No one likes to see their parents age, and maybe that’s because aging has been associated with declining health. This isn’t always the case, as many elders live healthy, active, and long lives. More diseases affect us as we age, but there are ways to combat certain diseases and illnesses.

#1: Nutrition

Bone Health

It’s no secret that as we get older, our bones get weaker. Between the ages of 25 and 30, we reach our peak bone mass and begin to lose some of it at age 40. As we age, our bodies reabsorb essential nutrients from our bones, causing them to weaken. This is why it is important for aging parents to consume a diet that focuses on bone development. Here are the major nutrients (and food examples) that help with bone health.

• Calcium (dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, beans, and lentils) is a key mineral in bone formation and can replace old bone cells.
• Vitamin D (salmon, sardines, tuna, and egg yolk) helps with calcium absorption and ensures proper bone renewal.
• Magnesium (leafy green vegetables) helps form bone minerals.
• Vitamin K (also found in leafy greens) ensures the proper mineralization for our bones.
• Zinc (meat and legumes) is essential for the renewal of bone tissue.
• Protein (meat, eggs, dairy, grains, nuts, and seeds) is the foundation for our muscles and our bones.

Heart Health

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death for men and women worldwide, and poor eating habits are one of its causes. Fortunately, there are foods that can help with heart health.

• Fruits and vegetables are low in calories, but rich in fiber and various vitamins and minerals.
• Whole grains are also good sources of fiber and essential nutrients, and they are easy to add to any diet.
• Healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, avocados) have the ability to lower total blood cholesterol. Healthy fats are also known as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

Reducing sodium intake is also important to protect the heart. Increased sodium intake leads to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease. However, in case you feel that your parents’ dietary habits did not comprise of all the healthy stuffs, it would be suggested to get their heart health checked. More so, if they have been a lover of fast food all this while. If you plan to do so, knowing some things like What Is An Angiogram, What is Echocardiogram, etc. could keep you prepared for the things that may follow.

There are many other issues a proper diet can prevent, such as diabetes. But a healthy diet isn’t the only thing that helps to prevent common diseases.

#2: Physical Activity

EExercise has numerous benefits for the human body, as well as benefiting cardiovascular and bone health. However, it may be hard for your aging parents to engage in vigorous, daily exercise. At their age, it might even be difficult for them to take a bath while standing due to their aged body, which is why they might require something like a bath hoist. A bath hoist is a raised and moveable seat that can help individuals get into and out of a bath. So, it can be understood that vigorous daily exercises could not be a good idea for them. However, moderate exercise could prove to be beneficial for them. Here are a few simple activities that can improve muscle strength and even increase heart rate.

• Walking is a good way to increase strength in the legs. As a mild form of cardiovascular exercise, walking reduces the risk of heart disease and helps maintain a healthy weight.
• Yoga is particularly beneficial for women over 60. Yoga benefits bone and joint health, as well as increases strength and flexibility.
• Gardening may seem like an unlikely form of exercise, but it helps to build strength in the fingers and hands. More intense gardening can build total-body strength and can be a mild form of cardiovascular exercise.

Regular physical activity can also have mental health benefits. When exercising, chemicals in the brain are released that promote happy and calm feelings. Exercise can also promote a good night’s sleep, and many elders experience sleep issues.

Why Nutrition and Exercise are Important for Elders

A healthy, balanced diet, combined with regular physical activity, is known to combat many preventable diseases, and this is especially important for your aging parents. As we age, our bodies can lose nutrients quicker which is why a balanced diet is important. It would therefore be wise for your parents to get vitamin and micronutrient supplements from Rootine or similar nutrient-providing companies. Regular exercise can also help in increasing mobility, which your aging parent needs especially in this stage of life.

