Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Do you want to work after you retire?

 A day after labor day in Canada, I thought I would explore the idea of working after retirement. According to a survey of pre-retire's 51% would consider working past retirement aga.

More than one in five (21 per cent) pensioners have gone back to work since they reached the Pension age, or are planning to do so in the future, according to new research from Prudential.

The rise of the retired job seeker, along with the growing trend for a period of pre-retirement as previously identified by Prudential, shows how the modern retirement reality continues to shift further from the traditional norm of giving up work for good on a set date.
The most common motivation for pensioners heading back into the jobs market is a desire to keep mentally active (61 per cent), although the need to boost retirement income 56 per cent) is also driving retirees back to work.
Voluntary work is the choice of around one in six (16 per cent) retirees who are back at work or plan to return in the future – underlining the point that it is not always financial reasons that drive pensioners to seek employment. Even those who are earning are likely to take a pay cut – more than half (51 per cent) say their post retirement wages will be lower than their previous income in employment.
Meanwhile, nearly one in 20 working past Pension age are earning more than they did before, while one in 12 are setting up their own companies.
Prudential has also analyzed ONS data and found that the most likely sectors for those working past State Pension age to find employment in are teaching and education, secretarial jobs and agricultural jobs.
According to the research from Prudential, women who have passed the State Pension age are more likely to have ruled out a return to work, with 51 per cent saying they’re definitely retired compared with 44 per cent of men. So, what are your job options in retirement?

Stick with your current job
You may have hit Pension age, but that doesn’t mean you have to automatically give up your current career. One in 10 people (11%) surveyed who plan to work past state pension age would stay full time in their current jobs.

You could also go part time. More than a quarter of people in the study (27%) who aim to work past state pension age said they would stay in their current job, but reduce their working hours. It’s a chance to gradually shift into retirement mode.

Sign up for voluntary or charitable work    
When working past state pension age, many people may be motivated by reasons other than money. It can be a chance to have a renewed purpose and stay active in your community. Or it could just be because you may miss the routine.

About a quarter of everyone we surveyed (26%) were planning on doing some voluntary or charity work. 

Start your own business    
Retirement can be a time to make your long-held dreams become a reality. That may include starting a new venture. We found that 7 per cent of people surveyed said they would like to set up their own business. You could:
·       Follow your passion and try earning money from your hobby. That’s what 13% of those who plan to work past their state pension age aim to do.
·       Use the skills from your previous career to make and sell a product or sell your services.
·       Learn a new skill to create a product or service.
Whether you set up your own venture, go part time or volunteer, the big benefit is being able to choose how you fit your new working life around the other exciting things on your retirement ‘life list’ that you’d like to do.

It’s also important to think about your future income. This could be from any pensions and savings, as well as your retirement job. Carefully consider your finances, and even talk to your pension provider, so you can find your ideal lifestyle – in work and beyond.


*Research Plus conducted an independent online survey for Prudential between 25 November and 8 December 2015, among 9,318 non-retired UK adults aged 45+, including 1,000 planning to retire in 2016.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Should you have a PSA test for Prostate Cancer?

At my age, I have had a number of friends who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and some after further tests have found that did not actually had the disease and I wondered why. Many of my friends were given a PSA test by their doctor. I found out that this test is not as reliable as one may think. The information below is from the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health. They do not recommend the PSA be used for screening for Prostate cancer. However, each of is unique and I would recommend that you talk to your doctor about this test.

The PSA test is a blood test that is commonly used to detect possible prostate cancer. Elevated PSA levels may indicate the presence of prostate cancer, but can also be caused by other common non-cancer related conditions such as an enlarged prostate (also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia or BPH) or inflammation of the prostate gland (also known as prostatitis) due to an infection or other cause.

 2. Why does the CTFPHC recommend against PSA screening for prostate cancer?
The CTFPHC recommends against PSA screening because they found that the potential harms of screening outweigh the benefits.

3. Are there any other tests that can detect prostate cancer?
Currently no other screening tests have been proven to accurately identify prostate cancer. Several tests are being developed to improve the accuracy of PSA screening. However, right now there is not enough evidence to tell us whether or not they are accurate.

4. Why are there harms with PSA screening? Isn't it a simple blood test?
The PSA test is a simple blood test, but if the result is positive, men are likely to then undergo further tests such as a biopsy. There are several harms associated with biopsies, as described below. In addition, there is a risk that you will be diagnosed and treated for a slow-growing cancer that would not have caused any trouble in your lifetime.

5. What if I still want the PSA test?
Because of recent efforts to encourage screening for prostate cancer, some men may still be interested in the test. Talk to your doctor about the benefits and harms of PSA screening.

There is a benefit of having PSA screening. The benefit is a lower risk of dying from prostate cancer

1 out of every 1,000 men will escape death from prostate cancer because they were screened with PSA.

However, the task force sees the following harms with having PSA screening

False-positive results
Most men who have a positive PSA result will undergo a prostate biopsy.
A false-positive result occurs when a man with a positive PSA result undergoes a biopsy, with the biopsy showing that he does not have prostate cancer.
178 out of every 1,000 men screened with the PSA test will have an unnecessary biopsy to confirm they do not have prostate cancer.

