Mobility Tests And Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises For Walking

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

  Medical professionals as well as family members can get a good idea of how well an older individual functions by looking at criteria such as gait speed and distance, thereby enabling them to recommend appropriate strengthening exercises and senior balance exercises. Please see more information at   http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now In the past, healthcare providers like doctors, nurses and physical therapists have measured older adults functional abilities by how far they can walk and if they lose their balance with tandem walking. For example, medical providers can ask aging adults how far they walk in the home and outside the home. Healthcare workers can also enquire if the senior patient uses an assistive device such as a cane or walker and if they have experienced a fall in the past year. More recently, healthcare providers are finding that gait speed is a more accurate depiction of a senior citizen's functional abilities and fall rates. Gait speed may be referred to as a “self-selected” comfortable speed or a safe “maximum” speed. For our understanding,  the term “gait speed” refers to self-selected gait speed, indicating that patients walk at their normal pace rather than as fast as safely possible. Gait speed is a practical test that takes only minutes to complete and uses inexpensive equipment such as a stopwatch and a facility hallway. Gait speed can be recorded as the patient walks with or without an assistive device. Patients may start with a necessary assistive device and progress to a lesser device, or undergo gait speed measure­ment in the same manner throughout the course of therapy. Measuring gait speed in older adults is important as it demonstrates how slowed gait speed limits function (e.g., not being able to walk with sufficient speed to cross a street with a controlled traffic light). Gait speeds are easy to measure and can even be done by family members at home. Gait speed test design: The person is instructed to walk at a comfortable speed down corridor unaware of start-and-stop timing points. If measuring gait speed over a distance of 4 meters, the patient is commonly instructed to walk at a normal pace (self-selected speed) down a hallway through a 1-m zone for acceleration, a central 4-m “testing” zone that is timed with a stopwatch, and a 1-m zone for deceleration. The central 4-m testing zone is bounded by a starting line and a finish line that are not visible to the patient; assessment of gait speed begins when the patient’s lead leg crosses the starting line and ends when the patient’s lead leg crosses the finish line. Medical researchers have provided normative data that indicates that healthy community-dwelling men aged 60 to 69 years walk at an average of 1.34 m/s; healthy women walk 1.24 m/s (Table 1). By the time individuals reach 80 to 99 years, average gait speed has slowed to 0.97 m/s for men and to 0.94 m/s for women. Medical researchers found that a “household ambulator” describes those who walk at 0.2 to 0.4 m/s; these individuals typically require assistance entering and exiting structures and have difficulty climbing stairs in the home. A patient who has undergone a cerebrovascular accident or stroke, for example, has an average gait speed of 0.29 m/s and thus falls into this category along with seniors with acute hip fracture, who have an average gait speed. Furthermore, Those with gait speeds of at least 0.89 m/s are typically able to complete household chores, individuals who can walk 1.11 m/s or faster are able to carry groceries and complete light yard work, and those who can ambulate at a speed of at least 1.33 m/s are commonly able to climb several flights of stairs. Overall, medical researchers discovered that older adults who have a slow walking speed tend to experience a greater number of falls and require greater dedication to working on senior balance exercises to improve their stability. ^.

Senior Balance Exercises For Safe Walking

     one aspect of senior balance exercises includes learning how to center our body mass over our feet.  Stability exercises also involve generating a plumb line through our body to anchor our center body mass in the middle of our feet. Finding that balance point, is a key aspect of balance training and steadiness routines, which helped to improve stability and eliminate excessive sway motion. Having a good sense of controlling your body weight will translate to improved walking speeds and enhanced stability with gait.  As Baby Boomers age, they increasingly face obstacles like balance problems and episodes of lightheadedness and unsteadiness. The incidence and risk of falling increases as we age, especially past the 60 year old mark. Practicing senior balance exercises at home can be easily done by following the direction of a qualified Physical Therapist in the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

    To improve gait speed,  get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Be strong and start balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/

Foot Disorders And Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises For Foot Discomfort

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

   Many older adults complain about pain in their feet, which can lead to imbalance and a need to practice senior balance exercises to reduce the risk of falling. Please see more information at  http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now Over the years, we all expect a lot from our feet. Our feet get us to all the places we need to go. Meanwhile, our feet provide the anchor and balance crucial to safe physical activity. Our ability to stay active often depends on keeping our feet healthy. As we age, foot problems can become common. For aging individuals, from aches and pain to bunions and corns, our feet are prone to many conditions that can cause discomfort and impact mobility. This shouldn’t be surprising when you consider that the distance people walk in a lifetime would take them around the globe nearly six times. Yet, our feet are often neglected and foot pain is frequently written off as an insignificant risk to health.  With the belief that foot ailments are not adequately considered as a possible root cause of disability that limits the activity of many older adults, Dr. Marian Hannan, D.Sc., M.P.H.Co-Director of Musculoskeletal Research Center and Senior Scientist, and her team in the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife, have focused on the significance of foot pain and its impact on senior health and quality of life. She is currently conducting research on risk factors for foot disorders, arthritis, hip fracture and osteoporosis. She is particularly interested in the effect of biomechanics upon physical function and the influence of body composition and nutrition upon bone health. As we learn more from her research, it becomes even clearer that seniors should understand that foot problems often require medical attention and should not be ignored as an inevitable part of aging. In fact, medical providers not only recommend treatments for foot pain but they also suggest that older adults perform senior balance exercises in order to develop adequate stability skills to minimize the likelihood of falling and being injured.

