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Spending time with grandchildren is good for your health

Studies have suggested that spending time with your grandchildren is good for your health and your lifespan. It also means that you get to spend more time with your children as the adults they have become. For parents, dealing with their children can increase stress. Yet, for grandparents, spending time with their grandchildren relieves stress. So, hanging out with your grandchildren provides you with a unique opportunity to spend time with the next generation, while making life a bit easier for your children.


The benefits don’t stop there, though. That’s just a nice side effect. The benefits to your health are even greater. Spending time with your grandchildren also boosts your cognitive function. That means improved memory so, you’ll remember exactly where that safe place is you keep putting things. It’s also an excellent way to stay active. Whether it’s walking them in the park or taking them to the playground, your brain and body will appreciate the additional physical activity.


Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of spending time with your grandchildren, though, is what it does for your mental health. One of the biggest risks to us as we age is loneliness. Once we retire we immediately lose the daily social connections that we have forged. It’s common to lose touch with friends over the years, with work and family keeping us busy. So, loneliness is a serious risk to health. Loneliness can result in depression, which comes with a wide range of additional health risks. Spending time with your grandchildren will provide you with a much-need boost in your mental health.


Now that you know all of that, maybe you should volunteer to babysit your grandchildren more often. They can provide you with healing and you can offer them love, wisdom, and maybe a bit of spoiling.

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Holiday scams you need to watch out for

 Holiday scams you need to watch out for

There’s nothing more exciting than escaping the monotony of your life to enjoy a holiday. There are certain scams that you need to ensure you are on the lookout for. It doesn’t matter where you go, there are always scammers out there who want to take advantage of you. So, be on your guard.

Hacks 

When you land, what is the first thing you do? You take your phone out and look for a Wi-Fi connection. It might be to post on social media, but it’s probably just to let your family know you arrived safely. This is one of the greatest risks. Scammers are setting up open and free networks to steal your information. Not only are they watching what you browse, but some travellers have also had their payment information taken. So, if you need to use Wi-Fi in the airport, make sure you’re using a legit connection.

Booking Scams 

Booking your holidays online is now the norm, which means there are more scammers out there trying to steal your cash. They post stunning photos of holiday rentals with prices too great to pass up. There’s just one small problem… they aren’t real! One of the most common signs of this is they ask you to deal with this via email instead of using the company’s booking site. It all appears legit, but it isn’t. Don’t pay by bank transfer. Get the address of the location so that you can check street view to see that it exists as advertised.

Document Fraud

To visit certain countries, you may require a visa. This is something else scammers are taking advantage of. They are selling fake visas or documents that you need to visit foreign countries. It all looks official, but it isn’t. For example, if you want to visit the US you need the ESTA. If you pop over to a search engine and type in ESTA visa, many of the top searches are unofficial. Make sure you’re on the official government sites.

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5 great foods to help your summer complexion

5 great foods to help your summer complexion

Summer means sporting a great tan, but it also means excess sweating and the products you use can lead to complexion problems. There’s a way you can help improve your complexion, though. Believe it or not, there are foods you can eat to improve your summer complexion – here are five of them.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are packed with water and contain a bunch of minerals and vitamins as well. Not only are they are a great way to keep your hydration levels up, which benefits your skin, but they also brighten up your complexion. Toss them in your salads, your water or enjoy them on the side of every meal.

Leafy Greens

Spinach, chard, and kale are all excellent examples of dark leafy greens. They boost your immune system, help regulate blood sugar, and support your overall health. Better yet, they promote a healthy pH balance which is great news for your complexion.

 Watermelon

It won’t just cool you down, the water content in watermelon also works to flush toxins from your body. Fewer toxins mean a better complexion.

 Avocados

Now you can join the millennials by indulging in a bit of avocado toast. Avocados are packed with healthy fats, vitamins C and E, and they have amazing health benefits. Thanks to those vitamins they keep your skin moist, and eating avocados also boosts collagen production which should keep wrinkles at bay. Your complexion thanks you.

 Carrots

Carrots aren’t just good for your eyes, vitamin C combined with beta-carotene are rock stars when it comes to improving your complexion.

Perhaps the greatest thing about these five foods is that they are affordable, and you can add every single one of them to a salad. If you don’t love the idea of watermelon in your salad, just use it as a side at every meal!

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Most Australian pensioners to retire financially happy: Study

Australian retirees could have more money in their pension fund than they expect, according to a new study. But if you’re a retired female who is renting, you won’t be able to live as comfortably.
The study by the Grattan Institute – called Money in retirement: more than enough – claims Australians are less likely to suffer financial stress in their retirement and more likely to be able to afford optional extras such as annual holidays.

According to a release by Grattan Institute, the modelling shows that, even after allowing for inflation, most workers today can expect a retirement income of at least 91 per cent of their pre-retirement income – well above the 70 per cent benchmark endorsed by the OECD, and more than enough to maintain pre-retirement living standards.

