Because you have asthma, your airways are very sensitive. They may react to things called triggers (stimuli that can cause asthma episodes). Your airways may become swollen, tighten up, and produce excess mucus in the presence of one or more of the triggers below. These triggers may make asthma symptoms worse or keep you from getting better. It’s important to find out what your asthma triggers are. Learn ways to avoid them. If you cannot avoid triggers, and your medicine plan does not work as well as you and your health care provider think it should, you both should discuss allergy shots (immunotherapy).
Ask your health care provider to help you find out what your triggers are and to decide which actions will help the most to reduce your asthma symptoms.
Number each action item in order of importance. Carry out these actions first.
Once you have completed these actions, move on to actions that are of lesser importance.
Discuss the results of these efforts with your health care provider.
Pollen and Molds (outdoors)
Stay indoors during the midday and afternoon when the pollen count is high.
Use air conditioning, if possible.
Keep windows closed during seasons when pollen and mold are highest.
Avoid sources of molds (wet leaves, garden debris, carpet over concrete floors).
Cockroach Allergen
Use insect sprays; but have someone else spray when you are outside of the home.
Air out the home for a few hours after spraying.
Use roach traps.
House Dust Mites
These are actions you should take to
gain control of dust mites:
______ Encase your mattress and box spring in an airtight cover.
______ Either encase your pillow or wash it once a week every week.
______ Avoid sleeping or lying on upholstered furniture.
______ Remove carpets that are laid on concrete.
______ Wash your bed covers, clothes, and stuffed toys once a week in hot (130° F) water.
These actions will also help you gain control of dust mites - but they may not be
essential:
______ Reduce indoor humidity to less than 50 percent. Use a dehumidifier if needed.
______ Remove carpets from your bedroom.
______ Use chemical agents to kill mites or to change mite antigens in the house.
______ Avoid using a vacuum or being in a room while it is being vacuumed.
______ If you must vacuum, one ore more of the following things can be done to reduce the amount of dust you breathe in: Use a dust mask, use a central vacuum cleaner with the collecting bag outside the home, use a vacuum cleaner that has powerful suction.
Animal Dander
Dander refers to flakes in the skin, hair, or feathers of all warm-blooded pets including dogs, cats, birds, and rodents. There is no such thing as an allergenfree dog. The length of a pet’s hair does not matter. The allergen is in the saliva, urine, and dander.
Remove the animal from the house or school classroom.
If you must have a pet, keep the pet out of your bedroom at all times.
If there is forced air heating in the home with a pet, close the air ducts in your bedroom.
Wash the pet weekly.
Avoid visits to friends or relatives with pets.
Take asthma medicine (cromolyn or beta2-agonist; cromolyn is often preferred) before
visiting homes or sites where animals arepresent.
Choose a pet without fur or feathers (such as a fish or a snake).
Avoid products made with feathers, for example, pillows or comforters.
Also avoid pillows, bedding, and furniture stuffed with kapok (silky fibers from the seed
pods of the silk-cotton tree).
Use a vacuum cleaner fitted with a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) filter.
Indoor molds
Keep bathrooms, kitchens, and basements well aired.
Clean bathrooms, kitchens, and basements regularly.
Do not use humidifiers unless humidity drops below 15%
Use dehumidifiers for damp basement areas, with humidity level set for less than
50% but above 25%. Empty and clean unit regularly.
Tobacco Smoke
Do not smoke.
Do not allow smoking in the home.
Have household members smoke outside.
Do not allow any smoking in your bedroom.
Encourage family members to quit smoking.
Their health care provider can help them quit.
Use an indoor air-cleaning device (for smoke, mold, and dander).
Wood Smoke
Avoid using a wood burning heat stove to heat your home. The smoke increases
lower respiratory symptoms.
Avoid using kerosene heaters.
Strong Odors and Sprays
Do not stay in your home when it is being painted. Allow enough time for the paint
to dry.
Avoid perfume and perfumed cosmetics such as talcum powder and hair spray.
Do not use room deodorizers. § Use non-perfumed household cleaning
products whenever possible.
Reduce strong cooking odors (especially frying) by using a fan and opening windows.
Avoid air pollution by staying indoors on days when the pollution count is high.
