A DAY AT CARRINGTON RETIREMENT PLACE

Dressed suitably for a Continental breakfast we enter the dining area any time from seven to nine except for those who wish to have breakfast in their suites, then arrangements can be made to have a tray delivered to them.  At the breakfast bar we choose from five pitchers of juices or pass on to find pineapple, melons, grapefruit and orange sections, red grapes, raisins, and bananas. Prune fiber and yogurt are there to tune up the tummy. Hot cereal is ready and half a dozen varieties of cold cereals along with drinks and coffee and tea.  Toasters sit ready to deliver all shades of toast that pleases the palate. Jams, jellies, honey and peanut butter are individually packaged for convenience and boiled eggs invite all to try a cool one from a bowl of ice cubes.  Fresh muffins have been baked and later can also be found during mid morning or afternoon snacks so we can we invite our visitors to join us.

For appointments or shopping trips we are asked to pen a sign-out sheet when leaving the building. Two sittings are available for the noon meal, one at 11:30 am and the next one at 12:45.  Supper sittings begin at 4:30 and 5:45 pm respectively. Morning hours can find some of us attending exercises on the third floor.  Even though one of our residents, Faith, is sightless in one eye we find this 90-year-old resident working with her helpers making quilts for the homeless. When one is complete, more fabric seems to be donated for the next one.  Another game room may find Lloyda with other volunteers making sandwiches for a downtown mission that she started 30 years ago.  Afternoon hours provide music to celebrate birthdays and we can tap our toes that can sometimes swing into an old-time dance.  Those of us who use walkers can still tap our feet to these tunes or else walk the halls for exercise when the encircling sidewalk is icy. Exercise areas are held mainly on the third level and residents can sign up for the kind that suits their needs. If snowdrops turn into raindrops we can walk the interior carpeted halls for exercise.  Once a month I like to remind people how short Canada is of medical doctors in many of our provinces. After losing my husband to Parkinson’s disease I offered to help university students pay the interest on their student loans for those wishing to become medical doctors.  Our parents had lost their four year old son, Harold, to scarlet fever during the 30s depression and 65 miles to the nearest doctor was too late.  We honor him in this way. My niece said her twins expressed interest in being doctors and it would be a real encouragement if she could tell them who is helping in this way.  After a year they changed majors and no doctor degrees were completed and funds not returned.  Canada still has to import doctors.

MAINTAIN HEALTH THROUGH FOODS

Many health problems could be entirely prevented by balancing the body’s pH level according to Simone Gabbay, RNCP, a nutritionist based in Toronto.  Blood should be at or near a pH of 7.4.  The body mobilizes a special buffering system and draws on its alkaline reserve, consisting of mineral stores, to neutralize acidity.  The pH (potential hydrogen) scale is applied to measure acidity or alkalinity of body fluids.  Its values range from 0 to 14, acid to alkaline, with 7 being neutral.  For optimum health and metabolic function, most body fluids must be slightly alkaline.  Minerals in the alkaline reserve must be replenished regularly. 

An alkaline-forming diet is therefore important.  All foods, after being metabolized, leave either acid or alkaline-forming elements in the body.  They include calcium, sodium, magnesium, iron, potassium, and manganese.  Most vegetables and fruits are in this category.  Acidifying foods supply predominantly acid-forming minerals like copper, iodine, phosphorus, sulfur, and silicon.  Meats, grains, most fats and dairy products belong in this group.

There are several charts listing foods in the acid and alkaline categories (see acid/alkaline chart in Simone Gabbay’s book, “Nourishing the Body Temple, P. 21).  Freshly picked, sun-ripened vegetables and fruits grown in organic soil are higher in alkaline-forming minerals than those grown in chemically imbalanced soil and harvested prematurely.  An alkaline forming diet may be achieved by building meals around fresh vegetables and fruits, with smaller proportions of cereals, dairy and meat that are typically featured in the North American diet.  Avoid fried foods, processed foods, and foods high in refined starches and sugars which are highly acid-forming and rob the body of nutrients when they are metabolized.  Her Web site is www.holistic-nutrition.com.

WEIGHT GAIN AND THE BRAIN

  Adults who were overweight during middle age are more likely to develop dementia later in life than adults who maintained a normal weight, according to a study published in the May 3, 2011, issue of Neurology.  The analysis involved 8,534 Swedish adults who participated in a long-term study of twins.

