Good medicine is about getting back to the basics and leading a healthy lifestyle. And there’s no better way to do this than to start your day with a healthy meal.
I know this can be difficult some days, especially if you are in a hurry. If you are like me, you are lucky to get out the door on time to get to work, school, exercise class, or an early-morning meeting.
I want to help you be prepared for whatever may come your way throughout the day.
Even if you make an unhealthy choice (or two) later in the day by eating or drinking something high in sugar and low in nutrition, at least you know you started your day the healthy way. Adding veggies, protein, hydration and nutrition to your breakfast can help you lean more toward a healthy lifestyle.
Smoothies are a good choice for breakfast because you can add so many different (and healthy) ingredients to help you stay full all morning.
It’s important to remember that not all smoothies are the same. Some are full of sugar and lacking in nutrition. My favorite green smoothie is full of nutrients because, remember, our bodies need vitamins (vitamin D, calcium, B vitamins), minerals (iron), protein, fat and carbohydrates every day.
The ingredients in my green smoothie help in several areas of wellness, including heart health, protection from cancer and maintaining strong bones. I have listed the ingredients separately, including an explanation of what each ingredient brings to the smoothie.
I make this smoothie for breakfast most days, not only because it tastes great but also because it can prevent colon cancer.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cause of cancer death in the United States, and the second most common cancer in women.
This is just one more excellent reason to give this smoothie a try for breakfast tomorrow and every day thereafter.
Colorectal cancer is preventable in most cases by early detection, though you can also improve colorectal health by maintaining a healthy weight and eating a proper diet—rich in fiber and antioxidants (like the ingredients in my green smoothie), low in saturated fats and red meat, and high in vitamins.
While local groups will take back un-used or unwanted prescription drugs all year, every year National Drug Take Back Day — this year Saturday, Oct. 26 — focuses local efforts including those in Kentwood and Wyoming.
The need for prescription drug recovery range from keeping them out of the illegal marketplace to protecting public water supplies and wildlife from possible exposure.
The Kentwood Justice Center which houses the Kentwood Police Department. (WKTV)
In Kentwood, the Kentwood Police Department will take back prescription pills and patches at 4742 Walma Ave SE, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in a service that is “free and anonymous, no questions asked,” according to supplied material. (The Department cannot accept liquids or needles or sharps, only pills or patches.)
In Wyoming, the City of Wyoming is once again partnering with Metro Health-University of Michigan Health to provide a location for residents to dispose of unused medications safely and properly. Persons can drop off expired, unused prescriptions and even over-the-counter medications at Metro Health Hospital lobby, 5900 Byron Center Ave., also from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Call 616-252-7117 with any questions.)
Kent County also spearheads year-around efforts for drug take back. The Kent County Department of Public Works has established the SafeMeds Program that includes a list of many local pharmacies and law enforcement agencies that will accept unwanted medications. (For more on the SafeMeds Program, visit here.)
The efforts, both locally and nationally, are driven by high rates of abuse of unused prescription drugs as well as concerns of public water contamination due to those drugs being disposed of improperly, including simply flushed down toilets.
Last fall, Americans turned in nearly 469 tons (more than 937,000 pounds) of prescription drugs at nearly 6,300 sites operated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and almost 5,000 state and local law enforcement partners. Overall, in its 17 previous Take Back events, the DEA and its partners have taken in more than 11.8 million pounds — approximately 5,900 tons — of pills, according to supplied material.
In Kentwood, the Kentwood Police Department will be giving the public its 18th opportunity in nine years to “prevent pill abuse and theft by ridding their homes of potentially dangerous expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs,” according to supplied material.
This initiative focuses on medicines that languish in home cabinets and are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows, year after year, that the majority of misused and abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including someone else’s medication being stolen from the home medicine cabinet.
In addition, Americans are now advised that their usual methods for disposing of unused medicines — flushing them down the toilet or throwing them in the trash — both pose potential safety and health hazards.
While information is scarce, according to a 2002 analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey of 139 streams across 30 states it was found that 80 percent of waterways tested had measurable concentrations of prescription and nonprescription drugs, steroids and reproductive hormones.
According to a 2018 report in healthline.com, bay mussels in Washington’s Puget Sound tested positive for oxycodone, an opioid prescription analgesic. Pharmaceutical contamination in aquatic wildlife also potentially raises the risk for more human contact through direct consumption of these animals.
Pharmaceutical and hormonal contaminants, including bisphenol-A, antibiotics, and opiates, are being detected in a significant portion of the United States groundwater supply for drinking water.
While researchers say that the levels detected are unlikely to cause any harmful effects, it is unknown what, if any, amount of these chemicals will make it through water treatment to the tap.
The problem of unused prescription drugs generated by nursing homes is also a factor in there problem. While there is little nationwide estimates on the issue, another report details how Colorado officials in 2017 said the state’s 220 long-term care facilities throw away 17.5 tons of potentially reusable drugs every year, with a price tag of about $10 million.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2015 that about 740 tons of drugs are wasted by nursing homes each year.
For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs, visit the DEA website here.
Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is an incurable eye disease that affects millions of older Americans, but there are a number of things you can do to reduce your risk, a vision expert says.
AMD causes blurred central vision due to damage to the macula—a small area at the back of the eye—and it is most common after age 60, according to the U.S. National Eye Institute.
AMD is also more common in women and whites. At-risk patients should get regular eye exams, advised Dr. Julie Rosenthal, a retina specialist.
She said there are a number of things people can do to help slow or possibly prevent AMD. If you smoke, try to quit. Smoking may double the risk of AMD.
Find out if you have a family history of the disease.
People with a first-degree relative with AMD have a much greater risk of developing it. If you have a family history of the disease, watch for potential symptoms such as difficulty recognizing faces, struggling to adapt to low light and seeing straight lines that appear wavy.
Eat lots of spinach, kale, Swiss chard and other leafy greens, which are high in antioxidant vitamins that help protect against cellular damage from free radicals, which can contribute to eye disease, according to Rosenthal.
If you have a poor diet, consider taking multivitamins. People at risk of advanced AMD should ask their doctor about a specialized blend of supplements called AREDS. This is “not a treatment or cure but can decrease your risk of getting the more severe forms of AMD,” Rosenthal said in a university news release.
When outside, wear sunglasses that provide protection from UV and blue light that can cause retinal damage. Sunglasses with a “UV 400” label are recommended by the American Macular Degeneration Foundation.
Maintain healthy blood pressure and weight. Poor blood circulation due to high blood pressure can restrict blood flow to the eyes, thus contributing to AMD. Losing weight is a proven way to lower blood pressure.
Use a tool called an Amsler grid to check for vision problems related to macular damage.
When staring at the grid, if you notice that the central part of your vision in one eye has become darker or the grid lines are wavy, call your doctor, Rosenthal said. Keep the grid in a place that reminds you to use it daily.
WKTV Journal In Focus’s podcast on Alternatives in Motion featured Coleen Marie Davis, AIM executive director, and Michael Pratt, AIM Board of Directors vice president and a project manager for the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). The program is hosted by WKTV’s Ken Norris, left. (WKTV)
By K.D. Norris ken@wktv.org
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal’s In Focus series of podcasts, we discuss the past, present and future of the local non-profit Alternatives in Motion, a group with the goal of, quote, “Enhancing independence through access to mobility equipment.”
Visiting our studios were Coleen Marie Davis, Alternatives in Motion executive director, and Michael Pratt, Alternatives in Motion Board of Directors vice president and a project manager for the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University (GVSU).
Among the topics discussed are disparities and barriers that persons with disabilities face by not having access to mobility equipment, AIM’s roll in supporting persons with disabilities, this month’s AIM “Fowling Fundraiser” for the group’s growing Pediatric Mobility Program, and why community outreach is so important for any non profit.
For a link to the audio podcast, click here; for a link to the episode’s interview video, click here. (If you’d like to give us some feedback on our special In Focus podcasts, please contact Ken Norris at ken@wktv.org.)
Regular episodes of WKTV Journal In Focus airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel (see our Weekly On-air Schedule for dates and times).
Did you know your lifestyle choices could tip the scale for whether or not you experience cancer in your lifetime?
It’s true.
No one purposefully acts to increase their cancer risk, however, not everyone knows which lifestyle choices will make a negative—or positive—difference.
Take colon cancer, for instance. Colon cancer risk is affected by lifestyle habits and can be detected early if people are aware of their risk, get timely screenings and watch for early symptoms.
Studies show there are ways we can proactively reduce our chances of developing colorectal cancer.
People who exercise daily, eat a diet high in fiber, fruits and vegetables, take adequate vitamins B6 and D, and eat fish regularly (not deep fried) have a lower relative risk of getting colorectal cancer.
People who smoke, drink more than two alcohol drinks per day and are obese have a higher risk. Hormone replacement therapy, statins and daily aspirin are also shown to be associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer.
Many women I have cared for never thought they would get colorectal cancer. Some women think it is an older person’s disease or that only men are at risk.
Risk factors for colorectal cancer
• 50 years or older
• HPV infection
• Family history of colorectal cancer
• History of Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis
• Diet high in saturated fats and low in fiber
• Diet low in vitamins D and B complex
• More than one alcoholic drink per day
• Lack of exercise
• Obesity
How cancer develops
Cancer happens when cells start to grow out of control either from exposure to a cancer-causing agent like cigarette smoke, or damage in the process of growth control like with BRCA gene mutations.
If there is both exposure and a gene mutation, the risk is even higher. When cells grow out of control, they group together in a lump or mass and then can break free of the organ boundaries, and spread.
The earlier a cancer is caught, the easier it is to treat. Once cancer spreads, it is much harder to cure.
A cautionary tale
A patient I’ll call Susan never thought colon cancer would affect her. In her case, there was no family history, no inflammatory bowel disease, and she lived a healthy lifestyle. She is active, rarely drinks alcohol, eats low fat and takes her vitamins.
But Susan had symptoms. She ignored those symptoms, thinking it must be a yeast infection, constipation, or simply not important. Like many of us, she was so busy caring for her family she didn’t make the time to get checked out.
Her pain worsened, the discharge worsened and her bowel habits started to change more dramatically. She finally had no choice but to pursue testing. Susan learned she had Stage 4, metastatic colorectal cancer.
Susan underwent aggressive surgery and chemotherapy with a good result. Her story is one that should make us all pause and remember to seek care when something does not seem right. Another takeaway: Get your colonoscopy.
Be proactive
Donald Kim, MD, is a Spectrum Health Medical Group colorectal surgeon and cares for patients with colorectal cancer.
“Colorectal cancer is not only treatable but preventable with proper colon cancer screening,” Dr. Kim said. “Unfortunately, most patients present without symptoms, so it’s essential that you have your recommended screening colonoscopy.”
If you have risk factors for colorectal cancer, it is important you not only get an early screening, but also follow a healthy lifestyle to reduce your chances of getting cancer.
Risk factors include being 50 or over (45 and over if African American), have a first-degree relative with colorectal cancer, have a family history of colorectal cancer or genetic syndromes such as familial polyposis syndrome or Lynch syndrome. It also matters if you have a personal history of colon polyps or inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn’s colitis or ulcerative colitis, or if you have had abdominal radiation.
The symptoms of colorectal cancer depend on the location of the tumor. They include a change in bowel habits such as new constipation or diarrhea, consistent new bloating and gas, rectal bleeding or dark tarry stools, a feeling of incomplete emptying, or persistent cramps and pain. Another sign of cancer is iron-deficiency anemia.
As the weather gets colder and the leaves begin to change, it’s time to start celebrating the fall season! While you may not be jumping in leaf piles or going trick-or-treating anymore, there are still plenty of activities to fill your days and get you in the spirit of the season as an older adult. From decorating to baking delicious treats to visiting an orchard, here are some amusements that will keep you occupied for the entirety of autumn.
Indoor activities
If cold weather isn’t your thing, there’s no need to miss out on all the fall fun! Here are four great indoor activities that will help you celebrate no matter what the outside temperature is!
Create a knitted masterpiece
Not only has knitting been proven to be good for your mental and emotional health, but it helps get you in the mood for fall with cozy yarns in fall colors. Whether you are a beginner or a master, there is a knitted craft for you! Give your masterpieces away as gifts to your family and friends to help spread the fall spirit, or keep them for yourself as a reminder of your hard work!
Watch movies
From spooky Halloween classics like Nightmare on Elm Street to heartwarming fall romcoms like You’ve Got Mail, there are movies from every genre that will be a fit for everyone’s tastes! Gather your friends together and have weekly movie nights where you eat delicious snacks and watch all your fall favorites.
