When To Get Medical Attention

January 24, 2008

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The Mayo Clinic has developed a list of symptons of serious conditions that should not be ignored.

A list of 10 Health Signs that Should Not Be Ignored

1/ Shortness of breath – If your having trouble catching your breath, gasping or wheezing, and you haven’t been doing any strenuous exercise it’s time to see a doctor.
Breathing difficulties could be caused by asthma, heart problems, anxiety & panic attacks, blood clots, pneumonia and other serious conditions.

2/ Flashes of light- can be a signal of retinal detachment and could cause you to lose your vision sometimes within hours. Those little flashes may not be floaters.
This sudden onset of sensation may signal your retina is detaching. You may need immediate care to save your eye.

3/ Unexpected Weight Loss - The body doesn’t lose weight unless it is provoked, either by a reduction of calories, exercise or a medical ailment. If you have lost 5% of your body weight or more in a month or more than 10% over six – 12 months then it is time to check if something else is going on. Stomach cancer or hypothyroidism (overactive thyroid)are possilibilites. Also liver disease or disorders that interfere with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food can be responsible.

4/ Persistent fever – Often a sign the body is fighting a bug. Could be urinary tract infection for example. Persistent low grade fever can be cause by certain types of cancer even tuberculosis. Drug reactions can cause fevers. If you have a low grade fever lasting for more than 2 weeks, see a doctor.

5/ Unexplained Bowel Habit Changes. Bowel habits alter with diet, age and travel. There are certain changes that can signal other issues. The Mayo Clinic suggests that if you have severe diarrhea lasting more than 2 days, mild diarrhea lasting more than a week, or constipation lasting over 2 weeks or consistent unexplained bowel urges to get checked out. Bloody diarrhea, black or tar-coloured stool should also be brought to a doctor’s attention.

Causes can be infection, bacteria viruses or colon cancer.

6/ Changes in mental status. If your mental acuity or behavior shifts such as you become confused in your thinking, disorientated, hallucinate or your behavior changes to unusually aggressive then it is time to check with your doctor.
These can be cause by stroke head injury, infection , low blood sugar or reactions to medication

7/ Severe Headaches or New headaches especially in anyone over the age of 50.
Most migraine sufferers or people with tension headaches develop them earlier in life. So new types of headache particularly after age 50 should be taken seriously Dr. Hanson of the Mayo says.

Sudden sever headaches or those accompanied by fever, stiff neck rash, mental confusion, seizure, weakness, numbness or speech problems could be signs of a stroke, meningitis an aneurysm, bleeding on the brain after head trauma or blood vessel inflammation.

Don’t use a wait and see approach on these. With a head and brain issue appropriate drugs may need to be issued within hours in order to avoid sever damage.

8/ Short term loss of Vision, Movement or Speech Control
These can be signs of a stroke or transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes. If you are having TIA’s you can be at risk of having a stroke and you need medical care.

If you develop sudden weakness or numbness of the legs, arms or face on one side, sudden dimness, blurring, loss of vision , trouble talking or understanding speech, a sudden big headache, sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or fall or any combination of these the Mayo says you should see a doctor immediately.

9/ Feeling Full After Eating a Small Amount.
Feeling full sooner than normal or having persistent nausea or vomiting are signs that you should see your doctor. These can be signs of several types of cancers- stomach, ovarian, pancreatic or of a gastrointestinal disorder.

10/An inflamed joint
Hot red or swollen joints can signal serious infection. You may need emergency care to save the join & to keep bacteria from spreading around your body. It could also be gout or arthritis.

For any of the above the Mayo Clinic recommends you seek medical attention. Of any investment that you can make in your life your health is by far the most important one.

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Focus on Eyes

January 18, 2008

Published on Saturday, March 18th, 2005

Challenged by the many hours in front of your computer? The American Vision Institute has published ?Improve Your Vision Without Glasses or Contact Lenses ( Amazon has it) written by Beresford , Muris, Allen, and Young? Yes four writers on this one.

Gives a series of exercises to strengthen eye muscles which like your heart muscle or your biceps need flexing. Problem is we seem to just stare straight ahead mostly at our computer screens?

My favorite exercise goes like this . Imagine your in front of a large clock with the far object at the centre. Carefully move your eyes as far as they will go to the 9 o?clock direction, as if your trying to see your left ear. Keep your muscles stretched there for a couple of seconds( not looking at anything) then move your eye back to the far object at the centre. Now do this around the clock, so 10 o’clock, 11, 12 and so on carefully stretch the muscles in each direction as far as possible then coming back to centre. So stretch, centre, stretch, centre etc. etc.

Next time your are on the treadmill exercising your heart, do this one at the same time instead of ogling around the gym. Try for 5-10 minutes?

Also eye rolls and light therapy are recommended. Be gentle, remember these are the only eyes you?ve got?

They also recommend Behavioral Optometrists. These are optometrists that apparently help you get off of glasses instead of just prescribing you stronger ones every year Think I’ll check this out So give it a shot.

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How To Live To Be 100

January 18, 2008

Okay we are all getting older no matter that they try to say “ 50 Is the new 30” etc. and so on. We are all avoiding the inevitable. So you have a couple of options. You can either gripe and moan about it or you can get on with it and find your way to stay fit and healthy for as long as possible.
You can take the alternative choice of having work done if you fancy having chunks hacked out of your body. But let’s talk about common sense solutions. Things we can all do that don’t cause pain or create further health risks.

The biggest challenge we all have is admitting that we are getting older. I know personally I dread looking too close in the mirror and I have 50 year old family members working very hard to look like their 18 year old daughter. This is fooling no one.