Colds and Infections
Avoid people with colds or the flu.
Get rest, eat a balanced diet, and exercise regularly.
Talk to your health care provider about flu shots.
Do not take over-the-counter remedies, such as antihistamines and cough syrup,
unless you speak to your health care provider first.
Exercise
Work out a medicine plan with your health care provider that allows you to exercise
without symptoms.
Take inhaled beta2-agonist or prescribed anti-inflammatory medicine before
exercising.
Warm up before doing exercise and cool down afterwards.
Weather
Wear a scarf over your mouth and nose in cold weather.
Pull a turtleneck over your nose on windy or cold days.
Dress warmly in the winter or on windy days.
Food Sensitivity
You may want to avoid products that could possibly contain the preservative sulfite.
Among these are: precut or dried fruit, fresh mushrooms, processed potatoes, pickled
foods, shrimp, cherries , beer, or wine.
Remember: Making these changes will help keep asthma episodes from starting. An asthma trigger control plan is an important part of controlling asthma
Nearly 50% of Americans residing in the United States use some type of vitamin or vitamin supplement ever day. Even though they may take vitamins, most are unaware of the fact that nearly 90% of the nutrients and minerals found in the vitamin isn’t properly absorbed by the body, which means they are virtually watered down and most of their benefits proven to be not effective.
Almost all individuals who take vitamins use the pill form. Pills were once thought of to be the best, simply because they were the only vitamin sources. These days, liquid vitamins are much more effective, and people are starting to realize it. Although many use pills or chewable vitamins, they aren’t getting near the benefit they think they are.
Vitamins and supplements are very popular, especially for those who have active lifestyles and find it difficult to consume the necessary vitamins and minerals they need from the proper meals. Therefore, those with busy lifestyles turn to vitamins and supplements to give their bodies what it needs to carry out day to day activities. Even though you should never replace food with vitamins, vitamins can help you to get the nutrients and minerals you need on a daily basis.
The main reason why liquid vitamins are more effective than pills and tablets is due to the nature of their liquid base. With the vitamins being liquid, they are easier for the body to digest and easily absorbed into the digestive tract as well. Chewable tablets and pills will pass through the body in hard form, making them hard to digest. Liquid is always digested when it passes through, so it will go through your body quicker and take effect faster.
Due to the body having to work less to break down and absorb liquid vitamins, they will pass through the body much faster. The nutrients and minerals contained in liquid vitamins will reach vital areas faster through the bloodstream, and they are easier to use by the most important organs in your body that need them the most. Liquid is also easy to swallow as well, as you can add the liquid vitamin to your favorite juice or just take it right out of the bottle if you prefer.
With pills or chewable vitamins, the majority of the nutrients and minerals that are contained in the vitamins aren’t normally broken down in the digestive system. With these types of vitamins being in hard form, they are harder for the body to pass at the most crucial moments, where the body needs to have nutrients and minerals. Unless you completely chew up the vitamin, it can stay in hard form until it passes through when you go to the bathroom. If this happens, you are normally just wasting the vitamin as it doesn’t have a chance to get into the bloodstream.
Liquid vitamins have proven themselves to be the best way to get the minerals and nutrients your body needs. As more and more people discover the benefits of liquid vitamins and how easy they are to digest, they make the switch. Liquid is far superior to tablets and pills, simply because it tastes better, it’s easier to digest, and it travels through the body faster. You can find many different flavors and types of vitamin supplements at your local nutrition store, or get online and order what you need there. Either way you go - you’ll find liquid vitamins to be the ideal way to get the nutrients you need for you body on a daily basis.
LONDON - Drivers who listen to songs by artists such as Eminem, Dizzee Rascal and Jay-Z in their cars are most at risk of accidents, claims a new study.
According to a survey of over 2,000 drivers by Auto Trader magazine, almost half of the volunteers admitted that rap or hip hop music affects their mood adversely while driving.
Nearly one in five drivers say that makes them aggressive behind the wheel.
Just six per cent said that listening to rap or hip hop helps relaxes them on the road, reports The Telegraph.
NeilGrieg, director of policy and research at road safety charity the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: “We all know the drivers who play loud, pounding rap music where you can hear the ground shake before they arrive.
