1. Get some sleep. Chronic sleep deprivation adds years to your face. Here’s why: The extraocular eye muscles are exercised during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and could atrophy when not used. Use it or lose it. This may contribute to the circles beneath your eyes after a poor night’s rest. If you can’t sleep, then don’t go low-carb at dinner. Men who consume carbohydrates before bed have significantly longer REM sleep cycles than when they ate a low-carb meal.

2. New skin: Shaving in the morning actually stimulates the creation of new skin cells. As you age, your cell-renewal process slows. By age 50, the cycle to make new skin takes twice as long as it did when you were a kid. Your skin also gradually loses collagen, the spongy protein beneath the epidermis. That produces wrinkles and sagging, particularly around your eyes, where the skin is thinnest. Try Retin-A (tretinoin) or retino or L’Oreal Paris Men’s Expert Vita Lift Anti-Wrinkle & Firming Moisturizer. Just don’t let your wife see it.

3. Lose just a little: Don’t want to lose your mental agility later? Lose some calories now. Eating less can reduce markers of inflammation and insulin resistance, which are suspected risk factors for mental decline.

Copyright © Christine Hammerlund – 2010. Christine Hammerlund is a registered nurse and the owner of Assured Healthcare, a healthcare staffing service headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois.

There are ways to moderate all foods that can help shed pounds. But here’s the rub. The human species has been nurtured for millions of years on these foods and, while it might be popular to demonize certain foods to boost a particular fad diet, the interlocking relationships that feed the human body are complex.

Obviously there are many renditions of low carbohydrate diets, some say to eliminate all starches and limit carbohydrates which are in multiple fruits and vegetables. There are such good health benefits from breads, pasta and rice and if you choose the whole grain breads, pastas and rice, you then get nutrients and fiber which helps to make you feel satisfied.

Potatoes are great fillers and good for you. Bet you haven’t heard that in a while. It’s what you put on the potatoes that can be bad for you, such as butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, and gravy.

The greatest problem with eliminating these foods is when you’ve reached your goal weight, you then will begin eating the carbohydrates that you like in the manner in which you ate them before. That is bread and butter, potatoes and gravy, pasta and white or red sauce, etc. and it’s easy to see that the weight lost will soon be found.

And here’s the underlying fallacy. You might wind up slashing the very nutrients that make your life worthwhile. And make you healthier. In fact, the three foods you mentioned may have the exact opposite effect of making you heavier.

For example, bread is an excellent source of carbohydrates, which your brain needs to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of comfort and satisfaction, says Dr. Nina T. Frusztajer, a Boston physician who specializes in nutrition and is coauthor of “The Serotonin Power Diet.” She notes: “As your body digests carbohydrates, it releases insulin, which helps channel tryptophan - an amino acid - into the brain. Tryptophan then gets converted to serotonin.”  

When serotonin levels are optimal, you feel calm and happy and have fewer cravings; when they’re low, you feel depressed and irritable, making you more likely to overeat.

Breads containing whole grains are healthiest, and one serving equals one slice of bread, half an English muffin, or a small roll.

Potatoes may be one of our most misunderstood foods. Fried or doused in sour cream, they’re not going to help you lose weight. But when boiled or baked, a potato’s starch absorbs water and swells. Once chilled, portions of the starch crystallize into a form that resists digestion-resistant starch. Unlike other types of fiber, resistant starch gets fermented in the large intestine, creating fatty acids that may block the body’s ability to burn carbohydrates. In their place, you burn fat.

A healthy potato serving is about the size of a fist.

Cooked pasta and rice are about 70 percent water - and eating fluid-rich foods keeps you fuller longer, compared with dry foods, according to research from the British Nutrition Foundation. Like bread, the carbs in pasta boost serotonin to help curb overeating. The proper portion of pasta is ½ cup cooked, or about the size of an ice-cream scoop.

Choose whole grain varieties for filling fiber, and add grilled chicken and lots of veggies to bulk up your dish even more.

