As we age, our bodies and minds become unforgiving to the wear of time. Most people accept their physical decline as natural and expected, but the loss of mental faculties can often be one of the scariest, most confusing experiences of a person’s life. With age comes an increase in the risk of dementia, a general term for any decline in mental ability severe enough to interfere with daily life. People with dementia lose their ability to think cogently and remember, eventually becoming unable to care for themselves. However, a recent scientific breakthrough may finally help people suffering from dementia
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Archives for Healthy Living
It’s Never Too Late for Senior Health Improvements
Even in old age, there’s no reason not to take care of yourself. Whether it’s a walk in the park or choosing fruit instead of dessert, finding simple habits to integrate into your everyday life is the easiest way to stay healthy. With old age, you might see a decline in your physical health even when your mind feels 30! So what are some practical ways to keep your mind—and body—feeling younger? Light strength training is a great way to improve senior health and coordination, and can even be done at home with a chair (and pillow, if needed). There
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Studies Prove That Volunteering Helps Senior Health
Volunteering has a positive effect on everyone: the volunteers, the recipients of their care, and the community overall. New studies show that volunteering benefits seniors specifically – and not as benefactors of volunteer programs, but as the volunteers themselves. Volunteering Keeps Your Body Healthy Exercise is a huge part of maintaining physical health, but you don’t have to lift weights or go for a run. Simple daily movements like walking and interacting with others are enough to keep seniors sufficiently active. As we grow older, our lifestyles tend to become increasingly sedentary, giving rise to health problems such as heart disease, hypertension,
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Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate Will Satisfy Both Body and Soul
We all love chocolate. Sometimes a little too much. Sometimes so much that it becomes unhealthy. But maybe we don’t have to give up chocolate, we just have to change the kind of chocolate we eat. The one magic plant that makes chocolate so delicious —cacao— is the secret to all of our chocolate obsessions. The seed is dried and fermented, carrying with it a deceivingly brown, powdery texture resembling hot chocolate mix. Take a small taste to find out that cacao by itself has a terrible flavor. Only after sugar is added and the seed is processed does the
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The Benefits of Home Modification
As we get older, the possibility of leaving our home becomes more of a reality, and the stress of that consideration can be overwhelming. No one wants to leave their comfortable environment, but if you or your loved one is unable to take care of themselves in their daily routine at home, there may be an alternative Freedom Home Care can offer to keep you in your home safely. Home modification is essentially a simple idea. The home you live in is evaluated and modified in order to make it a safer and easier place to live and maneuver through.
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Healthy Holiday Cookie Tips Offer Big Flavor and Low Calories
The holidays have arrived, and with the holiday season here it can be easy to get bombarded with an abundance of sweets, fancy dinners, and desserts. If you’re not careful it can be easy to add on some extra pounds during this year, but we here at Freedom Home Care have a few healthy holiday cookie tips to help you enjoy the season’s sweets while still maintaining a good diet. Simply by altering some of your favorite recipes, you can enjoy your seasonal favorites without the guilt! Whether its substituting ingredients or altering portion size, you can still feel like you/re
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Make it a Healthy New Year for 2015 with these 9 Realistic Resolutions
2015 is almost here, and now is a great time to start off on the right foot by setting some healthy (and attainable) goals for yourself. While about 75% of people tend to stick to their new year’s resolutions for at least a week, less than half are still on track with their goals six months later. At Freedom Home Care, we encourage you to try at least one of these resolutions for 2015, and make it a healthy new year! 1. Lose weight- the healthy way. First, it’s important to remind yourself that you can’t expect overnight success. Stay
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Winter Safety Tips
Fall is quickly fading into winter, and as the temperatures drop it’s easy to catch yourself unprepared. You can get ready for the weather ahead and keep safe and warm by following a few easy steps. When outside, exposed areas – including your ears, nose as well as fingers – are at high risk for frostbite after as little as 10 to 15 minutes in sub-freezing temperatures. This risk is increased for the elderly. Keep these winter safety tips in mind. Plan ahead. Check the weather reports and dress accordingly. Keeping warm is important, especially to areas like your lower
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Interview with Connie Branstrom, Healthcare Outreach Coordinator for Brandel Health & Rehab at Covenant Village of Northbrook
Did you know? Your knees and hips are your largest joints. They support the majority of your body’s weight and must work together to provide the mobility most people take for granted, until injury, arthritis, or other problems interfere. Depending on the cause of your pain, the resolution will vary. For some, it might be a set of exercises, pain relief medication, minor surgery, or some combination of these. But for many people, knee and hip problems become so troubling that the best solution is to replace a worn-out knee or hip with a mechanical joint. Talk with your doctor to find
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The Power of Our Breath: Lecture by Susan Smolin, Registered Yoga Instructor, Breathing & Relaxation Coach
Life begins with our first breath. We breathe in oxygen 10-16 or more times in the first minute of our life. We will take about 100 million breaths, before we take our last. The Power of our Breath is immense. To mind the breath is to make a decision. The second we choose to mind the breath, we have decided that this moment is worthy of our full attention. The instant we do this, we have extricated ourselves from the hold of the past and the pull of the future. We are living life today, not yesterday, not tomorrow. Breath
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