MARCH IS PEEKING AROUND THE CORNER

   It seems that spring is anxiously stirring around these late February 2012 days to check the trees for buds and sprouting seeds that might be cracking the surface of the soil after having waited patiently in their underground root quarters throughout the winter months.  Towering trees and dainty buttercups are rushing the season to spring to life. The weather man hints of a possible Pacific storm to descend in the Okanagan Valley.  A thin layer of snow covers the walks that encircle Carrington Retirement Center and promises a walk outside in the fresh morning air.  There are indoor exercise rooms in our building but the outdoor air is more invigorating as the clouds part and let the sun welcome the day with encouraging rays.

    Some of the residents here have renewed former friendships from days on the prairies.  We all seem to feel a sense of empty longing when first moving from our former homes to retire and have enjoyed some surprises when we meet old friends here.  After supper a new friend and I go for a walk.  She tells me about Regina, Saskatchewan where she lived for her first 87 years before coming here to be near her daughter. “I don’t know if I will ever see Regina again,” she opines, recalling former days when she and her daughter went swimming in the pool at the YWCA.  “She could wriggle and shuffle her way to the bottom of the pool but never showed me how it was done fearing I might drown when she was away.  She picks me up on Sunday for the 10 mile drive for a dinner with them in Armstrong.  I loved driving in the early l940’s during and after World War II when I worked in the military.”

   My new friend’s sight is impaired and wears a hearing aid which makes it easier for us to chat about the early days on the prairie. I tell her I was born in Orion, Alberta, near Medicine Hat.  We speak of the fun we had picking Chokecherry and Saskatoon berries – but seemed to have forgotten the days of longing for rains during the dry years with crop failures.  Nor is mention made of the mosquitoes - they must have shrunk or flown away since then.  There was no talk of the wildcats that sometimes lurked in the chokecherry trees near the almost dry Pakowki Lake.  Someone managed to catch one of them and caged it for awhile for local viewing.  Our older brothers protected us with riding horses when we picked berries.  A few miles from our place a busy mother was preparing dinner and to satisfy her impatient three – year old handed her a cracker. Thinking things were a bit quiet the mother went out to the porch and found her child happily chipping pieces off the cracker into the upraised and satisfied mouth of a rattle snake.

AFRICAN MANGO CAN LOWER LDL

   Yes, that is what we hear from Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, M.D., medical director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the Columbia University Medical Center and host of the Dr. Oz Show.  And while it’s lowering cholesterol it delivers a science-backed benefit of energy while optimizing health.  Stellar results are being reported from his clients.  On a recent episode he expanded on his knowledge about African mango, “Irvingia gabonensis.” Two studies cited on DoctorOz.com reveal that subjects who supplemented with African mango seed extract, lost up to 10 pounds in four weeks without making other lifestyle changes.  Women have reported losing even more, as much as 11 pounds in 7days.  The latest research reveals the fascinating ways in which African mango fights fat: In a study published in the journal Lipids in Health and Disease, researchers discovered that its extract reduces the action of a gene (PPAR- gamma) that’s recognized as a “master regulator” of fat cell growth.  In doing so, African mango enhances the activity of a hormone (leptin) that plays a crucial role in controlling appetite and optimizing metabolism.

    “We know that leptin controls food intake and energy expenditure by activating receptors in the brain’s hypothalamus,” explains study author Julius Oben, Ph.D.,an associate professor of nutritional biochemistry at the University in Cameroon.  But leptin levels increase as fat stores increase.  Too much leptin interferes with brain cells’ ability to receive the hormone’s appetite-suppressing signals.  That’s where African mango comes in:  It helps ease this hormone overload so the brain can receive these slimming signals.  “Plus the extract is high in antioxidants that sooth internal inflammation – a key benefit,” says Oben, “since inflammation can interfere with leptin’s ability to dial down hunger.”  Dr. Oz announced on air that he’s also a fan of “miracle” African mango for its cholesterol-lowering properties and actually acts like a super-potent fiber.  Because of that, it’s highly effective in sequestering cholesterol and taking it out of your body.”  That same research reveals African mango’s waist-whittling power shows that it triggers major cholesterol improvements by 46 percent and raised the good cholesterol (HDL) by 47 percent in four weeks.  Patients who dosed with 150 mg twice a day (before lunch and dinner) their bad LDL fell by 27 percent and their total cholesterol dropped by an average of 26 percent in 10 weeks.  For additional information: check at drugstore.com.  It sells for $21 for 60 capsules.  Oz advises taking a multivitamin and a B vitamin daily. 

