Why You Shouldn’t Skip Your Annual Checkup

Have you put off your annual checkup with a doctor for a few years now? Sure you feel healthy, have no major complaints, and rarely get sick; but did you know that underlying conditions with serious consequences down the line may be completely unnoticeable to you?

You can’t feel cholesterol building in your blood, and you may not recognize early warning signs up Type II diabetes. A doctor will.

Check out 6 reasons why you shouldn’t skip your annual exam:

May Not Cost a Thing
Since an annual exam or physical can help prevent issues down the line, many health insurance companies write it off at no expense (or at least a discount) to you. Your doctor may also, depending on your sex, age, and condition, refer you to other free preventative screenings and tests like a colonoscopy, mammogram, or prostate exam. The only cost is often your time, and for potential early detection, it is worth it.

Starts a Conversation
An annual checkup with your doctor is largely about opening a dialogue around lifestyle and habits, good and bad. It’s a chance for you to bring concerns to the table, to talk about fitness levels and exercise, as well as diet, sleep, and other factors which impact your health. Syncing you up with resources like smoking cessation counseling or a mental health specialist will also be easier once you see a primary physician and speak with them about your health.

Gives You a Professional Opinion
You can scan online resources and self-diagnose until you are blue in the face, but the opinion of a medical doctor who completes a full evaluation of your health is priceless. In addition to a regular physical, a doctor may order tests to check blood sugar, cholesterol, urine, and other metabolic functions and body processes. Hard data is actionable, which means that if your doctor notices something irregular in a blood panel for example, they may be able to issue treatment or further tests right away.

Emphasizes Early Detection
When it comes to cancer and chronic illness, any expert will tell you that early detection is the best possible way to get ahead of your disease. An annual checkup provides that window of opportunity for doctors to track down potential issues that may progress into life-threatening illnesses. Something imperceptible like a new mole on the back of your neck, a fluttering heartbeat, or a swollen lymph node will be picked up on by your doctor during an annual exam and addressed right away to rule out any issues.

Sets a Baseline
Understanding what is “normal” when it comes to your vitals, including respiration and pulse rate, temperature, and a healthy blood pressure reading, helps your doctor update your medical record and have recent data on hand in case of an emergency. This baseline indicates what health trends you exhibit as far as normal functioning of your body’s processes, and if treatment is needed for a developing condition, helps your doctor understand what to get back to.

Is Simple Math
Did you know 1 in 5 Americans has high blood pressure which can lead to heart and artery problems? Or that 1 in 4 women die from heart disease? Or that 86 million adults over 20 in the U.S. have prediabetes? The statistics are shocking, but a diagnosis doesn’t have to be. Lifestyle changes, education, and early detection can significantly reduce your risk of developing preventable diseases as well as improve the success rate of early treatment.

Annual exams are simply a nice “to do” to check off the list. Getting a checkup and knowing you are healthy and doing all the right things for your mind and body can be a huge confidence and energy boost too. So why not go ahead and schedule a quick visit to the doctor? You’ll be glad you did.

This is a guest blog entry.

How to Tell Whether You Have Allergies or a Cold?

You wake up and your throat is sore, your head feels like a million pounds, and your nose is dripping away. Immediately you think the worst - strep, sinus infection, a cold, eek! Before you let your imagination run wild and potentially run up an expensive urgent care or doctor’s bill, run down a quick checklist to gauge if what you have may actually be allergies.
 
Have you been in close contact with anyone who has a cold?
Unlike allergies, cold viruses are contagious. Allergies occur when your body believes external bodies like pollen, dust, or grass are actually harmful germs. It triggers an immune reaction to fight them off, and this production of histamine and other chemicals by the body causes your nose to stuff up and drip, and for you to cough or feel itchy.

A cold on the other hand is in fact the presence of a virus in your system which causes your body to rightfully man a defense to ward off further infection. This immune reaction may also involve a stuffy nose, cough, etc. Cold viruses can live on the hands of people with a cold who have sneezed or coughed into their hands, for example, and they can spread the virus by touching doorknobs and other common surfaces.

