HealthyLife Articles

Category: Uncategorized

  • Under Pressure: What To Know About Glaucoma

    MEDICAL NEWS

    Image of eldery women getting her eyes checked.

    Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness for people over 60, so it’s important to know what you can do about it.

    Glaucoma happens when too much fluid builds up in the eye. This extra fluid causes pressure that damages the optic nerve. This damage cannot be undone once it happens. It can lead to loss of all or part of your vision. But, glaucoma can be managed and the damage to vision can be decreased with proper medical care.

    People at highest risk for glaucoma

    Anyone can get glaucoma. But certain groups of people may be more likely to get it, including:

    *  People with a family history of glaucoma

    *  African Americans over age 40

    *  Anyone over age 60, but Mexican Americans are especially at risk

    *  People who have high eye pressure, thin corneas or optic nerve problems

    *  People with high blood pressure that’s not well controlled

    Signs and symptoms

    Glaucoma often doesn’t have early signs and symptoms until damage has already been done. That’s why getting regular eye exams is so important. For many people, the first sign of glaucoma is loss of their peripheral (side) vision.

    Don’t assume you don’t have glaucoma because your eyes “feel fine.” Many people develop glaucoma without any symptoms.

    Illustration of eye with excessive pressure which can lead to glaucoma.

    What can you do about glaucoma?

    Glaucoma has no cure, but there are things you can do to slow it down and save your vision:

    *  If you have glaucoma, take your medicines every day. Ask your eye doctor how often you need to be seen, and stick to your appointments.

    *  Get a complete eye exam at least every 2 years or as often as recommended. This includes a dilated eye exam.

    *  Even if you don’t have glaucoma, ask your eye doctor about your risk. This includes telling your doctor about any family history of glaucoma.

    People with certain risk factors for glaucoma may be given special eye drops. These drops can lower the risk of getting glaucoma but they must be used regularly to be effective.

    If you are diagnosed with glaucoma, you and your doctor will discuss what treatment is best for you. It may depend on what type of glaucoma you have and how severe it is. Treatments may include:

    *  Eye drops that lower pressure in the eye

    *  Surgery done with a laser that helps the eye drain fluid better

    *  Traditional surgery that may include placing a new drainage tube in the eye

    Save your sight – see your eye doctor to get checked for glaucoma!

    Sources: American Academy of Ophthalmology, National Eye Institute

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Alcohol And Meds Don’t Mix

    MEDICAL NEWS

    Image of alcohol and pills.

    You may have heard that you shouldn’t drink alcohol and take medicines together. This combination is very dangerous because:

    1.  If you take aspirin and drink alcohol, this raises the chances of bleeding in your stomach.

    2.  Drinking alcohol with cold or allergy medicines can make you very sleepy.

    3.  Even small amounts of alcohol taken with sleeping pills can cause dizziness or fainting.

    4.  Alcohol combined with some pain relievers can cause liver damage.

    5.  Taking alcohol with certain blood thinners can cause bleeding.

    If you take any medicines and drink alcohol, even occasionally, talk to your doctor.

    Sources: National Alliance on Mental Illness, National Institute on Aging

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Breaking Bad Habits

    WELL-BEING

    Close-up image of a person breaking a cigarette in half.

    Bad habits may be hard to change, but it can be done. Smoking, for example, can be stopped. So can alcohol abuse.

    If you could only … but why don’t you? Scientists at the NIH study what happens in your brain as habits form. They come about through repetition. Brushing your teeth in the morning is a good habit. Reaching for a cigarette-bad habit.

    Habits trigger pleasure centers in your brain. First, focus on becoming more aware of your bad habits. Then try these strategies to counteract them:

    *  Avoid tempting situations. If you don’t buy candy bars, it won’t be as easy to eat one.

    *  Prepare mentally. Think about how you want to handle it and mentally practice what you plan.

    *  Enlist support. Ask friends, family, and coworkers to support your efforts to change.

    *  Replace unhealthy bad habits with healthy ones. Exercise or try a new hobby.

    *  Reward yourself for small steps.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Garage Door Safety

    WELL-BEING

    Image of garage door opener.

    Follow this safety advice from the Overhead Door Corporation:

    *  Keep the garage door opener control button out of the reach of small children. And do not let children play with garage door remote controls.

