Health News and Information

As a means of survival you can also consider taking up the menopausal sport of jogging if you are already close to being fit and sure that you are not going to drop down dead as some men have through weak heart and over-exertion, and, if you are prepared to risk sprains, back trouble, strained muscles, dog bites and traffic accidents. Besides firming the body jogging strengthens the heart and lungs, but before starting out make sure you buy good quality jogging shoes with thick well-cushioned soles. Pounding the hard pavements severely taxes the resilience of forty-year-old joints and sinews. And start slowly. Jogging is not racing, it is a long run simply for the fitness and pleasure it gives.

Squash and tennis are good fitness sports most men have access to but many doctors regard swimming as the best exercise readily available because not only does every muscle in the body have to perform, the heart and lungs have to work rhythmically too as they build up the body into an essentially fit machine. (To swim as exercise means a minimum of twenty minutes at a good pace, rather than leisurely dipping, three times a week.) Golf, the archetypal middle-aged man’s sport, offers little exercise value unless you are carrying your own clubs.

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Obviously if you have dandruff you must use a dandruff shampoo. These contain either zinc pyrithione or selenium sulfide as active ingredients and so must be used according to manufacturers instructions on the label. If the shampoo containing pyrithione does not work for you switch to one with selenium sulfide. All dandruff shampoos have their active ingredients listed.

Where normal shampoos are concerned you have to experiment until you find a shampoo that suits your hair and leaves it in excellent condition. Cheap shampoos are inclined to be strong while the more expensive ones are better perfumed and more gentle. Most have detergent as their cleansing agent. A shampoo that is too strong will leave your hair feeling brittle and your scalp uncomfortably tight and it will strip the hair of its protection and the scalp of its natural oils. If the brand you use does not meet your demands switch brands until you find one that does.

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Should doubts, depression and feelings of failure or futility take hold, recognize them for what they are, symptoms of M-M, and try to create a way to overcome them by thinking or doing something different. The recommendation is: control your thoughts and block out depression by taking evasive action.

This may not be easy at 3 a.m. as you lie in bed, your problems crystal clear and engulfing you while everyone else is apparently blissfully asleep. There is nothing quite as effective at night as a parade of personal problems for instilling a sense of life-panic and misery.

But, as they say, think about an itch and you begin to itch. If in a cinema you think your ankles are being bitten by a flea, in no time you feel as if a flea is having a party in your pants. If on a boat you worry about being seasick, you are seasick.

Emotional problems, therapists say, are no different. If you think about them, you worry about them; worry about them and they become magnified out of all proportion. Especially at night.

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A high level of cholesterol in the blood clogs the arteries so it is sensible always to keep to a minimum the amount of foods you know contain cholesterol. As we age, the walls of important arteries thicken thus making the passage of blood difficult. With the addition of cholesterol further clogging the passage, the heart has to work harder still and can be severely taxed as it tries to force blood through to where it is needed. It is this extra effort and strain that leads to strokes and heart attacks.

A certain amount of cholesterol is permanently present in our blood, the exact amount only calculable by blood analysis. At twenty the average content is about 180 milligrams rising to around 200 milligrams at thirty, 220 milligrams at forty and, at fifty the figure is likely to have increased to around 230 milligrams. Relative blood pressures for the same ages are around 122/76, 125/76, 129/81 and 134/83.

To keep your cholesterol levels down to an acceptable level avoid all animal fats and cut down on milk products and eggs. This means eating less meat fat, less fatty meats (like pork, mutton, duck and all sausage) and limiting yourself to small amounts only of milk, cheese and eggs (never more than three a week). The rule is always to avoid fried foods and use polyunsaturated spreads like margarine instead of butter. Salad oils though fattening in excessive quantity, being of vegetable origin, are polyunsaturated too and it is generally believed that they actually combat cholesterol by working to reduce its level in the blood. Olive oil is monosaturated which means it is neither saturated (fatty), nor polyunsaturated — but acceptable. All vegetables and fruit are free of cholesterol content.

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Because of his discontentment with his lot a menopausal man’s temper is often on a short fuse. He behaves in an irritable manner, his temper flaring up at the smallest provocation. The irritability is irrational and unintentional. Bad moods may last many hours. Best defensive action is to avoid him as he will take out his temper tantrum on anyone near him. If however you are the man in question, take yourself away. Go for a walk, take in a movie. Enjoy the solitude of your own company until the irrational irritability passes.

In his observations a London analyst concludes that whereas one might cynically accuse old people who in their last years turn to religion of doing so from superstition, preparing for heaven rather than hell, menopausal men turn to religion purely for the emotional pillar and support it affords them. Renewed faith assists them through life. In their prayers they ask for help, indulgence, direction and generosity that they might sort out the muddle of their lives and fulfil life’s obligations satisfactorily and, if possible, to turn their lives to better use. To change. Faith gives a feeling that in some secure way their lives are being protected. Without God’s help they feel impotent about effecting change.

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