PreventionDecember 2022的目錄

MY GRANDMOTHER LIVED to the age of 97, and her older sister to 104. They were both brilliant and accomplished, and I only hope I can stay as interesting—and as interested in the world—as they did. That kind of hope is what inspired this issue’s special section, Live Longer & Happier. You’ve heard the saying “Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative!” It’s funny on a T-shirt, but in truth nobody wants to be 98 and feel 98—or, possibly worse, be 98 and not even know they’re 98. That’s why we’re here with 20+ pages of good news, fascinating insights, and helpful advice about aging. There really are ways to protect your body and mind, and to feel (and look!) younger. It seems as if every aging…

SWEET POTATO NACHOS Using sweet potato or white potato in place of tortilla chips is a nutrient-dense way to enjoy this fun and yummy dish. Crisp up potato rounds in the air fryer, then pile on your favorite toppings. “Think things like black beans, tomato, coleslaw mix, cilantro, and guac. It’s a super-nourishing bite!”Blatner says. FRENCH TOAST “This brunch staple has a rep for not being healthy, but it really can be, and you can make it super-quickly in an air fryer,” says Blatner. “Dip whole-grain bread in protein-rich eggs, then top with more goodness like cinnamon, nut butter, plain Greek yogurt, or a superfood drizzle made with mashed berries and a little maple syrup.” FRUIT CRISPS Place frozen berries or diced apples or peaches in an oven-safe ramekin; top…

Clocking 10,000 daily steps is a good way to stay active each day, and it also may help lower your risk of dementia, heart disease, and cancer, say two new studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine and JAMA Neurology. But there’s another encouraging finding: Even when step count was below that 10,000-step goal, a faster walking pace was still associated with lower disease risk. The study looked at health data from 78,500 U.K. adults ages 40 to 79, analyzed by researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Southern Denmark. For a speedier trot, try this tip: Incorporate different exercises such as power skips, walking lunges, side shuffes, hills, and intervals of power walking or sprints into your daily walk or workout routine. “Adding these functional drills can…

DANCING IS A SENSATIONAL WAY TO FEEL YOUNG. Watching a couple spin around the room is joyful, but the real benefits of salsa come when you join in. “Salsa dancing makes people happy,” says Martha Santos, Ph.D., a salsa dancer and an associate professor of Latin American History at the University of Akron. “The music is percussive and exciting, and when you combine it with rapid movements from the various Latin American dance traditions salsa encompasses, it’s like the dance has a healing quality.” … IT’S TRUE: RESEARCH SHOWS THAT dancing in general may reduce symptoms of depression, improve fitness, lower cholesterol, boost self-esteem, strengthen balance, and keep the brain healthy as it ages. Salsa takes all that to the next level with partner work, a quick pace, and choreographed moves. “The…

For some, the visible signs of aging can be, well, a bummer. But for beauty industry veteran Bobbi Brown, those laugh lines and wrinkles are signs of living. The 65-year-old says she feels great about aging—and you can too. “My father taught me the best thing. He said, ‘You can’t always control the situation—but you can control your attitude,’” says Brown, the founder of Jones Road Beauty and Bobbi Brown Cosmetics. That’s why instead of dreading her birthdays, Brown leans into them, and she hopes others will do the same. “I think too many people feel bad about aging, and it creates an ongoing negativity in your life,” she says. Still, she acknowledges that her outlook is supported by her beauty knowledge, gained over decades. “Honestly, if I wasn’t as…

Climate change is tied to asthma, allergies, heart disease, and even viral and bacterial infections—and this year something will start to be done about it. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will shrink greenhouse gas emissions by a gigaton in coming years, with direct investment in clean-energy tech and programs. The law also gives cleanup grants to minority communities near industrial areas that are rife with air pollution and other toxins. States are taking action too, says Alli Gold Roberts, state policy director at the Boston-based environmental nonprofit Ceres. Roberts points to California, which mandated that every new car and light truck be electric by 2035, and Massachusetts, which passed legislation detailing concrete steps toward major climate goals like expanding offshore wind power and electrifying particle-spewing school buses. Cities and corporations like Amazon…

