75% of blindness is avoidable

Sourced from the Botswana Press Agency

Health workers at a two-day workshop in Botswana have confirmed that 75% of blindness can be avoided. The workshop are gathering information for an initiative called Vision 2020 on blindness prevention which names the World Health Organisation as one of its collaborators. This is a global initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness by the year 2020.

Research by the WHO and related organisations estimated that there were 37 million blind people worldwide and up to 2 million people get blind each year. It is also estimated that blindness in developing countries is double that of the developed countries with 50% of blindness being caused by cataract.

It is because an estimated 75% of blindness is avoidable that the global initiative of Vision 2020 (dubbed 'the right to sight') was launched.

Projections based on the global population increase predict that 76 million would be blind by 2020. 75% of this population lived in Africa, SE Asia and West Pacific and 60% was treatable whilst 20% was preventable, cataract being by far the greatest cause of blindness. In Botswana blindness was mostly caused by cataract at 46.9 per cent followed by diabetic retinopathy at 20 per cent, corneal opacity at 13.2 per cent and trachoma at 6.2 per cent.

Lowering High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure or hypertension is an extremely common ailment that can creep up on you undetected. It affects nearly half of all adults and it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke or kidney disease but the good news is that it can often be addressed using natural means instead of, or along with, using prescribed pharmaceuticals.

The aim is to lower the top number (systolic pressure) and reducing this number by just a few points can make a considerable difference. It is estimated that a drop of just 2 points could reduce deaths from stroke by about 6% and coronary artery disease by about 4%.

Here are some tips on lowering your blood pressure naturally:

Change your diet to one that is high in fresh fruit and vegetables and low in fat. Cut down on red meat and try to cut out sweets and sugary beverages. This may all sound very obvious for overall good health but these small changes could make a huge difference taking up to 14 points off your reading.

The immediate effect of changing your diet should assist you with the next goal - lose some weight. If you needed to lose weight and managed to shed 22 pounds that could equate to up to 20 points.

Reducing your sodium intake could help you drop up to 8 points, 30 minutes of exercise daily another 9 points and reducing your alcohol intake perhaps another 4. The last two points should help you gain better sleep which is another important factor in fighting hypertension and will assist you in reducing your stress levels, which is perhaps another obvious culprit.

Taking a calcium supplement has been shown to be beneficial at levels of 1,000 mg a day if you’re under 50 and 1,200 mg if you’re over 50. Ingesting at least 500 mg of Vitamin C daily can assist in lowering blood pressure as much as 9 points when used in conjunction with prescription drugs.

It does sound like I am a broken record sometimes but once again, that all round essential anti-aging cornerstone supplement - Omega 3 will help. In the West we simply do not eat enough fish for optimal health, so take a high quality fish oil supplement or eat seeds that are naturally high in this remarkable fatty acid.

Some people suffer with hypertension because their blood vessels do not dilate when they should. A study found that people who took 200 mg of alpha lipoic acid and 500 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine for eight weeks increased the diameter of their arteries and lowered their blood pressure.

Hypertension, if left unchecked, can lead to heart disease, which is one of the biggest killers in the US. Perhaps making these few changes could help you live longer.

Omega 3's - for a healthy heart and a longer life

Omega-3 fatty acids have long been shown to slow down the aging process and in supplement form they have been the corner stone of anti-aging enthusiasts for a couple of decades. But new research has now shown that adding Omega-3 fatty acids to the diet can increase the survival rate of those with coronary heart disease. The marker used to determine these findings was a part of the DNA strand called telomeres. The research concluded that high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood slowed the aging process by as much as five years.

Telomeres sit at the end of chromosomes and their purpose is to protect the genes and help them to divide properly. Aging, infection, smoking, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol consumption and obesity shorten the length of telomeres. Studies have shown that short telomeres are a risk factor for coronary heart disease and possibly a causal effect of congestive heart failure and strokes.

The recent study conducted at the University of California in San Francisco and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association tested 608 subjects who had coronary heart disease to see how much Omega-3 fatty acids were in their blood. Those with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in the blood had a slower rate of telomere shortening.

