Category Archives: Senior Living

Enjoy sugar, but in moderation

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By Diana Bitner, MD, Spectrum Health Beat


Too much sugar is never good for you. Combine it with extra stress, and you have a recipe for disaster.


There are certain times of the year we know we will indulge in extra sweets: holidays, birthdays, graduations and work outings. These are also times when we might feel more stressed.


But is it possible to enjoy sugar in moderation and be healthy at the same time? Absolutely.


If you can master the basics of healthy eating, despite the extra stress you may be feeling, you can keep your eating in check during any occasion.

Belly up and listen

What I’m really talking about is belly fat. I take this topic very seriously because belly fat can kill you. It can happen to any of us, and it’s something I discuss with nearly all of my patients at one time or another.


Shelly is one of those patients. She came to see me for her physical, and she was upset because her favorite jeans did not fit.


She was just 50 years old and still having periods, and she began to notice her metabolism changing. She had gained her usual 5 pounds over the summer because of numerous summer parties, backyard barbecues, fruity cocktails and beer.


She typically didn’t drink during the week, but it was just too easy to crack open a cold beer when she was doing yard work under the summer sun. When friends would stop over, she’d mix up some drinks. I’m sure we can all relate to these same situations.


In the past, Shelly would go back to her normal routine when fall arrived. The 5 pounds would come right off. She would only drink on the weekends and she’d begin a better routine of regular exercise and sleep.


This year, however, something was different: She didn’t lose the 5 pounds and she actually started gaining weight.


Knowing that the holidays weren’t far off, she was worried her weight would get out of control and she would have even bigger issues.


Shelly was smart to be worried.


Once belly fat starts, it gets a mind of its own and can get out of control quickly. That’s exactly what was happening to Shelly—she was gaining all of her weight in her belly. I knew she was concerned and disappointed.


She said she always had a flat belly, but now that was changing.

Icky, sticky

A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine proves what we already know: Belly fat leads to early death in men and women by increasing our risk of heart attack and stroke—up to 10 years earlier than it might have happened if we didn’t have any belly fat.


The reality is most of us will die of heart attack or stroke at some point. But belly fat makes it happen sooner.


How? Belly fat is deep on the inside, wrapped around your bowels and liver, and craving sugar. As belly fat grows, your liver uses it to make bad cholesterol, and then the belly fat produces inflammatory chemicals to make your blood vessel linings sticky.


At the same time, the fat makes your body insulin-resistant, raising insulin levels and keeping blood sugar high by making you crave sugar.


This combination—sticky blood vessels, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol—causes plaque to build up in the blood vessels, blocking blood flow to your brain and heart muscle. All of this can lead to heart attack and stroke, and once the belly fat gets going, it doesn’t give up easily.


Bottom line: We can’t let the belly fat start.

Back to basics

Another factor that makes belly fat grow is stress—both good stress and bad stress.


Added stress can raise insulin levels and use up stress hormones such as cortisol and DHEA. It can cause our sleep to be interrupted, leaving us sleepy and fatigued. We know that sleep deprivation leads to insulin resistance, causing us to crave and store more sugar. It’s a vicious cycle.


During Shelly’s physical, I asked if I could measure her waist circumference. Measuring waist circumference is easy, but it can feel more personal than a pelvic exam.


Here’s how it’s done: Take a tape measure and wrap it around the small of your back, over your hip bones and around your belly.


We measured Shelly’s belly and it was 39 inches. Healthy is 35 inches.


After seeing that number on the measuring tape, Shelly made it a goal to lose 4 inches of belly fat.


After hearing what I had to say about belly fat, Shelly knew she needed to get off the sugar, reduce stress in her life, and change her sleep habits.


In other words, she needed to get back to the basics.

Grow with SEEDS

By having a plan, you can succeed even during the toughest of times.


When you adopt these habits and work hard to follow them every day, it is easier to get back on track if you have a stressful day or have a sleepless night.


When I talk about the basics, I am referring to the SEEDS—Seven Essential Elements of Daily Success—concept as a way of life.


Here are the seven basic things I discussed with Shelly:

  • Drink plenty of water (eight glasses a day). Add one more for each cup of coffee or for each serving of alcohol.
  • Get plenty of sleep (seven hours a night). Take power naps if necessary to be sure you are getting enough sleep.
  • Take your vitamins daily, including Vitamin D and a multivitamin.
  • Eat a balanced diet, including plenty of healthy carbs and protein, with only one sugar treat (including alcohol).
  • Eat plenty of fiber (think vegetables) and take a fiber pill if needed.
  • Exercise regularly (30 minutes a day, with a mix of walking, aerobic activity, strength training and stretching).
  • Start a gratitude journal and do metered breathing each night before going to bed.

You may have noticed that alcohol is mentioned more than once in the list of SEEDS.


Beer, wine and liquor are all forms of alcohol, and they all contain sugar. Since alcohol is often a part of a celebration or party, it’s important to limit your other forms of sugar (pasta, white bread, cookies, etc.) if you will be consuming a drink (or two or three) that same day.


And remember to add an extra glass of water for each drink consumed.


Shelly may not have been excited to see that her waist circumference was 39 inches, but she was happy with our discussion.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

What you need to know about long-term care insurance

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Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


Long-term care insurance is usually used to help pay for nursing homes or assisted living care after you reach an age where can no longer take care of yourself. However, there are many doubts as to whether the care is worth the uncertainty and the cost. Learn what you need to know about long-term care insurance, including the types of plans available, who can quality, and more tips on how to plan for your future.

What is Long Term Care Insurance?

Long-term care is the name given to insurance policies that are made to help you cover the costs of living that aren’t covered under regular medical insurance. Specifically, long-term care insurance exists to cover the living expenses that come with nursing homes, assisted living communities, and other senior living facilities.


Long-term care insurance is important because it covers the things that Medicare and regular insurance policies don’t. Medicare will not cover the cost of a nursing home, so you need to be prepared with other options.


In addition to the living costs of assisted living or nursing homes, long-term care insurance can also help to cover the costs of care for chronic medical conditions that can make themselves known after retirement or in old age. It also can cover activities of daily living, or ADLs, such as:

  • Bathing
  • Using the bathroom
  • Getting in and out of your bed or a chair
  • Dressing
  • Eating

About 50% of people will need help with either ADLs, the costs of care for chronic medical conditions, paying for senior care communities, or a combination of all three.

Traditional Policies

The traditional way that long-term care policies work is that after finding a company that sells policies and getting approved, you start paying premiums. Policies usually have a lifetime cap of what you can pay. Once you reach an age where you need help with ADLs or need to move to a senior care facility, then you make a claim.


After making a claim the insurance company will verify with your doctor, check your medical documents, and send a nurse to evaluate your health situation. If approved, there is still a waiting period—usually between 30 to 90 days— before your policy will pay out.


A problem that began to arise with these traditional policies is that the premiums could suddenly spike. Another problem that came with a traditional policy was the uncertainty that it would ever be needed. Paying into a policy only to find out that you didn’t need long-term care helped to lead to a dramatic drop in popularity for long-term care policies.


Very few insurance agencies sell these kinds of policies anymore, although you can still find one if it appeals to you. After the decline in these policies, a new type of long-term care policy began to emerge.

New Policy Options

The new type of policy that covers long-term care is often called a “hybrid policy”. These are life insurance policies that cover you for your whole life. Hybrid policies have a locked premium that doesn’t change, and you can draw from them to pay for ADLs and long-term care living as you age.


These policies also have a money back guarantee. If you don’t end up using the policy to pay for ADLs or long-term care, then you still get a return on what you paid, either to be left to an heir in your will, or to be used for other care costs that you encounter as you age.


The downfall of these policies is that there are more expensive than the traditional policy. Because you have guaranteed money coming back to you, the initial premium that you pay is going to be higher than traditional long-term care insurance policies, even though traditional policies can have premium hikes.

Who Qualifies?

As with all insurance policies, there are people who will qualify for long-term care insurance and those who won’t. The older you are the less likely you are to qualify for long-term care insurance, so planning ahead is essential. If you already have an existing chronic health problem, you are also not as likely to be covered.


If you are worried that you are too old or have existing health problems, then applying for a newer hybrid policy is going to be the best course of action. These are much more flexible in terms of coverage, and your chances of qualifying are higher.

Have a Plan

Even if you decide that long-term care insurance is not for you, you still need to have a plan in place for when you reach a certain age. Remember, half the population is going to need assistance with ADLs or need to move into a nursing home or other type of assisted living community. These costs can come out to about 140,000 on average, and if you are paying out of pocket that’s a lot of money.


You can’t always predict ahead of time if you are going to need long-term care, and because it isn’t paid through Medicare or regular insurance policies, you need to have a plan in place for how you are going to pay for medical costs. Start planning as soon as you can so you have the most options available to help pay for long-term care.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.

Picnics, potlucks and … pathogens?

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Proper food preparation and smart organization can help you avoid cross-contamination and spoilage. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Kristi Veltkamp, Spectrum Health Beat


The end of the school year is fast approaching. The warm-weather days are finally here. You’ve penciled in your must-see, must-do events for the summer.


Boating. Amusement parks. Local festivals. Pretty much anything that gives you an excuse to soak up the sunshine.


But few things rival the all-time summer classic: picnics and potlucks.


And while those grand gatherings of food and friends may seem like they’re free of worry and strife, they’re actually a golden opportunity to contract foodborne illness—particularly if you don’t pay attention to food preparation and handling.


How many people really stop to think about the safety of the food that has been sitting in the sun all day? Foodborne illnesses happen more often than you’d expect.


You can smarten up your food safety by following these sensible tips on preparation, handling and storage.

Keep it cold

Place cold items into a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs. The temperature should remain below 40 degrees. Frozen meats should also be placed into a cooler to ensure they stay cold longer.


Once the cold food is served, it should not be left out for more than two hours. If the outdoor temperature exceeds 90 degrees, this time frame drops to one hour. If your cold food has been out longer than this, you need to throw it away. To help cool food when it’s out, you can place dishes such as chicken salad or potato salad directly onto a bowl of ice.

Rule the cooler

Your cooler should be in tip-top order, with everything organized according to accessibility, use and safety. This avoids spillage, contamination and overexposure to the warm temperature.


If you place an in-demand food item at the bottom of the cooler, for example, you will repeatedly expose other top-level, lesser-used items to the outdoor temperature. This is unwise.


For starters, consider placing beverages into a separate cooler, so your food cooler doesn’t need to be opened as frequently. This will keep the temperature down on your cold foods. And place your lesser-used items toward the bottom of the cooler.


The trick is to limit the number of times the coolers are opened, so you keep your food cold as long as possible.

Avoid cross-contamination

Keep raw meat, poultry and seafood securely wrapped to prevent any juices from contaminating prepared dishes and raw foods. Consider using a separate meat cooler, in fact, or placing raw meat below the prepared dishes.

Prep your produce

When you’re packing things up at home, take time to rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water. Scrub any firm-skinned produce with a vegetable brush, and make sure you cut and prep all your servings so that you’re not messing with it at the picnic.

Grill it right

If you want to use a marinade, do it while the meat is in the refrigerator at home. Don’t re-use the marinade after the meat is cooked!


Also, if you are partially cooking the meat before grilling, do so immediately before leaving the house. Meat should be cooked thoroughly and kept hot until served.


Hot foods should be kept above 140 degrees when holding for serving and they should not be left out for more than two hours.


Avoid re-using platters or utensils that were used with raw meats.


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration offers a handy chart that details safe cooking temperatures. The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers seven tips for safe picnics, including this time-tested truth: “When in doubt, throw it out.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


The heal-better diet

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Rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods, the Mediterranean diet is the ideal meal plan for fighting inflammation. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Sarah Mahoney, Spectrum Health Beat


Looking for a better way to bounce back from a sports injury or orthopedic surgery? The solution may be as close as your fork.


Experts say choosing the right foods—and avoiding the wrong ones—can help bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments repair faster, getting you off the couch and moving again.


“There are two things to keep in mind,” said Kristi Veltkamp, RD, who counsels Spectrum Health patients on eating well. “First, make sure you are managing inflammation. And second, get the nutrients needed to help you heal and repair.”


Inflammation after any injury is normal.


“There’s often heat, swelling or redness,” Veltkamp said. “To calm that inflammation, look for foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like those found in salmon, walnuts and flax seed. Olive oil also helps. And try to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.”


If that all sounds familiar, it should. It’s the basis of the Mediterranean diet, which is shown to reduce inflammation, Veltkamp said.


Also avoid foods that are high in sugar, refined flour or trans fats. Alcohol, which slows healing, should be avoided as well.

Building blocks

Alongside managing inflammation, you should focus on getting plenty of the nutrients required for healthy rebuilding.


Start with protein.


“The majority of our tissues are made up of protein,” said Matthew Axtman, DO, a sports medicine specialist with Spectrum Health Medical Group Orthopedics. “So even though protein is part of your normal diet, look to increase healthy sources, like chicken, fish and nuts.


Dr. Axtman recommends getting plenty of vitamin C.