 

SPARE TIRES AND THE HEART

  In a review published in the May 10, 2011 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers pooled data from studies involving 1,923 people with heart disease.  Those with a high waist-to-hip ratio and large waist circumference had nearly double the mortality vs. people with no spare tires – regardless of their body mass index or BMI.

READ THE FINE PRINT

  In the June 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that only 41 percent of typical adults looked at the active ingredient when buying over-the-counter medications, only 31 percent correctly identified the active ingredient in Tylenol as acetaminophen.  Since an overdose of acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States.  This is a serious cause of concern.

DIABETES DETAILS

  Adults with type 2 diabetes who participated in a structured exercise program for more than 2.5 hours a week – and did it for at least three months – improved their blood glucose levels more than those who exercised less or were not in a supervised program.  The finding is from a review of 47 clinical trials in the May 4^th.2011, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

THE MAN WITH THE TOOLS

THE TOOL MAN

Time to salute the man with the tools, always so welcome, always so cool,

Tools gently swing from his belt carry-on, soon problems are fixed and he will be gone.

We stop to consider our own kitchen tools, recipes, guidelines, as we keep working rules.

Our thoughts move along to our own inner life, guidelines we need to avoid stress and strife.

New visions take shape, forgiveness and love, told by the saints now in heaven above.

Belief with the heart is the first step to take, the tool of decision – a great working mate.

Headlights will guide through the darkness of night, as we learn every moment more of love’s guiding light.

Practicing, growing as pathways showed change that needed a search of our whole vision range.

By avoiding all judgments, resentments and fears, taking care need not ruin our tools through the years.

The tool of the will may need sharpening again, making effective the need of a change.

Each experience brings lessons, like the man with the tools, who used them as well while learning life’s rules.

Applying these lessons is the secret life, reducing contentions that lead to all strife.

           S.B. Davis , March 21, 2012

                   

BODY MASS INDEX

  Obesity is defined as an excess of body fat which increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.  Using a person’s height and weight is considered the standard for gauging it.  But this index doesn’t account for differences in body-fat composition, gender, race, fitness, or age.  Recent research underscores its limitations.  In a 2010 meta-analysis involving nearly, 32,000 people, published in the International Journal of Obesity, the BMI for obesity (30 and above) failed to identify half of the people with excess body fat.  The index doesn’t also reflect where you carry fat, which is an important factor because people with a lot of fat around the waist are at higher risk for obesity-related diseases.  Experts now suggest that combining your BMI with your waist circumference is a better indicator of fitness.  A waist measurement greater than 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women indicates an increased risk for obesity related conditions.  (To determine your BMI multiply your weight in pounds by 703, then divide by height, in inches squared.    Or use the online calculator at: www.ConsumerReportsHealth.org/bmi.)     

STRETCHING BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISE

 Countering a tradition among exercisers, a study presented at a meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 2011 found that stretching before running didn’t prevent injuries.  Researchers assigned 2,729 runners to either a group that didn’t stretch or a group that stretched their calves and thigh muscles.  Both groups had the same injury rate, but the risk of getting hurt was higher for runners who were heavier or older, ran more miles, had an injury in the past four months, or switched from their normal pre-run routine – especially those who usually stretched and were asked not to.  Two systematic reviews also concluded that stretching before or after exercising didn’t reduce muscle soreness or injury.  Instead, do a 5 minute warm-up at a fairly easy intensity to increase range of motion and make exercise easier.

ABOUT ANNUAL DENTAL X-RAYS - If your teeth are X-rayed as soon as you settle into the dental chair, that is not in step with current American Dental Association guidelines.  To minimize radiation exposure, the ADA advises dentists to examine patients first and then order X-rays and where they are needed.  Bitewing X-rays, directed at specific teeth, for example, are only necessary every 2 to 3 years provided you don’t have gum disease.

Or request a lead apron and thyroid collar if the dentist uses E or F speed.

HEALTH "TRUTHS" OVERTURNED

  Medical advice is often subject to change.  For instance, a new trial that’s more thorough than previous studies might cast doubt on a current practice.  Recent studies found that:

·        Raising HDL (good) cholesterol with drugs does nothing to protect people against heart attacks, strokes and early death.

·        Routine prostate-cancer screening is less likely to save lives and more likely to lead to substantial harm from subsequent treatment.

·        People who receive a brain stent to prevent a second stroke are actually more likely to have another stroke or die sooner compared with those who take medication AND also make fairly rigorous lifestyle changes.