“Police crash investigation reports do not say what music people were listening to before an accident, so it comes down to self-reporting, opinion research.
“If people recognize within themselves that they were listening to a certain type of music when they had road rage problems or crashes, it would be worth them considering changing the music.
“But if you listen to rap music in the car, you are most likely to be young and male and unfortunately that is the target group least likely to listen to road safety advice.”
WASHINGTON - Eating chocolate or drinking water can relieve aches and pains, a new study has shown.
A team of researchers says the distraction of eating or drinking for pleasure acts as a natural painkiller.
Although the findings come from studies on animals, the scientists believe the same effect takes place in people.
The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience by authors PeggyMason, PhD, professor of neurobiology, and HayleyFoo, PhD, research associate professor of neurobiology at the University of Chicago, is the first to demonstrate that this powerful painkilling effect occurs while the animals are ingesting food or liquid even in the absence of appetite.
“It’s a strong, strong effect, but it’s not about hunger or appetite,” Mason said.
“If you have all this food in front of you that’s easily available to reach out and get, you’re not going to stop eating, for basically almost any reason,” the expert added.
In the experiments, rats were given either a chocolate chip to eat or had sugar water or regular water infused directly into their mouth. As the rat swallowed the chocolate or fluid, a light-bulb beneath the cage was switched on, providing a heat stimulus that normally caused the animal to lift its paw off the floor.
Mason and Foo found that rats were much slower to raise their paw while eating or drinking, compared to tests conducted while they were awake, but not eating.
Surprisingly, the researchers found no difference in the delayed paw-lift response between when the rat was eating chocolate and when it was drinking water, despite previous research indicating that only sugary substances were protective against pain.
“This really shows it has nothing to do with calories,” Mason said. “Water has no calories, saccharine has no sugar, but both have the same effect as achocolate chip. It’s really shocking.”
Mason and Foo then repeated the heat test as the rats were given quinine, a bitter drink that causes rats to make an expression called a gape that’s akin to a child’s expression of “yuck.” During quinine administration, the rats reacted to heat as quickly as when not eating, suggesting that a non-pleasurable food or drink fails to trigger pain relief.
The context of ingesting was also important to whether eating or drinking blunted pain, the researchers found. When rats were made ill by a drug treatment,eating chocolate no longer delayed their response. However, drinking water still caused a reduced pain response, indicating that drinking water was considered a positive experience while ill.
By selectively inactivating a region in the brainstem called the raphe mangus - an area previously shown to blunt pain during sleep and urination - Mason and Foo were able to remove the effect of drinking water on the rat’s pain response. The brainstem controls subconscious responses such as breathing and perspiration during exercise.
“You’re essentially at the mercy of your brainstem, and the raphe magnus is part of that,” Mason said. “It tells you, ‘you’re going to finish eating this, whether you like it or not,’ just like you sweat while running whether you like it or not.”
In the wild, Mason said, rats and other animals would not want to be distracted during the rare but important times that they were able to eat or drink. Therefore, the activation of the raphe magnus during eating or drinking would allow the rat to filter out distractions until their meal was completed. For obvious reasons, this naturalpain relief would be activated when an animal is eating or drinking something pleasurable, but not when it tastes something that could be toxic or harmful.
SYRACUSE - Hypnosis has potential therapeutic value in children with respiratory disorders for alleviating symptoms such as habit cough or unexplained sensations of difficulty breathing and for lessening a child’s discomfort during medical procedures. Proper utilization of hypnosis as an adjunct to conventional treatment and its ability to use the mind-body connection to bring about physiological changes are explored in a provocative paper in Pediatric Asthma, Allergy & Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The paper is available free online.
Ran D. Anbar, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University, in Syracuse, NY, recommends hypnosis as a treatment option when a child’s respiratory symptoms appear to have a psychological component. In his paper, “Adding Hypnosis to the Therapeutic Toolbox of Pediatric Respiratory Care,” Dr.Anbar points to symptoms such as difficulty taking a breath, a disruptive cough, hyperventilation, noise on inspiration such as a gasp or squeak, and difficulty swallowing despite normal lung function as possible indications for the use of hypnosis to supplement medical therapy. Symptoms that are absent during sleep, can be associated with a particular activity or location, or are linked to or triggered by an emotional response may be particularly responsive to hypnosis.