“It helps build collagen, which is the basis of tendons and ligaments,” he said. Look for it in citrus fruits, kiwi, peppers and tomatoes.


Calcium is also essential, especially if you’ve injured a bone. You can find it—along with Vitamin D, which aids in absorption—in dairy products and dark-green, leafy vegetables.


Avoid salt and caffeine during your recovery because they cause you to urinate more. This makes your body lose calcium, Dr. Axtman said.


Meanwhile, those deep-green vegetables are also a great source of fiber.


“If you’re sitting around more and moving less, it can affect your gut,” Dr. Axtman said. “Fiber-rich foods will help.”

Mind and body

During the rebuilding process, it may help to take supplements for about two to four weeks. This holds true even if you typically prefer to get all your nutrients from a balanced diet.


“While you’re healing, consider adding vitamin A, naturally found in many orange vegetables, at 10,000 IUs a day,” Veltkamp said.


Look for a multivitamin that contains 2 to 4 milligrams of copper and 15 to 30 milligrams of zinc, which is shown to help with wound healing.


Veltkamp also recommends HMB, a protein that can help prevent muscle wasting. It’s found in sports supplements such as Myoplex Muscle Armor.


Finally, give a little thought to the emotional aspects of eating. Recovery can be as tedious as watching grass grow, so it’s easy to fall into the trap of eating from boredom instead of hunger.


“Have a list of things you can do when you feel like reaching for food for the wrong reasons,” Veltkamp said. “Like knitting, taking a bath, anything soothing and distracting.”


It’s normal to have food cravings during recovery, but that’s because food can make us feel better. Don’t be afraid to treat yourself now and then.


“Just look for healthier alternatives,” Veltkamp said. “Like chocolate-banana smoothies.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Life in the fast lane

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The speed at which you can tackle a flight of stairs is a fairly reasonable indicator of your muscle power. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


If you want to celebrate many more birthdays, new research suggests you should speed up your weight-lifting routine.


Boosting muscle power, which is different than muscle strength, translated into longer lives, the Brazilian scientists said.


What exactly is the difference?


For example, climbing stairs requires muscle power—the faster you climb, the more power you need. But holding or pushing a heavy object only requires muscle strength.


“Rising from a chair in old age and kicking a ball depends more on muscle power than muscle strength, yet most weight-bearing exercise focuses on the latter,” said researcher Claudio Gil Araujo. He’s director of research and education at the Exercise Medicine Clinic—CLINIMEX, in Rio de Janeiro.


“Our study shows for the first time that people with more muscle power tend to live longer,” Araujo said in a European Society of Cardiology news release.


The study included nearly 3,900 adults, aged 41 to 85, with an average age of 59, whose maximum muscle power was assessed.


Over an average follow-up of 6.5 years, 10% of the men and 6% of the women died.


Participants with maximal muscle power above the median for their gender had the best survival rates. Compared to those above the median, those in the lowest and second-lowest quarters below the median had a 10 to 13, and 4 to 5 times greater risk of dying during the study period, respectively.


The study was to be presented soon at a European Society of Cardiology meeting in Lisbon, Portugal. Research presented at meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.


“We now show that power is strongly related to all-cause (death). But the good news is that you only need to be above the median for your sex to have the best survival, with no further benefit in becoming even more powerful,” Araujo said.


“For strength training at the gym, most people just think about the amount of weight being lifted and the number of repetitions, without paying attention to the speed of execution,” Araujo said. “But for optimal power training results, you should go beyond typical strength training and add speed to your weight lifts.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Dogscaping: Landscaping for you and your dog

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Courtesy Michigan State University Extension

By Dixie Sandborn, Michigan State University Extension


What exactly is dogscaping? Quite simply, it is landscaping for your dog’s safety and enjoyment. Dogscaping is not only for your dog’s enjoyment, it is for yours as well. If you enjoy the outdoors, like to garden or at least maintain a nicely landscaped lawn, it can be exasperating to have a pooch who does not share your passion. Four-legged friends do not always appreciate the hours you labor to have beautiful flowerbeds and perfectly groomed landscape plants around the patio.


There are a few things to keep in mind if you love your pets and your lawn. With a little planning and training, you and your dog can enjoy a shared outdoor space. Landscape design should always begin with a list of how you want to use the space. Draw a map of your property and identify the spaces and their uses. This will help you to plan how much space you have for specific dog activities. Also, list some of your dog’s behaviors and habits. Think about their likes and dislikes.


Here are a few things to consider when landscaping for you and your dog.

  • How much space do you have? Are you planning to share the entire space with your pooch?
  • What kind of breed is your dog? What are some of the breed’s general characteristics? Like humans, all dogs have different personalities, likes and dislikes. A dog’s breed can tell you general inherent characteristics and certain behaviors that are in their DNA. Try to work with those inherent traits instead of against them. This will be much less stressful for you and your dog.
  • Regardless of the breed, a good fence is highly recommended for your dog’s safety. Different dogs and different breeds prefer different types of fencing, but in general, a fence that the dog can see through is nice as they can patrol their territory. It is much less stressful for most dogs to see what’s on the other side of their enclosure. Also, when planning the landscape, you may want to leave a 3-foot “run” around your property’s perimeter (without landscape plants) so your dog has room to patrol.
  • Observe your dog’s behavior. Where do they like to run? Do they like to dig? Do they love to lay in the shade where you want to plant impatiens? Do they jump into your Koi pond every time they are alone in the yard? Try to find creative solutions so the gardener in you and your best friend are both happy.
  • Dogs love to dig! If you cannot deter your dog from digging in a particular area, work with it. Avoid planting your favorite plants in that spot. For example, my dog loved to dig right next to my deck. As soon as I decided it was OK, life became much better for me and my pooch. I simply planted some taller perennials around the selected digging hole and appreciated that she was not digging anywhere else in the landscape.
  • Train your dog to use a potty area.
  • Be vigilant when planting plants that are poisonous or toxic to your dog. This, of course, depends on your dog and how they use their environment. This does not mean you cannot have any plants toxic to your pet, you just need to be aware of your dog’s surroundings and habits. Some dogs like to chew on plants and others only chew up a few blades of grass from time to time. The best advice is to observe your pet and their interaction with landscape plants. Plan and plant accordingly.
  • Add a water feature your dog can enjoy, even a small kiddy pool filled with cool water is enjoyable for your pooch on hot summer days.

For more information about dogscaping or petscaping, there are many great books and interesting articles. One book I recommend is “Canine Design Dogscaping” by Tom Barthel. This book has a lot of great information about plant selection, dog ponds, walkways and fencing. The author includes a chapter on fruits and vegetables to feed your dog from your garden, including recipes for dog treats from the garden.


This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit http://www.msue.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit http://expert.msue.msu.edu, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).


Reasons why you should throw flip and flop out

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They may look colorful, fun and harmless, but flip-flops are anything but. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Health Beat staff


Warm weather activities seem custom-made for flip-flops.


But even Jimmy Buffett sings about how he blew out his flip-flop when he stepped on a pop top and cut his heel, then cruised on back home.


John Harris, DPM, FACFAS, a foot and ankle specialist with Spectrum Health Medical Group, certainly agrees with Buffett’s iconic lyrics. He would tell you not to wear the flip-flops in the first place. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about cutting your heel.


That’s not all Dr. Harris said about flip-flops, which he considers the scourge of the footwear world.

Top 3 reasons to throw out the flip-flops:

1. Ouch! Heel pain.

The lack of suitable, or any, arch support in flip-flops can cause plantar fasciitis—heel pain or pain across the bottom of the foot.


Anyone with this lingering condition will tell you to avoid it at all costs.

2. Pain in the … ball of the foot

Not having adequate cushioning and arch support can cause soreness on the bottom of the foot.


Treatment requires more supportive shoes with effective arch support.

3. Avoid ‘flip-flop heel’

This condition is caused by walking around barefoot or wearing shoes that don’t have a back.


A thick callus rim forms around the edge of the heel when wearing shoes like flip-flops that don’t have backs to act as heel counters. This creates a situation in which your heel is constantly being exfoliated while walking. That creates a callus.


Aside from being unsightly, the cracked rim of the callus is painful.

Other flip-flip concerns

Less common, Dr. Harris said, but equally concerning are injuries from activities while wearing flip-flops.


Doctors often see ankle sprains from someone playing basketball or other sports in flip-flops, skin abrasions from a child riding a bike while wearing flip-flops, or cuts on a foot when a person wears flip-flops into a river and they slip off and float, exposing the barefoot to sharp rocks and river debris.


In addition, a study by Auburn University points out that wearing flip-flops causes you to take shorter steps and changes the way you walk compared to your gait while wearing sneakers. This can cause muscle strain.


“Instead of flip-flops, wear activity-specific shoe gear,” Dr. Harris suggested.


He pointed out that the child riding a bike should wear sneakers, the basketball player should wear basketball shoes or sneakers, and the person in the river should wear something like Keen shoes for walking in a lake or river, unless it is a sandy-bottomed lake.


“For daily wear in the summer, I’ll wear a pair of shoes similar to flip-flops,” Dr. Harris conceded. “But, I choose a shoe or sandal that has a more substantial sole and significant arch support compared to the inexpensive and flimsy flip-flops you find at stores all over town.”


There are many brands that fit this category, he said, suggesting people look for something like Chaco, Keen, Teva or Vionic.


“They’re designed to protect your foot while allowing you to engage in activities,” he said.


All in all, Dr. Harris encourages everyone to look for summer sandals that have a more substantial sole compared to those that feature a couple millimeters of foam, often found in common flip-flops, and to look for sandals with arch support rather than just a flat surface for the foot bed.


“No matter what brand you select, you still should never play basketball or mow your lawn in flip-flops,” Dr. Harris warned. “It’s just too risky.”

Ladies, cherish your heart

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Work with a care team to reduce your cardiovascular disease risks. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Diana Bitner, MD, Spectrum Health Beat


For many women, cardiovascular disease is personal because they have lost their mom or sister to a heart attack or stroke.


They get how heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, and that too many women are robbed of happy years with family and friends. They have experienced firsthand a loss that could have been prevented.


Women’s heart disease is more common than thought, and especially increases after menopause if women do not take estrogen medication.


There are other risk factors, which include belly fat, pre-diabetes or diabetes, lack of exercise, sleep deprivation, and a diet high in processed foods, unhealthy carbohydrates and saturated fats.


Prevention of heart attacks and strokes is possible, but has to start with a goal and a plan.


Once a woman decides to not have heart disease, or if she survives a heart attack and wants to prevent another, she needs a team. On that team, at minimum, should be a preventive cardiologist and a certified menopause specialist. This team will put the patient in the middle, and partner with her to help her achieve her wellness goals.


An example of how such a team collaborates might be best told by a patient I’ll call Laura.


Laura came to see our menopause specialists because her hot flashes would not go away and interfered with her life.


She had been told hormones might not be safe because she was overweight, had high cholesterol and took blood pressure medication. Her family had a history of cardiovascular disease and her loved ones had suffered heart attacks.


Her biggest concern? To not have a heart attack herself. She was also desperate to get the hot flashes to stop.


As menopause specialists, the first thing we do after understanding a woman’s story and risk factors is to consider treatment options.


We always start with the SEEDS and Laura definitely had room for improvement in this area. She realized she needed to drink more water, cut the sugar, and get more restful hours of sleep each night.


These lifestyle habits alone could significantly ease her symptoms, but since she was only two years out from her last period, we also had the option of considering hormones. We know that FDA-approved hormone medications used the correct way can actually help reduce risk factors for heart disease and could definitely help her feel better.


In reviewing her history, I saw she had enough risk factors that I wanted the opinion of preventive cardiologist Thomas Boyden, MD. After an evaluation, testing and suggestions for how to prevent heart disease, Laura was cleared to proceed with our treatment plan.


The end result? Laura felt more informed, had the tools to be successful from her care team, and she could start taking hormones because they would be a safe option for her.


Laura now had hope for how she could age differently than her relatives.



Reprinted by permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Money’s tight? You can still eat right

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You can save money on produce by purchasing it in season and preserving it for later, either by canning or freezing. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Health Beat staff


Gas prices are going up again and food isn’t getting cheaper. That’s the outlook in American homes this year.


Amid a tight budget and high prices, what steps can you take to ensure you and your family eat healthy, great-tasting food?


Planning is the name of the game, Spectrum Health registered dietitian Kristi Veltkamp said.


“Lack of planning is the biggest deal-breaker,” Veltkamp said.


Does your after-school or after-work routine involve the question, “What’s for dinner?” Do you rummage through the refrigerator or pantry at the last minute, hoping to whip up something suitable for dinner?


It may be time to sit down and think carefully about how you’re spending your food money. It can help you avoid the desperate, late-evening runs to fast-food restaurants or pizza parlors—or pricey restaurants—and it’ll keep your wallet and your waistline in top shape.

Veltkamp’s 5 tips to keep your food budget under control:

1. Plan your meals 

This is the No. 1 solution to save money. Planning your meals ahead of time allows you to build according to your budget. It sets you up for success each week, Veltkamp said.