·        A medical “reversal” occurs when an existing practice is found to be wrong.  “It happens when devices, pills, and procedures come to market before they have been shown to make people live longer or better in well-designed studies,” says Vinay Prasad, M.D., a physician in Chicago.  He is the lead author of a 2011 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which found that 13 percent of the research articles published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2009 reported reversals in research findings involving drugs, screening tests, and invasive procedures.

·        Another review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at studies that found a medical practice was effective.  One-third of them were followed by trials that either contradicted the initial findings or found fewer benefits.  It is not uncommon for early research to provide an overoptimistic view of new treatments,” says David Tovey, M.D., editor-in-chief of the Cochrane Library, and international research network that evaluates treatment effectiveness.  In other cases, popular health beliefs ultimately prove to be baseless.  Below are familiar practices and assumptions that have recently been revised because of additional research.  Feed a cold, starve a fever:  “There is no scientific basis” says Yul D, Ejnes, M.D. Rhode of Island chairman of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians.  “With a fever, one should be well-hydrated because there’s often excessive sweating or gastrointestinal illness that can result in fluid loss.  Starving would also cause stress when bodies are already under stress. }MORE TOMORROW ON THIS SUBJECT{.   

TAKING CARE OF YOUR KIDNEYS

Research has found that fewer than half of the people with kidney disease are aware of it.  The kidneys are very busy organs and half of the 23 million in America do not know it because they are not aware.  It’s like they need a better connection with some type of cell phone to drop at last a hint to their doctors.  A kidney specialist, or nephologist may be needed to confirm your problem if it does exist.  Meanwhile, the kidneys drop a hint if we will take a look at your blood pressure readings.  People with failing kidneys may be losing their filtering capacity from diabetes and high blood pressure might be the culprit, according to a study published in January 2010 in the New England Journal of Medicine.  Starting dialysis early for patients with stage 4 chronic kidney disease (a practice that’s become widespread) didn’t improve survival or clinical outcomes and may even increase the risk of dying among healthier patients.  Another clinical trial found that aggressive use of the drug darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) to combat anemia in kidney patients with type 2 diabetes increased the risk of strokes. 

If you have kidney disease experts advise keeping blood pressure below 130/80, lower than the hypertension cutoff of 140/90.  Restrict salt to protect the kidneys and slow the progression of early kidney damage by controlling blood sugar also.  The risk of progressing to a more serious situation could be cut in half, according to the American Diabetes Association.  It recommends a target of seven percent or below, as measured by the hemoglobin Alc test, Potassium rich foods include bananas, raisins and tomatoes.  A dietician can help maintain a healthful and balanced diet with less potassium.  Fifteen percent of Americans report taking supplements that could be harmful to those with chronic kidney disease, according to a national survey of the nutritional habits of 21,169 adults.  Among commonly used items that could pose such problems were alfalfa, ginger and ginsen.

Exercise more and eat less.  A fitness routine that gets your heart pumping can lower your blood pressure, control diabetes and help contain a healthful weight.  In one study, people with kidney disease who were overweight shifted to end-stage kidney failure two to five times faster than those of normal weight.  The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) proved the benefits of eating at least four servings of fruit and four servings of vegetables and six servings of whole grains every day.  Lean meat like poultry and fish are best but not more than 2,000 calories per day.  Quit smoking and avoid medications like NSAIDs (have your doctor check that out every ten days or use Tylenol for the end-stage of renal failure.      

   

A NEW ERA WITH CARING HEARTS

To lands of beauty, hope and love, many folks came here,

  With caring hearts to build a life their dreams have held so dear.

And from the bounties of this land, many hearts would share,

  To blend their cultures with caring hearts, as more become aware.

With peaceful hearts, ideals and growth, a special beauty show,

  Transcending selfishness and greed, blending so all can know.

Each color, race or nation has, a value rich and rare,

  To blend a great mosaic as the best of each is shared.

And thus to build a land of peace to spread throughout the Earth,

  Not riches, wealth or power but hearts that show true worth.

The noble red, the white, the tan, all shades of black and brown,

  By living love with caring hearts, each wears a victor’s crown.

