Are you still smoking?

Here's another reason to stop smoking:

"Smoking cessation is the single best method and the most cost-effective way of reducing the risk of developing COPD or stopping its progression," said Dr. Celli, Professor of Medicine at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Here are some tips to help you quit.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen(tm)

Friends are Essential for Successful Aging.

Remember the 1985 song "That's what Friends are For"? Read on for another very important reason for having friends.

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
OlderWiserWomen.com

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Health News Article | Reuters.com:
By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Looking for the secret of a long life? Look closely at your friends. New research suggests that having a strong network of friends helps people live longer.

'Older people with better social networks with friends were less likely to die over a 10-year follow-up period than older people with poorer friends networks,' Lynne C. Giles of Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, told Reuters Health.

But in what may come as a surprising finding to older people who rely on their children and other relatives, having a large network of relatives was not associated with longer life, Giles and her colleagues report in the July issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

'Of course, that is not to say that social networks with children and other relatives are not important in many other ways,' Giles said.

Study after study has shown that elderly people who are connected with lots of people tend to live longer lives. However, few studies have examined whether different types of relationships -- with friends, partners, children and other relatives -- have different effects on longevity.

Giles's team set out to examine the relationship between various types of social networks and longevity in a group of almost 1,500 Australians who were at least 70 years old. Volunteers answered questions about their social networks and then were followed for 10 years.

The researchers took into account several factors that could have influenced how long a person lived, including sex, age, health and smoking status.

What the study showed was that older people who reported better social networks of friends were more likely to be alive at the end of the study than people with fewer friends. Similarly, people who reported strong networks of confidants -- people with whom participants shared a close, confiding relationship -- tended to live longer.

But relationships with children and relatives did not have an effect on survival in the study.

Giles and her team are not sure why friends seemed to help people live longer. They speculate that friends may influence people to engage in more healthy behavior, such as not smoking or not drinking too much. Another possibility, according to the researchers, is that friends may help boost people's self-esteem.

'The list of answers to this question is potentially long and complex,' according to Dr. Carlos F. Mendes de Leon, of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, who is the author of an editorial that accompanies the study. Continued ... "

It is possible that having a strong network of friends may have beneficial physical effects, the reverse of the negative physical effect stress can have, according to Mendes de Leon.

As for the lack of a relationship between longer life and family relationships, Mendes de Leon suggests that it may reflect the tendency of people to rely on family members when their health begins to decline.

Whatever the reason for the beneficial effects of friends, Giles believes that "strategies to promote the establishment and maintenance of these relationships in later life warrant additional attention."

SOURCE: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, July 2005.

Smoking and obesity 'age people'

BBC NEWS | Health | Smoking and obesity 'age people'

Being overweight and a smoker makes a person biologically older
than slim non-smokers of the same birth age, UK and US researchers
have found.

Smoking accelerated the ageing of key pieces of a person's DNA by about
4.6 years. For obesity it was nine years. These genetic codes are important for regulating cell division and have been linked to age-related diseases.

The study in the Lancet was based on 1,122 twins from a database held by St Thomas' Hospital in London. The researchers looked at telomeres - strips of DNA that cap the end of chromosomes and appear to protect and stabilise them. Telomeres shorten each time a cell divides, until there is nothing left, making cell division less reliable and increasing the risk of disorders. This happens naturally with ageing.

Accelerated ageing

Both smoking and obesity are important risk factors for many age-related diseases, therefore Professor Tim Spector and colleagues set out to see whether they might accelerate telomere shortening. Among the study sample, all women aged 18-76, 119 were clinically obese, 203 were current smokers and 369 were ex-smokers.

By analysing blood samples for DNA the researchers found telomere length decreased steadily with age, as expected. However, the telomeres of the obese women and smokers were far shorter than those of lean women and those who had never smoked of the same age. Each pack year - the number of cigarette packs smoked per day multiplied by the number of years smoking - was equivalent to a loss of an additional 18% on top of the average annual shortening of telomeres. A woman who had smoked a pack per day for 40 years accelerated her ageing by 7.4 years, according to telomere length.

Chromosomal clock

Professor Spector, from the twin research unit at St Thomas' Hospital, said: "What you are seeing here is that the entire body is ageing from smoking, not just your heart or your lungs. So you are accelerating your whole chromosomal clock by this activity which is an important message for younger people to think about. People would probably think twice if they knew that at every age they were five or seven years older than their contemporaries biologically because that has influences on their skin, brain and bones."

Tobacco smoke contains poisons. The research suggests that these poisons may affect cells at one of the most fundamental levels. Excess fat is believed to disrupt the chemical proposition of the body in a negative way. Such stressors can damage the body. Dr Lorna Layward, research manager at Help the Aged, said the work supported what we already know about smoking and obesity being extremely damaging to health.

"While the research is not conclusive, we should take heed of the alarm bells. Most over 65s are not getting enough exercise which has massive implications aside from obesity, such as declining strength and mobility.

Giving up smoking is the biggest thing you can do reduce your chances of developing coronary heart disease. "In today's fast-paced life, many of us say we don't have time to exercise or eat healthily, but unless we change our ways we will soon have to find time to cope with ill health."

Source: BBC Health

HIV/AIDS will Boom with Baby Boomers

HIV/AIDS will Boom with Baby Boomers

More information about HIV in Older Adults.

I wrote about women and HIV and the need for Older Women to consider protection an esential part of their lives. Read more about what I wrote, as well as view further resources posted on OlderWiserWomen.com

Stay Healthy,

Barbara C. Phillips, NP
www.OlderWiserWomen.com

Do you want a guide to Successful Aging?

How about an OlderWiserWomen Guide?

-->How would you feel about your age if you knew you could have the aging experience you desire?

-->Do you find yourself confused about the right things to do with all the information floating around out there?

-->Would you like access to easy to implement tips that can lead you to a healthier body, a more active, vibrant mind and a content peaceful being?

-->Just what does attitude have to do with Successful Aging?

-->Did anyone ever tell you that menopause is good?

-->Where can you find this type of easy to digest information with actual action steps for you to take?

Answer:
Tips for Successful Aging and Vibrant Living, an OlderWiserWomen Guide.

CNN.com - Study: Cigarette makers targeted women - May 31, 2005

CNN.com - Study: Cigarette makers targeted women - May 31, 2005

Doesn't this just make you mad? I'm livid...especially since I am watching my mother struggle to breathe.

Announcement!

In tomorrows issue of Celebrations, the official newsletter for OlderWiserWomen, we will be announcing the release of our latest ebook - Tips for Successful Aging and Vibrant Living.

Watch for it!