Copyright © Christine Hammerlund – 2010. Christine Hammerlund is a registered nurse and the owner of Assured Healthcare, a healthcare staffing service headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois.

The worst medicine is the kind that “seems” to be true but for which there is no evidence. “Colon cleansers” are a big business but there’s not much evidence they work and because most are herbal-based, the government doesn’t regulate them the same as they do for other medicine. So it’s not even sure they’re safe.

First, “colon cleansing” doesn’t really address how the body works. Fecal matter and toxins— parasites, pesticides, or chemicals—do not accumulate and stick to the colon wall, causing assorted ailments. In fact, fecal matter does not cling to the colon wall, and experts have found no evidence that toxins build up there. Richard Harkness, a consultant pharmacist and author of five books on evidence-based natural medicine, backs natural treatments, but he’s dead set against this one.

He says colon cleansing itself carries health risks, including side effects from questionable ingredients, dehydration, impaired bowel function, and disruption of normal, protective intestinal flora. Some laxatives can even worsen heart failure or cause kidney failure, while colonic irrigation or enemas could tear the rectum. Steer clear of all of these.
Your body detoxifies itself perfectly well, thanks to your kidneys and liver.

True, you may “feel” better after one of these cleansings but it’s because you stuffed yourself with junk food and are now eating better.

The best advice I can give is do some research on the product that you have seen advertised. When you use an Internet search engine for the product, always include the word “scam.” That will tell you what customers are saying.

Talk to your doctor. In most cases I also advise people to talk to their pharmacists because they have the most current information about the latest things to hit the market. I hesitate to encourage research on the web unless you go to reliable health care sites that have good, solid medical advice.

Copyright © Christine Hammerlund – 2010. Christine Hammerlund is a registered nurse and the owner of Assured Healthcare, a healthcare staffing service headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois.

Consult the patient’s doctor.
If you have been tasked or you’ve taken it upon yourself to manage your loved one’s medication then the first thing you should do is to consult the patient’s physician. If he has more than one physician then you must speak with the physician who has prescribed the medications he is currently taking.

What your loved one has informed you regarding his medication may be detailed, but you can never be too sure, can you? This is your loved one’s health at stake, after all. It’s best to go directly to the source and consult the doctor about the medications he’s prescribed.

Find out what he’s taking and why.
The first thing you should clarify is the generic and brand names of the medications he’s taking. You’ve no doubt seen a prescription filled out by the doctor. Physicians are certainly one of the smartest people in the world, but their handwriting - if you can call it that - leaves a lot to be desired, doesn’t it? And it’s because of their chicken scrawl that some people end up buying the wrong brand. That’s a mistake - in the worst case scenario - which could cost you your loved one’s life.

It’s critical that you understand why they’ve been prescribed as well. That way, you’ll know what would happen if you do miss a dosage or what you should do if you’re unable to access such medication for any reason.

Also, double-check the required dosages. People can easily overdose on prescribed drugs because they think that the more they drink, the quicker they’ll be on their way to recovery. Sadly, it could be the reverse as well.

Be meticulous in your records.
On the first page of your notebook, indicate the disease or condition of your loved one, the medications and dosages he’s required to take as well as contact details of his physician and any other person that may be contacted in case of emergency.

On the succeeding pages, write down the date and time and place as well as the dosage of the medication you’ve administered. It may seem overly detailed, but that’s better than lacking sufficient data when things suddenly go downhill. If there is more than one person who’s assigned to keep track of your loved one’s prescription programs, be sure that he is sufficiently trained for proper record keeping.

Keep track of appointments with doctors and other necessary schedules.
Doctor’s appointments, check-ups, lab tests, and schedules for any other procedure that would improve your loved one’s condition should also be kept track of and is an integral part to his medical program. If you feel that you need to make an additional appointment with the doctor, go ahead and do so. It’s better to be safe than sorry!

Edward Koop has written extensively on proper management of prescription programs as well as other essential subjects in quality healthcare.

Sometimes being a nurse isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Mostly by that I mean that you find out things you wish you didn’t have to know. And once you learn it, the idea sticks in our brain like flypaper.