Published data support the benefit of hypnosis in children with respiratory disorders with a large mind-body component such as vocal cord dysfunction and habit cough. Hypnosis can also help lessen sensations of difficulty breathing and anxiety in other respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and asthma. Hypnosis is also a valuable tool for easing a child’s anxiety and helping patients control their response to discomfort.
Dr. Anbar cautions that hypnosis should not be attempted or considered for use by someone who is not a health care provider and has not received appropriate training in the technique.
“Dr.Anbar has added hypnosis to our therapeutic toolbox. When breathing problems have a large mind-body component, resolution with hypnosis can dramatically reduce the need for expensive testing and medications,” says HaroldFarber, MD, MSPH, Editor of Pediatric Asthma, Allergy Immunology, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Section of Pulmonology, at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
US TELE-MEDICINE RECOMMENDS BARRY EISEN FOR HYPNOTHERAPY HELP: WWW.BARRYEISEN.COM
Classical music, aromatherapy, massage tables…these are things you’d expect to find at a day spa.But these mind-relaxing modes are now being used for a different purpose…medicine.
It used to be that hospitals kept to traditional, or what’s known as western medicine.
But more medical facilities in Maine are realizing that treating the problem isn’t enough, you have to mend the person as well.
“In the last decade or so, the word integrative medicine has been used more and more.”
Dr. john Woytowicz should know. He’s the Director of Integrative Medicine at Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine Residency in Augusta. The physician started studying herbs at the request of his patients.
“Over time, I’ve incorporated botanical medicine into my practice,” says Dr.Woytowicz.
At one time, holistic healing was considered alternative medicine. But now, Dr.Woytowicz and other physicians around Maine are offering it to their patients as an enhancement option for more traditional treatments.
“I try to use it as another service to provide to them, another set of skills that might help them,” the herbalist says.
Dr. Woytowicz says many common health problems can be treated with botanical medicines.
“Things like headaches, arthritis, digestive problems is a very, very common area where herbal medicines can be very, very useful. Herbs are different from pharmaceuticals in many ways. I mean, they have active ingredients, but there’s many active ingredients in a plant. And they’re balanced in some ways.”
SherrieWoodward is the Senior Vice President for Patient Services at Maine General Medical Center.
“I think we’re coming out of a generation that looked for a pill to be the answer for everything.”
Maine General has incorporated integrative medicine into many of its patient services. Things like art and music therapy, reiki, accupuncture, and massage.
“We try to look at the patient as an individual and as a whole. And what works for you may not work for me,” says Woodward.
Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor also uses integrative medicine, particularly in its rehab and cancer centers.
Reiki, a type of touch therapy, is provided to patients as well as family members.
“Patients have had very positive responses,” says MarthaWildman, director of volunteer services at EMMC. “We’re tracking our sessions, Reiki sessions, and the patients have overwhelmingly had very positive responses. They don’t all necessarily know exactly what’s happened but they are very comfortable with it and feel very comforted and much less pain in a lot of situations.”
“I think as we’re learning, that often times healing comes from within and that there are many different modalities of what we need to do,” says Woodward.
A call to hospitals around the area revealed that integrative medicine is still a new idea.
Mayo Regional Hospital in Dover Foxcroft does offer accupucture at one of its family practices.
St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor offers an art therapy program for folks with diabetes.
Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast did offer reiki and massage therapy, but was forced to stop because of budget cuts.
CHICAGO - Doctors at Rush University Medical Center are offering pediatric patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses acupuncture therapy to help ease the pain and negative side effects like nausea, fatigue, and vomiting caused by chronic health conditions and intensive treatments. The confluence of Chinese and Western medicine at Rush Children’s Hospital is part of a study to analyze and document how acupuncture might help in reducing pain in children and increase quality of life.
“Treating children with acupuncture is a new frontier,” said Dr.PaulKent, pediatric hematology and oncology expert, Rush Children’s Hospital. “We are looking to see if there is an effective pain management therapy we can offer that does not have the serious side effects that can be caused by narcotics and other serious pain medications.”
The lack of options for pain management in children has been reported as one of the most difficult aspects of providing care to pediatric patients. Research indicates that up to 70 percent of pediatric patients experience pain and those with chronic illnesses often do not have adequate relief or prevention of pain.
