MedicalMiracle or HealthHoax? 3 Red Flags to Watch Out For
Cellulite Isn’t Real In 1968, Vogue magazine introduced American women to the word “cellulite,”warning them of a terrible “diagnosed” condition women suffered from. They encouraged the use of a special rolling pin to banish
The new year is a great time to make your health a priority again, and there are a bunch of workouts and diet plans to choose from. Too many, some might say. It can be difficult to determine exactly which health plan will help you reach your goals, but there are some pretty obvious red flags that you’ll want to avoid. Beware the Dreaded ‘Detox’ Plenty of diets, supplements, and products claim to “purify” your body by removing unspecified“toxins.” These “detoxes” conveniently forget that your kidneys and liver are already removing substances your body doesn’t need! The human body has been capable of cleansing itself for thousands of years. It doesn’t need a special smoothie or footpads to get the job done. Most detox products are nothing but snake oil, and some of them can leave you feeling worse than you did before you started using them. Unless you have been diagnosed with a disease that would impair your liver or kidneys, you don’t need to spend extra money to keep your insides clean. A healthy diet is enough. K e e p Y o u r E y As the decades tick by, you may start to notice graying hair, wrinkles, and creaky joints that were once limber. Aging is inevitable, and with it comes a litany of issues that younger folks rarely worry about. Many aging professionals preach the power of fall prevention, memory improvement exercises, and arthritis-friendly activities, but there’s one body part that’s often forgotten when it comes to aging: your eyes. Like every part of your body, your eyes show the intensity of aging. You may notice you’re straining to read this very paper or that you reach for your glasses when confronted with written or digital text. This could be due to age-related macular Caring for Your Vision as You Age
the little lumps of fat on women’s thighs and buttocks. Since then, cellulite has been used as shorthand to mean “bad body fat you need to remove.” But cellulite is not an indication of poor health. Furthermore, there’s no cure for cellulite because it’s not a disease. It would be like using a special lotion that claims it can remove the wrinkled skin on your knuckles! Most people, especially women, have cellulite. It’s perfectly natural! If you want to get in shape this year, avoid diets or products that claim to melt cellulite. This is a clear indication these treatments aren’t based on real medical science. Cure-Alls Cure Nothing A“cure-all”is any product, treatment, or diet that claims to cure a bunch of unrelatedmedical problems. Cure-alls have been a problem for centuries, claiming to help with weight loss, migraines, heart disease, anxiety, depression, and even baldness! This isn’t howmedicine or the human body works. One change cannot magically fix many different, sometimes unrelated, problems.
A good way to determine if something is a cure-all is to check if it claims to help treat, prevent, or cure cancer. That’s a big red flag you want to avoid.
A decrease in vision is normal because eyes develop wear over decades of use. However, there are many common conditions that are not normal for healthy eye aging. Glaucoma, damage to the optic nerve that diminishes peripheral vision, is hereditary but often painless with little effect outside vision loss. Cataracts are also common in aging eyes. These appear as cloudy portions on otherwise clear sections of the eye and can lead to worsening vision. Eye conditions can also manifest as a result of chronic conditions. For example, those with diabetes —more commonly, those who have had diabetes for a long time — face the risk of diabetic retinopathy, damage to the blood vessels that nourish the retina. This condition can cause blindness, depending on the severity. While you may not be able to reverse the side effects of aging, you can effectively diminish its impacts. Avoid retina damage caused by digital blue light waves that computers, TVs, and phones emit by decreasing the amount of time you spend staring at these objects. Experts at Johns Hopkins University recommend protecting your eyes from the sun with sunglasses or tinted windows and increasing the longevity of your eye health with regular exercise and a healthy diet. Experts have linked staying active and maintaining a healthy weight with decreased vision loss and a lower risk for cataracts and glaucoma.
degeneration. While the peripheral vision is not affected, the macula, which aids in regular activities like driving and watching television, is diminished with this condition.
Learn more about eye protection and vision conditions from the American Optometric Association by visiting AOA.org.
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