Fend Off Colds and Flu

When it comes to colds and the flu, prevention is key since there are no known cures for these illnesses. However, there are simple things we can do to keep ourselves and those around us healthy .

For example, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that we “Take 3” actions to fight the flu:

1. Take time to get a vaccination.

· While there are many different flu viruses, the seasonal flu vaccine protects against the three seasonal viruses that research suggests will be most common.

· The seasonal vaccine will not protect you from the 2009 H1N1 strain of swine flu.

· Vaccinations are especially important for people at high risk for flu complications, including pregnant women, children, and people with chronic health conditions like asthma, diabetes or heart and lung disease.

2. Take precautions each day.

· Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or your elbow if you have to sneeze or cough. Throw the tissue away after using it.

· Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 30 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use a hand sanitizer.

· Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.

· Limit contact with sick people. If you are sick, avoid contact with others until your fever has been gone for at least 24 hours.

3. Take flu antiviral drugs if prescribed by your doctor if you become sick.

· Antiviral drugs are given to those who are very sick and in the hospital or to those who are at high risk with high risk factors such as pregnant women, children, and those with chronic health conditions.

Natural Ways to Fight Off a Cold

Three of the top prevention tips for fending off a cold are the same as for preventing the flu – wash hands, use tissues or your elbow to cover coughs and sneezes, and avoid touching eyes nose and mouth where germs can spread. But here are a few other ways to reduce your chance of catching colds.

1. Got water? Make sure you drink enough fluids to remain hydrated since water helps flush our bodies of toxins. Check the color of your urine to determine your hydration level. The clearer it is, the better. If the color is dark yellow, try to drink more liquids.

2. Get some fresh air. Bundle up and get outdoors, even for a few minutes each day. Staying inside increases your risk of a cold or the flu by: drying out your body from the heat and because there are more people inside with circulating germs.

3. Let’s get physical! Doing aerobic exercise causes an increase in your body’s natural disease-fighting white blood cells. Exercising regularly can also cut the number of days a person suffers from colds and the flu by half!

4. Eat a rainbow! Go for the colorful foods such as dark green, red and yellow fruits and veggies. The more colors, the more nutrients. These foods contain phytochemicals, the natural chemicals in plants that give us the super vitamins to help boost our immune system.

5. Yummy yogurt! Eating a cup of low-fat yogurt each day may reduce your risk of colds by 25% according to some studies. Plus, you get some calcium.

6. Beat the butts. Avoid smoking or quit altogether—statistics show that frequent, severe colds affect heavy smokers.

7. Cut back on the cocktails. Heavy alcohol consumption suppresses the immune system and dehydrates your body.

Source:WebMD

To find out more information on colds and the flu season, refer to the following resources:

Flu.Gov: http://flu.gov

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: http://cdc.gov

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services: http://www.hhs.gov

Medline Plus: http://medlineplus.gov

WebMD: http://www.webmd.com

When Good Foods Can Be Bad: How to Avoid Drug-Food Interactions

There are over two million adverse drug reactions and over 100,000 deaths per year that could be prevented by asking questions and reading the labels and pamphlets provided with each prescription and over-the-counter drug. If there is something that seems unclear, ask the doctor and/or pharmacist to clarify the point for you.

Sometimes harmless foods we eat, or when we eat them, can pose a real threat to our health when combined with prescription and over-the-counter medications. For example, drinking grapefruit juice may interfere with some calcium channel blockers and cholesterol-lowering drugs. The chemicals in the juice and fruit pulp affect how the medicine is broken down in our bodies resulting in higher levels of the drug in the blood stream and an increased risk of serious side effects.

The following are some examples of drug interactions with food and beverages:

• Alcohol: can increase or decrease a drug’s effectiveness
• Grapefruit Juice: as mentioned above, can increase the level of drug in your blood stream.
• Licorice: can increase the risk of Lanoxin toxicity (digoxin-used to treat congestive heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms) and decrease the effects of blood pressure drugs and diuretic medications.
• Chocolate: excessive chocolate intake may sharply increase your blood pressure when combined with MAO inhibitors. The caffeine in chocolate interacts with stimulant drugs such as Ritalin and can increase its effect, and decrease the sedative effects of drugs such as Ambien.

