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Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Peter Anderson ⚽ This week's subject is only loosely sports related but it is something I am passionate about so here goes.

A few years ago I broke my elbow. My arm was completely immobilised for 3 months and when the support finally came off, I was horrified to see that I had lost almost all the muscle on my left arm. I mentioned this to the physio and she told me it was due to sarcopenia, and that as we get past 50, our ability to grow and even maintain muscle mass is greatly decreased. 

I googled it. It turns out that sarcopenia is also called the "triple whammy": as we age, we eat less protein, as we have less appetite and develop dental problems to chew. We also absorb less of the protein that we do eat, due to our bodies becoming less efficient. And finally, we exercise less. All three lead to rapid muscle loss. 

The more I read about it, the more I learned that that is exactly what my 81-year-old mother is suffering from. Recently she fell down the stairs. Luckily, she had only a few scrapes. Most old ladies who fall break their hips or femurs. 67% of women over 70 who have a catastrophic break after a fall are dead within a year. Sarcopenia affects women more, but men are not immune. Not only is muscle lost from the legs but also from the feet. This leads to balance problems and then falls. My previously strong mum is now tottery on her feet. 

Another downside of having less muscle and exercising less is that we become more insulin resistant as our muscles use up sugar when we exercise. The onset of sarcopenia usually brings diabetes with it. The experts agree that as we age, we should always seek to boost our protein intake and step up our exercise routine. They say that gyms are full of young people when they should be full of the old. They recommend walking or cycling, doing squats and dead lifts, and standing on one foot for several minutes every day or at least 5 times per week. Also, we should try to lift weights. Whether that is at a gym or at home doesn't matter. Youtube is full of video tutorials with great exercises to do with simple dumbbells at home. I've begged my mum to eat more protein yogurts and use her exercise bike but there is just no talking to her. She is getting so unsteady and yet refuses to use a stick or a zimmer. I have the dread that the next fall is only a matter of time. 

So Quillers, I guess the takeaway is that if you don't play a sport or exercise regularly, maybe now is the time to think about starting. Getting old is no joke! To think that years ago the old were given "bed rest" and became bedridden. Years and years spent in bed with rapidly decreasing health and bed sores. Thankfully those days are gone but it is up to us to look after our muscles if we want any quality of life in our final years.

Peter Anderson is a Unionist with a keen interest in sports

Triple Whammy

Lesley Stock ✒ The Fallout.

Dad
After dad had taken himself off on the Wednesday night and scared me half to death, I left their house wondering how I was ever going to get through to mum. Whatever I said, wasn’t making any kind of an impact on her!

Plan B – talk to her friends. So, the next day, I rang my aunts and explained the situation. Both had the same opinion as myself, that mum couldn’t carry on the way she was, not only for dad's health, but for her own. Another friend who goes to their church was summoned and asked would he have a word as well. It was literally desperation point! Mum was refusing to speak to me or even dad and I knew that this was going to end up a complete nightmare if not sorted. I texted, no answer. I rang, got one word answers, so I left it a day or so, hoping she would calm down.

I then had a dread, so real that I had a pain my chest, that dad's condition would get worse by being sent to ‘Coventry’ so to speak. I plucked up the grit and put my big girl pants on (you know the huge ones that one needs to head round to the house incase you may get a frosty welcome). The atmosphere was palpable: it was immediately obvious that things since Wednesday, hadn’t improved. So, I threw my smile on and chatted away to dad like nothing was wrong. God love him, his face lit up and he engaged in the usual conversations I get every time I head round. ‘Where’s the kids today’, ‘Have you been up to the horse (I have found he now can’t remember Freya’s name, so she’s now ‘the horse’),’Have you been to work?’ (No dad I retired 3 years ago).

Mum by this stage had got up and walked into the kitchen, where I followed her after a couple of minutes. ‘Has the girl from Social Services rang you yet about getting someone in to sit with dad if you’re out’ I inquired. ‘Nope.’ Again, we’re playing that game mum? I asked her why she was acting the way she was, and yet again the venom with which the reply came was obvious. ‘You were out of line, and I want an Apology.’ Apology? She wanted an apology?? With that, I said cheerio to dad and left their house, mind racing as to how we get round this situation.

When I came home and thought about the (albeit slight) conversation, I found myself doubting what mum had said. Had the social worker rung, and mum had brushed her off? Lately, I’d been doubting a lot of what mum had been saying, and I hated the feeling that it gave me. I rang the team at the Ards Hospital and explained the situation. Folks, I can tell you, never worry about asking for help to deal with any situation regarding dementia. I spoke to Lisa and she put me at such ease, explaining that that’s what they are there for and we had a good chat, with the result that she would come out the following week to try to assess how she could help. I have never been the type of person to ask for help, I’m a bit of a control freak if I’m honest, but in this case, I know little about the disease, and quite frankly, haven’t a clue as to how to deal with some of the issues which are now presented to me. Advice would be something I’ve definitely come to rely on!

