Healthwise

1.The value of stretching
Does it hurt to turn your head to see cars in the lines behind you? Do your knees and back feel stiff and achy? Is it difficult to reach the cereal on the top shelf or bend down to pick up something off the floor? Would you like to find an easy way to become more flexible, ease pain, improve your balance, and prevent falls that can threaten your independence?

For years, people assumed stretching was something only athletes needed to do before exercising or competing. But the reality is that doing simple stretches just two or three times a week can dramatically help anyone increase flexibility, improve balance, and relieve the pain caused by muscle and joint stiffness. Stretching is a simple and safe way to help prevent life-changing falls that can threaten your independence.

2. Fish linked to lower risk of vascular brain disease:
Older adults who eat fish several times a week may be less likely to develop stroke
or ministrokes and related problems like vascular dementia and memory loss etc.

Published November 30, 2021 in the journal Neurology, the study included 1623 people aged 65 or older and none had dementia, stroke or hospitalization for heart disease. Participants completed food questionnaires and received brain MRI scans which examined certain findings in the brain that suggest previously undetected strokes, evidence of early dementia and other abnormalities of the brain’s white matter indicating disease.

People who ate fish twice a week had significantly lower prevalence of these findings compared to those who ate once a week. The  effect was more pronounced in people younger than 75.

3. Anger or emotional stress may trigger stroke:
One in 11 stroke survivors felt angry or upset in the hour before their stroke symptoms began, according to a large international study published December 1, 2021, in the European Heart Journal. The study included 13,462 people from 32 different countries who had had a stroke.

During their first three days in the hospital, they filled out extensive questionnaires about what they had been doing and feeling
before their stroke. The results showed that anger and emotional stress was linked to an approximately 30% higher risk of having a stroke within one hour of experiencing these emotions. Another potential stroke trigger revealed by the study was heavy physical exertion, although the evidence was less convincing.

4. A healthy drizzle: Olive oil linked to lower heart-related deaths:
Consuming just a half tablespoon or more of olive oil a day is linked to a lower risk of dying from heart disease and other chronic
health conditions, new research suggests.

The study included more than 92,000 people from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, who filled out diet questionnaires every four years for a period of 28 years. Olive oil was calculated from how much they used in salad dressings, on bread and other food, and in baking or frying.

Compared with participants who rarely or never consumed olive oil, those who consumed the most (above a half tablespoon or more) had a 19% lower risk of dying from heart disease during the study. The findings, published January 18, in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.