People are living longer lives thanks to breakthroughs in medical technology, pharmaceuticals, and a general understanding of how the body works. People who don’t smoke and eat healthy tend to live longer than their counterparts who smoke and do not eat a balanced diet.

Still, making healthy lifestyle choices doesn’t
completely negate the side effects of aging. Most of these revolve around
various health issues. Luckily, there are ways to combat them.

Arthritis

Arthritis is one of the top health conditions
affecting people over the age of 65. Severe arthritis can lead to pain and a lower
quality of life for seniors.

Recurring arthritis can make it difficult for you to
complete daily tasks like typing, gardening, or even walking. For many, the
pain ends up discouraging them from being active, which can lead to further
health issues.

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis.
Unlike rheumatoid arthritis, which is an immune disorder that leads to chronic
inflammation of the joints, osteoarthritis is caused by daily wear-and-tear of
your joints.

The longer you live, the more you move your body,
which leads to the degeneration of cartilage cushion between your joints. The
most commonly affected areas of the body include the hands, fingers, knees,
hips, and spine. 

While you can’t reverse osteoarthritis, you can manage the symptoms. One of the best ways to do that is by exercising. Yes, it might sound counterintuitive, but strengthening the muscles around your joints can help relieve stiffness.

You don’t have to do HIIT exercises. In fact, most healthcare professionals suggest low-impact activities such as walking, swimming, gentle yoga, and tai chi.

Sciatica Pain

Weakening bones and muscles mean senior citizens are
more prone to developing sciatica, a painful condition where the sciatic nerve
is compressed or inflamed.

The most common cause is disc degeneration, but it can
also be due to scoliosis, osteoporosis, spinal osteoarthritis, and other
bone-weakening conditions. Obesity can also contribute to the condition and
aggravate the issue.

There’s no cure for sciatica, but you can ease the pain and discomfort. One of the best ways to alleviate the pain is by doing some simple stretches and exercises like this one:

You should still consult a doctor and physical
therapist to make sure it’s okay for you to perform these actions. Once you get
the go-ahead, start slow. If you feel any pain, stop and rest.

Heart Disease

Heart disease remains the leading killer of adults over the age of 65. As we age, we become more at risk of developing factors like high blood pressure and high cholesterol due to our hardening arteries and veins and weaker hearts and lungs.

Still, that doesn’t mean you have to deal with high
blood pressure or high cholesterol. Even past your 60s, you can still manage
your risk factors. Some of the best ways include:

Stay Active

As you age, your body
can’t pump oxygen to your heart as efficiently as when you were younger. Still,
consistent exercise can help keep your heart healthy. You don’t have to do
anything too intense, especially if you’re just getting started. Something as
simple as walking for 30 minutes can be a great start.

Eat a Balanced Diet

Eating your vegetables,
whole grains, and lean protein not only fuels your body but also helps keep
your heart healthy. Avoid foods high in salt, saturated fats, refined sugars,
and trans-fats. 

Quit Smoking

Nicotine is highly
addictive, and it’s hard to quit a habit, especially if it’s something you’ve been
doing for years. Still, smoking has been shown to increase the risk of heart
attacks and strokes, not to mention lung cancer. If you haven’t stopped yet,
now is the perfect time to kick the habit.

Dementia

Around 48 million people around the world suffer from
dementia with that number expected to triple by 2050. While it’s common for
everyone to have a memory blip from time to time even when you’re young, it can
become much more common as you age.

For some, this can develop into more serious issues
such as Alzheimer’s. Although there’s not a cure for Alzheimer’s, the best cure
is prevention. Keeping your mind sharp can help improve your memory and
potentially stave off the onset of dementia in your later years. Some things
you can do include:

Exercise

Even a 30-minute walk or a gentle yoga class can help preserve both your memory and mental function even as you age. 

Engage Your Brain

Like physical exercise, it’s also important to exercise your brain. And you don’t have to do anything complicated to keep your brain healthy.