Start decorating
Decorating your home is one of the best ways to bring the fall atmosphere indoors! Surrounding yourself with decorations helps you stay in the right mindset for fall, no matter which direction you look! Pick a theme like Halloween or the outdoors, or just have fun adding in touches of everything you like. Examples of decorations can include:
Displays of pumpkins and gourds
Festive fall centerpieces
An autumn wreath on the front door
Leaf and pinecone table displays
Decorative candle holders for candles with fall scents
Additional pillows and throws in fall colors like orange, brown, and red
Make some baked goods
Baking not only lets you make tasty treats, but it will also fill your home with good smells and warmth from the oven. There are the classics like pumpkin and apple pies, but try pushing yourself with new recipes for baked goods you haven’t made before! Think of ways to use in-season fruits and veggies to make mouthwatering foods for family and friends—or to keep for yourself!
Outdoor activities
Want to get outside to see all that autumn has to offer? Take a look at these four ideas for outdoor activities that will help you experience the true beauty and some of the best joys of the fall season.
See the changing colors
Getting outside doesn’t have to be a big ordeal—just taking a simple walk and enjoying the fall foliage is a great way to experience the natural beauty of autumn. Breathing in the crisp air and taking photos of the prettiest trees can be both relaxing and good for your health. If you are artistically minded, try sketching or painting some of the sights you see!
Get ahead on gardening
Gardening may traditionally be a spring activity, but fall can be the best time to get prepped for next year! Planting perennials in fall ensures you have beautiful blooms come spring—without having to do the work then! You can also try container gardening and plant some late-blooming flowers in containers that can be outside until it gets too cold, then can be brought inside to enjoy!
Visit an orchard
There are orchards abound in the midwest, and now is the perfect time to visit one! Plan an outing with the grandkids, or just go with friends your own age. Orchards have many activities, from classic apple picking to pumpkin patches to hay rides. Many have homemade treats for sale, like donuts and fresh pressed apple cider. Make a whole day of visiting the orchard, and take your spoils home to either decorate or bake with!
Build a bonfire
Fall fun isn’t just limited to the daytime! After the sun sets is a perfect time to grab a bunch of blankets and warm up in front of a bonfire. You can roast marshmallows, tell scary stories, or just enjoy the company of others and those you love—all while feeling cozy, even as the weather grows colder around you.
There are lots of ways to enjoy autumn, even as an older adult. With all these activities and more at your fingertips, there’s no way you won’t have a wonderful fall and get into the spirit of the season everyday! At assisted living communities like Vista Springs, we plan fun fall activities on each day of the calendar. Come visit Vista Springs and see the Full of Life experience for yourself!
For community members, the 4th annual South Kent Community Expo, on Saturday, Oct. 26, will be an opportunity to explore products and services from a variety of community businesses and organizations.
For local local businesses and organizations, it is an opportunity to connect with the community — and customers.
The free event, hosted by the City of Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department and Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kentwood Activities Center, located at 355 48th St. SE.
“This family-friendly event is designed to connect area community members with the broad range of businesses and organizations offered in southern Kent County,” Bob O’Callaghan, president/CEO of the Wyoming-Kentwood Area Chamber of Commerce, said in supplied material. “We like to think there’s a product or service for everyone to discover at this community expo.”
In addition to community booths, the expo will feature health screenings, flu shots and food trucks. The flu shot clinic will be provided by Walgreens from 10 a.m. to noon. The cost for a flu shot will be $35 for individuals without qualifying insurance.
According to Lorraine Beloncis, assistant director of the City of Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department, this year’s event will be football themed and vendors are encouraged to decorate their table with the football theme and wear something supporting their favorite team.
There will be a Heisman trophy award for the booth with the best use of theme,” Beloncis said in supplied material.
For more information about the community event, visit here.
The number of people living with Parkinson’s disease worldwide could double in the next two decades, experts project.
In a report warning of a possible Parkinson’s “pandemic,” researchers say the stage is set for cases to surge to 12 million or more by 2040.
What’s to blame? In large part, trends that are generally positive: Older age is a major risk factor for Parkinson’s. With life expectancy rising worldwide, more people will develop the disease. At the same time, Parkinson’s patients are surviving longer, which drives up the number of people living with the disease at any given time.
Then there’s a less expected factor: Declining smoking rates. While the habit has many devastating effects, research suggests it protects against Parkinson’s.
Those are obviously trends that no one wants to reverse, said report author Dr. Ray Dorsey.
There are, however, other ways to slow the projected rise in Parkinson’s, said Dorsey, a professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York.
“We believe there’s a lot we can do toward prevention,” he said.
At the top of the list is reducing people’s exposure to certain pesticides, solvents and other chemicals that research has linked to Parkinson’s risk.
As an example, Dorsey pointed to the weed-killer paraquat.
“It’s been strongly linked to an increased risk of Parkinson’s and it’s banned in 32 countries,” he said.
It’s still used in the United States, however. And, Dorsey noted, some countries that have banned it—such as England—continue to make and export it to other countries, including the United States
Then there is trichloroethylene, or TCE—an industrial solvent that is a known human carcinogen and can contaminate groundwater, according to the U.S. Department of Health.
TCE is also toxic to nerve cells and studies have tied it to Parkinson’s, Dorsey said.
Parkinson’s disease currently affects nearly 1 million people in the United States alone, according to the nonprofit Parkinson’s Foundation.
The cause is unclear, but as the disease progresses, the brain loses cells that produce dopamine—a chemical that regulates movement. As a result, people suffer symptoms like tremors, stiff limbs and balance and coordination problems. All gradually worsen over time.
Medications and other treatments can lessen those effects, but there is no cure.
The new report—co-authored by representatives of the Parkinson’s Foundation and Michael J. Fox Foundation—paints a potentially bleak picture.
Between 1990 and 2015, the number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s worldwide doubled, to just over 6 million. And based on the aging population, Dorsey and his colleagues project that the number will double again by 2040, to about 12 million.
But that figure, they say, could actually be higher—up to 17 million—with declining smoking rates and growing industrialization factored into the mix.
“There is an urgent and pressing need for the world to wake up and recognize there is a coming wave of Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Michael Okun, medical director of the Parkinson’s Foundation and an author of the report.
In addition to broader bans on paraquat and TCE, Dorsey said other measures could help stem the tide.
For example, people with a history of head injury face a relatively higher risk of Parkinson’s. So preventing head injuries in the workplace, sports or recreation—by wearing helmets, for instance—could help, Dorsey said.
There’s also some evidence that certain healthy lifestyle habits are protective—namely, vigorous exercise and eating a Mediterranean diet.
But beyond prevention, health care systems have to prepare for a surge in Parkinson’s, according to Okun.
“The numbers of patients with Parkinson’s disease are growing a rates that will overwhelm the world’s health care systems,” he said.
One key step, Dorsey said, will be to find ways to bring health care to patients at home.
“If I’m an elderly person with Parkinson’s who can no longer drive,” he said, “I need the care to come to me.”
Of course, many patients will have family members who can help out. But that brings up another huge issue—the burden on family caregivers.
Already in the United States, more than 30 million people provide care to an adult aged 50 or older, Dorsey pointed out.
“The main reason,” he said, “is neurological conditions, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.”
The report was published recently in a supplement to the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.
If you want to know where someone’s priorities lie, take a look at how they spend their money.
Take, for instance, the federal government.
In 2018, the National Institutes of Health spent $303 million on asthma research and $989 million on autoimmune disease studies. That same year, the agency allocated $23 million to the study of migraines.
This, despite the fact that migraines are 50 percent more prevalent than both of the other illnesses. Migraines affect more than 39 million Americans, and about 4 million of them suffer from the chronic form of the disease (15 or more migraine days a month).
There is indeed a gross inequity in funding migraine research compared to other illnesses, said Jared Pomeroy, MD, a headache specialist with Spectrum Health Medical Group Neurology.
In pointing out the federal data, Dr. Pomeroy said one of the main reasons for the lack of funding is stigmatization—migraine patients are more stigmatized than patients who suffer from more diagnosable diseases such as asthma.
Medical tests can help determine the presence and severity of diseases such as asthma. There are no such tests for migraines.
“A lot involves patients reporting their symptoms,” Dr. Pomeroy said. “If someone is missing an arm or a leg, you can see the problem. It’s obvious there’s a disability.
“But headaches are harder to see and diagnose,” he said. “Doctors must rely mostly on what a patient reports, as opposed to relying on their own observations.”
The human condition
Migraines aren’t just an American issue—they’re a human issue.
The World Health Organization lists migraines among the Top 20 illnesses that cause a disability.
The disorder has a disproportionate economic impact as well, typically affecting people in the prime of their lives.
A bout with migraines can cause an otherwise healthy person to miss work or school, and in some cases it can lead to job loss. It can also cause a person to miss out on precious family time.
It’s truly an ailment that knows no social or economic boundaries, striking the rich and famous just as often as it strikes everyday people.
People with migraines can sporadically—and temporarily—escape the battle.
When they seek treatment, however, they sometimes find it difficult to gain understanding from people who have never suffered a migraine, Dr. Pomeroy said.
“A lot of people who don’t suffer from migraines see them as a character flaw, not as a physical ailment,” the doctor said.
Society’s conventional knowledge of migraines doesn’t always mean the public, or even employees in the medical field, will understand the nature of the beast.
Generally, migraines can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting or pulsating on one side of the head. Routine activity can aggravate them.
A migraine patient is often sensitive to light and sound.
Some patients will also experience numbness in their face or body, and the headaches may cause weakness in an arm or leg. Seeing a flashing light, experiencing tunnel vision or even temporarily losing sight are also symptoms.
Treatments
While science is still pursuing a full understanding of migraines, there are treatments available.
They usually entail over-the-counter or prescription drugs. For more severe pain, doctors have used injections or other specialized drugs to provide immediate relief.
“In the 1990s, Triptan medications were developed for acute treatment of migraines,” Dr. Pomeroy said. “Since then, we haven’t had any new classes of pharmaceutical agents developed specifically for migraines.”
Researchers have developed new drugs within existing pharmaceutical classes, the doctor said, and some medicines meant for unrelated disorders have been used effectively for migraines.
Botox has become a godsend for some, although it involves 31 tiny injections that must be repeated every 12 weeks. Others may find relief simply by placing an ice pack on the back of the neck, or on the primary location of the pain.
Patients may also see symptoms improve by changing lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise, Dr. Pomeroy said. Cutting out caffeine and nicotine can be a big help.
Interestingly, the migraine sufferer’s keen intuition is often one of the best defenses.
People who frequently experience migraines can sense when a new one is approaching.
When it strikes at work or at school, they’re better prepared—even if they know their best course of action means returning home to rest in a dark, quiet room.
Some experts think migraines may be hereditary. This much is certain: There’s typically no known cause, and there is no cure.
And until there’s enough funding to help researchers develop a cure, migraine suffers must muddle through the attacks. With guidance from a good doctor, their outlook can improve.
As we get older the chance of our suffering a fall increases, in fact according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA) 1 in 4 Americans aged 65+ falls each year. Relying on your body to catch you and keep you steady, and then losing this ability, can be a serious downfall to your mobility and morale.
Sometimes the fear of falling can be such an all-consuming worry that you may start retreating from doing the things you used to love. However, just because you may notice a drop in your confidence, movement levels, and strength, it does not mean that you can’t improve upon these things and live a fulfilling life. The key to fall prevention is that because we know which factors contribute to falls, we can work to prevent them. The National Council on Aging recommends a number of steps you can take to prevent a fall and build your confidence along the way.
1.Find a good balance and exercise program. This is vital because building up your body’s flexibility, strength, and balance enables you to avoid falling in the first place; if you do happen to fall, you’ll have the ability to get up safely. The AAAWM offers a variety of evidence-based fall prevention classes through its Healthy Aging programs such as A Matter of Balance and EnhanceFitness. There are also a number of evidenced-based programs available throughout West Michigan. Check out your local Council on Aging and Area Agency on Aging as resources to learn more about these Healthy Aging programs. You can also find a class locator here: https://www.aaawm.org/classes
2.Talking to your health care provider is the second step to fall prevention. It is helpful to go over your medical history and if you’ve experienced falls in the past. Your provider also has the ability to assess your risk level for a fall and what can be addressed to lower this risk.
3. Regularly review your medications. Some medication’s side effects can increase your risk of falling, and of course, you should take medications only as they are prescribed by your doctor.
4.Get your vision and hearing checked annually. Proper sight can help you avoid trip hazards and obstacles, and abnormalities in your inner ear can also negatively impact your balance. Treat your health as a top priority to fall prevention and check in with your doctor on these three steps to ensure your well-being.
5. Keep your home safe by removing hazards that are commonly overlooked, but easy to fix. A few things to look for: Do you have a clear pathway through your rooms? Look for rugs, cords and wires, and bulky furniture that may be in your way. Assess your stairs; if steps are uneven or broken this can cause you to fall, and make sure that your stairway is well-lit and has a handrail. In the kitchen, it is best if items are not on kept high shelves, and that your step stool is sturdy if you must use it. In your bedroom, you should have a light close to the bed within easy reach, as well as a well-lit path to the bathroom. Lastly, your bathroom should have some sort of support for you to rely on when using the toilet and bathtub, and if you have a slippery shower floor, add a non-slip rubber mat. All helpful things to keep your home safe!
