Five Lessons I Learned From My Years as an Alzheimer's Caregiver By Jane Farrell blog Why is life so much clearer in retrospect? With the passage of time, it is easy to look back, see the big picture and think: ΓÇ£If IΓÇÖd only known then, what I know now.ΓÇ¥ I often hear caregivers voice this sentiment. And, as a long-time AlzheimerΓÇÖs caregiver myself (for my mother, father and other relatives ΓÇö now all deceased), I feel the same way. In the rear view mirror, the decisions and choices that I agonized over at the time now either seem so obvious or so trivial. I wish IΓÇÖd not been so caught up in details that were unimportant.
_ Caregiving 5 Questions About Long-Distance Caregiving By Sondra Forsyth article What is long-distance caregiving? It can be helping Aunt Lilly sort through her medical bills or thinking about how to make the most of a weekend visit with Mom. It can include checking the references of an aide whoΓÇÖs been hired to help your grandfather or trying to take the pressure off your sister who lives in the same town as both your aging parents and her aging in-laws. Here, from the National Institute on Aging, are the answers to five key questions about long-distance caregiving:
_ Sex The Talk That Can Jump-Start Your Love Life at Any Age By Sondra Forsyth article By Eve Marx How long has it been since you and your partner made love? Six weeks? Six months? Six years? You may be surprised to know that many committed couples in seemingly happy relationships have not engaged in sex with each other in a very long time.
The World is Waking Up to MenΓÇÖs Health: Good News for Men, Women, and Children By blog IΓÇÖve been working in the field of menΓÇÖs health for more than 40 years. For much of that time, IΓÇÖve felt like a lone wolf calling out in the darkness for people to recognize that males live sicker and die sooner than females. We suffer from illnesses like addictions, depression, and Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at rates much higher than females. But over the years the balance has been shifting and now the world is waking up to the problems of menΓÇÖs health and are ready to address solutions that are good for us all.
_ Epidemics and the Global VillageΓÇ¿ By Sondra Forsyth article By Bill Miller ΓÇ¿MD The agitating Ebola emergency has captured headlines. There are some who undoubtedly assume that this kind of epidemic is unusual. However, localized epidemic disease has been a part of the biological system of the planet since the origin of life. Pandemics in which the spread of disease can encompass a continent or the world are just as ancient a process. ΓÇ¿
Energy Therapies Offer Support in Healing for Cancer Survivors By blog Reiki and Healing Touch are two energy therapies designed to support and nurture your body, mind, spirit and emotions. For cancer survivors, energy therapies work in harmony with your standard medical care and treatment. Reiki is a touch therapy that promotes relaxation and enhances healing within the body. Reiki therapy is done in a relaxed setting (seated or lying) by gentle touch on specific areas of the body.
_ Weight Loss Back to Basics: Counting Calories By Jane Farrell article Despite all the diet strategies out there, weight management still comes down to the calories you take in versus those you burn off. Fad diets may promise you that avoiding carbs or eating a mountain of grapefruit is the secret to weight loss, but it's really all about calories. CALORIES: FUEL FOR YOUR BODY Calories are the energy in food. Your body has a constant demand for energy and uses the calories from food to keep functioning. Energy from calories fuels your every action, from fidgeting to marathon running.
_ Cholesterol Drug Good for Diabetic WomenΓÇÖs Hearts By Sondra Forsyth article The cholesterol-lowering drug fenofibrate cuts cardiovascular disease risks by 30 per cent in women with type-2 diabetes, according to a study done at th University of Sydney in Australia and published in August 2014 in Diabetologia. A release from the university quotes study chairman Professor Tony Keech as saying, "The finding is good news for women. The study shows that fenofibrate reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease, or having a stroke or other adverse cardiovascular event by 30 per cent in women and 13 per cent in men."
_ Stay Safe During Lightning By Sondra Forsyth article HereΓÇÖs advice from the Centers for Disease Control to help you protect yourself and your loved ones from lightning during a thunderstorm: The weather forecast calls for a slight chance of thunderstorms, but you can only see a few fluffy white clouds overhead. So you and your tennis partner grab your racquets and balls and head for the tennis court. You spend a few minutes warming up and thenΓÇöwait! Is that thunder you hear? Was that a lightning flash?
