Longevity, in simple terms, refers to the average time a person lives according to certain demographic factors. In the United States, life expectancy is currently 77 years. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t live longer! Most of us dream of living a healthy, happy, long life. One in which we have enough vitality to enjoy our daily activities, be able to travel, and have fun with our loved ones… For many, however, those plans are hard to carry out due to mental and physical health problems. That’s why, if your goal is to live longer, you should start making some changes in your routine.

I always dreamed of having grandchildren and spending my afternoons playing catch with them, or going on road trips with my partner when I no longer had any work responsibilities. However, something that was always in the back of my mind was the fact that several family members had died of cancer in their 40s and 50s. I was scared I would inherit that disease, so I started looking for ways I could reduce my chances of getting it. And, I also started taking small actions in my daily life to improve my longevity. Today, I like to share with you my guide to improving your longevity.

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep is, literally, your body’s way of repairing itself. For example, muscle and organ repair, and even the rewiring of the connections in the brain happen while we sleep. That’s why getting a good night’s sleep plays such an important role in improving your longevity. In fact, a study showed that sleeping less than seven hours per night was associated with an increased risk of all-cause death. However, sleeping seven hours straight sounds easier than it actually is. I, for example, am a very light sleeper, and any little noise at night usually wakes me up. It is then very hard for me to fall back asleep. But I’ve started implementing little habits that help me sleep more soundly and make it easier to fall back asleep.

I started meditating before going to bed, which helped me feel more relaxed and fall asleep easier. If I wake during the night I meditate for a few minutes and then I’m dreaming in no time. I also like to drink some chamomile tea about an hour before going to bed, and read a book instead of endlessly checking my social media.

Exercise Daily

Did you know there’s a study that showed that people who exercise for around 3 hours a week had DNA and cells that were nine years younger than non-exercisers? 3 hours a week is about  only 30 minutes a day! I promise you, exercising daily will not only improve your longevity but also your quality of life in many ways. You will feel more energetic, more relaxed, and, overall, happier.

My tip for including exercise in your daily routine is to find an activity you enjoy. You won’t become a professional athlete, there’s no need to. If you enjoy nature, maybe include a daily walk around the park. Find if there are recreational basketball or soccer teams in your area and join them. Check out your local swimming pool and do a few laps everyday. It won’t feel like work if you’re actually enjoying it!

Invest in a Longevity Program

In my opinion, longevity programs are the best way to increase your life expectancy. These programs usually consist of comprehensive health check-ups, genetic and physical tests, and personalized recommended actions to improve your overall health. In my case, I was particularly worried about breast cancer –which is more common than you’d think–. Luckily, the program that I chose, David Drew Longevity Program, tests for this regularly. If you’re considering getting involved in a longevity program, I recommend you think about it as a life-long investment. You can check out David Drew Clinic costs and choose the best option for you.

Eat a Balanced Diet

My last tip is probably the most obvious one, but also one that often gets overlooked. Eating healthy can mean a lot of things. I personally have found that strict diets don’t work for me, and the key to staying healthy is not to restrict myself, but eating in a more balanced way. For example, I try to eat vegetables every day and reduce red meat intake as much as I can (studies show that plant-based diets have positive effects on chronic diseases and overall health). However, if I’m craving something greasier, it’s okay to indulge every now and then. At the end of the day, the most important thing is for your eating habits to be sustainable over time.

Living longer can be up to you. Sleeping better, eating healthier, and exercising regularly are just some examples of things you can do in your everyday life to increase your life expectancy. However, if you’re serious about wanting to live longer and healthier, getting involved in a longevity program can give you the boost you need to achieve your goal.

Do you have any questions about longevity programs or how to live longer? Please let us know in the comments below.

Although still in development, the following cancer treatments may make a difference in the future. Cancer is one of the essential illnesses in the world. It’s high mortality, and resistance to conventional treatments have encouraged the appearance of alternative therapies.

Almost all of these new strategies are still in the development stage, but perhaps one day, they will become a reality. Some of the most cutting-edge cancer treatments are summarized below.

1. Nanorobots Against Cancer

This technology began to investigate in 2014. It consists of the development of tiny robots whose main function is to roam the body in search of cancer cells. Once these have located, the nanorobots administer the drugs that they contain inside.

