Tag: Health and wellness

Updates on health

Update: Blogging and Health and Wellness

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Just a quick post to update. My hubby has just come home from hospital again, and a whirlwind has happened in this last stint.  My hubby was drained again and a port was inserted to start having homecare and nurse to come drain him at home as needed, it’s just too tough on him getting in and out of the car.

 

In the middle of madness I got jab one of the Astra Zeneca Covid vax, thanks to another compassionate medical secretary. I’d called my GP’s office for one thing, and got chatting with the secretary about the new opening in my age group for vaccines available in certain pharmacies across my city.  Well, I along with countless others were tying up the lines trying to book an appointment, and I gave up fighting the madness. The secretary told me she’d be happy to alleviate the madness and would get me booked. She asked which location I’d prefer, and ten minutes later called to tell me I was booked for the next day!  Apparently, they skipped an age group here, as they are still vaccinating the over 80 age group. I asked, what happened to the people in their 70s first, and I was told Astra Zeneca vaccine couldn’t be given to 65 and over and they would expire in April, so here I am, dose one injected and no follow up date yet for #2. I sure hope it’s sooner than later. I had the jab on Saturday and my left arm, shoulder, and up the left side of my neck and back are still sore. I hope that’s the worst of it as I have zero time to be sick. I’ve been reading around where many people say they get sicker after the 2nd jab. Can’t wait! (Sarcasm.)

 

As life is spinning for me at the moment, and until I can get a breath and sorted in new routine, my posts and my visits to other blogs may be limited and random. Gratefully, I do have some posts in draft, but anything newly creative is sleeping at the moment, as my life is in adjustment and denial as too many things sink in.

As I’d previously mentioned in my last post, I’m documenting this journey, and once I catch my breath, I’ll begin editing it and posting in a series about how I navigate the hospital system during cancer and Covid. Yes, my husband’s diagnosis is in, confirmed what I already knew in my soul, he has a primary and secondary cancer. Lots to process while working hard to keep his spirits up. And I must tend to his every need, which is my most absolute priority right now. The hospital has arranged nurses and doctors to come to the home. That is a blessing and easier for both of us.

 

Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. They are always most welcome and appreciated.

 

©DGKaye2021

 

Don’t forget to find something to smile about everyday. Everyday is a gift.

 

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Let's Have a Look - series

Let’s Have A Look – FDA curbs unfounded memory supplement claims – Harvard Health Blog – Harvard Health Publishing

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Let’s Have a Look at this. How well do many of those pharmaceutical ‘miracle’ drugs they tout in advertisements work? Putting aside the long drawn out, often dangerous side-effects always recorded at the end of a commercial ad, in haste, in hopes your ears may miss a few, is it worth it to take this drug?

 

So this little question came to mind when I Googled the memory touting drug, Prevagen. To be honest, I looked it up out of curiosity because whenever I watch American news channel MSNBC (which I pay a premium to have), I can’t get over the same three or four themed advertisements that play over and over – pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, and more of it’s ilk. And the same ad for Prevagen comes on no matter when I watch that channel. But I digress, and after seeing that commercial numerous times I was curious about what exactly is in this ‘miracle’ drug? I mean, I know my short term memory sometimes plays tricks on me, so maybe I should take this?

As a person who does her damnest not to have to take pharmaceuticals, and thankfully, I don’t, except my compounded natural dessicated thryoid medication, my little meno-moments got me curious enough to look up – or try to look up, what is in this stuff? It led me to this page of Harvard University medical educators and contributors on various topics. Dr. Robert Shmerling, Senior Faculty Editor at Harvard Health Publishing, gave a great scientific explanation of the touting of Prevagen, it’s actual efficacy, and mentions the protocols the FDA takes before allowing a drug on the market, and the stipulations of wording that can be used by the advertisers.

 

Here are some of the points Dr. Shmerling makes:

“Like many heavily-advertised supplements, this one makes many claims. The bottle promises it “improves memory” and “supports: healthy brain function, sharper mind, clearer thinking.” Never mind that the main ingredient in jellyfish (apoaequorin) has no known role in human memory, or that many experts believe supplements like this would most likely be digested in the stomach and never wind up anywhere near the brain.”