It’s not just about dinner, either. “You can pack your lunch so you don’t have to go out at work,” Veltkamp said. “And you can plan to use the leftovers.”


You should also aim for more vegetarian meals—they’re cheaper and healthier. “Meat tends to be the most expensive item,” Veltkamp said.


With a creative mind, you can find new and innovative ways to use items such as beans and rice, which are cheaper and preserve longer, she said. Tacos made from rotisserie chicken and all the fixings, for example, make for a quick, cheap and easy meal.

2. Get Crocking

If you plan your meals ahead at the start of each week, the Crock-Pot can prove to be a lifesaver not only in money but in time, too.


“When you’re doing the cooking yourself, you’ll save more money,” Veltkamp said.


The tacit message here: Stay away from restaurants as much as possible—they eat up your budget. (They also increase your salt intake.)


Generally, Crock-Pot meals can be healthy. “It depends on what you’re putting into it,” Veltkamp said. Canned goods are OK, but you should rinse them first to cut down on the sodium.


“One of the ways it saves on money is when you use more ingredients that haven’t been prepared—raw products like rice, potatoes, beans or even frozen veggies,” Veltkamp said.

3. Buy in season

Items that are local, fresh and in season should be on your list each week.


“They’re higher in nutrients and they haven’t been delivered across the globe,” Veltkamp said. “And if you buy a lot at once, they’re cheap. You can can them or freeze them and save them for later.”


This includes berries, greens, tomatoes and much more. Veltkamp said some people will toss their herbs in water and freeze them into cubes, then throw them into soups once they’re needed.


One tip: Buy in-season items fresh, then buy them mostly canned or frozen when they’re out of season. Some fresh produce can get pricey when it’s out of season.

4. Buy in bulk

Bulk food stores are sometimes hard to come by without a membership—Costco, Sams Club and the like.


But if you can manage to pick up some essential items in bulk, you can truly save a bundle.


What should you buy in bulk? “Things that aren’t going to spoil fast,” Veltkamp said. “Nuts, grains, rice, beans, flour—non-perishable items.”

5. Shun the junk

This is a big one. Junk foods may sometimes appear like the cheap way to go, but in the long run you’re only setting yourself up for trouble.


Junk foods—processed foods, sugary foods—offer empty calories that only leave you craving more.


“Your body doesn’t need the empty calories,” Veltkamp said. “If you eat healthy, you crave less.”


Healthy foods are simply more filling.


Think about it: A bag of chips is a few bucks, but there are many people who can sit down and make that bag disappear in one evening. A bag of apples may cost slightly more.


“But who sits down and eats a bag of apples?” Veltkamp said. One or two apples will satisfy hunger cravings and also deliver much-needed nutrition.


“Healthier foods tend to fill you up more and make you more satisfied,” Veltkamp said. “You don’t have the cravings you get with those processed foods.”


Bottom line: You’re eating less food and getting more nutrition.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


Take caution while spring cleaning

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Repeat exposure to harmful cleaning agents can cause serious health problems later in life. To reduce risk, wear protective clothing and properly ventilate your work area. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


While it’s a regular ritual, spring cleaning can become a dangerous chore for your health, experts warn.


Some cleaning supplies—air fresheners, rug cleaners, bleach, oven cleaners and floor polish—have dangerous chemicals such as volatile organic compounds.


These chemicals become vapors that can irritate the nose, throat, eyes and lungs, said Dr. Timothy Craig, an allergist and immunologist at Penn State Health.


“The nose provides a helpful warning signal,” he added in a health system news release. “If someone’s nose becomes irritated while cleaning, it’s safe to assume his or her lungs will be irritated, too.”


“For most people, using chemical cleaners occasionally would not create clinically significant reductions in lung function,” Craig said.


“But repeated exposure to harmful chemicals over a lifetime could lead to significant disability later in life, especially for people with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic disorder that may cause lung or liver disease,” he warned.


“We all clean with bleach and other chemicals from time to time,” said Dr. Ann Bogdan, a family health physician from Penn State Health Medical Group-Mechanicsburg. “But I encourage my patients to be careful when doing so.”


The doctors offer these six safety precautions while spring cleaning.

  • Don’t combine chemical cleaners. “In particular, never mix ammonia and bleach,” Bogdan said. This can result in dangerously toxic vapors.
  • While cleaning, be sure to have proper ventilation by opening a window or running a fan.
  • Wear rubber gloves. “Without them, you run the risk of developing redness or rashes on your hands,” Craig said.
  • Try using old-fashioned cleaners. “Diluted vinegar works well to clean windows and baking soda gives you scrubbing power,” Bogdan said.
  • Read labels and look for volatile organic compounds and other potential irritants, even in products labeled as “green” or “healthy.”
  • Look for products with the “Safer Choice” logo, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deems as “safer for human health and the environment.”

And their final advice: If you develop coughing, wheezing, throat soreness or eye watering while using chemical cleaners, step into another room or walk outside. If the symptoms persist even after leaving the room, call a doctor.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Music therapy for senior holistic care

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Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


Holistic care seeks to address some of the aspects of your health that traditional care options can sometimes overlook. The holistic approach works to heal more than the body by taking the mental and spiritual needs of a patient into consideration. Things like aromatherapy using essential oils and color therapy help promote wellness that, when used with the direction of a healthcare professional in conjunction with regular care options, can lead to a happier and healthier you.


Music therapy is a type of holistic care that involves listening to, creating, or moving to music. A certified music therapist can assess the needs of an individual and create a plan that can improve physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. Seniors in particular, whether in assisted living communities or other senior living communities, can greatly benefit from music therapy as it is low-effort and provides a number of holistic benefits.

Benefits of music therapy

Stress reduction

Music therapy can help seniors relax and focus not on their surroundings—which can often be stressful or frightening—but rather to what they are listening to. The right music and lyrics can slow an anxious heart rate and help seniors relax.

Pain alleviation

As with stress reduction, using music therapy can help seniors by focus their attention on the music rather than any physical pain that they may be suffering from. The treatment can help seniors by creating a sensory stimulation that relaxes muscles and calms the mind.

Bringing seniors together

Music therapy is often a social activity. Seniors can listen and do activities in groups while connecting to each other through the music. Being in a group during therapy helps seniors feel less isolated and alone. And an improved social life is important to your loved one’s overall well-being.

Physical movement and exercise

We all know songs that immediately get our feet tapping, and music therapists know how to take advantage of this. Music encourages movement. Swaying, tapping, dancing, and clapping are all forms of physical movement that can improve a senior’s well being without being straining and taxing on the body.

Improved mental health

Listening to music changes our moods. We notice this as we listen to our favorite songs and playlists. Some music can brighten us up, while other music can have a sobering effect. Music is incredibly powerful when it comes to affecting our moods, and a trained music therapist can harness that to improve the mental health of seniors.

Cognitive benefits

One of the most unique benefits of music therapy compared to other holistic care options is the improvement it has been shown to have on cognitive functions in seniors. The rhythmic sounds and vibrations in music increases blood flow to the brain, which can help with a senior’s ability to speak and think clearly.

Music therapy, dementia, and Alzheimer’s

A major reason behind the use of music therapy as a holistic care treatment for seniors is the relation between music and memory—namely, memory loss diseases like Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Music therapy has been shown to help seniors who are suffering from these ailments.


Music can trigger intense memories, even in patients who struggle with memory loss. There have been cases of unresponsive seniors in late stage dementia moving and interacting with music, and cases of nonverbal seniors humming or making noises during music therapy appointments.


Music therapy can also help pacify some of the aggressive and agitated behaviors associated with memory loss disease. As with stress and pain management through music therapy, the relaxing sounds and rhythms can help soothe seniors and encourage calmness.

Paying for music therapy

A big question that you may have is whether music therapy is a reimbursable service through a healthcare plan. Under Medicare, music therapy is a fully reimbursable service so long as they are included in part of a treatment plan rather than as a recreational activity. With Medicaid, music therapy can sometimes qualify under existing treatment categories. Each state is different, so make sure you know beforehand.


Private insurance usually goes through a case-by-case study, but nearly all major health care plans have reimbursed for music therapy at some point. Make sure that you have the backing of a health professional and a treatment plan to show how music therapy will help to reach treatment goals.

Final thoughts

Music therapy provides great benefits for seniors, but as with other holistic care options it shouldn’t be taken as a magic cure for all ailments, or as a replacement for traditional medical care. Music therapy works best when combined with other care therapies.


Another thing to keep in mind is the lack of verified scientific research and scientific studies done on music therapy. While it is an established health profession there are some claims of what music therapy can do that ought to be carefully considered before they are believed.


You can find a music therapist near your loved one, or a sometimes a nearby open class specifically tailored for seniors. The benefits of music therapy when administered by a certified music therapist are incredible, and your senior family member can enjoy all the benefits of this holistic care treatment.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.

FDA amps sleeping pill scrutiny

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Sleep pills can produce daytime drowsiness that leads to accidents and other harmful outcomes. This has prompted the FDA to issue new warnings on the drugs. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


Many Americans use prescription sleep meds such as Ambien, Lunesta and Sonata to get good shut-eye.


But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has slapped a tough new warning label on this class of drugs, due to dangers from daytime drowsiness the day after their use.


The move was spurred by 66 cases in which patients engaged in what are called “complex sleep behaviors” after taking the insomnia medications.


In 20 cases, behaviors ended up being fatal.


Causes of death ranged from carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning, falls, hypothermia or motor vehicle collisions (with the patient driving), and apparent suicide, the FDA said.


Forty-six other reports involved serious but nonfatal injuries among people who took prescription sleep meds and then engaged in sleepwalking, sleep driving and other activities while not fully awake, the agency said in a statement.


While no one was killed in those reports, injuries included accidental overdoses, falls, burns, near-drowning, exposure to extreme cold temperatures resulting in limb loss or near death, self-injuries such as gunshot wounds and even apparent suicide attempts.


As a result, the FDA is ordering new boxed warnings—the most prominent type of label warning—on eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata) and zolpidem (Ambien, Ambien CR, Edluar, Intermezzo and Zolpimist).


“This warning is likely to affect a lot of people, as millions take hypnotics—sleep aids—at least occasionally,” said Dr. Steven Feinsilver, who directs the Center for Sleep Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.


Another expert said the warning was needed.


“These type of medications are well-known to trigger these (dangerous) events,” said Dr. Thomas Kilkenny, who directs sleep medicine at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City. “In a susceptible person there could be no control over what happens once the patient goes to sleep.”


In addition to the boxed warning, the FDA is requiring the addition of a “contraindication”—advice to not use these medicines for patients who have displayed complex sleep behaviors after taking them.


“We recognize that millions of Americans suffer from insomnia and rely on these drugs to help them sleep better at night,” FDA Acting Commissioner Dr. Ned Sharpless said in an agency news release.


However, “while these incidents are rare, they are serious and it’s important that patients and health care professionals are aware of the risk,” he added.


“These incidents can occur after the first dose of these sleep medicines or after a longer period of treatment, and can occur in patients without any history of these behaviors and even at the lowest recommended doses,” he said.


The association between this class of drugs and complex sleep behaviors has long been included in the labeling of these medications. The new labeling changes should make the warning even more prominent, however, reflecting the risk of serious injury and death, the FDA said.


For now, patients should stop taking these medicines and contact their health care provider immediately if they have engaged in activities while not fully awake or if they do not remember activities they’ve done while taking the medication.


The FDA offered additional advice to people who take sleep aids:

  • Don’t use the drugs in combination with any other sleep medicine, including non-prescription sleep aids.
  • Avoid alcohol before or while taking these medicines, due to raised odds for side effects.
  • If you still feel drowsy after waking, be aware that any insomnia medicine can lower alertness and interfere with driving or other complex tasks.

For his part, Feinsilver said the effectiveness of prescription sleep aids is “overrated” anyway.


Instead, he said, “most patients with chronic insomnia should be treated behaviorally. There often is no quick fix with sleeping pills.”


In the meantime, Kilkenny believes that with the new warning, “physicians hopefully will take greater care in prescribing these medications to patients and also take more care in following up after the prescriptions are written.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


The 10-minute battle

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An hour a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity may reduce disabilities associated with arthritis. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


Less than 10 minutes a day of brisk walking can help prevent disability in people with arthritis pain in their knee, hip, ankle or foot, researchers report.


Just one hour a week of brisk physical activity “is less than 10 minutes a day for people to maintain their independence. It’s very doable,” said lead study author Dorothy Dunlop. She’s a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.


“This minimum threshold may motivate inactive older adults to begin their path toward a physically active lifestyle with the wide range of health benefits promoted by physical activity,” Dunlop added in a university news release.


She and her team analyzed four years of data from more than 1,500 older adults in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and Pawtucket, R.I., who had pain, aching or stiffness in their lower joints from osteoarthritis but were initially free of disability.


The participants’ levels of physical activity were monitored using a wearable device.


An hour a week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduced their risk of disability, the study found.


Specifically, the activity reduced the risk of walking too slowly to safely cross a street by 85 percent. It reduced their risk of not being able to do daily living activities—for example, morning routine tasks such as walking across a room, bathing and dressing—by nearly 45 percent.


