Coffee Good for Health?

Coffee Talk: Some Surprising Health Benefits
Written by RealAge, Inc., peer-reviewed by Dr. Axel Goetz, October 2005

One of the best ways to ward off chronic conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer, is to eat a diet rich in antioxidants. But many of us do not eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables—considered superior sources of antioxidants.

So guess where many people are getting their antioxidants instead? Recent studies reveal coffee may be a surprising source. In fact, it is the top dietary source of antioxidants in many populations, including in the United States. Moreover, roasted coffee residues retain their antioxidant ability; it isn't lost in processing.

Enjoy your java? You're not alone . . . Researchers estimate about 54% of U.S. adults drink coffee every day. Countries such as Germany, Austria, and Finland consume twice as much coffee as the United States.

And there may be related benefits to this brew. Although most of the research is in the early stages, studies show that drinking coffee may be linked to some desirable health outcomes, such as:

• decreased risk of Parkinson's disease: A study revealed that men may experience up to a 40% reduction in risk by drinking as little as one cup per day. However, the effects were not observed in postmenopausal women who take estrogen replacement. In this case, coffee drinking may actually increase Parkinson's risk.
• reduced risk of type 2 diabetes: However, this reduced risk is only linked to people who drink excess amounts of coffee, which is not recommended; the risks of drinking too much coffee outweigh this possible benefit.
• decreased risk of liver cancer: Drinking coffee may be especially helpful reducing the risk of liver cancer caused by cirrhosis, a type of liver disease that causes scarring of the liver.

If coffee does have health benefits, it's not clear what they are from. Coffee contains not only antioxidants, but also caffeine and other yet-to-be researched compounds.

But even if there are clear health benefits to the brew, there are caveats. Although coffee consumption does not seem to raise the risk of cardiovascular disease, research shows that chronic consumption may increase aortic stiffness. Plus, unfiltered coffee can raise levels of blood fats, and excessive caffeine intake may be bad for people who are sensitive to caffeine. Coffee can contain anywhere from 72 to 130 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving, depending on the bean source and the brewing methods.

So there is give and take with coffee. If you don't already drink it, the recent news about antioxidants is not necessarily a reason to pick up the habit. And for people who already drink it, it's no excuse to stop eating fruits and veggies. Finally, because of the caffeine content, moderation is still the key to enjoying it healthfully.

Your best bet is to eat your fruits and veggies, and try to limit yourself to about one or two small cups—about 8-ounces—of coffee per day. That way you stay within the recommended limit of no more than 250 milligrams of caffeine per day.

Tea time
If you're not a coffee drinker, there's another steamy brew with multiple health benefits and less need for moderation. The health benefits of tea are widely established and are likely due to antioxidant flavonoids, as well as possibly the caffeine. Tea contains less caffeine than coffee, though, so you can drink more without worrying about excessive caffeine intake. Green tea can contain anywhere from 9 to 50 milligrams per 8-ounce serving while black tea typically contains between 42 to 72 milligrams per cup.

The well-established health benefits of tea include:

• decreased risk of LDL cholesterol oxidation and improved blood lipids after eating a high-fat meal, which may in part translate into reduced risk of cardiovascular disease • decreased risk of heart attack and stroke Regular tea drinkers might also have: • a possible decreased risk of Parkinson's disease • a possible decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease Although several compounds in tea

The downside of caffeine Caffeine may cause: • nervous, jittery feelings • sleeplessness • rapid heartbeat • increased blood pressure • stomach upset Caffeine may not be recommended for people who have: • overactive bladder • heartburn • high blood pressure • arrhythmia • anxiety disorder • insomnia

have been found to have anticancer properties in both cell and animal studies, no definitive evidence exists yet proving tea's anticancer potential in humans. Larger studies are needed to prove or disprove these findings. RA

