HealthLine

Students practice new yoga

The Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Ga. recently initiated adaptive yoga, a form of traditional yoga that uses modified poses for those with disabilities or health conditions.
Individuals who suffer from multiple sclerosis, sports injuries, fibromyalgia, or post-surgical conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and arthritis, will be able to reap the benefits of yoga through this unique technique.

For example, for a wheelchair-ridden person, the yoga positions can be modified to focus on breathing to help them from developing a bad posture. Adaptive yoga students are also taught to relieve sensations of pain, tightness, and numbness in the body.

Source: CNN

Drinking may lead to Alzheimer’s

Ranjan Duara, director of Mount Sinai Medical Center Wien Center for Alzheimer’s disease in Miami Beach, Fla., studied 938 people who were 60 or older with possible or probable Alzheimer’s. She found that people who were heavy drinkers, heavy smokers, and had high cholesterol had an earlier onset for the disease.

Twenty percent of the people in the study, who defined themselves as heavy smokers, developed Alzheimer’s 2.3 years sooner than those who did not consider themselves heavy smokers. Heavy drinkers developed Alzheimer’s 4.8 years earlier than their counterparts.

A possible reason for this correlation is that both smoking and drinking can have a direct physical effect on the brain by damaging cells and synapses.

Source: Health Day

Old Americans are happy

Researchers found that elderly Americans are the happiest citizens. Even though old age brings aches, pains, and deaths of loved ones and friends, older Americans have generally learned to be more satisfied with what they have compared to younger Americans.

Scientists suggest that, as people get older, they learn to lower their expectations and accept their accomplishments. The numbers show that about 33 percent of Americans are very happy at age 88, versus about 24 percent of those age 18 to their early 20s.

Source: CBS News

Mushrooms treat cancer

Extracts of the fungus Phellinus linteus have been used for many years by Eastern healers. In certain cultures, many believe it has the power to rejuvenate and extend life.

Research has now shown that this mushroom can hold back the growth of skin, lung, breast, and prostate cancer cells.

Scientists at Indianapolis Methodist Research Institute found evidence that the mushroom blocks the activity of an enzyme called AKT. While they were working with breast cancer cells, scientists saw that AKT, a biological catalyst, could no longer control signals which led to cell growth and the development of new blood vessels that feed tumors.

Source: Fox News