“As “proof” of power, a bar graph shows a rise from 5% to 10% to 20% over 90 days in “recall tasks.” But there’s no way to know what these numbers refer to, how many people were studied, or other important details. And no information is provided about effects on memory after 90 days. The fine print under the graph says that the supplement “improved recall tasks in subjects” without explaining what this means. While a company-sponsored study reported improvements in memory after people took apoaequorin, the published version demonstrated minimal improvement (summarized here).”

“The US Federal Trade Commission wasn’t convinced of the supplement’s benefits. It charged the supplement maker with false advertising back in 2012. In the legal filings, the company was accused of selectively reporting data and misleading the public by claiming that Prevagen is “clinically proven” to improve cognitive function. The lawsuit has not yet been decided.”

You can read the full article, where it continues on about what claims pharma companies are legally allowed to make, and which claims are not allowed as disclaimers.

According to what I’ve read from the above articles, I am personally not convinced I’d want to take that drug. Interesting the wording permitted to use in advertisements leaves me feeling a bit duped, and without the long term benefits or side-effects, a lawsuit still pending on whether or not the efficacy has been proven for effectiveness and listening to claims in the ad how it’s ‘given them back their peace of mind’, I’m not convinced either.

If you’d care to share your thoughts on FDA issues with claims you don’t agree with from your own experience, please share your thoughts here with us. And if any of you readers here take Prevagen, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts about.

 

Source: FDA curbs unfounded memory supplement claims – Harvard Health Blog – Harvard Health Publishing

 

©DGKaye2021

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Updates on health

Updates – This Extrovert is in Hibernation Mode #Health and Wellness

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The last cliffhanger I left you with for my first 2021 post, my husband’s illness, my nonfunctioning leg, and our shower ceiling caving in, have been keeping me quite busy lately. The onslaught at everything coming at me has put me in introvert mode. I am 99 percent an extrovert and one percent introvert. When I get in introvert mode, it’s an introspective thing where I need to close myself in – not quite at the part where I’m digesting things and trying to find my way around what seems my new life.

When I get quiet, my mind is very busy. And until I can come to resolutions and/or acceptance I need to go within myself, not ready to share with others what I haven’t yet digested myself. So for those good friends of mine who check in with me daily and silently know that when I’m ready I’ll spill, thank you.

I feel right now my life is at a crossroads of many things – some I can’t peg, yet, I know are brewing, and some I’m having a difficult time facing. I don’t know if this past year was a catalyst for or if because of the isolating life we’ve been living alone together 24/7, it has allowed me to watch and be part of as my husband’s health issues persist. In a flash I seemed to have gone from wife to caregiver.

As I long for the days of Covid to pass so I can resume living, I’m just as anxious about when the time for living does come back. Because the living I’ve known for over 20 years now, is not and will not be the same. Since just before the new year, my husband has been accumulating fluid daily. This happened five years ago when he was first diagnosed with Cirrhosis of the liver. He was drained and put on two types of heavy-duty diuretics. One in particular was specific to pulling fluid from the liver area. The combo finally got properly dosed and worked well for the past five years. Then late last fall, a side effect of one of the pills, retaining too much potassium, was raising hub’s levels and had to be cut down. Thus the fluid buildup came back – except it’s not going away anymore so he’s now that guy who Dr. B told me about five years ago when I asked him if this fluid retention would come back. He’d told me he had patients who had to have a paracentesis every month, but maybe my hub would be luckier, I’d hoped. We had a good ride for five years, but now my husband has been going every two weeks for draining (Paracentesis). They can only get out approximately four of the ten litres he carries (we know by weight). Four days later he gains it all back. Last week I spoke with Dr. B and he’s moved the procedure up to once a week. We have to sign consent papers every time he has this done because of course the danger of inserting the long needle in his side with a drain tube, guided by ultra sound, done by a radiologist, has its risks. Today is drainage day again, thankfully.

My life has changed so much, considering there’s been no real living going on. Last February we were in Mexico, we came home mid March and the next day was lock down. My husband fell ill the day before travel home day, and life has been unwell ever since. Just like that, snap, our lives changed, during lockdown. My husband will not be going back to work of course, so I never got to experience that transition time from when he went to work a few days a week and loved to run errands, giving me my personal time. He always needed to be busy. So he got involved, voluntarily with some household jobs – emptying dishwasher and the many garbage cans. Then he’d take some garbage down the end of the hall to the chute, and the rest to the recycle bins in the parking level. It gave him something to do and he enjoyed it. I don’t enjoy it quite so much, but I’ve relieved him from his duties. The days before draining days he walks on a walker because his legs are like lead.