Many of the recommendations are vague. “Get fit”, this depends on your definition of fit. Eat healthy… so does that mean carbs , protein, low protein, high carbs it’s confusing ? Hard to know these days with all the misinformation.

Much of the info is totally conflicting such as the “fact” that we are now to stay out of the sun, it is a deadly killer, yet most of us are suffering from vitamin D deprivation that the sun provides.

So here are some common sense Ideas for your health and wellbeing. They should also help you to improve your wealth since attitude is everything. This is what I work on and And hopefully you will also add some quality suggestions to the blog.

1/ Don’t join a gym. Gyms promote lots of weight training and aerobics.

As we get older, tighter in our joints and more contracted we usually need to stretch more not contract . So exercises that are gentle, stretch and tone us are better for over 40’s. Yoga, Tai Chi, Swimming. You want to open things back up, gently and tone them. Pilates is another good one and walking is the best exercise of all. Focus on 30 minutes a day 6 days a week.

2/ Swim, this deserves it’s own point. Swimming tones your muscles and protects your joints as you roll in the water. It helps you to build stamina and flexibility. It also soothes, smoothes and destresses the body. After a 30 min. swim you will walk taller, be calmer and little aches will have vanished if only for a short while. Swimming in a pool you will need googles. A good healthy idea.

3/ Walk, in fact buy a pair of Nordic walking sticks to further cushion joints. After about age 30 the last thing we all really need is exercise that pounds the joints. Swimming, walking, are good non pounding aerobic exercises. Believe it or not yoga and tai chi are also aerobic as well as stretching and toning the muscles while protecting joints. You don’t have to do the pretzel thing and there are lots of yoga videos and online yoga classes as well these days with good variety. These types of exercise knit your joints together while running, tennis, squash and other fast moving sports pull your body apart and ultimately damage health.

4/ Drink water, preferably reverse osmosis water as it seems to be the most pure. Your body is 70% water. It flushes your system, improves the look of your skin and alleviates hunger and feelings of depression. Many folks who feel depressed simply don’t get enough water. Some folks say 8 glasses a day and others 10-12.

Well it’s your body and you know best. Drink until you are feeling really good and then do it every day. You can overdo anything and if you overdo it you can weaken your kidneys, so be sensible.

5/ Be positive. Drinking lots of water helps with this since your energy and mood pick up.. If you have pals that never have anything good to say about anyone then dump them. Don’t allow yourself to be surrounded by negative people .

6/ Look after your teeth. Teeth seem to be the windows to health. (Eyes the windows to the soul) So keep up with the 6 month maintenance, floss regularly and eat your fruits. Remember your gums are now in recession and that can cause lots of mouth misery so floss, floss, floss.

7/ Stop moaning. If someone asks how you are say, “ Great How Are you”? Have you ever noticed that it’s those with the minor creaks and ailments that are always cranking on. The person with cancer plays it down or says nothing and has far more grace than the cranky complainer. No one wants to hear about it and it helps to perpetuate your ill health and ill temper.

8/ Wine is good for you. Some say red, but both will do the job as far as I can see.

Drink up.

9/ Go out and have a good time. Be Sociable . Don’t stay in your comfort zone, say yes to the new and unusual. Travel with a pal if you can.

10/ Eat lots of Greens. They will keep you slimmer and your digestive system will work much better so top up your plate with 2/3 greens ( note greens not carbs) and 1/3 protein. Stick to carbs that are root vegy’s ( squashes, turnips, routabagos etc.)in small portions. Reduce the fats unless they are omega 3’s and cut the salt in half.

11/ Find a partner and have sex. Yes this is one of the things that those who get to blow out 100 candles participate in until late in life.

12/ Get your finances in order. To live long and be happy you will need a nice big fat nest egg, or it could be a living hell. Buy a home and as soon as you can, purchase a second. (while renting out one of them) Or teach yourself about the stock market, take courses or get outside help ( advisor) to help you invest and plan for your future wisely. You will need resources and must learn to preserve them and save or invest for your future.

Develop what if scenarios… “ What if something happened and I couldn’t work anymore at my chosen vocation”, “What if I want to travel 2 months per year.”

13/ Get your weight down. Most centenarians are not obese. In fact most male centenarians are really lean. Obesity is linked to heart disease and higher degrees of cancer. So improve your food choices, cut out the pasta dinners, bread, potatoes and rice.

Choose small amounts of proteins and top up with veg. Generally just cut back your portions and have small sweet treats. I just take one or two bites and put the rest back.

One of the secrets to eating well is home cooked meals. I remember my grandparents always cooking their own meals. They wouldn’t eat out. Everything we get out today seems to be full of hidden fat and salt. All processed foods are full of sodium. If your at the grocery store take a look at the sodium count per serving. If it’s over 160 grams put the item back and buy something you will have to cook from scratch. Get a small “slow cooker “and cooking will become much less of a chore. Just freeze the extra portions in meal size containers for days you are not in the mood to cook.

However, looking at the New England Centenarian Study Dr. Valese says that “ attitude is one of the most important predictors of longevity”.

So look forward to getting older, decide now that the changes it will bring will open up new opportunities and vistas for your life.

Find work, or a hobby or avocation that brings you joy. Sometimes we are in a bit of a boring job with a great pension and don’t want to leave because of the benefits. So start a part time side business and watch your energy go right up. Or find somewhere to help others who need your assistance. For me training and coaching give me that joy.

Hope this list of tips helps please feel free to share your great ideas on the blog as well.

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