Fresh air is free! Be greedy as you take in as much as you can with each breath!

The Importance of Good Lymphatic Drainage

What is the Lymphatic System?

The lymphatic system is one of the most vital systems in the body and it is essential for good health. It is a vital network of vessels and nodes responsible for regulating fluids, distributing proteins and filtering out poisons in the fluid between the cells. Fluids (lymph) are drained from your tissues and emptied back into your bloodstream.

The main roles of the lymphatic system include managing the fluid levels in your body, filtering out bacteria and housing white blood cells. Lymph is filtered through your spleen, thymus and lymph nodes before being emptied into the blood.

What is Lymph?

Lymph is found between the cells in your body. It enters the lymph vessels by filtration through pores in the walls of capillaries.

The lymph then travels to at least one lymph node before emptying ultimately into your right or the left subclavian vein in your neck, where it mixes back with blood.

What is the purpose of Lymph?

The purpose of lymph is to bathe the cells with water and nutrients.

How does Lymph form?

Blood vessels tend to seep fluid into surrounding tissue. The lymphatic system drains off any extra fluid to stop the tissues from puffing up. The feet in particular are prone to puffiness due to the fact that the lymphatic drainage system is working against gravity and the legs are mostly down.

What are Lymph nodes?

Lymph nodes are found at various points around your body, including your throat, armpits, chest, abdomen and groin. All lie close to arteries. Bacteria picked up from the tissues by the lymph are trapped in the lymph node. White blood cells called lymphocytes can then attack and kill the bacteria. This is why your lymph nodes tend to swell if you have an infection. Viruses and cancer cells are also trapped by lymph nodes.


Where are my Lymph Nodes?

While the lymphatic system extends all over your entire body, there are regions where lymph nodes are concentrated and act as ‘debris collection centres’. They are located in the collarbone region; the armpit region; and in the groin region of your body.

Where are my Lymphatic Vessels?

Lymphatic vessels criss-cross your entire body, except for the central nervous system. Some lymphatic vessels have valves (similar to the valves in veins), which stop the lymph from running back the wrong way.

How does the Lymph move around my Body?

The lymphatic system is not a closed system and the movement of the lymph fluid is due to functions such as peristalsis, valves, and the milking action of skeletal muscles. Lymph fluid only ever travels in one direction.

As the lymph fluid moves through your body, it collects waste products and toxins and disposes of them through your bladder, bowel, lungs, and skin. The lymphatic system is vital for both detoxification and for your immune system.  If it is not working properly, then a wide range of illnesses can develop.

After lymph flushes through your system, sucking and collecting all of the pollutants, it flows through these regions to allocated channels for cleansing/metabolism (liver) or filtering/excretion (kidneys). If an area of tissue becomes infected, the lymph transports germs and tissue chemicals to the adjacent lymph nodes, which react by producing cells, which are released into the circulation to fight the infection.

When you have a sore throat and get swollen glands (lymph nodes) on the sides of your neck, this is a signal that the lymphatic system has been activated to fight the infection. When a cancer is present in the tissues, it can be transported to the lymph nodes. That's why doctors often check lymph nodes for the presence of cancer cells.

What happens if my Lymphatic Drainage is not working properly?

Signs that the lymphatic system is not functioning properly include swelling, swollen glands, a tendency for infections or viruses, recurring tonsillitis or sore throats, skin lesions and constipation.

Some common problems associated with lymphatic drainage include:

                           Glandular Fever--symptoms include tender lymph nodes

                           Hodgkin’s Disease--a cancer of the lymphatic system

                          Oedema--swelling caused by too much fluid in the tissues

                          Tonsillitis--infection of the tonsils in the throat

Things to remember:

1.     The lymphatic system maintains fluid levels in your body.

2.    Bacteria and other microbes are taken up by the lymph and delivered to the lymph nodes for destruction.

3.    The spleen and thymus are organs, which filter your blood.

4.    Unlike the cardiovascular system, the lymphatic system is not closed and has no central pump. Lymph transport, therefore, is slow and sporadic, relying upon muscular contractions.