Dietary supplement and drug interaction examples:

• St. John’s Wort: decreases the blood levels of certain drugs in the bloodstream such as Lanoxin, cholesterol-lowering medications and erectile dysfunction medications.
• Vitamin E: combined with blood-thinning medication (i.e. Coumadin) may increase the anti-clotting activity and increase your risk of bleeding.
• Ginseng: may also increase the risk of bleeding when taken with Coumadin, heparin, aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, naproxen and ketoprofen. MAO inhibitors taken with ginseng can cause headaches, nervousness, trouble sleeping and hyperactivity.
• Ginkgo Biloba: can decrease the effectiveness of anti-seizure medications such as Tegretol, Depakote or carbamazepines.

Some tips about drug-food interactions to remember:

• Read all directions, warnings, interactions and precautions printed on the pamphlets, including all over-the-counter medications.
• Drink a full glass of water unless told otherwise by your doctor.
• Do not stir medication into food or drinks to avoid changing how the drug works in your body.
• Do not take vitamins and minerals at the same time as a drug due to the potential problems when combined with a drug.
• Do your research, ask questions and be sure you know which foods to avoid, when to take the medication (with or without meals) and if over-the-counter supplements or drugs will be a harmful combination. (i.e. some cough syrups should be avoided if you are on blood pressure medication.)
• Make sure to tell your doctor and pharmacist of all supplements and over-the-counter medications you might be using, even if they are not on a daily basis.
• Keep a list of all medications, supplements, over-the-counter drugs and any vitamins and minerals you are taking to your medical appointments as well as when you pick up any new prescriptions to go over the information with your pharmacist.

For more information, refer to the Food and Drug Administration’s website specific to drug interactions and the other listed resources. http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm096386

Resources:

www.fda.gov (Food and Drug Administration)

www.familydoctor.org

www.Mayoclinic.com

Exercise and Arthritis Go Hand in Hand

Many mistakenly believe that exercise will damage arthritic joints or cause further pain and discomfort. That misconception couldn’t be further from the truth. Exercises designed for those with both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis have been proven effective and beneficial for:

• maintaining normal joint movement
• increasing muscle flexibility and strength
• maintaining/decreasing weight which reduces pressure on the joints
• keeping bones and cartilage tissue strong and healthy
• improving cardiovascular fitness
• reducing stress, anxiety and depression
• improve sleep and day-to-day functioning

Speaking with your doctor, physical therapist and/or certified fitness professional will be the best place to start in order to create a program specific to you as an individual taking into consideration the type of arthritis you have and the severity of it. The Arthritis Foundation also offers courses through their website designed especially for those dealing with arthritis such as the People with Arthritis Can Exercise (PACE) and the Arthritis Self Help Course (ASHC). (www.arthritis.org)

The Arthritis Foundation provides information on water-based exercise, which is not only a gentle and safe way to exercise your joints and muscles, but also a way to relieve arthritic pain and stiffness. There are resources for other types of exercise such as walking, flexibility training, range of motion exercises and endurance training.

Other reliable and informative resources include the American Council on Exercise, Cleveland Clinic and The Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center.

American Council on Exercise: www.acefitness.org

Arthritis Foundation: www.arthritis.org

Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center: www.hopkins-arthritis.org

Cleveland Clinic: www.arthritis-advisor.com

American College of Rheumatology: www.rheumatology.org

WebMD: www.webmd.com

Great Ways to Fit in Physical Activity

Don’t like to “exercise” or “work out”? No worries. Here are some great tips on how to fit physical activity into your daily routine:

• While golfing and using the golf cart, try to park farther from your ball and walk more. Or, if you have more energy that day, try walking the entire course.
• Try parking farther from your destination to get in a few extra steps or hop off of the subway or bus one stop sooner to get in some personal mileage.
• Get off of the elevator a few floors from where you are going and walk up or down the rest.
• Try playing a new activity with friends, family or with a club such as: tennis (try singles), golf, badminton, walking/hiking clubs or tours, cycling, swimming, dancing (ballroom, country line dancing, etc.), community center activities, or volunteer activities like Habitat for Humanity (you end up being active and proactive at the same time!).
• Do your own housework (it burns more calories than you might think) and your own gardening.
• Stand up and sit down while talking on the phone or march in place.
• Take walks on the beach, boardwalk, along trails on vacations or day trips.
• Walk around your house each time you use the bathroom to get in extra steps or if you are at work, try using a bathroom on a different floor.
• Do balance training throughout the day:
  *Stand on one leg while waiting in line at the bank, grocery store or theater lines.
  *Rock back and forth lifting your heels and toes as you stand in line or while brushing your teeth.
  *Try to stand up and sit down without using your hands/arms-but have them ready to steady you if necessary.
  *While going to get your mail or walking in your home, pretend you are walking on a balance beam-one foot in front on the way up (but always 1 at a time on the way down).