6.Enlist the help of your family and friends. Let them know that you are worried about falling and would appreciate their help in making your home a safe space. They can provide an extra set of eyes and hands to rid your house of obstacles. They are also likely to help you navigate talking to your doctor, checking your vision and hearing, and reviewing your medications. Having their help will make the process less overwhelming for you. Often those around you are eager and willing to help, you just need to ask!
These six steps come together to help you avoid falls, so you can continue to do the things that you love. Getting older doesn’t mean a loss of independence; it simply means adapting your environment to best fit your needs so that you can flourish. Be sure to use the resources around you; from your doctor to a family member or friend, to help you take these preventative measures. For more information, visit the National Council on Aging’s website at www.ncoa.org.
If life looks gray and cloudy when you smoke, you might not be imagining it.
Heavy smoking may actually damage color and contrast vision, researchers report.
They looked at 71 healthy people who smoked fewer than 15 cigarettes in their lives and 63 people who smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day. The participants were aged 25 to 45 and had normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
But the heavy smokers showed significant changes in their red-green and blue-yellow color vision and also had greater difficulty discriminating contrasts and colors than nonsmokers.
“Our results indicate that excessive use of cigarettes, or chronic exposure to their compounds, affects visual discrimination, supporting the existence of overall deficits in visual processing with tobacco addiction,” said co-author Steven Silverstein, director of research at Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care.
“Cigarette smoke consists of numerous compounds that are harmful to health and it has been linked to a reduction in the thickness of layers in the brain, and to brain lesions, involving areas such as … the area of the brain that processes vision,” he added in a university news release.
He also noted, “Previous studies have pointed to long-term smoking as doubling the risk for age-related macular degeneration and as a factor causing lens yellowing and inflammation.”
Nicotine and smoking harm the body’s circulatory system. These findings indicate they also damage blood vessels and neurons in the retina, according to Silverstein.
He said the results also suggest that research into vision problems in other groups of people, such as those with schizophrenia who often smoke heavily, should take into account their smoking rate.
About 34 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 16 million have a smoking-related disease, many of which affect the cardiovascular system.
The study was published recently in the journal Psychiatry Research.
Every year, once the calendar reaches the second half of October, it becomes clear that the Midwest’s colder seasons are well and truly here. While autumn, winter, and early spring are all beautiful and fun in their own ways, getting outdoors can be a hassle for aging adults. When the sun sets earlier, days get chilly, and we trade our beach towels for cozy blankets, indoor senior activities are the perfect way for everyone to enjoy any weather.
Staying active and entertained during fall and winter is very important for an aging person’s health — both physical and mental. Seasonal affective disorder is a mental health condition caused by a drop in exposure to the sun, and is much more common in northern states than sunnier southern latitudes. Symptoms manifest as a mild depression, causing sufferers to sleep more, lose interest in previously enjoyed activities, and withdraw from social interaction. Encouraging seniors to engage in activities such as games and crafts helps draw them out of depressive episodes, capturing their interest and stimulating their minds and bodies. Here are some great activities that are perfect to try indoors:
1. Work on hobbies or try new ones
Nurturing favorite hobbies is a fun and engaging way for aging adults to stay active during the winter. Cooking, knitting, woodwork, and sewing are all excellent activities that require concentration and hand-eye coordination. If a senior has interests that lean more towards the outdoors, try introducing them to relevant documentary films or crafts they can utilize when it gets warm, such as bird houses or garden decorations.
2. Make seasonal crafts and decorations
One wonderful thing about fall and winter is the holiday season. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, and Valentine’s Day, just to name a few, all have fantastic themes that you can use for art projects, crafts, and decorations. Here are a few of our favorites: these leafy candle holders, these lovely waterless snow globes, and these candy jars.
3. Play games with others
Playing games is a great way for everyone to connect with friends and peers, especially for seniors. Games help to keep minds sharp and spirits up! Group games like charades are a fun way to get the laughter going, and board games like Scrabble, cribbage, and chess make players think strategically and use language and math skills.
4. Show off your green thumb
It can be depressing when there’s not much greenery outside. Green is a symbol of life, and can even have calming effects. So what better way to bring green back into a senior’s life during drab months than indoor gardening? Try making planters or decorating pots with them in addition to maintaining beautiful indoor flowers or plants for an extra personal touch.
5. Make gifts for loved ones
In the seasons of thankfulness and giving, sometimes a small gift goes a long way. Photobooks, cookies, clothes, and decorations are all wonderful, personalized gifts for friends and loved ones. While making gifts, talk about who they’re going to be given to, and any special memories that the senior has of them. This engages them creatively and socially, making it a great bonding activity.
Though there may be bad weather on the horizon, that doesn’t mean fun has to end! Indoor senior activities are versatile and engaging, and suitable for any age or ability level. Keeping seniors engaged all year round is critical for their health, and keeps them loving life to its fullest.
Kratom is often marketed as a safe alternative to opioid painkillers, but this unregulated substance poses a significant health risk. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Calls to U.S. poison control centers related to the herbal drug kratom have skyrocketed, increasing more than 50-fold in a matter of six years, a new study shows.
Back in 2011, poison centers received about one call a month regarding someone who’d taken too much kratom, a plant that is purported to produce mild opioid-like effects.
These days, nearly two calls a day are received concerning kratom exposures, researchers report in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Toxicology.
“We’re now getting literally hundreds of cases a year versus 10 or 20,” said researcher Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. He noted that kratom reports underwent a “relatively big spike” sometime between 2015 and 2016.
The researchers identified 11 deaths associated with kratom use, including two in which kratom was used by itself and nine where kratom was used with other drugs.
Unfortunately, kratom is being promoted as a safe alternative to opioid painkillers for people with chronic pain, Spiller said.
“Because it’s a plant and it’s natural, at this point it’s unregulated,” Spiller said. “A lot of people have been Google-searching it for use in chronic pain and other things and we’ve started to see a really significantly increased use and, in many cases, abuse of it.”
But taking too much kratom can cause some unintended health problems, including agitation, seizures, rapid heart rate and high blood pressure, Spiller said. In extreme cases, kratom overdose can put a person into a coma, stop their breathing or cause kidney failure.
“Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s harmless,” Spiller said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers against using kratom and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has listed it as a “drug of concern.”
Kratom has not been approved for any medical use by the FDA.
For this study, researchers analyzed calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers between 2011 and 2017, finding more than 1,800 reports related to kratom use.
The annual number of calls increased dramatically, going from 13 calls in 2011 to 682 calls in 2017, researchers found.
About two of every three of these calls occurred recently, in either 2016 or 2017.
About a third of the calls resulted in a person needing hospitalization and more than half resulted in serious medical outcomes, the researchers said.
“The belief that kratom is harmless because it is classified as an herbal supplement is directly challenged by the findings in this report—and policy efforts need to address this knowledge gap,” said Dr. Harshal Kirane, director of addiction services at Staten Island University Hospital.
Most dangerous kratom exposures occurred among males (71 percent), adults aged 20 and older (89 percent), in a home (86 percent) and involving intentional abuse or misuse (60 percent), findings show.
Although kratom appears confined to adult use for now, children and teenagers could be exposed to the herb if its popularity keeps increasing, said Kirane, who wasn’t involved with the study.
“The dramatic increase in the rate of reported kratom exposures in recent years suggests a growing demand for this substance,” Kirane said. “Increasing prevalence of kratom use may place young children in dangerous situations, particularly if regulatory measures are not in place to ensure childproof packaging and consistency in quality of kratom.”
Idaho and Oregon are the states with the most reported kratom poisonings, while Delaware and Wisconsin had the lowest rates.
Using kratom with another substance significantly raised a person’s chances of poisoning, nearly tripling the odds that they’d land in a hospital and more than doubling the risk of having a serious medical outcome.
Of the nine deaths involving a mixture of kratom with another substance, kratom was the first-ranked substance in seven, researchers said. The deaths involved kratom used alongside antihistamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines (such as Valium or Xanax), caffeine, fentanyl or cocaine.
“Though the drug claims to cure anxiety and depression, there are very few ‘cure-alls’ in the medical world and anything that claims to alter an individual’s mental state should be taken with the utmost seriousness,” said Dr. Teresa Amato. She is chair of emergency medicine at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City.
“We, as doctors, are unable to tell patients how this ‘medication’ might affect them and cannot in good conscience advise the use of this medicine without a thorough FDA investigation,” said Amato, who had no part in the study.
People should be aware that kratom can interact with medications or illicit drugs in harmful ways and could exacerbate existing health problems, Spiller said.
There’s also a concern that because it’s unregulated, people may be getting kratom that either varies in potency or is mixed with other substances, he added.
“I’d be cautious,” Spiller said. “At this point, we’re not sure of everything kratom does.”
Pregnant women in particular should be careful with kratom.
The researchers identified seven babies who had been exposed to kratom in the womb, three of whom required admission to a critical care unit after birth.
Five of the babies experienced withdrawal symptoms from their mothers’ kratom use and four of those had been exposed to kratom alone.
“I would very much caution pregnant women,” Spiller said. “You can have a real impact on your child.”
“Even normally healthy people can get severe influenza,” she said. “You can still get hospitalized. You can still get secondary bacterial pneumonia.”
And vaccinations community-wide can protect those at greatest risk from influenza, particularly babies who are too young for the vaccine.
“Our very young and our very old are always going to be at the highest risk for severe influenza,” she said.
Also at high risk: pregnant women, people with suppressed immune systems or chronic conditions such as asthma and heart disease.
How bad will the flu season be?
“It’s really difficult to know,” Dr. Olivero said. “It has a lot to do with climate and how waves of viruses move throughout the country.”
Michigan’s flu season typically peaks after the winter holidays and sputters out by April.
Last year, the peak hit about two months late. And the flu season lingered much longer.
“It was very unpleasant,” Dr. Olivero said.
Now is the time to get the vaccine, she added. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with four other global agencies, adjusted this year’s flu vaccine to better match the influenza strains expected to circulate in the U.S. Health officials changed the two A antigen components and left the two B virus components unchanged.
“But even if the flu vaccine is not perfect and doesn’t prevent 100% of influenza cases, it can still prevent thousands of hospitalizations,” Dr. Olivero said. “That’s a big win, too.”
If you get the vaccine—and end up getting the flu—the illness likely will be less severe and of shorter duration.
In the 2018-19 influenza season, the overall vaccine effectiveness was 38 percent and yet it still paid big benefits, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. It prevented:
7.1 million illnesses
109,000 hospitalizations
8,000 deaths
Studies by CDC researchers, published in Healio, found in recent years that flu vaccines:
In children, reduced the risk of influenza-related hospitalization by 50%.
In adults, reduced the odds of severe outcomes, including death, by 36%.
Some people mistakenly think the vaccine can make them sick, Dr. Olivero added.
“Getting the flu vaccine does not give you the flu,” she said.
Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat
You might experience a short-lived fever, feel run down or have a sore arm at the site of the injection. But that’s not because you have influenza. Those effects are signs of your immune system revving up.
“It’s normal and expected—and it’s way better than getting the flu,” she said.
Which vaccine
The CDC recommends flu vaccines for everyone 6 months and older.
Those 2 to 49 years old can receive the vaccine in a nasal spray called FluMist. But the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends injections as the primary choice for children.
“The shot is more effective, so that’s our first recommendation,” Dr. Olivero said.
Two vaccine options are designed for people 65 and older:
Fluzone High-Dose, which contains four times the antigens of a standard vaccine
Fluad, a standard-dose shot with an added ingredient designed to produce a stronger immune response.
If the flu strikes
The flu often comes on suddenly, causing a cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache and body aches. It can also cause a fever, but that is not always the case, the CDC says.
Most people recover in a few days to up to two weeks. But some develop complications such as pneumonia, which can be life-threatening.
For those who do get influenza, Dr. Olivero advised taking the antiviral drug Tamiflu, also known by its generic name, oseltamivir.
“Folks have been timid about the use of the antiviral drug,” she said.
A study shows the medication, if taken within 48 hours of first symptoms, can shorten a bout of influenza by a day. That may not sound impressive to some.
But she and other infectious disease doctors believe many benefit from it.
“If your husband is diagnosed with influenza and you get ill two days later, which is very typical, you could take (Tamiflu) the same day,” she said. “Most of us would say it turns the illness around extremely quickly, but that’s not captured in medical studies.”
Early treatment is especially important for those with chronic medical conditions.
Preventing the flu
In addition to getting a flu vaccine, the CDC recommends everyday steps to help stop the spread of influenza:
Stay away from sick people.
Wash your hands regularly to prevent the spread of germs.
If you get the flu, stay home from work or school.
Check out the Flu Information Center for local flu vaccine clinics near you, or to call the Flu Help Line at 616.486.3939.