Urinary Tract Infection in Women

• New Guidelines for Management of Urinary Tract Infection in Nonpregnant Women
  

• Screening for and treatment of asymptomatic bacteriuria is not recommended in nonpregnant, premenopausal women.
• When resistance rates are more than 15% to 20%, antibiotic class should be changed.
• For acute pyelonephritis, inpatient or outpatient treatment should continue for 14 days.
• Women with uncomplicated acute bacterial cystitis, including women 65 years or older, should receive antibiotics for 3 days.
• For initial treatment of symptomatic lower UTI with pyuria, bacteriuria, or both, urine culture is not required.
• For treatment of acute uncomplicated cystitis, beta-lactams, including first-generation cephalosporins and amoxicillin, are less effective than the preferred antimicrobials listed as treatment regimens.
• To diagnose bacteriuria in symptomatic patients, decreasing the colony count to 1000 to 10,000 bacteria per milliliter will improve sensitivity without significantly reducing specificity.
• A proposed performance measure is the percentage of women diagnosed with acute pyelonephritis who receive antimicrobial treatment for 14 days.

source: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/571545?src=top10

Skin care: Top 5 habits for Healthy skin

Proactive skin care, from skin protection to proper shaving technique, will help you keep your skin youthful and healthy.

source: Mayo Clinic Staff

Your busy lifestyle leaves little time for pampering skin care. The result: Your skin isn't the baby-soft body glove you were born with. As you age, your skin gradually becomes thinner and finely wrinkled. Oil-producing (sebaceous) glands grow less active, leaving your skin drier. The number of blood vessels in your skin decreases, your skin becomes more fragile, and you lose your youthful color and glow.

Good skin care — such as avoiding the sun, washing your skin gently and applying moisturizer regularly — can help delay the natural aging process and prevent many skin problems. These simple skin-care habits will help you protect your skin to keep it healthy and glowing for years to come.

1. Protect yourself from the sun

The most important way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. Ultraviolet light — the invisible but intense rays from the sun — damages your skin, causing deep wrinkles, dry, rough skin, liver spots, and more serious disorders, such as noncancerous (benign) and cancerous (malignant) skin tumors. In fact, most of the changes seen in aging skin are actually caused by a lifetime of sun exposure.

For the most complete sun protection, use all three of these methods:

• Avoid the sun during high-intensity hours. The sun's rays are most damaging from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reduce the time you spend outdoors during these hours.
• Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. Also, keep in mind that certain clothing styles and fabrics offer better protection from the sun than do others. For example, long-sleeved shirts offer better protection than short-sleeved shirts do. And tightly woven fabrics such as denim are better than are loosely woven fabrics such as knits. Several companies now make sun protective clothing (SPF clothing), which is specifically designed to block out ultraviolet rays while keeping you cool and comfortable.
• Use sunscreen. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) greater than 15. Apply liberally 20 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after being in water.

2. Don't smoke

Smoking accelerates aging of your skin and increases wrinkles. Skin changes from smoking can appear in young adults after 10 years of smoking.

Smoking causes narrowing of the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin. This decreases blood flow, depleting the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. All of these factors increase damage to the elastic fibers (elastin) and collagen, which give your skin strength and elasticity.

In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles. It's also possible that repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes may damage your facial skin over time.

3. Wash your skin gently

Cleansing is an essential part of caring for your skin. The key is to treat your skin gently.

• Use warm water and limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time to about 15 minutes or less, and use warm, rather than hot, water.
• Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps — those most capable of stripping oil from your skin — can leave your skin dry. Instead, choose mild soaps or detergent substitutes with added oils and fats. Good choices include Dove, Vanicream, Cetaphil and Purpose.
• Avoid irritating additives. If your skin is sensitive, avoid products containing perfumes or dyes. These can irritate your skin and may trigger an allergic response.
• Remove eye makeup carefully. Use a soft sponge, cotton cloth or cotton balls when removing eye makeup to avoid damaging the delicate tissue around your eyes. If you wear heavy, waterproof makeup, you may need to use an oil-based product, such as Eucerin, Aquaphor or petroleum jelly, to remove makeup.
• Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on the skin. Immediately moisturize your skin with an oil or cream.

