SCOOP ON POOP COLON HEALTH NO LAUGHING MATTER

WRITER: RICHARD T. BOSSHARDT, MD, FACS

It is a silent killer of too many people because its symptoms don’t become obvious until an advanced stage. The killer is colon (large intestine) cancer. Though it may not be the best topic to bring up at a cocktail party or the dinner table, colon health is critical to your overall health, and it will pay big dividends to devote at least some attention to it. If there’s one single word to summarize colon health it would have to be “fiber.”

Fiber is the indigestible material found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. It retains water and adds bulk to the solid material in the colon, making it easier to pass through and out of the body. Fiber regulates bowel function by lowering the transit time for material to travel from where it enters the large intestine to where it leaves the body. It binds things such as sugar and cholesterol, limiting their entry into your body and reducing potentially ill effects of those substances. Fiber corrects or prevents constipation, one of the hallmarks of the Standard American Diet (SAD) and reduces the risk of diverticulosis, a common cause of abdominal pain, bleeding and even perforation of the intestine.

In most third-world countries, constipation is almost nonexistent and colon cancer is rare. We ignore dietary fiber at our peril. The National Institute of Health in the U.S. recommends women get 25 grams of fiber daily in their diet and recommends 38 grams for men. Few adults of either gender get more than 15 grams per day.

Potty Training

While not very glamorous, few skills achieved in the first four years of life are more important than becoming potty trained. For too many parents, getting children out of diapers quickly is highly desirable, a hallmark of successful parenting. Some even claim an environmental benefit given how many disposable diapers end up in our landfills every year. For those interested in outsourcing this project, there are even professional “potty boot camps” that will take your diaper-clad progeny and turn them into diaper-free toddlers in four to five days. Early toilet training, however, ignores some basic facts of physiology and anatomy. Moreover, it can set up your child for problems later.

Children 2 years old and younger simply are not physically and intellectually mature enough for potty training.

When they are taught to withhold bowel movements, this may become a habit, leading to chronic constipation. This can lead to pain with bowel movements, causing the child to further resist the urge to go and a vicious cycle can set in.

Once constipation is established, the rectum may expand and lose tone, rendering it less effective in passing stool. More liquid stool from further up the large bowel can seep around this impacted poop and leak out, soiling the child’s pants. Children often are unaware this is happening until it is too late.

Encopresis is the medical term for fecal soiling after the age of toilet training, around age four. Children with encopresis are not being willfully disobedient, lazy or difficult. Punishment or lecturing them doesn’t work. They simply don’t know what the problem is or how to fix it. The solution is to re-establish normal bowel habits. Enemas, laxatives and behavior modification all play a role in this. Your pediatrician can help.

BABY B00MERS: IS YOGA FOR ME?

WRITER: MARYANN HOLDEN

Our baby boomer population is growing rapidly. So is the generation’s interest in leading active, fit lives.

On the whole, we live longer than we used to, and we all want high-quality living and good health to be a part of our older years. As we grow older, though, we typically become more susceptible to ailments linked to aging, and as a result we tend to move less. The less we move, the more susceptible we become to a variety of ailments, and it becomes a truly vicious cycle.

Many of us feel we should follow the advice of “taking it easy” as we grow older, but that’s actually what we shouldn’t do. Extended periods of sitting lead to muscular shortening, tightening and weakening. Lack of weightbearing activity contributes to osteoporosis. Lack of movement and stretching leads to joint deterioration and loss of flexibility.

Of grave concern for our senior population is a lack of balance, which stems, in part, from sitting rather than standing and from not challenging one’s balance in various positions. Complications resulting from falls among people over the age of 65 frequently lead to a multitude of serious problems, sometimes death.

Body awareness is a big part of getting and staying active. When someone first starts yoga classes, just breathing and opening up the spaces in the body that have been shut down and tight brings on a whole new awareness. Closing the eyes and escaping the chaos of the outside world and finding the peace within is a fun journey. What you learn on a yoga mat is training for your life. If you can quiet the mind, be still and live in the moment, life becomes less stressful.

A regular yoga and meditation practice can have many benefits. For baby boomers, it can mean access to a fitness routine that’s easy to maintain for longer periods of time.

Yoga is a tremendous tool to combat the concerns of an aging society. It’s not all about complicated twists and poses, as many people believe. Yoga is adaptable for any age group and can be incorporated into an everyday workout and relaxation routine with ease.

Benefits Of Yoga For Baby Boomers

❋ Yoga helps improve and maintain muscle tone, a major factor as we age. It also strengthens bones. This is an effective way to deal with health issues such as incontinence and arthritis and osteoporosis.

❋ It helps maintain baby boomer fitness and attain flexibility that helps with movement. It helps the elderly maintain or regain their balance.

❋ It is beneficial in maintaining cardiovascular health.

❋ It keeps the digestive system in good health and several yoga poses massage, tone and detox the liver and other internal organs.

❋ Yoga and meditation can help the elderly sleep well. Both are effective in severe cases of insomnia.

❋ An improved sense of body awareness is also often seen in people who practice yoga regularly.

❋ Yoga and meditation can improve memory, relieve stress and normalize the blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

❋ Better breathing. Yoga helps to open the spaces and expand the lungs. More oxygen means better mood, clearer thinking and slowing down the aging process

Some Precautions Before Starting Yoga

❋ Consult a doctor before starting any new workout routine. For instance, your doctor might advise you to go easy with yoga poses for the spine or back if suffer from a health condition that might require you to avoid certain poses.

❋ It is a good idea to join a class for beginners if you have an inactive lifestyle or have never exercised. Be open with your instructor about your medical condition and health issues, if any, and be clear about your fitness goals.

❋ Do not overextend yourself. Stick with yoga poses you’re comfortable with and can do with ease. A good yoga instructor will always ask you to hold the poses and help you use props such as chairs to modify the different poses for you.

❋ Look for a qualified instructor who can make appropriate modifications to your yoga practice.