Elders with decreased mobility are less likely to be able to live on their own, meaning that they have to live with family or in a nursing home. Many people don’t have the means to care for aging parents (due to work, kids, both, etc.), and placing their loved ones in a nursing home can be a hard decision, especially when hearing stories of nursing home falls and elder abuse. This is why improving your loved one’s quality of life is important to prevent such incidents, as well as diseases. When these instances do occur, that’s when you need to contact the legal resources to hold negligent facilities accountable for their actions. Also, after such incidents, you might lose faith in nursing homes or any other care center for elders as you have already witnessed their negligence in the past with respect to your parents’ care. In such a scenario, you may want to engage yourself to look after your elders. You can enroll in senior care courses (like Aged care courses Melbourne) that might assist you in learning needful practices required for old-age parents.

These tips are important for everyone at any stage of life, but it is especially beneficial for elders, even if they haven’t followed a healthy lifestyle their whole lives. Although it’s important to start a healthy lifestyle from a young age, it’s never too late for any living individual to begin a healthy lifestyle.

Cycling has a lot of health benefits, which is why it is a good idea to incorporate it into your daily life. However, that is not always as easy as it seems, as forming new habits and sticking to them can be challenging. If you are thinking of making cycling part of your daily routine to find areas where cycling would work as a great alternative to walking or driving, below, we will look at some tips that can help you make cycling part of your daily life.

Buy The Right Bicycle

It may seem obvious, but the first step into making cycling a part of your daily life is purchasing the right bicycle. The bike you choose will depend on the types of activities you are interested in. For example, if you are into recreational cycling, you should consider an electric road bike. These are lightweight, efficient bikes that are specifically designed to be ridden on pavements and other such areas. A modified version of the road bike that you can also consider – an eBike! This one can be especially useful if you want to start cycling regularly, but don’t have much practice. With its electric assist, there are a host of other things you can do with it too, like track your rides and navigate with ease.

If you are more adventurous, you might want to consider mountain bikes. These have flatter handlebars and wider tires with a lot of traction, better suited for riding on dirt trails. Other types of bikes you can consider include utility, electric, park, and fitness bikes.

Depending on the type, make, and manufacturer, your bike can end up costing anything from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. To ensure you are not at a loss when something happens to the bike, you should consider getting bicycle insurance. Bicycle insurance from providers like Velosurance covers incidents such as loss, theft, and accidents on the bike. The insurance can cover a lot more including medical bills and personal liability arising from a biking accident. Velosurance can also extend your bicycle insurance coverage worldwide if you so wish.

Use Your Bike to Commute

If you still work at an office, you might spend a lot of time sitting in traffic or maneuvering through traffic if something happens on the road. You might end up wasting precious time commuting to and from work. Cycling can help you make better use of your time.

In cities with dedicated bike lanes, cyclists end up spending a lot less time commuting. This reduces the stress and frustration that comes from sitting in traffic, translating into fitter and happier people.

With this being more said, you are more vulnerable when on a bike when compared to being in a car. You should read the highway code for bicycles and make sure you know when you need to give way. If you ever do get hit and it wasn’t your fault, contact a bicycle injury lawyer to see if they will be able to get you compensation. But, as long as you respect the rules of the road, wear bright protective gear, and keep an eye out for dangerous drivers, you shouldn’t have any issues.

Run Errands

Even in cases where you do not have to commute to the office, you still have to run errands from time to time. A bicycle is a great alternative to your car for its health benefits as well as fuel savings. Bikes are also faster here because you do not have to spend extra time looking for parking space as there are lots of parking spaces available for bicycles. Also, if you secure your bike well enough and find a safe area to chain it up, you can leave your bike anywhere that is relatively safe.

Ride Every Opportunity You Can

You do not have to buy a bike or even ride outdoors to make cycling a part of your adventure. There are several alternatives you can explore that will lead to the same result. For example, most gyms have stationary bikes available. Stationary bikes are also cheaper than they used to be and you can always purchase a second-hand one online.

The other alternative is bike share. Granted, this option is not available in many cities, but if it is available in yours, you can take one out for an hour a day and still get the health benefits that come with riding.