In fact, reading books,
playing crossword puzzles, and even playing games can keep your mind sharp. If
you want to go a step further, the best way to keep your brain healthy is to
learn new things. So, try learning a new language and/or skill. Your brain will
thank you.

Even if you haven’t lived your whole life as a health
nut, you can make modifications now that will affect both quality and lifespan.
With that said, if you want to live a happy life in your 70s, 80s, and even
90s, it’s a good idea to start putting some healthy practices into your
lifestyle. It’s never too late to get started with exercise or eating a
well-balanced diet.

What are some ways you deal with health issues as a senior
citizen? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Let’s take the conversation to the
comment section below.

Disclaimer: This
article is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your
doctor to get specific medical advice for your situation.

On
the list of “fun things to do,” medical tests of any kind don’t usually make
the top 10. Some, however, are notoriously worse than others.

For
example, I’d rather have my body cryogenically frozen until we have an
alternative to colonoscopies than to go through the prep for another one. 

Bone
mineral scans (a DXA test), on the other hand, are painless, require no nasty
tasting gallon of prep to choke down – and
don’t require prancing around in a fashionable backless paper gown.

So,
when I went into my first DXA scan 10 years ago at age 50, I was in a better
mood than usual for a medical appointment. 

Unexpected
Diagnosis

I
joked and chatted with the technician as she set me up on the scanner. “After all
these years of weight training my bones must be stronger than giant redwoods,”
I said, positive I’d be one of their shining examples of good health and strong
bones. 

She
laughingly agreed.

Her
chuckles came to an abrupt halt as my test results popped up across her screen.

Her
sudden silence was in such contrast to our initial festive mood, I asked the
obvious question, “Well… what do you see?”

Normally,
technicians tell you to wait for the doctor to explain test results, but she
broke protocol and told me outright, “You have osteoporosis.” Not only that,
but it was severe. 

To
give you an idea of how severe… a DXA scan gives a T-score, which measures the
normal bone mineral density against that of a healthy young adult and is
measured in standard deviations. 

A
score of 0 is the norm and scores below 0 indicate progressively lower and
lower bone mass. A T-score of -2.5 or lower indicates osteoporosis.

My
T-score was -3.6.

Wait,
what??? How can that be? 

I’ve
been lifting weights since the dawn of time, take vitamin D, and eat tons of
yogurt shouldn’t that be enough to keep my bones healthy as the proverbial
oxen?

My Youth Years Came
Haunting

The
short answer: Nope.

The
long answer: Not if you had an eating disorder in your teens when your bones
were still developing.

Bingo. 

I was
anorexic in my late teens, starving myself of the necessary nutrition required
to build healthy bones.

By
the time I came out of that self-destructive haze (which took many years), the
damage was done. 

In
short, my hips and spine are as fragile as a house of cards in an F5
tornado. 

Since
my diagnosis, I’ve spoken to many bone experts, have been on several regimens,
and I go to a specialist every two years to check my progress. 

“You
will never not have osteoporosis,” my doctor tells me. “The best we can
do is stop it from getting worse.” 

The
bad news: No amount of weight-lifting can reverse osteoporosis. 

The
good news: Some exercises can improve or maintain bone density. Others may put
someone with osteoporosis at a higher risk of fractures.

Problem
is, guidelines for exercising when you have osteoporosis are not crystal
clear. 

However,
several general rules can help you stay safe as you get fit.

Learn Perfect Form
and Use Good Posture When Working Out

Lifting
even light weights with poor posture can be dangerous for someone with
osteoporosis. Your back can tolerate more when you work out with perfect
posture than if you lift with a rounded back something you should never do.

Start Easy

Depending
on the degree of osteoporosis and baseline activity level, start out with
low-impact exercise, like using an elliptical. Then, if your physician
approves, you can advance to higher levels of impact, such as jogging or
aerobics classes.

Know the Safe Pilates
and Yoga Exercises

Exercises
that require you to use a rounded back increase the risk of fractures along the
spine and should be avoided. This includes certain yoga and Pilates poses that
create compression between the vertebrae. Tell your instructor your limitations,
and they’ll provide recommendations to keep you safe. 