WALKING ENLARGES YOUR MEMORY CAPACITY

   Sedentary adults aged 55 and older participated in a study at the University of Illinois.   They agreed to either walk briskly for 40 minutes three times a week, or spend an equivalent amount of time doing weight training exercises with a test to be taken one year later. 

   A year later, researchers conducted a follow-up brain scan to assess any changes.  According to the report of this research published in Science News, they found that the hippocampus, an important area of the brain’s ability regarding memory formation had grown 2% larger in the walkers, while that same area had shrunk by 1.5 percent among the weight training group. The researchers estimated that the beneficial effect was equivalent to taking off about two years from the person’s mental aging.

   THE POWER OF SMILING

   There is power in a smile and we’re not just pointing out how it may improve one’s appearance but its positive effects on our body’s health, as confirmed by several studies described in Forbes magazine.  When we smile, there is neural feedback to the brain.  One effect is that the brain then interprets emotions differently.  When pain is suppressed happiness is emphasized.  One study found that the brain responds to the smile as it would to the consumption of chocolate or to the receipt of a large sum of money.  Smiling is healthy and our blood pressure goes down, and as a result there are other positive health effects as well.  In one study, a comparison of the extent of smiling among graduates in a school yearbook predicted the extent of the student’s level of happiness 30 years later.  A study among baseball players in their baseball card photographs predicted their longevity.  Those players with the biggest smiles lived, on average, seven years longer than those with the least smiles.  These studies were reviewed by Ron Gutman who discovered it during a presentation he was giving.  When he smiled, the fatigue and pain would disappear and a new source of stamina and enthusiasm took over.

THE WARNING SIGNS OF METABOLIC SYNDROME

   We’ve all known that it is good to have a general health check up and this 57 year old man you’ll hear about now did just that.  When his doctor informed him he had developed metabolic syndrome he was surprised.  A cluster of risk factors doubled his chances of having a heart attack over the next decade and at least tripled his odds of ending up with Type II Diabetes, depending on its severity.  Metabolic syndrome can increase diabetes risk 15 to 20 fold, according to Dr. Jean-PierreDepres Scientific Director of the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk at Laval University in Quebec City.  Metabolic syndrome stretches back to the late 1960s when Dr. Gerald Reaven of Stanford University discovered that when people with higher-than-normal, but not yet diabetic blood sugar, their bodies were resistant to its effects.

  According to the definition developed by the American Heart Association, someone who meets any three of the six following criteria has metabolic syndrome. .

l. Large waist circumference (40 inches/88 cm or greater for men; 35 inches/88 or greater for women).  A simple tape measure could help predict heart disease and diabetes risk. A measurement around the belly (roughly at belly button level) is a good indicator of the amount of fat that’s deep in the abdomen, surrounding the vital organs.

2. Elevated fasting blood sugar is linked with blood vessel linings (which in turn can lead to atherosclerosis and heart attack as well as kidney disease.

3. Elevated systolic blood pressure.  If the top number is above 130 and you have to take medications to keep it below 130, this signals that blood vessels and arteries are starting to stiffen. 

4. Elevated diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) is greater than 85 and you need to take medications to keep it below that level is another indicator of metabolic syndrome.

5. Elevated triglycerides.  If they are too abundant, this cream-like fat can lead to problems and build up on blood vessel walls and lead to leg pain.

6. Low HDL (good cholesterol) acts as a natural drain cleaner in arteries and blood vessels clearing away potentially damaging bad cholesterol (LDL).  Physical exercise throughout the day along with moderation in diet is the answer.  Work your muscles by increasing physical activity, walking and resistance exercise, weight lifting and engage in physical exercise during the day improves suppleness and mops up sugar in the blood and melts up abdominal fat.  Some 80 year olds have adapted a weight lifting program.