Attend Social Events

Many bigger cities have a cycling community. These communities meet from time to time and might also organize riding events or competitions. The included social aspect of cycling can help you get on your bike even when you are not feeling like it. You can think of it as going out to meet your friends instead of going on a bike ride. However you think of it, you still get the health benefits that come with cycling to these meet-ups, events, or competitions.

Switch Up Your Cardio Workouts

If you already work out, there are chances that you have a cardiovascular routine in your workouts. To make cycling a part of your life, you could try switching things up and going cycling instead. Cycling is a great cardiovascular exercise that can be used as a stand-in for the usual cardio exercises.

Plan Regular Trips

When people think about biking trips, they think of long distances and weeks of planning. It does not have to be this way as a cycling trip can be about visiting and riding in different parts or other recreational areas in your town or city. You can use this opportunity to enjoy nature and discover new areas in your town or city. Eventually, as you start getting the hang of it, you could ride for longer distances and take bigger bike trips. Who knows, the love for biking could lead you to consider Triathlon training at some point in the future! Be sure to get some swimming and running done in between too, though, if you do think about taking up the feat of participating in a triathlon.

Cycling is a total workout with numerous health benefits. The good news is that you can get into the habit of cycling regularly if you start small and build up. Start by riding around the neighborhood and soon you will be taking whole weekends for your cycling adventures.

Being a mom is a beautiful journey, but it is also a full-time job! And it can be quite a challenge when you are looking to put yourself on the job market. Getting a job with flexible hours is a great way to earn some money and cover your employment gap while giving your growing children the attention they need. However, the issue is knowing which options would help you achieve your goals.

You can do anything from becoming an online tutor to starting a business. While you might think starting a company can be a difficult task; however, it can be easily managed with the help of the right guidance and financial assistance. For instance, you can hire employees to handle management tasks, such as an accountant for business accounting and taxation, a manager to handle the team and oversee daily work, etc. Moreover, you can be a director who can drop in every few days to keep track of all the operations. This can provide you a lot of time to focus on family and children while also having a well-established career.

Similarly, here are a few career choices with flexible hours you should consider.

Delivery driver

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As a mom, you would probably be overqualified for a job as a delivery driver since you are used to running errands all over town. However, you can help your local florists, restaurant, or courier company by being a delivery driver. You can set up a seasonal schedule with these businesses to offer an extra hand to them on their busiest days. In addition to being paid a wage, delivery drivers usually receive a mileage reimbursement to cater for the wear and tear the deliveries may have on their cars. In some cases, the drivers are given company cars to make deliveries.

Tutor

If you have free time in the afternoon, you should consider being a tutor. You can choose to offer your services to private tutoring centers or schools. However, the Coronavirus outbreak has made in-home tutoring (tutoring at your home or your student’s home) a highly demanded form of tutoring. As a tutor, you have the task of helping your students with more than just their homework. You would provide them with extra help for subjects they may be struggling in. These tutoring sessions go a long way to helping a child achieve a good grade. Payment is made at an hourly rate. On average, tutors charge $30 an hour.

Nurse practitioner

If you studied nursing, it is a career choice you should consider. In general, nurse practitioners provide clinical oversight and offer reliable patient care. They have the task of diagnosing, advising, treating, and educating patients. They also prescribe medication to their patients. This is a rather technical field that requires a master’s degree in nursing. Going back to school may be a challenge for a full-time mom like yourself. However, you can apply to CCNE accredited online MSN programs to get your qualifications.

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Business process analyst

Have you got some experience in the field of business? Then it would be best if you considered being a business process analyst. This career offers flexibility with its telecommuting and freelance options. As a business process analyst, you can troubleshoot problem areas within the business and offer creative solutions to resolve them. You also have the task of implementing various projects and improving upon the existing processes of the business. There are many ways to acquire more knowledge on this front so that you can better help businesses. Using tools such as this I-Nexus guide to continuous improvement, you can provide relevant advice to businesses that can help them eliminate wastage and improve efficiency of processes.