5.     Lymph, which enters the lymph vessels from the interstitial space usually, does not flow backwards along the vessels because of the presence of valves. However, if excessive hydrostatic pressure develops within the lymph vessels, some fluid can leak back into the interstitial space and contribute to the formation of oedema.( puffiness around the ankles)

What can I do to improve my Lymphatic Drainage?

 

You have to move!

Exercise is vital for a healthy lymphatic system. Regular exercise creates vigorous motion in your body and this is necessary for stimulating waste disposal and the flow of lymphatic fluid.

The more you move, the livelier your lymphatic system will become. An added benefit is that exercise makes you breathe more rapidly and more deeply.

There are some great leg exercises in the kit especially for lymphatic drainage.

Breathe efficiently!

You should breathe using your diaphragm. Other than circulating more oxygen to your tissues, deep, diaphragmatic breathing helps in the circulation of lymph fluid. When you breathe efficiently using your diaphragm, you are actually massaging your abdominal organs and lymphatic vessels so that the lymph fluid can flow generously.

Put your feet up!

Putting your feet up after a long day is for a reason! You are draining the lymph, which has collected there as a result of spending so much time on your feet. Spending some time during the day with your feet up is a good idea so that you don’t get the build up at the end of the day.

Drink plenty of water!

Lastly, remember to drink plenty of fresh, filtered water to keep your body optimally hydrated and to help your kidneys flush out toxins.

Consult your physiotherapist!

If you still have symptoms of a sluggish lymphatic system then you might need to consult your physiotherapist about having some lymphatic drainage.

 

Summing up

You can see why the human body needs to move and why we all need to understand what this amazingly well organized system does. It is an extraordinarily well-designed defence system against infection, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and disease. When the lymphatic system is working well and not overloaded, your health is maintained with nature's own detoxification design. However, if the lymphatic system is sluggish and there is too much waste, a blockage in the lymphatic network happens, leading to symptoms like chronic fatigue, water retention, skin conditions, infections, ear or balance problems, arthritis, headaches, excessive sweating, obesity etc.

 

 

Progressive Resistance Strength Training

As we age, we generally lose muscle strength and bulk. This reduction in muscle strength and associated weakness means that as we become older we are more likely to have problems carrying out our daily activities and are more likely to fall. This can lead to losing our functional independence. None of us want this!

Progressive Resistance Training (PRT) is a type of exercise where participants exercise their muscles against some type of resistance, which is progressively increased as their strength improves. The exercise is usually conducted 2-3 times a week at a  moderate intensity by using exercise machines, free weights, or elastic bands.

Research indicates that this form of strength training can benefit people with various medical conditions, particularly Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, and Hypertension and is an important aid to preventing falls. Psychological and social benefits from strength training have also been identified. This evidence has contributed to a recent rapid growth in strength training programs for the over 50’s throughout Australia.

As we all know, only too well, the ageing process has many physical consequences, including decreased resting metabolism, decreasing muscle strength and decreasing bone density as well as loss of muscle mass, impaired balance and increased body fat. Anecdotally, the two most problematic consequences are muscle mass loss and rapid body fat increase. In adulthood, the average basal metabolic rate (BMR) declines 2 - 3 % per decade. Increased body fat is typically the result of declining metabolic rate, muscle mass loss and lowered physical activity level. Limiting muscle mass loss and increasing BMR are the most powerful benefits of participating in a regular resistance-training program.

 

How will my muscles respond to exercise?

 

Significant declines in muscle mass, close to 50%, occur between the ages of 20 and 90. The decline is most dramatic in Type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibres.