   

SPECIAL HOLIDAYS

   VALENTINE’S DAY was always special for me when I was a child and that was more than 70 years ago.  I began my writing career by composing little Valentine poems.  Now, living at Carrington Retirement Home in Vernon, we have an opportunity to see the Valentine cards made by the Grade 2 children who attend a nearby school.  The student’s artwork page has carefully printed outlines to fill in with coloured chalk and it is a joy to see them working so diligently.  The teachers from the school supervise them here on the 14^th day of February.  The children stop near someone they would like to give their card to after it has been completed.  Our two students immediately sat on the floor in front of us.  Seated next to me is Eileen, a friend I met here when attending a meeting with the quilting group.  The students do not seem to notice that we are quite elderly, perhaps reminding them of their grandparents, as they begin selecting colours.  They start printing “Happy Valentine Day,” and then begin filling in the outlined borders of the pictures and print other happy wishes along with symbols of hearts for Valentine day.  “You are very pretty,” Alanna said as she turned her attention to the Valentine card and pencil box as she rattled through all the colours to find that special one.  “I am McKenna.” our other new friend said to Eileen who is seated next to me.  She is my fellow resident and quilting friend.  Eileen works with Faith who heads up our quilting group here. When the quilts are complete they will be given to needy families.    

Alanna has flowing auburn hair and tells me her twin brother has brown hair but couldn’t come today because he had a cold and had to stay home.  McKenna has fair hair with a dainty braid at the front.  It is obvious they are good friends.  Most of the students are wearing winter tights and many of them pop up once in awhile to rush over to other classmates to borrow one of their pencils to make their card neat and balanced nicely.  Each one finishes up her works of art and presents her completed card to her new Carrington friend.  Cookies are being passed around and each child leaves the visitation area munching on one of them as they line up in the hallway to return to their school for the noon hour.  We residents realize it is time for our noon meal as well and I am sure we all feel richer for our interaction with our new student friends.     

ASTHMA AND EXERCISE

  A much loved aunt passed away with Asthma at the age of 52.  I had not yet been born when this aunt had crossed the Atlantic Ocean by ship 90 years ago to visit her brother, my father, and meet his wife, my mother.  We prized and admired the only picture taken of her during that 1921trip.  Seated on a horse, she seemed to enjoy the time she spent on our Alberta farm, 10 miles south of Orion, and a 65 mile trip to Medicine Hat.  This aunt and her husband had no children and at Christmas a parcel from them would arrive with gifts mostly of clothing that my mother’s sewing machine reworked each year as we three sisters stretched up to nearly 5 feet 8 inches in height and our eldest brothers reached, 6 feet 4 and 3 more brothers a few inches over six feet.  My mother’s fast little feet were kept very busy with her sewing machine as her fast little size 6 shoes kept the treadle humming.             

   

    I arrived on the scene when many countries were recovering from World War I, and no one is sure why it had to start.  A couple of cousins, one was the ruler in Germany and the other was the queen of England.  They had a quarrel about which country had the most powerful ships throughout the world.  Until we got our farm truck in the late l920s our grain was hauled with teams of horse and wagons to the Orion elevators.  Hot rocks were kept in our coal heated oven to keep the feet warm on the round trip of 20 miles.  We spent Christmases with neighbours, Les and Alice Bennett or the Frank and Ida Weeks family.  To protect us from the minus 40 degree weather, Mother kept our faces covered with scarves to keep from freezing our noses.  I recall trying to rip it off saying I could not breathe and she would briefly slip it aside.  Later I learned our aunt had died during an Asthma attack.

    Yesterday a friend spoke about her mother who had been a smoker, and had suffered from Asthma her whole life and had watched her mother suffer all through life with it.  The family doctor warned about the dangers of smoking and advised “start running.”  My friend took his advice and never started smoking tobacco and is now a beautiful healthy lady with a kind heart and no more asthma symptoms.  Preliminary studies have shown that the more fast food with soda drinks young people use, the more frequent and severe are the asthma attacks.  With eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and exercising, health can be restored.  The best advice seems to be, “Run to the store for fruits and vegetables and keep fit.  On February 8, the Morning Star editor announced its newest columnist, Jocelyne Sewell, who will write “A Gardener’s Diary” every other Wednesday.  We’ll be watching for it.           