By the end of the four years, 24 percent of participants who did not get a weekly hour of brisk physical activity were walking too slowly to safely cross the street and 23 percent had difficulty performing their morning routines, according to the study.


About 14 million older Americans have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, the most common type of osteoarthritis. About 2 in 5 people with osteoarthritis—most of whom have it in their lower joints—develop disability.


Federal guidelines recommend low-impact physical activity for older adults with arthritis and recommend that older adults do at least 2.5 hours a week of moderate-intensity activity.


But that amount of activity can be too much for inactive older adults with lower extremity pain, according to Dunlop.


“We hope this new public health finding will motivate an intermediate physical activity goal,” she said. “One hour a week is a stepping stone for people who are currently inactive. People can start to work toward that.”


The study was published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


Unraveling Alzheimer’s

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Earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s means patients and families can plan for the future, including safety, care, legal and financial issues. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


Brain scans can improve diagnosis and management of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study claims.


“The good news is that there are no side effects from any of these recommendations,” said Dr. Thoits, the division chief of neurology with Spectrum Health Medical Group.


Researchers assessed the use of PET scans to identify Alzheimer’s-related amyloid plaques in the brain. The study included more than 11,000 Medicare beneficiaries with mild thinking impairment or dementia of uncertain cause.


This scanning technique changed the diagnosis of the cause of mental impairment in more than one-third of the participants in the study.


The brain scan results also changed management—including the use of medications and counseling—in nearly two-thirds of cases, according to the study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.


“These results present highly credible, large-scale evidence that amyloid PET imaging can be a powerful tool to improve the accuracy of Alzheimer’s diagnosis and lead to better medical management, especially in difficult-to-diagnose cases,” said study co-author Maria Carrillo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer’s Association.


“It is important that amyloid PET imaging be more broadly accessible to those who need it,” she added in an association news release.


Funding for the study came from Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., General Electric Healthcare and Life Molecular Imaging.


“We are impressed by the magnitude of these results, which make it clear that amyloid PET imaging can have a major impact on how we diagnose and care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive decline,” said lead author Dr. Gil Rabinovici. He’s a professor of neurology at the Memory and Aging Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease, but early diagnosis means that patients can receive treatment to manage symptoms and be directed to clinical trials for new drugs.


Early diagnosis also means that patients and families can plan for the future, including safety, care, legal and financial issues, and access resources and support programs, the researchers said.


In this study, the PET scans revealed that about one-third of patients previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s had no significant amyloid buildup and their Alzheimer’s diagnosis was reversed.


But in nearly half of patients not previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the PET scans revealed significant amyloid plaque buildup, resulting in a new diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.


One-third of the study participants who had previously been referred to Alzheimer’s clinical trials showed no sign of amyloid buildup based on PET scans. Based on those results, doctors were able to ensure that nearly all (93%) of patients referred to Alzheimer’s trials were amyloid-positive, which is critical to these trials’ success.


“Accurate diagnoses are critical to ensure patients are receiving the most appropriate treatments. In particular, Alzheimer’s medications can worsen cognitive decline in people with other brain diseases,” Rabinovici said.


“But perhaps more fundamentally, people who come into the clinic with concerns about memory problems want answers. An early, definitive diagnosis may allow individuals to be part of planning for the next phase of their lives and to make decisions that otherwise would eventually need to be made by others,” he said.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Decorating your senior living Apartment

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Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


Senior living communities are often built with specific interior design in mind for communal living spaces, but the individual apartments are often a little more plain. If you are decorating a senior living apartment, you’ll probably want to make it more homey and welcoming, as well as make sure that it’s easy to do all the things you need to do. Here are our tips and tricks to creating a beautiful and personal senior living apartment.

Remember functionality

It’s important that your home fits your tastes, but as you age it becomes more and more important to focus on the functionality of items rather than just style. Functionality should be your number one priority throughout the decorating process.


A good example to think about is glass tables. Glass furniture is pretty and fits with a lot of styles and themes, but the cons may outweigh the pros. They require frequent cleaning, and a fall onto a glass table or bump into a sharper edge can be much more devastating than a table made of other materials.

Choose a style

A good way to make your living space cohesive is to have a theme or specific style picked out. Apartments are much smaller than houses, and if you are moving to a senior living apartment from a house picking one general theme is going to be easier than finding a different style for every room. It will also help improve the overall flow of your apartment. Some themes can include:

  • Rustic: Think of a log cabin. With rustic decoration you want to bring in natural elements like woods and stone, and keep your colors within earth tones.
  • Cottage: A very popular style for seniors because of the warmth and coziness inherent to it. Colors like yellow, blue, white, and green are common and there are often antique or vintage furnishings and decorations.
  • Traditional: Traditional styles often incorporate floral and other patterns in furniture and decorations, and is another way to tastefully incorporate some of your favorite antiques.

Cozy and comfortable

Comfort is another big thing that you will want to keep in mind. Adding touches like warm blankets and softer furnishing can help you improve on functionality while keeping your comfort in mind.


Making sure that your couches and armchairs are cozy and your throw pillows aren’t stiff and scratchy is a good way to keep your home comfortable. Remember to keep thinking about function. A pillow may have a nice pattern on it, but if it isn’t comfortable to use then it becomes more of a annoyance in a small space.

Lighting and Storage

While not always the first thing on anyone’s mind, the practical parts of home decorating are just as important—if not more important—than the furnishings and wall hangings.

  • Lighting: Lighting is a big part of decorating. It’s important to include plenty of sources of light, especially if your apartment doesn’t have that much natural light. You need to see clearly for your safety, especially at night. Table and floor lamps are a great way to inject more light into your space, but make sure that any cords aren’t going to become a fall hazard.
  • Storage: Storage is another important thing to keep in mind. To avoid trips in clogged hallways and rooms, having adequate storage for all your belongings is vital. There are a lot of creative storage options like additional storage units for your living, different shelving options, and closet organizations that can help you with storing your belongings. Just remember to keep them all within reach. The last thing you want is to be unable to access your things.

Kitchen and bath

Most slips and falls happen in kitchens and bathrooms, so keep that in mind while decorating. Adding additional handholds is never a bad thing in these rooms. Another tip is to make sure your rugs or carpeting isn’t going to trip you up or slow you down if you are in a wheelchair. Things like soap and liquids should be stored in a way that they won’t spill onto the floor and make things a slippery mess.


Kitchens and bathrooms are also great places to add a pop of color. A brightly colored kitchen or bathroom can be a great way to bring in some fun in spaces that might not traditionally be thought of as fun spaces.

Bedroom

It’s important that your bedroom is the perfect blend of comfort and functionality. Your bed shouldn’t be difficult to climb into, and should have the right amount of blankets and pillows. Decorative throw pillows are great, but the daily task of removing them and then adding them back on can become more and more difficult as you age.


Instead, consider bringing color and style into the room with your bedding itself. There are an endless supply of bedding and duvets in any color or pattern that you can imagine. Wall hangings and decorations are another great way to include your personal style into your bedroom. Avoid hanging anything over the headboard though, as they can become dangerous if they fall.

Living room

The living room is the room that guests are likely to see most often, so decorating a living space in neutrals with a pop of bright color here and there is often very common.


A living room is a great place to put your personal items—family photographs, personal keepsakes, and collected artworks are all wonderful examples of things that can make an ordinary living space your living space


Moving to a senior living apartment can be a difficult task. It often involves downsizing and getting rid of a lot of items. But there is no reason that decorating your senior living apartment can’t be a fun and creative job. Keep functionality in mind and add your own personal touch, and your senior living apartment can live up to your highest expectations.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.

Protecting ourselves from financial scams

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By Regina Salmi, Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan


Every year millions of Americans are victims of scams or fraud. It is estimated that approximately 11% of the population experiences loss of money or personal property annually. While it can happen to a person at any age, older adults are often the most frequent targets for fraud. Older adults often have access to funds, excellent credit, and own their homes, making them attractive targets for criminals. In fact, older adults lose an estimated 2.9 billion dollars a year to fraud.


These are the current scams targeting older adults: 


Grandchild Scam: A caller will sound distressed and claim to be a grandchild in trouble or in danger and beg to have money wired to them immediately. The best thing to do is to hang up and call family members to insure everyone is safe and sound. 


IRS/Social Security Scam: A person could receive a call, an email or an official-looking letter, demanding immediate payment. They are told information will be forwarded to local law enforcement officials for arrest if they fail to pay. This is not the way any government agency collects debts. If you get this call, hang up immediately or delete the email without opening it. 


Home Repairs: Beware of door-to-door home repair contractors. They intentionally seek out older adults, particularly those living alone. They may say they are ‘working down in your neighborhood’ and are offering discounted work while in the area. They claim you need an expensive repair you cannot do yourself, like a new roof, dangerous branches removed from a tree in your yard, or offer you an amazing deal on new windows. All they need is a deposit and they’ll get to work. The catch is, the deposit is usually a few thousand dollars and they never show up to do the work. The only contractor showing up to your door is the one you called yourself. 


While it seems there are scams everywhere we turn, there are a few ‘rules of thumb’ we can use to protect ourselves from being fooled: 

  • If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Criminals feed on our desires by offering us goods or opportunities we wouldn’t, in reality, be able to attain: vacations, money, miracle cures, property, etc. You can be sure there is always a hidden cost and we end up losing much more than we would have ever gained. 
  • Never send money to someone you do not know. Any business or government agency you owe money to will send you the request through the mail. If a paperless billing notice arrives in your email and you didn’t initiate it, call the company directly to confirm it is from them. 
  • Do not give personal or financial information to someone who calls, emails or shows up at your door. Avoid giving out your bank account, credit card, or Social Security number unless you are positive you know who is requesting the information. Businesses you have accounts with will ask you to verify some information to make sure it’s you, like the last four-digits of your social security number, but they are confirming your information — not receiving it for the first time.
  • If you get an email or pop-up message that asks for personal or financial information, do not reply, open any attachment or click on any link in the message. Legitimate companies don’t ask for this information by email and you’re often opening a door to identity theft. You also risk downloading viruses or software that collects your personal information and/or disables your computer’s security

It’s important that we protect ourselves and share tips and information with family and friends who might also fall prey to these schemes. 


If you’re ever unsure about whether you might be the victim of a scam there are several resources available to you. The Kent County Elder Abuse Coalition updates current scams frequently on their website here.


The Michigan Attorney General also has a consumer alert webpage here.


If you believe you may be a victim of a scam, you can call them at (877) 765-8388.


 

7 shingles facts you need to know

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Shingles is a real concern, and one that can prevented with a vaccine. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Health Beat Staff


With measles, mumps and other outbreaks making headlines, one local expert said we should set our sights on another adults-only ailment making a comeback:


Shingles.


“I just know I’ve seen a lot of it lately,” said Christina Leonard, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Spectrum Health. “Because of that, I certainly encourage the vaccinations. You see these cases, and they’re often preventable. People can be really devastated by shingles.”


Here are seven things Dr. Leonard believes you should know about the shingles:

1. Cases are on the rise

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one million people will get shingles this year, and one in three people will get shingles in their lifetime.


“The baby boomers are getting into their twilight years,” Dr. Leonard explained. “They were all people who didn’t get the (chickenpox) vaccine that were exposed to the virus. As you age, your immunity wears off.”

2. Blame it on chickenpox

Shingles are caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox.


According to the CDC, “after a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in the body. For reasons that are not fully known, the virus can reactivate years later, causing shingles.”

3. Remember, shingles start with tingles

Shingles start with a tingling sensation, Dr. Leonard said.


“The onset is you get a tingling or an itching,” she said. “That’s usually one of the first symptoms. The rash doesn’t usually come on until later. If you have that tingling or itching, and see these little red spots, you should get to your doctor right away and get on antivirals. You want to get evaluated right away.”

4. It’s often more serious than chickenpox

“Pain. That’s the thing that really bothers people the most, the exquisite pain of this rash,” Dr. Leonard said. “You don’t think it can be that bad. You think, ‘Chicken pox wasn’t that bad.’ But the second time around can bring nasty, nasty pain. It’s really debilitating.”

5. It can leave long-lasting effects

Shingles sufferers run the risk of developing post-herpetic neuralgia, which is the persistent nerve pain that lingers after you’ve had shingles.


“Most people don’t realize that this can stick around forever,” Dr. Leonard said.

6. Luckily, it doesn’t spread easily

“One of the other questions we get a lot is, ‘Am I contagious?’” Dr. Leonard said. “You can go to work. You just want to keep it covered. If you keep it covered, it’s not a big deal. If you’re around someone with a weak immune system, such as someone who’s pregnant, you should be extra cautious.”

7. There is a vaccine

Dr. Leonard said the shingles vaccine is often 100 percent covered by insurance, and recommended for anyone age 50 or older. It used to be age 60, but many younger people are getting shingles and the age was reduced by the CDC to 50.


“It gives you enough of a boost,” she said. “Even if you get the shingles vaccine, you can still get the shingles, but it decreases the severity and decreases the likelihood of long-term nerve pain.”


