How To Prevent Illness at ANY AGE

Chulbuli_Si

Childhood 0-12

Get all of the recommended vaccinations. "All of them," says Dr. Joseph Hagan, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

For children 12 or younger, these include hepatitis A and B, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), varicella and polio.

For girls ages 11 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the human papillomavirus vaccine.

Pediatricians advise tracking children's body mass index, or BMI, the main indicator of healthy body weight; screening for anemia and autism before age 2; and checking for high cholesterol before age 10.

New guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest considering cholesterol-lowering drugs for kids at high risk of heart disease as young as age 8.

Childhood 0-12 | DIET

Healthy eating habits can't begin early enough. For kids, the American Heart Association recommends a diet high in whole grains, vegetables and fruits — but with limited juice — and low in saturated fat, trans fat, salt and added sugars.

Infants need extra fat and calories for development, but as they grow, they should begin to eat a leaner diet. "Until age 2, kids should be taking whole milk," says Hagan, "but beginning at age 2, they should be on a lower-fat milk. We want them to develop a taste for low fat."
Childhood 0-12 | PHYSICAL FITNESS

For children ages 6 and older and adolescents, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommends at least one hour of physical activity every day, including vigorous exercise at least three times per week.

Kids should get a mix of aerobic (hiking, for example), muscle-building (rope-climbing) and bone-strengthening (running) activity.

Childhood 0-12 | BEHAVIOR & MOOD

Doctors welcome lots of questions from parents and children, especially if they're concerned about symptoms of anxiety or depression, or behavioral disorders such as hyperactivity and autism, says Hagan.

He encourages parents to have intimate talks at home early on, laying the foundation for more-complex discussions with their kids — about puberty and safe sex, say — as they develop.
Adolescence 13-18

"Adolescents should have yearly checkups," says Dr. Michael Weitzman, a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry at NYU's Langone Medical Center. They should also update their inoculations — including a tetanus booster, the annual flu vaccine and, especially for college-bound kids, the meningitis vaccine.

Additionally, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that teenage girls have their first gynecologic visit when they are 13 to 15, and if they haven't done so yet, get the human papillomavirus vaccine.

Adolescence 13-18 | DIET

"It's a lot easier not to develop problems than it is to cure them," says Weitzman.

While growing teens need extra calories, they should get them from nutritious sources — not high-fat, high-calorie, high-sugar foods like cookies, soda, candy and fast food — and they shouldn't consume more calories than they expend. .

Adolescence 13-18 | PHYSICAL FITNESS

Physicality is a fraught subject in adolescence. While fitness and weight maintenance are crucial for disease prevention, putting too much emphasis on physical appearance — especially when so many teens already feel insecure and dissatisfied with how they look — could trigger unhealthy body-image issues.

One way to make sure kids log off the computer or video-game console and get their minimum recommended one hour of physical activity per day is to encourage participation in organized sports — which is also a great way to foster self-esteem and teamwork.

Adolescence 13-18 | BEHAVIOUR & MOOD

Teens are moody. there's no way around that, says Weitzman, and being able to distinguish a minor mood swing from a serious disorder takes practice. As a rule of thumb, any dark stage that persists beyond a week, affects friendship patterns or impairs performance in school "should raise a red flag for parents that something might be wrong," says Weitzman.

Aside from depression, issues that often surface in adolescence include eating disorders, anxiety, stress and more serious mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, as well as experimentation with tobacco, alcohol, drugs and sex.

At this age more than any other, and no matter how much teenagers resist, parental communication is important to catch early signs of a problem.

Young Adulthood 19-35

"Patients really should be empowered," says Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

"You shouldn't assume that your doctor knows everything he or she should know." So preserving your good health means educating yourself.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force maintains comprehensive guides to the latest recommendations for disease prevention, which include blood-pressure screenings for all adults over 18, cervical-cancer screenings for all sexually active women, and counseling to help you quit smoking and keep a healthy weight and consume alcohol moderately, among other good habits.

Young Adulthood 19-35 | DIET

Now that you're preparing your own meals, it's important to learn how to choose your foods wisely.

In general, that means selecting foods that will fill you up on fewer calories, Katz says. Start by opting for lots of single-ingredient foods — broccoli or salmon, say — instead of highly processed multi-ingredient products, with their long lists of additives and preservatives

Young Adulthood 19-35 | PHYSICAL FITNESS

No time to work out? Katz doesn't buy that excuse. Exercise shouldn't be something that we're "making time" for, he says. It should be a daily given, like sleep or eating.

"If you want a lifetime of robust health, you have to be religious about your physical activity," Katz says, which, according to HHS, means getting 2 1⁄2 to five hours of moderate cardio, or 75 minutes to 2 1⁄2 hours of intense cardio, each week, plus weight training twice a week.

But that doesn't mean you have to slog it out on a treadmill at the gym. Pick a truly enjoyable activity — and a workout partner if you can find one — that will make you sweat and that you can commit to, says Katz. "Put on music for half an hour every evening," he says, "and dance around your house!"

Young Adulthood 19-35 | BEHAVIOR & MOOD

Young adulthood is a minefield of mental and emotional trials — whether you're entering the workforce (or getting laid off) for the first time, coming home from war or having your first child. Now's the time to monitor your mental health.

The nonprofit organization Mental Health America has a 10-item checklist of tools for protecting and promoting your psychological well-being. Some are good old common sense: eat well, exercise, get enough sleep, foster good friendships.