S.B. Davis

   

NUTRIENTS FOR THE MIND

   The Mediterranean diet appears to offer the most benefits for both emotional well-being and cognitive function.  It recommends fish, nuts, plenty of green vegetables and whole grains, while limiting dairy, refined carbohydrates and red meat.  Large studies have linked the Mediterranean diet to lower rates of Alzheimer’s disease and depression in adults.  The closer you follow it, the better are the chances of staying mentally alert and emotionally stable.  In one study, those with poorest adherence to the diet had a 40 percent greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.  It helps keep arteries and heart healthier which in turn helps the brain keep supplied with blood and oxygen.  One follow-up study concluded that the diet’s benefits to the brain were independent of its vascular effects.  These might derive from a combination of these nutrients that are abundant in this diet and is reflected in a special report from Consumer Reports on Health, October 2011.

   Omega-3 fatty acids are found in foods that include salmon, walnuts and flaxseed oil.  Omega-3s are one of the brain’s basic building blocks.  Preliminary studies in animals suggest that they aid in the function of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, which help govern moods.  Researchers think omega-3s might have played a role in the study of another 2010 study of a group of women, ages 19 to 30 and followed the Mediterranean diet for 10 days and reported significantly higher levels of alertness, contentment, and vigor compared with a control group. Vitamins B6, B12, and folate might help to stave off depression, possibly by having an impact on serotonin levels.  Deficiencies in vitamin B12, which is found in eggs, fish, seafood, meats, and poultry, and can lead to memory loss.    Vegetarians and older adults who are strict vegetarians are usually advised to take a modest B12 supplement. The levels of folate, found in beans, berries, and greens like spinach or Swiss chard, nuts, sweet potatoes and wheat germ are important.  Fortified breakfast cereals may supply many of these.

   Magnesium helps regulate the brain’s serotonin levels and is found in beans, flaxseed, leafy greens like spinach or Swiss chard and wheat germ.  Magnesium levels are linked to premenstrual syndrome and have also been implicated in treatment-resistant depression.  It is best to follow the Mediterranean diet as a whole.  Sage and turmeric added flavour in this 2010 study of healthy adults.  The jury is still out on chocolate.  Try not to exceed one ounce a day.

A GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT

   Ten miles south of Orion, Alberta, a small prairie school called Pakowki gathered once a year for a Christmas celebration before December 25^th.  The teacher taught all grades through the 8^th and then a correspondence course led us through the 9^th from Alberta’s capital city, Edmonton.  Teachers became directors for the Christmas concert that included singing carols, marches and plays, to entertain our parents.  Everyone in the district came for this celebration and no one bothered to lock their homes.  A fir tree was decorated and bags of nuts, candy and small gifts appeared.  Santa burst through the door ringing bells and called the names on each child’s gift bag showing that “once a year orange” at the top.  Blizzards could whip in any winter day and December 26, 1927 gave us a long remembered one.

The day after Christmas on the 26^th the real excitement was about to begin.  With no TV or radio, we often printed our names on the frosty window panes.  On that day Mother had tucked us into our bunk beds early after we had said our “lay-me-down prayers” and we went to bed and forgot the snow that had brought the bitter cold of the past few weeks.  One of our parents sometimes stayed awake on such nights to keep feeding the kitchen fire to keep the house warm.  Mother had buttoned an extra heavy warm coat around me in case I heard noises and tried to get up.   The baby of the family usually slept with the parents in their double bed until another bunk would be ready.  Even the house seemed to rattle and shiver from the outside blizzard and we children soon fell asleep. A horse driven sleigh from the south drove into our yard and two people alighted.  Father had harnessed the team once more and driven a half mile south to the Roberts home and brought Mrs. Roberts back with him.  Every mother responded to another mother who might be in this type of stress.  The next thing I heard was a general commotion and every sleeping eye had opened and all were awake.  I clearly recall thrashing around trying to get out of that buttoned-up coat until Mrs. Roberts responded at the right time and released me to join all the others in the kitchen.  I liked Mrs. Roberts who often came over to use Mother’s sewing machine.  She had four small daughters to sew for and her sewing machine often broke down.  When I arrived in the kitchen Mother was sitting in the rocking chair holding a baby.  Paul, age 11 (the scientific one) was asking questions.  “The roads are blocked and our narrow stove pipe is too small for a stork to drop a baby through, where did this new baby come from?”   “We’re going to call her Esther, after the Biblical Queen and she will be staying with us.” my father (the philosopher) answered.”    