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


Snapshots: Wyoming, Kentwood news you ought to know — the weekend edition

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By WKTV Staff

victoria@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

“The Sixties are now considered a historical period,
just like the Roman Empire.“

~Dave Barry


The Vibe keynote speaker Josh George, a six-time Paralympic world champion and world record holder. (Courtesy/Josh George’s website)

I’m pickin’ up good vibrations

Get your tickets TODAY if you plan to attend The Vibe, a gala benefiting Kentwood Parks and Recreation’s adaptive recreation programs, on Friday, May 17. The Vibe will highlight the City’s adaptive water sports programs, which include kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, wake boarding and water skiing for all ages and abilities. Tickets for the semi-formal event are $100 per person and can be purchased online at kentwoodvibe.com or by calling 616-656-5270. More on the story here.


Tickets must be purchased in advance by Friday, May 10.


These boots are made for walkin’ (well…)

It’s not only elite athletes and experienced runners who are preparing for this weekend’s 42nd River Bank Run. For the ninth year, former and current residents of Dégagé Ministries Open Door Women’s Center will participate in the Amway River Bank 5k Walk. Dégagé’s walking group, the ‘Heartside All Stars for Health’, is a group of approximately 12 women who have overcome or are working to overcome things like poverty, addiction and homelessness. With the support of Dégagé’s staff and volunteers, the organization’s walking group totals nearly 30 people. For more information, go here.



Courtesy Air Zoo

Can’t get no satisfaction?
Check out these six destinations

Bored? Don’t be. The Air Zoo, Binder Park Zoo, Gilmore Car Museum, Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Bird Sanctuary and Manor House are partnering for the sixth year of the Southwest Michigan Cultural Membership Exchange. Guests presenting a valid membership card and photo ID from any of these organizations can enjoy free admission at any of the six destinations May 1–31. More here.


Fun fact:

$4,743

That’s what the average salary was in the U.S. in the 1960s. But then, a loaf of bread was 45 cents, the average new car cost $2,752, and gas was about 31 cents a gallon. Ah, yes. The good, old days.

1963 AMC Rambler American


Break the cycle

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Learn from your parents and teach your children how to live a healthy lifestyle and age well. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Diana Bitner, MD, Spectrum Health Beat


It’s possible that a simple conversation between parents and their children is all it would take to stop the cycle of some diseases.


If parents would discuss their own health problems with their kids, things like heart disease and diabetes might occur much less often.


Diabetes, heart disease and even breast cancer are preventable by following a healthy lifestyle. A well-timed conversation—before another generation suffers—could make all the difference.


When people say, “Everyone in my family has diabetes” or “Everyone has heart disease,” the underlying reason is usually a sensitivity to sugar.


What does this mean? Some families have a predisposition to belly fat weight gain and get diabetes earlier in life. Anyone can get diabetes if they eat enough sugar and gain enough weight, but some people get diabetes at lower weights.


Examples of this include the Freshman 15, gaining 30 pounds after having a baby, or the 15 pounds many women gain at menopause. More belly fat means more sugar cravings for foods like white bread, white potatoes, white rice and sweets.


Once ingested, the sugar then goes straight from the stomach to the belly fat. It’s a vicious and very unhealthy cycle.


Unfortunately, high blood sugars typically mean high cholesterol as well, especially if your diet is also high in fats like butter, lard, bacon and red meat. Sugar and fat together are a bad combination because high blood sugars make blood vessel walls sticky, the fat sticks to the walls, and plaque or blockages are formed. When enough blockages form in blood vessels, enough blood cannot get through to your vital organs (heart and brain), which would lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Tackle your risk factors

I have discussed the topic of risk factors in previous blogs, and I believe the topic is important enough to mention again here. We all have risk factors we can’t change—family history, age and timing of menopause. But there are risk factors we can change (exercise, sleep habits, and food choices), and it’s not as difficult as you may think.


The first step is to make a goal toward better health.


To create your goal, look at how well your mom, dad, or grandparents aged.


Hopefully, they were able to be a good example of how to lead a healthy life. Sadly, many women have not grown up in households with parents who were positive examples of how to eat right and exercise.


Many parents never talked to their kids about eating a healthy diet or maintaining an active lifestyle in order to avoid diabetes or heart disease. If you were lucky enough to have a mom or dad who talked with you about the importance of being healthy, use that positive example to create your own goals.


If not, create a clear picture of yourself and how you want your own life to be, and use that picture to set some goals for your future. How do you want to look and feel in three months, one year, or when you are 50 years old?


A patient I’ll call Leonica is an example of someone who grew up with several family members who suffered from a variety of health problems.


They had heart disease, diabetes, obesity and cancer, but they never talked about their health issues. The memories continued to haunt her, and she decided she did not want to suffer in the same way. Leonica respected that her family was strong and independent, however, she wished her family could have talked about their health problems to help her and others from her generation lead better lives.


For example, Leonica had no idea about the connection between craving sugar and eating simple carbs. She didn’t realize that eating things like white bread, white rice and potatoes would make her feel tired.

Things to know (and remember)

By educating herself, Leonica learned how eating more complex carbs like sweet potatoes and brown rice, and having a protein and vegetable for dinner would help her lose weight—without giving up her favorite foods. She continued making diet changes to reverse early diabetes and became more active in her everyday life.


As a result of her changes, Leonica became an example for her children, nieces and nephews. She also became the voice to get others talking about how to change their lives for the better. By passing on this knowledge to her extended family, Leonica hopes to stop the cycle of the diseases that have plagued her family for years.


Here are a few key points to remember:

  • See your doctor—If your family members have heart disease, diabetes or obesity, it doesn’t mean you will have the same fate. However, you are more likely to suffer from these issues, so see your doctor, get tested early for diabetes, and learn how you can avoid the same health problems.
  • Talk with your family about their health—Ask your parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings about their health. Learn from them what you should and shouldn’t do to be healthy. Women who cope best ask for help and get educated so they can develop a goal and a plan. It’s OK to talk about bad moods, depression and anxiety; sharing can help others and take away the fear associated with these issues.
  • Know your numbers—Find out your waist size, blood sugar (A1C) level, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. It can be scary to know you have pre-diabetes, but knowing gives you power and can be motivating to get a plan in place—before it’s too late.
  • Know how close you are to menopause—Being healthy gets harder after menopause, so you want to know how close you are to being there. As estrogen hormone levels fall, the body craves sugar and stores it in belly fat. And belly fat raises insulin and insulin factors, which increase the risk of breast cancer. Everything is tied together.
  • Cut back on the simple carbs—These are the same as sugar, and, if you want to avoid diabetes and heart disease, you need to have only one simple carb serving per day. Examples of simple carb foods include white bread, white potatoes, white rice, white flour tortillas, sweet treats and alcohol. Remember—only one per day.
  • Eat a good breakfast—Include a complex carbohydrate (whole wheat bread, cooked oatmeal, whole wheat bagel), a protein (eggs, low-fat cheese, turkey bacon), and a healthy fat (olive oil, avocado, nuts). Eating a healthy breakfast will keep your blood sugars stable and curb your cravings all day long.

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Tips to help combat allergies as you age

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Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, allergies incur Americans up to $18 billion in medical expenses; they take up number six as a leading cause of chronic illnesses. The risk for allergies increases as you grow old and the problem is likely to go unrecognized. Unfortunately, changes to the immune system that occur as you age mean that your body’s response to inflammation from allergies is not as strong as it once was. The resulting effect is that you are likely to experience problems with allergies as seasons’ change, which is characterized by sneezing, a running nose and watery eyes.


Fortunately, there are precautions you can take to prevent allergies as you age, such as:

Indoor plants

While you may enjoy indoor gardening as a relaxing activity, avoid having any pollen producing plants indoors. If you must have plants within the house, water them occasionally to avoid mold from growing, which then creates mold pollen. Additionally, avoid using silk and other fake plants, as they are notorious dust collectors.

Invest in sunglasses

If you are likely to experience hay fever from wind-borne pollen, invest in a pair of quality sunglasses that wrap around your eyes to prevent as much pollen as possible from getting into your eyes. If you wear optical glasses, ask your eye doctor to give you prescription sunglasses to help you outdoors. Sunglasses will prevent the amount of pollen getting into your eyes, making you feel better.

Switch up your exercise routine

Avoid outdoor exercises in the morning; pollen count is highest before 10 o’clock. If you enjoy jogging or taking a walk, do it in the afternoon or later in the evening. Alternatively, choose a different exercise activity such as yoga, which allows you to work out in a controlled environment, with numerous other health benefits.

Run your air conditioner

Keep your filter clean and run your air conditioner instead of opening the windows, which lets in pollen and other allergens. The air conditioner reduces humidity within the house and serves as an alternative to fans, which end up blowing dust and pollen around the room, worsening the likelihood of you developing allergies.

While there are several precautions you can take to prevent or reduce the effects of allergies, you cannot avoid them entirely. If you notice any persistent irritation or inflammation, consult your doctor immediately. Conditions such as a congested nose can become critical fast, especially if you suffer from pre-existing cardiovascular or nasal conditions. Lastly, avoid traditional antihistamines as you can develop negative side effects or suffer from effects of mixing them with your other prescriptions.


Your health care needs change gradually as age, forcing you to take extra precautions to stay healthy. Avoid allergens as much as possible and consult your doctor if you notice any symptoms that may indicate an allergic reaction. Taking the right precautions allows you to enjoy the outdoors more regardless of the season.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.



12 tips to prep you for spring activity

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Warm up your body for better weather activities. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Eve Clayton, Spectrum Health Beat


Warmer weather has a way of getting us off the couch and into more active pastimes—biking, yard work, tennis and spring cleaning.


If you’re feeling the urge to get up and get active, take a minute to prepare yourself with these tips from Jason Lazor, DO, a specialist in sports medicine and musculoskeletal injuries with the Spectrum Health Medical Group Sports Medicine.


What you learn here may help you steer clear of tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, shoulder injuries and other forms of tendonitis, which can all result from overuse.


“In the springtime, I see a lot of overuse injuries,” Dr. Lazor said. “People have deconditioned a little bit over the winter, and they jump out expecting to go and perform their sport or activity at the level they were pre-winter.”


So before you get up and go, hit pause and read an orthopedic pro’s suggestions for easing your body into spring and summer.

Dr. Lazor’s Top 12 Tips:

1. Set realistic expectations.

“If you have been more sedentary over the winter, then slowly evolve back into your sport,” Dr. Lazor said. Pushing your muscles too hard too fast isn’t worth the risk of injury.

2. Stretch and warm up.

Do this before any physical activity, whether it’s golfing or working around the house. Stretching your joints for five minutes can do a lot to prevent acute muscle or tendon injuries.


For athletes, Dr. Lazor recommends warming up with sport-specific exercises and drills rather than just, say, jogging to get the blood flowing. But he cautions against “bouncy stretching.” Keep movements slow and controlled.

3. Take a break.

Yes, take a breather when you feel muscle tightness setting in. Then do some more light stretching to loosen up before resuming the activity.

4. Stay hydrated.

This is good advice anytime, but especially when you’re engaged in sports. Dehydrated muscles and tendons are less flexible and less resilient, Dr. Lazor said.


So if you’re a coffee drinker, reduce your risk of muscle strain by drinking more water than coffee. And avoid excessive alcohol, another cause of dehydration.

5. Avoid smoking.

In addition to its other downsides, nicotine impairs the healing process for tendons and muscles.

6. Vary your activities.

To prevent muscle imbalance, you should mix it up. The shoulder, for example, has more than 20 muscles attached to it.


If you keep repeating the same overhead motion, “certain muscles will get overworked and others will decondition,” Dr. Lazor said. That throws off the shoulder’s balance, resulting in tendon damage.


Resistance training is a good way to prevent overuse injuries because it makes the muscles and tendons more resilient. Dr. Lazor emphasizes the essential part of resistance training—the slow, controlled downward motion of a biceps curl, for example, which lengthens the muscle and protects it from injury.

7. Use proper form.

When lifting and carrying heavy items, make sure your body mechanics are correct. Keep an upright position to help protect your back. And if you’re doing overhead work, use a ladder or step stool to put the work at eye level and reduce stress on the shoulders.

8. Eat well.

If you play endurance sports such as tennis, eat well so your muscles have the nutrients needed to stay healthy and heal if they become strained.


Plus, eating well makes you feel better. “If you eat junk, you are going to feel like junk,” Dr. Lazor said.

9. Use proper sports equipment and footwear.

Avoid injury by wearing shoes meant to support your particular foot anatomy.


Also, make sure to have the equipment that fits your body and experience level. For example, tennis players should use a racquet that matches your size and skill level.

10. Practice cross-training.

Keep your muscles in balance with variety. Don’t spend all of your time on one sport, Dr. Lazor said.


“You want to incorporate other sports—swimming, biking, running—because that works the muscles differently. It gives some of those muscles that are getting overused a break and works them in different ways.”

11. Build your core.

This means focusing on your abdomen, back, glutes and pelvis—because many sports injuries are related to deficits in core strength.

