Painproof your joints

Olive Oil.

Just 2 teaspoons of olive oil a day may signifcantly improve morning stiffness, joint pain, and fatigue, according to a Brazilian study. High intakes of olive oil may reduce the risk of rheumatoid arthritis by up to 61%.

Women 55-65 & Tai Chi

When women from ages 55 to 65 practiced tai chi for a minimal of 4 times a week raised their disease-fighting cells by nearly 32% over a 4 month period, said researchers of Shanghai University of Sport. Also, practicing a week before your flu shot can boost it's effectiveness by as much as 17%, found a student at University of Illinois.

Googling fights dimentia, suggest studies

Older adults with little Internet experience showed increased activity in key brain regions after googling the Internet for an hour a day for two weeks.

"It's not so much the Internet itself as it is the seeking of new information and keeping your brain stimulated with new things," said study team member Susan Bookheimer, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

There were 24 volunteers between the ages of 55 to 78. Half of the volunteers had very little experience with the Internet and the other half was familiar.

After the experiment was performed, brain scans were taken. Scans showed increased activity in novices' middle frontal gyri and inferior gyri and they became equal to the volunteers with experience with the web.

It's not clear whether the brain improvements are temporary, but it seems keeping the brain active with new things, and searching the web is less likely to bore user after prolonged use, like playing puzzles or a new hobby.

Medicalization

Many older people are summoned by their general practitioner for an annual health check. During a routine visit they may be told they have hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol; that they obese; eat unhealthily and drink too much. As a result, many are started on prescription drugs.

Do we fully understand what is the difference between relative and absolute risk before started on a regime of prescriptions drugs? We rely on reasoning that prescriptions reduce the risk by 25-35% and all with apparent risks should be treated the same. Is reasoning brought on by comparisons made by the treatment in question with no treatment, placebo, or another pill? Did you know it is said that about 75 mildly hypertensive elderly people may have to be treated before one is treated, preventing a stroke. Often, in the 74 others, scant attention is paid to potential side effects derived from treatments. It is said the cardiovascular system becomes more rigid with advancing age, and reduction of mild hypertension can lead to vertigo. This side effect in elderly people adds a hazard of falling, hence the relative risk has now lead to an elderly who may not have ever been an absolute risk now being a patient due a fall. Blockers may lower blood pressure, they can also slow activity, mental and physical.

The actual evidence for the benefit of treating any risk factor in age groups over 70 needs much more consideration when applied to an individual. Prevention among young and middle aged adults should be encouraged and supported, but should treatment equally fit the elderly? It seems fewer elderly people are allowed to enjoy being healthy and become patients due to side effects of prescriptions prescribed in the possibility of overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and unnecessary anxiety.

There's not 100% proof, however...

Most milk producers treat their dairy cattle with rBGH or rBST ( recombinant bovine growth hormone ) to improve their milk productions, however it also increases udder infections, and pus in the milk. It leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor ( IGF-1 ) in the milk. High levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers. When the government approved rBGH, it was thought that IGF-1 from milk would be broken down in the human digestive tract. As it turns out, the casein in milk may protect most of it, according to independent studies. This is not 100% proof that this is increasing cancer in humans, but it is banned in most industrialized countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GpqwZDbMHU


www.dailylivingcomforts.com

A recent study from UCLA - pancreatic cancer

Microwave Popcorn

A senior scientist, Olga Naidenko, PHD for the Environmental Working Group claims a problem with a chemical, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA ), in the lining of the bag are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans, according to a recent study from UCLA. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. The chemicals are vaporized during microwaving and immigrate into the popcorn. Studies claim that these chemicals stay in your system for years and accumulate. DuPont and other manufactures have promised to phase out PFOA by 2015 under voluntary EPA plan.

Popping natural kernels the old-fashioned way, with real butter, dried seasonings is best. Try mixing popcorn with soup mix.

www.dailylivingcomforts.com

Home Care Licensure approved by IRRC

IRRC ( Independent Regulatory Review Commission ) Approves Licensure Regulations!

On Thursday, October 1st. 2009, the IRRC approved the final regulations to license private duty homecare and registries. They will now go to the Attorney General's office for review before the final is published in the Pennsylvania bulletin.

