Speaking of Women's Health
The Speaking of Women's Health Podcast is excited to bring you credible women's health information from host and Executive Director, Dr. Holly L. Thacker. Dr. Thacker will interview guest clinicians discussing relevant women's health topics and the latest news and tips.
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Speaking of Women's Health
Embracing Healthy Aging: Secrets to Longevity
Discover the secrets to embracing your golden years with grace and vigor as Host Holly Thacker, MD unveils transformative ways to enhance your longevity.
Learn how we can outsmart the clock by making informed lifestyle choices that include a positive outlook, regular exercise, and the nurturing of our intellectual and social spheres.
Join us for this heartfelt exploration into aging with zest – your guide to a healthier, happier future awaits.
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Welcome to the Speaking of Women's Health podcast. I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker, the Executive Director of Speaking of Women's Health, and I am back in this nice, warm sunflower house for a new episode of Speaking of Women's Health, for a new episode of Speaking of Women's Health, and in this episode I'm talking about healthy aging. Every September, healthy Aging Month is recognized to promote ways that we humans can stay healthy as we age, and this observation raises awareness on the physical and the mental health of older adults and it serves as a reminder that as we age, our minds and bodies do change. Now I recently parted with my aging car. I really wanted to get at least 250,000 miles out of it and almost made 200,000. And every day that I would drive the car and I could tell that it was getting older and older. It was really a reminder that our bodies are physical. We certainly have an emotional and spiritual connection, but we do age with each successive day and sometimes when I'm counseling patients about considering a procedure you know that's somewhat elective, but not entirely elective I always make the comment today you're as young as you're ever going to be. But the good news is life expectancy is generally increasing and one of the faster growing segments of the population is the 85 and older group, and I'm happy to have some wonderful relatives in this category. But despite advances in healthcare, our senior mature group can have some chronic conditions, incurable progressive diseases and need for assistance with the activity of daily living.
Speaker 1:So the greatest challenge that we face as we get older and extending that part of the lifespan that is active and disability free and fortunately we have research that does suggest that healthy, or so-called successful aging is achievable with sound planning. So illnesses like diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, some forms of dementia can be delayed or even prevented. Even loss of muscle strength with aging is partly preventable. And, most importantly, perhaps a positive attitude will help us be resilient and overcome illness and the inevitable personal losses that occur with aging, while still being able to look forward to days to come. One of the things I almost always ask when I'm seeing a woman in the office is what is she looking forward to? Because I think that tells you so much about the person. So the choices of aging as we age, just like every day, we make choices about our lifestyle, our healthcare, our personal pursuits and what our future plans for our senior years. Aging will help guide you to being active and vibrant in your golden years, which certainly personifies our motto of be strong, be healthy and be in charge.
Speaker 1:So what are the successful steps to successful aging? Well, obviously, healthy habits and a positive lifestyle, and we've spent a lot of time on previous podcasts on a lot of these topics. Avoiding cigarette smoke, directly and indirectly, is important. Minimizing alcohol ingestion certainly no more than one alcoholic beverage in a day for women and no more than two for a man, and for many people this is still too much.
Speaker 1:Exercise regularly using the triad of weight, bearing aerobic and balance. Once you're 60, and certainly over 80, over the age of 80 is the risk of falls become a lot more common and they can be devastating. I've certainly had loved ones in my family perish because of a fall that leads to head trauma. So maintaining comfortable weight is very important too for mobility. And if you haven't listened to our prior podcast on weight loss and intermittent fasting and new therapies, that's always a perennial concern, especially for midlife women. Getting regular checkups, you know it amazes me. I have several patients over age 50 that don't plan for yearly eye exams or dental checks. And your special senses you also age, it's not just your bones and your joints Maintaining intellectual stimulation and socialization.
Speaker 1:Anyone who's planning to retire. I always ask them what's their plan, and some people have been working so hard their whole life they haven't even thought or had time to think about what they're going to do, and we've had a couple of podcasts in season one and season two, which the season we're in right now is season two on preparing for a great retirement, pursuing hobbies and interest with a passion, doing things that are social. Dancing is an excellent activity. It's social, it's good for balance, it's good for brain health. You know I have pretty close to a perfect spouse. I don't know if he's listening he says he doesn't always listen because he has to hear me all day long but the one thing he does not like is dancing. So, and I've always thought that that's just a wonderful thing to do when you have more time.
