Overwhelmed by medical news? Eat meat. Don’t eat meat. Sun causes cancer. Sun prevents cancer...Don’t fret. We pored through the periodicals to find the very best FOF health info this week. Your body just thanked us for you.

• New, Effective Treatment for Urinary Incontinence: Botox?!
  • Over 13 million Americans suffer from urinary incontinence. Two thirds of those afflicted are women, who are at greater risk due to pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and the anatomy of the female urinary tract. Still, this is a very treatable problem, at all ages. The Cleveland Clinic recently unveiled a new remedy utilizing, of all things, Botox. Under a local anesthetic, the patient receives diluted Botox injections to the bladder muscle, helping to cease the spasms that lead to urine leakage. One patient called the treatment "the best thing since sliced bread” and said “it keeps (her) free" from the urge to use the restroom so often. The procedure should be repeated every nine to ten months.
    http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/Urinary_Incontinence
    /hic_Urinary_Incontinence_in_Women.aspx
• A Lower Mile Time Correlates with a Lower Risk of Heart Disease
  • Two studies recently showed that a person’s fitness level at middle age is a good predictor of long-term heart health, proving as reliable in this vein as cholesterol level or high blood pressure. In this case, an individual’s fitness level was measured by the average time it takes her to run a mile. “How fast you can run in midlife is very strongly associated with heart disease risk when you’re old,” one researcher said. “The exercise you do in your 40s is highly relevant to your heart disease risk in your 80s.” A woman in her 50s who can run a mile in nine minutes or less is considered to possess a high level of fitness; a 10:30 mile exhibits moderate fitness; and a mile slower than 12 minutes is indicative of low fitness. The high fitness group showed a 10 percent lifetime risk of heart problems, while the low fitness group showed a 30 percent risk.
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/on-your-marks-get-set-measure-heart-health/
• More and More Boomers Are Looking for Love Online
  • Baby boomers are turning to the web to find romance at a significant clip. People 50 and older are one of the fastest growing groups among eHarmony.com’s 33 million users, and 25% of Match.com users are 50-65 - amounting to an increase of 89% in the last five years on that site. According to the research firm comScore, online daters 50 and older have increased at a rate twice that of all other age groups, across all matchmaking sites. One psychologist sees websites geared towards middle aged members, such as OurTime.com, as a natural fit for FOF’s looking for love. She said women often feel more comfortable on sites where they know they’re not competing with younger women, and that such sites provide “other like-minded people...so you don’t have to put yourself out there.”
    http://yourlife.usatoday.com/sex-relationships/dating/story/2011/06/Boomers-swelling-the-ranks-of-online-dating-sites---/48018456/1
• Flaxseed No Help with Hot Flashes
  • New research showed that a daily flaxseed bar does not help treat menopausal hot flashes any better than a placebo, in women with and without breast cancer. "It's unfortunate because these are such common problems, not just in breast cancer survivors but in postmenopausal women in general," said one doctor. "These poor women have one less option." Anecdotally, flaxseed had previously been thought to improve hot flashes - a proposition which led to this study.
    http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/medical/womenshealth/story/2011/06/Flaxseed-fails-as-treatment-for-hot-flashes/48110270/1?csp=ylf
• Boomers Abusing Drugs in Record Numbers
  • A recent government report displayed alarming statistics for drug use among the nation’s middle aged. Five percent of 78 million boomers admit to abusing drugs. The number of people over 50 treated for heroine use has more than doubled since 1992; treatment for cocaine addiction has quadrupled; and treatment for prescription drug abuse has shot up 400%. Experts attribute these findings to the typical underpinnings of drug use, including loneliness and depression, but also said that the stresses of aging - including chronic pain - contribute to drug use in boomers.
    http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/05/20/booming-addiction-baby-boomers-using-drugs-in-record-numbers/
• Boomers Imbibing Too Much
  • According to the Wall Street Journal, the government fears that boomers are drinking much more than the amount of wine recommended for heart health. According to one psychologist, boomers are at higher risk of drinking-related problems thanks to the cumulative effects of years of long-term alcohol use, the aging body, and the brain's loss of restorative abilities. "I see seniors and retirees doing all sorts of things to preserve their brain function and then drinking a glass of wine or a bottle a night," he said. "That's the worst thing you can do." Health officials are further concerned that many people significantly over-estimate what constitutes a "standard" drink: 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer or 1 1/2 ounces of liquor.
    http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/tswa20110527.php
• Drug Can Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer
  • A drug currently used to fight recurrences of breast cancer can also reduce the risk of the cancer materializing in the first place, according to a recent study. What’s more, the drug, called exemestane, does not produce the serious side effects of other drugs used to prevent breast cancer, like tamoxifen and raloxifene, which can cause blood clots. Still, some doctors cautioned that as a aromatase inhibitor, a category of drugs which are associated with bone and joint pain, exemastane might prove ill-suited to healthy women. “People are going to think very, very hard about it before they are going to take an aromatase inhibitor in this setting,” said a breast cancer specialist.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/health/research/05cancer.html
• Good Night’s Sleep Is More Necessity than Luxury
  • Between 1960 and 2010, the average night’s sleep for an adult in the U.S. dropped from more than eight hours to six and a half. It’s even tougher for boomers. A 2005 survey of people 50 and over found that only a third of them got a solid amount of shuteye each night - fewer than half dozed more than seven hours, and a third slept less than six. Indeed, aging effects sleep: it takes longer to fall asleep, the sleep is not as deep, and sleep is not as restorative. Additionally, health issues like arthritis and diabetes infringe on sleep. Accordingly, as one ages, sleep must be protected and nurtured more than ever. The benefits of solid sleep include improved concentration, memory, productivity, mood, immune function and even higher physical attractiveness and less weight gain.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/health/31brody.html