■ Proving that good things come in small packages, chia seeds, the tiniest of nutritional heroes, are emerging as a powerhouse skincare ingredient. Chia seed oil is turning up in serums, facial oils, and creams thanks to its all-star moisturizing, soothing, and protective benefits. “The oil is rich in nourishing fatty acids, and it boasts strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties like vitamin B3 and tocopherols,” says dermatologist Mona Gohara, M.D., an associate clinical professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine. “It helps calm inflammation, guard against damage, and keep the skin barrier healthy so skin can hold moisture better.” Safe on all skin types, including sensitive skin, chia seed oil can even help decrease eczema symptoms. (If you have acne, rosacea, or inflamed skin, test a chia seed product…

when you live for several decades viewing yourself a certain way—maybe you’ve always seen yourself as an ambitious go-getter for whom failure is not an option, or perhaps you view yourself as a low-key person who doesn’t like the spotlight—it’s understandable that those self-perceptions become solidified. Consciously or not, we all have beliefs about who we are that are based on our behaviors, abilities, feelings, and personality characteristics as well as how others see us and how they respond to us. This is what psychologists call “self-concept”—a reflection of how you see yourself as a person—and it has a powerful effect on the way you act, the choices you make, the attitudes you have, and how you move through life. And then you hit middle age, and maybe you start to feel…

If a stranger came up to you and asked you how heavy your menstrual flow was and whether you ever had anal sex, you could justifiably respond, “That’s none of your!&$% business!” For gynecologists, though, these personal and seemingly inappropriate questions are our business—literally. And while they may seem random, there’s always a specific reason we’re asking. My patients’ answers will change my approach, influencing what I will examine, what tests I’ll do, or what I’ll ultimately recommend. Here, four questions your gynecologist may ask you, and why: “WHEN WAS YOUR LAST PERIOD?” Yes, this is to determine whether you could be pregnant, but the timing of your periods indicates much more. If they’re irregular or MIA, could you be perimenopausal or hypothyroid, or have a hormonal imbalance such as…

You may have heard of effective targeted drugs for people with HER2-positive breast cancer. But the vast majority of breast cancers have been labeled “HER2-negative.” It turns out some of these are actually “HER2-low,” meaning they have a small amount of the protein. (The same is true for some other cancers, including lung and colorectal.) This year researchers found that one targeted drug, Enhertu, kept people with HER2-low breast cancer alive six months longer than the group receiving standard chemo. This increase is far more than most cancer treatments show in drug trials for this setting, says Shanu Modi, M.D., a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the study’s lead researcher. “It’s proving that we can make an impact and improve survival,” she says. This summer the FDA…

SERVES 4 1 In small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp each red wine vinegar, olive oil, and capers (chopped), 1 scallion (finely chopped), and ¼ tsp pepper; set aside. 71¢ 2 Heat air fryer to 400°F. In bowl, toss 1 pint grape tomatoes, 1 Tbsp oil, and ¼ tsp each kosher salt and pepper. Season 1 lb skinless salmon fillet (cut into 1½-in. pieces) with ¼ tsp each salt and pepper. Place salmon in single layer on 1 side of air fryer and add tomatoes to remaining space (piling them is fine). Air-fry until salmon is barely opaque throughout, 6 min. $9.59 3 Transfer tomatoes to bowl with vinegar-scallio mixture and toss to combine, then toss with 1 Tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley. 2¢ 4 Warm 4 pieces naan or flatbread; top…

1 Lie facedown on your stomach with your arms stretched out in a T shape, elbows bent at about 90 degrees. 2 Keeping your forehead facing down, squeeze your shoulder blades almost as if you have a small magnet pulling them down and away from your ears. 3 Keep squeezing as you lift both arms off the floor at the same time, bringing them up as high as you can without losing that shoulder blade tension. Hold for 3 seconds, then return to starting position. 4 Repeat 15 times; that’s one set. Do two to three sets.…

Do you want to live to be 100? The older you get, the more you know that’s not such an easy question to answer. Aging can be hard on the body and the mind, and we can all picture what we don’t want to happen. But what if you could live those years with vitality and joy? It’s more possible than it’s ever been. This month’s special section is devoted to aging well—what the science says about healthy living, how experts are rethinking longevity, and what you can do for yourself. Discover how to add years to your life—and life to your years. JOIN THE CONVERSATION! Meet a centenarian and a leading researcher on aging, learn why some people stay healthy well into their 90s and beyond, and get your…

