Weekly health horoscope
Aries
Given that you probably cope with several problems regarding your physical well-being, health difficulties could take front stage this week. Now is the moment to be proactive about self-care by lowering demands in your life. Giving a balanced program with mindfulness and relaxation top priority will help you be happier and healthier generally. Emphasizing these features will lay a strong basis for a going forward more balanced and better lifestyle.
Taurus
It is natural for you to lack drive about your weekly exercise regimen. Remember that skipping breaks won't reverse your development. Steer clear of overstretching oneself since burnout or possible injuries could result. This week let yourself relax if necessary and approach exercise more gently. Learning to listen to your body will enable you to keep consistency over time without sacrificing your health.
Gemini
Maybe a fresh emphasis on health and exercise this week may inspire you. Perhaps with a workout companion for inspiration, you could be motivated to visit the gym or change the nature of your training regimen. Particularly helpful now could be weightlifting and meals high in proteins. Approaching fitness pro-actively will help you feel strong and lay a firm basis for long-term physical well-being. Accept this vitality and keep dedicated to your exercise objectives.
Cancer
You might have lately adopted a careless attitude to health, which would make it challenging to dismiss minor health problems this week. It's time to review your lifestyle and change your health focus. Eating thoughtfully, working consistently, and early symptom treating will help you take charge of your health. Little but regular efforts will help you to develop a better, more balanced habit that maintains your health.
Leo
Your health seems to be blooming this week, and you probably will feel lively and full of energy. Your constant efforts in controlling your health are paying off; you could find yourself in the height of physical fitness. Enjoy this time of vitality and think about keeping your schedule by include exercises that boost mental and physical stamina. This week presents a great chance to honor and grow the resilience of your body.
Virgo
Virgo Exhaustion can strike you this week, maybe from neglecting a sensible diet or consistent exercise. Restoring better eating habits and scheduling time for exercise will help you. If you find yourself exhausted, calm down and pay close attention to the demands of your body. Allowing time for wellness activities as well as rest can help you regain vitality and provide consistency to your general condition.
Libra
Thanks for your continuous commitment to mental and physical wellness; positive energy surrounds you this week. You clearly show efforts in leading a balanced, healthy lifestyle since you could feel young and energetic. Maintaining mental health in ideal state will depend on your ability to remain focused on the better features of life. Thank you for your regularity; your commitment to self-care is producing amazing effects.
Scorpio
This week your health is in a good condition, which offers a great chance to welcome physical exercise. This is a perfect time for mild exercises or outdoor activities that boost body and mind since you will probably feel strong and robust. As social interaction can improve your mental and emotional state, try including a stroll with a friend or neighbor in your schedule if at all possible.
Sagittarius
This week finds a consistent level of health and no notable problems expected. Your blood pressure and heart rate are probably in equilibrium, indicating a physically well-maintaining state. Including heart-friendly foods and modest exercise in your daily schedule can help you to concentrate on cardiovascular health at this period. The consistency of this week provides an opportunity to sustain your energy levels and strengthen good practices.
Capricorn
Given your hectic schedule, this week some arm and hand stretching or mild exercise could be helpful. Easy, fast exercises can help release stress and maintain your energy all through the week. While scheduling time can be difficult, even little movement will improve your general quality of life. Little but consistent physical activity included into your daily schedule will pay off over time.
Aquarius
This week your everyday movement or commute may be a secret benefit for your health. Although it could seem boring, see it as a chance to add more steps to your daily routine, so supporting your path of fitness. Accept these little moments of exercise since they improve your health and can help clear residual problems. This week, a fresh viewpoint on routine chores will inspire better practices.
Pisces
Good outside comments about your appearance and health could boost your confidence this week. Although your outward look might not have changed much, your mental development and self-acceptance are helping you to see your body in good light. Accepting this self-love will help your physical self to react favorably, therefore enhancing your sense of well-being and personal happiness.
(Credit-Canva)
Being the most common cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s is a brain disorder that slowly destroys memories, thinking skills and behavioral abilities. These symptoms eventually grow enough to interfere with daily tasks. According to the Alzheimer’s Association over seven million Americans live with Alzheimer’s and that number is said to increase to 13 million by 2050. Nearly 12 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementia issues.
However, are there certain places that have more people affected by Alzheimer’s? According to the South Texas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Texas has the fourth highest number of Alzheimer’s and second highest number of deaths from Alzheimer’s in the US. The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation states that the Starr County is where 26% of Medicare beneficiaries come from. It is a rural Hispanic centric county in the Rio Grande City.
National Institute on Aging explains that one of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimer’s is aging, most people develop Alzheimer’s when they are 65 or older with less than 10% cases happening before this. Other things include genetics, and research has shown conditions such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure could also be risk factors.
Researchers do not fully understand what causes Alzheimer's. They think it's due to clumps of proteins in the brain that damage brain cells. It's likely a mix of genes, how people live, and what's around them. However, one common factor that has been observed by the researchers is that many of these families come from poor economic backgrounds.
Being poor might play a big role because people in poorer areas often have worse air, drive more instead of walking, have more stress, and don't see people as much. She also mentioned that there might be bad things in the water, like arsenic, that can hurt the brain. The very hot weather in Texas could also be a problem, adding stress to the body. Finally, she noted that the large Hispanic population in the area might be more likely to get dementia for reasons we don't yet know.
To understand how financial backgrounds could affect Alzheimer's, a 2018 study done by the International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease showed that the number of people without jobs in a region didn't seem to change how much Alzheimer's affected lifespan. This study looked at different areas in Slovakia to see if things like how much money people have, how many people have jobs, and how much education people get affect how long people might live if no one ever got Alzheimer's disease.