4. Moisturize regularly

Moisturizers help maintain your skin's natural moisture levels. They work by providing a seal over your skin — to keep water from escaping — or by slowly releasing water into your skin.

The moisturizer that's best for you and the frequency with which you need to moisturize depend on many factors, including your skin type, your age and whether you have specific conditions such as acne. A good way to test if you need a moisturizer is to wait 20 minutes after bathing. If your skin feels tight, you should apply a moisturizer.

Select a moisturizer with an SPF of at least 15 to help protect your skin from damaging ultraviolet rays. If you have sensitive skin, look for products free of heavy dyes, perfumes or other additives. If your skin is very dry, you may want to apply an oil, such as baby oil, while your skin is still moist. Oil has more staying power than moisturizers do and prevents the evaporation of water from the surface of your skin. If your skin is oily, you may want to skip moisturizing.

5. Shave carefully

Shaving is a common and inexpensive way to remove unwanted hair. But shaving can cause skin irritations, especially if your skin is thin, dry or very sensitive. For a smooth shave:

• Press a warm wash cloth on your skin before shaving to soften the hair. Or shave after a warm bath or shower.
• Don't shave dry skin, which can cause razor burn. Apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving to protect and lubricate your skin.
• Use a clean, sharp razor. If using an electric razor, don't use the closest setting, which can aggravate the skin.
• Shave in the direction of hair growth, not against it.
• Rinse your skin afterward with warm water.

If irritation does occur, apply a lotion that doesn't contain ethyl or isopropyl alcohol. Though alcohol and alcohol-based products may feel cooling, they don't really soothe irritated skin because the alcohol evaporates rapidly from the skin.

Male Depression

Male depression: Don't ignore the symptoms

Male depression is a serious medical condition. Many men try to tough it out on their own, but depression symptoms can make them chronically miserable. Effective treatment helps.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression/MH00103_D

Are you irritable, isolated and withdrawn? Do you find yourself working all the time, drinking too much alcohol, using street drugs or seeking thrills from risky activities?

If so, perhaps you're being chased by what Winston Churchill called his "black dog" — male depression. Churchill attempted to ward off his black dog with compulsive overwork and large amounts of brandy. For male depression, the coping strategy may be reckless driving, risky sex or shutting yourself off from the world.

But none of these can keep male depression at bay for long. Even worse: Men with depression are at an increased risk of suicide.

Male depression often undiagnosed

Each year, depression affects about 6 million American men and 12 million American women. But these numbers may not tell the whole story. Because men may be reluctant to discuss male depression with a health care professional, many men with depression may go undiagnosed, and consequently untreated.

Some men learn to overvalue independence and self-control during childhood. They're taught that it's "unmanly" to express common feelings and emotions often associated with depression, such as sadness, uncertainty or a sense of hopelessness. They tend to see illness — especially mental illness — as a threat to their masculinity. So men may deny or hide their problems until a partner's insistence or a catastrophic event, such as job loss or arrest, forces them to seek treatment.

When they visit their health care professional, men are more likely to focus on physical complaints — headaches, digestive problems or chronic pain, for example — than on emotional issues. As a result, the connection between such symptoms and male depression may be overlooked. And even if they're diagnosed with depression, men may resist mental health treatment. They may worry about stigma damaging their careers or about losing the respect of family and friends.

Symptoms of male depression

In both men and women, common signs and symptoms of depression include feeling down in the dumps, sleeping poorly, and feeling sad, guilty and worthless. Men with depression, however, have bouts of crying less often than do women with depression.

Other symptoms of male depression often include:

• Anger and frustration
• Violent behavior
• Losing weight without trying
• Taking risks, such as reckless driving and extramarital sex
• Loss of concentration
• Isolation from family and friends
• Avoiding pleasurable activities
• Fatigue
• Loss of interest in work, hobbies and sex
• Alcohol or substance abuse
• Misuse of prescription medication
• Thoughts of suicide

In addition, men often aren't aware that physical symptoms, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain, can be symptoms of male depression.

