Many Serious Health Problems

Researchers suspect that Alzheimer’s insidiously begins to shrink parts of our brains, including those essential to memory processing. The range is broad, because an individual’s risk profile goes up or down depending on many factors. These studies indicate a reduced risk of 6–30 percent, depending on the forms of physical activity studied. A Pot Belly Cannot Lead Men. This was enough for him. The problem with a potbelly is that it has much more serious health issues than simply looking bad. Subcutaneous fat is largely located just under the skin but there is emerging evidence that the danger of big potbellies lie in both deep visceral and subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is found deep within the abdominal cavity where it fills the spaces between our abdominal organs. What causes a relatively slender person to grow a potbelly lapping over his or her belt? It has to do with how our bodies evolved to succeed in a dangerous, intense world. During this period, something new began to happen to me. Humans underwent a cognitive revolution study. We began to mentally envision ourselves and imagine.

Every Thought Is A Battle

Our bodies selected for characteristics useful for dealing with threats and preparing our bodies to fight or flee from a threat. A cascade of hormones is triggered that increases our blood pressure and blood sugar and suppresses our immune system. This provides a boost of energy while other hormones, such as adrenaline, support immediate violent muscular action. Of course, today, we often feel stress and fear about things that have not actually occurred and may never occur. Nevertheless, this still releases all these substances because our brain tells us we are going to have to fight or flee. Unlike our prehistoric ancestors responding to actual immediate threats, we rarely actually fight or flee from a threat. We also experience a stress response because of work deadlines, which might cause our boss to be angry, or we fret about an imagined threat and embarrassment that might cause us to lose status. When stressed, we experience repeated concerns over things that do not call for physical fighting or fleeing. Now, from a health point of view, is there a difference between gluteal fat and abdominal fat? Gluteal fat, while unsightly, sits below our skin and does not surround any vital organs. We may not like how it looks, but it is much less threatening to our health than abdominal or visceral fat, which is a major cause of many serious health problems. Visceral fat is chemically active, leaking dangerous chemicals to our internal organs. These occur when an abnormal chemical reaction disrupts the balance and functioning of hormones.

No You Don't

Visceral fat also increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Visceral fat yields to regular physical activity of significant intensity and strength training. Worse, the number of people suffering from peripheral artery disease is rapidly increasing. This disease is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Because the disease makes it painful to walk, this appears odd indeed. The reason is people either adapt to the disease by not walking or think it is a normal consequence of aging. It turns out a first treatment for this disease is supervised exercise. The prescription is walking until it hurts. Note the time walked. Rest until the pain subsides. Then start again and walk until the pain returns. Continue this until the total time spent just walking adds up to 20–30 minutes.

Another Part Of Me

Sure, we remember Aunt Helen, who fell down when she was 70, became bedridden, and just faded away and died in a few years. But the cause of these terrible events, and the cure, are not on our radar screens. We never think about them, do we? Two pounds of muscle are lost by just 10 days in a hospital. The track is a simple one. Falls lead to fractures and 87 percent of hip fractures specifically result from falls. Increased leisure, sports, and chores and reduced daily periods of inactivity correlate with a significantly reduced risk for hip fracture. But the aging population is ever more sedentary. So a third of elderly people fall each year, and 10–15 percent of those result in fracture, which leads to prolonged bedrest, which causes a further loss of strength, bone, and muscle mass, leading to further injury. Two pounds of muscle are lost by just 10 days in a hospital for otherwise healthy older adults. Once that muscle and bone is gone, the falls come faster, and we become trapped in the fatal downward spiral. According to International Osteoporosis Foundation, Almost 60% of those who fell the previous year will fall again. The remedy for this, of course, is physical therapy that strengthens lower limbs and makes them more capable. Numerous studies have shown that strength training can play a role in slowing bone loss, and several show it can even build bone. Whenever we raise the subject of Alzheimer’s in a group of boomers, they always change the subject. There is no mystery regarding why Alzheimer’s is so feared. It is a conscious, slow spiraling into a living death. In our 50s, that part of the brain shrinks by 1–2 percent a year. Scans of brains of Alzheimer’s victims show considerable shrinkage compared to people the same age without Alzheimer’s. Most of us experience some cognitive decline and many develop Alzheimer’s. If there were a drug that could be taken beginning in our 50s that had a 60 percent chance of preventing brain shrinkage and Alzheimer’s, it would be the most valuable drug in history. Even if it cost $10,000 a year, everyone who could afford the drug would take it. Those who expend the most energy exercising are 90 percent less likely to develop cognitive decline. Alzheimer’s has been described as a pandemic disease. Between 2000 and 2013, deaths from Alzheimer’s increased 71 percent. There is something as good or better than existing expensive Alzheimer’s drugs. It’s called exercise. Scans had shown increased metabolic activity in brain cells during workouts, but it was not known if those active brain cells were adapting and changing due to the exercise.