And many low-income Australians will get a pay rise when they retire, through a combination of the Age Pension and their compulsory superannuation savings.

Australians tend to spend less after they retire, and even less into old age. Their medical costs increase, but are largely covered by the taxpayer. Many retirees are net savers, and current retirees often leave a legacy almost as large as their nest egg on the day they retired.

“The financial services industry ‘fear factory’ encourages Australians to worry unnecessarily about whether they’ll have enough money in retirement,” Grattan Institute CEO John Daley said.
But the retirement incomes system is not working for some low-income Australians who rent, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. And this problem will get worse because on current trends home ownership for over-65s will decline from 76 per today to 57 per cent by 2056.
To boost retirement incomes for the poorest Australians, the report calls for a 40 per cent increase in the maximum rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance – worth more than $1,400 a year for a single retiree.

Loosening the Age Pension assets test could boost retirement incomes for around 20 per cent of retirees today, rising to more than 70 per cent of retirees in future. It would also deal with anomalies in the system: some people who save $100 while working increase their total retirement income by less than $100 in real terms.

But because most Australians will be comfortable in retirement, there is no need to boost retirement incomes across the board. The legislated plan to increase compulsory superannuation contributions from 9.5 per cent to 12 per cent should be scrapped, saving the Budget about $2 billion a year.
And superannuation tax breaks and age-based tax breaks should be reduced, to ensure the retirement incomes system does not become an excessive burden on future budgets, and endanger funding for aged care and health.

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Top Tips for Seniors on Staying Motivated to Eat Well and Exercise Regularly

Top Tips for Seniors on Staying Motivated to Eat Well and Exercise Regularly

Exercise Right Week, coming up on 21-27 May 2018, is all about inspiring everyday Australians to share their motivation to move and highlight how exercise has improved their life and enhanced their future. Ruth Samer, Founder and CEO of care service, Care For Family, says “To prevent certain types of illnesses, it’s key for seniors to ensure that they are staying strong and active as they age and maintain a healthy diet.” Ruth has shared some tips, below, on the interesting and enjoyable ways you can keep fit and healthy as you age.

Make your plate look like a rainbow

A great way to ensure you are getting the best nutrients is to fill your plate up with colourful fruits and vegetables throughout the day as they contain many naturally occurring plant pigments and vitamins that are great for you, such as:[ii]

• Red fruits and vegetables which contain lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that can help keep our hearts healthy.
• Blue/purple fruits and vegetables which contain Anthocyanin, a powerful antioxidant that protects cells from damage and reduces the risk of some cardiovascular diseases.
• Orange/yellow fruits and vegetables such as sweet potato, pumpkin and carrots which contain Beta-carotene which converts to vitamin and can help eye health and mucous membranes.
• Green fruits and vegetables which contain several phytochemicals such as carotenoids, indoles and saponins which can all help to fight cancers. Leafy greens are also an ideal source of folate.

Portion Control

The definition of a healthy and nutritious diet shifts as you age, due to the fact our metabolism slows down and therefore we should be consuming fewer calories[iii]. Portion control is the best way to ensure that we can stay healthy but continue to enjoy delicious food as we get older.

Try out some new activities

One of the simplest exercises you can do to stay active is walking regularly and there are some great ways to make this activity more exciting and enjoyable. Depending on where you are in Australia, there are some scenic walking routes to explore such as the Bondi to Coogee walk in Sydney, the Royal Park walk in Melbourne or the Brisbane Riverwalk from Brisbane to New Farm.

You may also like to get a group of friends or family together to take part in some fantastic charity walks that take place in Australia such as Memory Walk & Jog to raise funds for dementia or The Bloody Long Walk to raise funds for mitochondrial disease.

Trying out new activities is also an effective method of staying motivated to keep up your fitness. Some new activities seniors may like to try that are in-keeping with their physical abilities are –

• Gardening – helps mobility and flexibility, improves strength and endurance, and encourages relaxation
• Dancing – improves seniors gait, balance, and coordination[iv] and is a fun way to fit in some cardio
• Swimming – this doesn’t just mean swimming laps, it means water aerobics and aqua jogging, and gives you the opportunity to socialise at the same time
• Bike riding – helps improve balance and is a great low-impact exercise to enjoy on a day or evening with nice weather

 Find the right supplements 

Some research into the necessary supplements you can add to your daily routine to boost your health as you age is super important. Supplements containing vitamin D and calcium should be considered by all seniors as these nutrients can help to maintain bone health and decrease your chances of fractures and breaks[i]. Vitamin A is also important for seniors as it can help to maintain good vision and boost the immune system[ii]. You can find both vitamins in cod liver oil supplements, which are available in many pharmacies and supermarkets.

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Prostate cancers slipping through cracks

 Prostate cancers slipping through cracks, study finds

Almost three-quarters of Australian men diagnosed with “low risk” prostate cancer are not being actively monitored to detect disease spread, a study has found.

A decade ago there was a greater tendency to treat men with low-risk prostate cancer with surgery or radiation.