Current prognosis on past events:

So it took three weeks and various shades of yellows, greens blues and purples, but as of four days ago, I can walk proper without limping. I’m pretty sure I tore my calf muscle. It was painful and only a few days later the bruising was down my whole calf, ankle, and foot. I was using hub’s walker for over a week. So I guess there wasn’t enough excitement when I stubbed a toe bang on, precisely to the corner of the TV stand. I don’t remember feeling that kind of pain in many years. After sitting down and holding my foot for ten minutes til the initial throb wore down, I hobbled to the freezer door, below the fridge doors. I opened it and put my foot right among the frozen vegetable bags and stood there with the door opened for a good five minutes. It helped a lot. The pain was gone. The next day however, 3 toes and half my foot up were purple and I couldn’t move two toes. But, as of this writing, I have movement back. I am definitely blaming this shyte on Mercury Retrograde. Our shower was fixed and retiled almost two weeks ago, and we’re awaiting the new shower door. Until then, I’m grateful for the clear, shower curtain and temporary bar they put up for the meantime.

Two nights ago I had to call 911 as my husband slid to floor trying to get out of bed at 130am to go to washroom. I could not lift him for all the tea in China and was forced to admit my defeat and call for help. I realized my superhuman powers are limited after watching two EMS guys struggle to finally get him up. They were very kind and gave me some helpful tips  to help ‘seniorize’ things at home. They are also going to set up some help to come in a few days a week to help with hubby, so I’m looking forward to that part.

So yes, as you can see, there’s a lot I’m swallowing right now as my first priority is my husband, but in my head and as I witness my husband’s health decline, it’s all still so raw and very tough for me to witness and accept, as I’m having to learn to accept that things will never again be the way they were.

So that’s my update. I felt since I’d posted about the mayhem going on in my life, my readers at least deserved a follow up.

 

Never take life for granted for it can be snatched in the blink of an eye.

 

©DGKaye2021

bitmo live laugh love

 

Reblog Share - Smorgasbord Health - Deydration

#Blogshare – Turning Back the Clock 2021- Anti-Aging without the Botox by Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

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My good friend and multi-talented author AND Nutritional Therapist, Sally Cronin, has a few new series and promotions going on at her Smorgasbord for 2021, so I wanted to share with everyone because she invites you all over and will even promote your books in her vast Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore!

In this reblog, Sally is setting the year off to a healthy start. Sally has been updating her book -Turning Back the Clock, and sharing some of her excellent articles on how to maintain good health through aging. AND, she is offering a FREE copy of her book, Size Matters, and all you have to do is email her your request! Have a look!

 

Smorgasbord Health Column – Turning Back the Clock 2021- Anti-Aging without the Botox by Sally Cronin

 

Background to the series.

Sixteen years ago I had a series on radio called Turning Back the Clock, which I presented in response to listeners in their 50’s and 60’s looking for rejuvenation and tips on staying young. Like me they were exasperated by the claims of the cosmetic industry that the various ingredients in their products could knock ten years off their age. I was asked to design a diet that would help reverse the signs of aging and this developed into a weekly challenge that was undertaken by nearly 100 listeners. The series became a book in 2010.

I try to practice what I preach!  And certainly so far I have managed to maintain healthy key indicators such as blood pressure, blood sugar levels and cholesterol without medication, much to the surprise of my doctor!

 

In my opinion the answer to turning back the clock by several years is to consider and address a number of factors which include physical, emotional and mental age markers.

I wish that I could say that my internal key indicators were reflected in a wrinkle free face and perky underarms… However, recently when I mentioned my age to a cashier in the supermarket, she uttered the wondrous words ‘I don’t believe it’. I have to say that wearing a mask does have an upside.

There are some downsides to getting older however, and this is to do with our operating systems. Much like an older model of car, things begin to seize up, the petrol does not seem to be able to ignite quite so much power under the bonnet, and parts seem to need replacing much more often.

 

For example: The Digestive System as we get older.