Job stress a common trigger of male depression

Whether in men or in women, the precise cause of depression isn't known. Researchers believe depression is the result of a combination of genetics, your thought processes and your social environment. Everyone, for instance, is susceptible to depression in the wake of a major life stress, such as the end of an important relationship, the death of a loved one, moving or financial problems.

Some research suggests that for men, job-related stress may also play an important role in male depression. Some job characteristics that may be associated with male depression include:

• Lack of control over your responsibilities
• Unreasonable demands for performance
• Conflicts with supervisors or co-workers
• Lack of job security
• Night-shift work
• Excessive overtime
• More time than you'd like spent away from home
• Wages that don't reflect the level of responsibility

When male depression goes untreated

Like other men, you may feel that your depression symptoms aren't severe. You may believe that you should be able to just get over them or tough them out. You may try to deny them, ignore them or blunt them by drinking too much alcohol or working longer hours. But left untreated, male depression symptoms can disrupt your life in many ways and leave you chronically unhappy and miserable.

Depression can also affect your health. For instance, it can keep your stress response continually activated, a state that can damage many organs, including the heart. Depression may even shorten your life. In a given year, men with depression are more than twice as likely as men without depression to die of any cause. Women with depression also have an increased risk of dying, compared with women without depression, but the difference is not as great as it is in men. Although the reasons for this difference are unclear, men with depression may be more likely to engage in self-destructive behavior — from excessive drinking to reckless driving to suicide — that may contribute to it.

Depression also increases your risk of divorce and your children's risk of developing depression themselves. At work, male depression makes you less productive, limits your earning potential and increases your risk of losing your job.

Suicide and male depression

Although women are twice as likely to have depression, men are four times as likely to suffer its worst consequence: suicide. Starting in adolescence, men are far more likely than women to take their own lives. Older men, particularly white men over age 85, have the highest suicide rate. Although women attempt suicide more often than men do, men are more likely to complete suicide.

Men are more likely to use more lethal means in suicide attempts, such as guns, which partly accounts for their higher rate of suicide. But other factors also are involved. One such factor may be their tendency to move from suicidal thoughts to suicidal actions faster than women. Men take an average of just 12 months to go from contemplating suicide to attempting suicide. In contrast, it takes women about 42 months. During this time, men are less likely than women to show warning signs, such as talk of suicide. Because this window of opportunity is so short, family and mental health professionals may have little chance to recognize a man's depression and intervene.

Treatment and self-care for male depression

If you or someone close to you is considering suicide, seek help immediately from your doctor, the nearest hospital emergency room or emergency services (911).

If you suspect you have depression, schedule a physical examination with your family doctor or primary health care professional. Conditions such as a viral infection, thyroid disorder and low testosterone levels can produce symptoms similar to male depression. If your doctor rules out such conditions as a cause of your symptoms, the next step may be a depression screening. Treatment for male depression may include antidepressant medications, psychotherapy or both.

Self-care strategies also may help. These include:

• Setting realistic goals and prioritizing tasks
• Spending time with supportive family and friends
• Engaging in activities you enjoy, such as exercise, movies, ball games or fishing
• Delaying important decisions, such as changing jobs or getting married or divorced, until your depression symptoms improve

Smoking Increase Heart Defects in Fetus

Smoking Early In Pregnancy Raises Risks Of Heart Defects In Newborns

• Versión en español

Mothers who smoke early in pregnancy are more likely to give birth to infants with heart defects, according to a study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The study, published in the April issue of Pediatrics, shows that women who smoked anytime during the month before pregnancy to the end of the first trimester were more likely to give birth to infants with certain congenital heart defects (CHDs) compared to women who did not smoke during this time period. The association was stronger for mothers who reported heavier smoking during this time period.

