Is It Because of My Age?
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Is It Because of My Age?

By December 17, 2014August 10th, 2018No Comments

The ageing process begins at birth! When we are born our cells start to form, divide, grow and mature. During this process the cells in our body require nutrients, rest, and exercise in order to mature. These cells form a variety of different structures in the human body. The cells aid in developing our skin, muscles, tendons, ligaments, organs, brain, and bones. As we age these cells go through renewing themselves each day. For instance, over the course of 7 years our bodies develop a whole new bone system! Yes, that is right, even at a later age our bones go through a renewal of cells and a taking away of cells. Just think in 7 years time your bones will have regenerated to form themselves again. If you live to the age of 70 your bones will have renewed themselves 10 times!  

We at Back to Health enjoy helping people age gracefully. We often have individuals who believe that their problem is because of their age! We as a society feel that as we age it is normal to have issues with a joint, muscle, tendon, ligament or another body part. We are often told for instance that a left knee problem is due to our age! If this were the case how come the right knee does not bother this person?

Should we not change our philosophy on aging and think of it as a time to take care of these issues and to address the underlying causes? After all is it not things we did when we were younger or that we did not have taken care of that often come back to haunt us as we age?  

THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY FOR CANADIANS WAS 82.1 YEARS OF AGE! FROM 2015

12 months of weekly strength training improved cognitive function in women as they aged and decreased the chances of fractures. Try yoga for strengthening!
Ensure that when you strength train that you focus while lifting and maintain proper body alignment
 
Are you Omega 3 deficient?
Omega 3 deficiencies result in altered cell membranes that simply do not function properly. Cell membrane dysfunction is a critical factor in: cancer, diabetes, arthritis, nerve and eye tissues, cognitive disorders of the brain, cardiovascular disease – including heart attacks and strokes.
Omega 3 and Omega 6 are the names of two groups of polyunsaturated fatty acids known to be “essential”. This means that our body cannot make these on its own and we must take them in through the foods we eat! Studies have shown that the ideal ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 in our bodies is 1:2. The typical modern diet has caused the ratio to skyrocket to between 1:10 and 1:25.  
The key Omega 3’s are called: EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahaxaenoic acid) and they are abundant in fatty fish – such as mackerel, sardines, and anchovy. We do not normally eat enough of these fish. It is recommended to take between 1,000 and 3,000 mg. per day of an Omega 3 supplement.  
There are also plant based products such as flaxseed and hemp that provide a type of Omega 3 called ALA (alpha-linoleic acid). The body must first convert this ALA into the EPA and DHA before it can be used. Studies have shown we only convert about 2 – 20%.
If you consume a lot of Omega 6 in your diet – meats, grains, vegetable oil, and olive oil – you should look at supplementing with Omega 3!
Please see the information sheet on the board in front reception.
Differences in bones, cartilage, muscle, tendons and ligaments as we age!
Bones reach a maximum mass between ages of 25 and 35. The ageing process causes bones to shrink in size and density. You might notice yourself becoming shorter. Bones become less dense partly because they contain less calcium (which gives bones strength). The amount of calcium decreases because the body absorbs less calcium from foods. Also, levels of vitamin D, which helps the body use calcium, decrease slightly. Certain bones are weakened more than others. Those most affected include the end of the thigh bone (femur) at the hip, the ends of the arm bones (radius and ulna) at the wrist, and the bones of the spine (vertebrae).
The cartilage that lines the joints tends to thin, partly because of the wear and tear of years of movement and old accidents we have had. The surfaces of a joint may not slide over each other as well as they used to, and the joint may be slightly more susceptible to injury. Damage to the cartilage due to lifelong use of joints or repeated injury often leads to osteoarthritis, which is one of the most common disorders of later life. 
Osteoarthritis cannot be reversed but you can have work done in the area to improve joint motion!
Ligaments and tendons tend to become less elastic, making joints feel tight, stiff and resulting in you becoming less flexible. These tissues also weaken. Muscles, tendons and joints lose some strength and flexibility. Reflexes become slower and you may become less coordinated during the ageing process. You can do exercises to aid in maintaining balance and coordination.
 
Who is in charge of your Ageing? 
The human population lives longer now than ever before! Unfortunately we sleep less, eat processed foods, and do not always put ourselves first when it comes to taking the time for stretching, icing, strengthening, exercising and other general wellness aids. Why is this? We have the tendency to ignore things till there is a problem. We are not conditioned as a society to think of general wellness, prevention and maintenance for our body as we age. When we do have an issue we want a quick fix for it!
Some European countries do think of maintaining their health in this way. With these countries they find there are less chronic issues, greater wellness, less time off work, decreased sick days and people generally feel healthier!   
Should we start thinking in this way? Yes! General wellness starts with you! Start taking the action required to bring yourself towards this goal so that you may feel great as you age. It does not have to happen overnight. Sit down and make a list of the things you feel that would take you on a road to wellness as you age. Make one change initially and then after working through the one change, look at the next item on your list!
If you require help with the list then enlist the appropriate people to aid you on this path! After all, If you wear out your body, where will you live?
Take action today to help yourself for the future! You are in charge of how you age!

With age, if a problem is neglected, the body will attempt to splint or stabilize the injured joint, like mending a broken bone. First a thickening of adjacent bone surfaces, then a lipping effect, bone spurs, and later fusion will occur. These degenerative changes affect the spine, extremities, and tissues in our body. These changes in the bones are the same as leaving your teeth and having tooth decay. The extra bone/thickening of bone our body forms in the area is the same as mineral deposits in a cave. Our body lays it down to attempt to help.  Since the joint is not moving properly our body develops extra bone in the area.