Do you have a fever?
A fever is typically the body’s response to fighting off foreign bodies like viruses or bacteria. Specifically, the hypothalamus portion of the brain which regulates temperature will raise the setpoint of your body’s temperature to help your immune system fight off invading viruses or bacteria. An increase in body temperature fosters a more hostile environment to prevent bacteria and viruses from replicating and getting worse.

Allergies will never cue a body temperature change like a fever, while occasionally a cold virus will. If you are not sure if you have a fever, get a thermometer from your local pharmacy. Gone are the days of under the tongue thermometers which can carry germs if not used with protective covers. If you are looking for the best forehead thermometer, find one with features like easy to read digital display and digital memory for recording recent readings.

Are you itchy?
Itchy, irritated eyes, throat, ears, and nose are often a body’s histamine response to allergens, and not a cold. As mentioned, histamine is a protein produced by the body as an immune response to infection or abrasion. It travels up the spinal cord to the brain which then activates specific nerve fibers to induce an itching response.

When you scratch an itch you slow key brain activity and the result is a pleasurable feeling. Colds will rarely cause itchy symptoms while itchy skin, throat, and ears as well as itchy and watery eyes is a common effect of allergies. Unlike allergies, however, colds may cause feelings of achiness and soreness in your joints and muscles because your body is diverting white blood cells from those areas to fight off the virus.

Are symptoms sticking around?
While cold symptoms typically take a few days to develop, contact with an allergen can trigger an allergic response, like sneezing, almost right away. Are your symptoms starting and sticking around? Seasonal allergies flare up with changes in weather between seasons, most commonly in spring and summer, and can last for months. A cold virus is typically wiped out by the body’s immune system within a couple weeks.

Allergies may even cause frightening looking white spots in the throat or eczema bumps, however, without further evaluation this can be hard to decipher from a potential infection. If you’re able to gauge the severity of your symptoms and potential cause, great! If you need a little more help and simply feel awful, it’s always worth seeing the doctor. Even if your symptoms are simply related to “allergies,” your healthcare provider may be able to provide antihistamine and steroid medications to aid with your body’s overreaction to seasonal allergens.

This is a guest blog entry.

3 Types of Transportation Which Help Increase Mobility Among the Elderly

Staying active and doing daily tasks as you get older can be a challenge. You may find that neither your body nor your mind works as well or quickly as it once did. Regardless if you suffer from a debilitating medical condition or you have arthritis that impairs your ability to function with ease, there is help. The Disabled World states 6.1 million people rely on canes, crutches, and walkers annually.

The good news is you can choose from a variety of these transportation devices and which can lessen your burden and enhance your mobility in the process. Knowing basic information about your options is the key to making the best choice and having a higher quality of life.

Type #1: Motorized scooters

One of the biggest challenges you may face is going where you need to without the assistance of others. Of course, being independent is sure to be high on your list of priorities as you get older. The last thing you will want is having to rely on friends and family to always be there to help you get through the day.

Taking a brief amount of time out of your day and visiting Quingo USA can allow you to see a variety of motorized scooters. This device is compact and easy to navigate regardless where you’re headed.

Listed below are other benefits of using a motorized scooter:

1.  Improved lifestyle – Do you love to go grocery shopping, but getting around the store is a problem? If so, relying on a scooter of this type can have you moving along the aisles with ease.

2.  Comfortability – The last thing you want is to be stuck in a device that isn’t comfortable when you’re trying to get help moving. This item can be custom made to assist you in moving with ease and aid you in remaining healthy in the process.

3.  Affordable – Most elderly people are on a strict budget and are looking for an affordable option. Choosing a scooter can help you remain mobile and may be covered by your health insurance in some cases.

Type #2: Canes

One of the more basic ways to provide you with stability as you get older is a walking cane. These are inexpensive and easy to use to assist you in remaining mobile over time.