Regulations are intended by the Department of Health to assure safe, adequate and efficient home care agencies and home care registries. The regulations will benefit all future recipients of services provided by home care agencies and home care registries. Based on partial data collected by the Department to date, this will include approximately 650 home care agencies and home care registries and approximately 800,000 consumers.

Thirty-five other states have licensure programs in place for home care services. Home care agencies and home care registries are not likely to avoid doing business in Pennsylvania because Pennsylvania is adopting a licensure program for home care services. While the cost of doing business in Pennsylvania may be a little higher than in a state that does not have a licensure program, the advantages of providing home care services in a sate with such a high elderly population remain.

The licensure program for home care agencies and registries will cost approximately $1,060,000 by the State Government for the first full year of the program.

There may be a cost to the public in the form of higher charges for care because the home agency or home care registry would need to recoup start-up and ongoing costs of compliance with licensure criteria.

Celebrate Home Safety Month!

Injury is the sixth leading cause of death among people over age 65, and most of these fatal injuries are related to falls. About 25% of seniors aged 65-74, and 33% or more of those aged 75 or older, report at least one fall in any given year. Although more than 10,000 deaths among older persons in the U.S. are attributed to fall and fall-related injuries each year, this number is likely an understatement of the actual number of deaths in which a fall is a contributing factor.

What can Home Care do to reduce the incidence of falls?

Our services may include but are not limited to:
- Observation and assessment
- Management and evaluation
- In-home assessment to identify those at risk for falling
- Monitoring medication
- Recommend sound environmental designs in living quarters
- Remove environmental barriers
- Assist in identifying properly fitting shoes and clothing
- Modify unsafe behavior

Congestive Heart Failure and Home Care

What is CHF?
Also called heart failure, CHF is the condition in which the heart muscle becomes weakened and lacks the strength to adequately pump blood throughout the body. As a result of this poor circulation, blood and fluid begin collecting in organ tissue. The term "heart failure" should not be confused with cardiac arrest, a situation in which the heart actually stops beating.

WHAT CAN HOME CARE DO FOR PATIENTS WITH CHF?

Our services may include but are not limited to:

-Assistance with ADLs
-Disease process education
-Cardiac assessment
-Weight monitoring
-Transfer technique
-Ambulation technique
-Safety education
-Electrolyte replacement
-Diuretic therapy
-Medication education
-Fluid intake education
-Management and evaluation
-Obeservation and assessment

Fresh Basil and Rheumatoid Arthritis

Basil contains large amounts of (E)-beta-caryophyllene (BCP), which might have a use in treating inflammatory bowel diseases and arthritis. BCP is the only product identified in nature that activates CB2 selectively; it interacts with one of two cannabinoid receptors (CB2), blocking chemical signals that lead to inflammation, without triggering cannabis's mood-altering effects

What happens when we are old, alone and out of money?

A client is 92 years old. She is unable to see that well or hear that well, she does not have any brothers or sisters, never had any children, and her husband passed 30 years ago. Up until recent she lived independently. She was an active member of her community…creator of harvest day, board member of the historical commission, and is a dearing woman overall. Being a strong and independent woman she provided a decent life for herself - until recent. She worked hard in an office environment while buying, renovating and renting homes. Her efforts were rewarding, offering her a valuable way of living. However, time continues and her strategy did not plan for living as long as she is, and needing the care to provide for her independence in her own home, where she chooses to stay. We actively had been going out to see her seven days a week at a minimum a day for the past months to be sure her medication was taken and that she ate well. Until, one day she becomes ill and needs to go to the hospital, then admitted into a rehab/nursing home. She is miserable, fights with everyone at the facility and cries out to go home - constantly. Unfortunately, her funds are running out and she is in need of much more care then before - her living expenses are proceeding her income & savings. Her choices are limited – does she sell her home and reside in an assisted living ( this is sufficient for some but is not her wishes ) or use her home as collateral for living?

What would you do?

Our suggestion:

Ben Stucker helped Daily Living Comforts change our client's life for the better.
Ben D. Stucker, CSA®
Director of Senior Lending

Village Capital & Investment LLC
Office (866) 312-6682 x303
Direct (856) 505-6603
Cell (267) 391-7425
Fax (866) 247-7925


Our client did return home, went to harvest day, bought earrings, funnel cake and talked with friends this past weekend.


Daily Living Comforts, Inc.
267-352-4385
www.dailylivingcomforts.com