Senior Balance Exercises For Foot Pain

   For those older adults who can relate to having foot pain, one suggestion to minimize the secondary effects of imbalance and fall risk is to rehearse senior balance exercises on a daily basis. To help improve steadiness and combat the imbalance that occurs with foot pain, you can perform certain equilibrium routines.  as an example, you can practice standing with your feet in a shoulder width position with your body weight centered in the middle of your feet. In this alignment, practice shifting your body weight forwards and backwards. By doing this stability routine, you will develop adequate leg muscle strength and strong balance reactions to help pull your body weight back over your feet if you start leaning too far forwards. You can learn how to perform weight shifting techniques and other senior balance exercises by following the instructions of a knowledgeable Physical Therapist in the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Learn balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD

    Older adults who have foot pain should get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

With foot pain, start balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/

Prevent Falls With Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises: Where Accidental Becomes Preventable

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

      The habit and benefits of performing senior balance exercises every day is gaining an enormous amount of attention these days as our population ages. See <http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now> Statistics validate that one in every three Seniors fall each year. About 20 million older adults are expected to fall and injure themselves this year alone. More often than not, the consequences of those spills result in debilitating fractures of the wrist or hip or shoulder or even a head injury. Fall prevention is now a wide-spread focus of the health care industry. Fall avoidance is taught in almost every medical facility now to try to reduce the frequency of falling for aging individuals to continue an independent and high quality of life. As you can imagine,  the loss of quality of life that occurs following a fall is substantial. Additionally, healthcare professionals and loved ones hope to diminished the enormously high cost of medical care subsequent to a fall.

Balance Exercises Are Part Of The Solution

      Senior Balance exercises have proven to be a key component in the fight against falling. Balance drills have been determined through numerous research studies to reduce the risk of falling, enhance leg strength, and boost the individual's confidence. Stability exercises assist in advancing balance skills and balance reactions in challenging environments. Certain Steadiness techniques make standing and walking on uneven surfaces easier like thick carpet, grass, or icy sidewalks. Equilibrium exercises can facilitate getting up out of a low couch or chair and not losing steadiness, like falling all the way forwards, upon standing. Equilibrium specialists, like physical therapists, also have valuable techniques that help to increase safety and prevent falls. There are several ways to safety proof your home to reduce the risk of accidental falls. Therapists can teach viable techniques that help to diminish the risk of tripping on a throw rug and falling or falling downstairs. Balance workouts and balance instruction can transform accidental occurrences into preventable situations, thereby lowering the frequency of falling.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

     The most cost-effective tool to learn balance drills, balance techniques and safety measures to turn possible accidental falls into preventable stable situations is the Exercise For Balance DVD. Quite frankly, to obtain the best value in balance routines to help you beat the odds of falling, get the Exercise For Balance DVD.The Exercise For Balance DVD is the perfect instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The Exercise For Balance DVD is loaded with the best balance exercises and strength exercises needed to elevate fitness and to perform basic activities like walking, getting up from a chair, standing, stair climbing or to advance to high level activities like biking, dancing and hiking. In the Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to boost balance, balance techniques and balance exercises from a licensed Physical Therapist who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 20 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the Buy Now Button

 Start balance techniques, balance exercises and strength exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD to stay on your feet and beat the odds!

See more at http://www.nih.gov

Be Spring Ready With Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises For Spring

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

       As the days grow warmer and the nights grow longer it is time to practice senior balance exercises for all your outdoor activities. Please see more information at http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now  Springtime is a lovely time of the year when the trees and flowers are beginning to bud and new life is all around us. Spring reminds us to get out and enjoy the warm weather and lovely sunshine. Springtime invites us to embark on many outdoor endeavors such as gardening, golfing, playing tennis, playing bocce ball, hiking, taking the dog for a walk or taking a long walk on a sandy beach.   Take gardening for example. During gardening activities, you often bend down to pull weeds, plant seeds or flowers, pull the hose into a new position, step over edging, rocks or railroad ties. These movements require a substantial amount of stability during combinations of dynamic and static movements where you stand on one foot and move the other foot into a different position, while stepping over objects or stepping onto uneven surfaces.  Before heading out for a lovely time outdoors, however, it is essential to practice specific senior balance exercises to boost stability and limit any possibility of a fall.