     

BUILDING STRONGER BONES

   How to reduce risks and why older people need to take steps to prevent and treat bone loss needs to be considered.  For years it has been felt that Caucasian women were the group most at risk for brittle-bone disease.  It has now been determined that up to one quarter of hip fractures are men.  Their one-year survival rate is lower than that of women with the same injury.  According to Stavros Manolagas, M.D., Ph.D., professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical sciences in Little Rock, researchers have “put blinders on and focused almost exclusively on compensating for the loss of estrogen at menopause, but men also lose bone and, for most of their lives, at about the same rate as women.”  Recent research by Manolagas, director of the university’s Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone diseases, and others has led to a broader view about the factors responsible for bone loss and where and when to target prevention and treatment.

   Even bone mineral density testing, considered the standard measure for determining fracture risk, has proven to be a less central determinant of bone strength than researchers once thought.  “If you think of it from an engineering point of view, the strength of the structure depends on several components, like the size and shape of the bone, not just strong building material,” says Angela M. Cheung, M.D., Ph.D., founding director of the osteoporosis program at the University of Toronto.  Bone density remains the best measurement of determining risk, but newer assessment tools consider other factors that contribute to it.  Age, low body mass, and lifestyle factors should be considered.”

   Regular exercise and type of work are part of the implications of this living tissue that is constantly in a state of flux, with old bone being reabsorbed and new bone forming in its place.  Until around age 25 people build more bone than they lose.  Then the balance tips toward the loss, with women experiencing a more rapid decline during the first few years after menopause.  “The honeycomb-like inner layer of bone, which provides a lot of structural support, starts declining immediately after people reach their peak bone mass,” Manolagas says.  The harder outer layer becomes more porous and that can lead to fracture risk.  It appears that now the way of communicating while just sitting does not provide the needed type of exercise.  The “finger exercise” of texting while seated could be exchanged for a brisk outdoor walk while discussing business or social affairs.     

MEDICATIONS AND PRESCRIPTIONS

   

   According to Consumer Reports on Health, people who are older than 50 years can break or crack a bone due to a fall or accident and are unaware of it.  This age group should be evaluated for osteoporosis by a doctor in case the injury was precipitated by fragile bones.  “Silent fractures,” may not be painful or cause noticeable symptoms.  It is estimated that 80 percent of these people may be at risk for breaking a bone, especially if once having had a fracture.  Starting early treatment is crucial.  Loss of height or a slightly stooped posture may be the first clue.  Inherent causes of fractures are undertreated in older adults, especially men.  Fewer than 50 percent of women and only 5 percent of men had a fracture due to fragile bones, so make an appointment with your doctor, and learn how to “Minimize bone-sapping medications (Consumer Reports on Health 10/2011.)

 When my husband had Parkinson’s I asked the specialist for details of any side effects from the prescription indicated for him in case it might cause him to have a fall.  He said, “Your pharmacist is updated frequently about possible side effects that may arise, especially for any new drugs that have entered the market.”  Breast cancer, Endometriosis, Lupus, Arthritis, Prostate cancer, Endometriosis, Infertility, Blood clots, Rheumatoid arthritis, Type 2 diabetes, heartburn, Gastroasophageal reflux disease (GERD), and Ulcers, are among them.   Each local hospital in our province has someone with a degree in dietetics that includes working with normalizing weight and diets.  British Columbia has wonderful vacation places to relax and make needed diet changes for improved health.  Some of them have provisions for staying for a week or ten days.  Green Croft Gardens have 20 acres in the Shuswap area that raise organic vegetables and fruits.  More details about finding the place can be found at 250-832-9998.  My sister and her husband have received help from another such place, at Suede Hills Organic Farm near Kamloops that also raise organic fruits and vegetables.  Details about finding it can be found by calling 250-877-682-1188.  After rushing his condition with two surgeries and one prescription for chemotherapy after his cancer diagnosis, my brother-in-law with his wife decided to change their eating habits and after three years he is well again.  The supper meal includes blending a green drink containing raw vegetables and fruits, along with almonds and other nuts. Why not add a decade or more healthy years to your life and delight the family, which includes great grandchildren.  Our local Morning Star dated February 8, 2010 announced a new columnist has been hired who will be emphasizing the value of home gardening, and building health while enjoying the beauties of having a garden.