Speaker 1:Anyone at any age can strengthen family and community relations and serve as a guidepost and help, with your wisdom, resolve some of the typical intergenerational conflicts and learning new skills, volunteering, whether you're in paid activity or not, it's so important to use your mind and your body. Be wise about financial planning. You know, two of my sons are bankers and in the finance world and I've had my older son, stetson, the PhD in cancer genetics, on this podcast and we talked all things genetics and we talked a little bit about physical therapy. I probably should have one of my sons on to talk about financial planning, although I'm sure that there's probably. Their employer probably strictly regulates, of course, what they say, but it is important to have a good financial advisor and to plan well in advance for retirement. I mean, with inflation and with medical costs sometimes increasing and other unexpected costs, it's easier and less stressful if this is taken care of and less stressful if this is taken care of.
Speaker 1:And speaking of my older son Stetson, I think I may have him on another podcast to talk about some of the newest research in anti-aging and some of these hacks. Do they really work? Are they just a lot of puff? Just a lot of puff? But the anti-aging field is quite interesting and very important, obviously continuing to carefully manage investments and assets, also assuring that you have the appropriate type of insurance coverage, which changes as you get older. When you're younger and starting out and have a family, obviously life insurance is very important, but once you're close to the retirement age or beyond. There's not a need for that, whereas there is a need for some steady income and figuring out what your future living arrangements are. The neighborhood that I've living arrangements are the neighborhood that I've spent most of my adult years in, and many of the people who built new homes at the same time we did are getting older and I see a lot of people opting for smaller homes and for just one floor living, particularly if there's any orthopedic impediments.
Speaker 1:And what's important to everyone at every stage in life whether you're a younger person who has some potential physical impairments or an older person who's just dealing with the regular vicissitudes of aging is to maintain dignity and the best health that you can. Having a physician as a partner who is knowledgeable in the care of older adults is important. Now some of my patients want to go see a geriatrician and I laugh because I'm like well, you're way too young and too healthy, but certainly seeking out the expertise of a consultant geriatric physician, particularly for people over age 85, persons with some memory impairment and some frailty or falls, that can be very helpful. That can be very helpful. The one thing I find is that patients who are very responsible and who have done their regular checkups and all their cancer screenings on time. They are so focused in doing that every year, like maybe getting their mammogram every year and, based on your age and your current situation and your medical profile and what screenings you've had in the past, you get to graduate from some things because when you're a lot younger we're trying to prevent premature death successfully to a nice mature age where hopefully you're getting some good senior discounts, like on social activities and your green fees. We want to focus more on maintaining independence, staying out of a nursing home, reducing osteoporotic falls and osteoporosis is such a big concern for women and so many people don't think of themselves as being at risk, even though they're women over 50, even with a family history, because they just think of that as something that only older people get. And regardless of your age, most people's impression of themselves is a younger person and someday, if you're lucky, you'll be like that age of that older relative that you might've dismissed as just being old. So go back and listen to some of our podcasts. May is Osteoporosis Month.
Speaker 1:We had a lot on calcium and on drug therapies and prevention and, in addition to having an excellent physician and increasingly I am seeing patients who want that time and advocacy seek out a non-employed physician, meaning one in direct primary care or concierge care. I mean that's definitely a growing trend that we're seeing, and some of my graduated fellows even though I wanted them to stay on and be my partners found other opportunities that afforded them more time with patients. And I told my husband, if I pre-disease him, he's going to have to do that because I am doing a lot of the facilitating of his care that he thinks is excellent and that he's happy with. Yeah, also, you want to pick a healthcare system that facilitates appointments and care for elders. Certainly, at the Cleveland Clinic we have a robust internal medicine, primary care, family medicine and geriatric services, as well as wellness and prevention and integrative medicine and functional medicine. So there's lots of choices.
Speaker 1:But not everyone has a world-class health facility in their backyard and we have listeners from over 80 different countries, and some folks reside in rural areas where they may have excellent jack-of-all-trades physicians who can do a lot of care but aren't necessarily able to deliver the most cutting-edge therapies. And so to know where your backup care is going to be, especially if you're going to be transferred, or knowing where in advance that you want to go. And the same thing is when you travel overseas or to other states. And knowing what your insurance plan covers and doesn't cover, and for people going to very remote areas and African safaris, if something happens and you have an acute diverticular attack or acute appendicitis or gout or God forbid other medical emergencies, hemorrhage, heart attack, stroke, you've got to really have plans in place on how you're going to get expert care. Now, expressing your advanced directives in writing is something everyone should do, not just seniors, I mean at age 18,. I encourage all legal adults to have a medical power of attorney and healthcare advanced directives.