As long as you keep moving, you’ll keep moving in the right direction!

Kristin Sprows, BS, CPT

"Using Video Games as Exercise-for Mind and Body"

Video game-based exercise is becoming increasingly popular with not only children and families, but with senior centers, rehabilitation and fitness centers, and school systems. Although video games should never replace traditional physical activity or exercise routines, there are health benefits to them that are gaining attention and respect from physical therapists, doctors and researchers alike for activity and rehabilitation supplementation.

“Exergaming,” the term used to describe video game-based exercise, has been shown to improve cardiovascular endurance, muscle tone/strength, balance and cognitive function. It can also create a level of socialization that other sedentary and solitary games and activities do not offer. Exergaming allows grandparents to bowl or play golf or tennis with their grandchildren without the associated physical risk involved with the actual activity. It can bring groups of people together, offer a fun option for families rather than sitting and watching television and reintroduces physical activity as an enjoyable time rather than a chore. The convenience and affordability is unbeatable. For those who are not comfortable in a fitness center setting, this is a viable option as a supplement to traditional exercise or to use when the weather is bad, work to improve balance, post-rehabilitation for an injury, or to prevent workout boredom. The level of play can also be adjusted to accommodate the players’ abilities.

In the December issue of Psychology and Aging, a study suggests that the cognitive functions of older people may be retained or improved by playing complex video games. The Silverado Senior Living Center in San Juan Capistrano in California, an assisted living facility for those with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, uses the Nintendo Wii Sports as a form of moderate physical activity and socialization for the residents. Not only does it help bring people together each day, but it also gives them a sense of purpose which, in turn, increases their sense of value according to a spokesperson for the U.K. Alzheimer’s Society.

The University of Aberdeen in Scotland and the UK’s National Health Service have begun a four month study on people over 70 years of age to see if there are any changes in balance after using the Wii Fit regularly. Wii Fit includes a balance board (which sits about 1 inch off of the floor) that provides feedback to you on your performance. The fitness training involves aerobics, yoga, strength training and balance games. The results seem positive; however, the study conclusions have not been reported as of yet.

The initial results from a pilot study done at Southern Cross University in Australia are also positive and promising for those with Parkinson’s. The Wii Fit helps to develop muscle strength and coordination that will help to reduce the risk of falls. It aids in building confidence, overall fitness levels and body awareness (knowing where your body is in space) which are necessary for maintaining balance.

The Wii Sports game includes tennis and boxing as options for more cardiovascular physical activity, although traditional exercise will provide an increased benefit. The baseball, bowling and golf games within the Wii Sports do not burn as many calories but may aid in training to return to the actual game. The Wii Fit monitors your progress and exercise frequency, which increases accountability and provides positive feedback and encouragement.

There are some risks involved, as with any physical activity, with Exergaming. Be sure to discuss your planned activity with your doctor prior to attempting to play, make sure you warm up and take stretch breaks during the activity and then cool down afterwards. Some overuse injuries have been reported in those who try to do too much, too often and at too high a level. As with any activity, start at a lower level and slowly increase the difficulty and playing time. The exercise benefit does outweigh the risk of injury, according to Professor Darren Rivett, the spokesperson of the Australian Physiotherapy Association. The games have also been used as “Wiihabilitation” of stroke and accident victims in many facilities.

Dance Dance Revolution, created by Playstation, is another example of Exergaming that features dance challenges with great music. There is a mat that you stand on and follow the arrows on the screen to know where you place your feet along with the music. It is popular with all ages, although Dancetown might be more appropriate for the older crowd. Dancetown has more songs that would be more enjoyable and is toned down from the original Dance Dance Revolution game. Playstation also has a game called Dancing with the Stars that is based on the hit television show. The dance pads are also compatible with the Wii-but be sure that the product you purchase states that since older models may not be compatible.

Video games are obviously not “just for kids” anymore. They are a fun way to be active without thinking about being active and an effective way to improve your balance—a skill that can always be improved regardless of age. Exergaming benefits not only your physical being, but also your social self since it is a wonderful way to connect with friends and family. And if traditional exercise is not possible as frequently as it is prescribed, than supplementing with video games is one of the next best options.

Sources:
American Council on Exercise
Bloomberg.com
Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Research Foundation
CNN.com
Medline Plus
Best Health Magazine
The Courier-Mail
Newsweek
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