According to the Geriatric Education Center of Michigan at Michigan State University, depression in older adults can seriously affect their quality of life and health. Stress, depression and anxiety can contribute to physical ailments including digestive disorders, sleep disturbances and lack of energy. Older adults who are depressed can also have an increased risk of substance abuse, reduced cognition, higher risk of suicide and a higher incidence of heart attacks.
Older adults can experience different reasons and risk factors for depression than younger adults. HelpGuide.org, a research-based website in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, says that common reasons and risk factors for depression in older adults can include:
Health problems – Illness and disability, chronic or severe pain, cognitive decline, damage to body image due to surgery or disease.
Loneliness and isolation – Living alone; a dwindling social circle due to deaths or relocation; decreased mobility due to illness or loss of driving privileges.
Reduced sense of purpose – Feelings of purposelessness or loss of identity due to retirement or physical limitations on activities.
Fears – Fear of death or dying; anxiety over financial problems or health issues.
Recent bereavements – The death of friends, family members, and pets; the loss of a spouse or partner.
Michigan State University Extension says that ways you can help are to learn about and recognize the signs and symptoms of depression in older adults and the elderly. Common symptoms include sadness, fatigue, abandoning or losing interest in hobbies or other pleasurable pastimes, social withdrawal and isolation (reluctance to be with friends, engage in activities, or leave home), weight loss or loss of appetite, sleep disturbances, loss of self-worth, increased use of alcohol or other drugs, or a fixation on death, suicidal thoughts or attempts.
Is it depression or dementia? According to Harvard Health Publications, here are some signs to watch for:
With depression, mental decline can happen quickly, but with dementia, mental decline happens more slowly.
When someone is depressed, they still know things like the correct time, date and where they are, but with dementia, they become confused and disoriented and sometimes lost in familiar locations.
With depression, people have a hard time concentrating, and they may worry about memory problems. People with dementia have short-term memory loss and don’t notice memory problems or seem to care.
When someone is depressed, language and motor skills are slow, but normal, whereas someone with dementia has impaired writing, speaking and motor skills.
There is good news! According to a study published by Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health Publications, for those who stuck with treatment, depression resolved in seven out of 10 people. Completing a treatment regime can increase positive mood, strengthen personal relationships, increase satisfaction in activities of daily living and help people feel like themselves again.
If you are concerned that your loved one is suffering from depression as an older adult, help them connect to their primary care provider to assess the situation and to identify health and community resources to help them restore their quality of life.
For the first time in decades, doctors have a new weapon to fight serious cases of depression.
Of the 16 million Americans adults living with depression, as many as four million have treatment-resistant depression, which means current treatments such as talk therapy, anti-depressants and electro-convulsive therapy have given them little or no relief.
But recently, the Food and Drug Administration approved ketamine, a fast-acting drug that differs significantly from Prozac, Paxil and other anti-depressants that have been on the market since the 1990s.
Even when antidepressants work, it often takes four to six weeks to kick in, while ketamine only takes several hours to begin showing positive effects, drug trials have shown. The approval is “welcomed news,” said David Franzblau, MD, a psychiatrist with Spectrum Health Medical Group.
“The prospects for ketamine as a long-term treatment remains to be seen,” said Dr. Franzblau, the site chief of the Spectrum Health Integrated Care Campus at East Beltline.
“Trials have shown that the duration of time before symptom-relief is generally much shorter compared to current antidepressants so it at least represents a promising bridge, if not a long-term treatment.”
A stubborn illness
Depression is a mood disorder that affects the way people feel and
interferes with their ability to function at home and at work.
It can be associated with the loss of appetite, sleep disturbance, difficulty concentrating, memory impairment, and a loss of motivation and productivity, Dr. Franzblau said.
“Everybody experiences sadness and anxiety,” he said. “It’s the length of time and number of episodes, along with a constellation of other symptoms, that determine whether somebody has clinical depression.”
About one in 16 American adults suffer from clinical depression at any given moment.
“Depression is the most prevalent mental health disorder in the population,” Dr. Franzblau said. “I believe the adverse impacts of even the treatment-resistant variants can be substantially decreased, and thereby improve the quality of life (of all patients), with enough time and a systematic approach.”
The first step in combating depression is consulting with your primary care physician. First-line interventions that a mental health professional might recommend include counseling and medication.
Antidepressants regulate neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. But the results have been mixed, especially for the up to 33 percent of patients who have treatment-resistant depression.
One current intervention for treatment-resistant depression is electro-convulsive therapy. The benefits of electro-convulsive therapy “were observed accidentally,” Dr. Franzblau said, “like many scientific discoveries.”
The symptoms of depression among patients with epilepsy improved after a seizure.
“The brain is an electrical apparatus: brain activity, thinking, memory and mood regulation like arousal or anxiety, those are all electrical or electro-chemical events,” he said. “So ECT is basically inducing a seizure” in a controlled environment (often in an outpatient setting), helping severely depressed people who haven’t responded to medication.
There are misconceptions about the procedure, and suitable patients have to be chosen, but it can be effective in bringing about a recovery, Dr. Franzblau said. Sometimes one course of this treatment will suffice, or a patient may require periodic maintenance treatment.
From the club to the doctor’s office
Despite $12 billion a year spent on antidepressants globally, suicide rates have increased 25 percent nationally in the last two decades, and are rising in 49 of 50 states.
That’s why any new treatment is welcomed news.
Interest in ketamine—an anesthetic used frequently in hospitals and the battlefield—has grown steadily since the early 2000s.
In 2000, researches at Yale reported that doses of ketamine provided quick relief to seven people with depression.
In 2006, the National Institute of Mental Health documented 18 people with treatment-resistant depression who received the drug intravenously and reported their issues had disappeared almost immediately.
“What seems remarkable is that the drug also seems to help domains other than depression, like anxiety, suicidal thinking, and anhedonia”—the inability to feel pleasure, noted Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr, chief of the National Institute of Mental Health’s experimental therapeutics branch who led the 2006 study.
“It seems to have more broad effects, on many areas of mood,” shared in a New York Times article about ketamine.
Ketamine does have side effects. Ketamine was once a popular drug in the 1980s and 1990s known as Special K, and can cause hallucinations and psychotic episodes in people who are high risk for them. The drug also was less effective in drug trials for people over 65.
The drug maker, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, said the non-generic medication form esketamine, which will be marketed as Spravato, would have less dramatic side effects. Like with all new drugs, Dr. Franzblau said he’ll proceed cautiously because the benefits and costs become clear only after a medication has been used for some time.
“I anticipate I will use it,” he said. “I want to make sure that the benefits outweigh any complications and side effects.”
Esketamine will be administered as a nasal spray. Patients who receive it will have to be monitored for at least two hours, and won’t be allowed to drive on days they receive the drug.
The recommended course will be two days per week for four weeks.
In one drug trial, Janssen reported that those taking esketamine only relapsed into depression 25 percent of the time, as opposed to 45 percent with a placebo. All the people in the study had previously been diagnosed as having treatment-resistant depression, and had failed with other types of treatment.
“Clinical depression represents considerable suffering for the patient and their families,” Dr. Franzblau said. “At worse, it’s a lethal condition, as demonstrated by the rising suicides in our country. New treatments are needed and offer hope.”
Researchers say new drug therapies can target certain genes that play a role in the growth and spread of prostate cancer. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
A drug that targets faulty gene repair may buy more time for some men with advanced prostate cancer, a new clinical trial finds.
Experts called the study “landmark,” because it zeroed in on men with particular gene mutations that can be targeted with newer drug therapies.
It’s an approach that is already used in treating breast, ovarian and lung cancers.
Specifically, the trial tested a drug called Lynparza (olaparib), which is currently approved to treat certain patients with breast or ovarian cancers linked to mutations in the BRCA genes.
When BRCA is working properly, it helps repair damaged DNA in body cells that can lead to cancer. When the gene is altered, those repair mechanisms go awry.
BRCA mutations do not only lead to breast and ovarian cancers, though. They also help drive some cases of prostate cancer.
In the new trial, researchers recruited men with advanced prostate cancer who had alterations in BRCA or certain other genes involved in DNA repair.
The investigators found that, compared with standard hormonal therapy, Lynparza delayed patients’ cancer progression for a median of about three months. That means half the patients saw a longer delay and half a shorter one.
Along with that delay, the drug slowed down patients’ pain progression.
“Delaying the cancer from growing is meaningful,” said Dr. Maha Hussain, who led the trial, which was funded by drug makers Astra Zeneca and Merck.
“At the end of the day, patients want to live longer—and also better,” added Hussain, a professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago.
She was to present the findings at the annual meeting of the European Society for Medical Oncology, in Barcelona. Studies reported at meetings are generally considered preliminary until they are published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Lynparza is one of a newer class of drugs called PARP inhibitors, which block a protein that cancer cells need to keep their DNA healthy. Without it, those cells may die. Cancer cells with defects in DNA-repair genes are especially vulnerable to PARP inhibitors.
The drug class is part of a wider trend in cancer treatment, toward “targeted therapies”—where medications are tailored to target certain molecules in cancer cells that help them grow and spread.
A range of targeted drugs are available for common cancers, such as breast and lung, but prostate cancer has “lagged behind,” Hussain said.
Dr. Eleni Efstathiou, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, described the new trial as landmark.
“Overall, these data show that, like breast and lung cancers, prostate cancer is not one but many different diseases,” Efstathiou said. “We need to start identifying different groups of patients and treating them with targeted therapy.”
She noted that only a fairly small percentage of prostate cancer patients would have alterations in DNA-repair genes—which can be inherited or arise as the cancer progresses.
And doctors do not routinely screen cancers for all those gene flaws.
Screening for inherited mutations is “becoming part of guidelines,” Efstathiou noted, but screening for non-inherited alternations is not yet done.
For the latest trial, the researchers screened 4,425 men with advanced prostate cancer that had spread to distant sites in the body and was not responding to standard hormonal therapy.
The investigators ended up with 245 patients with alterations in either BRCA or another gene called ATM. A second group of 142 patients had alterations in any of 12 other genes tied to flawed DNA repair.
Patients in both groups were randomly assigned to either take Lynparza tablets or start one of two newer hormonal therapies.
Overall, Lynparza patients saw their cancer advance more slowly, with the difference being clearer in the group with BRCA or ATM defects.
For those men, cancer progression was delayed by a median of 7.4 months, versus 3.5 months among patients on hormonal therapy. A preliminary analysis suggested their overall survival was also better—a median of 18.5 months, versus 15 months.
Lynparza does have side effects, including anemia and nausea, Efstathiou pointed out, which can make it difficult to stick with the drug. Just over 16% of Lynparza patients in the trial stopped treatment due to side effects.
The drug is not yet approved for prostate cancer, though some doctors use it “off-label” for certain patients, Hussain noted.
At this point, Efstathiou said, doctors may want to screen for DNA-repair mutations in the tumors of men with advanced prostate cancer, since “we now have evidence it can be successfully targeted.”
Like other targeted drugs, Lynparza carries a hefty price tag: Researchers have estimated that it costs more than $234,000 to extend a patient’s life by one year.
The old saying, “TV rots your brain,” could have some validity for folks as they age.
In a new study, middle-aged people who watched television for more than 3.5 hours a day experienced a decline in their ability to remember words and language over the next six years, British researchers found.
What’s worse, it appears that the more TV you watch, the more your verbal memory will deteriorate, researchers said.
“Overall, our results suggests that adults over the age of 50 should try and ensure television viewing is balanced with other contrasting activities,” said lead researcher Daisy Fancourt. She’s a senior research fellow at University College London.
For the study, researchers relied on data from a long-term study of aging involving more than 3,600 residents of England.
Participants reported the amount of hours of TV they watched daily. They also had their thinking and reasoning skills regularly tested as part of the study.
People who watched less than 3.5 hours of TV a day didn’t seem to suffer any deterioration in their brain power, Fancourt said.
But more than that amount, people became increasingly apt to struggle with words or language in tests conducted six years later.
The decline in language skills is similar to that experienced by the poor as they age, Fancourt said.
“We already know from a number of studies that being of low socio-economic status is a risk factor for cognitive decline,” Fancourt said. “If we compare the size of association for watching television for greater than 3.5 hours a day, it has a similar-sized association with verbal memory as being in the lowest 20 percent of wealth in the country.”
The worst deficits occurred in those people who watched more than seven hours of television daily, researchers found.
While only an association was seen in the study, there are a couple of potential reasons why this might happen.
“Due to the fast-paced changes in images, sounds and action, yet the passive nature of receiving these—i.e., television does not involve interaction as gaming or using the internet does—watching television has been shown in laboratory studies to lead to a more alert, but less focused, brain,” Fancourt explained.
Some TV viewing is also stressful and stress has been associated with a decline in brain power, she added.
The specific effect on verbal skills indicates that avid TV viewing could be replacing other activities that would be better for the brain, said Rebecca Edelmayer, director of scientific engagement at the U.S.-based Alzheimer’s Association.