Omega-3 fatty acids are used in anti-aging medicine to assist with memory function and focus but they also have an anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting ability. Omega 3's do not naturally occur in the body in spite the fact they are essential for the function of many tissues in the body, especially the brain, heart and eyes. These acids also lower blood pressure, slow macular degeneration, treat depression, increase joint flexibility, and lower triglycerides. Omega-3 fatty acids can only be added to the blood by supplementation and diet.

Green Tea for eye health

Green Tea has long been accepted as being beneficial to health but new research has unearthed even more good news regarding this ancient beverage.

Scientists have confirmed that the powerful antioxidant and disease-fighting properties found in green tea also penetrate into tissues of the eye. This new report documents how the lens, retina, and other eye tissues absorb these substances. This, of course, raises the possibility that green tea may protect against certain eye diseases.

A team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong confirmed that the antioxidants found in green tea actually passed from the stomach into the tissues of the eye, thus reducing harmful oxidative stress in the eye for up to 20 hours.

"Is death inevitable?"

Now there's a question.

Presently the answer is of course yes, but it is possible to slow down, stop, and eventually reverse the aging process. It may come as a surprise to many people that there are treatments available now to stop and reverse some aspects of the aging process and these options are becoming more abundant, especially as we already understand the fundamental science of aging. Every day scientists are getting closer to finding the cure to age related diseases but this day has not arrived yet, so we have to think of combating aging as a multi-tiered battle. Start with exercise, nutrition and sleep and move on to supplementation.

Pre-historic life expectancy has been estimated to have ranged from 20-30 years. This increased to 50 during the Middle Ages and the current world average is 67. In the U.S the overall life expectancy is 78.2, for males, 75.6, and for females, 80.8.

Before jumping to any conclusions regarding these statistics, most of the increases in life expectancy have occurred not because of any defeat of aging, but because of significant reductions in infant mortality.

Eliminate infant mortality, child bearing, and infectious diseases, and the question remains, how long can a reasonably healthy and fit adult expect to live? We must not kid ourselves that with our present, relatively safe lifestyles and prescribed medications that we should definitely reach old age. We certainly know a lot more about health and diseases now but anti-aging is still a relatively new area of science. It's worth taking stock of our current situation and having a good look at ourselves.

According to a recent CDC report, overweight and obesity percentages have stabilized in the U.S., but at an outrageously shocking rate of 68% of all adults. This is 50% higher than in 1960 and projections indicate that in 2015, 76% will be overweight or obese. A truly disgraceful indication that the US harbours the most unfit, unhealthy, excessively greedy citizens in the history of mankind.

Given these trends, and the close associations between obesity and life shortening ailments such as diabetes and heart disease, life expectancy could arguably decline.

So if this is the poor state of our bodies, what of our minds? Today the current (under) estimated figures for those suffering with dementias like Alzheimer's affect up to 5 million people in the United States and about 26 million people worldwide. By 2050,according to the National Institutes of Health, there could be 13 million cases of Alzheimer's alone among U.S. baby boomers with global prevalence of Alzheimer's growing to as many as 100 million people by mid-century.

Think about tackling age prevention, think about optimal health and think about what you can do to maintain a long, quality-enriched life.

Welcome to AntiagingCentral.com

We are very excited to announce the launch of AntiagingCentral.com a website dedicated to the fastest growing area of health concern in the Western World. The Health and Wellbeing Industry is the expected to reach a worth of $1 Trillion in the next few years and this is being driven by the overall concerns of the baby boomer generation. Let's face it, if we can stay young for a couple more decades then why not give it our best shot! Aging is a disease and we can combat that disease.

AntiagingCentral.com is a website which tries to assist you in obtaining the latest products proven to tackle various common aging disorders. Information on the site will be constantly updated and we will endeavour to be as pro-active on your behalf as possible. We want you to have your say and find out your thoughts regarding aging.

Please join us as we age as slowly as possible.