The benefit of this technology is evident since it ensures that only the altered cells receive the treatment, massively reducing the adverse reactions caused by current chemotherapy.

2. Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy used to treat cancer is a relatively modern and still evolving strategy. It considered as one of the most advanced cancer treatments.  Eureka has realized its power and is developing innovative immunotherapies against solid tumors using cutting-edge technology platforms, E-ALPHA® and ARTEMIS®.

For Eureka’s T-cell therapy the patient’s T cells are collected in a process similar to a blood draw. Those T cells are then engineered to target and kill the patient’s cancer cells. The engineered T cells are then infused back into the patient to fight their cancer.

3. Use of Viruses Against Cancer

Viruses are particles that are not consider as living beings because to survive, and they need to use the cellular machinery of another organism to reproduce.

The so-called oncolytic viruses are a novel strategy aimed at fighting cancer. This technique attempts to modify the viral composition so that they only affect tumor cells. In this way, when the virus enters the tumor cells, it will replicate inside it until it destroys it. With this therapy, a selective destruction of the tumor would achieve. However, this type of treatment is still in the experimentation phase, and there is still much to investigate.

4. Use of Bacteria Against Cancer

Like viruses, bacteria can also use to treat cancer. This is because it is relatively easy to manipulate your DNA. In this way, bacteria produced to produce certain substances capable of destroying tumor cells, further increasing the efficiency of the immune system.

Bacteria can also act as vectors for the aforementioned oncolytic viruses, their work being essential and very diverse in this type of experimental therapy.

5. Radioimmunotherapy

Another of the therapies currently used against cancer is radiation therapy. And it is that radiation is usually very effective for the elimination of tumor cells.

However, there is a problem with this type of therapy since the same radiation that can destroy the tumor also affects the surrounding healthy tissues, altering them.

The radioimmunotherapy is the administration of an antibody against antigens characteristic of the tumor, which will bound a radioactive substance. This fact confers selectivity to the radiation emitted, making it only affect cancer cells.

6. Stem Cells

The usage of stem cells has allowed us to develop another perspective in cancer treatment. Stem cells are cells with particular characteristics since they have a high capacity for division. They can also differentiate later in any type of cell in the body.

What does this mean? Well, they can act as a wild card and, depending on the stimuli applied, transform into cells of the pancreas, the heart or any other organ. Stem cell administration allows us to achieve high doses of chemotherapy without running the risk of destroying the rest of the body’s cells.

Stem cell transplants are used mainly in patients with leukemias or lymphomas, constituting an indirect route of treatment.

Overview of Glucose Challenge Test

The glucose challenge test estimates your body’s answer to sugar (glucose). Also, the glucose challenge test done during pregnancy screening to gestational diabetes — diabetes that occurs when fertility.

The glucose challenge test performed in a couple of steps. Primary, you take a sugary liquid. Then, after one hour, so that your blood sugar level estimated. The outcome of the glucose challenge test shows whether you may possess gestational diabetes. If the examination outcomes are over ordinary, you require an additional examination to ascertain the analysis.

What is the Glucose Challenge Test or GCT Test?

Glucose Challenge Test or GCT is the method of estimating your body’s effect on sugar or glucose. Also, it is a non-fasting examination, which implies you must not fast prior to the study. You relax for an hour, and later a blood analysis done to assess the blood sugar levels. The consequences can give normal, low, or high sugar levels.

Who Needs To Take Glucose Challenge Test

Suppose a usual urine test reveals high glucose levels, a glucose challenge test done shortly after. In some instances, it did earlier the 24th week. Gentlewomen, often the by significant BMI (Body Mass Index) or a family records of diabetes, require to get the glucose challenge test. More adult pregnant ladies, after 35, also should get the test.

Why GCT Done?

The glucose challenge test used to monitor gestational diabetes. The test generally done between weeks 24 and 28 of pregnancy.

However, it did as soon as your primary fetal appointment if you’re at a significant uncertainty of gestational diabetes over obesity, private past of gestational diabetes, a blood records of diabetes, or additional circumstances. Unusual examination ends beginning in pregnancy force mean that you possess pre-existing type 2 diabetes that wasn’t before notice, relatively than gestational diabetes.

Most utmost women that hold gestational diabetes produce normal babies. But, out precise control, gestational diabetes might begin to many pregnancy complexities, so as preeclampsia or excess fetal growth, which may raise the chance of birth traumas or indicate a C-section birth.

