Age Well for Life - Home Health & Wellness Solutions

04/04/2023

As we age, it's common to experience some loss of balance. Unfortunately, this can increase the risk of falls and injury in older adults. The good news is that exercise and balance training can help prevent falls.

For all individuals, but especially for the elderly, balance exercises are crucial to reducing the risk of falls. Consider these statistics: every year, one in three people over the age of 65 will experience a fall. Falls are also the leading cause of injury and hospitalization among older individuals. Once a person has had one fall, they are more likely to experience additional falls.

If you're concerned about your balance or fall risk, the first step is to see your local GP. They may refer you to an allied health professional, such as an Exercise Physiologist, who can help manage your individual situation. Exercise Physiologists are university-educated health professionals who use exercise to manage acute, sub-acute, and chronic medical conditions, helping to improve your overall health and well-being.

https://agewellforlife.com.au

05/01/2023

Can exercise prevent the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's? 🧠

Accumulating evidence finds that exercise can improve and retain cognitive brain function. A special issue of Brain Plasticity presents new research and insights on neural plasticity and the role of peripheral factors in cognitive health.

Accumulating evidence finds that exercise can improve brain function and delay or prevent the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

03/07/2022

Regular exercise can boost your mood if you have depression, and it's especially useful for people with mild to moderate depression.

04/05/2022

Ageing brings with it inevitable physical declines, including loss in bone density which can lead to osteoporosis.

This condition affects 3.8% of Australians, although many people don’t know they have it until they have a bone fracture.

Importantly, it can be prevented and managed through lifestyle factors including exercise.

The benefits of exercise for those with osteoporosis are great, and many exercises may be safe – so long as you avoid the risk of falling

24/02/2022

🩹 Injury prone? This is for you. 🩹

Almost 178 million new bone fractures happen worldwide each year. It's normal to think that the best course of action after breaking a bone is rest and not putting weight on it 🛌 🧑‍🦽

However, research shows that being physically active can promote bone healing and even help you avoid future fractures!

A study looking at 166 surgically treated tibia fractures discovered that early weight-bearing exercise was linked with faster healing – even in participants who had fractures that weren’t healing properly 🦵

Why? When we break a bone, oxygen and blood flow are both extremely important for helping the fracture heal. When exercising, our blood vessels enlarge, allowing more oxygen, nutrients and growth factors to flow to the fracture site 🩸

doi.org /10.1016/j.jot.2020.05.007

Read more ➡️ https://theconversation.com/exercise-could-help-broken-bones-heal-faster-heres-how-175404

Exercise activates a type of bone cell which is integral in the healing process.

22/01/2022

Our brains constantly transform themselves, for better and worse, in response to how we live and move 🧠 🤸‍♂️

Exercise can freshen and renovate the white matter in our brains, potentially improving our ability to think and remember as we age.

A study of walking, dancing and brain health showed that white matter, which connects and supports the cells in our brains, remodels itself when people become more physically active 🚶💃🕺 On the other hand, white matter tends to fray and shrink for those who remain sedentary.
doi/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118305

Learn more here 👉

Older men and women who walked for six months showed improvements in white matter and memory, while those who danced or did stretching exercises did not.

09/12/2021

👴 Staying physically active as we age substantially drops our risk of developing dementia during our lifetimes, and it doesn’t require prolonged exercise. Walking or moving about, rather than sitting, may be all it takes to help bolster the brain 💪🧠

Already, plenty of scientific evidence indicates that physical activity bulks up our brains. Older, sedentary people who begin walking 🚶 for about an hour ⏰ most days, for instance, typically add volume to their hippocampus, the brain’s memory center, reducing or reversing the shrinkage that otherwise commonly occurs there over the years.

You can read the study on late life physical activity here 👉 doi/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1483-21.2021

Simple activities like walking boost immune cells in the brain that may help to keep memory sharp and even ward off Alzheimer’s disease.

26/09/2021

The fitness goal of 10,000 steps a day is widely promoted, but a new study suggests that logging even 7,000 daily steps may go a long way toward better health.

🔎 You can find the study here: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.24516

Middle-aged people who walked at least 7,000 steps a day on average were approximately 50% to 70% less likely to die of any cause over the next decade when compared with those who took fewer steps.

This cohort study assesses the association of step volume and intensity with premature all-cause mortality among Black and White participants in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study.

14/08/2021

New global research has found excess screen time and a lack of physical activity is harming the mental health of adolescents.

The study found girls began to have mental health impacts after two hours' screen time, whereas the effects took twice that time to become noticeable in boys.

🔎 You can find the study here: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2352-4642(21)00200-5

The study's lead author Dr Asad Khan said the study found physical activity had a positive impact on mental health.

He said one hour of physical activity and no more than two hours of screen time a day provided "optimal mental well-being".

"We need to recalibrate our kids' behaviour towards a healthier lifestyle, meaning that when we can, [we should] replace the screen time with some outdoor activity."

"Targeting both behaviours simultaneously is likely to give us the best benefit."

A study of more than 577,000 children around the world concludes mental health declines after just a few hours of screen time among 11- to 15-year-olds, but that the solution is as close as the front door.

18/05/2021

If you have a sedentary job, a breadth of research touts the benefits adding some exercise into your day.

But what if your job has plenty of physical activity already?

Research looked at over 104,000 men and women over a 10-year timeframe and found that having high activity levels in their spare time reduced MACE-related early death by about 40% compared to having lower activity levels.

However, high levels of activity at work (compared to in their spare time) only reduced early mortality rate by 13 to 27%.

Even more surprising, high and very high levels of work-related activity were associated with 15 to 35% increased risk of MACE.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, moving all day for work doesn’t seem to let you off the hook for the type of benefits you gain from regular exercise.

🔎 You can find the study here: doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehab087

Your work activity probably can’t make up for the cardio benefits you get from your daily rides.

08/03/2021

According to a new study, a committed aerobic routine could help preserve memories into old age.

According to a new study, a commited aerobic routine could help preserve memories into old age