Senior Balance Exercises For Outdoor Activities

    As you prepare to enjoy a lovely spring season, be sure to rehearse specific senior balance exercises that will help you improve steadiness and minimize the possibility of a fall. For the necessary balance abilities to tackle the great outdoors during this upcoming Spring season, your balance routines need to include challenges to the balance reactions at your ankles.  When gardening, playing golf or  walking on trails or any uneven surfaces, your ankles respond to the different terrain by quickly moving back and forth to correct your constantly changing balance point. You can maximize your balance reaction abilities by practicing simple balance training routines at home, like standing with one foot directly in front of the other. This position of standing with one foot in front of the other is called tandem standing. During tandem standing, your ankles will move back and forth to keep you upright and to build stronger balance reactions to help keep you upright on uneven surfaces. Another specific balance training technique to practice before you will step outside is to stand on one foot while you turn your head side to side. That specific balance technique will mimic walking outside and looking at the outstanding beauty, while you stay safe walking on the trail or on the golf course. So before you head out to enjoy the wonderful spring weather, please practice these and other senior balance exercises that are presented by a knowledgeable physical therapist in the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Learn balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD

    As the weather gets warmer and you want to head outside, first get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Enjoy outdoors by starting balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/

Chronic Fatigue And Senior Balance Exercises

Move Safely With Senior Balance Exercises

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

   Many older individuals experience chronic fatigue, joint stiffness, generalized discomfort and imbalance, which can be helped by participating in gentle movement exercises built on a foundation of senior balance exercises. Please see more information at   http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now Often times older adults have experienced some form of trauma within their body that causes them to have tight muscles that are constantly contracting in either their back or their stomach. As an example if an order individual has spinal surgery, many times after the surgical procedure there muscles will respond by staying in constant contraction because of the trauma to the muscles during the surgery. Another example is older people who have heart surgery and have trauma to the muscles in their abdominal region find that their muscles are constantly contracted in their stomach causing long-term chronic pain. When these muscle systems contract on a long-term basis the result is an in enormous expenditure of energy. In physical therapy clinics, one of the most common complaints we received from elderly individuals is that they are always tired. These older folks do not lack energy. The problem is that their muscles are in voluntarily and unconsciously contracted which uses up large amounts of energy. These chronic muscle contractions continue even when the older folks are lying down resting or sleeping. As a result many individuals in the aging population get up in the morning feeling not only muscle achiness but fatigue as well. One way to help combat muscle achiness as well as constant muscle contraction is to participate in gentle movement patterns. These movement patterns can involve gentle stretching exercises as well as gentle rotation exercises. The stretching routines however, should be preceded by performing senior balance exercises in order to develop necessary stability for all movement activities.

Senior Balance Exercises For Fatigue

    senior balance exercises are the first step towards starting an exercise program for those folks who suffer with chronic conditions, such as chronic fatigue. Even for those individuals who struggle with chronic issues like fatigue or pain like arthritis in the knees or back pain, beginning a gentle exercise program can create many benefits. The first step is to practice certain balance techniques that will enable you to focus on the sense of touch between your feet and the floor, which will increase your steadiness and reduce any risk for falling, while you perform gentle stretching routines for your pain and fatigue. Additionally, you can progress your equilibrium routines by practicing standing exercises that begin on solid surfaces like tile and hardwood floors and eventually progresses to standing on uneven and unstable surfaces like thick carpet, cushions or grass. Furthermore, senior balance exercises can be advanced by moving from standing exercises to walking exercises with a wide base of support, progressing to a narrow base of support. For more information, you can follow along with a proven balance exercise routine developed by an experienced Physical Therapist in the comfort of your own home with the Exercise For Balance DVD

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Learn balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD

    To get a handle on pain and fatigue, first get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Don't wait. Start balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/

Weeding And Senior Balance Exercises

Senior Balance Exercises For Gardening

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

   Well, it's that time of the year to spruce up the garden and lawn with a little weeding, but before you head outside, try a few senior balance exercises to make sure you don't tip over and fall. Please see more information at   http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now One of the common way to get injured while gardening is to lose your balance and fall. Sometimes, older folks trip over a hose or a rake and take a fall. Sometimes it is easy to trip going up deck stairs or railroad ties that are in the backyard, which can precede falling. The potential of a fall also increases if the surface of the deck or grass is wet. Before starting to work in your garden, it is essential to practice specific stability skills to be able to manage how you control the way your body weight shifts while you are transitioning from standing to squatting or while in a squatting position leaning forward to pull weeds. Thankfully,  there are certain steadiness techniques that you can use to maintain a center of balance as well as senior balance exercises to improve your stability to minimize the possibility of a fall while gardening.

Senior Balance Exercises For Weeding

  Before you begin your energetic weeding or gardening program, be sure to perform senior balance exercises to boost your stability skills and prevent a fall. For example, The first step to staying safe with outdoor events like gardening and weeding is to practice steadiness routines to advance  general steadiness and reduce any risk of falling. One of the basic principles to good stability is learning to control how you move  your body weight within what is called your base of support. The body's foundation established by the area under your feet while in a standing position is called your base of support. Additionally, while in standing, your body weight must remain within your base of support in order to stay on your feet and avoid a fall. To learn how to recognize your body weight and how to move it safely within your base of support, start with standing with your feet shoulder width a part. Next, slowly shift your weight forwards into your toes and then slowly shift your body weight into your heels. Next. move your body weight side to side from your right foot to your left foot. As you control your body weight during these movements, you will begin to strengthen the natural balance reactions at your ankles, which help with stability. For an outdoor activity like weeding, you need to be able to shift your body weight into your toes without falling forwards. As a result, it is essential to practice these stability techniques of controlling your body weight shifting within your base of support. You can also advance to specific balance exercises that will advance your steadiness as well as reduce the possibility of a fall. You can learn these detailed stability strategies and an appropriate sequence of balance exercises developed by an experienced Physical Therapist in the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Learn balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD

    To be safe with gardening,  get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Garden safely by starting balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/

Vision Loss And Senior Balance Exercises

Need For Senior Balance Exercises

By Suzanne Stoke, Physical Therapist @ Exercise For Balance via www.exerciseforbalance.com

  Many older adults undergo significant vision loss in later years of their lives which can result in falling, and necessitates that aging individuals should practice senior balance exercises     http://www.exerciseforbalance.com/buy-now As we age, many older individuals experience a decline in their vision, which can lead to significant impact on health and mobility. Vision plays a critical role in maintaining body balance. Our vision helps to inform our brain what kind of surface, like carpet, thick grass, uneven sidewalks, we are walking on . Vision also helps to tell the brain about any obstacles in the path like chairs, throw rugs, or steps. Balance ability declines with the degree of vision loss. The main reason for this is that elders tend to rely more on the visual information for stable balance, and this effect increases with age. When vision declines, balance becomes more difficult to maintain. This is demonstrated when a person stands with eyes closed or walks into a dark room; in both instances balance becomes unsteady. Furthermore, with poor vision, older folks are often unable to judge how high to lift their foot when going up stairs or a curb, which can lead to a trip and fall. Elders with poor or low vision are also at great risk of falling and suffering injury. Not being able to see properly is associated with a two-fold risk of hip fracture. To combat this potential for falling, healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses and physical therapists suggest that those in the aging population should perform senior balance exercises on a daily basis.

Senior Balance Exercises For Low Vision

    Older adults who suffer with visual problems tend to experience difficulties with stability, which requires them to  perform senior balance exercises to help improve steadiness and minimize the possibility of a fall. Since vision is just one of the senses that the balance system in the brain uses for stability, older adults with low vision need to enhance their other sensory systems. As an example, the balance system in the brain relies on the sense of touch from the feet to help with equilibrium. Aging individuals can maximize their sense of touch by standing with their feet shoulder width a part and centering their body weight in the middle of their arches. In this position, they can focus on the sense of touch  between their feet and the floor. This focus on the sensory input will help connect the balance center in the brain with the sense of touch in the feet. this strong connection will help to improve overall steadiness with all movement activities. Now, older individuals can practice this equilibrium routine and other senior balance exercises in the comfort of their own home by joining in with the exercises and stability tips presented in the Exercise For Balance DVD.

Senior Balance Exercises In The Exercise For Balance DVD

Learn balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD

    For those older adults who have poor vision,  get started on a course of the best balance exercises with the Exercise For Balance DVD. The healthcare provider recommended Exercise For Balance DVD is a high quality instructional DVD to use at home or in a group setting. The easy to understand and simple to follow Exercise For Balance DVD includes  a step by step series of the latest balance and strength exercises necessary to optimize senior fitness and to carry out basic daily activities like shopping, doing laundry,  walking, standing, cleaning house, stair climbing or to advance to more difficult pursuits like skiing, dancing, playing golf and hiking. In the  comprehensive Exercise For Balance DVD, you will learn how to improve stability, how to apply steadiness techniques and how to safely execute balance routines from a  qualified balance specialist --- licensed Physical Therapist---who has worked with balance and dizziness disorders for over 25 years. Get your copy of the Exercise For Balance DVD by clicking on the BUY NOW button

Don't wait. Start balance exercises today with the Exercise For Balance DVD to improve balance and prevent falls.
For more information see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health-information/