Is fasting Needed for the GCT test?

While the test, the mom suggested drinking a sugary juice (glucose) and later will own blood extracted one hour of holding the liquid, as blood glucose levels naturally rise in one hour. Besides, no fasting needed earlier to the test.

Can you Eat Before the GCT?

Do not consume or take anything but water later about 10 o’clock the nighttime earlier. You don’t require to make any particular arrangements earlier the pregnancy glucose challenge examination. So you may have it in the morning. But necessary to sidestep or avoid foods by plenty of sugar, so as donuts or orange liquid.

What Can You Expect

The glucose challenge test carried in two rounds. When you visit your health care provider’s department or lab, you will get to drink five measures (approximately 148 milliliters) of a syrupy glucose liquid comprising 1.8 measures (50 grams) of sugar.

You require to wait in your healthcare provider’s office during setting for your blood sugar level to examine. So think about doing a mild exercise with you. After one hour, a blood specimen secured of a vein in your arm. The blood unit used to estimate your blood sugar level. While once done the glucose challenge test, you may repeat your everyday actions.

GCT Test Normal Range in Pregnancy

Normal Results

Two-Step Testing

The glucose screening test’s typical result is blood sugar equivalent over or less than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) 1 hour following drinking the glucose solution. A specific effect suggests you don’t possess gestational diabetes.
Notes: mg/dL indicates milligrams by deciliter, and mmol/L indicates millimoles per liter. Those are two methods to show how enough glucose is within the blood.

If your plasma glucose is more significant than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L), the following measure is the oral glucose tolerance test. This inspection will confirm if you hold gestational diabetes. Most utmost women (about 2 out of 3) who use this examination do not have gestational diabetes.

ONE-STEP Testing

If your glucose level is below the unusual effects detailed here, you don’t hold gestational diabetes.

What Abnormal Results Suggest

Two-Step Testing

Unusual plasma values for a 3-hour 100-gram oral glucose tolerance examination stand:

• 1 hour: more than 180 mg/dL (10.0 mmol/L)
• 2 hours: larger than 155 mg/dL (8.6 mmol/L)
• 3 hours: higher than 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L)
• Fasting: more than 95 mg/dL (5.3 mmol/L)

One-Step Testing

Irregular body fluid values for a 2-hour 75-gram oral glucose tolerance examination remain:

• 1 hour: greater than 180 mg/dL or (10.0 mmol/L)
• 2 hours: larger than 153 mg/dL or (8.5 mmol/L)
• Fasting: more than 92 mg/dL (5.1 mmol/L)

If just a unit of your blood glucose effects in the oral glucose tolerance test is more significant than usual, your provider may advise changing any of the foods you ingest. Then, your provider might examine you over after you have adjusted your food. If more extra than one of your blood glucose results are more significant than usual, you must have gestational diabetes.

GCT or Glucose Challenge Test in Pregnancy

The glucose challenge test or GCT lasted for an hour and carried routinely performed in pregnancy to screen for gestational diabetes mellitus. Also, very significantly, it recently developed and that the GCT can also foretell a woman’s last chance of cardiovascular disease, though an explanation of this connection is not clear. In this connection, we assume that a vast GCT may recognize women with opposite unidentified cardiovascular type. Therefore, we try to assess the relationship between antepartum GCT and postpartum cardiovascular hazard agents.

OGCT Test

An Oral Glucose Challenge Test (OGCT) is a brief version of the OGTT used to examine pregnant women’s gestational diabetes symptoms. It can be performed at any point of the day, not on a bare belly. The examination comprises 50 g of glucose, with the recording after one hour. To determine whether a 50 g oral glucose challenge test (OGCT) is a helpful screening examination for pregnant women 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Method

A 50 g OGCT test conducted to 307 unselected women at 24–28 weeks of pregnancy. During venous plasma glucose (VPG) collection following 1 h was >7.8 mmol/l, OGCT was actual. Women with an accurate OGCT felt a 2 h 75 grams oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) as an affirmative analysis of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus. During starving and 2 h post, 75 g OGTT values held >5.5 mmol/I and >8 mmol/l. Women did consider diabetes.