“You’re spending more time not engaging with your family, your friends and having social conversations, because they’re specifically reporting a decrease in verbal recall,” Edelmayer said. “We know engagement with others in conversation is something that supports and protects verbal recall.”
People who want to protect their thinking skills need to socialize often and engage in other activities that “stretch” their brain, Edelmayer said.
In fact, a long-term study published just last week in the journal Neurology found that exercising both the brain and body during middle age may guard against dementia. Such mental exercise includes reading, playing music, sewing or painting, according to the report.
“The recommendation would always be to stretch yourself and stay as engaged as you can be, whatever the connection is,” Edelmayer said. “We’re asking you for best brain health to go outside your normal passive box.”
The new study was published recently in the journal Scientific Reports.
The numbers are staggering, the financial and societal costs exorbitant. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 5.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s today. By 2050, the number is expected to increase to nearly 14 million.
Courtesy Alzheimer’s Association
And here’s a sobering thought: Cognitive decline begins at the age of 25. Dementia — the deterioration of memory most often seen in aging adults — takes hold early on and starts gradually, but then accelerates when we are in our 70s and 80s.
But what if solving brain games and puzzles on a computer could reduce the chances of developing dementia and delay the debilitating loss of function?
That’s the premise behind a new clinical trial, which is seeking volunteers for a three-year study. The PACT (Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease with Cognitive Training) Alzheimer’s clinical trial needs 600 people of all ethnicities from the West Michigan area to play computer games. Overall, the study needs 7,600 people to enroll and will be conducted at 15 locations across the U.S.
The study is spearheaded by David Morgan, Ph.D., Professor of Translational Neuroscience at Michigan State University, who relocated here in late 2017 from the University of South Florida in Tampa.
The study began in East Grand Rapids this past July, and a second study location just opened this Fall in South Grand Rapids.
Specifically, participants will be provided free access to a series of computer games designed to increase your brain’s processing speed. If you qualify to help, you will complete three study visits of one hour each at the PACT Research study location nearest you. You will then complete 45 one-hour sessions on your own, in your own home, over the next three years.
“This study will definitely prove if computer games can (or cannot) reduce the risk of developing cognitive impairment leading to dementia,” said Morgan. “A critical piece is that everyone who declines cognitively during the study will receive a medical diagnosis, something not done in the earlier study.”
Participants must be over 65 years old, free of severe neurological or psychiatric illness, and able to play computer games. You may qualify if you:
are 65 years of age or older
do not have any neurological disorders
have not had a stroke or brain injury
do not have mild cognitive impairment or dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease
What’s in it for you? There’s no monetary compensation, but research has shown that brain games may:
protect against dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease
enhance mental quickness and visual attention
improve gait speed and balance
improve driving safety
maintain health and well-being
allow you to perform everyday tasks more efficiently
protect against depression
In short, all the things that money can’t buy.
If the researchers can enroll enough older adults in the trial, they will apply for a larger grant to train and monitor a cohort of participants for five to seven years. That study will include genetic testing and neuro-imaging of the brain to gain a better understanding of who is more likely to develop dementia and would benefit from this training.
If you find yourself struggling to stay alert, it could hint at an underlying medical problem—or the need for changes to your nighttime sleep routine. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Napping isn’t just for infants and children. Adults can get in on the action, too—they need only recognize the right time, place and circumstance.
Feeling fatigued or groggy during the day? That’s a good place to start. But you first need to determine why you’re feeling that way.
A nap can be refreshing and invigorating, helping you reenergize for a trip or for the workday, or whatever activity you’re undertaking, said Mary Barr, adult nurse practitioner in sleep medicine at Spectrum Health.
But the circumstances allowing for a nap will vary.
Generally speaking, you should only be napping during the day if you’re ill or if you’re trying to relieve pain. You could also nap amid abnormal circumstances—when you’re recovering from an acute injury, for example, or managing chronic illness.
Sometimes your schedule might deprive you of some much-needed sleep. If you find there’s no way to make it through the day without stealing a few quick moments of rest—or if you’re engaged in an activity that is simply wearing you down—a short nap is entirely acceptable.
Just be sure it’s a temporary solution. You should change your activities so you can keep to your regular schedule.
If you feel sleepy while driving, pull over in a safe place and catch a few Zzzs, Barr said. Likewise, when performing tasks that require high levels of attention, consider a nap to ward off fatigue.
If you’re at work, your nap needs to happen while on break or during your lunch hour.
“A 15-minute nap—often called a power nap—can refresh you when you are feeling sluggish or inattentive, groggy or not focused,” Barr said.
Generally, a 15- to 30-minute nap is enough. You can tell if you’ve slept too long because you’ll wake up feeling more groggy than before, she said.
There’s no ideal nap time, just whenever you feel sleepy during the day. Generally, this is after lunch for most people.
Falling asleep when napping is good, although you may not necessarily fall into any deep sleep stages.
Not all naps are equal
A word of caution: Don’t nap too late in the day or too close to your typical bedtime. Such naps can interfere with normal nighttime sleep routines, Barr said.
And make no mistake—you need a good night’s sleep every single night. Usually, if your sleep routine is good, you won’t need additional napping.
Barr offered a good rule of thumb: Make sure your nap is at least six to eight hours before your normal bedtime.
She also said that napping every day could be an indication you’re not getting enough rest at night. Bad sleep habits could cause this, but there could also be a medical problem. Sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome, for example, can make people feel sleepy during the day.
One American Academy of Sleep Medicine study that found frequent napping is associated with an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes in older adults.
Adults who don’t sleep well at night should analyze their sleep habits to see what might be interrupting their sleep. Stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine could be to blame, but bad sleep habits could also be the culprit.
Some other napping tips from Barr:
Keep the nap short—ideally about 30 minutes.
Make sure the nap is in a safe, comfortable place where you won’t be disturbed.
Avoid long weekend naps, especially if you don’t nap during the week.
Don’t resort to napping to make up for sleepless nights.
If sleepless nights are a recurring problem, you may need to seek help from a sleep professional to determine if there is an underlying medical cause.
Too little sleep. Not enough exercise. Far too much “screen time.”
That is the unhealthy lifestyle of nearly all U.S. high school students, new research finds.
The study, of almost 60,000 teenagers nationwide, found that only 5 percent were meeting experts’ recommendations on three critical health habits—sleep, exercise and time spent gazing at digital media and television.
It’s no secret that many teenagers are attached to their cellphones, or stay up late, or spend a lot of time being sedentary. But even researchers were struck by how extensive those issues are among high school students.
“Five percent is a really low proportion,” said study leader Gregory Knell, a research fellow at University of Texas School of Public Health, in Dallas. “We were a bit surprised by that.”
In general, medical experts say teenagers should get eight to 10 hours of sleep at night and at least one hour of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. They should also limit their screen time—TV and digital media—to less than two hours per day.
The new findings show how few kids manage to meet all three recommendations, Knell said.
It’s easy to see how sleep, exercise and screen time are intertwined, he pointed out.
“Here’s one example: If kids are viewing a screen at night—staring at that blue light—that may affect their ability to sleep,” Knell said.
“And if you’re not getting enough sleep at night, you’re going to be more tired during the day,” he added, “and you’re not going to be as physically active.”
Ariella Silver is an assistant professor of pediatrics and adolescent medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York City. She agreed there’s a lot of overlap in the three behaviors.
Silver, who was not involved in the study, also made this point: The two-hour limit on screen time may be tough for high school students, since their homework may demand a lot of computer time.
It’s not clear how much that may have played into the findings, Silver said.
Still, she sees screen time as possibly the “biggest factor” here. Silver agreed that it may hinder teenagers’ sleep. But another issue comes up when social media “replaces” face-to-face social interaction.
When kids do not go out with friends, they miss out on many experiences—including chances for physical activity, Silver said.
While no group of kids in the study was doing well, some were faring worse than others. Only 3 percent of girls met all three recommendations, versus 7 percent of boys.
Similarly, the rate was 2 percent to 4 percent among black, Hispanic and Asian American students, versus just over 6 percent of white kids, the findings showed.
The report was published online recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Silver offered some advice for parents:
Instead of telling kids to “get off the phone,” steer them toward alternatives, like extracurricular activities, community programs or family time. “Their screen time will go down by default,” she noted.
Be a good role model. Get off your phone and demonstrate healthy habits, including spending time being physically active with your kids.
Talk to teenagers about the importance of healthy habits. “Ask them, ‘How do you feel when you don’t get enough sleep?’” Silver suggested. “Ask, ‘How do you feel when you don’t get outside in the sun and get some exercise?’” It’s important, she said, that kids notice how their bodies feel when they do or don’t engage in healthy habits.
Set some clear rules around screen time, such as no devices in the two hours before bedtime. “Make sure your kids realize these devices are a privilege, and not a necessity to living,” Silver said.
The good news, Knell said, is that since sleep, exercise and screen time are interrelated, changing one habit could affect the others, too.
“There are certainly small changes you can make that may have a big impact,” he said.
In people with buildup of amyloid brain protein, regular aerobic activity might slow degeneration in the brain region tied to memory. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
For people at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, working out a couple of times a week might at least slow the onset of the illness, new research suggests.
Regular exercise over a year slowed the degeneration of the part of the brain tied to memory among people who had a buildup of amyloid beta protein in their brain.
These protein “plaques” are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s, noted researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Aerobic exercise didn’t stop plaques from spreading, but it might slow down the effects of amyloid on the brain, especially if started at an early stage, the research team suggested.
“What are you supposed to do if you have amyloid clumping together in the brain? Right now doctors can’t prescribe anything,” lead researcher Dr. Rong Zhang said in a university news release.
However, “if these findings can be replicated in a larger trial, then maybe one day doctors will be telling high-risk patients to start an exercise plan,” he said. “In fact, there’s no harm in doing so now.”
One expert who wasn’t involved in the study agreed with that advice.
“Exercise is an excellent way to both prevent Alzheimer’s and to help patients with Alzheimer’s disease stay stable for longer periods of time,” said Dr. Gayatri Devi, a neurologist specializing in memory disorders at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
“Aerobic exercise, three to four times a week, has been shown to help grow brain cells in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, the key area for both laying down new memories and for retrieving old ones,” she explained.
In the new study, Zhang and colleagues randomly assigned 70 people aged 55 and older to either half-hour workouts of aerobic exercise four to five days a week, or less strenuous flexibility training.
All of the patients had some amyloid plaque buildup in their brains at the beginning of the study and were classed as having “mild cognitive impairment,” often a precursor to Alzheimer’s.
Followed over one year, people in both groups maintained similar mental abilities in memory and problem solving, the researchers noted.
However, those in the aerobic exercise group showed less shrinkage of the brain’s hippocampus as seen on scans.
The hippocampus is an area of the brain important to memory and one of the first areas usually affected by Alzheimer’s, Zhang’s group explained.
“It’s interesting that the brains of participants with amyloid responded more to the aerobic exercise than the others,” Zhang said. “Although the interventions didn’t stop the hippocampus from getting smaller, even slowing down the rate of atrophy through exercise could be an exciting revelation.”
To further test the effect of exercise, Zhang is heading up a five-year trial that includes more than 600 older adults, aged 60 to 85, who are at risk for Alzheimer’s.
“Understanding the molecular basis for Alzheimer’s disease is important,” Zhang said. “But the burning question in my field is, ‘Can we translate our growing knowledge of molecular biology into an effective treatment?’ We need to keep looking for answers.”
Dr. Jeremy Koppel is associate professor of psychiatry and molecular medicine at the Litwin-Zucker Center for Alzheimer’s Disease & Memory Disorders, at Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.
Reading over the new findings, he said that, on the whole, the study was “disappointing” because exercise “did not have any specific effect on tests of memory, mental flexibility or amyloid deposition in patients with mild cognitive impairment.”
While the finding regarding hippocampus size was interesting, “this was not the primary outcome measure of the study,” Koppel noted.
So, “it may be that aerobic exercise interventions are best targeted at those not suffering already from cognitive impairment,” he said.
The report was published recently in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Sleeping in on Saturday and Sunday mornings may feel like a reboot from a harried week, but it’s unlikely to compensate for what your body really needs: consistently good sleep. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
People who are sleep-deprived during the week often try to make up for it on weekends. But a new study suggests the tactic may backfire.
Researchers found that weekday sleep loss had negative effects on people’s metabolism—and “catch-up” sleep on the weekend did not reverse it.
In fact, there were signs that the extra weekend shut-eye could make matters worse, said senior study author Kenneth Wright, a professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The bottom line, according to Wright, is that people need to consistently get sufficient sleep.
“If you want to lead a healthy lifestyle,” he said, “that has to include good sleep habits.”
The study, published online recently in the journal Current Biology, included 36 healthy young adults. They were randomly assigned to one of three groups that all spent nine nights in the sleep lab.