Nowadays, the data suggests about 50 per cent are put on active surveillance.

The objective of active surveillance is to avoid unnecessary treatment, but patients must undergo regular testing of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels.

A biopsy should also be undertaken within 12 months of diagnosis.

With the practice of active surveillance increasing, researchers analysed patient adherence among a group of men diagnosed with prostate cancer between August 2008 and December 2014.

The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday, found of the 1,635 participants, just 433 (26.5 per cent) adhered to the active surveillance protocol of at least three PSA tests and at least one biopsy within the first two years of diagnosis.

“Active surveillance was not implemented according to published protocols in 73.5 per cent of men diagnosed with low risk prostate cancer in this Victorian cohort study,” the authors wrote.
They warn that men risk dying of the disease if they are not monitored appropriately.

“If they are not being followed appropriately according to active surveillance protocols, men may miss the opportunity to be treated with curative intent,” they wrote.

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Why is chronic pain so difficult to treat?

Why is chronic pain so difficult to treat?

It comes as no surprise that pain medication is one of the most common prescribed and dispensed medications I hand over the counter. This may come as a shock to you but the realities are treating pain is more complex than popping a pill. So in light of raising awareness on this ‘painful’ topic, I thought I’d share with you some simple strategies that are recommended by health care professionals to ensure you can return to your true self as quickly as possible and avoid having to chronically manage your pain.

Psssstttt some of the facts below may shock. Some may be a little close to home. If so please seek the advice of your general practitioner to help get you on a path to a solution.

Pain….a chronic epidemic?

It is estimated that around 1 in 5 Australians suffer chronic pain with it’s prevalence rising to a staggering 1 in 3 in the over 65.1 Those seeking treatment for pain management will increase with our aging population together with the costs. According to Pain Australia, Chronic pain is Australia’s third most costly health condition after cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal conditions and is estimated at costing a staggering $34 billion (2007 data).

Pain is the most common ailment that people seek medical treatment for, yet the most misunderstood and at times difficult to treat condition in health care. Pain is invisible and at times sufferers can feel misunderstood and often stigmatised by those around them including the medical profession they seek treatment from.  

So what is pain?

According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) pain is defined as  ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage’

And its complexity in treatment lies in the fact that pain cannot be interpreted as just the physical sensation.

Why is pain so complex to treat?

Our perception of pain is influenced by our beliefs and attitudes towards it, our personality and emotional and mental state, and in some cases our social state.

Two people could experience the same pain condition, such as a sore tooth, yet their life experiences with pain could be completely different. Therefore their perception on pain influences how it feels.

This is what makes pain difficult to treat.

Why is managing it so difficult?

Lack of resources, pain management specialists, access to services especially in rural and remote areas and long waiting times significantly contribute to its poor management and resulting deterioration in quality of life and the decline in ability to return to work.

Pain is also a significant contributor to mental health problems with 1 in 5 Australians who suffer from severe pain also suffering depression and mood disorders. 1 in 3 Australians with severe pain reporting to have high to very high psychological distress.

It is believed that early effective management with evidence based treatment could help reduce our chronic pain conditions. It is estimated that less than 10% of people with chronic non-cancer pain receive effective care despite the fact that current knowledge on the management of pain would allow 80% to be treated effectively if there was adequate access to services.

Management of pain requires a multidisciplinary approach between the patient, their medical professional, pharmacist, allied health professionals and in some cases psychologists.

Encouraging patients to understand their approach to pain, the different types that exist and that pharmaceutically treating it is only part of the equation when a patient initially seeks treatment can significantly diminish their length on suffering and speed of recovery depending on the source of pain.

 Simple Strategies to Pain Management

Understand your approach to pain.
Accepting pain whilst reducing the associated fear and anxiety or low mood, reduces the struggle and energy spent on pain. Accepting pain does not mean losing hope!

Understand the different types of pain
There are many different types of pain that one can experience. Understanding the cause and type can affect your management including the specialist you seek, the medicine prescribed, movement that should be integrated into your recovery and if a psychologist may be required.

Correct and guided movement needs to be incorporated in your pain management
Improving function (e.g. one’s ability to engage in daily household tasks, work, socializing etc.) through movement and exercise like yoga, walking, swimming and cycling has profound beneficial ‘flow-on’ effects, including reduced disability, reduced depression and improved physical conditioning and increased quality of life according to painHEALTH. Depending on your type of pain it is best to seek the assistance of your specialist to ensure it is performed correctly.

Becoming Mindful in Pain
Meditation has been used for centuries in pain management. It has the ability to bring our minds to present, accept our current pain state and reduce our negatives thought processes that is associated our sensitivities to pain that can make pain feel worse. It also reduces the distress experiences during painful episodes and therefore decrease the intensity.

Seek effective, evidence based treatment
Seeking assistance with you pain at early stages can significantly help improve your recovery and reduce its severity. Avoiding delay in treatment is essential to this and seeking the advice of a medical practitioner can help get you started on the correct path to recovery.