Glucose Challenge Test or GCT Normal Range

Consequences of the glucose challenge test provided in millimoles per liter (mmol/L) or milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

• If the blood sugar level under 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) recognized normal.
• A blood sugar level of 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) or more above might mean gestational diabetes.

Any hospitals or labs do a more moderate start of 130 mg/dL (7.2 mmol/L) while screening or testing for gestational diabetes. Assume the consequences of your glucose challenge test show the chance of gestational diabetes. So in that situation, your health care provider will do an additional test — usually the glucose tolerance test — to discover the examination.

Recently, more and more women and men are embracing cosmetic surgery. If you have some concern with your body that is affecting your confidence and self-esteem, you can get a cosmetic plastic surgery procedure to help sculpt a body that you can feel confident in. A full body lift, also known as a 360-degree body lift, combines techniques to get rid of excess skin on your body and achieve a contoured body shape.

A body lift will help if you have loose skin after weight loss. This can include back rolls and extra skin on the abdomen, lower buttocks, hips, and thighs. If you want a body lift, it is essential to know about the recovery times so you may take care of yourself and plan accordingly.

This article will examine everything you need to know about a body lift. The recovery times and how to prepare for a body lift.

Read on to learn more.

Preparing for a Body Lift

Ample homework is the key to a smooth body lift recovery time. Preparation for a body lift starts before you get on the table and is as crucial for your recovery.

Here are a few things you must do before your surgery to ensure a smooth recovery afterward.

• It might be best to quit smoking at least six weeks pre-surgery to help your body heal faster after the procedure.
• Keep hydrated, and daily drink at least 8 to 10 glasses of water.
• Avoid taking blood-thinning medications for a few weeks before the procedure, as it may lead to excessive bleeding during and after the surgery.
• If your surgeon asks you to lose more weight before the surgery, you should follow their instructions.
• Get someone to drive you home after the surgery.
• Arrange for someone to help you around the house for at least for one-week post-surgery
• Prepare your home for recovery, shop for groceries, and cook and freeze food before the procedure. You should also prepare your recovery room, get extra pillows, and place everything you need at arm’s length.
• Get loose, comfortable clothes to wear during the body lift recovery time. If you do not have comfortable clothes, this would be an excellent time to go shopping.
• Get all your lab work done in time, and ask your doctor any questions you may have about the procedure.

Recovery From Body Lift Surgery

A body lift recovery time is six to eight weeks. However, everyone is different, and some recovery may take more or less time depending on the patient’s age, health, and the extent of the procedure.

A body lift is a one-day surgery, and you go home after the procedure. The surgeon will observe you for at least an hour after the procedure and prescribe medication.

The first week after the procedure is the hardest. You will have extensive swelling and bruising and some pain and discomfort. The pain medication prescribed will come in handy at this time. It might help if you also got a lot of rest in the first week to help the healing process; however, ensure you walk around the house for at least fifteen minutes to avoid blood clotting.

Ensure you wear your compression garments for the first month to help with the swelling. A cold press will also help with the swelling during the first two weeks.

The swelling and bruising should have reduced significantly by the third and fourth week. And you may start seeing the results of the surgery. You may shorten the time you wear the compression garments, but you should continue with the daily walks.

At this time, some people can go back to non-strenuous work. If you work a desk job, get up and walk around the office for at least five minutes now and then.

By the fifth and sixth week of your body lift recovery, you will see more of the surgery results as the swelling will have significantly reduced and the incisions healed.

You may also start your exercise but avoid heavy lifting until your surgeon gives you the go-ahead.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Does It Take to Recover From a Body Lift Surgery?

A body lift recovery takes at least six to eight weeks.

What Are the Possible Complications of a Full Body Lift?

Like any other surgery, a body lift procedure has its risks. Some of the possible complications include:

• Bleeding
• Fluid accumulation
• Scarring
• Infection
• Body numbness
• Blood clotting

Am I a Good Candidate for a Body Lift?

You are a good candidate for a body lift if you:

• Are healthy
• Are non-smoker
• Have a stable body weight
• Have loose, excess skin on your lower body
• Re able to take at least two to three weeks off work to recover
• Have a realistic expectation of the surgery outcome

What Areas Does a Body Lift Target?

A 360-degree body lift target several areas, including:

• Abdomen
• Buttocks
• Flanks
• Lower back
• Outer thighs