Speaker 1:And we had an excellent podcast, the last podcast of the first season, which I think was very aptly timed, on end of life planning with Dr Sylvia Perez Prato, who's a dancer. She's a flamingo dancer. I think we have some pictures and clips on our social media of her living life to the fullest, but professionally, focusing on people at the very end of life. So the top 10 ways to age gracefully from the inside out and you have been listening to the Speaking of Women's podcast. I'm your host, dr Holly Thacker, and we're talking all things healthy aging and graceful ways to age. So Diane Sieg, who has provided content on Speaking of Women's Health, is a former emergency room nurse, turned speaker, author, life coach and yoga teacher. Oh my, we have some great information on yoga on our speakingofwomenshealthcom site, so if you don't have that bookmarked, please be sure to bookmark it.
Speaker 1:And her guest column I thought would be great to share for this episode, and she talked about working in an emergency room for over 23 years, as well as in the health and fitness field for 25 years and life coaching for 15, the whole spectrum and she had lots of opportunity to work with people who were not aging so gracefully. So at the time she wrote this article and I'm sure the number is higher. She said at least 60,000 boomers turn 60 every day and, of course, the people now turning 60 are getting to be Gen Xers, right, a lot of my siblings are in that category, so it's a good percentage of the population, and many of these folks continue to live longer. So you want to be stronger as well in mind and spirit. So here were her top 10 tips. Number one move.
Speaker 1:Nothing new about exercising to maintain healthy weight. Also, it elevates your mood and some studies show it's as effective as antidepressant therapy. It improves your well-being and your energy level. I mean, that's what gets me back to the gym regularly is keeping a high energy level up. And she says she used to work out to fit in her skinny jeans. Of course, if you're like me and never really had skinny jeans, that might not be her goal, but she says now she exercises to maintain muscular strength, bone density and endurance and she says it still helps her fit into her skinny jeans. So good for her. And you don't need to be a gym rat. You could walk, take dancing lessons, ride your bicycle stationary or regular, hopefully with your bike helmet Lots of different ways to be physically active. I know that when I'm watching my grandchildren and sometimes I might be the main caregiver when their parents are away for vacations or weddings. So my vacations aren't necessarily spent with my feet up poolside, they're spent lifting and running around and chasing and playing and up and down, and a lot of those days I feel like I've really gotten quite the workout.
Speaker 1:Practice yoga. I wish I was a yogi. I think it just has to do with joint flexibility and some people are more attracted to some activities than others. But the people that practice yoga say how life-changing it is for them, Gaining a half an inch in height. The way I try to do that is posture and going in my inversion table every day. She's also noted that it increased her lean muscle mass and flexibility and I certainly try to work on my flexibility daily. But she also lives the yoga lifestyle with meditation and deep breathing, and really any of us can do meditation and deep breathing even if you have significant orthopedic impairments. And her yoga poses in her 30 days to grace practice. She feels more grounded and focused and centered and I think to start out your day with some meditation or spiritual prayer or just intense focus helps you start your day out better.
Speaker 1:Number three eat anti-inflammatory foods. So many illnesses autoimmune fibromyalgia, arthritis, depression, autoimmune fibromyalgia, arthritis, depression, hardening of the arteries can be directly linked to the diet. So anti-inflammatory diet is free of processed foods and sugars and seed oils and made up more of whole foods. Sleep we are a chronically under-rested culture, so many of her clients say that they could just get by on five or six hours and gosh for several years, especially raising three young children, building the Center for Specialized Women's Health, running the nonprofit, speaking of women's health oh, and running my specialized women's health fellowship, oh, and getting my children to all their different sports practices and travel leagues and school responsibilities. My husband and I never really usually manage much more than five or six hours and that's really not good To thrive from the inside out. Most people I mean. There are exceptions and as you get older you may need less sleep, need about eight hours to nine hours and you feel better and you look better because it's beauty sleep and you are just generally more graceful after a good night's sleep.
