Archive for the 'Aging' Category

Walking a Great Exercise

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on April 3, 2009
in Aging and Wellness 101
. 0 Comments

walking-rover.jpg Of all the fitness fads that have come and gone in the last few years, walking has continued to be popular and is one of the easiest to work into a busy schedule. It takes no special equipment, no special clothes or a special location. A pair of comfortable shoes and socks as well as some comfortable clothing are all that you need to obtain the greatest benefits from your walks.

Any amount of time spent walking will be beneficial, three to five hours a week devoted to it will give important benefits in several fitness categories.

Weight Loss

Walking is just as good as jogging per mile of exercise and total mileage, not speed, is the goal. It can be fast or slow to burn calories and it avoids the high impact problems for the obese. Although a reduced calorie diet is essential for most weight-loss programs, diet without exercise makes you lose muscle mass as well as fat. Your body reacts by increasing your appetite and as soon as you go off the diet you will eat more than you did before. Walking acts like a suppressant to your appetite. An ideal goal is 14 to 21 miles per week.

Aerobic Benefits

To improve cardiovascular fitness, brisk walking (3.5 to 6 miles per hour) is needed for 20 minute, 2 to 4 times per week. This kind of walking forces the heart to carry a higher-than-normal load, pushing it up to 60-70 percent of it’s maximum rate.

Cholesterol

Regular walking seems to increase the body’s level of High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), which in turn carries the dangerous Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL) out of the arteries. This benefit decreases your risk of atherosclerosis, thus lowering the risk of heart disease.

Yours in Health, Naturally!

Dr. Gould

Common Sense Health Strategy #1

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on November 11, 2008
in Aging, Baby Boomer Issues, Common Sense Strategies and Wellness 101
. 0 Comments

Common Sense… Is Not So Common

I find that the majority of people know very little about maintaining a healthy body. In fact, most people only become interested when they become ill or develop a disease.

Sad to say most people are oblivious to the concept of a health strategy. Partly due to ignorance, laziness and the insidious nature of a health care industry that is driven by selling more and more drugs to people that have been brainwashed into thinking that both health and disease come from the outside. We have always been taught that germs are out to get us and if they do, there is a drug for it. I’m here to tell you, there is another way, a natural more holistic way.

This is the first of several posts that I’m going to write, titled Common Sense Health Strategies. So let us begin learning how your body works and how to make it work better.

Your body is a High Performance Machine

What makes it such a high performance machine is its ability to rapidly respond to both internal and external stimuli. This rapid response is made possible due to your brain and nervous system. A truly Amazing Duo!

Did you know your nervous system was the “first” system in your body to be formed, after you were conceived? This irrefutable fact is a clue to your nervous system’s importance. Did you know your nervous system controls “everything” in your body? Essentially, your nervous system is an information super highway. The brain sends information to the body parts and then, the body parts send information back to the brain. This amazing feedback loop allows constant monitoring of all the systems of your body. This is why problems in the nervous system can create serious health problems. Because of this fact, your spine should be the first thing checked when you are not feeling well and regularly maintained to keep you well.

Fact: In the body information is Health! Lack of information is Disease!

Your spine is made up of many segments called vertebrae. The vertebrae are stacked on top of one another. Your spine acts like a support structure for your upper body, it also houses and protects your spinal cord and it allows you bend and twist. On occasion these segments can lose their proper alignment or relationship with on another. When this happens, the nerves exiting the spine can become pinched causing a disruption in the communication between the brain and the affected body part(s). If this communication is not restored the body’s level of functioning is reduced. This reduction in functioning can predispose you to illness, pain and disease.

Strategy #1 “Spinal Hygiene”

Keeping your spine in proper alignment by having it checked and if needed, having it adjusted. Did you know your current level of health is in direct proportion to the level of communication that currently exists between your brain and your body. This simple fact has eluded the masses with the exception of elite athletes and those who seek optimal health.

Sadly many people deal with health problems by simply drugging the symptom. Drugging the symptom however, never corrects the cause it merely allows it to get worse. This is why I say common sense is not so common.

Have you had your spine checked recently? Do you know that is suffering, if so, please share this post with them.

Yours in Health!

Dr. Gould

Restless Leg Syndrome

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on March 26, 2008
in Aging, Cincinnati Chiropractors, Fibromyalgia and Restless Leg Syndrome
. 0 Comments

restless-legs-1.bmpThis Syndrome Can Drive You Absolutely Crazy.

