Healthy
Tips to Put a Stop to Early Aging
Dermatologists can’t stress it enough: How you treat your skin now will affect its future appearance. While it may seem silly to worry about wrinkles long before you have any, it’s true that preparation pays off. According to dermatologists, more women in their, twenties are asking for anti-aging tips. So, what can you do keep your skin looking young and healthy? Kiehl’s since 1851, a company that specializes in skin and hair care formulas derived from natural ingredients, offers the following tips: • Rest up. There’s a reason “you look tired” and “you look great” aren’t synonymous. But did you know that the position in which you sleep can also affect your looks? If you sleep facedown, fluid can collect beneath your eyes. Try sleeping face-up with your head slightly elevated with pillows. If you do wake up with facial swelling, try tapping the skin beneath your eyes or applying a cold compress. • Apply vitamin C. Your skin contains more vitamin C than any other antioxidant, including the much-touted vitamin E. To keep vitamin C at an optimal level, make sure you are applying a skincare formula that contains plenty of vitamin C.
• “Vitamin C helps keep skin even and bright, and it offers potent antioxidant protection from environmental stressors, such as pollution and sunlight,” said Dr. Adam Geyer, fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, Instructor in Clinical Dermatology at Columbia University and Kiehl’s Brand Ambassador. • Two of Kiehl’s products, “Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate” to improve tone and texture all over the face and “Line-Reducing Eye-Brightening Concentrate” formulated specifically for the eye area to boost radiance and minimize wrinkles, contain 10.5 percent vitamin C. Unlike many retinol products, they won’t cause photosensitivity and irritation and are gentle enough for twice-daily use. Apply them after cleansing, both day and night to obtain the greatest results. • Reduce your sodium intake. You can make your doctor and your skin happy at the same time! When you eat too much sodium, you can cause your body to shift fluid into extra cellular spaces, especially beneath your eyes. Avoid excess sodium intake to benefit both your health and your skin.
Lighting Can Be Your Eyes’ Best Friend As You Age
Health
Everyone experiences changes in their eyesight as they age. For many, it means buying reading glasses to read a menu, newspaper or other small print. According to the American Lighting Association (ALA), changing the lighting in your surroundings can go a long way to enhance reading ability and increase comfort. “Often, the first thing people notice as they get older is their loss of ability to see distance,” notes Terry McGowan, director of engineering & technology for ALA and owner of Lighting Ideas in Cleveland. “That happens around age 45 and is called presbyopia. By 60, most people have a ‘fixed focus’ optical system and need glasses. After age 60, eye and visual system changes accelerate, so that less light reaches the eye. Therefore,” McGowan says, “people need more light to see details as they age.” Paul Eusterbrock, president of Holktter International, a lighting manufacturer that has championed lighting developments and products to help aging eyes, agrees. “The main issue is the quality of
light,” he says. “Research shows that a 60-year-old needs twice as much light as a 30-year-old. Most of the commonly found lighting guidelines are written with the 30-year-old user in mind,” Eusterbrock explains. Is there a magic light bulb that will work for everyone? McGowan and Eusterbrock say no. “This may sound strange, but the perfect bulb is whichever one the user finds works best for them,” McGowan says. “Individual vision varies so much -- especially as people age -- that it’s difficult to develop lighting recipes that are one-size-fitsall,” he says. Whether you are old or young, the basic rules of good lighting apply: have sufficient illumination with little or no glare, and use diffused lighting to minimize shadows. If energy savings is a concern, McGowan recommends selecting compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and LED bulbs with warm tones (look for 2700-3000K on the box) and a high color-rendering index of 90 or more.
Innovations in Women’s Health Shine Brightly at Local Events Nationwide
Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women’s health conditions have come a long way, baby. In honor of women’s health, the popular health and wellness website, Everyday Health.com, is working with the HHS Office on Women’s Health and da Vinci Surgery to present “Women’s Works: Tools for a Healthier You.” Free educational programs are taking place at over 250 hospitals nationwide throughout the month of May. Each will shine a light on the advances and innovations in some of the conditions that affect women. “Fear prevents a lot of women from making the necessary appointments for medical tests to stay healthy,” explained Jenny Sucov, editor, EverydayHealth.com. “We wanted to focus on five major conditions affecting women -- from fibroids to breast cancer to osteoporosis -- and dispel some old beliefs about what’s involved in certain procedures. Ultimately, we want to educate women and encourage them to take charge of their own health.” Here’s a glimpse at some of the findings: • Heart Disease. Researchers are working on better ways to evaluate heart disease in women, and even routine assessment of risk factors like high cholesterol. For example, a recent study showed that a woman’s menstrual cycle can impact her cholesterol levels.
• Breast Cancer. A new Computed Tomography (CT) scanner, custom designed for the breast, eliminates the need to compress breast tissue and produces a 3D image in as little as 10 seconds. The CT scanner can also detect tumors as small as 3 mm that are difficult to see on a mammogram. • Fibroids. Some fibroids don’t need treatment, or can be managed by taking birth-control pills or other drugs. But others do require surgery, in some cases a hysterectomy. In the past, a hysterectomy would require many weeks of painful recovery, leaving large scars. Thanks in part to newer robotic surgery techniques, like da Vinci Surgery, hysterectomy patients can leave the hospital the next morning with only a few tiny (1/2 to 1 inch) incisions to heal, reaching full recovery within days. • Osteoporosis & Osteo arthritis. Advances are being made in the treatment of osteoporosis, including new drugs, like Forteo, designed to increase bone mass rather than just prevent bone loss • Gestational Diabetes. Left untreated, gestational diabetes can lead to overweight babies. New testing standards announced in March, according to the American Diabetes Association, may mean more women affected by the condition will have the chance to reduce their blood-sugar levels.