Speaker 1:Number five connection as we age. Connection is more important than ever. As we age, connection is more important than ever. And the older you get, I think, the more important it is to establish relationships with different generations. If you're someone who was only friends with your own age and people older than you who are mentors and gave you advice, that's wonderful and you want to maintain those. But having connections with people of various generations not just your children and grandchildren, of course, but neighbors, community members, people from your church or synagogue or mosque, if you volunteer for any kind of community work, animal shelters, whatever is your interest and your passion it's good to connect with people of different ages. In fact, just the other day some cute neighborhood kids came over because they thought my granddaughter, artemis, was going to be here because she spends a fair number of weekends with us, and so they were really disappointed that she wasn't there. But they just wanted to hang out and play and so it was fun. I took that opportunity, spoke to their millennial dad about a lot of different topics, and it's just good to get perspectives of people who aren't necessarily the same age and station in life as you are. I think it helps maintain yourself thinking outside yourself and it helps you remember what's most important and it keeps you involved and aware of what's going on around you.
Speaker 1:Number six meaningful activity Take a course to learn something new. You know, like Nurse Lily, who's retired, who's learning Turkish Volunteer at a food bank, a dear friend of mine and one of our philanthropists and supporters of Speaking of Women's Health, who I really wanted to get on to interview but is shy and, you know, likes to work behind the scenes. The feeling that you get for helping people in need is really significant. Some people like to work on their family tree. My late father-in-law and also several members on my dearly departed mother's side of the family were great at doing genealogy and it's very interesting and fun. Um, people do need a reason to get up in the morning and have a schedule and be energized about things. You have to retire to something, not nothing.
Speaker 1:Number seven hydrate. It seems so simple, but it's not intuitive for everyone and your body can't always determine if you're thirsty and some people overeat when they should just be drinking some water, and you're just a lot more lubricated if you're not dehydrated and your skin is plumper. Embrace your grace, so she says. She loves a commercial that shows authentic midlife women who look like themselves. They're not airbrushed and their beauty and grace illuminates from the inside out. So trying to look excessively young or look so hip is not always a good look. Protecting your skin, though, from excessive solar damage with hats or appropriate mineral based um sunscreens can be helpful.
Speaker 1:Getting regular dental care, taking care of your choppers? Um, a lot of people don't like to get colon cancer screening or colonoscopy, but we're seeing such an increased rate of that, and even as you get older, if you have had a family history or increased risk or prior polyps, many of which are precancerous, even though a lot of people don't realize it because their doctor says oh, it's just benign polyps. Yeah, it's benign, meaning you didn't have cancer and the polyps removed, but many of those polyps are what we call precancerous. So there's still a concern, and if you didn't listen to our March podcast on colon cancer awareness, that's a good one to listen to. And some people really like to use technology to monitor their biorhythms, their sleep, their activity levels. There are some that could even track if you're going into atrial fibrillation, which is a not uncommon problem in people over age 65, especially women.
Speaker 1:Number 10, plan. It seemed like in your 20s or 30s or 40s you had so much time to get to future things and many people can't wait to settle down or plan for the future. But it's never a better time than right now to plan for your future, and some people like to do it at the end of the year, beginning of the new year. Some people are very organized and make a plan every week small plans, medium plans, long range plans but financially, planning in advance you could never really do soon enough. And deciding if you need to downsize your living space sometimes having less to do to take care of a property can offer a sense of calm and intention for moving forward.
Speaker 1:So now we're going to move on to talking about nutrition. In your golden senior years, eating the right foods is always up there to help you feel energized, and sometimes you do need specific supplements. The third podcast of my first season is all on vitamin D, and we've had even more research come out since I did that, so I would strongly endorse adequate to excellent levels of vitamin D and sometimes people have to take multiple vitamins as they get older, or mineral supplements because with age some people don't have as robust an appetite. Some people can have diminished taste and smell, which can affect their food intake. Sometimes nutrient absorption is not as optimal and for people that have had any kind of surgeries on their stomach or their ilium, they very well may need more B12. And I pretty much routinely check a B12 level every five years in people over age 60 to 65 or people on medications like metformin, glucofage, the PPIs, the proton pump inhibitors that block acid.
Speaker 1:People ask well, what vitamins and minerals should I take? So many people who don't need to take them are taking them. Always bring in your supplements when you see your physician, and if your physician or nurse practitioner is not interested in seeing what you're actually ingesting, then it might be time to find someone else to see. You generally don't want mega doses and we usually say to avoid those that have all these extra herbs and enzymes and things that you know. We don't even necessarily know what's in them, because they may increase the cost and not necessarily have any additional benefit. Now I did a whole podcast on joint supplements, so if you're specifically suffering from a joint pain, that would be a good one to go listen to. We've done popular podcasts on superfoods and I have several other podcasts in the works that talk about different substances Things like in celery that do some amazing amazing things, and too much antioxidant vitamins can actually be pro-oxidative.