Walking canes provide lots of support for your body and can be the ideal way to assist you staying active over the years. This item can additionally help reduce the stress on your knees, and is beneficial to any person that is getting older. Additionally, using a walking cane in the right capacity may even be helpful in strengthening your upper body.

Type #3: Walkers

Not being able to maintain your balance and walk with ease isn’t uncommon among seniors. One way to allow you to do so is by purchasing a walker to assist you with walking.

There are a variety of walkers on the market today, and it’s essential to consider your basic needs. For instance, if you’ve suffered a stroke and have partial paralysis, you may benefit the most from a hemi walker. These are designed to help individuals that don’t have full control of the entire body and can be extremely helpful in allowing you to be mobile.

Getting older doesn’t mean you have to stop living or enjoying life. You simply need to find the right mode of transportation to allow you to keep your body moving and make the most out of every day. Taking time to find the device that suits your needs and enables you to do the things necessary daily is entirely possible!

This is a blog post by Nancy Evans.

Simple Steps to Help You Lose Weight

Today, many people desire to lead a healthy lifestyle by losing weight. Maintaining a manageable weight is known to help prevent various lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart-related complications. Apart from that, losing weight uplifts an individual's self-esteem, improves moods, and enables them to have better sleep.

The ideal weight loss diet should consist of all the necessary nutrients vital for body nourishment, help one stay satisfied for longer, and enhance metabolism. The following steps can guide one on how to achieve their weight loss goals in 30 days.

1. Eliminate artificial and refined sugar from the diet

Consumption of foods that contain refined or artificial sugars stimulates the production of insulin in the body. Insulin is also known as the fat storage hormone. Eliminating these sugars lowers insulin production hence enabling fat to leave the fat stores. This way the body starts burning the fats. In addition lowering insulin levels enable the kidneys to flush excess water and sodium out of the body hence reducing water weight and bloating.

2. Exercise

Exercising is more often than not associated with going to the gym. However, many people have limited time or can't afford the gym. There are many exercises that one can do at home such as stair climbing, rope skipping, jogging, and walking briskly. Doing house chores can also contribute a great deal in weight loss. Incorporating exercises in a weight loss diet plan helps accelerate the burning of fats and calories.

3. Embark on a healthy diet plan

A balanced meal should contain essential nutrients to the body such as fats, vegetables, and proteins. A weight loss diet should be low on carbs and high on proteins. A high protein diet is filling and reduces appetite and cravings. Proteins can be sourced from fish, meat, and eggs. Low carb sources include broccoli, spinach, kale, and cucumber. Healthy fats can be sourced from coconut oil, olive oil, and butter. Any weight loss program should contain a considerable amount of fiber which can be sourced from nuts, lentils, and flax seeds.

4. Drink sufficient water

Drinking enough water helps keep the body sufficiently hydrated. Water helps flush out toxins out of the body and aids metabolism. Water is also calorie-free and can be a contributing factor to fast weight loss. This healthy drink though is not a favorite of many people. It is said to have a flat taste. Thankfully, there are various healthy ways of flavoring water to give it a pleasant taste. Individuals can infuse it with their favorite fruits or even vegetables. Additionally, one can purchase flavored water. It is important to check the ingredients to ensure there is no presence of added sugars or even sweeteners.

Conclusion

After consistently following this weight loss program, one can evaluate their diet outcome after one month. It is paramount to understand that different people respond differently to weight loss diet programs. While some may lose weight fast, others may lose a few calories.

This is a guest blog entry.

Is Golf Exercise?

Looking to spice up your daily exercise routine? Golf may not seem like a fitness regimen that is going to benefit your physical and mental health. Isn’t it just a lot of standing around and hitting balls and standing around some more? Surprisingly, golf has loads of health benefits when you tackle it as more of an exercise and less of a leisure activity.

A 2015 NPR poll found that over soccer, softball, and tennis, of the sports that adults enjoy playing the most, golf topped the list. For many retirees, golf provides an entire day’s worth of enjoyment plus exercise and social interaction.

