Some easy steps for keeping your knees healthy
Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
“After years of war, my ancestors gave up their barbaric practices and bent the knee to their new kings,” says Roose Bolton at one point in the saga, “Game of Thrones.” In that tale, defeated factions repeatedly bend their knee as an act of submission to a victor. But all that up-and-downing doesn’t seem to cause the characters any joint trouble. The same can’t be said for binge-watching fans of the series.
The incidence of knee osteoarthritis has doubled in the past seven decades, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Knee osteoarthritis now affects a third of Americans over age 60 and is responsible for more disability than almost any other musculoskeletal disorder. It’s why 3 million women and 1.7 million men are living with a total knee replacement.
What accounts for this? It’s not just being overweight or living longer. The researchers say it is from specific factors you can control, meaning knee osteoarthritis might be more avoidable than previously thought.
Potential Triggers: Inactivity — not exercise — leads to thinner knee cartilage and weaker muscles responsible for protecting joints. And the epidemic of chronic lowgrade inflammation that affects so many Americans because of diets high in refined foods, processed carbs and excess bad fat further erodes cartilagebuilding, even if you are not overweight.
The Solution: Your risk of knee osteoarthritis can be slashed if you walk 10,000 steps a day and avoid the inflammationcausing Five Food Felons (added sugar and syrup, processed grains, most sat fat and all trans fats.)
Why belly fat increases cancer risk and what to do about it
From Mike Biggs (in “Mike & Molly”) to Dan Conner (in “Roseanne”) and Doug Heffernan (in “King of Queens”), TV is loaded with loveable, beltbulging, big guys. And while we may find these men make great company for a half an hour, truth is they’re risking life and limb by carrying around that front-loaded belly fat.
Fat lodged around your internal organs is called visceral fat, and it’s clearly implicated not just in the development of heart disease and diabetes, but also in many cancers. That we’ve known for years. What we haven’t known until now is exactly why deep-dwelling belly fat fuels cancerous malignancies.
Now, a study in the journal Oncogene reveals that a certain protein (fibroblast growth factor-2) released in greatest quantities from visceral body fat causes non-cancerous cells to turn cancerous! And that’s why body mass index, or BMI, may not be the best indicator of an amped up risk for cancer. Normal-weight folks with belly fat pump out that protein too.
How to burn your belly fat
■ De-stress — The stress hormone cortisol fuels belly fat deposits. So, start with mindful meditation and then:
■ Go for 150 minutes weekly of extra activity; get there by targeting 10,000 steps daily.
■ Eliminate all trans fats (anything partially hydrogenated), most sat fats and eat five to nine servings of produce and two servings of 100 percent whole grains daily.
■ Women, target a 35-inch waist; men, 40 inches or less.
That will trim down your risk for cancer, big time.
Question: I hate not eating for hours and hours before a blood test. Is it really necessary? — Craig M., Schenectady, New York
Answer: It all depends on what you’re being tested for. If your doc is testing for diabetes using a fasting blood glucose or oral glucose tolerance test, you’ll fast overnight (schedule the tests for early the next morning, if possible). That’s because your blood glucose level fluctuates a lot when you eat or drink anything but water, plain coffee or black tea. But the test for your A1C levels — a measure of your average glucose level over the past three months — doesn’t require fasting. You also will need to fast for eight to 12 hours if you’re having your B-12 or iron checked. If you don’t fast like the doctor ordered, you could be misdiagnosed.
On the other hand, there are conflicting ideas about the importance of fasting before an HDL or LDL cholesterol check. New guidelines published in the European Heart Journal and JAMA Internal Medicine in July 2016 say that for blood lipid testing, “a nonfasting blood draw has many practical advantages.” Translation: Your doctor will let you know if you should fast. In addition, measurements of kidney, liver and thyroid function, as well as blood counts, don’t require fasting.
Tip: Have a blood test as part of your yearly physical exam. Even if you get regular physical exercise, don’t drink or smoke, always stick to a perfectly balanced diet and never go without adequate sleep, we’d like you to stay in touch with your doc so you can catch any emerging problems. At that exam, your doc will also look at your ears, eyes, nose, throat, teeth and gums, lymph nodes and thyroid; listen to your heart and lungs; check for an STD; and make an evaluation of your overall appearance.
Q: Is there any difference between this year’s flu shot and last year’s? And if there isn’t, do I still need to get one? — John E., Lansing, Michigan
A: There always is a difference. The influenza vaccine is adjusted to target the flu strains that experts predict will be most prevalent, which can change from year to year. New vaccinations are based on information from 142 national influenza centers in 113 countries. Scientists from the World Health Organization Collaborating Centers for Reference and Research on Influenza analyze the data and decide which strains of the virus are most likely to cause illness in the upcoming flu season. That’s why you should get inoculated annually.
Plus, protection from a yearly flu shot can add up: If you receive the flu vaccine every year for 10 years, you’ll reduce your risk of getting the flu by over 70 percent. And if you do get the flu, it’ll be much less severe. It also makes it 48 percent more likely you’ll be alive and kicking 10 years later, because 10 years of consecutive flu vaccines substantially decreases your risk of heart attack and stroke.
And you’re not the only one to benefit! When you get an annual flu vaccine you help decrease hospitalization across the population from flu-related pneumonias or lung infections by more than 25 percent.
Vaccines have gotten a lot safer in the past 30 years. The odds of an adverse reaction, relative to a beneficial effect, are about 1 in 40,000.
2017 flu vaccine facts:
■ The nasal mist with a live attenuated influenza version (LAIV) of the vaccine is NOT recommended for anyone.
■ Trivalent/threecomponent vaccine targets: A/Michigan/45/2015 (H1N1) pdm09-like virus; A/Hong Kong/4801/2014 (H3N2)-like virus; B/ Brisbane/60/2008-like (B/ Victoria lineage) virus. There’s a high-dose version for those 65-plus.
■ Quadrivalent/fourcomponent vaccine contains, in addition to those above, protection against the B/Phuket/3073/2013like (B/Yamagata lineage) virus.
■ Anyone 6 months or older should be vaccinated. Pregnant women should receive their ageappropriate influenza vaccine.
■ Needle-shy? Fluzone Intradermal Quadrivalent vaccine for folks 18-64 has a 90 percent smaller, 1.5-mm microneedle.