 

Skeletal muscle is made up of bundles of individual muscle fibres, called myocytes. Each myocyte contains many myofibrils, which are strands of proteins, which can grab on to each other and pull. This shortens the muscle and causes a muscle contraction. Muscle fibres can be categorized into two main types: slow twitch (Type I) muscle fibres and fast twitch (Type II) muscle fibres. These distinctions influence how muscles respond to training and physical activity, and each fibre type is unique in its ability to contract in a certain way. Human muscles contain a genetically determined mixture of both slow and fast fibre types. On average, we have about 50 % slow twitch and 50 % fast twitch fibres in most of the muscles used for movement. Type 1 fibres are more efficient at using oxygen to generate more fuel for continuous, extended muscle contractions over a long time. They fire more slowly than Type 11 fibres and can go for a long time before they fatigue.  Type 11 fibres are much better at generating short bursts of strength or speed than slow muscles, however, they fatigue more rapidly. Fast twitch fibres generally produce the same amount of force per contraction as slow twitch fibres, but they get their name because they are able to fire more rapidly.

 

An approximate 30% decline in strength occurs between the ages of 50 and 70, which can be directly attributed to Type II muscle fibre atrophy. These types of changes are typical in sedentary individuals.

 

Surely I am too old to be doing Resistance Training!

 

Now is the time to start! It is never too late.

 

Interestingly, several studies demonstrate that when provided with adequate training stimuli, older individuals show similar or even greater strength gains than younger individuals. In a relatively short amount of time (i.e., 2 - 3 months) increases in strength levels can double or triple. Moderate progressive resistance training appears to have a profound anabolic (protein stimulating) effect in older adults and, in combination with additional high protein food intake, can result in muscle growth. Sufficient dietary protein intake is needed to facilitate muscular maintenance and growth, which is often lacking in older adults.

 

How will Resistance Training affect my Bone Density?

 

Muscle mass loss may also contribute to bone density reduction. For this reason, the importance of employing strength training as a means of preserving as well as increasing muscle mass and strength in sedentary older individuals should be realized. The combination of losses of muscle mass and bone density greatly increase the risk of falling---a major health concern among the older population. However, exercises, which improve strength, balance and coordination, reduce the risk of falls and fall-related injuries.

The effects of resistance training can counteract typical age-related declines in bone health by maintaining or increasing bone mineral density and total bone mineral content. Strength training also improves balance and physical activity levels, which can dramatically reduce the risk of fractures in people with osteoporosis.

I have Arthritis. How can it help me?

Regular exercise and progressive strength training can provide positive improvements in measures of pain, disability and physical performance in individuals afflicted with osteoarthritis. These changes are greater than the traditional pharmacological or nutritional practices.

It is important never to exercise when you have acute inflammation in your joints. However, once the inflammation has subsided, exercise will help substantially. Exercising in warm water is always good when you have painful joints and you can add resistance in the water.

Consult your GP.

With increasing age and varying fitness levels, it is important for individuals to consult their General Practitioners prior to beginning or resuming an exercise program. Once clearance has been authorized, it is imperative to receive proper instruction from a Physiotherapist. In many instances, using tubing or one's own body weight can be sufficient when starting out. Machines also serve as excellent starting points for beginners and allow for an accelerated learning curve but supervision will be required for some time at the outset.

How do I go about starting a Progressive Resistance Program?

Once a base of muscular skill, strength and coordination has been established, gradual progressions in weight and repetitions should be made on a regular basis to maintain muscle growth. Multi-joint exercises are preferred since they assist in the development of muscular fitness and strength. Where possible, exercises should be performed in a standing position due to the added benefits of working against gravity on bone density.

·      To allow adequate physiological adaptation, it is important to engage in a minimum of 2 resistance-training sessions per week.

·       All exercises should be performed through a pain free range of motion. As these adaptations occur, the exerciser's range of motion and flexibility will gradually improve.

·      Large muscle groups should be worked before progressing to smaller muscle groups.

·      Start with lighter weights and higher repetitions (i.e., 1 to 2 sets of 10 to 15 reps). If any exercise causes unusual or extended periods of pain, it should be discontinued until its source has been identified.

·      Personal Trainers are encouraged to consult a Physiotherapist to get advice on appropriate exercises for individuals with a chronic disease or disability.

What are the Potential Benefits of Resistance Training?