    *  Never place fingers between door sections. Explain the dangers to children and consider pinch-resistant door panels.

    *  Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use your garage door’s emergency release feature.

    *  Each month, inspect the springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not try to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. These parts are under high tension and should only be fixed by a trained door technician.

    *  Test the reversing mechanism, monthly, too. Place a 2×4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified professional for repair. If the garage door opener has not been replaced since 1993, get a new one that has safety beams and an auto-reverse as standard features.

    *  Do not leave the garage door partially open. When activated again, it may travel downward and come in contact with an object in its path. This also compromises a home’s security.

    *  Never leave the remote control in the car when given to a parking attendant. A stolen remote leaves you more susceptible to home invasion. Always lock your car when left unattended. Store the remote out of sight.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • If At First You Don’t Succeed

    WELL-BEING

    Image of man crushing a cigarette.

    Anyone who has tried to quit smoking knows it doesn’t always happen on the first try. But what many smokers don’t realize is that they are not alone in their failed quit attempts. A quit attempt is defined as not smoking for at least one day with the intent of not starting again.

    A survey from the American Lung Association (ALA) found that 6 out of 10 former smokers were not able to successfully quit on their first try and required many attempts to quit smoking for good.

    “The American Lung Association wants every smoker to know that they are not alone in their unsuccessful quit attempts, and that with each quit attempt they become one step closer to becoming smoke-free,” said ALA National President and CEO, Harold P. Wimmer.

    The ALA’s Quitter in You campaign (www.QuitterInYou.org) acknowledges that multiple quit attempts are normal and are necessary steps along the way to quitting for good.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Mow Safely

    WELL-BEING

    Image of person mowing the lawn.

    Lawn mowers are powerful machines. Careless injuries harm children and adults alike each year, according to these concerned medical groups: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (the docs who reattach fingers!).

    Prevent injuries by following these lawn mower safety tips:

    *  Only use a mower with a control that stops the mower blade from moving if the handle is let go.

    *  Children should be at least 12 years of age before operating a push lawn mower and age 16 to operate a driving lawn mower.

    *  Wear sturdy shoes (not sandals or sneakers) while mowing.

    *  Prevent injuries from flying objects, such as stones or toys, by picking up objects from the lawn before mowing begins. Have anyone who uses a mower or is in the vicinity to wear polycarbonate protective eyewear at all times.

    *  Do not pull the mower backward or mow in reverse unless absolutely necessary, and carefully look for children behind you when you mow in reverse.

    *  Always turn off the mower and wait for the blades to stop completely before removing the grass catcher, unclogging the discharge chute, inspecting or repairing lawn mower equipment, or crossing gravel paths, roads, or other areas.

    * Use a stick or broom handle (not your hands or feet) to remove debris in lawn mowers.

    *  Do not allow children to ride as passengers on ride-on mowers and keep children out of the yard while mowing.

    *  Drive up and down slopes, not across to prevent mower rollover.

    *  Keep lawn mowers in good working order. Before using a lawn mower for the first time in a season, have it serviced to ensure that it is working correctly.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Remember This: You Can Improve Your Memory

    WELL-BEING

    Image of man with hand on his head.

    Worried because you searched a half hour before finding your reading glasses or car keys? Concerned that it took a couple minutes to remember the name of the familiar-looking woman who said hello to you in the restaurant?

    You probably don’t have much to worry about, said Dr. George Grossberg, an internationally recognized Alzheimer researcher and director of geriatric psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. As annoying as it may be, temporary “tip of the tongue” forgetfulness is one of the changes that happens as we age.

    “If, on the other hand, the information is important to us, isn’t there when we want it, and doesn’t ever come back to us, that’s a more serious problem. The person who has Alzheimer’s disease and misplaces her reading glasses probably won’t even remember that she needs them to see. She knows the man next to her is familiar, but can’t remember that he’s her grandson and his name is Mark.”

    “In our society, we’re all on chronic systems overload. We’re multi-tasking – talking on our cell phones, listening for beepers to go off, walking into a store to shop,” he said. “It’s very easy for certain things to get lost in the shuffle. That’s not Alzheimer’s disease.”

    Dr. Grossberg offers this recipe for brain health:

    *  Try to figure out what is causing your forgetfulness. Did you make a wrong turn while driving while you were talking on a cell phone and listening to the radio? Maybe you’re trying to do too many things at once and need to put down the phone or turn off  the tunes.