Substitute teacher

Being a substitute teacher is a great flexible job choice for a mom. Schools are always looking for substitute teachers to add to their rotation. Although certification is required to work under a permanent teaching position, this is usually not the case for substitute teachers. However, this usually depends on the laws of the state you live in. What makes it even more ideal for moms is that your required working hours are likely during the same time your children are in school. Therefore, you would not need to worry.

Retail jobs

Working in retail is another excellent job opportunity for full-time moms. Depending on your interests, you can easily find a good-paying retail job that offers flexible hours. For example, if you are into fashion, you can work in a department store. Or, if you are a lover of crafts, you can work in your local craft store while your children are in school. It would be best to consider these flexible retail jobs: cashier, stock clerk, customer service representative, or sales associate. Also, technology can make certain jobs more accessible for you and assist with advancing your career. You might, for instance, use services such as phone number validation to filter out invalid numbers and improve your productivity as a customer care representative.

Massage therapist

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If you have talented, skillful, healing hands, you should consider being a massage therapist. To be sure you would be a good fit, you should attend an accredited training institution to become a massage therapist and gain your license. However, depending on your state’s laws, offering such a service without a license may not be a problem. In fact, with the number of people looking up Massage Places within their vicinity itself can go on to prove how much self-employed massage therapists have the power to organize and create a schedule and working hours that work for them. It is also a very lucrative career option. You can work as a massage therapist in fitness centers, hospitals, spas, and rehabilitation centers.

Choose any of these career jobs to live a fulfilling life economically and as a mother!

Are you planning to have a baby or maybe just thinking of it? That’s great news, ladies, since it is never too late to start getting ready for pregnancy. Preconception health holds pivotal importance when focusing on things to increase the likelihood of being blessed with a healthy baby.

“It is the most powerful creation to have life that is growing inside of you. There is no bigger gift.”

-Beyonce

For some women, it may take months to get their body ready for pregnancy. While, for the others, it may take longer. Whether this is your first, second, or fourth baby, following some steps helps you get ready for a healthy pregnancy.

Can’t wait to know what these are? Read on to learn some tips that are sure to make your pregnancy planning period unforgettable. Let’s get started:

• Prepare a Plan and Take Actions

Have you written down your goals for having or not having children? Or, maybe the maxims of achieving those goals?

For example, there was a time when you didn’t want to plan on having a baby. So, for achieving that goal, you relied upon some effective birth control methods. Nevertheless, now that you’re planning on having a baby and getting pregnant, it’s vital to take some steps to achieve the goal of having a healthy baby and make his/her future secure! For instance, now after finding out that you are pregnant, you may want to opt for prenatal paternity testing of your unborn child in order to ensure that your kid’s future is secure. Wondering how this can help? Using the test above, you may be able to get legal rights to child support, child custody, Social Security benefits and inheritance. That said, hopefully, you understand why it is crucial to plan your next steps as soon as you become pregnant.

• See your Doctor:

Before planning your pregnancy, ensure talking to your doctor about preconception health care. You may be in need of fertility treatments depending on your situation.

After all, you might wish to discuss your health history and prevailing medical conditions with a gynecologists’. It is an excellent option because while discussing their previous pregnancy problems with doctors at Viva Eve, patients discovered the medications they needed for a safe second chance.

Newbie mothers also get to know the necessary steps to take before planning a pregnancy for preventing certain birth defects. This is a must-consider factor. If your doctor still hasn’t talked to you about the care needed- ensure asking about it. Make note of talking points so that no question skips your mind.

Ensure talking to your doctor about:

1. Medical conditions
2. Lifestyle
3. Behaviors
4. Medications, and
5. Vaccinations.

These things hold paramount importance for having a healthy and happy baby.

• Quit Alcohol, Smoking and Other Drugs:

Smoking, using drugs, or even drinking alcohol can cause problems during pregnancy for both the mother and the baby. Yes, the mother can have complications while the chances for premature birth, infant death, and birth defects among babies increase significantly.

Also, if you’re trying to be pregnant and cannot resist alcohol, it’s always wise to seek help!

