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Entry bubble Women and Heart Disease

By: Ginger | November 06, 2009 | Category: Health

Electrocardiogram readoutMy husband and I were visiting my 80-year-old mother-in-law, Eileen, in the hospital the other day after her open-heart surgery. She showed me the incision running down her chest and looked at me ruefully. She said, “I guess I need to throw out all of those bikini tops I have.” I said, “No way! We can sew some padding in to the cups. When we go visit my family this Christmas, we can tie them around our heads and wear them as ear muffs to keep our ears warm. If anyone gives us odd looks, we will just tell them all of the top models on the runways of Milan are wearing them this year!” Eileen said, “Well, I have always been a bit of a fashion trend setter amongst my friends!” The image of all of us wearing bikini tops on our heads in the middle of a Midwest winter made us laugh, but only a few days earlier, we were really anxious and scared for her.

Last week, Eileen came to our house and told us that her throat was tingling. She thought she was having an allergic reaction to something she ate. My husband took her to an urgent care clinic. At the clinic, the tingly feeling was moving down into her chest, so the doctor performed an EKG. The electrocardiogram looked a little abnormal and her blood pressure was really high, so the clinic staff gave her some aspirin, nitroglycerin, and called an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

At the hospital the tingling sensation went away, but she kept having episodes of very high blood pressure. Over several days, the doctors ordered a cardiac MRI, stress test, cardiac catheterization, and some other tests. Eileen had previously undergone a stent procedure to open up a blockage, but the doctors determined that she would need a quadruple bypass and an aortic heart valve repair/replacement.

Last Friday she went into surgery. Eileen isn't just my mother-in-law, she is my very dear friend, so when the doctor came to tell us it was over and that she had done well, I was so relieved that I wanted to cry. Eileen still has a long road to a full recovery, but I have confidence that she is a strong lady and will do well.

If you or a loved one are suffering from heart disease, you may find these additional resources helpful:

P.S. I'd like to thank the doctors, nurses, and staff of the Northeast Methodist Hospital in San Antonio for taking good care of Eileen. Also, a big shout out to Eileen's posse, the Wild Bunch. Y'all are the funniest, rowdiest bunch of gals I've ever met, and you have all been wonderful friends to Eileen. Thank-you for your support during this time. Beading party at my house when Eileen is feeling up to it!

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Entry bubble Hand Washing or Hand Sanitizer?

By: Jake | October 26, 2009 | Category: Health

Hand washingThe men's bathroom here at the Federal Citizen Information Center has two signs reminding guys to wash their hands. The sign hangers probably should read the recent study that found men aren't as vigilant about hand washing after going to the bathroom as women are, even with signs.

Since I religiously wash my hands after going I ignored the signs until someone pointed out some inconsistencies. For instance one simple sign says wash your hand for 20 seconds and the other says you  need 40 seconds to complete a 12 step hand washing process. The second sign also states that if you don't have any visible dirt on your hands, you should use an alcohol based hand sanitizer. There are now two large bottles of hand sanitizer in our bathroom for this purpose.

Unless you are a doctor, I'm not sure if a 12 step hand washing process is necessary. I did find the part about the hand sanitizer intriguing. I checked to see what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says and they suggest the 20 seconds of hand washing but they agreed that if your hands aren't visibly dirty, you can use hand sanitizer.

I find this surprising since I've had bad experiences with hand sanitizer. One winter when I was working in a restaurant the owner thought it would be a good idea to have a big hand sanitizer dispenser for the kitchen and waitstaff to use. It worked fine for a while but my and some of my co-workers hands started to break out. I still use hand sanitizer if nothing else is available, but given the choice I will always use old fashioned soap and water.

 How do you clean your hands? Do you use soap and water or sanitizer?

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Entry bubble Vegetarian Awareness Month

By: Jess | October 22, 2009 | Category: Health

Fruits and vegetablesI know to many Americans the thought of living without meat seems practically impossible. But there's an entire group of people in the country who do it and love it. Vegetarianism has many forms, from the super flexible flexitarian, who eats meat on occasion, to the extremely strict vegan, who doesn't buy any product that was tested on animals or contains any animal products.

The North American Vegetarian Society dubbed October as Vegetarian Awareness Month to teach people some of the benefits of not eating meat. Don't worry, the group isn't trying to convert you. It just wants to show you that it's possible to go a day, a week or even a month without eating meat and still have plenty of yummy and healthy options.

Personally, I consider myself a flexitarian. I only eat meat if it's served to me or if I'm at a restaurant and the vegetarian options aren't that great. Or on that rare occasion when I just want a turkey sandwich. For me it wasn't a big moment when I realized eating meat was wrong, or anything like that. Touching raw meat in the kitchen just kind of grosses me out.

So in honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month, I present you with a challenge. Check out some of the great vegetarian resources from USA.gov and explore some vegetarian recipes and lifecycle information available. Pick a recipe and try it. You might be surprised to find that a diet based in fruits, vegetables and healthy grains tastes better than you expected.

Do you consider yourself a vegetarian? 

| Post a Comment | View Comments [12] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: awareness   diet   eating   jess   vegetables   vegetarian  

 

Entry bubble Cosmetics and Beauty Products

By: Ginger | October 09, 2009 | Category: Health

Woman putting on makeupI accepted a long time ago that no bottle, compact, or spray with its glorious concoction of magical elements is going to turn me into some gorgeous babe, but I recognized that products could enhance my appearance, so I used them religiously. Now that I am older, I am getting stubborn, or perhaps just lazy in the pursuit of beauty. On any given day, it is anyone's guess whether I will slap on the old war paint or even use some moisturizer. I may have skin like an old rhino and pores the size of Montana, but I really can't be bothered.

Don't get me wrong, I have just as much product as the next gal. I consider it my consumer duty to keep the economy healthy by regularly purchasing quantities of beauty products that I then toss in to makeup bags, purses, drawers, and cabinets where they sit rarely, and sometimes never, used.

When a friend mentioned to me that I should write a blog about cosmetics and beauty products, I decided to take inventory of my beauty stash. Holy cow! I have acquired so much stuff over the years! It is embarrassing to tell you this, but I have makeup and other products that date back to the 90's.

Most women know that makeup should not be kept for that long, but how many of us keep informed about other aspects of the cosmetics industry? Do you know what is in your beauty products? Do you ever look at product labels? To be honest, I don't.

As I began to delve into information about makeup and other beauty products, I realized that there are many information resources in the federal government that pertain to cosmetics and other beauty products. Here are a few:

I learned from reading this information that I need to throw out my old beauty products. I also need to pay more attention to what I am purchasing, and just because something is more expensive doesn't mean that it is, in fact, better. Hope you find these resources useful too. See ya next week.

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Entry bubble Smoking Ban Leads to Drop in Heart Attacks

By: Colleen | October 07, 2009 | Category: Health

no smoking

A few months ago I wrote a post about the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. People were very torn on this issue.

Now, with a little time to see its effects, research shows that the ban has a direct correlation with a 17% decline in heart attacks in areas where the no-smoking policy has been implemented. In addition to that, for each year following the ban on smoking, communities are seeing an average of a 26% decline in heart attacks.

Due to second-hand smoke, non-smokers have a 25-30% higher risk of heart attack if they inhale smoke at home or at work. Because cancer takes longer to develop, research has not yet demonstrated a link between the smoking ban and a decreased chance of getting lung cancer. But there also seems to be a decline in strokes.

Have your thoughts or feelings about the ban on smoking changed in light of this research? Do you still think bar/restaurant owners should be able to choose whether or not to allow smoking in their establishment?

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