“I like planks for core work,” said Dr. Lazor. “When you do planks, whether it’s prone planks or side planks, you have to focus on utilizing your core—squeezing your butt cheeks together and, for both males and females, using the Kegel muscles.”

12. Stretch again at the end.

“I’m a big fan of doing your deep stretching after your activity,” Dr. Lazor said.


Again, using tennis as an example, this means stretching the shoulder, pectoral and back muscles, as well as the hamstrings and quads. Stretching after a workout, whether around the house or on the courts, will help your muscles rebound faster.


Preventing spring and summertime strains and muscle pains isn’t hard. It just takes a little patience, insight and common sense.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Snapshots: Wyoming, Kentwood news you ought to know

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By WKTV Staff

victoria@wktv.org

Quote of the Day

“There’s no fear when you’re having fun.“

~Will Thomas



A few wrinkles in time

Older Michigangians Day, on May 15th, is an opportunity for Michigan seniors to speak with a united voice about the issues that directly affect them. It is also an opportunity to meet new people and enjoy a beautiful day in our State’s capitol. Call Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan to register at (616) 222-7042. Go here for more info.



So good, you can’t
read just one

“You just really can’t replace putting a book in a kid’s hands,” said district Superintendent Kevin Polston at a recent celebration of literacy” at the Early Childhood Center in Wyoming. “There is something special about touching, feeling, seeing the pictures, and engaging with the book. We know there is value to that.” Read all about it here.



Life’s too short, so go on …
have some fun

Experience Grand Rapids (EXGR) invites locals to explore the Grand Rapids area during National Travel and Tourism Week through May 11th using EXGR resources such as Culture Pass GR and Vamonde. Check it out here.

Fun fact:

Details, details

There is actually a difference between coffins and caskets — coffins are typically tapered and six-sided, while caskets are rectangular.



But in the end, does it really matter?



Growing threat for vets: Heart disease

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Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat

By Robert Preidt, HealthDay


More U.S. veterans are at increased risk for heart disease, a looming public health problem, researchers say.


They analyzed data from more than 153,000 people who took part in the National Health Interview Survey, conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.


Vets between the ages of 35 and 70 reported significantly more heart conditions than non-veterans, the data showed.


After age 70, non-veterans reported more, but the study’s author suspects that might be because fewer vets survived into old age due to heart disease.


“I think it’s sort of the first indication of a coming public health crisis for veterans,” said study author Ramon Hinojosa, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Central Florida.


“Because of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have a relatively large, new younger generation of veterans who are going to survive for 30 or 40 years after their war experience,” he said in a university news release.


The study suggests that what’s known as the “healthy soldier effect” is no longer guaranteed. That’s the tendency for members of the military to be more fit and less overweight than same-age civilians.


Hinojosa said the change could be due the nature of modern warfare, changes in diet, leisure and exercise, more obesity among younger vets and higher rates of drinking, smoking and mental illness.


“It’s concerning to know that the physical benefits of military service seem to be not holding as well for the younger veterans,” he said.


“This suggests the health protective benefits of military service are not what they used to be,” Hinojosa said. “I think that should cause us to really look at what’s going on among the veterans after they leave military service.”


Being aware of this emerging problem can help health care providers offset the likelihood of early onset heart disease, Hinojosa noted.


The study was recently published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Celebrating spring in Michigan: 9 ways to enjoy the outdoors

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Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


Spring has finally arrived and warm weather is soon to follow. Now that the change in seasons has made its way to Michigan, many of us are ready to go outside and enjoy the sun. If you are a senior, you may think that your days of outdoor adventures are over, but that is far from true. From heading out on the water to birdwatching to parties, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the outdoors during a Michigan spring.

1. Go fish

Fishing is a great way to get outdoors and into nature, and it’s a great activity to do with family, especially grandkids. You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment or experience to go fishing, just a few rods and some worms.


With so many lakes and rivers in Michigan, finding a nice spot should be no trouble at all. But if you are struggling to get the fish biting, local guidebooks and websites can help lead you to the best places.

2. Test out the waters

You don’t have to own a boat to enjoy the water all around Michigan. Head out with friends and charter a boat to explore the open waters. You can also go on ferry rides to get out on the water and see all the beautiful scenery of spring.


If boating isn’t your thing, a day at the beach might be in order. It’s still too cold in spring to do much swimming, but walking the shoreline or just sitting back and watching the waves can be a peaceful way to enjoy the water without having to get out on it.

3. Start a spring garden

What better way to welcome spring than with flowers! Gardening is a wonderful activity that was made for springtime. You can start a small outdoor garden, or revitalize your flower beds. If you struggle with bending down and getting up, then tall planters can bring the flowers to your level.


Even if gardening isn’t your thing, you can still enjoy some of the floral benefits of spring. You can go flower picking and enjoy some of the wildflowers that are beginning to bloom, or browse around local flower shops to see the spring selections.

4. Explore local walking trails

One of the best ways to get into nature is to go for a trail walk, and there are plenty of options for that in Michigan. There are paved paths so you don’t need to worry as much about falling, or there are more natural paths if you feel daring. Even walking on the sidewalks near you can be a great way to breathe in the fresh air of spring.

5. Take a day trip

Getting out doesn’t just have to mean going out in nature. Sometimes taking a day trip to a different town can be a great way to spend a spring day. Carpool with friends or family and find local amusements, outdoor shopping centers, festivals, crafts and art shows, or other local Michigan attractions and spend the day exploring a new area.

6. Head out for a picnic

A classic warm weather activity for a reason, picnics are a great way to spend a day enjoying the outdoors and having a delicious meal as well. Sandwiches, fruits, vegetables, salads, cheeses, and pastries are all great picnic foods. And all that food is best enjoyed with your family and friends, so invite them along as you find a nice park or meadow to picnic in.

7. Grab binoculars and go birdwatching

As the warm weather returns, so do the birds that had flown away from Michigan for the winter. Birdwatching allows you to get outside, but you don’t need to do a lot of physical activity, which is great for seniors who struggle with mobility. Many areas have local birdwatching groups or clubs for you to join and make new friends.

8. Try your hand at photography

If you want an outdoor activity that doesn’t require a lot of physical movement, but have decided that birdwatching isn’t your thing, then maybe photography is for you. You don’t need the newest camera on the market to start this hobby— even your phone camera is a good start for beginners. Spring is a perfect time to try and capture all the small changes happening outside as the days get warmer.

9. Host a get-together

Is there a better way to spend spring than with your family and friends? Hosting a get-together doesn’t have to be a huge event, but a small party where you and your loved ones spend time together and enjoy the spring weather can help everyone embrace the change in seasons. A garden party theme can get everyone in the mood for spring.


There are so many fun activities to welcome spring back to Michigan, and being elderly doesn’t have to slow you down. With all of these activities and more, there is no stop to the amazing ways you can get outdoors and enjoy the warm weather for a Michigan spring.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.



Kentwood’s Parks and Recreation gala will benefit adaptive recreation programs

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Kentwood Parks and Recreation’s adaptive recreation programs — one of which is the annual Lost Limb 5K, shown here with program director Katelyn Bush talking — will benefit from the annual Vibe Gala coming later this month. (WKTV)

By City of Kentwood

All are invited to attend The Vibe, a gala benefiting Kentwood Parks and Recreation’s adaptive recreation programs, on Friday, May 17. The Vibe will highlight the City’s adaptive water sports programs, which include kayaking, canoeing, paddle boarding, wake boarding and water skiing for all ages and abilities.

The celebration will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. at Stonewater Country Club, located at 7177 Kalamazoo Ave. SE in Caledonia, and include a keynote speaker, dinner, dancing and a silent auction.

“Kentwood’s adaptive recreation programs exist to provide people of all abilities a chance to recreate in a positive and safe environment,” said Katelyn Bush, recreation program coordinator. “We take pride in planning and implementing quality recreation and enrichment programs that empower all members in our community and encourage health, wellness, positive socialization and overall an excellent quality of life.”

The evening will feature keynote speaker Josh George, a six-time Paralympic world champion and world record holder. At the age of four, George traded in walking for rolling after falling from a twelve-story window onto concrete. For more information on George, visit here.

The Vibe keynote speaker Josh George, a six-time Paralympic world champion and world record holder. (Courtesy/Josh George’s website)

George’s enthusiasm and beliefs possess a contagious energy that has helped people build confidence and have made him a highly sought-after motivational speaker.

George has explored the realm of adapted athletics, participating in everything from basketball to track and field, archery, table tennis and swimming. Basketball and racing quickly became his stand-out sports and, along the way, he has become a sought-after motivational speaker, as well as an entrepreneur. In his journey, George spreads the message of inclusivity, maximizing your potential and, above all else, the idea that we must keep moving fast.

“We are so honored to have Josh George provide the keynote at this year’s event,” said Val Romeo, Kentwood Parks and Recreation director. “We welcome the community to join us to hear his remarkable story and learn how inclusive recreational opportunities can really make a difference in people’s lives.”

Tickets for the semi-formal event are $100 per person and can be purchased online at kentwoodvibe.com or by calling 616-656-5270. Tickets must be purchased in advance by Friday, May 10.
 

There are sponsorship opportunities available, with levels ranging from $250 to $2,500. More information is available here.

Older Michiganians Day 2019 is May 15th

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By Regina Salmi, Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan


This year’s Older Michiganians Day will be held on May 15, 2019. Michigan’s senior advocates and allies will rally on the lawn of the Capital in Lansing to let legislators know their positions on issues that affect older adults in Michigan.


This is the 11th year of Older Michiganians Day and all seniors interested are encouraged to attend. If you’ve never been involved in advocacy before, Older Michiganians Day is a great way to begin. This year’s platform focuses on four areas to improve services for older adults in the state of Michigan: Rebalancing Medicaid Long Term Care, Support AAASA In-home Services, Support the Direct Care Workforce, and Promote a Dementia Capable Michigan.


The MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program helps Michigan’s older adults by providing the services necessary to live in their own homes and communities. Costing less than half of what a Medicaid-funded nursing facility costs, MI Choice saves taxpayers’ money, yet only 40% of the state’s Medicaid long-term supports and services (LTSS) budget goes to funding MI Choice and other Home and Community Based Services (HCBS). The national average for funding HCBS programs is 57%. Senior advocates are requesting an increase in the percentage of Medicaid LTSS funds allocated to MI Choice, as well as the ongoing preservation and protection of this important program.


Advocates support the Silver Key Coalition’s request for a $6,000,000 in the Aging and Adult Services budget for 2020. There are currently 6,247 seniors waiting for in-home services, like homemaker services, home delivered meals, care management services, and personal care. Research shows that seniors who receive these services are five times less likely to have been in a nursing home than those who stayed on a wait list. Reducing the wait list times by increasing funding for services will help more seniors remain independent.


Every day, there are professional caregivers going into the homes of older adults to perform all of the tasks that keep them safe, healthy and in their own homes. The wages earned for providing these vital services averages about $9.50/hour, while wages in other service industries like retail and restaurants are increasing to $13.00/hour, making it difficult for agencies to hire and keep enough workers to provide care. Advocates support policies that recruit, train and provide adequate wages, raise the Medicaid cap, include direct care services in Medicaid contracts and call for the inclusion of direct care workers in MI talent development initiatives.

Approximately a half million families in Michigan are caring for a loved one with dementia. Advocates at Older Michiganians Day will be letting legislators know they support a Dementia Capable Michigan in which dementia education, services and policies are enacted that recognize dementia as a public health priority.


Older Michigangians Day is an opportunity for Michigan seniors to speak with a united voice about the issues that directly affect them. It is also an opportunity to meet new people and enjoy a beautiful day in our State’s capitol. Call Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan to register at (616) 222-7042. While the event is free, your ticket provides you with a complimentary lunch. If you live in the Grand Rapids area, you can also ask about transportation to Older Michiganians Day. Area Agency on Aging of Western Michigan is chartering buses to Lansing. Seats are limited and will be available on a first come-first served basis.


Visit the Older Michiganians Daywebsite for more details and parking information.


5 ways to help a senior with spring cleaning

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, How-To's, Senior Living,
Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living

By Vista Springs Assisted Living


Although spring may seem like it’s been a long time coming, it is finally here. One of the things that comes along with spring is the feeling we have to declutter, clean our homes and clear out the garage. That’s right—spring cleaning.


Spring cleaning gives us a chance to start the year with a fresh mindset. Seniors are no exception, but as they age it gets harder and harder to manage a full house cleaning on their own. Here are five ways in which you can help your senior loved one with their spring cleaning while still encouraging their independence.

Plan for a Full Day

Cleaning always takes a little bit longer than you think it should. You probably notice this working on your own chores, and helping someone who moves a bit slower is going to add a few more hours to a cleaning process. Picking a day well in advance gives everyone who will be involved the chance to prepare and get ready ahead of time.


Planning ahead also gives you plenty of time to gather supplies. Things like boxes for packing things in as you declutter and extra cleaning products for deep cleaning may take a bit more time to buy and gather. You want to make sure you don’t need to halt cleaning and run to the store on the big day.