• Maintain a Healthy Weight:

People who are overweight or obese have a risk for many severe conditions. These may be associated with pregnancy, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or even cancer. Yes, you heard that right! You may be suspected to have endometrial, colon, or breast cancer.

Underweight people are also at risk for serious health problems. Gynaecologists suggest some short-term dietary changes as starting steps of maintaining a healthy weight. After all, it’s about having a lifestyle that includes proper eating habits and routine physical activity.

Always consult your doctor if you’re overweight, obese, or underweight. He/she will let you know the ways of reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

The Bottom Line- Have a Healthy Pregnancy

Now that you’re pregnant, it’s a moment for celebration. However, in addition to the excitement, ensure keeping up all your healthy habits and see a doctor regularly for prenatal care. Also, keep a check on your mental health. In the end,

“A baby is a wishing well. Everyone puts their hopes, their fears, their pasts, their two cents in.”

-Elizabeth Bard

Medical technology moves fast and it looks as though stem cells are set to be the next big thing when it comes to treating disease. They have already been used in some settings and there is a huge amount of research going into stem cell treatments for a range of conditions.

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However, there is a lot of controversy around stem cells because many of them are taken from embryos. This is making it more difficult for new research to go forward, which poses a big challenge because there are so many amazing potential benefits. These are some of the conditions that could be treated with stem cells in the future.

Leukemia

One of the major life-threatening diseases that could be treated with stem cells is Leukemia. This is a form of blood cancer that can affect anybody at any time as there do not seem to be any clear risk factors for it. This makes it particularly dangerous but stem cells are already being used as an effective treatment for huge numbers of people. Blood stem cells are transplanted in patients where they can grow into healthy new cells and combat leukemia. This is a very effective treatment that can cure patients, in some cases. However, there are still many challenges that need to be overcome before the treatment is perfected. Patients undergo aggressive chemotherapy before the transplant and this destroys their immune system, meaning that there is a very high risk of infections when this treatment is administered. Researchers are currently looking for ways around this.

Chronic Pain

There are many types of chronic pain conditions and sometimes, the direct cause is not clear. Treatments are available but many of them, especially opioid painkillers, have some severe side effects, like addiction. As a result, better alternatives are needed. There are natural painkiller solutions but these may not always be effective when treating serious chronic pain conditions. The good news is, research into stem cell treatments offers a viable alternative.

Stem cell treatments, like Infiniti Cell, a company run by Kevin Lucas, aim to use stem cells to treat chronic pain conditions. Their revolutionary treatments are already helping people manage their chronic pain and as more research is carried out, it is likely that stem cells will become the go-to treatment for pain conditions.

Neurological Conditions

There are a number of neurological conditions that pose a serious threat to public health, like Parkinson’s disease, Huntingdon’s Disease, and Motor Neurone Disease. Currently, treatments for these conditions are very limited and there is no known way to reverse the degradation in the brain. However, stem cells are one of the most effective ways to repair damaged tissue in the body, so there is a lot of potential here. Early clinical trials for Parkinson’s disease show that when stem cells are implanted in the brain, there are promising results. It’s only in the initial investigation stages at the moment, but there is a lot of potential there and scientists are doing similar trials with other neurological conditions. As these treatments are perfected, they could potentially eliminate neurological conditions altogether in the future.

Stem cells might be a divisive issue, but they are incredibly effective. These are just some of the serious conditions that they could treat in the future.

Drug testing is not a new subject matter, as most employers or companies require this before employment. The examinations are painless and are carried out to check for particular hard drugs that may be present in an individual’s body system. These tests are usually carried out to check for the traces of drugs like barbiturates, amphetamines, cocaine, benzodiazepines, PCP, narcotics, and methadone amongst others.

There are several ways these could be carried out. Some of the popular ways include urine examination, hair analysis, and blood tests. You can visit https://www.verywellfamily.com/drug-testing-methods-2606200 to learn more about the other types of tests and how accurate they are. When these tests are carried out, doctors can easily detect a potential drug abuse issue.

They can then use the result to come up with treatment plans. After this, you might be required to take regular drug tests to help keep you in check and ensure the treatment is working. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons people need to undergo this test.