I mean Nuts!  Most people that have this syndrome dread trying to fall asleep at night.  Like all syndromes, depending on who you talk to, you will get a different cause and a different solution.  I always look for the holistic solution, one that works-with-the-body.

My curiosity with restless leg syndrome started many years ago when my uncle Eddie came to town for a visit.  At the time, he was 76 years old and grumpy.  It turns out that he was grumpy because he wasn’t sleeping.  After a few questions he told me that he had been to several doctors over a period of 6 months for Restless Leg Syndrome.  He said that each doctor he went to put him on a different medication, none of which helped him.

In my opinion, Restless Leg Syndrome is a vasculature (blood flow) problem.  Not enough blood flow! Think about this, what do you do when your hand falls asleep?  You shake it.  What do you do if your arm goes to sleep?  You shake it.  What does shaking do?  Simple, it helps to restore blood flow.

Years earlier I had watched a program on PBS about exercise. The program was full of great stuff. All the latest findings.  One of the interesting findings was how age effects our muscle’s ability to grow and become stronger.  The exercise physiologists did an experiment. The purpose of the experiment was simply to see how an 84 year old’s muscle would respond to exercise, compared to a 17 year old’s muscle. Muscle volume of each individuals thigh muscle was measured using a CT scan before and after 6 weeks of training.  The results were astonishing.  The 84 year old and the 17 year old’s muscle volume increased the same amount.  Proof that exercise works at any age.

What does this have to do with Restless Leg Syndrome? Everything!

My thinking with my uncle Eddie was this, if muscle can respond at any age, so can the vasculature.  My uncles primary complaint was in his calf muscles.  I told him that I had a hunch of how to remedy his problem.  He was skeptical.  After all, he had gone to all the medical specialist in his area and nothing helped.  I told him that I wanted him to start doing calf raises several times a day.  He was to do them in a specific way. I did not give him a number of reps to do, I only told him to do them until his calf muscles started to burn then he was to stop. I told him to do this a minimum of 5 times a day for 6 weeks.  Several months later he came back to Ohio for a visit.  He walked up to me smiling, it worked! I said what worked? He said I did the exercises you told me to do, within 3 weeks my legs stopped bothering me at night and I have continued to do them every day.

Below is a short video demonstrating how to do calf raises. I always tell people to do them on the stairs while holding on to the bannister for stability. It is important that you allow your heels to drop all the way down and it is equally important to go all the way up into a complete contraction. You continue doing these until you feel a burn then stop.  The purpose of this is to increase blood flow and over time create collateral circulation.

Since then I have had many patients get wonderful results by doing the same thing.

Please let me know how this works for you.

Yours in Health!

Dr. Gould

Aging Gracefully

Published
by
Dr. Edward Gould
on February 9, 2008
in Aging
. 0 Comments

It has been said, “ Our genes load the gun but our habits pull the trigger.” Make a copy of that and put on your refrigerator! Our genes play an enormous role in how we age. However, our habits play a powerful role also. It seems that everyone has a new idea on how to slow aging. We are driven by advertisers to believe that their product is the answer. I’m here to tell you that the best things are usually the simplest things.

Drink more pure water. Is that hard to do? No it isn’t. However, very few people drink enough water. As we get older the thirst area of the brain gets sluggish causing us to be less thirsty. So drink more water. The rule of thumb is 1/2 our body weight in fluid ounces a day. If you weigh 100 pounds you should drink 50 fluid ounces per day of pure water. Not Scotch, Beer or Tea. Water!

When you eat, thoroughly chew your food. See my post on Belching, Bloating and Flatulence. Digestive problems are a symptom. Find out the cause and then makes some changes.

Get some daily exercise. It’s a fact, our bodies were not meant to be sedentary. Again another simple suggestion but how many people follow through.

How are you sleeping deeply or lightly? You need several hours of deep sleep. REM sleep is the best by far for healing. Is you mattress sagging? Is your bedroom to cold or to hot? Maybe you need absolute quite. If so, buy some ear plugs.

If you smoke or do drugs, get help so that you can quit!

The bottomline is, we are all different. What works for me, may not for you but it is our individual responsibilty/duty to find out what works the best for ourselves. To do this is really simple, we have to turn our Shoulds into Musts every thing else will fall into place.

Be Well!

Dr. Gould