One group was allowed to sleep for up to nine hours each night. A second could sleep only five hours. The third group was allowed five hours of sleep for five days, then a weekend “recovery” period where they could sleep in as late as they wanted. After that, they returned to five hours of sleep for two nights.
Wright’s team found that in both sleep-deprived groups, people lost some of their sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar. They also began to eat more at night and gained some weight, on average.
The group that was allowed to sleep in on the weekend saw one benefit: There was less late-night eating on those days.
However, they went right back to post-dinner munching once they returned to five-hour nights. And their insulin sensitivity remained impaired.
In addition, Wright said, they showed decreased insulin sensitivity in the liver and muscles, specifically—which was not seen in the group that got no catch-up sleep over the weekend.
Over time, decreased insulin sensitivity can be a precursor to Type 2 diabetes. And a number of studies have linked chronic sleep loss to heightened risks of diabetes and obesity, Wright noted.
In general, experts recommend that adults get seven or more hours of sleep each night for the sake of their overall health. Yet, studies show that more than one-third of U.S. adults fall short of that goal.
Dr. Phyllis Zee, a sleep specialist and professor at Northwestern University School of Medicine, in Chicago, said, “We tend to buy into the myth that by ‘catching up’ on sleep on weekends, we’ll (reverse) the adverse effects of repeated sleep loss.”
But, according to Zee, who was not involved in the new research, “the results of this study support that it is indeed a myth. In fact, even the muscle and liver ‘remember’ the adverse and persistent effects of sleep loss.”
It’s true, Wright said, that real life can get in the way of optimal sleep. But he added that people should take an honest look at their habits and see if they can make time for a good night’s sleep.
“What are the ‘sleep stealers’ in your life?” Wright said. “Are you up late watching TV or on your computer?”
Late-night “screen” use is a problem not only because it takes time away from sleep, he pointed out. Staring at a blue light before bedtime can actually disrupt your ability to fall asleep.
Sleep is vital for a range of body processes, not only metabolism. And Zee said there’s evidence that other effects of chronic sleep loss—including dampened alertness and mental performance—cannot be erased with a couple of nights of catch-up sleep.
“Regularity in both timing and duration of sleep is key to brain and body health” she said.
After age 50, many people notice increased forgetfulness and may be concerned about developing dementia. Forgetting where you parked your car or where you left your glasses can be frustrating and embarrassing, and using humor to acknowledge “a senior moment” often helps to dispel some anxiety!
Michigan State University Extension recommends staying mentally active and including daily physical activity as healthy lifestyle choices to improve memory. Eat low-fat protein, fruits, vegetables and whole grains to provide the nutrients needed to keep your brain sharp. Watch what you drink – too little water or too much alcohol can lead to confusion and memory loss. Stimulate your brain by doing puzzles, learning new skills, or taking an alternate route to a familiar destination. Play games, including free online brain games such as those offered by AARP, where you can adjust the skill level.
Other factors in addition to age that can contribute to forgetfulness include medical conditions and emotional problems. It is a good idea to review your medications with your health care provider to review possible side effects that may impact memory. Stress and depression can also contribute to memory loss, so make sure to enjoy regular social interaction with family and friends, especially if you live alone. Sleep is vital in helping your brain sort, consolidate and store your memories, so try to get seven to eight hours of sleep each day.
When you really pay attention to something, you remember it better. New information is lost from short term memory unless it is repeated again and again. Focusing your attention causes your brain to release special chemicals that strengthen learning and memory. You are more likely to remember appointments and other events if you keep track of them in a special notebook or calendar. The act of writing it down or saying it out loud will reinforce it in your memory. To avoid misplacing items, be diligent about putting your wallet or purse, keys and glasses in the same place each day. When you can’t recall a word or name, review the facts of the story or event.
Remembering other details will help trigger the memory you are searching for. Who has not walked into a room and then not remembered why you were going there? These are very common lapses that usually result from lack of attention or focus. By mentally retracing your steps or physically going back to where you were, the thought will often come back. Staying focused on your immediate task will help avoid this annoying experience. Studies show that the older we get, the more the brain has to exert effort to maintain focus. It also takes longer to get back to an original task after an interruption, so avoid multitasking to reduce distractions.
While memory loss is a common symptom of dementia, memory loss by itself does not mean that a person has dementia. Dementia is not a specific disease. It is a descriptive term for a collection of symptoms that can be caused by a number of disorders that affect the brain. Although it is common in very elderly individuals, dementia is not a normal part of the aging process.
See your doctor if you have serious memory problems that make it hard to do everyday tasks. For example, you may find it hard to drive, shop or even talk with a friend. Signs of serious memory problems may include:
Asking the same questions over and over again
Getting lost in places you know well
Not being able to follow directions
Becoming more confused about time, people and places
By taking steps to maintain memory, and seeking help with serious memory problems for ourselves or loved ones when needed, we can manage cognitive changes without allowing them to diminish our enjoyment of life.
Early studies of an experimental contraceptive have shown it can safely reduce hormones that are key to sperm production. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
A male contraceptive pill, long a goal of men—and women—everywhere, may be one step closer to reality, U.S. researchers report.
They say their experimental pill appears to be safe while reducing levels of hormones key to sperm production.
“Our results suggest that this pill, which combines two hormonal activities in one, will decrease sperm production while preserving libido,” said study co-senior investigator Dr. Christina Wang. She’s professor of medicine at Los Angeles Biomed Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif.
But no one should hold their breath while waiting for the pill to reach the market: “Safe, reversible hormonal male contraception should be available in about 10 years,” Wang said in a news release from the Endocrine Society.
Her team presented the findings at the society’s annual meeting in New Orleans.
The study “shows promise for a future reversible male contraceptive,” agreed Dr. Tomer Singer, who directs reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He wasn’t involved in the new research and stressed that “more studies, including prospective randomized trials, are needed in order to confirm these initial findings.”
The new research involved 40 healthy men who received either a placebo or the experimental birth control pill, which is for now called 11-beta-MNTDC.
As Wang’s group explained, the pill is a modified form of testosterone that delivers the combined actions of both a male hormone and a female hormone (progesterone).
The men took the placebo or drug once a day for 28 days.
Among the men who took the birth control pill, average circulating testosterone levels dropped as low as that which occurs in a state of androgen (male hormone) deficiency.
However, the men did not experience any severe side effects, such as major loss of libido, as can occur in a typical state of androgen deficiency.
Any side effects that did occur were few and mild and included fatigue, acne or headache, Wang’s group reported.
Five of the men who took the birth control pill reported slight declines in their sex drive, while two reported mild erectile dysfunction. However, none of this affected their sexual activity, which did not decrease. None of the men stopped taking the drug because of side effects, and they all passed safety tests.
In men who took the birth control pill, levels of two hormones required for sperm production dropped greatly compared to those who took the placebo. And the drug’s effects were reversible after the men stopped taking the pill.
Wang stressed that the drug would take at least three 60- to 90-day regimens to begin to affect sperm production, so the 28 days of treatment in the study was too short to achieve maximum sperm suppression.
However, her team plans longer studies and—if they show that the drug is effective—the next phases will be larger studies.
Finally, the pill would be tested in sexually active couples, Wang said.
Singer agreed that longer trials are key to knowing if this pill will be successful.
“We know that in order to produce a healthy sperm—which has a life cycle for approximately 3 months—there has to be secretion of both FSH and LH, which are two hormones secreted by the pituitary gland,” he explained. Those two hormones “act on the testicular cells to produce sperm in one (type of cell) and secrete testosterone in the other,” Singer added.
However, “the main challenge is that suppressing the hormones—testosterone, LH and FSH—by taking hormonal treatment may result in a decease in libido, erection and ejaculation,” Singer said. This early, phase 1 clinical trial shows promise, he said, but only larger, longer trials will prove if 11-beta-MNTDC is both safe and effective.
Because the findings were presented at a media meeting, they should also be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Your periods are so heavy and irregular, you are left exhausted and weak. You never know when your period is going to appear, and during it, you can barely stay ahead of the mess. The cramps are not too bad, but once the bleeding starts, you know you are in for several bad days followed by a week of spotting. When the bleeding stops, the aftermath means being tired with less motivation to run or lift weights, let alone go for a brisk walk.
What is your diagnosis? Probably perimenopause.
Probably is an important word as just because someone might fit the story for perimenopause, it is necessary to make sure the irregular periods are not caused by anything else.
Perimenopause is the normal life phase when periods start to change as your ovaries run out of follicles, or immature eggs. Hormone levels change and fluctuate.
The result? Irregular periods, often close together or spaced out and sometimes heavy and sometimes light. These changes can also be caused by an over- or under-active thyroid, changes in weight such as rapid loss or gain, high prolactin levels, polycystic ovary, and conditions which affect the uterus such as polyps or fibroids.
Especially in women who are overweight, with diabetes or high blood pressure, it is crucial to make sure the uterine lining is not too thick, which could be caused by pre-cancer or uterine cancer.
A patient I’ll call Molly came to see me to figure out why she felt so tired all the time.
At 48, she could hardly keep up with life, including her high school kids’ schedules, spending time with her husband beyond comparing schedules, and her full-time job.
Her work was hosting a biggest loser contest, and she felt too tired and lacked motivation to start an exercise plan or make any real attempt at eating healthy in order to lose 15 pounds. Her periods interfered with work in that she had to leave a planning meeting because she felt her period start and feared she would make a mess.
What made matters worse, she was planning for a dream trip with several families and worried about bleeding while on the trip.
Her recent blood work revealed that her hemoglobin blood count was 10 and her iron (ferritin) was 15, which prompted her primary care doctor to find her a gynecologist. She had lost enough blood on a regular basis and couldn’t take enough iron to make up what her body needed.
Her doctor ruled out thyroid or prolactin problems. She had an ultrasound and came to see me, hoping for some options to get her irregular and heavy periods to stop.
She appeared otherwise healthy except for being slightly overweight. Her cholesterol and blood sugar levels were borderline high and thyroid and prolactin normal. Her ultrasound—done after a period—showed a normal lining thickness and no fibroids or any other abnormality.
We talked about the phase of life she’s in and her options.
Because her periods were so heavy, it would be a good idea to first sample her uterine lining with an endometrial biopsy. Because she did not smoke and had no family or personal history of blood clots, she was still a candidate for the low-dose birth control pills, which could be used to help her not have her period while on a trip.
Another option: bioidentical FDA-approved progesterone to take from day 10 of her cycle for 15 days, which could make the periods more regular and light, but would not provide birth control. An IUD with progesterone could also work for her as it would give her birth control as well as control heavy bleeding.
After a good discussion about the pros and cons of each option, she chose an IUD as she also needed birth control, and we placed the IUD in time to ensure her periods would at least be better, if not gone.
In terms of the other symptoms of perimenopause, she chose to focus on a healthy lifestyle now that the periods would no longer be the issue.
She chose a schedule of short daily workouts to fit in between other obligations, having been reminded she needed to care for herself in order to care for others.
This included all of the SEEDS and supporting her system with consistent sleep, water, multivitamin, Vitamin D, iron-rich foods, calcium in her diet, exercise—a bit every day—and a short time of quiet and gratitude every day.
Technology can seem overwhelming to those who didn’t grow up with it, and too often seniors give up on trying to understand new advancements. While it’s true that adapting to technology doesn’t come as naturally to seniors as it does to younger generations, there are a lot of benefits of technology that you should know about. One example is apps, a downloadable application that can be used on a phone or tablet.
1. Healthcare apps
Seniors can use apps to access healthcare information faster. Many healthcare facilities and doctors use apps to create patient portals and upload your medical information for you to view. Doctors can also have chat lines to be available after office hours for emergency medical questions.
Some healthcare apps even allow you to fill prescriptions online, saving you a phone call or doctor’s visit when you need medications refilled on short notice. You can also use a health app to monitor symptoms of chronic conditions.
Ridesharing apps allow you to get a ride without needing a car yourself. These apps will share your location with a certified driver who will pick you up and take you where you need to go for a small fee. No parking needed!
These apps are great for seniors because if you don’t have a car or don’t feel comfortable driving someplace you can have a source of transportation.
Social media apps are some of the most popular among people of all ages. While you may have a Facebook account on your computer, it can be a great asset to have the app downloaded on your phone or tablet as well. Then you can easily see photos, posts, and updates from friends and family.
Staying connected to people is an important part of senior health. Socialization is a big part of ensuring that your cognitive functions continue to operate healthily as you age. Social media apps can help you keep in contact with people, as well as sharing your own thoughts and events.
As mentioned above, finding ways to help keep your brain functions healthy is an important aspect of maintaining your cognitive and memory health. In order to help, there are apps specifically made to challenge your brain and improve your mental functions. You can learn new skills, thought patterns, and languages through apps, and most can be explored for free.
Let’s face it: grocery shopping is a chore at any age. However, it becomes especially difficult as a senior to find the time and energy to drive to the store, find everything you need, get it up on the checkout line, carry your bags to the car, haul them all inside, and put everything away. So why not use apps to cut out some of these steps?
