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If you're curious about your chances of dieing in the next 4 years, here's a test you can take - right now - to find out your odds.
Want to know the odds of you dying in the next four years?
Taking a new quiz put together by researchers whose results are in today's Journal of the American Medical Association can help you figure it out.
The 12-question quiz is roughly 81 percent accurate and can give people 50 and older a reasonable idea of their survival chances, says lead author Dr. Sei Lee, a geriatrics researcher at San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. There are things you can do to improve your chances, he notes, such as quitting smoking or taking up exercise. The researchers even warn, "Don't try this at home," saying a doctor can help you put things into perspective. But for the curious, here it is. Good luck.
1. Age: 60-64 years, 1 point; 65-69, 2 points; 70-74, 3 points; 75-79, 4 points; 80-84, 5 points; 85 and older, 7 points.
2. Male or Female: Male 2 points.
3. Body-Mass Index: Less than 25 (normal weight or less), 1 point. (Calculate by multiplying height in inches times height in inches; then divide weight in pounds by that total; then multiply the total by 703.)
4. Diabetes: 2 points.
5. Cancer (excluding minor skin cancers): 2 points.
6. Chronic lung disease that limits activities or requires oxygen use at home: 2 points.
7. Congestive heart failure: 2 points.
8. Cigarette smoking in the past week: 2 points.
9. Difficulty bathing/showering because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
10. Difficulty managing money, paying bills, keeping track of expenses because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
11. Difficulty walking several blocks because of a health problem: 2 points.
12. Difficulty pushing or pulling large objects like a living-room chair because of a health problem: 1 point.
1. Age: 60-64 years, 1 point; 65-69, 2 points; 70-74, 3 points; 75-79, 4 points; 80-84, 5 points; 85 and older, 7 points.
2. Male or Female: Male 2 points.
3. Body-Mass Index: Less than 25 (normal weight or less), 1 point. (Calculate by multiplying height in inches times height in inches; then divide weight in pounds by that total; then multiply the total by 703.)
4. Diabetes: 2 points.
5. Cancer (excluding minor skin cancers): 2 points.
6. Chronic lung disease that limits activities or requires oxygen use at home: 2 points.
7. Congestive heart failure: 2 points.
8. Cigarette smoking in the past week: 2 points.
9. Difficulty bathing/showering because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
10. Difficulty managing money, paying bills, keeping track of expenses because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.
11. Difficulty walking several blocks because of a health problem: 2 points.
12. Difficulty pushing or pulling large objects like a living-room chair because of a health problem: 1 point.
Score: 0 to 5 points, less than a 4 percent risk of dying within four years; 6-9 points, 15 percent risk; 10-13 points, 42 percent risk; 14 or more, 64 percent risk.
(Note: Researchers say the 1-point penalty for having a body-mass index under 25 (normal weight or less) is based on findings that being underweight is a health risk for elderly people.)
Click Here For The Complete Story=>http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635184522,00.html
From England, their National Health Service is promoting the health benefits of sex. Read more below.
Grapple a day keeps the doctor away
February 12, 2006
It can help to reduce stress, soothe pain, cure insomnia, lower the risk of a heart attack and, as if that wasn't enough, make your hair shine and your wrinkles vanish.
"Forget about jogging round the block or struggling with sit-ups," says the British Government's patients' helpline, National Health Service Direct. The key for healthy living is "a good bout of 'sexercise' ".
"Regular romps", according to an official posting on the home page of the NHS Direct website, will bring a plethora of health rewards, from staying fit and burning calories to combating cancer.
"Orgasms even release painkillers into the bloodstream, helping keep mild illnesses like colds and aches and pains at bay, and produce extra oestrogen and testosterone hormones," the site says.
"These hormones will keep your bones and muscles healthy, leaving you feeling fabulous inside and out. The increased production of the hormones will make your hair shine and your skin smooth. And if you're worried about wrinkles, orgasms even help prevent frown lines from deepening."
Click Here For The Complete Story=>http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/grapple-a-day-keeps-doctor-away/2006/02/11/1139542445549.html
And from our neighbors in Canada, hormones are getting a second chance.
MDs back HRT (hormone replacement therapy) for menopause symptoms
Feb. 7, 2006
CANADIAN PRESS
CANADIAN PRESS
After years of confusion about its safety as a treatment for symptoms of menopause, hormone replacement therapy received the green light from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada.
In the first rewrite of its guidelines on the issue since 2001, the society gave its blessing to the use of HRT for moderate to severe menopausal symptoms.
In the first rewrite of its guidelines on the issue since 2001, the society gave its blessing to the use of HRT for moderate to severe menopausal symptoms.
Those who drafted the report distilled clinical and scientific studies about menopause in an attempt to provide physicians with the most current treatment information. Their report suggests the increased risk associated with taking the drugs is of the magnitude of lifestyle choices women routinely make, such as delaying childbirth until after age 30, smoking or not exercising.
“It’s less of a risk than having two glasses of alcoholic beverages a day. So there are many things we do that increase our breast cancer risk,” Blake said.
The society recommended health-care professionals offer hormone therapy as the most effective option for moderate to severe menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, night sweats and mood changes. While menopause is a natural transition, for some women it isn’t an easy one. Hot flashes can be everything from uncomfortable to an unbearably disruptive condition.
Click Here For The Complete Story=>
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1139312888103&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467The above is not meant to be medical advice. Please read the attached Disclaimer, Etc.
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