Reasons for Taking a Drug Test

You might be asking questions like, why do I need to take a drug test? Is it important or necessary? The truth about the issue is that it is not mandatory in some cases, though it is important. We will consider some popular reasons why people undergo these tests.

1. Doctors Suspicion

Your health care provider might request you undergo the screening when you are suspected of a possible addiction issue. When you exhibit any signs of confusion or dangerous or strange behaviors, it may give them a cause for concern about your drug health.

2. Residents Test

Residents may be required to undergo regular checkups at rehabilitation centers. This is common with those who are already in rehab centers and undergoing treatments. The regular tests ensure that the persons on treatment for the abuse of substances remain sober. Also, those who are on probation for offenses related to substance abuse will be required to undergo regular tests by the supervising officer.

3. Prove of Innocence

In some cases, a person might be suspected of drug abuse at home and would need to show that he or she is not abusing any substance. This type of test is usually carried out in a home setting. The family doctor is contacted and asked for directions on how it is done.

4. Employment Requirement

Recently, most employers required a drug test report from potential employees before they could be hired. The good thing about this is, it helps employers to screen out potential employees who could have a possible drug issue, especially for jobs that need a high level of focus. This could also reduce the risk of workplace accidents. You can use this link to learn more about how home drug testing kits can help employees understand the limits of their recreational substance use and help them know whether or not they will be able to pass a drug test by their prospective employer.

However, there are new inventions of recipes that drug users take to clear the substance traces in their systems before taking a test. Now you might be asking, “does test clear work?“, and how accurate it is.

Drug Testing and Their Accuracy

Various body specimens could be used for chemical tests that detect traces of substances used within a particular time. However, there are certain restrictions and guidelines to which kind of tests are used. The common tests carried out are urine tests for hard drugs and breath tests for alcohol abuse.

1. Urine Test

Results from this indicate the metabolic activities of substances found in the urine of a person. This simply means that in the case where an individual abuses a drug, its residues which are called metabolites are detected in the body even after the drug effects are no more.

If the results were positive, it doesn’t mean that the person used the drugs at that time. It simply means that the individual used the substance a few days before the test. Urine test is cheap and can be done at home. The substance can be detected within a week using this method.

2. Blood Test

This is used to determine the level of alcohol content in the person’s blood. This method is more accurate in testing for recent drug consumption compared to using urine samples. However, there are not enough studies that explain the relationship between blood levels and drug consumption compared to urine and alcohol.

In addition, substances quickly move through the blood to the urinary system. This test is the most expensive and it can only be done in a lab. So, if you have had a night out with your girlfriends, it would be ideal if you knew what amount you should be drinking and how much of it is legal in your state. Or else, you might want to know what is the penalty for dui hit and run in california or wherever you live – because there is a high chance that you might be pulled up!

3. Hair Analysis

Hair analysis provides a longer testing time frame as it can provide a history of up to 90 days back. The downside to this is that it cannot provide current evidence of traces but only past drug usage. This analysis is moderately expensive and can be done anywhere.

4. Sweat Test

In this category, an adhesive skin patch is used to measure the level of an abused substance in your sweat. This patch looks like an adhesive bandage and is placed on the skin for some time. A permeable membrane prevents the test area from contaminants.

Despite the ease with which this method could be carried out, it is not in regular usage. You can read this article to know the current status of sweat patches in drug testing. The test is expensive and can detect if an individual has been abusing substances for an extended period.

While some bodily excretions show a higher level of accuracy than others, the accuracy of tests depend heavily on:

1. The procedures for proper handling and testing of samples.
2. The abilities and skills of the organization that is carrying out the test.
3. The chemical composition of the drugs.
4. The technology employed for testing.

Conclusion

There are various reasons why people get tested for drugs. Most employers would require a drug-free test result just to be certain that you won’t be a threat to yourself and others in the workplace. In our homes, we might also be required to prove that we have not been abusing these substances to avoid causing harm to kids or other members of the household.