I sent mum a text - ‘I will not apologise for wanting the best for dad AND you, you can’t cope, so tell me, what will ease it.’ I heard my phone ping a few minutes later and rushed to open the text, hoping that she was going to give me something I could work with.

‘Your decision’

So again, she’d basically blanked me, so I took another approach. I sent one back saying to have dad ready the following afternoon and I’d bring him out. There was no way, I was letting mum make me feel uncomfortable going to her house, I needed to ensure dad was ok and in good form. My son was heading into Newtownards anyway the following afternoon, so he picked up dad and brought him to our house. After a quick coffee, I asked if he would come with me to feed the horse and sheep. He could hardly get his boots on quickly enough! He has always loved animals and he thankfully has kept this love for furry creatures and nature. So he had a brilliant couple of hours feeding and brushing Freya and the two sheep she has for companionship.

Although I live in a pretty rural area, I do have the most fantastic neighbours, and I had explained the predicament previously to next door. Glenn had suggested I bring dad in for some chatter and coffee, so when we got back (clobbered in muck from the field) we headed in next door. As I watched dad and Glenn chatting and getting to know each other, I think I was glowing inside to see dad so happy, animated and able to hold a conversation about the motorbikes he’d been so interested in as a young man. He ate a great dinner and his diabetes blood results when checked were spot on. I had had a brief conversation as to what mum was doing while he was out. Of course he couldn’t remember. However, he made it clear she was still in foul form with him at least!

I returned dad much later than I’d expected as we’d had such a great day and went into the house with him, only to be greeted by the sulking 80 year old. This couldn’t go on, something needed to change. How though? I’d tried everything from shouting my frustration, to cajoling to ignoring. When a loved one is diagnosed with dementia (Vascular Dementia in dad’s case) it would seem, certainly in our case with mum also being elderly, that sometimes, the carer suffers even more than the patient. It’s a tough road. For me, patience has been the one thing that has prevented from combusting.

Next week – The way forward
 
 Lesley Stock is a former PSNI and RUC Officer
currently involved in community work. 

Dementia Diaries @ Ⅵ

Malachi O'Doherty ✒ in the media about weight loss tend to focus on body image rather than health and well being. 

You may be accused of exercising a prejudice, body shaming others, if you imply that there is something wrong with being fat. People have a right to be fat if they want to be.

I have twice now in the last ten years, shed a bit of surplus weight and while it is gratifying to see the reduction in my waistline the primary concern for me was not to change shape but to feel fitter. The first time was when I was turning 60.

I was 12 stone 5, which is heavy if you are 5 foot 3. I was aware that I was not as fit as I had been. One day out walking with my twin brother, heading for the top of Knocklayde, I had to turn back. He ran on up to the top. And one thing about having a twin who is so like you that many people confuse you, is that you assume that you can do anything he can.

I was also given a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, though it wasn’t so serious that I had to be medicated.

Over a period of four or five months, with a slow, gradual reduction, I took off two stone.

I did this by eating less and walking more. At the end of the period I bought a bicycle and wrote a book, On My Own Two Wheels; Back in the Saddle at Sixty (Blackstaff).

Since then, repeat monitoring of my alleged diabetes shows that my readings are normal. I stay on the books as a diabetic, because it is regarded as a permanent condition, but if I was being tested for it for the first time today I would be told I don’t have it.

It gets me pulled in for check ups, which is handy, though perhaps a bit of a bummer in relation to travel insurance.

Coming up to 70 I had put back on one of those discarded stone. I was up to about 11 stone 4.

My doctor told me my blood pressure was too high, often about 150/90 and wanted to put me on a tablet.

So I repeated the strategy of the last time, eating smaller portions, growing to feel assured by peckishness rather than alarmed by it and I have shed, so far since Christmas about 11 pounds. Weight varies even through the day and I’m not sure my scales are very accurate. I was trying for an average weight loss of two pounds a week, like the last time, but it is moving much slower than that.

More like two pounds a fortnight. Still, that takes off a stone in three and a half months.

And learning to eat modestly over a protracted period rather than crash dieting helps me maintain new habits of not stuffing myself. I want to avoid bounce-back.

As before, the loss of body fat has been a lovely comfort. It’s my hands which remind me constantly that I am thinner.

Fat is not all gathered at the waist so one of the early differences was the feeling in my fingers and wrist. My watch hung more loosely. Rings slid on and off.

I had to go down a waist size on my trousers from 36 to 34 but there were old pairs in the drawer so I didn’t have to buy new ones.

My blood pressure is lower though the biggest difference is at the diastolic end. I’ve just measured it at 146/66. Night time readings, slumped in front of the tele it’s often about 125/66.

The difference this makes to my life is in my sense of general well being.

My digestion works better.

When I overeat the gut is like an overpacked suitcase.

If I finish a meal with a sense that there is room for a little more the temptation to continue only lasts a few minutes and goes away if I drink a glass of water.

The fat is internal too, clings to body organs and inhibits their functioning.