Grocery delivery apps like Shipt and other food delivery apps can take all the travel time out of finding the foods you need to stay energized and healthy.
From simple slips to more serious reminders, it’s important to have a
system in place to help us remember when something important comes up.
Apps can help with sound and vibration notifications that capture our
attention. Different apps have features that may be better for your
memory, so play around to find one that fits your needs!
It’s the Golden Age of Television, and you don’t want to miss a minute! There are so many different television and movie watching opportunities, so having the ability to watch your favorite programs from anywhere is a great benefit of app technology.
If watching television isn’t your go-to activity, there are still plenty of ways to find entertainment with reading apps. Whether you pay for a monthly subscription with Amazon Kindle, or want to borrow library books to read online, there’s an app for you! You can even listen to books through Audible, which reads books out loud so you can hear your favorite story while doing other tasks.
If you still want more entertainment, there are an abundance of gaming apps that you can try out. Some are puzzle based, which can help build cognitive functions, some are played against other people, and some are just great for passing time.
No matter what type of games you like to play, there are apps available for you. These apps are so popular that they have an entire tab under your app store to search within! Take a look and see which apps are going to provide you with the most fun.
10. Music apps
Music is one of nearly everyone’s favorite pastimes, and is especially great for seniors. As with other forms of entertainment, there are more options available now than ever before. And, with the help of music apps, you don’t need to have any equipment beyond a phone or tablet to enjoy all your favorite songs.
For almost anything you can think of, there is an app that can help. While technology may seem overwhelming, getting some help from a younger family member or friend to really understand tools like apps can make technology a great addition to every senior’s life!
Taking medication for high blood pressure or high cholesterol can reduce the odds of stroke. Researchers also suspect improvements in diet, exercise and lifestyle are contributing to better outcomes. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Starting in the late 1980s, stroke rates among older Americans began to fall—and the decline shows no signs of stopping, a new study finds.
The researchers found that between 1987 and 2017, the rate of stroke incidence among Americans aged 65 and older dropped by one-third per decade.
The pattern has been steady, with no leveling off in recent years.
It’s not completely clear why, according to researcher Dr. Josef Coresh, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, in Baltimore.
Over time, fewer older adults in the study were smokers, which is a major risk factor for stroke. On the other hand, some other risk factors—such as high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes—became more common.
Of course, those conditions can be treated. And it’s known that for any one person, getting high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes under control can cut the risk of stroke, Coresh said.
“However,” he added, “at the population level, we found that the decline (in strokes) was larger than what would be predicted from risk factor control alone.”
That suggests something else is going on, Coresh said.
The findings are based on data from a long-running heart health study that began in 1987. At the outset, it recruited almost 15,800 adults aged 45 to 64 from communities in four U.S. states.
A previous study found that the stroke rate among the participants fell between 1987 and 2011—a decline seen only among people aged 65 and older.
The new analysis, published online recently in JAMA Neurology, shows that the trend continued between 2011 and 2017.
Over 30 years, Coresh’s team found, there were 1,028 strokes among participants aged 65 and older. The incidence dropped by 32% over time.
In more recent years, many more older adults were on medication for high blood pressure or high cholesterol, versus the late 1980s. But risk factor control did not fully explain why the stroke rate dropped so much, according to Coresh.
He said that other factors not measured in the study—including exercise, salt intake and overall diet—might be involved.
Dr. Larry Goldstein, a spokesperson for the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, made another point: The study could not account for exactly how well-controlled people’s blood pressure and other risk factors were.
That could go a long way toward explaining the decline in stroke incidence, according to Goldstein, who is also a professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky.
But while the latest findings are good news, there are also more sobering stroke statistics, Goldstein said. Although strokes are most common among people aged 65 and older, they strike younger adults, too, and the incidence of stroke among younger people has been inching up in recent years.
Plus, Goldstein said, the death rate from stroke—which had been declining—has recently “stalled” and is starting to reverse course.
“It might be because folks are now having more severe strokes,” Goldstein noted.
It’s critical, he added, that people be aware of the signs of stroke and get help quickly if they think they, or a family member, is having one.
Some of the warning signs include a drooping or numbness on one side of the face; arm weakness or numbness; slurred speech; sudden confusion or difficulty seeing or walking; or, as Goldstein described it, “the worst headache of your life.”
His advice: “Don’t delay getting help. Time saved is brain saved.”
Tramell Louis Jr. has diabetes, and his friends all know it.
So when he collapsed at lunch while waiting to place his order, his buddy thought Tramell was having a diabetic attack.
He helped him out to his car and called LaGenda, Tramell’s wife, who drove to meet them outside the restaurant.
It didn’t take her long to figure out that this was no low-blood-sugar attack, so she followed her instincts and called 911.
“I’m asking him questions and he’s looking at me, but he won’t respond. So at that point I knew something was grotesquely wrong,” she said. “I just knew it wasn’t related to the diabetes.”
As she watched “his mouth go crooked,” she wondered whether he was having a stroke.
Clot retrieval
An ambulance took Tramell to the emergency department at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, where doctors confirmed LaGenda’s suspicions: At age 37, her husband had suffered an acute ischemic stroke.
The doctors quickly got him hooked up to an intravenous drip and administered a clot-busting medicine known as IV tPA. As the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating acute ischemic stroke, this is the standard of care in a case like Tramell’s.
At the same time, emergency room staff called one of the hospital’s stroke specialists, who ordered a CT angiogram to pinpoint the source of the stroke. Tramell was rushed to the interventional radiology suite for imaging.
With the images on screen, the Spectrum Health Medical Group neurointerventionalist could see that Tramell was a perfect candidate for an advanced intervention called a mechanical thrombectomy, or clot retrieval.
Tramell’s brain scans showed two blood clots—one in the carotid artery in his neck and the other lodged in the left-middle cerebral artery, a major artery supplying the brain.
This second clot had shut down the blood flow to the left side of his brain, like a dam blocking a river.
“When the doctor showed me the CT scan of his brain, you could clearly see that (one) side of his brain had no blood flow to it at all,” LaGenda recalled.
Time is brain
With stroke, speed is everything. The longer the brain is deprived of blood, the more damage the brain suffers.
Studies have shown that for every minute blood supply is blocked, approximately 2 million neurons die.
So if a patient fits the criteria for intervention, “the sooner you start the procedure, the sooner you take out the blood clot, the sooner you restore the blood flow, the better the outcomes at three months.” That’s the standard measurement in the United States today.
Thankfully, Tramell beat the clock. From the moment he arrived at the hospital to the time he underwent surgery, less than an hour had passed.
Because there were two clots, the doctor used a two-step process to retrieve them. First he inserted a catheter into a blood vessel in the patient’s groin and fed it up to the carotid artery. Using a tool called the Solitaire device, he trapped the first clot in a tiny mesh stent and pulled it out.
Photo by Taylor Ballek, Spectrum Health Beat
Then he repeated the technique, fishing out the clot in the central brain. Immediately the blood began to flow again, in what doctors call complete recanalization—the channel was open again.
The results for Tramell proved to be dramatic.
His symptoms—loss of language function and right-side weakness—improved literally overnight, said Vivek Rai, MD, a neurologist with Spectrum Health Medical Group who specializes in stroke and vascular neurology. He took over Tramell’s care after his release from intensive care.
“After the procedure, the next morning when he woke up, he was night and day,” Dr. Rai said. “And he continued to do so well.”
Now that Tramell is in the clear, Dr. Rai will see him annually in the neurovascular program’s stroke clinic, keeping tabs on his carotid artery disease, which was the cause of the stroke, and monitoring his general health. To prevent a future stroke, Tramell will need to take aspirin and cholesterol medication, and carefully control his diabetes and blood pressure.
Driven to change
At five months post stroke, Tramell is feeling better than ever.
“I feel great. I really do,” he said. “I feel healthier than I have in a long time.”
He looks and sounds healthy, too, with no lingering effects. At least, none that a bystander would notice.
“The only problem I have is my speech,” he said. “When I speak, if it’s a word I haven’t used after I had my stroke, it takes—it’s like a pause and then I have to remember the word and then it jogs it, and then I start using it fluently.”
The stroke served as a major wake-up call for the father of two. Realizing his life could be snatched from him—separating him from his wife and children—brought out strong emotions.
“I felt anger, extreme anger—with myself. I just knew I had to change. I had the worst—the worst—eating habits in the world,” he said, noting that before he started taking insulin, he weighed over 300 pounds.
Today Tramell is eating better, faithfully taking his medications, drinking more water, kicking his soda habit and “running on a treadmill like crazy”—even when his job as a shipping and receiving clerk keeps him at work late.
“My wife—she’s the one that motivates me to do all the things I do,” he said.
From last year’s “Connecting the Dots” event. (HQ)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing, two local groups which play “distinct and invaluable roles in the process of moving youth from crisis to housed,” will be hosting a collaborative fundraising event later this month in Grandville.
“Connecting the Dots: Walking with Youth from Crisis to Housed” will take place Thursday, Oct. 10, from 6-9 p.m., at the Grandville Banquet Center.
The event is “an exclusive evening of inspiration, food, and learning as we share the innovative collaboration between HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing,” according to supplied material.
“Our organizations serve youth experiencing homelessness or unsafe housing in Kent County. Together, HQ and 3:11 are modeling the power of intentional collaboration, highlighting how organizations can create a greater impact by working together. We believe when organizations intentionally partner to provide a continuum of services, youth are able to overcome crisis sooner and our Grand Rapids community is stronger.”
The event will include the opportunity to mingle and network during a cocktail hour including appetizers, a presentation sharing about the collaborative work of HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing, a sit-down dinner with dessert, an opportunity to win prizes and, most importantly, the “opportunity to make an impact by supporting the work of HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing.”
HQ is a drop-in center serving youth ages 14 to 24, according to supplied material. It offers a “safe space that provides rest, resources, and readiness to youth experiencing unsafe or unstable housing and other forms of crisis.” Youth have access to basic needs such as hot meals, showers, and laundry. Additionally, youth are connected to community partners and resources that help provide advocacy services, education & employability skill-building, and connections to affordable housing.
Youth at HQ have the opportunity to be referred to housing with 3:11 and other partners.
3:11 Youth Housing. according to supplied material, “develops safe, affordable housing for youth ages 18 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness and partners in their transition to healthy interdependence.” Four components essential to 3:11’s model are safe and affordable housing, house mentoring, case management, and alumni support.
The Grandville Banquet Center is located at 2900 Wilson Avenue SW, Grandville. Tickets are $85, are available here.
Making a conscious decision to let go of anger and resentment rooted in the past will help you focus on what’s important today. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
It’s surprisingly easy to hold a grudge, but whether it involves a friend, a co-worker or a loved one, it can fill you with bitterness, keep you stuck in the past and even lead to anxiety or depression.
That means you’re the one suffering from the situation—and not necessarily the subject of your anger and irritation.
Besides the emotional toll, researchers from Glasgow Caledonian University and Edinburgh Napier University, in Scotland, found that holding a grudge can also heighten feelings of physical pain, even if that pain has nothing to do with the incident in question.
So if your lower back is bothering you or you have the achiness of arthritis, your pain can feel worse if you’re stewing over the grudge.
Letting go of a grudge starts with forgiveness. That doesn’t mean you’re excusing the behavior the other person exhibited—and you may never forget it—but if you can forgive the person for their mistake, you can break free of the hold he or she has had on your life.
The benefits are wide-ranging and immediate.
Making a conscious decision to let go of the anger and resentment that keeps you rooted in the past will allow you to focus on your present and what’s important to you today.
Letting go of grudges frees you to focus on the positive relationships in your life—the ones that bring you true happiness and contentment. It also lessens feelings of anxiety and hostility while improving self-esteem and your health in general.
As you let go of grudges, they will no longer define you and you’ll feel like a burden has been lifted from your shoulders.
Cutting or self-injury behaviors might seem ‘fringe,’ but it isn’t. Here’s what you should do if you find your teen is cutting. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Have you ever met someone who cuts himself or herself as a way to cope?
Whether you knew it or not, you likely have.
Cutting is one of a series self-injury behaviors that young people may use to gain a sense of relief from emotional pain, a sense of control over problems in their lives, or feel a break from pressures in their lives.
While cutting is the most common form of self harm, other self-injury behaviors include burning, picking or reopening wounds, punching/hitting oneself, inserting objects into the skin or purposely bruising or breaking one’s bones.
First of all, Dr. Lowery wanted to make a few things clear.
“Cutting or self-injury behaviors might seem ‘fringe’ to many parents,” she said. “It isn’t. Cutting can happen in any race, socioeconomic class, family. Many also often believe it is a suicidal behavior. While cutting can be accompanied by depression or psychological disorders, for most, cutting is a coping mechanism.”