“Most people know that smoking causes cancer, heart disease and other major health problems,” said Margaret Honein, Ph.D., MPH, CDC’s National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, one of the researchers. “The indisputable fact is that women who smoke during pregnancy put themselves and their unborn babies at risk for other health problems.”

The findings from the study, “Maternal Smoking and Congenital Heart Defects,” were based on the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, which is the largest population-based study ever done on the causes of birth defects in the United States. Nine states participated in the study: Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Utah. This research included 3,067 infants with CHDs and a comparison group of 3,947 infants with no major birth defects.

The study found that septal heart defects – a hole in the heart between the left and right heart chambers, which disrupts the flow of blood and oxygen to the body – were the most common defect found among infants who were born with a cardiac defect. Researchers also found conotruncal (poor blood circulation from lower heart chamber), right-side obstructive (blood is blocked from flowing freely from the right side of the heart) and left-side obstructive (blood is blocked from flowing freely from left side of heart) defects.

CHDs are the most common type of birth defect, occurring in eight to 10 of every 1,000 live births in the United States. Many infants with CHDs die in the first year of life, and infants who survive often require numerous surgeries, lengthy hospitalizations and a lifetime of treatment for related disabilities.

Women who smoke should know that in addition to smoking being a possible cause for heart defects, the following are also of concern:

• Smoking makes it harder for a woman to get pregnant.
• Women who smoke during pregnancy are more likely than other women to have a miscarriage.
• Smoking during pregnancy causes major health problems for both mother and baby. For example, smoking is one of the causes of problems with the placenta — the source of the baby's nutrition and oxygen during pregnancy.
• Smoking during pregnancy can cause a baby to be born too early and have low birth weight — making it more likely the baby will become sick or die.
• Babies born to women who smoke are more likely to have a cleft lip or cleft palate — types of birth defects.
• Smoking during and after pregnancy is one of the causes of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

For information about birth defects, please visit www.cdc.gov/ncbddd, for more information about smoking please visit www.cdc.gov/tobacco or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.

Exercise at Your Own Pace as Effective

Slow and Steady

Do you huff and puff your way through workouts -- and hate every gasp?

Then slow it down, especially if weight loss is one of your goals. New research shows that lower-intensity exercise may help you shed more pounds than a faster-paced activity -- as long as you burn enough calories from it. So get out of the high-speed lane. Walk, don't run. Jog, don't sprint. Skip the spinning class and pedal an exercise bike at a comfortable speed, all the while chanting: Do less, lose more.

The study compared two groups of women who did slower- or faster-paced sessions on the treadmill 4 days a week. During the sessions, each group exercised at their respective paces until the same number of calories was burned. After 3 months -- with absolutely no dieting -- the slower-goers had lost an average of more than 7 pounds each, while the quicker group had dropped only 4. Although the study was small, the numbers are compelling.

Not a treadmill type? No problem. Do whatever you like; just do something. The results are waiting!

Source : http://www.realage.com/ct/tips/2998

It's the Least You Can Do

Source: http://www.realage.com//ct/shape-up-slim-down/workouts/tip/5515

Exactly how little can you do and still get fit? A new study suggests 1.7 might be the magic number.

Middle-aged men and women at risk for heart disease who walk at a moderate pace for just 1.7 miles a day improve several important measures of their aerobic fitness.

More Is More
Ok, we admit it. The data show that jogging at full speed for nearly 3 miles a day reaps the greatest cardiovascular benefits. But if jogging shorts and running shoes aren't your style -- or you're just feeling kinda tired today -- at least get yourself out there for 1.7 miles. It's still enough to keep you on the road to better fitness. (Need more motivation? Find a fitness buddy you can report to daily on our message boards.)

