Golden LivingCenter – Shafter

• Low Carb Plant Sourced Diet Better Than Animal Sourced One

  Sep. 07, 2010

  If you want to live longer, you are better off on a low carb diet which is vegetable based, rather than one whose proteins are sourced from animals, according to a study involving 129,716 men and women published this week in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine...

  read more

• Facts about hair transplants if you are bald or have thinning hair

  Sep. 04, 2010

  More from myOptumHealth More>> Facts about hair transplants if you are bald or have thinning hair Thinking about a hair transplant for baldness or thinning hair? Here are some things you'll need to keep in mind.

  read more

• Why Fish Oils Work Swimmingly Against Diabetes

  Sep. 03, 2010

  Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified the molecular mechanism that makes omega-3 fatty acids so effective in reducing chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. The discovery could lead to development of a simple dietary remedy for many of the more than 23 million Americans suffering from diabetes and other conditions...

  read more

LivingCenter Newsletter

• Weathering the Storm

  Jun. 01, 2010

  Good riddance, Ana. The same goes for Joaquin and Wanda. Your ill wind and rain won't be missed. The National Weather Service has been naming hurricanes since 1953, and those were names of recent storms. The 2010 hurricane season is upon us and it typically lasts from June through November. Here are some other snippets about these storms.

  What's in a name? Alex, Bonnie, Igor and Lisa are among the names designated for hurricanes this year. If you are Cindy or Don, your name comes up in 2011. Visit the National Hurricane Center's web site at www.NHC.NOAA.gov to see lists of names through 2015.

  Boy-girl-boy. Originally, only women's names were used. In 1979, men's names made the list and genders rotated every other storm.

• Prescriptions and Pain May Increase Fall Risk

  Jun. 01, 2010

  In the developed world, falls are the fifth-leading cause of death. Couple that with the fact that more than 30 percent of people older than 65 will fall at least once a year, and you realize the implications of such statistics. Two new studies aim to find the causes of falling to improve those numbers.

  A report in the Archives of Internal Medicine reviewed 22 studies of 79,081 participants, age 60 and older, and found a significant relationship between the risk of falls and the use of sedatives, hypnotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines (drugs prescribed for anxiety and/or insomnia). "It is hoped that future research can improve the quality of information about fall risks that is available to physicians and pharmacists when they are deciding which types of pharmacotherapy to provide,"; researchers stated.

  A second study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, states that after research of 749 people age 70 and older, those with severe pain had a 77 percent increased risk of falling. The researchers suggest that the neuromuscular effects of pain could cause muscle weakness or a slowed response to loss of balance.

• More than 30 percent of people older than 65 will fall at least once a year

  Jun. 01, 2010