Ask Others to Help You

Don’t take on an entire project by yourself! Enlist the help of some other family and friends to help you and your aging family member. You can break down tasks so everyone has something to do that fits their skill set and ability. The whole day can go by much faster with extra hands. Even having someone stop by for a few hours can make a big difference.


While many people are going to be happy to help out, you can always consider offering snacks and dinner as incentives. Sometimes people are much more agreeable when there is a promise of a meal to follow.

Make a Checklist

Planning ahead by making a list can help you as you prepare for the big cleaning day. You won’t have to worry about forgetting certain chores or leaving something out that you meant to do when you have a solid plan of attack.


Take your loved one and go through the entire home and write down exactly what you want to get done and how you want to do it. Writing it all down will help you remember exactly what you want to tackle and it allows you to organize your day more efficiently. We’ll get you started with some of the big ones in the next section.

Go Room to Room

As you go around, plan out your cleaning room-by-room to ensure you stay organized and see everything that you want to accomplish. In each room take note of what needs to be done, such as:

In the Kitchen

  • Empty out the fridge
  • Clean surfaces
  • Clean the oven and range
  • Clean appliances like the dishwasher and microwave.
  • Reorganize drawers and pantry
  • Sanitize cutting boards and knives
  • Eliminate unnecessary dishes and small appliances

In the Bathroom

  • Scrub out shower
  • Empty cabinets
  • Disinfect countertops
  • Deep clean the toilet
  • Clean exhaust fan
  • Clean the floors
  • Go through medicines and make sure all prescriptions are up to date

In the Bedrooms

  • Flip the mattress
  • Dust thoroughly
  • Polish wood furniture
  • Organize clothes and switch out seasonal clothing
  • Clean under the bed
  • Sort out closets and drawers
  • Wash all linens

In the Living Room and Family Areas

  • Clean dust off of ceilings
  • Vacuum or wash furniture
  • Air out rugs
  • Dust fans, lamps, bookshelves, and pictures
  • Disinfect door knobs and light switches
  • Shampoo carpets
  • Declutter knick-knacks and decorations

Keep Your Loved One Involved

Don’t have your loved one just sit on the sidelines while you do all the work. Find tasks they can do to help out and allow them to be a part of the cleaning process with you. Simply informing them of what you do as you go along is a major way to keep them invested.


Ask your family member before making big changes, like moving furniture and reorganizing closets. If you plan on donating or selling some things to help declutter, make sure to check in with them before you make decisions. Including your loved one lets them know that you respect their wishes and appreciate their help.


Spring cleaning is a yearly tradition that allows people to start the year feeling refreshed and clean. You can help your elderly family member by lending a hand and helping them out as we all begin to enjoy the spring weather.


Reprinted with permission from Vista Springs Assisted Living.



Power of the sweet potato

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Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, calcium, and vitamins A, B and C. Sweet potatoes are also a source of antioxidants, which are important to reduce cancer and heart disease risk. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Diana Bitner, MD, Spectrum Health Beat


Midlife and menopause are stages of life when weight gain happens fast and weight loss can be very slow.


Let me share a secret that can help: sweet potatoes.


Many people are surprised to learn the sweet potato is a healthy food that can to be added to any meal and help us all keep a healthy weight and get daily vitamins and fiber at the same time.


The sweet potato qualifies as a superfood—a weapon against weight gain, belly fat and diabetes. It can be enjoyed for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even as a snack.


The sweet potato has so many health benefits. For weight control, it is a low glycemic index food, meaning that while it contains carbohydrates, the carbs are slowly broken down in the blood and can be used by the brain, muscles and liver and not sent straight to the belly to become fat.


Low estrogen levels, which define the life stage of menopause, cause cravings for sugar or any simple carbohydrate, such as what is found in white potatoes, white rice or white bread. Our body’s response to stress or sleep deprivation can include a rise in insulin surges and insulin response, which can result in an increased waistline.


Including foods such as sweet potatoes in your diet can help slow weight gain and add many good vitamins and fiber.


Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of potassium, calcium, and vitamins A, B and C. Sweet potatoes are also a source of antioxidants, which are important to reduce cancer and heart disease risk. Manganese is also in sweet potatoes and can help with your metabolism.


Being healthy is about using small tips and tricks in daily life. The sweet potato can be used in fast and easy ways. They can be roasted, boiled, steamed, or even eaten raw.


The vitamins are best preserved when steamed, but I tend to roast my potatoes because it is easier. I wash the sweet potatoes, poke holes in the skin to avoid explosions in the oven, and put them on a cookie sheet for an hour at 350 degrees. Once they are cooled, I use the cooked sweet potatoes in a variety of ways to make satisfying and tasty recipes.


For breakfast, especially on the weekend when I have more time, I love to make one of my favorites—sweet potato hash.


Sweet potato hash: 1/2 cup chopped onion, 3 cloves chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 cup of greens such as spinach or Swiss chard, 1-2 cups cubed roasted sweet potato, and optional meat of 1/4 cup cooked sausage or cooked bacon. These ingredients are sautéed together and then topped with a fried egg. Maple syrup added around the edge of the plate makes a tasty treat.


Here are some other ideas:


Sweet potato snack: Cooked sweet potato mashed with a fork, covered with a tablespoon of real maple syrup, chopped nuts such as walnuts, almonds or pecans, and warmed in the microwave.


Fast lunch with sweet potato: Cubed sweet potato with 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, warmed in the microwave and tossed with salad greens and leftover cold chicken or sautéed tofu. This is tasty, filling, and helps avoid sugar spikes.


Sweet potato french fries: For dinner, my kids prefer sweet potato fries, simply made by cutting the raw sweet potatoes into whatever shape works—sliced to be round (fastest) or cut into traditional fry shape. Simply place the pieces on a cookie sheet with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt, and bake at 400 degrees until brown or about 30 minutes, flipping the pieces halfway through for evenness.


Sweet potato custard: Mash 2 cups of roasted sweet potato and add 1 beaten egg, 1/2 cup almond or cow milk, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, and spices such as cinnamon, ground ginger, cloves and nutmeg. Place in a small baking dish or ramekins, placed on a cookie sheet and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Yum!


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.


Calling all makers! Grand Rapids Mini Maker Faire returns for sixth year

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Kids Activities, Non-Profits, Recreation, Senior Living,
Photo supplied

By Christie Bender, Grand Rapids Public Museum


The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) just announced the 6th annual Grand Rapids Mini Maker Faire on Saturday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 25.  The Call for Makers is now open for makers to register their projects.  


Maker Faire celebrates community members who are making or creating things by inviting them to share with the public what they have made! Everyone is a maker, and unfinished products are also encouraged.


Individuals and groups can now sign up at GrandRapids.MakerFaire.com. This year’s Maker Faire will be held at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.


Maker Faire is looking for participants who enjoy tinkering, hacking, building and designing new technology-based inventions. Any groups or individuals interested in participating in the Maker Faire should complete the application at GrandRapids.MakerFaire.com. The Call for Makers will close on July 31, 2019.


Spots are first-come, first-serve basis with openings inside the GRPM as well as outside on the GRPM’s lawn. Makers’ participation is free for those showcasing! Makers interested in selling products at their booth require a small commercial fee.


Part science fair, part county fair, and part something entirely new, Maker Faire is an all-ages gathering that celebrates community members who are making things. All of these “makers” come to Maker Faire to show what they have made and to share what they have learned.


Featuring both established and emerging local “makers,” the Grand Rapids Maker Faire is a family-friendly celebration featuring tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, hobbyists, engineers, artists, students and commercial exhibitors.


The Faire will be open 10am to 5pm on Saturday, Aug. 24 and Sunday, Aug. 25. Tickets will go on sale early summer.


The Grand Rapids Mini Maker Faire is being organized by a collaborative committee that includes members from: DTE Energy, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Valley State University, Lakeshore Fab Lab at Muskegon Community College, Kent District Library, Kent Intermediate School District, WMCAT, Great Lakes Makers and the Grand Rapids Public Museum.


The 6th annual Grand Rapids Maker Faire is sponsored by: Maker Media Inc., Gentex Corporation, Kent Intermediate School District and Holiday Inn Grand Rapids Downtown.

PMS and the blues

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Brain chemicals can get a bit wonky from time to time, causing moods you can’t shake. There’s help. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Diana Bitner, MD, Spectrum Health Beat


In the dark days of winter, we all start feeling caged in and sick of the cold.


It is normal to feel moody, irritable, anxious, sad, depressed, less motivated and even overwhelmed. Some days we would just rather stay in bed and hide from the world under the covers.


If you have the misfortune to suffer premenstrual syndrome, or premenstrual dysthymic disorder, the winter will seem even longer.


Many women suffer mild mood changes such as irritability during their monthly period, after the birth of a baby or around the time of menopause.


In a normal menstrual cycle, estrogen drops slowly before the period starts. Mood changes are tied to estrogen level changes and, as another cycle begins, estrogen rises and mood changes go away.


What are not as common are mood changes that affect relationships, work behavior or lifestyle habits such as use of alcohol. This happens to women who suffer from these premenstrual syndromes.


The way this works is our brain chemical balance is influenced by estrogen. We each are unique in our chemistry. Our brain chemical balance is a big part of our personality—how we cope, our sex drive, our behavior in general.

Banking with brain chemicals

A couple of brain chemicals to pay attention to are gamma-aminobutyric acid and serotonin.


Gamma-aminobutyric acid is the brain chemical that helps with concentration. Some brains do not make enough of it and this contributes to symptoms of attention deficit disorder.


Serotonin is the brain chemical many women depend on to feel normal. One way to think about serotonin is like money in the bank. Picture a bank balance sheet. We make serotonin during sleep.


Due to genetics, some women make more serotonin than others. Serotonin goes in the “deposit” column of your balance sheet. Serotonin is “spent” on each life event. Unresolved issues or emotional challenges like elder parent care or a difficult job situation “costs” more serotonin than, for example, being late for work or not having any clothes that fit.


When estrogen is low—right before a menstrual period—serotonin is spent more quickly. Something needs to happen to rebuild your balance.

A real life example

A patient of mine I’ll call Mary came to me at the urging of friends.


Mary’s behavior had changed significantly. At Mary’s appointment, we assessed the situation. Her periods were slightly irregular, but still came every month. She had been noticing more headaches, bloating and fatigue around the time of her period. Overall, she thought she was doing well but agreed her moods had been worse.


I asked her what had changed in her life. Mary confided that normally when she was in a bit of a bad mood, she could still “act happy.” Lately, however, she seemed unable to control what came out of her mouth. She worried about everything, particularly—and needlessly—about money or future plans.


Too many nights she could not sleep because her mind simply would not stop. Her weight and sex drive had changed for the worse. Mary simply did not feel connected and often felt sad and she did not know what to do about it.


We talked about how brain chemicals and estrogen are closely related. Because of her lower estrogen level right before periods, she spent her brain chemicals too fast. Also because of low estrogen, she couldn’t sleep well before a period, and therefore didn’t make enough brain chemicals.


Mary had fallen into a vicious cycle.


She hesitated to consider taking medication to help. I reminded her that women 75 years ago would have given anything for the medical options we have today. Women now do not have to suffer like in years past. Times have changed for the better.


Mary did choose to take advantage of medicine that raised her brain chemical serotonin. After three months, she felt like her normal self. She was more active, had started walking again every day and wanted to go out with her friends.


So pay attention, ladies: Bad moods can be a symptom of changing hormone levels, but they do not have to be suffered in silence. Please talk to your doctor and get help.


Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Everyone loves a (Mackinac Bridge) parade

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Recreation, Senior Living, Travel, Upcoming Events, , ,

By Deb Spence, Mackinaw Area Visitors Bureau



File photo


Each year, a handful of special parades are held in which the participants travel across the 5-mile Mackinac Bridge. These events are fun not only for the participants, but for visitors in downtown Mackinaw City, too. Be sure to add these dates to your summer travel calendar:

Friday, April 26                 
4th Annual the Mack

Last year, more than 800 Jeeps participated in this annual trek. This year’s crossing will begin at 3pm in St. Ignace with all Jeeps heading south into Mackinaw City before looping around to return to the Upper Peninsula.

Saturday, July 20        
6th Annual Mustang Stampede

Celebrating the classic Ford muscle car which was first introduced in 1964. Dozens of cars will be on display from 10am-4pm in Conkling Heritage Park, followed by the bridge parade at 4:30pm. Dinner follows, with live music and the awards ceremony.

Saturday, August 3         
Mini on the Mack

(www.minionthemack.com)

Help break the English-held “World Record for Largest-ever MINI Cooper Parade” during this spectacular bi-annual (the current record of 1450 is held by the Surrey MINI Club Owners in the UK). In 2017, 1328 cars participated in the Straits area event (up from 1319 in 2015) and this year hopes to be the biggest group to date.

Saturday, Aug. 24       
30th Annual Corvette Crossroads

File photo

Hundreds of Corvettes are on display at the Mackinaw Crossings Mall parking lot from 10-2, with awards in a variety of categories presented at 3pm. The procession lines up at 6pm, with the crossing of the Mackinac Bridge at 7pm. All Corvettes in town are welcome to cross the Mackinac Bridge (there is a nominal fee for non-show registered ‘Vettes to participate in the parade).