Examples
of Pilates exercises to avoid include (see a complete list on the NOF.org website):

Hundred,
Rollup, Rolling, Crisscross, Teaser, Single/Double Leg Stretch, Neck Pull, Open
Leg Rocker, Rollover, Corkscrew, Bicycle, Boomerang, Seal, Crab, Control
Balance, Spine Twist, and others. 

Safe
Pilates moves: Core control, dynamic alignment such as planks and side planks,
leg strength and spinal extensions, such as cobra.

Yoga
exercises to avoid: Rounding poses, deep twists, deep hip stretch such as
Pigeon Pose and warrior – as
well as assisted stretching from teachers to increase range of motion. 

Safe yoga poses: Balance exercises such as tree pose, dynamic alignment, leg strength, and spinal extension poses.

Include Resistance
Exercises

Strengthening
your muscles helps reduce fracture risk and includes lifting weights, using
elastic bands, weight machines, lifting your own body weight with exercises
such as push-ups.

Be sure to focus on functional movements, according to recommendations by the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

These
include exercises that mimic movements you use in everyday activities, such as
squats and combination exercises that involve more than one joint – squats with biceps curls,
for example.

What’s
the health status of your bones? Do you have osteopenia or osteoporosis? What
exercises work best for you? Which of these rules were most helpful? Let’s chat
below!

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor to get specific medical advice for your situation.

It might seem like May 10 is far away right now but trust us—a gift for Mom is not one to rush at the last minute. It’s going to come up even faster this year. Luckily, Bath & Body Works’ Mother’s Day offerings for 2020 are here to help. The retailer just rolled out 150 (!!) products for the new season and many of them are perfect for gift-giving. Of course, we don’t blame you if you grab some goodies for yourself too, from the eight new fragrances, 20 new moisturizing products, two new aromatherapy blends. And that’s not all. We told you it was a lot!

Fans are also stoked to see a favorite home fragrance, Fresh Cut Lilacs, join the body care line. Have a mom in your life (grandmother, aunt, step-mom, chosen mom, etc.) who loves flowers? If you can’t bring her a bouquet this year,  there are 120 floral products that would make great gifts, including items from the new fragrance, Perfect Peony.

A whopping 28 of the new products are candles, both the 3-wick and single-wick candles everyone loves. You can also shop all the body wash, body lotion, hand soaps (not surprisingly, many are sold out already), fragrance mists, fragrance plugs and gift sets. You can spend hours perusing all the newbies but to help you narrow it down, we chose some of our favorites, below.

Image: Bath & Body Works.

Watermelon Lemonade 3-Wick Candle

With watermelon and lemon essential oils.

Image: Bath & Body Works.

Eucalyptus Spearmint Gift Box Set

Including Body Wash & Foam Bath, Body cream and Pillow Mist.

Image: Bath & Body Works.

Succulent Basket Wallflowers Fragrance Plug

This faux-plant will definitely stay alive.

Image: Bath & Body Works.

Perfect Peony 3-Wick Candle

With peony, vanilla sandalwood and essential oils.

Image: Bath & Body Works.

Violet Sandalwood Eucalyptus Single Wick Candle

With sandalwood oil and eucalyptus oil.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Kristen Doute’s Star Print Maxi Dress at Villa Blanca

Vanderpump Rules Season 8 Episode 14 Fashion

Kristen Doute’s star print maxi dress at Villa Blanca is one of those pieces that I had in my favorites at Revolve and failed to actually buy before it sold out in my size. And although I bough the the peach Style Stealer down below, not getting the actual style is a total regret. Not as big of a regret as I might have over leaving a longtime friend off the guest list of my second wedding to the same man in Vegas, but definitely notable.

The Realest Housewife,

Big Blonde Hair

Click Here to Shop her Lovers + Friends Dress

Photo: @TamraJudge

Originally posted at: Kristen Doute’s Star Print Maxi Dress