The average 18-hole golf course ranges between 5.7 and 7.8 miles roughly according to an interesting experiment from Golf Monthly. If you walk the distance between holes you’re clocking thousands of steps and potentially burning 1,500 - 2,000+ calories on an 18-hole course. That is substantial considering a 175 lb. runner in a more high-impact situation would need to run 5 miles straight in an hour to burn just around 650 calories.

Other health benefits of playing golf include:

Cardiorespiratory Activity
Logging thousands of steps between holes means a boost in blood circulation. With an increase in heart rate, golfers exercise and strengthen the heart muscle, as well as increase blood flow around the body all the way from the toes to the brain. Being outside and increasing breath intake means strengthening respiratory muscles as well for better, stronger lung capacity.

Muscle Engagement
The pull back, swing, and follow through of hitting golf balls, from long drives to short putts, engages an array of key muscle groups. The glutes help control hip rotation and extension, the pectoralis and latissimus muscles give strength to the swing and stabilize shoulder motion, the core abdominal and back muscles hold the swing together and tighten up torso rotation, and the forearm springs the body’s energy of the swing down into the club for the strike.

Low Injury Risk
As a low-impact sport, golf plays an important role in providing fitness opportunities, especially to older adults, with a lower risk of injury than high-impact sports like soccer or running. This is important for helping seniors with arthritis or osteoporosis stay active. Even with some muscle or tendon strains, medical aids like a knee or wrist brace for golf can keep golfers playing with less pain and stress to important joints.

Cognitive Boost
The focus golf requires stimulates cognitive activity, getting neural pathways humming and honing skills of concentration. This type of mental exercise is important for combating dementia and Alzheimer’s down the line. Spending a significant amount of time outdoors surrounded by the natural setting of a golf course has also been linked to more attentive, positive, and happier moods.

Extended Longevity
This one might seem far-fetched, but a 2008 study out of Karolinska Intitutet in Sweden actually found that the death rate for golfers was a whopping 40% lower than for people of the same age, sex, and socioeconomic status who did not golf. In addition to the positive effects on physical health, golf also is a social game often played with friends, engaging players in regular conversation and emotional stimulation.

The key to getting the most out of golf as a fitness activity is to skip some of the components that focus on golf as a leisure activity like high-calorie meals at the country club, riding in golf carts between holes instead of walking them, and using a caddy to carry your clubs instead of carrying them yourself.

When it comes to revamping your exercise routine and exploring a new hobby, tee up for a little golf action - it generates more physical and mental benefits than you know!

This is a guest blog entry.

Follow These 6 Lifestyle Changes to Get Glowing Skin

Image Credit: Pixabay

If you have been using a lotion or moisturizer on your skin and not getting the results you want, you should consider some lifestyle changes that can help. First, make sure the lotion you are using includes a skin-tightening element. This is important no matter your age as you want to do preventative care, especially in your neck and chin area. Once you have selected the best tightening lotions for the neck and you have a good overall moisturizing regime, time to start working on those lifestyle changes to bring it all together.

1. Get Enough Sleep

The time that you sleep is the time that your body has to replenish and turn skin cells over. While you are sleeping, your body sloughs off thousands of dead skin cells and creates new cells underneath. Get proper rest so your body can do its job.

2. Meditate

Being stress-free is important and important factor in having glowing skin. Consider the many lines and wrinkles that cover your face. Where are they? They are at your fore brow, where we squint and furrow our brows. They are at the edge of your eyes, your crow’s feet, also from squinting. They are around our pursed mouths. When we are relaxed, our faces are relaxed as well.

3. Drink Water Throughout the Day

Our bodies are mostly made of water, but when our skin feels dry and cracked, we don’t think to moisturize from the inside as well as the outside. Drink 8 glasses of water each day, no matter what. If you don’t like the taste of water, you can use a flavor enhancer like lemon or fresh orange spritzer.

4. Exercise for Health

Exercise is another tool for getting glowing skin. Nothing beats the look of accomplishment on your slightly sweaty face after a work-out. That sweating is important for cleaning out our skin pores, so embrace the sweat! Also, don’t forget to exercise your face as well. Do neck exercises and chin stretches to keep the skin pliable in this area.