Friday, Sept. 6      
12 Annual Antique Tractor Crossing

(www.mackinacbridgecrossing.com)


First held in 2008 (with 614 participants), this parade feature all makes, models, shapes and sizes of vintage tractors and farm equipment from around the country (and beyond). The line-up begins in downtown Mackinaw City at 9am, with the procession traveling across the bridge to downtown St. Ignace, ending at the Little Bear Arena. Last year, over 1,300 tractors joined in the parade.


For lodging reservations throughout the summer season, visit MackinawCity.com/stay/.

Grand Rapids Public Museum’s ‘Changing America’ exhibition opens May 25

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Non-Profits, Our Cities, Senior Living, Upcoming Events, ,
Courtesy Grand Rapids Public Museum

By Christie Bender, Grand Rapids Public Museum‘


Changing America: The Emancipation Proclamation, 1863, and the March on Washington, 1963, a special exhibition opening at the Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) on Saturday, May 25, examines the relationship between two great people’s movements, which both grew out of decades of bold actions, resistance, organization, and vision. One hundred years separate them, yet they are linked in a larger story of liberty and the American experience — one that has had a profound impact on the generations that followed.


Created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Museum of American History, the exhibit was toured nationwide by the American Library Association’s Public Program Office. The Changing America exhibit is now a possession of the GRPM. In presenting and hosting it, the GRPM will be enhancing it for West Michigan by including artifacts and stories from a local perspective. In addition to artifacts from the GRPM Collections, many artifacts on display will be on loan from the Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives. Local stories will be told through the eyes of our community and oral histories will be presented. The exhibition will also include a place for visitors to share their own stories. Shared stories will be added to the GRPM’s digital archive found at grpmcollections.org.


“The Grand Rapids African American Museum and Archives (GRAAMA) is proud to combine with the Grand Rapids Public Museum to present Changing America,” said George Bayard III, Executive Director of GRAAMA. “We are happy to lend support and artifacts to this important exhibit chronicling a slice of African American history between the Emancipation Proclamation and the March on Washington. We are eager to get our collection out where more people can view these authentic artifacts. Our loan of anti-slavery newspapers from the 1800s and buttons from the 1963 March on Washington will add detail to an already prestigious Smithsonian display.”


GRAAMA will launch a corresponding exhibit 1863-1963 American Freedom at its 87 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, location featuring local civil rights activists, quilts and interviews. For more information, visit graama.org.

Courtesy Grand Rapids Public Museum

Changing America at the Grand Rapids Public Museum will run from May 25 through October 2019, will be located in the LACKS changing gallery on the Museum’s third floor, and will be free with general admission. Kent County adult residents receive reduced general admission and Kent County resident children aged 17 and under receive free general admission to the GRPM thanks to the county-wide millage passed in 2016.


In addition to the exhibition, the GRPM is partnering with several community groups to offer community programming as part of the exhibition. Mosaic Film Experience will host a summer camp “Mosaic Mobile Filmmaking” as part of the GRPM’s Camp Curious offerings in conjunction with the exhibit for students in grades 7 to 9. This Mosaic Mobile program is working with the GRPM to expand this story locally by capturing the stories of area civil rights leaders and will give students the opportunity to learn valuable media skills while broadening their knowledge of Grand Rapids history. The camp will take place from June 17 through June 21 and is only $25 per student to participate.


“It is important to connect youth to the past so they can understand their present,” said Skot Welch, Founder of The Mosaic Film Experience. “The Mosaic Mobile Filmmaking program with the Public Museum is a multi-generational project, making history relevant to our young people in a place where they become the story makers. This is an opportunity for them to tell the stories of Civil Rights in our community while allowing us to see this critical time in history through their eyes.”


Westside Collaborative is also partnering as part of the exhibition, and is working on a series of “I am Westside” videos that will be on display as part of the exhibition once completed. To learn more, visit westsidecollaborative.org.


For a full list of related programming, please visit grpm.org.  


Changing America at the Grand Rapids Public Museum is sponsored by the David and Carol Van Andel Family Foundation, the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and Steelcase Inc.

Reclaiming her spark

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Health, Senior Living, ,

[huge_it_slider id=”69″]


By Eve Clayton, Spectrum Health Beat, photos by Taylor Ballek


If you were to meet Judy Pellerito today, you would say she’s full of life.


Newly retired after 31 years of teaching, the Kentwood, Michigan, resident is animated, outgoing and full of dreams.


She’s starting a community choir “open to anyone ages 13 to 103.” She plans to play her ukulele for nursing home residents and bring her pup Mabel along as a therapy dog.


So Pellerito would agree with you: At age 54, her life is good.


“I have energy and hope and optimism and gratitude,” she said on a recent fall morning.


But wind the clock back a year or two and get Pellerito to level with you, and you might hear a different story. A story marked by anxiety, depression, poor sleep and low energy.


Sure, she still got up and went to school every day. The former Northview High School choral director loved teaching, loved her students and her colleagues.


But it became harder and harder to summon the “energy and the stamina and find the joy day after day,” she said.


Finally a good friend saw through her smiling façade and nudged her to get help. To find out what was going on. Tired of saying, “I’m fine, I’m fine,” Pellerito acquiesced.


She made an appointment with a psychologist, who listened as Pellerito talked about life—and heard her describe many of the classic symptoms of menopause.

Hormone decline

Pellerito’s counselor referred her to Marjorie Taylor, NP, a member of the Spectrum Health Midlife, Menopause & Sexual Health team who specializes in hormone-related issues.

Photo by Taylor Ballek

Recognizing her symptoms as typical of a woman going through midlife hormonal changes, Taylor did a physical exam and a thorough blood workup, paying close attention to Pellerito’s thyroid and other hormone levels.


Not surprisingly, Pellerito’s blood levels showed that “her estrogen was really low,” Taylor said.


Taylor’s message for her patient? There’s help for you. You don’t have to struggle.


Taylor started Pellerito on an antidepressant and hormone therapy tailored to her medical situation. After just five months, Pellerito felt like herself again—or, perhaps, like a more jubilant version of herself.


“I didn’t know that my hormones had bottomed out,” she said. “It’s not like there is a switch that’s flipped—you don’t one day get symptoms. It’s so gradual that it’s almost imperceptible. You don’t realize until you look back.”


In retrospect, Pellerito says her menopause symptoms probably escalated over the course of five to 10 years, gradually stripping away her joy.


“I can look back now and just see an incredible difference,” she said. “And an incredible future.”

Feeling good again

Stories like Pellerito’s fuel Taylor’s enthusiasm for her work.


“It’s so fun to do because every visit you see improvement, and you see this person find their spark again,” she said. “When everything gets balanced, whether it’s thyroid, hormones, whatever it is, we see not only their energy come back, but they sleep better. It helps relationships, it helps—just their whole quality of life improves.”


Taylor acknowledges that hormone therapy isn’t right for everyone, but as a strong advocate of its benefits, she gives her patients lots of information and works hard to clear up the misperceptions about its risks.


“People have no clue of the wonderful benefits that hormone therapy can bring,” she said.

Photo by Taylor Ballek

Hormone therapy can contribute to women’s longevity, Taylor said, by preventing heart attacks, strokes and osteoporosis, and by helping to alleviate fatigue, depression, anxiety, vaginal issues and bladder issues.


“But the biggest thing is that it brings the spark back to their life and they feel normal again,” she said. “When people start going through perimenopause, they think, ‘Ugh, I’m aging and I’m just never going to feel good again. … And that’s not true.”

Start sooner

Pellerito’s experience is a vivid case in point. She now feels healthy, both physically and emotionally, and is eager to explore new opportunities as a young retiree.


Once a week she returns to her previous school district to work as a vocal coach.


“I’m still pouring love into teenagers and adults in different ways,” she said, “but everything is different now.”


For other women who may be feeling some of the symptoms she experienced, Pellerito says not to wait like she did.


“I would just recommend people walk down the path of getting help sooner,” she said. “Sooner, sooner.”


Reprinted with permission by Spectrum Health Beat.

Make your garden one of delights, not dangers

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism, Community Health, Food, Health, How-To's, Senior Living

Protect yourself while gardening. There are more dangers in the soil than you might expect. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)

By Bruce Rossman, Spectrum Health Beat


What’s not to like about gardening? It beautifies your home, produces great food, plus it’s relaxing, stress reducing and a fun calorie-burner.


But it’s not without its hazards.


“A lot of outdoor diseases can be avoided with clothing and precaution,” said Christina Leonard, MD, an infectious disease specialists with the Spectrum Health Medical Group. “Prevention is key in avoiding problems.”

Avoiding infection in the garden

To protect yourself from diseases caused by mosquitoes and ticks, use insect repellent containing DEET and wear long-sleeved shirts and pants tucked into your socks. You may also want to wear high rubber boots since ticks are usually located close to the ground.


It’s also important to be up-to-date on your tetanus/diphtheria vaccination. Tetanus lives in the soil and enters the body through breaks in the skin.


“Gardeners are particularly susceptible to tetanus infections because they dig in the dirt, use sharp tools and handle plants with sharp points,” Dr. Leonard said.


Roundworms and other nematodes inhabit most soil and some are parasitic. The biggest exposure danger is through ingesting eggs on vegetables, so don’t pull carrots and eat them in the garden.


Be sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water before handling food. Wash, peel, or cook all raw vegetables and fruits before eating, particularly those that have been grown in soil fertilized with manure. Wearing footwear and gloves in the garden also helps prevent infection.


Watch those punctures! Sporotrichosis is an infection caused by a fungus called Sporothrix schenckii. The fungus enters the skin through small cuts or punctures from thorns, barbs, pine needles, splinters or wires from contaminated sphagnum moss, moldy hay, other plant materials or soil. It’s also known as rose handler’s disease.


The first signs of sporotrichosis are painless pink, red, or purple bumps usually on the finger, hand, or arm where the fungus entered the body. It’s usually treated with a solution of potassium iodine that is diluted and swallowed, but can cause problems for people with compromised immune systems. Again, wearing gloves will help prevent infection.

Avoiding injury in the garden

  • Dress to protect. Use appropriate gear to protect yourself from pests, chemicals, sharp or motorized equipment, insects and harmful rays of too much sun.
  • Wear sturdy shoes and long pants when using power equipment.
  • Protect your hearing. Wear ear protection with power equipment.
  • Wear gloves to lower the risk for skin irritations, cuts and potential infections.
  • Be sun smart. Wear long sleeves, wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses and sunscreen with SPF 15 or higher.
  • Powered and manual tools and equipment can cause serious injury. Pay attention, use chemicals and equipment properly, and be aware of hazards.
  • Follow instructions and warning labels on chemicals and lawn and garden equipment.
  • Make sure equipment is working properly.
  • Sharpen tools carefully.
  • Keep harmful chemicals, tools and equipment out of children’s reach.

Reprinted with permission from Spectrum Health Beat.

Kentwood Farmers Market seeks vendors for upcoming season

3-bottom, City of Kentwood, Community Health, Food, Going Local, Kids Activities, Local Food, Pets/Animals, Senior Living, Upcoming Events
Vendors of all types are active at the City of Kentwood’s Farmers Market. (WKTV)

By City of Kentwood

The Kentwood Farmers Market is now accepting vendors for its fifth season, set to begin June 1. The market will take place each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the Kent District Library – Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch, located at 4950 Breton Road SE. Vendors have the option to sign up for individual dates or for the full season, which will end Oct. 5.

The Farmers Market provides community members the opportunity to buy a variety of goods ranging from produce, baked goods, syrup and cheese, to fresh-cut flowers, coffee and handmade items.

“We are looking forward to welcoming a variety of vendors and continuing to host special events throughout the season,” said Lori Gresnick, Kentwood recreation program coordinator. “The Kentwood Farmers Market is a great opportunity for the community to support local businesses, and likewise, it’s a great way for our local vendors to connect with Kentwood residents and neighbors.”

Upcoming events include the following:

June 1 – Opening Day will include special giveaways for the first 30 visitors.

July 20 – Dog Days of Summer will feature vendors who provide specialty pet products.

Sept. 21 – Kentwood Cares will allow guests to bring nonperishable food donations to support Kentwood’s Little Free Pantry or monetary donations for the Youth Scholarship Fund, which helps low-income youth participate in Kentwood’s recreational programs.

Aug. 4–10 – National Farmers Market Week will include vendor spotlights on Facebook.

Oct. 5 – Harvest Celebration will mark the closing day of the season and feature music, games and baked goods.
 

The Kentwood Farmers Market accepts food assistance benefits, including SNAP, Double Up Food Bucks and Senior Project FRESH/Market FRESH.

In its fourth year, Kentwood welcomed 18 vendors throughout the season and nearly 330 customers per market.

Vendors can reserve a spot for $15 per day for $250 for the full season. More information about the Kentwood Farmers Market, including vendor applications, can be found online at kentwoodfarmersmarket.com .