·      Increased number of Type II (fast-twitch) muscle fibres

·      Increased strength of connective tissues (e.g., tendons, ligaments, fascia)

·      Increased motor skill performance

·      Increased lean body weight (muscle)

·      Increased bone mass and density

·      Decreased % body fat

·      Increased balance, flexibility, strength & coordination.

Resistance Training Guidelines

·      Obtain a GP's approval before starting or resuming an exercise program.

·      Do not exercise on an empty stomach.

·      Drink plenty of water before, during and after training.

·      Use extended warm-up and cool-down periods (i.e., 5 to 10 minutes).

·      Always practise controlled diaphragmatic breathing while lifting weights.

·      All movements should be controlled and carried through a complete pain free range of motion.

·      Augment your strength training with cardiovascular exercise to increase your endurance. (This could be swimming, walking or riding a stationary bicycle. )

·      Exercise at an intensity for which it is difficult, but not impossible, to talk, and try to maintain the activity for 30 minutes.

·      Follow a nutritious diet. Base your meals on whole grains, low-fat protein, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, pulses and seeds. 

·      Exercising will increase your water requirements; so don't wait until you're thirsty to have a drink. Aim for at least 6 glasses per day.

Methods to Achieve Resistance Training Overload and Progress

·      Increase resistance or weight

·      Increase number of repetitions

·      Increase sets

·      Decrease the rest period between sets or exercises

 

          How can I do this safely?

·      Consult your GP.

·      Visit your Actively Ageing Preferred Provider Physio and embark on a monitored Progressive resistance Training Exercise Regime.

·      You should enrol in an Actively Ageing Course to learn about core stability, diaphragmatic breathing and how to maintain an optimal posture throughout your exercise regime.

·      Keep a clear record of your progress in your Actively Ageing Workbook.

·      Most of all enjoy your program and ask your Physio to vary it every 2 months or so to keep your interest!

Try to do a crossword puzzle every day and if you are finding them easy, try doing a cryptic one. It is great way to keep your brain cells growing!

EXERCISING IN HOT WEATHER CONDITIONS

Outdoor activity can be more challenging when the temperature soars. Make sure you stay safe during hot-weather exercise by drinking enough fluids, wearing appropriate clothing and timing your workout to avoid extreme heat.

Normally, sweating regulates your body temperature. A number of factors can limit the sweat response, including intense exercise in high temperatures or high humidity, age, obesity, fever, dehydration, illness, medications and alcohol. When a person develops a heat illness, it usually occurs after prolonged exertion with excessive sweating. The result is dehydration and then electrolyte imbalances.

Older people are especially susceptible to heat-related illness such as dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke while exercising in hot weather. Following some basic guidelines and heeding all warning signs and symptoms, no matter how mild, can prevent the most serious heat illness in older people partaking in outdoor exercise. However, if these warning signs are ignored, they may progress into a life-threatening heat emergency.

Warning Signs:

1. Muscle cramps
2. Headache
3. Dizziness
4. Light headedness
5. Extreme thirst
6. Breathing Difficulties

Exercising in hot weather puts extra stress on your heart and lungs. Both the exercise itself and the air temperature increase your body temperature. To dissipate heat, more blood circulates through your skin. This leaves less blood for your muscles, which increases your heart rate.

When you exercise, the working muscles in your body generate heat, which is transported around your body via the blood. As your body temperature increases, the blood vessels near your skin open up and your sweat glands work harder. The evaporation of sweat from the surface of your body and the release of heat from your blood to the air, cools your body. In this way, your body tries to maintain its ideal temperature of 37°C.

Under normal conditions, your skin, blood vessels and perspiration level adjust to the heat. But these natural cooling systems may fail if you’re exposed to high temperatures and humidity for too long. The result may be a heat-related illness, such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heatstroke. If the humidity is high, your body faces additional stress because sweat doesn’t readily evaporate from your skin — which only pushes your body temperature higher.

Exercising in hot/humid conditions may cause your body to sweat heavily and water is therefore lost from your blood. If you do not replace this loss by drinking fluids, your blood volume will be reduced. That means your heart has to pump even harder to get the smaller volume of blood to your working muscles, skin and the other body parts..

