Monday, January 28, 2013

Carnivore with a Side of Vegan

As a professing Texan (as if there was any other kind), I soundly reject all aspects of the plant based approach to survival. In my mind, heaven looks like an amazing cookout. Jesus, Moses, Noah, Paul, John and I are all sitting on a deck somewhere in Texas in mid-April. Perfectly marbled, 2 inch thick rib-eye steaks are sizzling their way to a glorious medium-rare and some of Texas' finest craft beer waits to be poured while we talk theology and Aggie football. Paradise.

Yet the growing number of studies being publishing which detail the tremendous health risk of an animal based protein diet have certainly gotten my attention. I read them all online with a skeptic's eye and then quickly delete my browsing history lest someone should suspect me of considering them as a viable alternative to carnivorism.

Recently, I found myself watching an excerpt from a speech given by Neal Barnard MD. In this excerpt, Dr.Barnard speaks of the huge health risk that a diet high in saturated fat poses. He goes as far as to state that minimizing the levels of saturated and trans fat intake substantially lowers the risk for Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. While I do not personally subscribe to some of the more extreme steps that he and many of his colleagues recommend for reasons previously stated, I do believe that our country consumes far too much meat and far too few vegetables. Watch the video below but tell no one you saw it here.



Monday, January 21, 2013

Bundle Up Folks!

Two weeks ago, I spent the entire Sunday in shorts and a t-shirt playing basketball with my oldest three sons. This past Sunday, the clothing ensemble looked more appropriate to a typical January day but the weather was still remarkably warm coming on the heels of a snowy Friday morning which caused the cancellation and delay of  hundreds of schools and businesses across the Triangle. This morning's forecast warns of an extreme cold front moving through our area during the next few days. Tonight's temperatures are expected to dip into the low twenties and tomorrow night will reach into the teens. Daytime temps will offer very little respite from the cold. High temperatures are expected to be in the low 40's with wind chills that should keep most of us inside for the next 7-10 days. Brrrrr!

In light of the approaching winter weather, allow me to ask a question. What are you doing to make sure that the senior in your life survives? Pardon the Draconian language but extreme bouts of cold weather are potentially lethal for seniors.

Part of the normal aging process is a natural thinning of the skin. Gone are the days of being regarded as 'thick-skinned.' This change makes it more difficult for a senior to regulate the temperature of their own body. By itself, thin skin isn't particularly dangerous and is easy problem for which to compensate. The complications arise when you factor in some of the other changes and realities of the normal aging process. A senior nervous system doesn't process information as quickly as it did during younger years. As a result, a senior likely will not realize he is cold until the early effects of hypothermia have already set in. Furthermore, one of the early signs of hypothermia is muscle stiffness particularly in the neck, arms and legs. Have you ever met a senior who complains of being a little stiff? Ironically, the chronic aches and pains that most seniors have grown accustomed to ignoring are the very ones that should alert them of danger within their own bodies.

For a moment, we should consider the possibility that the seniors in our lives might also be taking prescription medications. Seniors account for 25% of all prescription medications taken in this country so it seems only reasonable that we consider this as a possibility. Many of the medications that seniors take can further inhibit the body's natural alarm systems placing seniors at an even greater risk.

Here are a few things you can do if you are a senior to protect yourself:
  • If you live alone, arrange for a daily check-in call with a friend, neighbor, relative, etc.
  • Wear warm clothing. Instead of tight clothing, wear several loose, warm layers. Wear a hat and scarf to avoid significant heat loss through your head and neck. Stay dry. Moisture from perspiration, rain, or melting snow can seriously reduce or destroy the insulating value of clothing because water conducts body heat over 25 times faster than air.
  • Use extra blankets because hypothermia can develop during sleep.
  • Eat nutritious foods and exercise moderately; proper diet and physical conditioning help protect you against abnormal heat and cold.
  • Get proper rest; fatigue makes you more vulnerable to subnormal heat and cold.
  • Drink adequate amounts of liquids, such as water. Limit your alcohol intake because alcohol speeds up body heat loss.
Check out this article from the SC Office on Aging about warning signs and dangers of hypothermia in senior citizens.  http://aging.sc.gov/seniors/HealthAndSafety/Pages/ColdWeatherTips.aspx

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Fine Line Between Binging and Moderation

Researchers at Rutgers University have reported that binge drinking can decrease the development of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent. Whew! I sure am glad that I don't have a binge drinking problem.

Not so fast. Also included in the study is information about the thin line that tends to separate drinking in moderation from what many consider to be binge drinking.

It has long been accepted as truth that a couple glasses of wine each day are a good way to promote cardiovascular and brain health. However, lead author of the study, Megan Anderson, cautions "Moderate drinking can become binge drinking without the person realizing it. In the short term, there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems. But in the long term, this type of behavior could have an adverse effect on learning and memory."

According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, men who drink 14 drinks a week and women who drink 7 are considered at-risk drinkers. While many people commonly assume that binge drinking is a strictly collegiate phenomenon, the statistics counter that assumption. According to the institute, 70 percent of binge drinking involved adults age 26 and older. "This research indicates that social or daily drinking may be more harmful to brain health than what is now believed by the general public."


Monday, January 7, 2013

Dementia Observations

I was watching on of my favorite "lazy Sunday afternoon movies' this weekend, A Few Good Men. At one point in the movie, the lawyers are discussing their case when Tom Cruise's character says: "It doesn't matter what you think. It only matters what you can prove!" Sometimes art really does imitate life. But then again, sometimes it doesn't.

There are a number of things that I have learned in my years at Home Instead Senior Care. Some lessons I have learned correlate with specific scientific studies and factoids which validate my amateur assertions. Most of the time, however, my experience has taught me things that medical science may not publish.

This is one of those times.

There is an old adage about Alzheimer's and dementia which states: "Once you've seen one case of Alzheimer's, you've seen one case of Alzheimer's." That is true. And while every person who battles with Alzheimer's has a unique story to tell, there are some fairly consistent themes. Alzheimer's is typically a steady progression. It may be a fast progression. It may be a slow progression. In every case I have seen, it is a steady progression.

Here is a theoretical (and in no way related to a real person that I spoke with recently) example.
A previously competent father falls one morning and is admitted to a hospital for observation. After being discharged, he is sent to a rehab facility where he can receive medical attention for his wounds until they are healed. Within days of admittance into the facility, he begins to show massive signs of confusion and is hardly able to carry on a conversation. The family contacts me and says- 'He won't be able to return home now that his Alzheimer's has progressed.'

This is not the Alzheimer's that I have seen. Whenever there is an immediate drop in cognitive function, there is almost always another cause. There might be a stroke or some other type of event. Most commonly, it is a result of medication changes in my experience. Senior's kidneys work less efficiently and therefore make them more susceptible to the effects of 'pharmacological tinkering.'

So if you see someone who was as 'sharp as a tack' yesterday and 'doesn't know he's in the world' today, chances are that it isn't Alzheimer's.


[Opinions expressed therein are observational in nature and do not constitute a medical diagnosis. Lair Family Ventures LLC dba Home Instead Senior Care are not liable for any damage done if reader adopts what was previously stated as an opinion as a matter of fact. But seriously people, why would you look to a blog to diagnose or treat anyone. I'm flattered. But seriously?]