We often think that as we get older we will inevitably have to accept that we will be limited by ill health, aches and pains. Whilst it is true that our bodies change we are often more able than we think. More and more people are taking up sport and exercise at a later age and are surprising themselves with what they can achieve.

In a recent study of 3500 people one in ten people, aged 64 on average, took up regular exercise. The effects on health and disability were amazing. People who started doing even moderate activity at least once a week were three times less likely to have developed a nasty illness or disability over the eight year study. Those that had always been active and stayed that way were seven times less likely to be ill.

Interestingly the study found that not only the expected illnesses were less likely in the active group but mental health was too. So heart disease, stroke and diabetes were less likely but also Alzheimer’s disease, depression and cognitive function overall was better. Although this study did not look at back pain or other bone and joint problems specifically other research has noted benefits here too.

So the message is clear – if you are active already – stay active. If you are inactive – get active.

The British Chiropractic Association has produced some simple exercises to improve strength and flexibility. The Straighten Up campaign is a series of easy exercises you can do at home in a few minutes. If you do these three to four times a week or ideally every day you will notice differences in you abilities in two weeks.

If you fancy something a bit more vigorous then running, tennis and cycling and swimming might be more your thing. These sports are wonderful for endurance and improving cardiovascular health. In fact anything that gets you heart pumping and gets you a bit out of breath is good. Golf is great but you might want to consider something more vigorous.

If you want to try something a bit different then consider a martial art. Something like tai chi which you learn in small classes as well as doing at home can be fun. This works on balance and strength as well as flexibility. Even more vigorous martial arts like karate can be done until well into old age. It is all about being young of heart rather than limiting your options.

Go on – give something new a try. I took up karate a year ago and love it. It is marvelous for balance, strength and flexibility as well learning new things I never thought I could do. To learn more about a great local karate club in Brighton go here.

There are more tips here for staying active when you are older.

Reference:
M. Hamer, K. L. Lavoie, S. L. Bacon. Taking up physical activity in later life and healthy ageing: the English longitudinal study of ageing. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2013; DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2013-092993

Matthew Bennett attended the launch of the new Mole & Skin Check Guidelines that have been developed jointly by the Melanoma Taskforce and the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) especially for health professionals and met Gemma Merna from Hollyoaks

The guidelines provide clear and simple information about the signs of skin cancer. As chiropractors we have an important role in noticing abnormal moles or changes in skin and advising patients to seek advice from their GPs. The guidelines have been developed by skin cancer charities, dermatologists, nurses, GPs and oncologists and are endorsed by professional associations representing the health and beauty industry.

Matthew was in Westminster on behalf British Chiropractic Association as he is Vice-president. He talked with MPs and the new president of BAD and impressed upon them the important role that chiropractors can play in the early detection of skin cancer.

The highlight of the afternoon was a photo opportunity with Hollyoaks actress, Gemma Merna. She is the celebrity face of the campaign having had a skin cancer scare a while ago. She is popular with the younger target group the information is aimed at.

For more information about skin caner and how to protect yourself go to www.bad.org.uk

If you have hayfever you probably know all about the symptoms:- runny nose, itchy eyes and sneezing. You probably also know that it is caused by an allergic reaction to pollen. Up to 1 in 5 of us will suffer from hayfever at some time. Other microscopic particles like house dust or dander from animals can cause a similar allergic reaction to hayfever.

The histamine connection

When you get a whiff of pollen up your nose or into the eyes your body reacts if you have an allergy to that particle and produces anti-bodies which in turn produce histamine which cause the typical inflammation, redness, swelling and irritation. It is the histamine that causes the sypmtoms of hayfever. If you can reduce histamine you can reduce hayfever.

Treatment for hayfever

Although the medical treatment for hayfever is anti-histamines there are things you can do without taking drugs which may have side effects like drowsiness. For instance HayMax is an effective organic, natural and simple to use pollen barrier balm that is applied to the base of the nose to reduce pollen entering the body.

Omega 3 oils found in oily fish and supplements such as Pure Bio’s EPA/DHA reduce inflammation and may help. Vitamin E (800 iu a day) has been shown to help reduce hayfever symptoms.

You can lower the overall levels of histamine in your body by reducing the histamine containing foods in your diet.

What is Histamine?

Histamine is made by the human body and by bacterial degradation from the amino acid histadine.  Therefore many ripened foods like cheese, wine, beer, sauerkraut and smoked meats may have very high amounts of histamine and the amount of histamine can be an indicator of the quality of the production process.

Very large amounts of histamine may be a sign of decay.  For example, fresh or immediately frozen fish hardly contains any histamine.  On the other hand, older or stale fish, which has been bacterially contaminated or just stored too long may contain extremely high amounts of histamine.  Fresh cheese or cottage cheese, which has only ripened for a few days also has remarkably less histamine than older types of cheese.

Also, slightly contaminated yeast cultures (like those being used in the production of beer and wine) favour the production of histamine. All this explains the huge variances in the histamine content of various foods.

In our body, any excess of histamine – from the body’s own production or by an increased content of histamine in foods – is normally rapidly metabolized by the enzyme diaminoxidase (DAO).  When this enzyme is deficient, a great variety of intolerance reactions may occur, depending upon the amount of histamine present.

If you are very sensitive you may experience symptoms from extremely small amounts of histamine.  In addition, alcohol and certain drugs may block DAO and thereby worsen the symptoms. Histamine is resistant to cold and heat and therefore cannot be destroyed by cooking (including microwave), baking, grilling or deep freezing. If you think you are sensitive to histamine you should consider reducing high histamine foods eg:-

• Sausages and ham: all smoked animal products are high in histamine and should be avoided.
• Fish: Deep frozen fish is usually well tolerated; tinned fish or fish which has only been cooled (not frozen) may be a problem.  Seafood may contain extremely high amounts of histamine depending upon how fresh they are.
• Cheese: Fresh cheeses like cottage cheese, quark etc should be well tolerated.  Also small amounts of soft cheese should not cause problems.
• Alcohol: May cause problems for most histamine sensitive people as most types not only contain large amounts of histamine but because alcohol also blocks the DAO.
• Chocolate: Contains substances similar to histamine which may also trigger headaches and migraines and should therefore be avoided or greatly reduced.
• Sparkling wine has the highest contents of histamine, beer the lowest and is therefore usually tolerated in small amounts by most histamine sensitive patients.

Industrially produced wines like those from Australia, USA and South Africa are often showing lower histamine levels than traditionally produced or home-made types of wine. The histamine content of various wines and sparkling wines differs so greatly however, that we recommend to avoid these types of alcohol as much as possible or stick to those types which have been well tolerated before.  The histamine content is also dependent upon vintage and vineyard.