Speaker 1:So more is not better, but an adequate amount of vitamin C and E and A help neutralize free radicals and that's important. There's a lot of foods that are really rich in antioxidants. I'm thinking of green tea, and I've done columns on teas and what some of the health benefits there are, as well as a column on herbs and spices, and it's fascinating the substances in these herbs that are anti-cancer, anti-cardiovascular disease. Some of them are actually emotionally calming, like cilantro, which I don't have to. Just only wait for. Cinco de Mayo, on May 5th, that's my niece's birthday. She was born on 5-5-5. So she's 19 now and so I enjoy cilantro all year round.
Speaker 1:A common question that patients ask is well, should I take antioxidant supplements? And there's a lot of debate about it and some uncertainty. And loading up on too much is not only expensive and causes expensive urine but can be harmful. I think to get vitamin C in your diet with citrus and berry and melons and red peppers and potatoes and tomatoes and dark leafy greens certainly supplementing vitamin C during periods of sepsis, stress infection, has been shown to be very beneficial. Vitamin E Uh, vitamin E is in nuts and seeds and peanut butter and olive oil and wheat germ. I do sometimes specifically recommend vitamin E as an Earl for people who've had any kind of clotting disorder, because doses of 600 to 800 international units does thin the blood.
Speaker 1:Now, this podcast, of course, as you know, is not medical advice. You need to see your own healthcare clinician, but I'm speaking in generalities. Now, beta carotene there's a large study that showed taking beta carotene supplements was actually associated with a higher rate of lung cancer, interestingly. So I do not recommend beta carotene supplements, but I do recommend those orange and yellow and colorful fruits and vegetables like sweet potatoes and carrots. Oh, I have this great recipe where I boil carrots and then I smash them down so they're soft and then I put some Parmesan cheese on top and put it in the oven and cut it and I call it a bunny pizza, because the carrots are the crust and we have some Parmesan on the top and it's really fun and you can slice it like a pizza. And we have so many fun recipes on our website. And cheese has been unfortunately vilified, just like eggs have. Eggs are excellent nutritional foods, high in protein, choline, and cheese is very rich in calcium and protein and minerals. So other beta carotene rich foods are cantaloupe that was my mother's favorite fruit Red and green peppers, apricots, which dried apricot has a lot of iron in it.
Speaker 1:Tomatoes, or tomatoes Are all brown breads, whole grain, no only the ones that are labeled whole wheat, and we usually like generally breads that don't have a bunch of additives in them and seed oils and usually things made with whole grain. Should I take a fiber to promote regularity? Certainly, the gut slows down with age and in women, especially if they've had babies and C-sections, I see a lot more sluggish bowels. We usually like fluid and fiber and adequate magnesium. What about soy, well, there are isoflavones in soy. I don't recommend soy pills or powders. Isoflavones in soy I don't recommend soy pills or powders. I do recommend potentially eating soy-based foods, if you like soybeans instead of peanuts, or a soy burger occasionally instead of a red meat hamburger.
Speaker 1:But especially for people if they notice it lowers their cholesterol. Which fluids are best? People if they notice it lowers their cholesterol. Which fluids are best? Generally speaking, plain water, followed by black coffee and green tea. Milk is an excellent choice as well, and there's non-milk kind of products like almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk. But having enough water to quench your thirst is important. I really think that, in general, sugary drinks, artificial sweetener drinks, should be very much minimized, as well as, of course, alcohol.
Speaker 1:If you like drinking soda and you're trying to get off that soda addiction, I think buying the carbonated waters that have different flavors without calories is an excellent option. Now, unfortunately, my daughter-in-law, laura, the nurse practitioner, is not very happy and doesn't want me addicting her second daughter, beatrice, on carbonated bubbly flavored waters, because Artemis loves it. Oh my goodness. She loves the color blue and the little blueberry flavored one she started to sip out of when she was little and loved the tingles, and so of course, it's a lot more expensive than just plain water, but for a special treat or to make something a little bit bubbly, it's a nice treat.
Speaker 1:So thank you so much for joining me for another episode of Speaking of Women's Health. We're really grateful for your support. So please consider sharing these podcasts with your friends. Give us a five-star rating and, if you're so inclined, you can give us a donation to the nonprofit on speakingofwomenshealthcom. All the latest Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, tunein, spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you've got a question, go on our website and, on the contact us portion, send it to us, and I will look forward to seeing you again in the Sunflower House.