But being mindful of your mental state means recognizing when you need outside help.

Middle Adulthood 36-59

Your list of recommended medical tests is about to get longer: the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says men should get their cholesterol checked regularly after age 35 — women, after 45 — and talk to the doctor about lipid-lowering medication if necessary.

At age 40, women should begin getting mammograms every one to two years.

At 50, men and women should be screened for colorectal cancer.

"There's a real need to keep up with vaccinations," says Dr. Jonathan Samet, chair of the department of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine. That includes tetanus, diphtheria, measles and mumps; the flu vaccine, advisable at all ages, should become a regular part of your preventive routine at 50, according to the CDC.

Middle Adulthood 36-59 | DIET

Weight has a way of sneaking onto the middle-aged frame. "A teaspoon of sugar has 15 calories," says Samet. If you consume an extra teaspoon a day without burning off the calories, a year later, you've gained more than a pound. Ten years later, you've gained 15 pounds.

Samet advises vigilance: find a healthy body weight and maintain it with a high-fiber, low-fat, low-sugar diet. Healthy foods should deliver much of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals.

However, many women still don't get enough calcium, which puts them at risk for bone loss, and many Americans are deficient in vitamin D. Your doctor can test you for adequate levels of the vitamin.

Middle Adulthood 36-59 | PHYSICAL FITNESS

"Trying to maintain weight and fitness doesn't mean you have to be an Olympic athlete," says Samet. But a daily routine of physical activity gets more and more important as you age — not only to prevent weight gain and chronic illness but also to keep the brain sharp.

Studies have shown that even small amounts of moderate exercise can help reduce the risk of dementia. In addition to cardiovascular exercise and strength training, doctors advise working on balance and flexibility, which can help protect against falls and injury in later life.

Middle Adulthood 36-59 | BEHAVIOR & MOOD

The term midlife crisis has become a cliché. Nevertheless, middle age can be an emotional low point.

A 2008 study of 2 million people in 80 countries found that the middle-age years were associated with the highest risk of depression: at about age 40 for American women and 50 for men.

One of the best ways to promote emotional well-being is to get your blood pumping — even a simple daily walk outside will do. And if any of your bad habits, like smoking or heavy drinking, have persisted into middle age, now is the time to kick them. "Tobacco — just no," says Samet. "There's no better way to kill yourself in middle age."

Seniors 60 +

Vaccinations aren't just for kids. Older adults should update their inoculations, including a tetanus booster every 10 years and an annual flu shot, and start new ones, like the pneumonia vaccine, that are particularly important after age 60.

Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, vice chair of the department of geriatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, also recommends Zostavax, a vaccine that studies have shown reduces the risk of shingles — a painful condition caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus, the same one that causes chicken pox — by half in older adults.

Apart from regular vaccinations, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests routine bone-density screenings for osteoporosis for women over 65. Leipzig says older patients should also be screened for balance problems and discuss fall prevention with their doctor.

Seniors 60 + | DIET

A lifetime of healthy eating pays off with overall well-being in late adulthood. But beyond a balanced and varied diet of whole grains, lean proteins and fruits and vegetables, vitamin supplementation becomes increasingly important in older age as the body's ability to absorb vital nutrients from food diminishes.

That's particularly true with vitamin B12, says Leipzig, which is found in beef, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products. For older adults, "B12 is something that you absorb better in a pill form," Leipzig says. She also strongly recommends calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Meanwhile, a growing body of evidence highlights the benefits of getting enough: vitamin D helps prevent rickets in children and severe bone loss in adults and may reduce the risk of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and flu.

Seniors 60 + | FITNESS

"Exercise, exercise, exercise. It's the only wonder drug we have," Leipzig says.

Adults who are physically active not only have a lower risk of disease, depression and chronic pain from conditions like arthritis and back pain but are also less vulnerable to dementia than their inactive peers.

Seniors 60 + | BEHAVIOR & MOOD

The risk factors for disease and disability are pretty well known by now, but what about the factors that may stave off age-related decline — particularly of the mind?

A recent study of 2,500 adults ages 70 to 79 published in the journal Neurology found that those who were able to preserve mental acuity had a few things in common: they exercised at least once a week, did not smoke, had a minimum of a high school education and a ninth-grade literacy level and were socially active.

That last point is crucial, according to experts on aging, who say social connection — with friends or family or within the community — helps keep a mind healthy. Likewise, isolation can be a mark of decline, Leipzig says. "One of the signs that something may be happening is people start to be isolated, socialize less, want to go out less. That may be [due to] a mood disorder or an awareness that they can't keep up."

Safin

Excellent info

But madam your own agegroup of 80+ is missing from the lisg

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C.Ronaldo

^

Very Nice info madam ji

Sorry, I need to spread some reps before I give them to you

Agnel

Chulbuli, I don't know how to thank you for sharing such important info. I know you didn't read the entire post, but still read for your age group and spend time to read about kids.

They are the ones who need more attention and care.

Chulbuli_Si

Originally Posted by Agnel

Chulbuli, I don't know how to thank you for sharing such important info. I know you didn't read the entire post, but still read for your age group and spend time to read about kids.

They are the ones who need more attention and care.

Abee I read it before posting thsi thread..Cus it waz so informative...

I dont read silly threads..n dat too happens sometimes only not often!!! Uhhhh U r too much Agnel!!!

And u dont need to thank me !!!

Ayesha M

Nice info Chulbuli