“Acupuncture could be a potential solution to this dilemma of controlling pain in pediatric patients,” said AngelaJohnson, Chinese medicine practitioner at Rush.
Acupuncture is the use of tiny, hair-thin needles which are gently inserted along various parts of the body. The therapy is based on the premise that patterns of energy flowing through the body are essential for health. This energy, called Qi, flows along certain pathways. It is believed that placing the tiny needles at points along the pathways reduce pain and improve the healing process.
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has published a statement concluding that acupuncture is effective for treating adults for nausea following chemotherapy and for pain after dental surgery. The agency also said that the therapy might be useful in treating other health issues such as addiction, migraines, headaches, menstrual cramps, abdominal pain, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, arthritis, low-back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and asthma. In some pediatric studies, both patients and parents have stated that acupuncture treatments were both helpful and relaxing.
Rush will be offering acupuncture therapy to pediatric patients between the ages of 5-20 years of age, who are experiencing pain. A practitioner who is licensed in acupuncture by the State of Illinois and certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine will be giving the treatments. Study participants will receive eight acupuncture treatments at no charge.
“Many children with chronic or acute health issues turn to complementary or integrative approaches after all other conventional treatment options are exhausted,” said Johnson. “Parents should be aware that integrative therapies like acupuncture can be helpful from the onset of disease and can have a tremendously positive influence on a child’s quality of life.”
Recent media reports have covered research announced ahead of the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) Annual Meeting in April which suggested that milk during pregnancy may lower a baby’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life.
The theory from the researchers in Boston, announced in an AAN press release, was based on a survey of American mothers.
It was claimed that MS risk was lower among women born to mothers with high milk or dietary vitamin D intake in pregnancy.
Unfortunately UK media reports focused on the milk link ; however it is in fact the case that there are only trace elements of vitamin D in milk consumed in this country.
Unlike America, most of Britain’s milk is not fortified with vitamin D and so whatever quantity of milk is ingested, vitamin D levels in the body are likely to remain unaffected.
While it may be true that vitamin D has previously been shown to potentially play a role in MS, maintaining a healthy, balanced diet including oily fish and exposing skin to safe levels of sunshine are the best ways to increase levels of vitamin D.
SYDNEY - Walking less than two miles a couple of times a week and taking a natural supplement can significantly ease the crippling pain of arthritis, a new study shows.
Walking further or for five days a week did not make patients feel substantially better, the study also shows.
Experts recommend that most people walk for much longer, around 10,000 steps a day, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
But there has been confusion over how much exercise those with osteoarthritis, the ‘wear and tear’ form of the condition, thought to affect around eight million people in Britain, should take.
DrKristiannHeesch, from the University of Queensland in Australia, who led the study, said: “These findings provide preliminary evidence that osteoarthritis sufferers can benefit from a combination of glucosamine sulphate and walking 3,000 steps per day for exercise, in bouts of at least 1,500 steps each, on at least three days per week.”
The supplement, glucosamine sulphate, which is made from the shells of shellfish, has previously been linked to easing the pain of arthritis, although the evidence has not been conclusive.
Volunteers took the supplement for six weeks, by the end of which their pain levels had fallen by 13 per cent.
They were then asked start taking regular exercise on top of the supplement.
By the end of six months patients reported that both their levels of pain and stiffness had halved, the findings, published in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy, show.
JaneTadman, from the Arthritis Research Campaign, said: “We know that exercise and keeping mobile is very important for people with arthritis to keep the muscles that support the joints strong and supple.
“But we don’t really know what the appropriate amount of exercise is, and this study is an attempt to answer that.”
She added: “Recent studies into the effectiveness of glucosamine have been very mixed, although anecdotally lots of people with osteoarthritis report some benefit.”
JaneSpence, from Arthritis Care, said: “Maintaining a healthy weight and taking a mixture of appropriate exercise and rest as advised by your health professional is sensible for people to manage their condition.
“Exercise is good for overall wellbeing, helps mobility, and actually lifts low spirits by releasing endorphins – the body’s natural ‘painkillers’ – into the bloodstream.”