So, here are five things I wish I didn’t know. But I do know them anyway.

1. Women whose index fingers are shorter than their ring fingers may be twice as prone to osteoarthritis in the knees. Those with this predominately male characteristic tend to have lower levels of estrogen, which may also play a role in the development of osteoarthritis. You can attack this issue by strengthening the muscles surrounding your knees. While sitting, straighten each leg parallel to the floor 10 times; hold each rep for 5 to 10 seconds.
2. I really hate this one. Linear wrinkles in one or both lobes may predict future cardiovascular events (heart attack, bypass surgery, or cardiac death.) A crease on one lobe raises the risk by 33 percent; a crease on both lobes increases it by 77 percent. Why? Who knows for sure? Maybe a loss of elastic fibers causes both the crease and the hardening of arteries.
3. If your legs are on the stocky side, take better care of your liver. Women with legs between 20 and 29 inches tend to have higher levels of four enzymes that indicate liver disease. Avoid exposure to toxins your liver has to process, which will keep it healthier, longer. Wear a mask and gloves while cleaning or working with any type of harsh chemical.
4. Older adults who couldn’t identify the scent of bananas, lemons, cinnamon, or other items were five times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease within 4 years. The area of the brain responsible for olfactory function may be one of the first affected by Parkinson’s disease—somewhere between 2 and 7 years prior to diagnosis. Take fish oil supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids can boost your brain’s resistance to MPTP, a toxic compound responsible for Parkinson’s.
5. Have a hard time touching your toes? Women with the shortest arm spans are 1 1/2 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those with longer reaches. (Find yours by spreading your arms parallel to the floor and having someone measure fingertips to fingertips; the shortest spans were less than 60 inches. There’s an answer. Put your appendages to good use with a hobby such as painting or pottery. Adults who spend the most time engaged in engaging leisure activities are more than 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who spent less time challenging their brains.

Copyright © Christine Hammerlund – 2010. Christine Hammerlund is a registered nurse and the owner of Assured Healthcare, a healthcare staffing service headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois.

Space is being displaced though it contains no nutrition. But it does give you a feeling of fullness and keeps your mind occupied when your mind might be thinking about high calorie drinks.

Here’s how it works. Dr. Brenda Davy, associate professor of human nutrition, foods and exercise at Virginia Tech, presented a study at last year’s obesity conference in Phoenix showing that people who drank two glasses of water 20 to 30 minutes before every meal lost weight more quickly and lost significantly more weight than those who didn’t.
But did the water cause them to lose weight? In a sense - they chose to eat less because they were full of water.

So, water is not exactly a wonder drug for weight loss. But it helps.

The body doesn’t effectively differentiate between hunger and thirst. If you don’t drink enough water throughout the day, your body may mistake thirst for hunger, and you’ll eat more than you really need, which can also stall your weight loss.

Drinking the 8/8 ratio of water is harder for some people because they are not used to drinking water that often. Also, many of us don’t drink enough water in a day which can lead to dehydration. So drinking water maintains adequate hydration which is healthier for you.

So, water doesn’t take fat away the same way eating at night doesn’t add weight. It’s mainly how much you eat—not when you eat—in a given day that affects weight gain. Many people eat at night because they’re bored. They wind up consuming more calories than they need for the day and those calories are then stored as fat.

Copyright © Christine Hammerlund – 2010.  Christine Hammerlund is a registered nurse and the owner of Assured Healthcare, a healthcare staffing service headquartered in Gurnee, Illinois.

Healing begins when you feel a real smile.

I did not smile after four loved ones died in the span of nine months. In fact, I forgot what a smile felt like. Then one day, I smiled a tentative smile, and it felt good. Bob Deits writes about recovering in his book, “Life After Loss.” He thinks “the first step on the path to renewed joy and vitality after a major loss is the most difficult of all.” Smiling was my first step and it may be yours.

Healing begins with the first laugh.