However, they found that the amount of money a region had (GDP), the average pay people got, and how educated people were, did have an impact.
More education seemed to indirectly lead to a bigger impact from Alzheimer's on lifespan, which matches what other studies have found. Surprisingly, they also found that when wages and the overall wealth of a region were higher, Alzheimer's seemed to have a bigger effect on shortening lifespan. This is different from what other studies have suggested, where more money usually means less Alzheimer's.
Gardening Helps Slow Down Cognitive Decline
Gardening preserves cognitive function and may also help prevent neurodegenerative diseases like Dementia, Parkinson's Disease, among others. A new study, which was conducted by researchers in the UK, showed that those who grew and nurtured plants as well as lived in greener environments slowed down their cognitive decline. Intrestingly, there is already enough empirical evidence that shows plants reduce stress and improve memory and recall.
It is because of this that many countries have care farms, which get their name from the way they serve people's impulses to work and connect with others. Speaking to the BBC, Henreitte Bringsjord, whose parents founded one of such farms, said, "My mum and dad loved farm work, and they thought about how hard it is for people with dementia to stop working and lose their social life. So, they wanted to help people with dementia become a part of life again."
The study, which was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, stated that nature can significantly increase physical activity and social connection while reducing stress, which has multiple positive knock-on effects such as blood pressure, blood sugar control and healthy weight. According to health experts, physical activities really have immense health benefits, but gardening surcharges those.
To test the same, researchers from the University of Edinburgh investigated if there might be a link between gardening and changes in our intelligence over our lifetimes. The study compared the intelligence test scores of participants at age 11 and age 79. All the participants in the study were residents of Edinburgh and were traced throughout their lifetimes. Of the 467 people tested, almost 31 per cent had never gardened, but 43 per cent regularly did. The results showed that those who spent time gardening showed greater lifetime improvement in their cognitive ability than those who never or rarely did. "Between the ages of 79 and 90, cognitive ability, including memory, problem solving, and word fluency, generally declined across the board, but the earlier advantage of gardeners endured", researchers of the study said.
Besides gardening, these are the activities that can also help you boost cognitive health.
1. Physical Exercise: Improves blood flow to the brain and promotes neurogenesis.
2. Mental Exercises: Engaging in puzzles, chess, and memory games enhances problem-solving skills and memory.
3. Reading and Learning: Reading diverse materials or learning a new language strengthens neural connections.
4. Playing Musical Instruments: Enhances cognitive processing and coordination.
5. Social Interactions: Meaningful conversations and group activities stimulate cognitive and emotional processing.
6. Mindfulness and Meditation: Reduces stress and improves focus and attention span.
7. Adequate Sleep: Supports memory consolidation and cognitive function.
8. Healthy Diet: Consuming foods rich in omega-3s, antioxidants, and vitamins promotes brain health.
9. Hobbies and New Skills: Learning new skills or hobbies keeps the brain active and engaged.
10. Cognitive Training Apps: Apps designed for memory and focus training can provide structured mental workouts.
ALSO READ: 6 Tips To Take Care Of Your Gut Health By Celebrity Doctor Steven Grundy
(Credit-Getty Images)
John Cena, the beloved WWE wrestler and actor, has opened up about his skin cancer diagnosis. Being diagnosed with melanoma twice, he recalled getting a phone call twice as his doctors told him the biopsy for came out cancerous. The first spot had appeared on his pectoral muscle and a year later it was in a different spot on his upper trapezius muscle. He explains that this information was sobering and prompted him to change his life.
He has also now become the face of Ultra Sheer Mineral Face Liquid Sunscreen SPF 70 that moves to normalize the use of sunscreen among men. He admitted he always neglected sunscreen, but now he has added it to his daily routine. While there has been a rise in the number of cancer diagnoses, there hasn’t been a clear reason why.
Cena noticed that women talk about skin care and sunscreen more openly than men. He believes it can be harder for men to start these conversations. But he thinks it shouldn't be that way. "Men are becoming more aware of taking care of themselves," he says. "We just need to make it a normal thing." Cena wants more men to use sunscreen as often as women.
Studies show that women are much more likely to use sunscreen than men. However, by the age of 50, men have a higher risk of getting melanoma, a serious type of skin cancer, than women. At any age, men are more likely to die from melanoma. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, only a small percentage of men (12.3%) always used sunscreen when outside in the sun for more than an hour, compared to a much larger percentage of women (29.0%). Younger men used sunscreen the least.
A recent survey done by Neutrogena also found that a third of people never go to a skin doctor for check-ups. Women were also more likely to be told to wear sunscreen every day compared to men. Cena believes that sunscreen is often linked to beauty in women's minds, which might explain why they use it more.
According to 2023 review published in the Cancer journal, in the US, the number of melanoma cases have increased by 40% from the years 2009 to 2019. The number of new cases that have been predicted to happen is 110,000, which is a drastic increase considering the 65,000 in the year 2011. The study says that there is a disproportionately higher risk of men developing cancer and by 2040, melanoma will be the second most common cancer overall.
Cena says he doesn't care if men use sunscreen for health reasons or to avoid wrinkles – he just wants them to use it. He compares using sunscreen to going to the gym for looks but getting healthier in the process. He says using SPF is "super easy," like brushing your teeth. His hope is that men will start keeping sunscreen next to their toothpaste and use it every day. Cena says his own life perspective changed after his cancer scares, and he wants to encourage others to be proactive about skin protection before it's too late.
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