  • We don’t taste foods in the same way, requiring more sugar and salt. Certainly fueling a rise in diabetes and certain other sugar related health issues.
  • Our appetites change, unless we continue to be very active. We eat less, reducing the amount of nutrients we consume.
  • Our systems are not as efficient, so the nutrients we do consume are not processed as effectively as they need to be.
  • We begin to suffer from nutritional deficiencies which lead to more age related health issues.

That is just one area that focusing attention may increase energy and improve common age related health issues.

During this series I am going to be looking at the physical, mental and emotional elements that contribute to the aging process.

We have all met people in their 30’s who already seem staid and middle aged and it has nothing to do with the wrinkles on their faces. A positive attitude to life is key if you are to beat the clock and how you interact with the rest of the human race will determine your real age.

Certainly our diet plays a part in the health and fitness of our bodies but it is also about our emotional health and how we feel about ourselves that can make all the difference when looking in the mirror. A smile can knock years off as people are deflected from any lines you might have around your eyes.

Why do we all want to stop the aging process?

It is not just about the way we look. Most of us will develop grey hair, expanding waistlines, wrinkles and a somewhat world weary appearance. Of course this is important but at the end of the day no-one is unique and everyone will face this process one day.

I don’t believe that we can stop the aging process, and unfortunately in this modern world, that aging process is accompanied in most cases with degenerative diseases of the body and the mind. Poor quality of life and a dependence on prescription drugs to get us through the last 10, 20 or even 30 years of our lives. However, I do believe that we can slow the process down and ensure that we are as pain free and as vital as possible to the very end.

Now that I am 68, I realise even more, that our age is not just about wrinkles on our faces but the way we approach life and others mentally and emotionally. I want the next twenty to thirty years (and more if I have a good quality of life!) to be fun, and full of new experiences and great people. I have often said that if I get to 100, I will take up some of the habits I gave up to get there!!! . . .

Please hop over to Sally’s blog post, and don’t forget to request your free copy of her book – Size Matters.

 

Part 2 of this series HERE

– Keeping the PH Balance in our body, optimum

 

Sally Cronin's Books

Visit all of Sally’s Books

 

Original Source: Smorgasbord Health Column – Turning Back the Clock 2021- Anti-Aging without the Botox by Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

 

©DGKaye2021

bitmo live laugh love

 

 

 

Reblog Share - Smorgasbord Health - Deydration

Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

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Sally Cronin has begun a new health series at her blog – Smorgasbord Invitation. This new series, Project 101 – Resilience, is to both educate and inspire us all to get and keep fit. In this series, Sally will be talking about the sum of our parts and how to keep each of them running optimally, in this online sequel to her book Size Matters.

 

 

Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Sally Cronin

 

Welcome to the new series – Project 101 – Resilience.

As with most of you, I have spent the last 10 weeks in lock down with only a visit to the supermarket for fresh produce once a week. Thankfully, and touch wood, none of our family or close friends have been infected and slowly we are all coming out of hibernation and preparing to face the world again.

I am sure I am not alone in feeling somewhat nervous about this and will continue with my early shopping to avoid the crowds, wear gloves and a mask when shopping and decontaminate when I get home again.

I have been making good use of the time by continuing to work on keeping myself fit plus resurrecting some writing projects. I have also been planning the direction I would like the blog to take in the next year. For example, I wanted to make use of all the health posts that I have in the archives which number in their 100s, and re-purpose them in a way that readers would find useful.

Project 101 – Resilience.

Let me say upfront, that I cannot promise that what you will read over the next few weeks will prevent you catching a viral or bacterial infection, but what I would like to do is to encourage as many people as possible to take themselves out of the identified high risk categories by making some small changes to their lifestyle and diet.

One of the highest risks is to those over 70, particularly those who have underlying health problems. However, those health problems are predominantly lifestyle related and do not have to be for life. For example, Obesity, Type II Diabetes, Inflammatory diseases, nutritional deficiencies such as Vitamin D and High Blood Pressure.

I see a window of opportunity for all of us to review our health, diet and lifestyle and see where we can make improvements to boost our immune systems, reduce our risk factors and feel more confident about going back out into the world again. A chance to get our bodies fighting fit.

Over the last 20 years or so of working with 100s of clients as a nutritional therapist, I have discovered that making sweeping changes does not work. There are three elements that require attention, physical, mental and emotional, and making small but key changes in these areas is much more effective. . . .

Please head over to Sally’s and check out what we can expect to learn in this series.

 

Source: Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine