Aaron Jencks

(HealthDay News) — Loneliness is a common source of stress among the elderly. Older men and women who have companionship live longer than those without, a recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests.
Figuring out how to prevent loneliness can be difficult, but companionship can take many forms.

Those who can help include:

• • Family, friends or a partner.
  • Live-in carergivers.
  • Pets.

Talk to your loved one to see which option is best.

Copyright © 2018 HealthDay. All Rights Reserved.

THURSDAY, Feb. 28, 2019 (HealthDay News) — When it comes to getting the best taste and the greatest nutritional value from grains, keep it whole grain. Quinoa, oats, short-grain brown rice and wild rice, polenta (which is made from corn) and barley are most nutritious in their whole, unprocessed form. That’s because the bran is still intact, and the bran is where most of the minerals, vitamins and plenty of fiber reside. Processed and packaged foods are rarely made from 100 percent whole grains. Think of them as empty carbs with lots of preservatives, so switch to these flavorful grains to load up on nutrition, including essential minerals and even some protein. Tip: Don’t be fooled by the word “multi-grain” on packages — this does not mean that a variety of or even any whole grains were used. Brown rice is high in magnesium and tryptophan, barley is high in...

(HealthDay News) — Winter can be hard for those watching their weight, the U.S. National Institutes of Health says. But you don’t have to wait until it warms up to burn those calories.
Losing winter weight can start with equipment-free, in-home exercises:

• • Squats.
  • Push-ups.
  • Planks.
  • Wall sits.
  • Lunges.
  • Jumping jacks.
  • Mountain climbers.

Working out for 30 minutes each day can burn hundreds of cold-weather calories.

Copyright © 2018 HealthDay. All Rights Reserved.

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27, 2019 (HealthDay News) — If you’re in a frequent tug of war with your kids over turning off their gadgets, it could be the tactic you use when you try to persuade them to disengage. It turns out that giving 1- to 5-year-olds a time warning that screen viewing is about to end makes the transition away from a tablet, smartphone TV or other device more painful, according to University of Washington researchers. Gadgets play a role in a growing number of households with little children. There are positives, such as helping distract toddlers during unpleasant events like getting a shot. But kids also get attached to gadgets quite easily, and getting them to put down a tablet or smartphone can be a challenge. Tech-driven situations that worsen the problem include the “autoplay” feature, which automatically starts another video when one ends, and video teasers that pop...

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Your food processor can help you get a healthy and hearty dinner on the table with a quick flick of a switch. Here are two taste-pleasers. Love making meatloaf, but don’t like handling raw meat? All the healthy ingredients can be combined in a food processor — ground turkey, which is high in protein and low in fat; oats, high in heart-healthy fiber; mushrooms, high in B vitamins; and an egg, rich in iron and B vitamins. Chunky Mushroom Meatloaf 1 pound ground turkey 1 cup quick-cooking oats 1 cup small mushrooms (white button or cremini) 1 egg 1/2 cup low-sugar, low-sodium BBQ sauce, plus an optional 1/4 cup for glaze Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place all the ingredients except the optional BBQ sauce in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Transfer to a loaf pan and smooth...

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 27, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Google Translate might be a valuable ally for doctors when they’re treating patients who don’t speak English, new research suggests. “Google Translate is more accurate than a lot of clinicians believe, and I think it’s definitely more useful than not providing anything at all,” said first author Dr. Elaine Khoong. She’s a primary care research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. “We cautiously support its use,” she added in a university news release. To come to that conclusion, Khoong and her team analyzed 100 sets of emergency discharge instructions translated by Google and found it was 92 percent accurate for Spanish and 81 percent accurate for Chinese. Of the inaccurate translations, only 2 percent of the Spanish ones and 8 percent of the Chinese ones had the potential to cause significant harm, according to the researchers. Most of those significant problems...

(HealthDay News) — Flu season is in full swing. Thousands of children under the age of 5 have been hospitalized for the flu in the last decade, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
The CDC suggests following these precautions to protect younger children:

• • Keep yourself and the child away from people who are sick.
  • If you have flu-like symptoms, avoid contact with the child.
  • Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze.
  • Try not to touch your eyes, nose or mouth.
  • Disinfect frequently touched surfaces in the home.

Copyright © 2018 HealthDay. All Rights Reserved.

(HealthDay News) — As days become shorter and the weather becomes colder, it is not uncommon to have depression-like symptoms.
For those with the winter blues, the American Psychological Association offers ways to manage symptoms:

• • Immerse yourself in daylight by going for a walk, or sitting by a window.
  • Eat healthy, low sugar meals.
  • Spend time with friends and family.
  • Stay active by exercising or scheduling pleasant activities.
  • Seek professional help if symptoms worsen.

Copyright © 2018 HealthDay. All Rights Reserved.

TUESDAY, Feb. 26, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Nuts and seeds are often mentioned in the same breath, but nuts seem to get all the attention. Time to stop overlooking seeds — they might be tiny, but they pack in a lot of nutrients. They’re also tasty and some make a filling snack. Like nuts, seeds have protein, carbohydrates and fats. Because of their fat content, they’re calorie-dense, and a half-ounce — weighed without the shell, about one tablespoon — is equivalent to an ounce of protein. Flax seeds are especially good for you because of their high omega-3 content and both soluble and insoluble fiber. To get the most benefits, buy them whole, keep them in the fridge and grind them as you need them (not in advance) — easily done in a coffee bean grinder. Besides sprinkling ground flax on cereal and yogurt, add it to smoothies, ground meat...

MONDAY, Feb. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Kids can be as strongly influenced by TV commercials as by the shows themselves, and many studies have found that tempting food ads have a particularly harmful effect, contributing to childhood obesity. While the government has stepped in with nutrition guidelines for manufacturers, these are largely voluntary and, therefore, not enforceable. So it’s up to parents to be vigilant. It might seem like the odds are stacked against you. According to a study in the journal Childhood Obesity, most food and beverage products in ads seen by 2- to 11-year-olds during kids’ programming don’t meet the guidelines of the government’s Interagency Working Group. The panel includes representatives of the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture. Plus, less than half of TV ads during kids’ programming meet the guidelines...

MONDAY, Feb. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — If supermarket circulars influence your grocery shopping, you could be saving money at the expense of your health. That’s because studies show the offerings are often far from the healthiest food choices. Researchers looked at a year’s worth of circulars from a small Midwestern grocery chain to see how the nutritional quality of sale items compared to that of the average American diet, which itself scores low. They found that sales reflected a tendency to eat too much protein and not enough fruits and vegetables. While 25 percent of sale items were for protein-based foods, only 8 percent were for vegetables and 7 percent for fruits. Worse still, less than 3 percent were for the most healthful dark green, red and orange vegetables. So, it’s important not to let these circulars dictate your eating habits. Eating healthy doesn’t have to cost as much...

MONDAY, Feb. 25, 2019 (HealthDay News) — When parents abuse prescription painkillers, their teenagers may follow their example, a new study finds. The study of thousands of U.S. teenagers found that kids were 30 percent more likely to abuse prescription opioids if one of their parents had. The results mirror what’s been seen in past studies of substance use, including cigarette smoking: When parents do it, their kids are more likely to do it. But this is the first study to look at those patterns when it comes to prescription opioid abuse, said senior researcher Denise Kandel, a professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York City. In the current opioid crisis, much of the spotlight is now on illegal drugs like heroin and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. But the roots of the epidemic go back to the 1990s, when prescriptions for opioid painkillers — like Vicodin...