More Ways to Do Less
Going slower doesn't always mean that you'll lose the fitness race. Here are some other ways to keep yourself in the game when you feel like throwing in the towel:

• Slow it down. You don't have to keep up with that marathon runner. Here's why going slower may actually be better for burning calories.
• Take a breather. Right in the middle of your workout. Here's how it helps you burn more fat and calories.
• Break it up. Can't pull together 30 minutes of exercise? Grab 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch, and 10 minutes after dinner. Done. Here's more on the 10-minute plan.

Did You Know?
A supershort workout may have advantages, too. As long as you pick up the pace. Here's how to do it.

RealAge Benefit: Exercising regularly can make your RealAge as much as 9 years younger.

Organ Donation - Give LIfe!!

Organ donation: Don't let these 10 myths confuse you

source:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organ-donation/FL00077

Unsure about donating organs for transplant? Don't let rumors stand in your way of saving lives.

Enough people to populate a small city — nearly 100,000 — are on the U.S. organ transplant waiting list, waiting for an organ donation. On an average day, about 77 people receive organ transplants. But thousands more never get that call from their transplant center saying a suitable donor organ — and a second chance at life — has been found.

It can be hard to think about what's going to happen to your body after you die, let alone donating your organs and tissue. But being an organ donor is a generous and worthwhile decision that can be a lifesaver. Understanding organ donation can make you feel better about your choice. If you've delayed your decision to be a donor because of possibly inaccurate information, here are answers to some common organ donation myths and concerns.

Myth No. 1. If I agree to donate my organs, my doctor or the emergency room staff won't work as hard to save my life. They'll remove my organs as soon as possible to save somebody else.

Reality. When you go to the hospital for treatment, doctors focus on saving your life — not somebody else's. You'll be seen by a doctor whose specialty most closely matches your particular emergency. The doctor in charge of your care has nothing to do with transplantation.

Myth No. 2. Maybe I won't really be dead when they sign my death certificate. It'll be too late for me if they've taken my organs for transplantation. I might have otherwise recovered.

Reality. Although it's a popular topic in the tabloids, in reality, people don't start to wiggle a toe after they're declared dead. In fact, people who have agreed to organ donation are given more tests to determine that they are truly dead than are those who haven't agreed to organ donation.

Myth No. 3. Organ donation is against my religion.

Reality. Organ donation is consistent with the beliefs of most religions. This includes Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam and most branches of Judaism. If you're unsure of or uncomfortable with your faith's position on donation, ask a member of your clergy. Another option is to check the federal Web site OrganDonor.gov, which provides religious views on organ donation and transplantation by denomination.

Myth No. 4. I'm under age 18. I'm too young to make this decision.

Reality. That's true, in a legal sense. But your parents can authorize this decision. You can express to your parents your wish to donate, and your parents can give their consent knowing that it's what you wanted. Children, too, are in need of organ transplants, and they usually need organs smaller than those an adult can provide.

Myth No. 5. I want my loved one to have an open-casket funeral. That can't happen if his or her organs or tissues have been donated.

Reality. Organ and tissue donation doesn't interfere with having an open-casket funeral. The donor's body is clothed for burial, so there are no visible signs of organ or tissue donation. For eye donation, an artificial eye is inserted, the lids are closed, and no one can tell any difference. For bone donation, a rod is inserted where bone is removed. With skin donation, a very thin layer of skin similar to a sunburn peel is taken from the donor's back. Because the donor is clothed and lying on his or her back in the casket, no one can see any difference.

Myth No. 6. I'm too old to donate. Nobody would want my organs.

Reality. There's no defined cutoff age for donating organs. Organs have been successfully transplanted from donors in their 70s and 80s. The decision to use your organs is based on strict medical criteria, not age. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Let the doctors decide at your time of death whether your organs and tissues are suitable for transplantation.

Myth No. 7. I'm not in the greatest health, and my eyesight is poor. Nobody would want my organs or tissues.

Reality. Very few medical conditions automatically disqualify you from donating organs. The decision to use an organ is based on strict medical criteria. It may turn out that certain organs are not suitable for transplantation, but other organs and tissues may be fine. Don't disqualify yourself prematurely. Only medical professionals at the time of your death can determine whether your organs are suitable for transplantation.

