Prevention September 2017

MINDFULNESS WAS always an elusive concept to me— here, then gone, like a wisp of smoke. You can’t catch it; before your hand is up, you’ve lost it. That hurt my head and aggravated me. Mindfulness, however, began to pop up frequently in my reading and conversations, and friends and colleagues made impressive claims for it (see “Your Mindful Day,” p. 80). So I decided to try again and set aside a few minutes every day for being mindful. Recently, a friend mixed me a nonalcoholic cocktail called a shrub, which combined a few ounces of a fruity syrup made from peaches, a dash each of cardamom and sugar, and a liberal dose of apple cider vinegar, blended into a tall, cool glass of sparkling water. Maybe it was the mindfulness on…

YOUR HEALTHIEST YOU AT ANY AGE I read every issue of Prevention front to back, and it always teaches me something new. I am 28, though, and I understand that most of your readers are probably older. I would love it if there were more articles geared toward a greater variety of ages. Candice Malloy / Conway, SC I felt that this article portrayed an outdated image of a healthy 60-year-old. Sixty isn’t what it used to be! Many of my “older” friends and I are still challenging ourselves physically, working or deeply involved in community service, and socially active. Jane Jewell / Houston Please incorporate age 70+. After all, because of you, we are healthy! Pattie Carmen / Corvallis, MT FORWARD MOTION My hat is off to Eileen Gradwell, an inspiration to many. She…

HOT OR NOT? Turmeric is touted as a treatment for inflammation, potentially benefiting people with arthritis and gastrointestinal disorders. The spice is being added to all kinds of foods, including popcorn and smoothies. But does it live up to its hype? According to Mary Beth Sodus, a nutrition therapist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, turmeric contains only about 3% curcumin, the health-promoting ingredient, meaning you’d never be able to eat enough turmeric to get a therapeutic dose.…

THREE GOOD REASONS: Flattening the breast distributes the tissue evenly to minimize the chance that areas will overlap, obscuring tumors or creating an image that looks abnormal. “One reason women get called back for further testing is an unclear reading from overlapping tissue,” says Karen Lindfors, a professor of radiology at UC Davis Medical Center. Compression also helps hold the breast still. “Some of the microcalcifications in the tissue may be as small as a grain of sand,” she says. “So any tiny movement could cause blurring.” Finally, compression keeps radiation exposure to a minimum. X-rays don’t penetrate breast tissue easily, so “the thinner the breast, the less radiation we have to use,” Lindfors says. 923,308 The number of active medical doctors in the US…

MINNESOTA IS EMERGING as one of America’s health powerhouses. The twin cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul were christened America’s top “Fit City” in the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual American Fitness Index rankings of healthiest metropolitan areas. Among the criteria: the amounts of walking and sleeping done by city dwellers and the numbers of exercise facilities, dog parks, and farmers’ markets. In another healthy development, the city of Rochester, home of the renowned Mayo Clinic, is building a $5.6 billion medical center to bring advances in science, research, medical technology, and patient care to the region—and the nation. TOP 10 GOOGLED MEDICAL CONDITIONS More than a third of American adults have conducted online searches to try to diagnose themselves, says a new Pew survey. What are they worried about? The top 10…

NEWS ABOUT KNEES IMPLANTS Women experience more complications after hip or knee replacements than men do. That’s at least partly due to women’s greater sensitivity to the metals used in the implants, according to a new study at Rush University. Nickel, for instance, is commonly used in knee replacements, and an estimated 17% of women versus 3% of men are hypersensitive to the metal. If you need a joint replacement, ask about having a metal-sensitivity blood test before the procedure. ARTHROSCOPY Knee arthroscopy, in which doctors diagnose and treat knee problems by inserting a camera and instruments through a small incision, is now the world’s most common orthopedic procedure. Yet a review published in BMJ shows that it rarely provides any benefit. The analysis of 25 studies found that fewer than 15%…