As of November 2017 there are new guidelines about High Blood Pressure. You can view the video below to get a graphic description on what the new information means.
Click the image below for a pdf document you can print out.
Category Archives: health
Arthritis & Exercise
The word about knee osteoarthritis (OA) and exercise is that the more you exercise the better you will feel! I know it’s hard to believe when you’re feeling that pain in your knees, or hands, or back – name it, I’ve experienced it. I continue to look for new ways to fight back. Here is what some Arthritis sufferers have had to say about measures/precautions that helped them fight back. I found these at: http://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis
- Hot or cold compresses – 54%
- Losing weight – 42%
- Stretching – 36%
- Over-the-Counter rubs, gels or patches – 35%
- Walking – 32%
- Swimming – 28%
- Other exercise or physical activity – 23%
- Knee brace – 23%
- Shoe orthotic/insert – 20%
- Soaking in Epsom bath or hot tub – 17%
- Yoga – 14%
Can You/Should You Record Your Doctor Visits?
I don’t know about you, but I often find myself at difficulties when I am trying to recall everything my doctor talks to me about during a visit. Sometimes, I have more than one doctor’s appointment in one day. How about you? Do you recall everything, or would it be helpful if you could record your doctor visits?
You may be relieved to know the following:
♦ Patients are using recordings of their doctor visits to aid them in recalling important details discussed during their health visits.
♦ Some patients are recording their visits without the doctor’s knowledge.
Review more at: Washington Post
♦ Currently 39 of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., conform to the ‘one-party‘ consent rule, while the remaining 11 are ‘all-party’ states.
When must you get permission from everyone involved before recording? Use this link to find out the recording laws in your state:
https://www.fcc.gov
For additional information see the article below.
Arthritis Signs for Knees
Adjusting to the signs of aging is not intuitive. In recent years, I have learned to read, listen to other seniors, and constantly pay attention to the signs my body gives me.
An article in the New York Times Well section brought to my attention that early signs of arthritis could be creaking and popping sounds. Yes!
The condition for noises in the knees is called Crepitus by medical professionals. To date professionals are actually undecided whether these noises in the knees signal the beginning of Arthritis. So, what should we be aware of? Here are some guidelines:
Continue reading
Hearing Loss & Dementia
How often have you found yourself questioning whether you heard something correctly, or have asked someone to repeat themselves? Does it happen in a crowded room? Are you turning up the volume on your TV more often?
- Hearing loss that occurs gradually as you age (presbycusis) is common. About 25 percent of people in the United States between the ages of 55 and 64 have some degree of hearing loss. For those older than 65, the number of people with some hearing loss is almost 1 in 2. Source: Hearing loss – Mayo Clinic
In my research the following information gave me a more serious approach to thinking about hearing loss and why I should pay attention.
- People with mild, moderate and severe hearing loss are 2, 3 and 5 times more likely to develop dementia respectively than people with normal hearing.Even after taking into account other factors that are associated with high risk of dementia, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, age, sex and race, hearing loss and dementia are still strongly associated. Source: Dementia and hearing loss – hear-it.org
- The findings concerning hearing loss and dementia suggest that it might be possible to delay the onset of dementia through the use of hearing aids and paying more attention to the prevention and early identification of hearing loss.Source: Hearing aids, cognition and dementia – hear-it.org
Are there benefits to positive thinking?
I’m not one to make light of the fact that for some seniors aging is a difficult challenge. Loss of the ability to function the way we could when we were younger; loss of friends and companions; sickness. All of these things add to enormous stress, and sometimes despondent feelings. But what if thinking positively could help us out? Should we at least try to find a way to cultivate this habit?
♣ An article in the New York Times suggest that our thoughts can do “far more than raise one’s spirits”. How about if thinking positively could boost your immune system, alleviate depression, lower your blood pressure, give you better weight control. Would you try it?
Not taking your meds? Caution!..
I must admit that I am guilty of not taking my medications sometimes. It’s not intentional really, but it does happen. It could seem like a simple thing missing, or not taking your meds. Right? It turns out that it could actually be life threatening ! Yes!
Following is a summary of a New York Times article. You can check and find out whether you are using these excuses for not taking your meds. Non-adherence to taking prescribed medications results in
50 % of prescriptions for chronic diseases not being taken as prescribed, typically people take only half of their prescribed doses.
- Approximately 125,000 deaths and 10 percent of hospitalizations are the cause of non-adherence to prescriptions. If the drugs are not taken correctly they do not work.
- A third of kidney transplant patients don’t take their anti- rejection medications. In addition, heart attack patients do not take their blood pressure meds. Moreover, children with asthma do not use their inhalers at all, or consistently.