Cutting discovered. Now what?
For anyone to see evidence of cutting in a teen, it’s always by accident. Cutters go to great lengths to hide scars and open cuts.
Discovery triggers panic in the discoverer because it is alarming, obviously, to see scars or blood. Dr. Lowery cautioned that if you see signs of cutting in your teen, the worst thing you can do is freak out, become angry or emotional.
“Remember that you don’t have to (and can’t) solve anything in the moment,” she said. “Stay calm and caring. Hide shock.”
If the teen is willing to talk about it, simply listen without telling them they must stop. Make an appointment to meet with a professional who specializes in adolescent medicine. As doctors who have dealt with this kind of issue regularly, it is the best starting point.
“I am non-threatening to your child,” Dr. Lowery said. “I can talk to him or her from a safe perspective.”
Dr. Lowery added that she works to build trust and maintains confidentiality with her patients. She is often able to learn how the patient started cutting, how long it’s been going on.
“Some know, some don’t,” she admitted.
Dr. Lowery also tries to learn how the patient feels that cutting is beneficial, for example, does the teen cut to calm down? Do they need to relieve pain? Do they need to feel pain? Do they cut alone, or with a friend or group? The answers to these questions offer clues as to how the teen can best be helped.
Getting help helps. Seek help.
“We have open conversations about it,” Dr. Lowery noted. “Once I’ve confirmed that the teen isn’t suicidal, we start talking about other coping mechanisms.”
For example, some of her patients use deep breathing, bracelets, rubber bands or necklaces as part of mindful meditation when they have the urge to cut.
Cutting can be a symptom of a condition called Borderline Personality Disorder. For patients who may have this disorder, Dr. Lowery first works with psychology professionals to diagnose the condition. Patients often exhibit a long pattern of unstable romantic, family and social relationships.
Getting dialectical behavior therapy can help. A targeted form of cognitive behavior therapy, it helps patients learn to monitor and respond to mood swings and emotional triggers more positively, with safe coping behaviors.
In some instances, anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications may be recommended.
“By carefully educating, monitoring and selecting a medication, starting on low doses, and developing a clear plan with the patient, the medications can help patients gain control over their emotions,” Dr. Lowery explained. “I give realistic expectations. It takes a while to feel the improvement. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Start low, go slow and watch as we go. This is a scary time for families. It’s important to know that we will work together. Depending on how severe it is, we will act accordingly.”
For young people who feel the need to experiment with self injury, Dr. Lowery advised that they tell a trusted adult.
“I know it’s not what you want to do,” she said. “But you can feel better. You can stop scarring your body. Or tell a friend and ask them to help you get help.”
For those who might be the friend, know that you are doing your friend a favor by telling an adult. Cutting isn’t something to be embarrassed about. It is a sign that a person is having trouble working through some problems.
Help is available and can turn things around for the better. Everyone deserves to feel better. Everyone deserves help.
What you don’t know about bone health may hurt you. Get in the know with a doctor’s expert information about osteoporosis. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
The sunny days of summer are long gone, which means it’s time for all of us to start taking our vitamin D supplements.
Vitamin D is a necessary and crucial component of bone health. Unfortunately, we often don’t think about bone health until it is too late and the damage is done.
Osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, is often a silent disease. By the time a fracture occurs, there are usually several other bones already affected.
The good news is that osteoporosis can be prevented. And, if your bones are already weak, there are ways to keep more loss from happening and strategies to keep fractures to a minimum.
Bone mass reaches a peak
Our bones are constantly turning over and renewing. In fact, there are cells that build new bone and others that break it down to make way for new bone.
Our bone mass level and fracture risk depend on the rate of new bone growth compared to the rate of breakdown.
Most women reach a peak bone mass at age 32 and lose a small amount of bone mass every year. In the first five years of menopause, if a woman does not take estrogen, her bone loss will accelerate, increasing her risk for issues such as osteoporosis.
If we aren’t active enough, our builder cells don’t think they are needed and won’t make new bone. Osteoporosis can result, making our bones weak enough to increase the risk for a fracture from minimal trauma—like stepping off a curb awkwardly or a minor fall.
We also need to be aware of a similar but less severe disease than osteoporosis: Osteopenia can occur when the bones are thinner than they should be at a given age.
Osteoporosis has a staggering effect on women’s health.
The most common fractures occur in the hip, but can also occur in the wrist and upper leg bone, with a possibility of micro fractures in the spinal bones.
You may be surprised to learn that another, less well-known complication of osteoporosis is the loss or cracking of teeth and poor healing after dental procedures.
Unfortunately, the effects of osteoporosis impacts our lives in many different ways. There may be surgeries to repair fractures, time off work and physical therapy. Complications from surgery may also occur, including weight gain, muscle weakening, infection, pneumonia and even stroke. Chronic pain can become an issue as well, especially for spinal bone fractures.
The risk factors of osteoporosis are numerous, but the most common are aging, vitamin D deficiency, inactivity, oral steroid intake, cigarette smoking and poor calcium intake.
For women who are underweight, they are at risk of rapid bone loss due to not having enough stress on their bones. There are many other, less common risk factors, including the following: medical issues such as eating disorders and poor nutrition, excessive consumption of carbonated sodas, and poor absorption of nutrients due to colon problems (prior gastric bypass or Celiac disease).
A family history of osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, early menopause due to surgery or chemotherapy, or lupus can also increase a woman’s risk of developing osteoporosis.
Options and opportunities
I had a patient I’ll call Sue several years ago who was diagnosed
with osteoporosis. I saw Sue in my office just after she started
menopause.
As I always do with my menopause patients, I asked about her risk factors for accelerated bone loss. Sue was at a healthy weight but only exercised occasionally. She didn’t have any medical risk factors and had never had a fracture before, but she had also never taken a vitamin D supplement. Because Sue was in menopause and had never taken vitamin D, I ordered a DEXA scan—an enhanced form of X-ray technology that is used to measure bone loss.
When I called Sue with the results of her DEXA scan, she was not pleased. Her results showed that she had osteoporosis, and she had a greater than 20 percent risk for an osteoporotic fracture in the next 10 years. She also had a greater than 35 percent risk of a hip fracture during the same time period.
Sue’s reaction was very typical of many others when they are told they have osteoporosis. She was angry at herself, but she was also angry at the medical community because, at that time, we were not yet routinely recommending vitamin D supplementation.
She had always been told to wear sunscreen, which she did, whenever she went outside. And now she was being told a lack of vitamin D possibly contributed to her osteoporosis diagnosis? It just didn’t seem fair.
Once Sue’s anger subsided, we discussed what she should do next. I tested her for thyroid disease, vitamin D deficiency and parathyroid disease. Since Sue was in menopause, we discussed estrogen patches and pills that are FDA-approved for the prevention of osteoporosis. Sue chose not to take estrogen, but she was open to other options.
Although the tests showed Sue’s vitamin D level was very low, her other tests were normal—good news! So, we came up with a plan to keep Sue’s bones as healthy as possible.
I explained that the most important factors for keeping bones strong and preventing fractures is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. I recommended Sue start on a prescription vitamin D tablet of 50,000 IU per week for two months and then 2,000 IU per day after that. I also suggested calcium-rich foods such as dairy products, almond or soy milk, and dark, leafy greens.
For exercise, we created a routine that included walking, jogging, Zumba classes and weight lifting. On days when Sue simply couldn’t fit in a workout, I advised her to jump up and down 50 times as a way to remind her bones to stay healthy.
In addition to diet and exercise, we discussed a few different prescription drugs, such as Raloxifene or Bisphoshonates, that help treat and prevent osteoporosis.
In the end, Sue chose to look at the situation as a gift. She strove to maintain the bones she already had and make them as strong as possible.
So many women come into the office and share now familiar symptoms.
“Why am I gaining weight?”
“I do not feel like myself!”
“How do I avoid a heart attack so I do not suffer like my mom?!”
“I am afraid to go out in the winter because I do not want to break a hip.”
“How do I deal with all of my stress?!”
Women’s health is different than men’s health and the topic deserves research and attention to better recognize and offer the best prevention and treatment options to women.
Menopause symptoms are important to understand and treat as these symptoms can be a sign more is going on under the surface.
Low estrogen causes hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. It also accelerates development of heart disease, bone loss, diabetes and obesity.
Emotional changes can be a sign of the existence of a high level of stress from handling kids and aging parents. Or this can be a red flag symptom of changing levels of brain chemicals, less sleep and a need for improved coping tools.
Women who cope well with life and body changes have three things in common:
1. They believe they deserve to be happy.
2. They keep a support network around them.
3. They ask for help when they need it.
A patient I’ll call Katie came to us because she was facing the perfect storm of menopause and felt like it was a hurricane.
She had all the symptoms—hot flashes, night sweats, irritability, insomnia, bladder urgency and low sex drive.
She no longer felt motivated to get up early to exercise and ate cookies at 3 p.m. to stay awake.
She and her husband argued about minor things, especially about how to deal with their son who was failing his class. Her mom, who’d suffered a stroke, fell and broke her hip in the assisted living center.
Work seemed crazy as her boss had left and she had to do both their jobs until a replacement could be found.
Katie came to us because she heard we could help with hot flashes. We certainly could offer meds and call it a day, but we see such a situation as an opportunity to become her partner in her health and consider all options.
This included a practical plan for a healthy lifestyle using the SEEDS, tracking and treating her symptoms, and assessing her health risks for bone loss, stroke and heart attack.
We also know emotional health is a big part of healthy aging. We support this facet of wellness by listening, discussing how the SEEDS can support the body and mind, and also having a team that includes a psychotherapist who can help our patients cope with strong emotions.
Three months later, Katie had improved sleep, better moods, only a rare hot flash, and she and her husband had a plan worked out with their son. Her mom had started to heal and feel better, and she was excelling in her new role at work.
Further, she ate better, took her vitamin D and calcium, and made time for small bursts of exercise. She no longer needing cookies to stay awake.
Best of all, she had a plan to reduce her risk of stroke, heart attack and bone loss.
Her hurricane of menopause had passed and life returned to smooth sailing.
Autumn is just about here — and that means it’s time to fill your calendars with some fun, fall-themed events. This season of cool nights, brisk mornings, and changing leaves is a lovely time to refresh with new activities. Whether you’re a Pumpkin Spice Latte fan or you’re counting down the days until you taste Thanksgiving stuffing, here are some senior-friendly fall activities to enjoy autumn with your loved ones.
1. Decorate for fall
Take an hour — or if you’re inspired, a whole weekend — and put away those summertime clothes and household items you won’t need this fall. Once you’ve de-cluttered, it’s time to decorate.
Create a fall centerpiece for your table with miniature pumpkins and dried leaves.
A cozy, plaid blanket is a nice touch for a recliner or rocker.
Turn your door into a lovely autumn entrance with a festive seasonal wreath.
Collect fallen leaves to use in your decor.
Embrace warm fall colors like red, orange, and yellow.
Have fun with pumpkins. Display them on festive plates, in glass vases, or on a bookshelf.
2. Create autumn-themed artwork
Creating beautiful things is fun and therapeutic for all of us, no matter our age. During the fall months, craft stores overflow with wreaths, pumpkins, and scarecrows, and a quick internet search turns up ideas for dozens of easy projects.
Cut paper or fabric into leaf shapes and hang a garland from a fireplace or doorway.
Paint stay acorns or even dip them in glitter.
Press fallen leaves and frame them for a striking autumn wall hanging.
If in-depth craft projects aren’t right for you, an autumn-themed adult coloring book is a calming option. Psychologists recommend coloring as a relaxation technique. There is a huge variety of coloring books available today, so you’ll be sure to find one that suits your style.
3. Enjoy the brisk fall weather
For those of us who couldn’t spend much time outside during the hot summer, the autumn months are a perfect chance to relax outdoors. Many communities offer fun fall activities for the whole family, such as corn mazes, hay rides, or pumpkin patches.
To ensure a healthful day outdoors, remember to check the weather report. Fall weather can change unexpectedly, so make sure you choose appropriate clothing. Don’t forget hats and sunscreen — UV rays can still cause skin damage even on cloudy days. Also, hydration is essential even after the hot summer months, so make sure to bring extra water.
4. Enjoy autumn treats
Everyone has a favorite fall flavor, from spiced apple cider to the classic Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. Whether you’re an experienced chef, or if a trip to the local bakery is more your style, make time for a special fall meal.
If you or your loved ones are creative in the kitchen, plan a day of cooking together. For aging adults who are not as active as they once were, perhaps more able loved ones can assist with shopping for a favorite fall menu to prepare and enjoy. Some families have traditional recipes perfect for this time of year. Or you can keep it simple and just enjoy a delicious slice of pie after lunch.
These senior-friendly fall activities are a great way to have a refreshing autumn season with your family. Whether you’re crunching through piles of brightly colored leaves or carving a fat orange pumpkin with your grandchild, fall is a special season and a great time to rejuvenate.
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