_ Multiple Sclerosis: 5 Things You Should Know By Jane Farrell article MS can happen to just about anyone. The central nervous system disorder affects your brain and spinal cord. But it spares the nerves and muscles that lead away from the spinal cord. Nearly 350,000 people in the United States have MS. MS is a long-term illness. Infection-fighting white blood cells enter the nervous system and cause injury by stripping off the myelin sheath that protects nerves. When this happens, the nerves cannot conduct electricity as well as they should. This causes symptoms.
_ Pets Vitamins + Supplements Should Your Pet Take Supplements? By Sondra Forsyth article Our pets are like our family, right? Even pet food manufacturers now refer to ΓÇ£pet ownersΓÇ¥ as ΓÇ£pet parentsΓÇ¥ in their marketing! This humanization trend has been fueled by us Baby Boomers who are refocusing our discretionary spending on our pets rather than spending it on feathering our now empty nests. So itΓÇÖs no wonder we ΓÇ£pet parentsΓÇ¥ are now pondering the question of vitamins and other supplementation for Fido and Fluffy. But whatΓÇÖs the real scoop of pet supplements? Good idea or bad?
_ Mental & Emotional Health Say Yes to NO! By Sondra Forsyth article By Jaime Kulaga, Ph.D., LMHC No has gotten this bad reputation. “No, you can’t do that.” “No, it’s too hard.” “No, I don’t have time.” “No, I’m too old.” “No, I’ll do it some other time.” I am sure that you have said some of these statements before. And, yes, when it comes to stopping a life dream, skipping out on a risk, or self-sabotaging with the word “No,” ….YES that IS negative. In fact, saying “No” all the time could skew people’s opinions of you, making them think you are a pessimist or have a negative attitude. I get it.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition Fast Food Redeemed: Beyond Burgers and Fries By Sondra Forsyth article By Dr. Kevin J. McLaughlin Across the United States, North America and throughout the world, the impact of the fast food industry has really overtaken our collective culinary culture. It has driven demand, competitive pricing for fast meals and disease rates right through the roof in the U.S. To put it bluntly, fast food is one of the main reasons why Americans are getting fatter, sicker, and living with high morbidity as they age. This trend is also occurring within a much younger demographic than ever before.
_ Healthy Diet & Nutrition Eating Out = Poorer Nutrition By Sondra Forsyth article Eating at both fast-food and full-service restaurants is associated with significant increases in the intake of calories, sugar, saturated fat, and sodium, according to a study published August 7th 2014 online in Public Health Nutrition. The researchers found that on days when adults ate at a restaurant, they consumed about 200 additional total daily calories whether they ate at fast- food restaurants or at full-service restaurants.
Prescription Drugs prescription medicines Safety Concerns About New Drugs By Sondra Forsyth article The authors of a study published in the August 2014 issue of Health Affairs contend that when the FDA approval process for medications changed in 1992 with the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which allowed the FDA to collect fees to expedite drug approvals, the new process may have led to the release of drugs before they could be adequately evaluated for safety issues.
_ Protecting Yourself Against Rabies By Jane Farrell article Most of us love looking at wild animals in their natural habitat. But unfortunately, some animals are carrying rabies, a dangerous virus that you can get if you handle or are bitten by the critters. Here, from the experts at the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC), are some tips on what you should know about rabies so you can protect yourself, your family and your pets: Each year 30,000 to 40,000 people in the U.S. require a series of post-bite shots because of potential exposure to rabies.
_ Menopause What to Expect and How to Prepare for Menopause By Sondra Forsyth article By Marni Andrews There are a record number of North American women now entering a new period of their lives, menopause, which marks the official end of their reproductive period. Women are born with a finite number of eggs in their ovariesΓÇöby the time they reach their 50s, the number of fertile eggs has dropped significantly. When the remaining eggs are released, or hormones in the body can no longer stimulate their release, the body enters menopause. This generally happens between the ages of 45 and 55, with the average age being around 51.
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys By blog This is the ninth blog in a series. To read the earlier entries, click here: Archive: The ThirdAge Romance Saga of Sally Franz. I just heard this phrase: ΓÇ£Not My Circus, Not my MonkeysΓÇ¥. It is purportedly translated from an old Polish saying. And it has become so popular you can buy T-shirts with the saying plastered across the front. I wish I could buy one for every stepparent alive.