Staying healthy in your 60s

Whether you feel 60 years old or 60 years young depends on the lifestyle you adopt and how adamant you are about preventative healthcare practices. Even if you indulged in some unhealthy habits throughout your life, it is still possible to enhance your well-being now and in the years ahead. Small lifestyle changes can improve your health dramatically.

People used to think of entering their 60s as a time to revel in early bird dinner specials and lay back and enjoy retirement. Now, people are returning to college, running marathons, and starting businesses in their 60s.

After six decades of working your body, you can expect a decline in your physical well-being. You need to become more in tune with your body and not just physically. Your mental well-being is essential as well.

How you feel about ageing also plays a vital role in how well you age. A study at Yale University found that people who have a positive attitude about ageing live longer than those who have a negative outlook. This is because people with a positive attitude are more likely to take responsibility and control of their health.

Here are some steps you can take to improve and maintain your health in your 60s:

Quit smoking – Even if you have tried and failed before, do not give up kicking this bad habit. There are more treatment and options and resources than ever to help you quit smoking.

Protect your heart – Most heart attacks in women happen a decade after menopause, and heart disease is the leading cause of death in men and women. Reduce your risk of heart disease by checking your blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose levels, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference regularly to keep them in the healthy range.

Maintain a healthy weight – Obesity and being overweight can have a dramatic effect on your health and on how you feel. It is also more difficult to lose weight the older you get as your metabolism slows down and muscle is replaced by fat. That is why it is more important than ever to eat properly and be aware of your portion sizes.

Exercise regularly – Do at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week. You should talk to your healthcare provider before starting an exercise regime to be sure you do not put too much stress on your body too soon. It is important to do activities that are right for your body and activity level. Choose activities that you enjoy doing whether that be swimming, dancing, walking, or weight training so that you are more likely to stick with it.

Indulge in moderation – Women should have no more than one drink a day, while men should restrict their alcoholic beverage intake to no more than two a day. Technically, zero alcohol consumption is best but if you want to indulge, keep the frequency to a minimum.

See your healthcare provider regularly – Diagnostic tests, health screenings, and immunizations are especially important as you get older. You will probably rather spend your free time doing anything but waiting in a doctors office, but the visit could be the difference between enjoying your free time or being plagued with fatigue and illness during it. At MacDonald’s Prescription, we can provide you with a comprehensive list of services to keep you living a healthy life into your 60s and beyond.

 


How to Avoid Hay Fever This Summer

Hay fever is never fun. Dust and pollen during allergy season wreak havoc on sufferers, causing the mucous membrane of their eyes and nose to become itchy and inflamed – leading to watery eyes and runny noses. It’s also doubly frustrating because, during the winter, hay fever sufferers can also get colds that give them the same symptoms they suffer in the summer! They just can’t catch a break! So how can hay fever sufferers protect themselves against these symptoms? Here are six hay fever hacks that should help you out!

Learn About Hay Fever

Understanding hay fever will allow you to take control of your symptoms and some of the effects that it leads to. When you ingest pollen, whether in your nose or your eyes and you have allergies, your body reacts by thinking it is under attack. If you have ailments such as asthma, this can make the situation even worse. Learning about symptoms before you get them can help you stop them.

Look Up Pollen Measurements

Nowadays, you do not just have to leave it to chance regarding whether or not the day is going to be a bad allergy day. You can look up pollen forecasts online before you go out, which will let you know if it is a good idea to take an antihistamine before you leave your house.

Get Treatment Before Allergy Season

There are a variety of treatments that you can take before allergy season that helps you combat symptoms. Immunotherapy and desensitization are both excellent methods to help you combat allergies. Whether you get injections, drops, or pills, preparing for allergy season before it happens will keep it from overwhelming you.

Avoid Allergens

While it may seem obvious, try to avoid places that have a lot of pollen. Instead of going for a run in your local park, consider going to a gym and running on the treadmill instead. If you can’t avoid going to the park or somewhere else where there will be a lot of pollen, then take an antihistamine first.

Allergy-Proof Your House

There are a few things that you can do to help keep allergens out of your home. Keep your windows and doors closed, take your clothes off and change into indoor clothes immediately upon getting home, wash your face to get any lingering pollen off, invest in an air purifier, and regularly vacuum.

Avoiding Alcohol Consumption

This is not just because during allergy season many alcoholic beverages are consumed out on patios and in backyards. Your body produces histamines when you have an allergic reaction, which causes the symptoms you get. Alcohol contains histamines, which can aggravate your symptoms, so you should maybe pick that virgin pina colada.

What to do?

If your allergies are getting to be too much for you to handle, then come into MacDonald’s Prescription #3. Our Vancouver drug store has the expertise and products that you need to take control of your allergies. Don’t let hay fever win this allergy season. Come into MacDonald’s Prescription #3, and we will get you equipped for the upcoming allergy season!