 

  

MORE ON NUTRIENT-RICH FOODS

   Whenever oxygen reacts with substances, a process known as oxidation takes place.  This is reflected in many substances such as iron rusting, use of gasoline, extracting energy from food and causing butter to turn rancid. Its power extracts energy from food enabling our bodies to repair damage, fight infections, and keep warm. Our brains are especially dependent on oxygen, for without it we could pass out within 15 seconds.  This damage begins within minutes and may lead us to succumbing to the ravages of chronic disease, cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and death.  A by-product of our bodies’ normal oxygen-fuelled body sometimes tries to break away for a power trip on its own.  Called free radicals, these unstable molecules can also damage the body.  Their helpers include cigarette smoke, air pollution, X-rays and chemotherapy.  Some free radicals are needed as messengers in regulating immune responses: wound repair, cell growth and many other functions.  Some unstable ones crave turning the “victim” into a new free radical that oxidizes the cell components, and may even exterminate them.  Our bodies need certain minerals from outside sources called enzymes to launch a counter attack. 

   Enzymes are called essential nutrients which turn free radicals back into law abiding cellular citizens.  Vitamins from food are recruited in this battle against free radicals.  Some vitamins dissolve only in fats and vitamin E is one of them.  Foods from plants contain a host of nutrients including enzymes.  It is interesting to note that where I now live in Carrington Retirement Home, residents are invited to a meeting once a month to air any complaints as well as compliments.  The dinner meal here includes a green salad, and choices of roasted meats, mashed or a baked potato and two cooked vegetables.  One resident raised her hand with this complaint, “Why do we have so much spinach, hardly anyone likes it?”  We are served spinach once a week and for myself I would be happy to have it every day as one of the vegetables.  Dr. Stan Kubow, a professor of dietetics researches antioxidants at McGill University in Montreal, explains, “Phytochemicals were thought to act as antioxidants by acting with free radicals, but recently we’ve found out their concentrations in the body are acting too low to do that because they are poorly absorbed into the bloodstream and more likely to act only on a genetic level.”  Tomorrow’s blog will have more from Dr. Kubow regarding how free radicals work their damage.            

NUTRIENT RICH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES KEEP DISEASES AT BAY

  Whenever oxygen reacts with substances, a process known as oxidation takes place.  This is reflected in many substances such as iron rusting, use of gasoline, extracting energy from food and causing butter to turn rancid. Its power extracts energy from food enabling our bodies to repair damage, fight infections, and keep warm. Our brains are especially dependent on oxygen, for without it we could pass out within 15 seconds.  This damage begins within minutes and may lead us to succumbing to the ravages of chronic disease, cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and death.  A by-product of our bodies’ normal oxygen-fuelled body sometimes tries to break away for a power trip on its own.  Called free radicals, these unstable molecules can also damage the body.  Their helpers include cigarette smoke, air pollution, X-rays and chemotherapy.  Some free radicals are needed as messengers in regulating immune responses: wound repair, cell growth and many other functions.  Some unstable ones crave turning the “victim” into a new free radical that oxidizes the cell components, and may even exterminate them.  Our bodies need certain minerals from outside sources called enzymes to launch a counter attack. 

   Enzymes are called essential nutrients which turn free radicals back into law abiding cellular citizens.  Vitamins from food are recruited in this battle against free radicals.  Some vitamins dissolve only in fats and vitamin E is one of them.  Foods from plants contain a host of nutrients including enzymes.  It is interesting to note that where I now live in Carrington Retirement Home, residents are invited to a meeting once a month to air any complaints as well as compliments.  The dinner meal here includes a green salad, and choices of roasted meats, mashed or a baked potato and two cooked vegetables.  One resident raised her hand with this complaint, “Why do we have so much spinach, hardly anyone likes it?”  We are served spinach once a week and for myself I would be happy to have it every day as one of the vegetables.  Dr. Stan Kubow, a professor of dietetics researches antioxidants at McGill University in Montreal, explains, “Phytochemicals were thought to act as antioxidants by acting with free radicals, but recently we’ve found out their concentrations in the body are acting too low to do that because they are poorly absorbed into the bloodstream and more likely to act only on a genetic level.”  Tomorrow’s blog will have more from Dr. Kubow regarding how free radicals work their damage.