The University of Queensland team admit that there study was small, with only 36 patients completing the full six months – in part because some were advised to drop out of the trial by their family doctor, concerned that they should not take too much exercise.
They have called for larger studies to validate their findings.
Last year similar research suggested that practising Tai Chi could ease the pain of arthritis.
The NHS performs 65,000 knee replacements a year, many on patients with arthritis of the knee.
LONDON - The heir to the throne, who is a long-standing supporter of complementary and alternative medicine, made his comments on Friday morning after meeting ordinands at St Mellitus College, London’s newest Anglican theological training institution.
Discussing the trainee priests’ decision to go into the church, the Prince said: “It would seem in today’s world that this was a frightfully unfashionable thing to do, but ladies and gentleman, you are, in some extraordinary way, bucking the trend.”
He praised the work of the evangelical Alpha Course, which was founded by the parish vicar, Nicky Gumbel of Holy Trinity Brompton.
The Prince, who would become Supreme Governor of the Church of England if he is crowned king, said: “The fact that you are able to plant churches and help encourage congregations in some of these previously redundant, unused churches is again enormously encouraging and I greatly admire Nicky Gumbel and indeed his son for the work they are doing and for the work they are inspiring among so many of you.”
He went on: “One of the reasons I started my Foundation for Integrated Health was to try and encourage people to appreciate the fact that we are made up of mind, body and spirit.
“One of the great tragedies, it seems to me, about today’s world is the way in which it has become so fragmented that we can no longer see the whole picture, we no longer see the unity of things let alone our relationship and inter-connectedness with nature, because after all we are nature but somehow we are taught that we apart from it and not a part of it.”
The Prince referred to Marylebone Health Centre, which he opened in the crypt of a church in 1987 as the first NHS practice to use complementary therapies such as massage, acupuncture and homeopathy.
It is linked to a Healing and Counselling Centre where patients can receive “healing prayer” and “spiritual direction” with Christian priests.
The Prince said: “The thing I thought was so wonderful about that particular clinic was the fact that they used the Church of England spiritual healing mission.
“So often the doctors would tell me they would be able to send a patient down the corridor to the Church of England spiritual healing mission, who would have time to listen and it was the listening to the particular problem that people had, that actually helped the healing process.
“And again, so often those people that had been healed would come back to help with others.”
He went on: “It always seemed to me that in today’s world because of the fragmentation and the disconnection, the greatest challenge it seems is how do you reconnect people to anything like a spiritual understanding? It seemed to me that one way possibly was through healthcare, if you can reintroduce people to the mind, body and spirit element in their make up.”
We have never posted an article like this, however if there was ever an exception to promote spiritual and holistic wellness, this is it.
This is a wonderful piece by MichaelGartner, editor of newspapers large and small and past president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed. Here goes….
My father never drove a car. Well, that’s not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car.
He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet.
“In those days,” he told me when he was in his 90s, “to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it.”
At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in: “Oh, bull—-! she said. ”He hit a horse.”
“Well,” my father said, “there was that, too.”
So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars — the Kollingses next door had a green 1941 Dodge, the VanLaninghams across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford — but we had none.
My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines , would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together.
My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we’d ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. ”No one in the family drives,” my mother would explain, and that was that.
But, sometimes, my father would say, “But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we’ll get one.” It was as if he wasn’t sure which one of us would turn 16 first.
But, sure enough, my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown.
It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn’t drive, it more or less became my brother’s car. Having a car but not being able to drive didn’t bother my father, but it didn’t make sense to my mother.
So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father’s idea. ”Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?” I remember him saying more than once.
For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps — though they seldom left the city limits — and appointed himself navigator.. It seemed to work.
Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn’t seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage.
(Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.)
He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St.Augustin’s Church. She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish’s two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home.
If it was the assistant pastor, he’d take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests “Father Fast” and “Father Slow.”
After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he’d sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I’d stop by, he’d explain: “The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored.”
If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out — and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, “Do you want to know the secret of a long life?”
“I guess so,” I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre.
“No left turns,” he said.
“What?” I asked.
“No left turns,” he repeated. ”Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic..
As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn.”
“What?” I said again.
“No left turns,” he said. ”Think about it. Three rights are the same as a left, and that’s a lot safer So we always make three rights.”