Your heart is sending a constant supply of oxygenated blood to your exercising muscles, so there will be an increased demand on it. In this situation, there is a greater risk of damage to your heart so do not stress it to the point of feeling symptoms. When you lose too much fluid, your body temperature rises and your nervous system doesn't work properly either. Be aware that extreme fluid loss can lead to brain and heart damage.

Precautions must therefore be taken to help your body cope with exercise in hot weather:

• DRINK PLENTY OF WATER 30 minutes before you exercise.

Don’t wait to feel thirsty while you are exercising. Once you are thirsty your body is suffering from the effects of dehydration.

• REPLACE LOST ELECTROLYTES

As you sweat vital salts and minerals are leeched from your body. It’s important to maintain sodium and electrolyte levels if you are sweating profusely and exercising for over 60 minutes. The easiest way to replace these are with naturally salty foods or ‘healthy’ sports drinks but be aware of the high sugar content in most sports drinks.

• DON’T EXERCIE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY.

Try exercising in the early morning or late afternoon but certainly not in the full sun in the middle of the day.

WEAR APPROPRIATE CLOTHING

Choose lightweight, light-coloured, loose-fitting, natural fibre clothing. Make a point of choosing cotton, woollen or silk socks so that your feet can sweat naturally.

• USE SUNSCREEN

Sunburn decreases your ability to cool yourself and causes fluid loss. Use a natural sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher. Wear a hat to provide shade but choose one, which allows ventilation.

• ACCLIMATIZE TO THE HEAT

You will have a greater tolerance for exercise in the heat if you become accustomed to it slowly over one to two weeks. If travelling to a hotter climate, allow several days to acclimatize before doing intense, outdoor exercise.

• USE YOUR COMMON SENSE

Avoid hot foods, alcohol and heavy foods, which increase your core temperature. If you feel any headaches, fatigue or irritability or notice your exercise performance decreasing, stop the exercise immediately and cool down.

Understand that it is easier to prevent heat illness than to treat it once signs and symptoms develop.

Learn one new thing every day and perform one special act of kindness everyday!

1. Quit smoking
2. Limit your caffeine and alcohol intake
3. Trim the saturated fat from your Diet!
   Many of us eat too much fat. We should get no more than 35% of our daily caloric value from fat which work s out to be a maximum of 70 gm a day for women and 95 grams a day for men.
   • Remove the skin from your chicken or turkey before eating it.
   • Trim all visible fat from your meat before cooking it.
   • Choose low-fat options when eating out.
   • Don’t choose take-away food as there is an abundance of hidden fat in most.
   • Try to avoid all frying of foods.
   • Cut back on processed foods.
   • Prepare your meals from scratch using fresh produce
   • Maintain the required fat levels by choosing nuts and seeds .
4. Add some activity into your Life!
   Follow the guidelines in the Actively Ageing Workbook.

This is a condition where the heart has trouble working effectively and therefore cannot supply enough blood to all parts of the body. It can be caused by high blood pressure, a heart rate that is too fast or too slow, heart valve problems or with the heart muscle itself.

Symptoms of Heart Failure

• Breathlessness at night
• Breathlessness when walking
• Tiredness
• Difficulty exercising
• Fluid retention especially in the feet & ankles

Heart Failure can follow immediately after a problem or injury affects the heart, but more commonly it develops months or years later. Once initiated, the cardiovascular system may be unable to carry out its functions adequately. In general, heart failure is a progressive disorder which can begin with any number of culprits and deteriorate if left untreated.

It can be said that Heart Failure is a cumulative consequence of all insults to the heart over someone's life.

The prevalence of heart failure approximately DOUBLES with each decade of life. As people live longer, the occurrence of heart failure rises, as well as other conditions which complicate its treatment. Even when symptoms are absent or controlled, impaired heart function implies a reduced duration of survival. Fortunately, many factors which can prevent heart failure and improve outcome are known and can be applied at any stage. 