There was nothing to laugh about, so I did not laugh for months. I used to be known for my sense of humor and one day I laughed spontaneously. Though it was a rusty laugh, it told me healing had begun. Laughter heals. Do not be afraid to laugh when you are grieving.

Healing begins when you forget about loss.

Grief was all I thought about. I could not escape it. Judy Tatelbaum details the grief process in “The Courage to Grieve.” “We can see we are moving closer to recovery from grief when the deceased is no longer our primary focus,” she writes. It takes longer to recover from multiple losses. Still, I continued to do my grief and do the things I loved — writing, reading, cooking. These activities gave me a break from grief. Be glad when you forget about loss for a moment. You are healing.

Healing begins when you start to see hope.

Multiple losses robbed me of a future. I could not imagine life without my loved ones. Because I had grieved before, read about grief, and written about it, I knew I had to watch for signs of hope. I found hope in a robin’s song, a baby’s laugh, buds on apple trees, and smiles on my grandchildren’s faces. Look for hope and you will find it.

Healing begins when you plan a new life.

After a loved one dies you have two options, give up on life or live it. I chose the second option and planned a new life. Planning this life took more than a year. Alan Wolfelt, PhD, writes about planning in his article, “Reconciliation.” The article lists reconciliation criteria. One criteria is “the capacity to organize and plan one’s life toward the future.”

Healing begins when you act on your life plan.

I am living my new life now. Does it contain any joy? The answer is a heartfelt yes. Keep doing your grief work and you will create a new life, too. Grief is work and so is life. Artist Grandma Moses described life in a few words, “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” This is your truth, this is your healing.

Copyright 2009 by Harriet Hodgson

http://www.harriethodgson.com

Harriet Hodgson has been an independent journalist for 30 years. She is a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Association of Health Care Journalists, and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book, “Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief,” written with Lois Krahn, MD, is available from Amazon.

Centering Corporation in Omaha, Nebraska has published her 26th book, “Writing to Recover: The Journey from Loss and Grief to a New Life.” The company has also published a companion resource, the “Writing to Recover Journal,” which contains 100 writing prompts.

Please visit Harriet’s Website and learn more about this busy author and grandmother.

My own mom taught school most of her life. She was highly organized and extremely independent. She read constantly and became quite adept at oil painting. At the age of 76 she moved closer to my sister and I, but her canvases and brushes never seemed to make it out of the moving boxes. I bought her a VCR for Christmas, hoping that renting movies could help her shake her newly-found disinterest in life. But the new VCR was never turned on unless I happened to visit with a movie in hand. It became, like the microwave I had gotten her a year earlier, another piece of unused technology. It never dawned on me at the time that my mom had stopped wanting to learn new things, or that this could mean that her aging mind was showing early symptoms of dementia.

Believing that Mom’s depression was a result of her unhappiness with her living situation, my sister and I began a search to find her senior housing. We placed our hopes on a retirement community that offered a full-time social director to rescue her from the depressed mood we were fighting. The retirement home helped her find new friends and subdued the paranoia, but only temporarily. Soon she insisted we change her banking accounts. She accused the banks of stealing money from her safety deposit box. She also became absurdly paranoid about my brother-in-law, who she suspected, had a master key to her apartment. All missing items were blamed on this poor fellow. We never suspected that paranoia could be a symptom of dementia.

The amazing part of all this is that my sister and I continued right on with our lives, denying Mom’s odd behavior while helping her change bank accounts and get new locks for her apartment. We just figured it was normal for our aging parent to become strange when she turned 80 years old. We never suspected dementia was taking her away from us.

Symptoms of dementia are insidious, because they start so slowly. Often they are mixed with periods of what appears to be normal behavior. So just when we thought she was showing symptoms of dementia, she’d return with what appeared to be complete clarity, asking us about our spouses and giving the usual motherly advice we had grown up with and trusted. Looking back, I can clearly see the progression of the disorder. But at the time, senile dementia sneaked in and stole Mom from us without a clue. Because of our busy schedules, hectic lives, and maybe a little denial, we didn’t see it until it was too late.

