bad breath in a pinch, mouthwash may help, but using it on a daily basis can be a waste of your money, especially since you can make a natural DIY mouthwash from ingredients you already have at home. Apart from that, some varieties of mouthwash can actually clash with your toothpaste, as they can contain ingredients that cancel out the active ingredients in your toothpaste.

Can Mouthwash Be Harmful?

There are several known concerns with mouthwash, both regarding its effects on the body and the ingredients that are often used in these products. Let’s start from a list of controversial ingredients that can be harmful to your oral health if used long-term:

1. Alcohol

A huge quantity of mouthwash on the market contains quite high quantities of alcohol, which is known to be very drying and may contribute to a dry mouth if used on an everyday basis. Keep in mind that having a dry mouth is more than just an unpleasant sensation, it’s a potentially dangerous condition that increases one’s risk of developing cavities, gum disease, oral yeast infections, and even digestive issues.

You should also make sure that kids under the age of 6 don't use mouthwash that contains alcohol, as even the smallest quantity ingested by small children may hinder their normal development.

2. Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

In short, sulfates like this can be bad because they are very drying and sensitizing, an issue that becomes even worse when you’re using it inside your mouth. Dry mouth and mouth sores can be caused by SLS.

Apart from that, SLS is technically a type of salt, so if you happen to ingest it, it will count as part of your sodium intake, an intake that’s already typically too high in most people.

3. Saccharin and Other Sweeteners

Manufacturers will typically add some kind of sweetener to mouthwash to make it more pleasant for your taste buds. The problem with this is that sugar is absolutely unnecessary in mouthwash products and can actually worsen your oral health, not to mention you can end up ingesting more artificial sweeteners as if most people don’t eat too much sugar and sugar replacements already.

4. Chlorhexidine

Chlorhexidine is a good ingredient if you use it right. It’s typically found in mouthwash varieties that market themselves as ‘antiseptic’ or ‘antibacterial’, and it does kill the bacteria in your mouth. This is good if you’re currently treating some kind of acute infection, but if you're using an antibacterial mouthwash every day, you’re ruining your oral micro-biome - the healthy bacteria that live in your mouth and help your body fight off bad bacteria. It's best to opt out antibacterial mouthwash unless you were prescribed it to treat a condition.

Irrespective of ingredients, mouthwash has also been linked to increased risk of hypertension and cancers of the mouth, vocal cords, throat, and esophagus. There is not enough scientific evidence to claim that frequent use of mouthwash (3 times/day or more) causes these conditions and we hope that will soon change given than so many people may be using a harmful product on an everyday basis.

The bottom line is that there is no real reason for someone to be using mouthwash if they’re not suffering from an acute infection in the oral cavity, as the risks of the product seem to outweigh its benefits. Apart from that, the use of mouthwash seems to make a very minor contribution to your oral hygiene regimen, so you'd be saving a lot of money and time by avoiding it altogether.

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Cancer patients more likely to die of heart problems, stroke, according to a study

In a new study, researchers have found that a lot of people diagnosed with cancer are more likely to die of heart and blood vessel problems, instead of the main disease.

Even more, for cancers like those affecting breasts, prostate, endometrial and thyroid, around half of the patients will die from cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to the study.

For the study, researchers compared the US general population with over 3.2 million US patients who had been diagnosed with cancer between 1973 and 2012.

They used information contained in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database to look at deaths from CVD, which included heart disease, high blood pressure, cerebrovascular disease, blocked arteries and damage to the aorta- the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body.

They adjusted their analyses to take account of factors that could affect the results, such as age, race, and sex, and looked specifically at 28 types of cancer.

Among the 3,234,256 cancer patients, 38 %( 1,228,328) died from cancer and 11 % ( 365, 689) died from CVDs. Among the deaths from CVD, 76 % were due to heart disease, and risk of dying from CVD was highest in the 1st year after a cancer diagnosis and among patients younger than 35 years.

The majority of CVD deaths occurred in patients with cancer of the breast ( a total of 60,409 patients) and prostate (84,534 patients), as these are among the most common cancer to be diagnosed.

In 2012, 61 % of all cancer patients who died from CVD were diagnosed with breast, prostate or bladder cancer.

The proportion of cancer survivors dying from CVD was highest in bladder ( 19% of patients), larynx ( 17%), prostate ( 17%), womb ( 16 %), bowel ( 14 %) and breast ( 12 %) cancers.

Patients who were more likely to die from cancer than from CVD were those with the most aggressive and hard-to-treat cancers, such as cancer of the lung, liver, brain, stomach, gallbladder, pancreas, oesophagus, ovary and multiple myeloma.

A Dr. said , these findings show that a large proportion of certain cancer patients will die of cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, stroke, aneurysm, high BP and damage to blood vessels.

We also found that among survivors with any type of cancer diagnosed before the age of 55 years, the risk if cardiovascular death was more than 10-fold greater than in the general population, the Dr. added.

The risk of death from CVD is several times that of the general population in the 1st year of diagnosis; sometimes, this risk decreases, but for most, this risk increases as survivors are followed for 10 years or more, the researcher continued.

A radiation oncologist, stated the reason why cancer patients were more at risk of dying from CVD within the 1st year of diagnosis might be because when they entered the hospital system, other illnesses and problems, such as heart disease, lung dysfunction and kidney failure were also detected.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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New Blood Test Screens for Cancers With 99.4% Accuracy

In the vast majority of cases, cancer is not the fatal diagnosis it once was, but the key to recovery is early detection, which is still a problem for those cancer types that are more difficult to diagnose at earlier stages. But even here, the world of medicine is constantly making significant progress, and an excellent example of this is a new blood test that is capable of detecting over 20 types of cancer, including the more difficult-to-diagnose varieties like cervical, pancreatic, colorectal and breast cancer, with a 99.4% accuracy.

What Is This Test?

The blood test is based on cutting-edge genetic research that attempts to detect the genetic changes that happen to their DNA when a person is suffering from cancer. More specifically, the test looks for abnormal methylation in the DNA, which is a process when the DNA is altered by compounds known as methyl groups. The presence of these genetic abnormalities can point to different cancers, which is exactly what this new blood screening is trying to pinpoint.

The test was developed by Harvard University scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and it has recently undergone a series of trials suggesting the test is effective at diagnosing many different cancers. Out of the 3,586 blood samples collected from both cancer patients and healthy controls alike, the test identified cancer patients correctly with amazing 99.4% precision.

Furthermore, the scientists checked how well the test approximates the origin of the cancer, and it turns out that the test gets that right as well with 89% precision. But one of the greatest goals of the study was to show that the blood test is capable of detecting 14 high-risk cancers that account for 63% of cancer deaths, such as esophagus, breast, lung, gastric, ovary, pancreatic cancer, and others.

These cancers were detected correctly with 76% accuracy. More specifically, within this high-risk cancer group, the test accurately detected Stage I cancer 32% of the time, stage II - 76%, Stage III - 85%, and Stage IV - 93%. This is a great success, as many of these high mortality cancers are typically found in more advanced and difficult-to-treat stages.

Overall, this one blood test successfully detected ⅓ of patients with stage one cancer and ¾ of those suffering from stage two cancer, so it has an excellent potential of really improving current diagnostic practices and prevent many deaths. The researchers have recently presented the results of this trial in September 2019, at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, and hopefully, this revolutionary technique will soon become a successful diagnostic tool for physicians worldwide.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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