People who have heart failure can live longer and more active lives if it’s diagnosed early and they follow their treatment plans. For most, treatment includes medicines and lifestyle measures. 
 

Coronary heart disease is a heart condition also known as coronary artery disease, coronary atherosclerosis, or chronic ischaemic heart disease. The coronary arteries supply your heart muscle with oxygen-rich blood. Plaque narrows your arteries and reduces your blood flow to your heart muscle.

Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances found in the blood often as a result of a high saturated fat or high cholesterol diet. When plaque builds up in your arteries, the condition is called atherosclerosis.

The presence of plaque also makes it more likely that blood clots will form in your arteries. Blood clots can partially or completely block your blood flow.

Symptoms of CHD

People with coronary heart disease may experience:

• shortness of breath
• difficulty breathing
• chest pain or angina often experienced as a gripping or squeezing pain in the heart
• palpitations which may be felt as an irregular, fluttering or skipping heartbeat
• fainting,
• dizziness
• brief loss of consciousness.

Coronary heart disease can also lead to a heart attack (myocardial infarction) which occurs when one of the coronary arteries is blocked by a blood clot or a cholesterol plaque.  Part of the heart muscle is then starved of oxygenated blood and is subsequently damaged or dies. It can also lead to a stroke where the clot or plaque lodges in an artery in the brain.

Your cardiovascular system includes not only your heart, but also your blood vessels which include arteries and capillaries which carry blood through the body. Blood shuttles oxygen from the lungs, food for our tissues, hormones and a host of other cells with specific roles and functions.

Your Heart is an organ providing the driving force of the entire cardiovascular system. It rhythmically contracts at a self-generated pace, although heart rate can be modified by numerous external effects. The contractions propel blood through the vascular system to allow delivery of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and food to individual tissues. The organ is enclosed in a double-walled sac called the pericardium. This sac protects the heart, anchors its surrounding structures, and prevents overfilling of the heart with blood. It is located in front of the vertebral column and behind the breast bone. The size of the heart is about the size of the person’s fist and has a mass of between 250 grams and 350 grams. It is composed of three layers, all of which are rich with blood vessels. The heart has four chambers, two superior atria and two inferior ventricles. The atria are the receiving chambers and the ventricles are the discharging chambers. The flow of blood through the heart is done by four valves which are the tricuspid valve, the mitral valve, the aortic valve, and the pulmonary valve.

Your Vascular System is a closed circuit of branching blood vessels which carries and transfers blood products to organs and tissues. It is composed of three types of vessels:

1. Arteries
   1. These are branching, elastic tubes which carry blood away from your heart. The blood contained within them is usually oxygen-rich and under high fluid pressure. The primary exception to this rule is the pulmonary arteries, which carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs.
2. Veins
   1. These are thinner walled branching vessels that carry low fluid pressure blood (generally oxygen-poor) back to the heart. The only veins which carry oxygen-rich blood are those that return blood from the lungs to the heart.
3. Capillaries
   1. These are tiny intermediate vessels between arteries and veins where gas and food exchange occurs within individual tissues. In order to reach the many cells of tissues which depend on the vascular system as a supply line, capillaries split into elaborate branching networks of interconnecting, microscopic vessels.
4. Your Blood is the fluid which travels in the vascular system. Blood is actually a mixture of components:
   1. Plasma - a fluid substance which is mostly water, salts and protein
   2. Red Blood Cells (RBC) - cells which give blood its characteristic red colour and ability to transport oxygen
   3. White Blood Cells which mediate inflammation (for example, in response to infection).

Your lungs are two sac-like organs which occupy the chest cavity and due to a negative pressure created by breathing in, take in air from your surroundings. They contain large numbers of tiny, specialized air sacs which collect air into tunnels where blood in capillaries can intermingle with them and engage in gas exchange.

Your Neuro-endocrine System coordinates different functions of the body. It is primarily composed of the interaction of the nervous system and organs which produce hormones. In part, this system regulates effects to the heart and vascular system. 
 
Heart Disease comes in all forms but the main ones you should know about are the ones you can do something about by changing your lifestyle.