There was also a strong fear going on. I remember thinking that if my mother was showing symptoms of dementia, I must be showing symptoms of dementia too. She was so close to me that I had a lot of her same thinking patterns. She dictated reality to me when I was growing up. I worried about this a lot. I really wanted her to be “normal” so I could feel normal. I didn’t want anyone to find out my mom was acting crazy. I could just imagine everyone at work hearing the news and moving their fingers in circles around their ear saying “Ah ha! That explains it!”

So we took Mom to doctor after doctor trying to find a cure for her symptoms. Was it low iron, low zinc, or low potassium? They drew countless pints of blood trying to rule out what could be causing her behavior. But eventually, most of the doctors proved worthless in offering real help. Not one seemed to be able to tell us what was wrong. None of her five doctors could give us any advice that would help her. They all seemed to deny there was any problem. Fortunately, we met a geriatric counselor who advised us to take her to a local hospital for a geriatric evaluation. I wish we had done this evaluation five years earlier.

If your parent is acting strange and you’re not getting results or a concrete diagnoses from your doctor, consider a geriatric counselor. You can find them in the yellow pages or on the Web. The small amount of money you’ll pay for their services will help you retain your sanity through the decisions you’ll soon be facing. A geriatric counselor will also relieve you of a fair amount of guilt as you carry out the future decisions that become necessary when an aging parent develops dementia.

William J. Grote is the author of the book “Helping Your Aging Parent — A Step-by-Step Guide”. William cared for his aging mother and made plenty of discoveries along the way. Hopefully his book can help you down the road of care giving — which for many of us who survived the 60’s and 70’s, may be a completely new experience.

You can download a free checklist “Warning Signs of Dementia and Mental Illness” to help you identify unusual behavior in aging parents at http://www.boomer-books.com

1. Keep a list of current medications and current medical history in your bag. When you are flustered in an emergency situation, you can easily forget to mention an important piece of information about your child, especially if your child is on chemotherapy or other intermittent medication. Write it down.
2. Keep a change purse with a roll of quarters and a few singles zipped into your tote bag. Emergencies tend to happen when you are low on cash in the wallet. A change purse with at least vending machine money will keep you prepared for that unexpected hospital admission.
3. Keep a sweater or sweatshirt for yourself. Hospitals are always cooler than you expect and nerves will make you shiver. It is the little things that make a difference and being comfortable eases your stress level.
4. Keep a favorite comfort stuffed toy or blanket for your child, a book, or other item that helps to distract your child during painful procedures like blood draws and exams. Keep an extra dose of Tylenol or other as needed medications your child may need on an intermittent basis. Children who need anti- nausea medications or seizure medications may need a dose if travel has lasted longer than expected or some other unforeseen circumstance occurs. Keep those medicines in a childproof container in your bag.
5. Keep a notebook with emergency phone numbers, notes from previous admissions, or any other information you may not always recall immediately. The notes you have made may make a difference in the immediate care of your child in an emergency.

Parents who have a small tote bag packed with these items can survive until family can bring other belongings for that unexpected hospital stay. Have the bag in the car to easily grab if and when it may be needed.

For more information on children coping with illness or death and dying issues, or health and safety tips for children visit http://heartfeltwords4kids.blogspot.com

Visit http://www.freewebs.com/heartfeltwords4kids/ for an interactive website where kids can blog or read articles geared towards them.

Terri Forehand is a pediatric critical care nurse and freelance writer. She has a passion for kids of all ages, especially kids who are fighting against tough illnesses and diseases. Visit her blog and website for more information. She is currently working on fiction for kids.

Global Handwashing Day took place on October 15th; the event was initiated by the Health In Your Hands organization.  The Global Handwashing Day website provides important and timely health-related information.  Both the site and the Planning Guide published in conjunction with the event can be viewed at the links provided below.  They each contain a wealth of resource information to raise awareness about the importance of handwashing with soap, especially among children:
 

Global Handwashing Day Website

Global Handwashing Day Planning Guide