5. Eat Fruits and Vegetables

When it comes time to nourish your body, give it the best fuel you can. Choose high nutrient, high vitamin greens, berries, cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, and plenty of fresh melons.

6. Watch Your Sun Intake 

The sun is good for you to a certain extent. You want to get about 20-30 minutes of all over body sun exposure each day so you can make Vitamin D, a vitamin many women lack in particular. After the 30 minutes, cover up and wear sunscreen to protect your skin. Also, don’t absorb the height of day sun. Instead, sit out in the early morning when you can still get the benefits of sunlight without the harsh UV rays.

Try these healthy lifestyle changes to get dewy and glowing skin. Keep maintaining your exfoliation, cleansing, and moisturizing routine and you will notice some great changes to the look of your body’s largest organ, your skin.

This is a guest blog entry.

Options for Chronic Relapsers

Have you found yourself or a loved one going back to an addiction to drugs time and time again? Even after going through treatment?

Chronic relapsing is what lies at the core of an addiction to drugs. An addict will continue to seek out the drug of choice, even after they have been in recovery for a long time. An addict can easily become trapped in a veritable cycle of prolonged alcohol or drug abuse. An addict might even be quite knowledgeable about the processes and vocabulary of recovery and still find that they relapse, even sometimes after only a few hours of being out of a treatment program. Let’s take a quick look at some of the things that might help a chronic relapser.

Ibogaine

Ibogaine is a psychoactive substance that is naturally occurring in plants that are part of the Apocynaceae family. It is a psychedelic substance that has dissociative properties. This substance is being used as an alternative medicine that is used to deal with things like drug addiction. Clinical studies regarding Ibogaine treatment for drug addiction have been going on since the early 1990s. This might be an option that can prevent chronic relapsers from relapsing again. For example, see this recent study.

Treatment for Temptations that Lead to Drug Abuse

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, individuals who are suffering from mental illness can be as much as twice as likely to become addicted to drugs if they choose to experiment with them as a way to cope with their illness. That being said, it must also be remembered that just because someone suffers from a mental illness, that doesn’t mean that they will automatically become addicted to drugs.

If someone who does suffer from mental illness and tries to deal with those issues by using drugs, it is important that if they want to recover, they get the proper treatment for the mental issues so that they will not be tempted to go back to using their drug of choice as a way of coping.

Treatment for Chronic Relapsers

There are quite a few questions that need to be answered when it comes to determining where a residential treatment program should take place for a chronic relapser. There are specific protocols that have been established by the National Institute on Drug Abuse that can be used to find the ideal treatment facility. These include things such as:

• Any facility used for residential treatment should have the commitment and skill that are necessary to create a treatment plan that is personalized and will include treatment that deals with chronic relapsing.

• The treatment plan that is designed needs to be flexible enough so that it can be altered as the addict’s needs change during the time of the treatment and even beyond that time.

• This program for treatment needs to be available as soon as the addict is ready, available, and willing to take part without hesitating.

• The plan for treatment should include group or individual therapy, or even both types, as they are required by the addict.

• The treatment should take enough time to meet the individual’s needs based on the circumstances of the person in need of rehabilitation.

• The treatment facility needs to have a good understanding that treatment can be an endeavor that can and frequently will take a lot of time, including multiple or extended treatments. Each of the current and past residents should take part in continued care and self–help recovery groups after the treatment at the facility has ended.

Keep Fighting

If you or someone you know and love has gone through treatment for an addiction to drugs, and has relapsed, it is important that you not lose hope. You should understand that addiction is a condition that is chronic. There are a wide range of treatment options that include therapies that are complementary and even alternative therapies, as well as medicine replacement in some instances. These things can help when it comes to fighting against the stress and issues that can lead to relapse. If you have the tools to succeed, and the determination, there can be recovery.

This is a blog post by Nancy Evans.