Blood Vessels and Aging: The Rest of the Journey

"A man is as old as his arteries."
Thomas Sydenham, MD, English Physician, 1624-1689

Stretched end-to-end, the arteries, veins, and other vessels of the human circulatory system would measure about 60,000 miles. On any given day, the heart pumps about 1,800 gallons of blood through this vast network. In an average lifetime, the heart pumps approximately one million barrels of blood—enough to fill more than 3 supertankers—through the circulatory system.

No doubt about it, the heart and arteries are remarkable. But as we age, the cardiovascular system becomes more susceptible to diseases including high blood pressure and atherosclerosis. Nearly 40 percent of all deaths among those 65 and older can be attributed to heart problems. By age 80, men are nine times more likely to die of chronic heart failure than they were at age 50. Among women, this risk increases 11-fold over the same time period.

Smoking, little or no regular exercise or physical activity, a diet laden with calories and sugar, fat, cholesterol, and sodium—all contribute to the development of these cardiovascular disorders. But it is becoming more apparent that like the heart, blood vessels undergo changes with advancing age, and these changes, including arterial stiffening and thickening, are major risk factors for these diseases.

This relationship is complex. In fact, studies—in both animals and humans—have found that many of the factors that underlie the age-related changes in the arteries are also implicated in the development of cardiovascular disease. This suggests that there are some common links between these two distinct, but intertwined processes. Based on these and other findings, some investigators theorize that aging is the driving force in a cycle that begins with age-related changes in the blood vessels. These changes create an environment that promotes arterial stiffening, which contributes to development of hypertension (high blood pressure). At the same time, age-related changes also make it easier for fatty deposits to build up on the inside of arteries. This accumulation, part of a process known as atherosclerosis, can accelerate the aging of the arteries, which, in turn, leads to further fatty build up and narrowing of the vessel. (See What Happens During Atherosclerosis?)

In essence, aging arteries form an alliance with risk factors for atherosclerosis, hypertension, and other precursors of heart disease and stroke to profoundly elevate the risk of developing these conditions. However, as scientists learn more about the changes that occur in aging blood vessels, they are making some key discoveries. For instance, in some people these changes occur at an accelerated rate; in others, they occur much more slowly than average. This suggests that how well your arteries perform as you get older depends on a series of complex interactions among age, disease, lifestyle, and genetics, Dr. Lakatta says. In any case, epidemiological studies have consistently shown that people with the greatest amount of arterial stiffening and thickening are at the highest risk for developing stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular events.

But investigators also now know that several of these changes, such as arterial stiffening and thickening, don't occur to the same extent in all people. In fact, studies strongly suggest that exercise, good nutrition, and emerging drug therapies can slow the aging of the blood vessels, even among people who are genetically at risk. These interventions could delay or prevent the onset of cardiovascular diseases in many older people.

We're moving into an era when it will be imperative to find out what your blood vessels are like before clinical disease sets in so that, if necessary, appropriate measures can be taken to keep your cardiovascular system as healthy as possible," Dr. Lakatta says.|

Originally appeared on www.nia.nih.gov Read more here. 

Yoga Therapy: Why Doctors Are Prescribing The Ancient Practice

In 2011, Jacquelyn Jackson had the most traumatizing year of her life. On a beautiful morning in Tucson, she was just 25 feet away when her former boss, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and 18 others were shot in a grocery store parking lot. In the weeks that followed, as Jackson began suffering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (including chronic anxiety and difficulty sleeping), she turned to a psychotherapist. The sessions helped “tremendously,” she says but 11 months later, when her seemingly healthy younger brother died suddenly from a brain tumor. “the trauma was so great I felt like I needed something more.”

Desperate, Jackson looked online for support and stumbled upon yoga therapy, an emerging treatment for people struggling with anxiety, grief, and trauma. Long practiced in India, yoga therapy was introduced in the United States some three decades ago but has begun gaining popularity only in the past five years or so. (Membership in the International Association of Yoga Therapists [IAYT] has quadrupled since 2004, to about 3,200, and next year the IAYT plans to begin accrediting yoga schools to offer a standardized certification program.)

“It’s not just postures,” says yoga therapist Janice Gates. “We use all the tools of yoga — breath work, sound, visualization, and meditation — and tailor them to a client’s specific health condition.” One of Gates’s clients was a woman in her 40s who was experiencing serious depression and anxiety but couldn’t tolerate psychiatric medication. While a doctor oversaw the medical issues, Gates worked with the client weekly to manage her moods. On days when she was anxious, Gates led her through exercises like standing poses and forward bends (to help her feel more grounded) and exhalation breath work (to calm her down). When the woman was depressed, she did back bends and inhalation exercises, designed to give her energy. Six months later, the woman’s crippling dark moods, once a thrice-weekly occurrence, now overtake her only a few times each month. With her newfound energy — and time — she’s teaching art classes to children.

Though research on the efficacy of yoga therapy is ongoing, traditional doctors are taking notice — and finding it, in some cases, to be a valuable complement to the work they’re already doing. “Yoga therapy can be extremely helpful for people who need a way to work through what they’re experiencing, not just in their minds but in their bodies,” says psychotherapist Jack Obedzinski, MD, of Corte Madera, California. “Often, it allows my patients to experience a feeling of calm in a way they couldn’t in talk therapy.” And, he says, this calmness can bring more clarity and awareness to their traditional sessions.

For Jackson, one-on-one yoga appointments with Amy Weintraub, a pioneer in the field and author of Yoga for Depression, proved transformative. In their first session, Jackson “was practically hyperventilating with anxiety,” says Weintraub, who created a program that included “stair-step” breathing, building up to deeper and deeper breaths. “What the yoga did was provide a slow, gradual path to help her manage her moods and not immediately react when grief arose.” After just a few sessions, Jackson no longer used medication to help her sleep at night. “Working with Amy was like doing emotional Roto-Rooter-ing,” she says. “I had so much stress in my body, and she was able to help dislodge it — and clear it out.”

This article originally appeared on huffingtonpost.com and was written By Laura Hilgers.

Check out our UPCOMING MENTAL WELLNESS WORKSHOPS with Shari Arial: Yoga for Anxiety, Stress & Trauma.

Rhythm of Breathing Affects Memory and Fear

Summary: A new study reports the rhythm of your breathing can influence neural activity that enhances memory recall and emotional judgement.

Source: Northwestern University.

Breathing is not just for oxygen; it’s now linked to brain function and behavior.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered for the first time that the rhythm of breathing creates electrical activity in the human brain that enhances emotional judgments and memory recall.

These effects on behavior depend critically on whether you inhale or exhale and whether you breathe through the nose or mouth.

In the study, individuals were able to identify a fearful face more quickly if they encountered the face when breathing in compared to breathing out. Individuals also were more likely to remember an object if they encountered it on the inhaled breath than the exhaled one. The effect disappeared if breathing was through the mouth.

“One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation,” said lead author Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system.”

The study was published Dec. 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The senior author is Jay Gottfried, professor of neurology at Feinberg.

Northwestern scientists first discovered these differences in brain activity while studying seven patients with epilepsy who were scheduled for brain surgery. A week prior to surgery, a surgeon implanted electrodes into the patients’ brains in order to identify the origin of their seizures. This allowed scientists to acquire electro-physiological data directly from their brains. The recorded electrical signals showed brain activity fluctuated with breathing. The activity occurs in brain areas where emotions, memory and smells are processed.

This discovery led scientists to ask whether cognitive functions typically associated with these brain areas — in particular fear processing and memory — could also be affected by breathing.

Article originally appeared on http://neurosciencenews.com/memory-fear-breathing-5699/

RESET WELLNESS Open House

RESET WELLNESS is a year old!

Time for a party - we invite you to share in the growth and love we've had and created over the last year.

December 10th (Saturday) marks our HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE ~ 5 - 8pm

Featuring:

Live performances by Samara von Rad and Ben Sures.
Snacks and refreshments by Ninja Club Japanese Bistro.
Door prizes, demo's and gift card giveaways.

We're excited to support YESS via our Gifty Auction with participating Whyte Ave and local businesses! Join in an win!

~~ Register for a free ticket on Eventbrite to enter for a Gift Card draw ~~
We will gift the prize to the winner in attendance at our celebration ♥

~~ Share our event for another entry in to the same draw! ~~


Reset Wellness is a whole-body health and wellness centre with a big heart and a safe space that offers:

-Float Therapy
-Acupuncture
-Massage Therapy
-Manual Osteopathy
-Mental Wellness Workshops
-Yoga Series
-Tai Chi Classes
www.resetwellness.ca

..for the fit, for the family, for the broken, for the growing, for the whole community who are taking charge of their health and goals.
If you are looking for a compassionate team of health care professionals who provide client-centered care, we work together at Reset Wellness to help you build yourself up and renew your quality of life and health.

You've heard whispers about Reset on Whyte, now is a good time to discover this secret gem. Hidden in the heritage Dominion Building - right in the heart of #whyteave - our beautiful clinic and team of professionals welcome you to CELEBRATE Health and Wellness, Community, Growth, Accomplishments, the Holidays and YOU ♥

#resetwellness #yeghealth #yegwellness #yegevents