“You’re kidding!” I said, and I turned to my mother for support. ”No,” she said, “your father is right. We make three rights. It works.” But then she added: “Except when your father loses count.”
I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing.
“Loses count?” I asked.
“Yes,” my father admitted, “that sometimes happens. But it’s not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you’re okay again.”
I couldn’t resist. ”Do you ever go for 11?” I asked.
“No,” he said ” If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can’t be put off another day or another week.”
My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving.. That was in 1999, when she was 90.
She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102.
They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom — the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.)
He continued to walk daily — he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he’d fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising — and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died.
One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news.
A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, “You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred.” At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, “You know, I’m probably not going to live much longer.”
“You’re probably right,” I said.
“Why would you say that?” He countered, somewhat irritated.
“Because you’re 102 years old,” I said..
“Yes,” he said, “you’re right.” He stayed in bed all the next day.
That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night.
He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said: “I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet”
An hour or so later, he spoke his last words: “I want you to know,” he said, clearly and lucidly, “that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have.”
A short time later, he died.
I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot I’ve wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long.
I can’t figure out if it was because he walked through life, or because he quit taking left turns.
Life is too short to wake up with regrets.
So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one’s who don’t. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it & if it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would most likely be worth it.
GENEVA - Most of the 2.6 million deaths of young people each year are preventable, according to a new study supported by the World Health Organization and released in Geneva Friday.
The main causes of deaths in the 10-24 age group were road traffic accidents, complications during pregnancy and child birth, suicide, violence, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
The study, to be published in the Lancet, a medical journal, found that 97 percent of these deaths were taking place in low and middle-income countries.
“Young people … often fall through the cracks,” said Daisy Mafubelu, WHO’s expert for family and community health.
She said it was important to improve their access to information and services “and help young people avoid risky behaviors that can lead to death”.
There are an estimated 1.8 billion people that fall into this age group, accounting for 30 percent of the world’s population.
Road traffic accidents could be avoided through more appropriate speed limits, strict enforcement of drunk-driving laws and by the use of helmets and safety belts, the WHO said.
Moreover, young people need sex education, condoms and other contraceptives, the ability to perform safe abortions, access to antenatal and obstetric services and testing and care for HIV/AIDS.
The study also led the researchers to conclude that suicide and other violence could be prevented through life-skills training and positive parental involvement in young people’s lives.
Furthermore, the WHO recommended that access to lethal means of all kinds, including guns and toxins, should be reduced, along with limiting the consumption of alcohol.
There also needed to be better care and support for those exposed to child abuse, youth violence, and sexual assault, to help young people deal with the immediate and long-term consequences of these traumatic events.
Brain fitness has basic principles: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it’s time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.
1. Play Games
Brain fitness programs and games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain’s speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You’ll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day — spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.
2. Meditation
Daily meditation is perhaps the single greatest thing you can do for your mind/body health. Meditation not only relaxes you, it gives your brain a workout. By creating a different mental state, you engage your brain in new and interesting ways while increasing your brain fitness.
3. Eat for Your Brain
Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.
4. Tell Good Stories
Stories are a way that we solidify memories, interpret events and share moments. Practice telling your stories, both new and old, so that they are interesting, compelling and fun. Some basic storytelling techniques will go a long way in keeping people’s interest both in you and in what you have to say.
5. Turn Off Your Television
The average person watches more than 4 hours of television everyday. Television can stand in the way of relationships, life and more. Turn off your TV and spend more time living and exercising your mind and body.
6. Exercise Your Body To Exercise Your Brain
Physical exercise is great brain exercise too. By moving your body, your brain has to learn new muscle skills, estimate distance and practice balance. Choose a variety of exercises to challenge your brain.
7. Read Something Different
Books are portable, free from libraries and filled with infinite interesting characters, information and facts. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modern life and the words.
8. Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of toothpicks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.
9. Make Simple Changes
We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is ’second nature,’ the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to the grocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.
10. Train Your Brain
Brain training is becoming a trend. There are formal courses, websites and books with programs on how to train your brain to work better and faster. There is some research behind these programs, but the basic principles are memory, visualization and reasoning. Work on these three concepts everyday and your brain will be ready for anything.