Myth No. 8. I would like to donate one of my kidneys now, rather than wait until my death. But I hear you can't do that unless you're a close family member of someone in need.

Reality. While that used to be the case, it isn't any longer. Whether it's a distant family member, friend or complete stranger you want to help, you can donate a kidney through certain transplant centers. If you decide to become a living donor, you will undergo extensive questioning to ensure that you are aware of the risks and make sure you're giving away your kidney out of pure goodwill and not in return for financial gain. You will also undergo testing to determine that your kidneys are in good shape and that you can live a healthy life with just one kidney. You can also donate blood or bone marrow during your lifetime. Contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross for details on where you can donate or sign up.

Myth No. 9. Rich, famous and powerful people always seem to move to the front of the line when they need a donor organ. There's no way to ensure that my organs will go to those who've waited the longest or are the neediest.

Reality. The rich and famous aren't given priority when it comes to allocating organs. It may seem that way because of the amount of publicity generated when celebrities receive a transplant, but they are treated no differently from anyone else. In fact, the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the organization responsible for maintaining the national organ transplant network, subjects all celebrity transplants to an internal audit to make sure the organ allocation was appropriate.

Myth No. 10. My family will be charged if I donate my organs.

Reality. The organ donor's family is never charged for donating. The family is charged for the cost of all final efforts to save your life, and those costs are sometimes misinterpreted as costs related to organ donation. Costs for organ removal go to the transplant recipient.

How to donate

Contrary to popular belief, signing a donor card or your driver's license does not guarantee that your organs will be donated. The best way to ensure that your wishes are carried out is to inform your family of your desire to donate. Doing this in writing ensures that your wishes will be considered. Hospitals seek consent of the next of kin before removing organs. If your family members know you wanted to be a donor, it makes it easier for them to give their consent.

If you have no next of kin or you doubt your family will agree to donate your organs, you can assign durable power of attorney to someone who you know will abide by your wishes. A lawyer can help you prepare this document.

Why you should consider organ donation

Being an organ donor can make a big difference, and not just to one person. By donating your organs after you die, you can save or improve as many as 50 lives. And many families who have lost a loved one who became an organ donor say that knowing their loved one helped save other lives helps them cope with their loss.

It's especially important to consider becoming an organ donor if you belong to an ethnic minority. Minorities including African-Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to have certain chronic conditions that affect the kidney, heart, lung, pancreas and liver. Certain blood types are more prevalent in ethnic minority populations. Because matching blood type is necessary for transplants, the need for minority donor organs is especially high.

VIT A 2,500IU per day

Why Too Much Vitamin A Is Bad

http://www.realage.com//ct/eat-smart/food-and-nutrition/tip/5467

Somersaulting down the sidewalk isn't the only thing that's bad for your skeleton. So is taking too much vitamin A.

Your body definitely needs some vitamin A, but more than 2,500 international units (IU) a day could hurt new bone formation.

Know Your Limits
You can't OD on food sources of vitamin A -- carrots, red peppers, sweet potatoes, and the like. (Find other vitamin-A-rich foods with this online tool). Just make sure your vitamins and supplements don't put you over the 2,500 IU limit -- and choose supplements that contain the beta carotene form of vitamin A.

Other things that are bad for your bones: cigarettes and excessive alcohol.

More Ways to Boost Your Bones
Keeping bones strong is easy! Just follow this advice:

• Beware the supermodel diet. What's that? High protein and diet cola. Here's why it's bad for bones.
• Ditch the cigs. Check out this butt-kicking plan from Mehmet Oz, MD, and Michael Roizen, MD.
• Add these exercises to your workout.
• Get plenty of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Here are some good food sources of K.

Know your osteoporosis risk, so you know what you're dealing with. Take this risk assessment right now!
RealAge Benefit: Taking unnecessary vitamins and supplements can make your RealAge as much as 1.7 years older.