             

SPRINGING INTO SPRING

   I know spring will happen because it has done so each year in my living memory for nearly ninety years.  This chapter starts when I am nearly four years old and have gathered a bouquet of golden wildflowers that we called buffalo beans.  I am rushing back inside to present them to my mother. She smiles her thanks as her small feet pause for a few seconds only since she is so busy pumping the treadle of her Singer Sewing machine.  Every moment was needed for this young mother since she was holding a secret within her heart.   I did not know it at the time but child number six was on the way and would be arriving close to Christmas Day.  She tells me to put the flowers in a jar of water. To bleach out the printing on the flour-sacks she first boiled them for an hour.  This was the fabric she used to sew the underwear for their five children.  Our father is shouldering his spade to check out the dikes that need to be secured with wooden gates to control the spring floods that rush down from the Cyprus Hills.  The Ketchum Creek branches off from the Manyberries Creek and will be ready in case spring arrives early and could flood our yard.

  After the waters had risen to the top of each dike our father would open the wooden gates to let the water flow into the next field until the entire half section was well soaked with the snow-melt from the Cyprus Hills. Our gently sloping half section of land becomes well irrigated as the rushing waters flow on into Pakowki Lake.  The much deeper and wider Manyberries Creek embraces the land north of ours and also flows into Pakowki Lake.  In this manner the grain fields are well soaked and help sustain the crops through the hot windy summers of southern Alberta.  Moody thunderstorms might switch to hailstorms and flatten all those hard-won grain crops and gardens.    

   Three sons and one daughter walked a mile to attend our small country school, I had to wait until age six to register for Grade one.  Officials had declared “Until children are six years old their small brains are not developed enough to begin studying reading, writing and arithmetic.”  During the coming winter months I coaxed my father to teach me the alphabet and to read and write while mother’s multiplicity of duties kept her busy caring for the garden, and with her 22 rifle shooting the wild prairie chickens that had fed on our summer’s growing crops of grain to fatten themselves up for their long flight south. The large flour sacks were cut into squares that would soon be required.    

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HEALTH TIPS

HEALTH TIPS NUMBER 1

   Forty five studies involving over 218,000 adults who believe they may have the fat gene were tested.  Those who did moderate or vigorous exercise more than an hour a week were 27 percent less likely to become obese than their sedentary peers.  This information was published in the online journal November 1, 2011 PLoS Medicine.  An individual’s belief system may add to this and have an influence on the results, as in Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

HEALTH TIPS – NUMBER 2 - STROKES AND MEMORY DECLINE

  Your risk for a stroke might also be a good indicator of your risk for memory loss and other cognitive problems according to a recent study that tracked 23,752 adults over four years.  Fifteen per cent of the people who scored at the top of a scale used to measure stroke risk also had cognitive problems, compared with just three percent of those who had the lowest stroke-risk scores.  Advanced age, high blood pressure and a thickening of the heart muscle were strongly linked to cognitive decline.  The findings appeared in the November 8, 2011, issue of Neurology.

HEALTH TIPS – NUMBER 3 - SUPPLEMENTS AND KIDNEY DISEASE

  Fifteen percent of Americans report taking supplements that could be harmful for those with chronic kidney disease, according to a national survey of the nutritional habits of 21,169 adults.  Among the commonly used ingredients that could pose such problems were alfalfa, ginger and ginseng.

HEALTH TIP – NUMBER 4 - BREAST CANCER AND BOOZE

  Women who drank three to six glasses of wine a week had a 15 percent higher risk of breast cancer more than women who did not drink alcohol, according to a study published in the November 2, 2011, issue of the American Medical Association.  Having two or more drinks a day was associated with a 51 percent higher risk.  Alcohol may increase the circulation of estrogen levels that links to a higher risk of breast cancer.

           

THE RETIRED HOCKEY PLAYER

When I was young, I was just keeping score,

 Then played some great games, but now, they want me no more.

My head - hit by a puck – healing brains take so long,

 Now others play on while I’m at home, mainly playing ping pong,

Feeling lonely and old – will I get short of cash?

 There’s no more for me, am I leaving just a pile of trash.

 A swift river runs by and I know I must cross,

 Go forth if you’ve practiced God’s way through the cross,

I look for a bridge – watching swift waters flow,

Then a gold book appears, I leap forth and go,  

Mom and Dad wave a welcome, bright lights flash on brothers,

They’re on the far shore, with church friends and others.

The golden book opens and I see my name,

 A bridge swings high over the waters. It’s my last Earthly game,

God’s precepts for Earth, you accepted – made them yours,

 Family waits to welcome you through Heaven’s entrance door.