Gaining Control from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives Courtesy: Family Features Sometimes living a healthy lifestyle can feel impossible when combined with all your other responsibilities, such as working full-time, caring for family and friends, or spending time in the gym. Add dealing with an underlying health condition, and it may seem almost overwhelming. For example, a condition such as urinary incontinence is a common problem that is often difficult to manage and can range from a light leak while coughing or sneezing to even greater loss of bladder contro ..read more

Eyes Wide Open from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives By Annette Brooks Did you know women are more susceptible to certain eye diseases and have a higher overall risk of losing their sight than men? According to the National Eye Institute, two out of every three people living with blindness or vision problems are women. Designating April as Women’s Eye Health and Safety Month, Prevent Blindness (PreventBlindness.org) aims to educate women on eye health and highlight the importance of early detection and treatment. Eye Health and Pregnancy Pregnancy causes severa ..read more

Enhance Your Mind from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives By Audrey Sellers The start of a new season can be invigorating. It brings the chance to press the reset button and start anew. While it’s great to focus on nutrition and fitness, don’t overlook your mental health. When you pay attention to your mental health — and take care of it daily — you can reap all kinds of benefits, from improved relationships and self-esteem to an enhanced sense of inner peace. Read on for some simple ways you can tend to your mental health this spring. Move your body. Research ha ..read more

Heart-healthy Pregnancy from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives A common misconception is high blood pressure (HBP), or hypertension, rarely affects women. However, nearly half of all adults with HBP are women. While HBP isn’t directly related to gender, a woman’s life stages, like pregnancy, pregnancy prevention (birth control), and menopause, can increase the risk of developing HBP. HBP is an important sign that preeclampsia, or severe high blood pressure during pregnancy, may be developing, and testing may be needed to check both the mother and baby. Not all w ..read more

Alternate Activites from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives By Annette Brooks We rang in 2024, and now it’s time to kick off your New Year’s resolutions. If getting into better shape is one of them, try out a few options instead of giving up before you start. Chances are, you’ll find one or more new ways to add physical fitness to your lifestyle. Walking and Hiking Don’t overlook walking and hiking because it seems too easy or enjoyable. Invest in some good walking shoes, then get out in the sunshine and fresh air to walk around your neighborhood or a local park ..read more

New Lease On Life from Living Magazine - inspiring communities to live their best lives By Annette Brooks We rang in 2024, and now it’s time to kick off your New Year’s resolutions. If getting into better shape is one of them, try out a few options instead of giving up before you start. Chances are, you’ll find one or more new ways to add physical fitness to your lifestyle. Walking and Hiking Don’t overlook walking and hiking because it seems too easy or enjoyable. Invest in some good walking shoes, then get out in the sunshine and fresh air to walk around your neighborhood or a local park. I ..read more

By Kimberly Blaker Trips, stumbles, and minor tumbles may not seem like a big deal when you’re younger. Yet, for seniors, any fall has the potential to result in severe injury or a health crisis. According to the Centers for Disease Control, a senior over 65 falls every second of every day. One in five falls ends in serious injury. What are the causes of falling? A variety of factors increase an individual’s likelihood of falling. Usually, it’s a combination of multiple factors that leads to a fall. Being aware of your personal risk factors can help minimize dangers. Aging Factors As you age ..read more

By Pete Alfano By the time men reach the age of 50, they have probably heard their primary care physician utter the dreaded “P” word.  That would be the prostate, a small gland described as the size of a ping pong ball or walnut that is part of the male reproductive system. It is also the second leading cause of cancer in men. And it can be responsible for keeping men awake at night as an enlarged prostate often presses on the bladder and urethra, resulting in more frequent urination. Okay, so that is the bad news. The good news is that while the Harvard Medical School says one of every ..read more

By Annette Brooks Did you know that October is World Menopause Month? It was created to bring more awareness about health conditions and chronic diseases that may occur due to menopause. In fact, the theme for World Menopause Day 2023 is cardiovascular disease. In addition to heart disease and stroke, menopause can increase your risk of diabetes, dementia, cancer, osteoporosis, and fractures, to name a few. And with a decline in certain hormones, body aches and pains usually increase. In addition to changes in menstruation and, ultimately, the cessation of menstruation, menopause symptoms inc ..read more

By Annette Brooks Have you wondered why there’s so much talk about inflammation in the body these days? What causes all this inflammation in the first place, and is there anything we can do about it? First, some basics. Inflammation is essential to your body’s natural defensive mechanism and healing process, whether due to injury, illness, or exposure to toxins and germs. It can spell trouble, however, when inflammation gets out of hand, and you develop chronic systemic inflammation without a definitive link to injury, disease, or infection. Left unaddressed, chronic inflammation can trigger a ..read more