If you are light inside yourself evacuation isn’t driven by the pressure of what’s behind it. There is less body gas and less urgency. Your arse will reward in all manner of ways for giving it a rest.

If you are fat by choice and want to stay that way, then you are really making quite a foolish decision, like the smoker who claims to want to smoke. No one wants to be unwell.

More likely you are rationalising a condition you don’t feel you can do much about.

Framing the argument in terms of appearance and arguing that big is beautiful - and I don’t argue with that - skips the real concern which is health and well being.

And the health argument tends to focus on hypertension and diabetes. That’s fair, but the immediate rewards are in the body’s own comfort.

And I found that that starts from the first couple of days. Some of the excess weight is the contents of the gut. Letting it unpack and repacking it more lightly is like travelling with hand luggage. It feels so much better.

I spoke to a friend about this and said, Learn to think of a little peckishness as confirmation that your body is working well. She said, I don’t feel peckishness, I feel starvation.

I don’t have an answer to that because I don’t experience that need to eat as strongly as that.

But where I used to break off from work mid morning and have a couple of chocolate biscuits, now when hunger comes between meals I will eat a grape or a cherry tomato and have a glass of water.
 
I will still have a chocolate if someone is passing them round, but I will only have one.

The pleasure I take from a dessert after a meal is always stronger in the first bite than in later bites, so I just take that and no more.

I still drink wine with meals and some nights have a small whiskey before bed. I am not an ascetic.

I’m just a little guy who is getting smaller.

⏭ Malachi O'Doherty is a writer and Broadcaster. 

Battle Of The Bulge

Featured in Organized Rage, the view of Tommy McKearney on the threat to the health service in the UK and its knock on effect in Ireland. Tommy McKearney is active with the Peadar O’Donnell Socialist Republican Forum.

Tory Attack On UK Doctors Is Only The Beginning

Pauline Mellon with a piece which initially featured on her blog Diary of Derry Mother which Wednesday, 12 February 2014.

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Mark goes green!
Environment Minister Mark H Durkan has said he is considering a ban on election posters. Mr Durkan said it was due to their impact on the environment. Now he does say his review would not take place before the Giro bike race in mid-May, but could occur before the forthcoming Westminster and Northern Ireland Assembly elections.For more info click here 

This is interesting on a number of fronts, firstly it limits the ability of independent candidates to promote themselves as an alternative to the parties. After all whilst an independent can deliver leaflets or issue press statements they're not going to be in the position to get a party political broadcast. Secondly there seems to a certain amount of irony in an SDLP Minister wanting to ban election posters on environmental grounds when his party are spearheading plans to build an incinerator in Derry.

A few facts about party political broadcasts:

Each of the main parties is allowed to have party political broadcasts. 

  •  Each of the main parties is allowed to have party political broadcasts. 
  • There are rules about their length and when they can be shown. 
  • Party political broadcasts show the voters what each party will do if elected – they are like adverts. 
  • Smaller parties can also show party political broadcasts as long as they are standing for one sixth of all the seats available.

With the SDLP on the wane over the past number of years and with the number of independent candidates standing for election could there be another agenda?

Ian Paisley Jnr.
And on the subject of pollution, there's a current debate happening in light of legislation being enacted in England that will make it illegal for someone to smoke in a car with children present. Now I would agree that people should not smoke in cars when children are present, it should be common sense if nothing else, but I would be concerned at the advancing nanny state.

I am not a smoker or pro smoking lobby, however I would be one to advocate a common sense approach and educate people. Yet common sense is something that seems to be lacking when it comes to the thinking of some politicians. The dangers of smoking and passive smoking are well documented yet the DUP voted against this legislation. Not only did they vote against it, Ian Paisley Jnr accused 'Nationalist' politicians of attacking jobs at the Gallagher tobacco firm in his constituency.

Mr Paisley actually went as far to say 'It amazes me that the only people who come on and attack these jobs are from the nationalist lobby'. I don't know how Mr. Paisley can equate trying to limit the effect of passive smoking on children with a perceived attack by nationalists on jobs. But I suppose when MLA's pension funds have been invested in a number of companies who have been accused of human rights abuses and the nuclear weapons industry nothing would surprise me.

This is what the NHS has to say on children and passive smoking.

Breathing in secondhand smoke is particularly harmful for children. Children who breathe in secondhand smoke have an increased risk of:

  • cot death (sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS)– this is twice as likely in babies whose mothers smoke
  • developing asthma– smoking can also trigger asthma attacks in children who already have the condition
  • serious respiratory (breathing) conditions such as bronchitis and pneumonia– younger children are also much more likely to be admitted to hospital for a serious respiratory infection
  • meningitis
  • coughs and colds
  • middle ear disease, such asotitis media (a middle ear infection), which can cause hearing loss

Children who grow up with a parent or family member who smokes are three times as likely to start smoking themselves.

If you’re a parent who smokes, it will be hard to explain to your children why they shouldn’t start smoking. Try to lead by example and quit. As well as improving your health and theirs, your children may be less likely to start smoking later in life.

For the Good of your Health ... Allegedly

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