Complications of prostate biopsy
Prostate biopsy carries a number of complications, including blood in the urine or semen, rectal bleeding, infection and in rare cases, death.

·       21 out of every 1,000 men who undergo prostate biopsy will have complications severe enough to require hospitalization.
·       2 out of every 1,000 men who undergo prostate biopsy will die within 120 days of the biopsy, because of complications.

Over diagnosis
Over diagnosis is the detection of cancers that grow so slowly they would not have caused illness or death during the man’s lifetime.
Almost half of all the cancers detected through PSA screening would not have caused illness or death in the man’s lifetime. However, because of uncertainty about whether their cancer would progress, most men will choose treatment and may experience complications of treatment.

Harms of treatment
For every 1,000 men who receive treatment for prostate cancer:
·       114–214 will have short-term complications such as infections, additional surgeries, and blood transfusions
·       127–442 will experience long-term erectile dysfunction
·       up to 178 will experience long-term urinary incontinence
·       4 or 5 will die from complications of prostate cancer surgery

Statistics related to benefits and harms were calculated from the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer (ERSPC) and the prostate cancer screening review.

Average height over time

As we age we shrink in height, but I was curious as to the Average height for men over time and when I found this information I thought I would share it.

In 2010, the average American man was 69.3 inches. A century ago, the average American man was 67 inches. Though this marks a growth of more than 2 inches, the rate at which Americans are growing has actually slowed relative to other nations.

In 1896, American men were the third tallest in the world. Since then, they've slid to 37th place in height. This is not because Americans are shrinking; it is because other nations are growing at a more rapid rate while American height growth is slowing.

American heights have stabilized over the past 50 years. Every 20 years, Americans gained about 2 inches on their parents, but today's children will average the same height as their parents. This is largely due to better health and nutrition.

Over the last decades, American children have faced fewer growth-stunting nutritional problems or health issues, and so they have grown taller. Because this improvement in health has persisted for the last 20 years or so, children are no longer growing taller than their parents.

A study published in eLife reports that those nations that have experienced more significant improvements in health and nutrition have also grown taller.

East Asians have seen significant height gains over the last century. Iranian men have grown more than any other men, with height increases averaging 6 inches in this time. In Sub-Saharan Africa, poor nutrition has stunted growth, reversing gains in height over the last 2 decades.

Men born in the Netherlands are the tallest, with heights averaging just under 72 inches. Eastern European men also rank near the top of the list.

Indonesian men are the shortest, with average heights of 62.25 inches. Men from Malawi are a close second, with an average height of just 63 inches. Yemen, Laos, and Madagascar also have some of the shortest men.

In Britain and Australia, men average 70 inches tall. In France, the average man is 69.5 inches. In most cases, female height tracks male height, such that nations with taller men also have taller women.

Women in Guatemala and the Philippines are among the world's shortest, with average heights of 58 inches.

Factors that influence height
Height is 60-80 percent heritable, which means that 60-80 percent of the difference in height between people is due to genetic factors. This suggests that genetics influences the height differences between individuals living in environments that offer quality nutrition and little exposure to disease.

In more challenging conditions, factors such as diet and exposure to disease can significantly affect height.

Factors other than genetics that can affect height include, geographic location, and birth weight.

Birth weight: Birth weight is the result of many factors, including genetics and nutrition in the womb. It is a significant predictor of height.

Being born prematurely: Premature babies tend to have a lower birth weight, and prematurity is also an independent factor affecting height. Premature babies may grow into shorter adults.

Hormones: Hormones affect growth throughout life, and especially during puberty. Hormonal imbalances can make people unusually tall or short.

Nutrition: Nutrition is a major factor in height. Individuals who have poor nutrition, especially those who do not get enough calcium, vitamin D, and other vitamins and minerals, may not grow as tall.

Geographic Location: There is a significant relationship between geographic location and ethnicity, which is related to height. Beyond this factor, location affects exposure to natural sunlight, a source of vitamin D. Location can also affect access to healthful food, poverty, and overall health.

Stunted growth: Factors that stunt growth, such as eating disorders, severe illnesses, and exposure to some medications, can cause people to grow less tall than they otherwise would.

Weight and height: How they are related and why it matters
Weight and height are connected in terms of health. A healthy body mass index (BMI) involves a greater weight as height increases. This means that one person could be considered severely obese and another could be seriously underweight if they had substantially different heights while weighing the same.

A healthy BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9. BMIs between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight, while a BMI above 30 indicates obesity. A BMI below 18.5 is considered underweight.

For an average man with a height of 69 inches, a healthy weight is between 128-168 pounds.

People with BMIs that are too low or too high are vulnerable to a wide range of medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and metabolic syndromes.

The above was taken from an article in the Medical News Today and published in June 2017 

Saturday, September 2, 2017

Be the person you dreamed you be today

Sometimes I think it is just a matter of switching gears, never looking back, and being the person today that you've always dreamed you'd be.

Entertain every thought, say every word, and make every decision from their point of view. Walk the way they would walk, dress the way they would dress, and spend your free time the way they would spend theirs. Choose the friends they would choose, eat the meals they would eat, and love and appreciate yourself the way they would.

After all, that person is who you really are so why not be them now