You can’t feel it, but all your bones regularly break down and rebuild themselves in a process called remodeling, which leads to your entire bony structure being completely replaced about every 10 years! “Until about age 50, women’s bodies strike a balance between the amounts of bone lost and rebuilt,” says Clifford J. Rosen, M.D., a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. But as estrogen dips and bones age and lose minerals, they gradually become more porous and fragile, which can raise your risk of fractures and potentially lead to osteoporosis. Steps like these can help keep your skeleton sturdy and strong. PREVENT IT GET ON YOUR FEET “Weight-bearing exercise stimulates bone-building cells to be more active and help maintain bone strength, which can decrease your risk…

MARTHA AGUILAR Lacey, WA Living with: Depression It’s hard to pinpoint when I started to experience depression. It’s not as if there is an X-ray or a blood test that tells you your sadness has morphed into depression. But in my early 20s, I started to have crying episodes I couldn’t stop. I didn’t fully understand why this was happening, but I would have to get into bed until the episode was over, which often took several hours. Years later, I had an episode in which I almost took my own life. I was hospitalized and took leave from work for almost a year. I was terrified that I wouldn’t ever be well enough again to support myself. I also felt the stigma of depression when people would say things…

They look like a cross between a yoga mat and a bed of nails. But the companies that sell acupressure mats claim that lying on them can provide relief from back and neck pain, headaches, even insomnia. Are they worth the ouch factor? THERAPY OR TORTURE? These mats are usually made of cotton and covered with several hundred sharp plastic points on disks, evenly spaced. As you lie or stand on the mat, the plastic spikes stimulate pressure points in your feet or on other parts of your body. The concept, derived from Chinese medicine, incorporates both acupuncture and reflexology. “The idea is to stimulate sensory neurons within the skin with non-piercing needles in an attempt to reduce discomfort from conditions like chronic lower-back pain and osteoarthritis,” says Evan Matthews,…

Nearly 1 billion residents of low-income countries are unvaccinated, and with so many people unprotected, new variants will continue to spread, says Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., codirector of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. A big part of the problem: Technologies used in Western vaccines can be too complex and costly for worldwide distribution. That’s why Dr. Hotez’s team created the technology for Corbevax, which uses a strain of yeast to create a safe, effective, inexpensive immunization developing countries can make easily. “It’s produced with the world in mind,” says Dr. Hotez. (With no patent, the technology can easily be transferred to the countries’ vaccine producers.) So far Corbevax, which performed as well as higher-tech vaccines in clinical trials, has been authorized in Indonesia and Botswana and also in India,…

In the past decade, the list prices of brand-name drugs have more than doubled, according to University of Pittsburgh researchers. But when Congress passed the IRA in August, it gave the government, a massive buyer of medicines, a say in what it pays for some of them. Prices of the highest-cost drugs will be negotiated first, which is crucial because they can have a list price of more than $100,000 a year. The cancer drug Revlimid, for example, lists for more than $16,000 a month. The law also penalizes companies that jack up prices on any drug by more than the rate of inflation, which some experts think should also help people who aren’t on Medicare. “If manufacturers increase their prices faster than inflation, they will owe a rebate,” explains Juliette…

ACTIVE 20 MIN. TOTAL 20 MIN. SERVES 4 2 medium peppers (red and yellow)2 Tbsp olive oil, divided2 large carrots, coarsely grated1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered1 clove garlic, finely chopped Kosher salt and pepper½ cup cilantro, roughly chopped8 large eggs½ tsp dried oregano Toasted English muffins (optional) 1. Slice peppers into eight ½-in.-thick rings. Dice any remaining peppers and transfer to medium bowl. 2. Heat 1Tbsp oil in large nonstick skillet on medium. Add pepper rings and cook until they begin to soften and brown, 3 min. per side. 3. Meanwhile, to bowl with diced peppers, add carrots, tomatoes, and garlic and toss with remaining Tbsp oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper; fold in cilantro. 4. Crack 1 egg into each pepper ring; sprinkle with oregano and…

ACROSS 1. Pardon 4. Low sodium means less __________ 7. Wash cycle step 8. Meditate to maintain your __________ calm 10. Assisted 12. Perfect score 14. Feline 15. Not fruit 18. South Asian country 19. Growing older 20. Happily __________ after 21. Court sport that isn’t pickleball DOWN 1. Hearing organs 2. Stay __________ to your family and friends 3. Did you get enough last night? 5. Royal seat 6. Solving puzzles keeps this sharp 9. Healthy food or nourishment 11. Look at 13. Stay __________: bike or walk 15. Small glass bottle 16. Student’s score 17. Omelet ingredients Find the completed puzzle at prevention.com/december-2022-crossword.…