    *  Exercise your body. Aerobic exercise improves your cardiovascular health. Exercise also increases your “feel-good” brain chemicals, which improve your mood and prevents depression which is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

    *  Exercise your mind. Research shows mental challenge can help rewire connections in the brain. So find a new hobby, learn to play chess, use your left hand if you’re right-handed, or study a foreign language.

    *  Take care of yourself. Control risk factors for cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, and obesity to help decrease your risk.

    *  Get a good night’s sleep. Not getting enough deep, restful sleep causes mental impairment later in life. Besides, if you’re sleep deprived, you won’t think clearly and are more likely to forget in the present time.

    *  Feed your brain. Some research shows antioxidant vitamins have protective powers against Alzheimer’s disease. Some B vitamins, especially B-12 and folate, are very important in how brain cells function. Talk with your doctor about taking vitamin supplements.

    *  Check your meds. Discuss, with your doctor, if any prescribed and over-the-counter medications you take could cause memory or concentration problems.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Want To Quit? Start Here

    WELL-BEING

    Image of broken cigarette and nicotine gum.

    There’s no one right way to quit smoking. Some people find that they just quit on their own. Others use medical treatments to help. If you’re thinking about quitting, you have several options:

    *  Attend support groups or counseling

    *  Get your doctor’s advice and support

    *  Choose medicines that contain nicotine and help with nicotine addiction, including patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and nasal spray. Some are available in stores and others need a prescription.

    *  Find a prescription medicine that doesn’t contain nicotine and still helps a person quit smoking.

    *  Go cold turkey: stop completely, all at once, without any help.

    *  Slowly decrease the amount of cigarettes smoked each day until you stop altogether.

    Counseling and medicine together may be more helpful than using just one method. Sometimes, you may need to try a few different approaches to find the one that works for you.

    Get free quitting help by phone

    If you’d like to talk with someone about quitting, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669). This service is FREE and may include support and advice, a quit plan, free or discounted medications and other resources.

    Free quitting help online

    For those with a computer or tablet, help with quitting is just a few clicks away. Smokefree.gov offers a number of resources to help people quit smoking. There are tools and tips, information and support throughout the process of quitting.

    Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health

    Reasons to quit smoking

    Quitting smoking isn’t easy. But, it means you will start to become healthier within just minutes of quitting. Take a look at the benefits of quitting:

    *  20 minutes after quitting: Blood pressure and heart rate gets lower.

    *  12 hours after quitting: Carbon monoxide levels in the blood go back to normal.

    *  2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Lungs start to work better and blood circulation gets better.

    *  1 to 9 months after quitting: Lungs can handle mucus and recover from infections more easily. This means less coughing and shortness of breath.

    *  1 year after quitting: The risk of a heart attack drops dramatically. The increased risk of heart disease is cut in half.

    *  2 to 5 years after quitting: Risk of a stroke is now the same as a non-smoker.

    *  5 years after quitting: Risk of several cancers is slashed in half. This includes cancers of the bladder, mouth, throat and esophagus.

    *  10 years after quitting: Risk of lung cancer decreases by half. Risk of cancer of the voice box and pancreas drop.

    *  15 years after quitting: The risk of heart disease drops to that of a non-smoker.

    Don’t forget about benefits to your appearance. Yellowed teeth and fingers can become a thing of the past, as well as bad breath and smoke odors on clothes and in hair. Tobacco also causes wrinkling of the skin and tooth loss, so quitting can mean better skin and a brighter smile.

    It’s never too late to quit. Quitting at any age can extend a person’s life, reduce or eliminate health problems, and lower the risk of dying from smoking-related diseases.

    Source: American Cancer Society

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • After You Quit Smoking

    WELL-BEING

    Hand refusing cigarettes.

    No matter what your age is, or how long you’ve smoked, you can reap benefits of quitting today!

    Here’s what happens in your body after you quit:

    *  12 hours later, carbon monoxide in your blood drops to normal levels.

    *  2 weeks to 3 months later, your circulation improves and your lungs work better.

    *  1 year later, your risk of developing heart disease is slashed in half.

    You’ll also lower your risk for lung cancer when you quit. And the health benefits continue the longer you stay smoke-free. Visitsmokefree.govto start your quit journey!

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine