Exercise and physical activity are good for just about everyone, including older adults. There are four main types and each type is different. Doing them all will give you more benefits.:

• Endurance, or aerobic, activities increase your breathing and heart rate. Brisk walking or jogging, dancing, swimming, and biking are examples.
• Strength exercises make your muscles stronger. Lifting weights or using a resistance band can build strength.
• Balance exercises help prevent falls
• Flexibility exercises stretch your muscles and can help your body stay limber

If you have not been active, you can start slowly and work up to your goal. How much exercise you need depends on your age and health. Check with your health care provider on what is right for you.

NIH: National Institute on Aging

Even if your eyes feel healthy, you could have a problem and not know it. That's why regular eye exams are so important. Refractive errors are the most common type of vision problem that makes it hard to see clearly. But some eye conditions or diseases don't have any symptoms and can lead to a permanent loss of vision.

Some common eye diseases and conditions include:

• Cataracts, which happens when the clear lens in the front of your eye becomes cloudy. Cataracts are common as you get older and can lead to vision loss.
• Optic nerve disorders, which includes glaucoma. Glaucoma usually happens when the fluid pressure inside your eyes slowly rises.
• Retinal disorders, which are problems with the nerve layer at the back of your eye.
• Macular degeneration, which is a disease that destroys your sharp, central vision.
• Diabetic eye problems, which can cause vision loss and blindness.
• Conjunctivitis, which is an infection also known as pink eye. It can cause pink or red itchy eyes. Some types of pink eye can spread very easily.

Some eye conditions and diseases do not always have symptoms. Early detection through a comprehensive dilated eye exam could help your eye care provider detect diseases in the early stages. Proper treatment could help slow or prevent vision loss.

Get regular eye exams and call your eye care professional right away if you notice any of these symptoms:

• A sudden change in vision
• Everything looks dim
• Flashes of light
• Eye pain
• Double vision
• Fluid coming from your eye
• Inflammation (swelling)

Getting older increases your risk of some eye diseases. Other things that may put you at a higher risk of some eye diseases can include if you:

• Are overweight or obese
• Have a family history of eye disease
• Are African American, Hispanic, or Native American
• Have certain health conditions such as Diabetic eye problems, or high blood pressure

Treatment may depend on the eye condition or disease but can include:

• A new prescription for eyeglasses or contacts
• Use of bright lights or magnifying lenses for reading and other activities
• Medicines
• Prescription eye drops or ointments
• Laser treatment
• Surgery

Depending on your eye condition or disease, treatment may slow vision loss but may not restore vision. Talk to your provider about what treatment is best for you.

Your best defense is to have regular checkups. Be sure to tell your provider if any eye diseases run in your family.

You can also help take care of your vision by making lifestyle changes to lower your risk of health conditions that can cause vision problems. This could include by:

• Protecting your eyes from the sun
• Wearing protective eyewear while using tools or playing certain sports
• Getting regular physical activity
• Staying at a healthy weight
• Quitting smoking (or not starting)
• Eating a healthy diet

NIH: National Eye Institute

An herb is a plant or plant part used for its scent, flavor, or therapeutic properties. Herbal medicines are one type of dietary supplement. They are sold as tablets, capsules, powders, teas, extracts, and fresh or dried plants. People use herbal medicines to try to maintain or improve their health.

Many people believe that products labeled "natural" are always safe and good for them. This is not necessarily true. Herbal medicines do not have to go through the testing that drugs do. Some herbs, such as comfrey and ephedra, can cause serious harm. Some herbs can interact with prescription or over-the-counter medicines.

If you are thinking about using an herbal medicine, first get information on it from reliable sources. Make sure to tell your health care provider about any herbal medicines you are taking.

NIH: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

Regular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. It has many benefits. It can improve your overall health and fitness and reduce your risk for many chronic diseases. To get the most benefit, here's how much physical activity you should get:

Get at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity each week. Or you could do a combination of the two:

• Try to spread your physical activity out over several days of the week. That's better than trying to do it all in one or two days.
• Some days you may not have long blocks of time to do physical activity. You can start slowly and break your exercise time into chunks. Even small amounts of exercise can be helpful.
• Aerobic activities include walking fast, jogging, swimming, and biking.
• Moderate intensity means that while you are doing that activity you should be able to say a few words in a row but not sing.
• Vigorous intensity means that while you are doing that activity, you won't be able to say more than a few words without stopping for a breath.

Also, do strengthening activities two or more days per week:

• Strengthening activities include lifting weights, working with exercise bands, and doing sit-ups and pushups.
• Choose activities that work all parts of your body your legs, hips, back, chest, stomach, shoulders, and arms. For each exercise, try repeating the movement 8 to 12 times. As you get stronger, work up to doing 2 or 3 rounds of each exercise for the best results.

If you are an older adult, you may also benefit from a combination of activities that include aerobic exercises, strength or resistance training, and balance training. Balance training such as walking heel-to-toe or standing on one leg may help improve stability and prevent falls. Before you start exercising, check with your health care provider to determine the best type or amount of activity for you based on your fitness level and health.

Preschool children should be physically active throughout the day, to help with their growth and development:

• They should get both structured and unstructured active play. Structured play has a goal and is directed by an adult. Examples include playing a sport or a game. Unstructured play is creative free play, such as playing on a playground.
• Encourage active play with a variety of activities.

Get 60 minutes or more of physical activity every day. Most of it should be moderate-intensity aerobic activity:

• Activities should vary and be a good fit for the child's age and physical development
• Moderate-intensity aerobic activities include walking, running, skipping, playing on the playground, playing basketball, and biking

As part of the 60 minutes or more of daily physical activity, try to do each of these at least 3 days a week: vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, muscle-strengthening activity, and bone-strengthening activity:

• Vigorous-intensity aerobic activities include running, jumping jacks, and fast swimming
• Muscle-strengthening activities include playing on playground equipment, playing tug-of-war, and doing pushups and pull-ups
• Bone-strengthening activities include hopping, skipping, jumping jacks, playing volleyball, and working with resistance bands

Older adults, pregnant women, and people who have disabilities or special health needs should check with their provider on how much physical activity they should get and what types of activities they should do.

People who are trying to lose weight may need to get more physical activity. They also need to adjust their diet, so they are burning more calories than they eat and drink.

If you have been inactive, you may need to start exercising slowly. You can keep adding more gradually. The more you can do, the better. But try not to feel overwhelmed and do what you can. Getting some physical activity is always better than getting none. Even small increases in exercise can benefit your health.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroid, happens when your thyroid gland doesn't make enough thyroid hormones to meet your body's needs.

Your thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way the body uses energy. These hormones affect nearly every organ in your body and control many of your body's most important functions. For example, they affect your breathing, heart rate, weight, digestion, and moods. Without enough thyroid hormones, many of your body's functions slow down. But there are treatments that can help.

Hypothyroidism has several causes. They include:

• Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder where your immune system attacks your thyroid. This is the most common cause.
• Thyroiditis, inflammation of the thyroid
• Congenital hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism that is present at birth
• Surgical removal of part or all of the thyroid
• Radiation treatment of the thyroid
• Certain medicines
• In rare cases, a pituitary disease or too much or too little iodine in your diet

You are at higher risk for hypothyroidism if you:

• Are a woman
• Are older than age 60
• Have had a thyroid problem before, such as a goiter
• Have had surgery to correct a thyroid problem
• Have received radiation treatment to the thyroid, neck, or chest
• Have a family history of thyroid disease
• Were pregnant or had a baby in the past 6 months
• Have Turner syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects females
• Have pernicious anemia, in which the body cannot make enough healthy red blood cells because it does not have enough vitamin B12
• Have Sjogren's syndrome, a disease that causes dry eyes and mouth
• Have type 1 diabetes
• Have rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects the joints
• Have lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease

The symptoms of hypothyroidism can vary from person to person and may include:

• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• A puffy face
• Trouble tolerating cold
• Joint and muscle pain
• Constipation
• Dry skin
• Dry, thinning hair
• Decreased sweating
• Heavy or irregular menstrual periods
• Fertility problems in women
• Depression
• Slowed heart rate
• Goiter, an enlarged thyroid that may cause your neck to look swollen. Sometimes it can cause trouble with breathing or swallowing.

Because hypothyroidism develops slowly, many people don't notice symptoms of the disease for months or even years.

Hypothyroidism can contribute to high cholesterol. In rare cases, untreated hypothyroidism can cause myxedema coma. This is a condition in which your body's functions slow down to the point that it becomes life-threatening.

During pregnancy, hypothyroidism can cause complications, such as premature birth, high blood pressure in pregnancy, and miscarriage. It can also slow the baby's growth and development.

Your health care provider may use many tools to make a diagnosis:

• A medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
• A physical exam
• Thyroid tests, such as
  • TSH, T3, T4, and thyroid antibody blood tests
  • Imaging tests, such as a thyroid scan, ultrasound, or radioactive iodine uptake test. A radioactive iodine uptake test measures how much radioactive iodine your thyroid takes up from your blood after you swallow a small amount of it.

The treatment for hypothyroidism is medicine to replace the hormone that your own thyroid can no longer make. About 6 to 8 weeks after you start taking the medicine, you will get a blood test to check your thyroid hormone level. Your health care provider will adjust your dose if needed. Each time your dose is adjusted, you'll have another blood test. Once you find the right dose, you will probably get a blood test in 6 months. After that, you will need the test once a year.

If you take your medicine according to the instructions, you usually should be able to control the hypothyroidism. You should never stop taking your medicine without talking with your health care provider first.

If you have Hashimoto's disease or another type of autoimmune thyroid disorder, you may be sensitive to harmful side effects from iodine. Talk to your health care provider about which foods, supplements, and medicines you need to avoid.

Women need more iodine when they are pregnant because the baby gets iodine from the mother's diet. If you are pregnant, talk with your health care provider about how much iodine you need.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases