Palliative Care and What It Means To Assisted Living

admin / July 5, 2011 / No comments

Palliative care and what it means in assisted living

At some point in our lives, most of us are faced with the confusing dilemma of what to do when a family member faces a serious chronic illness, is diagnosed with a terminal condition, or have elderly parents who can no longer independently care for themselves while dealing with a health condition.

Trying to digest the meaning of terms like nursing home, assisted living, hospice and palliative care can create an overwhelming maze of uncertainty that needs dissecting at a very stressful time.

Many times receiving palliative care is the answer. Palliative care is not a one-size-fits-all approach and can be provided in a variety of settings and under varied circumstances.

The goal of palliative care is to relieve symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. It helps patients gain the strength to carry on with daily life while dealing with a medical condition, improves their ability to tolerate medical treatments and helps them better understand their options.

Palliative care is for people of any age, with any disease or prognosis and at any point in an illness. It can be delivered along with treatments that are meant to cure. Hospice always provides palliative care. However, hospice care focuses on terminally ill patients, those people who no longer seek treatments to cure their illness.

A key benefit of palliative care is that it looks at the patient as a whole in order to meet their individual needs, such as how they may or may not be responding to treatment. A team of nurses, therapists and aides working together with the primary doctor provide palliative care.

Many people with chronic illnesses live in assisted living residences. Assisted living is marketed as a less expensive alternative to nursing homes, not just for seniors who need assistance with personal care or medication, but also for those with mild to moderate cognitive impairment or dementia.

Assisted living is state regulated. More than half the states have a philosophy, definition, or value statement about assisted living in their statutes, regulations, or Medicaid requirements. Several states, such as Florida, New Jersey, and Oregon, explicitly address the value of assisted living residence operations and services to promote aging in place, whiles others do not promote this concept.

 

For residents, who are called “tenants” in some states, the assisted living facility is their home, and most hope to spend the rest of their life there. If their health declines or their needs change over time, a robust palliative care program can make aging in place a more comfortable and dignified solution.

The concept of “aging in place” connotes the expectation that as needs increase, including the occasional need for skilled nursing care, the resident will remain and receive such services at their assisted living residence. Finding a facility that offers the appropriate level of care as needed is critical, since some states have specific licensing requirements limiting what level of care they can provide and what residents they can accept based on their condition and physical and mental capabilities.

 
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Category: Health Conditions Affecting The Elderly /

Prostate Cancer

admin / July 5, 2011 / One comment

Just What the Doctor Ordered

Understanding the uncertainties of Prostate Cancer Screenings

As part of the male reproductive system, the prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland that produces seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body.

Right off the bat, this information sends up a red flag for any man, that the prostate is not a part of their body to be messed with.

Although prostate cancer is rare in men younger than 40, it’s the third most common cause of death from cancer in men of all ages and is the most common cause of death from cancer in men over age 75. With an estimated 80% of men who reach age 80 being diagnosed, it is a disease many senior men have to deal with.

While most of the time urinary-related issues are caused by other problems, the symptoms can sometimes be early signs of a developing cancer in the prostate. Delayed or slow start of the urinary stream, dribbling or leakage of urine, straining to empty the bladder or blood in urine or semen are warning signs that something is wrong.

The only test that can fully confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer is a biopsy, the removal of small pieces of the gland for microscopic examination. The good news is, there are a number less invasive tests that can be performed before reaching that point.

The most common is the PSA Blood Test. For men with average risk, screening is recommended beginning at age 50. However, some doctors recommend that men at higher risk of prostate cancer, such as African-American men or men with a family history of prostate cancer, start screening earlier.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a substance produced by the prostate gland. Elevated PSA levels determined with a simple blood analysis may indicate prostate cancer or other noncancerous conditions such as prostatitis (inflammation) or an enlarged prostate.

Most men have PSA levels under four and this number is traditionally used as the cutoff for concern about risk of prostate cancer. Men with prostate cancer often have PSA levels higher than four, although cancer is a possibility at any PSA level. Those with a PSA between four and ten have a 20 percent chance of having prostate cancer and if the PSA is higher than 10, the risk increases to 67 percent.

Other screening tools for diagnosing the disease include a rectal exam, a Crystoscopy procedure that shows the urinary tract from inside the bladder using a thin, flexible camera tube inserted through the urethra, and a Transrectal Ultrasonography that creates a picture of the prostate using sound waves from a probe placed in the rectum. If a doctor is concerned that a patient might have prostate cancer based on either PSA level, rectal exam or other screening, this is when a biopsy is usually ordered.

For men who become an unfortunate statistic, there are treatment options. They include radiation therapy, chemotherapy or cryosurgery, which is a process that applies extreme cold to destroy abnormal or diseased tissue and the most radical treatment option, surgery.

The age and underlying health of the patient, whether or not the cancer has spread to other areas, the appearance of the cells under a microscope and response of the cancer to initial treatment are important in determining the outcome of the disease. The decision on whether or not to treat a cancerous tumor within the prostate with curative intent is a trade-off between the expected benefits and the harmful effects in terms of patient survival and quality of life.

If a patient and their doctor decide that surgery to remove the prostate is needed, it’s important to choose a highly skilled surgeon at a hospital that has a high success rate. Experience has shown that men have fewer side effects from prostate surgery when they have a skilled and experienced surgeon.

Removal of the prostate gland is major surgery that carries with it the same general risks as other major operations, including heart problems, blood clots, allergic reaction to anesthesia, blood loss or infection. The surgery also carries with it some troubling side effects. Urinary and bowel incontinence and sexual dysfunction are to be expected. They can last for 3 months in the best-case scenario, a year or more is the norm, or become permanent.

Before undergoing a prostatectomy, a patient and their doctor should take into account the patient’s age, other medical conditions, the stage of the cancer, the PSA level and the patient’s personal wishes. Active surveillance or radiation therapy may be reasonable options.

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Category: Health Conditions Affecting The Elderly /

Breaking Habits

admin / June 30, 2011 / No comments

Breaking Bad Habits: Blame it on the striatum

Anyone who has ever tried knows that breaking a bad habit or tackling an addiction is no easy task. Take for example someone trying to lose weight or at the very least, stick to a resolution of eating a healthier diet. So why is it easier and seemingly more rewarding chowing down a bag of M&Ms than it is eating an apple?

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse answers that question when she asks, “Why are bad habits stronger? You’re fighting against the power of an immediate reward. We as creatures are hard-wired that way, to give greater value to an immediate reward as opposed to something that’s delayed.”

Along with practicing behavior modification tactics, like taking a walk instead of eating every time your tummy tells you it’s snack time, understanding some of the physiological actions of our brains can give us added ammunition in sticking to our guns when it comes to keeping resolutions or breaking a bad habit.

The striatum, located in the cerebrum in the front of the brain is responsible for controlling a number of different cognitive processes. It got its name because its structural appearance is striped with layers of gray and white matter.

Its most well defined role is planning and executing pathways of movement within the brain, most relevant, the “reward pathway.” The term describes the complex network of brain processes that regulate motivation and generates rewarding feelings. It sends the body pleasurable sensations and feelings that affect the behavior we associate with it. A good example is an ex-smoker who associates smoking a cigarette every time they enjoy a cup of coffee.

So what makes a bad habit turn into an addition? A major factor in addiction is dopamine. A chemical messenger, dopamine is similar to adrenaline. It affects the brain’s processes that control movement, emotional response and the ability to experience pleasure and pain.

The striatum is dopamine-rich and memorizes rituals and routines that are linked to getting a particular reward, explains NIDA’s Dr. Volkow. She went on to add a good example, “I don’t like popcorn, but every time I go to the cinema, I have to eat it. It’s fascinating.” Ultimately, such environmental cues trigger the striatum to make some behaviors almost automatic. In fact, for anything that links an action and a reward, “dopamine is indispensable for the formation of these habits,” Volkow says.

Scientists and behavioral therapists insist that breaking a bad habit can be achieved by replacing it with a “new, more desirable” routine. Repetition of the new routine at a regular time and place on a continuous basis will result in nearly the same type of signals from the brain that “hooked” you in the first place.

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Category: Don't Forget To Relax!, Uncategorized /

How to Get a Free Senior Education in Houston

admin / June 24, 2011 / One comment

How to get a free education in Houston, TX

The Texas legislature has amended its Education Code to read as follows:

Texas Education Code-Section 54.210. Senior Citizens
<(a) In this section SENIOR CITIZENS means a person 65 years old or older.(b) The governing board of any state supported institution of higher education may allow a senior citizen to audit any course offered by the institution without the payment of a fee, if space is available.(c)The governing board of an institution of higher education may allow a senior citizen to enroll for credit in up to six hours of courses offered by the institution each semester or summer term without payment of tuition, if space is available.

 
The University of Houston’s senior citizen policy incentive statement reads as follows: “The University allows senior citizens to audit any course offered by the campus without payment of a fee. “Auditing” a course means students are allowed to attend classes and lectures without having homework or taking exams, however they do not receive college credits.

Senior citizens enrolled in courses for credit are entitled to a waiver of the tuition for up to six credit hours of course work.” Through its Continuing Education Program, the University of Houston offers courses under two categories:

Education Beyond Degrees – Designed for individuals with degrees who perhaps wish to enhance their careers.

Lifelong Learning Institute – Designed to attract individuals without degrees, who may wish to continue their intellectual and personal growth.

Course examples include classes such as English for Professional Development, Paralegal Certificate, or The Life and Works of Noel Coward, the noted English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer.

Prairie View A&M University’s tuition exemption policy for seniors reads: “Senior Citizens aged 65 and older taking six (6) Semester Credit Hours are exempt from paying tuition.”

The Lone Star College System offers courses at the Academy for Life Long Learning designed for active older adults age fifty and over who enjoy opportunities for continued intellectual and personal growth. For an annual membership fee of $15.00, senior citizens are entitled to register for any courses offered, at no cost or for a nominal fee.

Not just in Texas, however, lawmakers across America are helping seniors make the dream of continuing their education become a reality by passing laws which allow them the privilege of going to college without having to pay tuition.

Seniors can take advantage of the treasures of educational opportunities offered for older adults through community colleges, universities, vocational schools, and other learning centers throughout Texas and across America. When seniors step through the college doors and into a classroom, they are sure to share a love of learning with interesting and diverse groups of people that will boost their life.

Tips on how to look for tuition free senior classes in any state:

Contact the Registrar of any local campus group to learn what opportunities are available. Many tuition free educational opportunities for seniors are available at the local community colleges universities.

Investigate online coursework. If you are home bound and enjoy the Internet, there are many online courses with free tuition for seniors. If you find something of interest, ask about free tuition for seniors, and ask about scholarships for seniors that will cover tuition.

Contact Continuing Education groups in your community. They offer coursework that may be free to seniors, or they sometimes have scholarships. If you find a class you like, contact the instructor and see if there are free opportunities for seniors in the class.

Seniors should keep in mind that even with tuition free courses, there will most likely be some additional costs to consider such as parking on campus and books and supplies. Many traditional college courses also have online components, so it may be necessary to have access to a computer and the Internet.

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Category: Caring For Your Loved Senior, Don't Forget To Relax! /

The High Cost Os Isolation

admin / June 22, 2011 / 2 comments

The High Cost of Isolation

Because reading the words “According to a new study…” at the beginning of any article sends me digging in the bottom of my desk drawer for toothpicks to hold my eyes open, let me report instead, that single seniors and even couples who isolate themselves have a much greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Those at highest risk are the ones who normally don’t venture beyond their driveway or front yard on the way to get their mail. They are the ones who decline invitations from friends for lunch, decide it’s too much effort to get out and have their hair done once a week, make excuses for skipping family gatherings, and ultimately give in to the temptation to remain safely cocooned at home.

Problem is, after a while, life doesn’t exactly feel warm and fuzzy unless you interact with other people. In fact, not only do long-term shut-ins face inevitable cognitive decline and increase their risk of developing Alzheimer’s, they have a good chance of dying a lonesome death.

Last month police discovered the mummified remains of former Playboy centerfold and B-list actress Yvette Vickers inside her dilapidated Los Angeles home. She was 82 and had reportedly become a recluse during her last several years. The Los Angeles Times reported that she might have been dead for as long as a year.

A neighbor eventually noticed her uncollected mail and cobwebs piling up outside the home.

After a bone-chilling ordeal that involved “scaling a hillside,” climbing through a broken window, clawing her way past stacks of “clothes, junk mail and letters,” the neighbor, Susan Savage, discovered the former beauty’s corpse next to a phone that was left off the hook and a space heater that was still running.

Vickers attended UCLA for three years before landing a commercial spot as the White Rain Girl in a shampoo commercial. She went on to star in several low budget Hollywood thrillers like Attack of the Leeches, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and What’s the Matter With Helen? After her career wound down, Vickers rarely left her home and for the most part withdrew from her extended family and most of her friends. In 2003, Vickers told author and historian John O’Dowd she believed she was being stalked and mentioned that she was receiving “a lot of hang-up calls, odd messages, and saw suspicious cars outside her house.”

The research done on the connection between isolation and getting Alzheimer’s and other dementias did not offer concrete proof of the correlation, but it did raise valid suspicions about the possible cost seniors pay when they decide to withdraw from the world insulated by the safety net of their own homes.

The study tracked 1,294 seniors with a measure known as “life space.” “Life space” is actually a measure that has come into vogue with gerontologists lately,” lead researcher Bryan D. James said. “Mostly it’s been a measurement of mobility, figuring out whether people are getting around their environment, how much they’re seeing that’s different from their couch or bedroom or living room.”

In five years of follow-up, the researchers found that people who reported that they never left their home environment during a given week were about twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease as those who traveled out of town. “People who don’t leave their home as much aren’t engaging with their environment and meeting new people,” James said. “They may not be using their minds as much.”

The research, James said, offers “a new way to see who’s going to be more likely to develop dementia in the future.”

Dr. James R. Burke, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Duke University Medical Center, said, “This paper is consistent with, but extends, previous findings that physical activity, intellectual engagement and social stimulation are important to delaying cognitive decline.”

“According to a new study…,” if the sad case of Yvette Vickers doesn’t convince us, enough said.

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Category: Caring For Your Loved Senior, Don't Forget To Relax! /

Jury Duty Scams Affecting Seniors

admin / June 16, 2011 / One comment

The Verdict Is In

How to protect against jury duty scams

First revealed by Scam Alert in May 2006, the Better Business Bureau has reported scattered resurgences of the ruse in at least eleven states across the country.

Here’s how it works. Scammers, taking names and addresses from phone books or public records, telephone unsuspecting people informing them they are about to be arrested because they did not show up for jury duty. The warning of imminent arrest is of course, intended to scare people into making the usual response: “I never received a jury duty summons.”

Claiming to want to clear up the matter, the caller asks to verify the person’s identity by requesting their Social Security number, birth date and possibly even bank or credit card account numbers. Revealing such details enables the caller to steal their identity and get credit cards, loans and medical services in their name and at their expense.

Hear, hear all ye good people! Authentic jury duty and “no-show” summonses for missed jury duty are always, without exception delivered by U.S. Postal Service mail. In very rare instances if an actual court official calls for any reason, they will NOT ask for personal information such as a social security number.

Analog telephone lines, also referred to as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service), support standard phones, fax machines, and modems. These are the “hard” lines typically found in homes or small offices and are likely the kind many seniors have.

Several years ago for a few bucks more on your monthly bill, telephone companies started offering the Caller ID feature. Caller ID became a popular feature especially for those who are at home during the day to track down or limit the impact of dealing with telemarketers, prank calls, and other intrusive phone calls. If you have Caller ID service, then an amazing thing happens every time your phone rings — the number and often even the name of the calling party appears on the display right after the first ring. If you don’t recognize the caller or it doesn’t seem important, you have the option of ignoring the call without having to deal with it.

Unfortunately, as in other similar telephone scams, the criminals are one up on bypassing the Caller ID screening system. A call about a fake jury duty scam may appear legitimate because on the Caller ID screen, it indicates that the call is coming from a local courthouse. Scammers have unlimited access to “spoofing” devices, which they can easily purchase on the Internet that allows them to display any phone number or name on the Caller ID screen.

Another jury duty scam is currently making the rounds via email claiming to be from subpoena@uscourts.com. USCourts.com is a legitimate business that provides electronic court data to attorneys and others in the legal system, but it is not a government agency and has nothing to do with jury duty activities. The company, which warns about the scam on the “contact us” link on its website, was likely targeted because its Web address resembles uscourts.gov, the site for the federal judicial system.

Here’s what everyone need to know to help make computer savvy senior citizens aware:

Bona fide jury duty summonses, as well as summonses for no-shows, as we now know are delivered by U.S. mail. They are never sent by email, so delete any you get without opening attachments.

The Attorney General warns email recipients not to open or click on attachments concerning jury duty because it gives fraudsters the ability to unleash computer viruses that helps them steal passwords and online banking data.

Phone and email scams are of course not limited to jury duty issues. If you get a phone call on any subject, remember not to rely on Caller ID. The scammers can easily “spoof” the phone number, falsely indicating it’s coming from a bank, a credit card company or another legitimate entity. If you have any concerns, look up the correct phone number yourself and call back. If any unsolicited caller asks for personal information, you can be sure the call is phony.

The Internet Crime Complaint Center can take reports on jury duty and other scams at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx. Phone call scams should be reported to your State Attorney General’s office.

About the Author:
Gloria Ha’o Schneider is a Houston-based freelance writer who has written advertising /senior-related issues and has a passion for writing human- interest stories like Funeral Homes Houston and Home Health Houston.

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Category: Caring For Your Loved Senior, Miscellaneous /

Does Your Brain Need More Ram?

admin / June 14, 2011 / 2 comments

Does Your Brain Need More Ram?

Have you ever wished you could add a chip to your brain like the ones you add to your computer to get more space for memory? If the answer is yes, think again. Experts say the only reason you would need it is if you want to remember everything.

For several years now, and rightly so, much of the world’s focus has been on learning more about cognitive loss and the memory-robbing havoc caused by Alzheimer’s disease, but actually even healthy brains could never hold every single memory.

In the absence of injury or disease, the assumption in cognitive psychology and neuroscience is that it wouldn’t be possible for the human brain to have recall of every experience or perception throughout an entire lifetime.

Even experts on Alzheimer’s and other dementias can outline the differences in normal memory loss versus those caused by disease.

Information is stored in different parts of our memory. The data housed in recent memory may include things like what we ate for breakfast or what we did last night, while our short-term memory helps us recall the name of a person we met five minutes ago. Remote or long-term memory includes things that we have collected and stored from years ago, such as events from our childhood.

The temporal lobes of our brain are in charge of storing data, processing thought, language learning and mood stability. A major component in this part of the brain is the hippocampus, which encodes and memorizes information.

This small, curved, tube-shaped structure is responsible for not only forming new memories about all our experiences and then processing them into long-term storage; it’s also responsible for functions like emotions, behavior and sense of smell. Whenever we have to remember places, events, people or important facts, it’s the hippocampus’ ability to retrieve this information that makes it possible.

Associate professor and director of Cognitive Neuroscience at Harvard Medical School, Moshe Bar says that, “memory is actually more of a survival tool than an entertainment platform” that allows us to reflect on the past. His research leads him to believe that our brains provide us with enough space to store information that in turn, allows us to base our future behavior on memory from past experiences.

One of Bar’s best examples in his article published in the L.A. Times was when he described a scenario of receiving a phone call and an unfamiliar voices asks you how you are doing. The background noise tells you it’s another telemarketing call. He says it doesn’t matter that it’s a new call or new person on the line, the situation is similar to many you have already experienced. Once you recognize the similarity, you automatically take the same series of actions you’ve done before (apologizing for being too busy to talk for example, or expressing your lack of interest in whatever they’re calling about and then hanging up).

Bar says having the ability to make predictions is based on experiences stored in our memories and saves us a lot of time in reacting to situations that are familiar. He also says that humans have the unique ability to make predictions that are not based on past experiences, but rather by imagining possible scenarios in the future and taking logical actions to address them. Lay people call it planning ahead. A good example might be if you’re planning to grill hot dogs all day at your child’s fundraising event and you don’t have a fuel gauge on your propane tank. You would likely decide it best to take along an extra tank of fuel so you don’t run out in the middle of the barbeque.

The science makes you wonder how your brain might learn something new. Bar believes that “novelty is the primary, if not primal, trigger of learning.”What we learn he says, and what stays in our memory are novel bits of information about the world around us, which in turn, enrich the reserve of situations on which we later make predictions. Bar says our brains our “relentless generators of predictions,” always seeking new input, thus increasing our ability “to produce accurate predictions and minimize uncertainty with exposure to the new.”

In a comforting way, this concept excuses us from the concern we might have about not being able to remember the name of a person we met at the supermarket earlier in the day. Perhaps the huge amounts of stimuli we receive throughout the course of just one day, is not remembered because we don’t need to, it’s not important. It does however, reinforce what all scientists say about our brains, that without exercising it by learning new and novel things, it’s bound to decline, or at the very least become stagnant.

About the Author:
Gloria Ha’o Schneider is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who has written advertising /senior-related issues and has a passion for writing human- interest stories like Skilled Nursing Facility San Antonio and Assisted Living San Antonio.

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Category: Dementia /

Above Average

admin / June 14, 2011 / No comments

Above Average

How One Senior is Dealing with a Longer Life Expectancy

Always one to excel at pulling her own weight, and never reticent in touting her ability to do so, Joann was an over achiever, a “do-er.”

These qualities made it even harder for her adult children to accept that their 86-year-old mother could no longer safely drive a car, manage her own finances, dig a garden plot or show her gardener how to fix a sprinkler head.

When it became painfully imperative it was time to step in and start assisting with chores like bill paying, medication regimens and trips to the grocery store, the eldest sibling who became the designated daughter caregiver, was met with a frustrating string of comments.

Joann was always quick to remind her that she had capably handled “the books” at the family owned business for 30 years. She would tell her daughter that the well-organized pill dispenser she bought was more confusing than just lining up the bottles, and she would whimper when she was forced to ride along, rather than drive her own car that had been sitting-at-the-ready in her garage for months.

It was obvious that Joann was agonizing over the things that so many elderly people understandably do; loss of independence and adjusting to the awkward reversal of authority within the family dynamics. Joann was annoyed by her daughter telling her what to do. It is beyond emotionally painful when even the ability to engage in the simple joys in life such as gardening or taking on a new project, begins to diminish.

The entire family was forced to accept it though, and eventually, so was Joann. Describing the process as a simple metamorphosis would sound trite since it involved many months of frustration, anger and tears to reach that point, but Joann ultimately adopted an interesting, although not necessarily healthy, new outlook.

She still grumbled a bit, but she developed her own mantra for dealing with the changes in her life. Her instrument of thought in response to any suggestion, such as one from her doctor to exercise more, was that because of her age, no one should expect her to be “the same person she was at 35, and that it was doubtful things were going to improve.” She was after all, “above average.”

And she was right.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released their annual U.S. average life expectancy number earlier this year, which tallied out to 78 years and 2 months, a slight increase from the previous year. If you’re a female, statistically speaking, you can expect on average, 80.6 years of life and for men, the figure goes down to around 75.7 years.

Back in 1930, when leading causes of death out-numbered and out-weighed the positive impacts of present day awareness, prevention and medical intervention, a man’s life expectancy was 58 and a woman’s 62. Eating better foods, vaccination, development of new medications, control of infectious disease and recognition of the benefits of healthier life styles have added up to longer life expectancies.

For many like Joann, who have exceeded the average life expectancy, it means dealing with some fairly inevitable conditions such as memory loss and dementia, chronic conditions like arthritis, high blood pressure and heart disease, all of which affect not just their physical health, but their mind, mobility and robs them of their spirit.

So are longer life expectancies depressing news? If you’re above average, possibly. The healthcare industry is fixated on meeting the needs of the growing elderly population and they consistently recommend exercise, eating well and social interaction as ways to improve one’s quality of life at any age, even if it’s one “above average.”

If only we could find a more pragmatic way to convince people like Joann that these tips are not attempts to turn back the clock or turn them into a Benjamin Button phenomenon. Rather they are tactics to help increase strength that might allow them to dig that small garden plot after all, or to improve their mental alertness so they can at least participate in managing their finances or to help them remember to take their medication.

About the Author:
Gloria Ha’o Schneider is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who has written advertising /senior-related issues and has a passion for writing human- interest stories like Funeral Homes San Antonio and Home Health San Antonio.

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Category: Don't Forget To Relax! /

Breathing Away Anxiety

admin / June 9, 2011 / No comments

Breathing Away Anxiety

Who hasn’t experienced a stressful moment when someone offered the advice, “Just take a deep breath?”

Chronic stress, worry or anxiety can lead to quick, shallow breathing which, over time, can become a habit affecting several areas of our lives. Taking in deep breaths, helps clear and focus the mind. It also strengthens abdominal and intestinal muscles and has been shown to provide relief to asthma sufferers.

Deep breathing releases endorphins, the body’s own painkillers into the system. These natural analgesics can help relieve headaches, sleeplessness, backaches and other stress related aches and pains.

Seattle based Group Health Centre for Health Studies found that the benefits of taking deep breaths to reduce anxiety are just as effective as getting a massage.

The group conducted a study of 68 people suffering from depression and anxiety. A generalized anxiety disorder is a condition involving excessive worrying that makes normal life difficult and more stressful.

Over a period of three months, the patients were given one of three treatments. One group had massage. The other two had relaxation therapy: breathing deeply while lying down, or thermotherapy: having their arms and legs wrapped up intermittently with heating pads and warm towels.

All three therapies were administered in a relaxing environment with soft lighting and quiet music.

After receiving the first treatment, all three groups reported their anxiety decreased by about 40 percent, and by as much as 50 percent three months later at the end of the study.

Lead researcher, Dr. Karen Sherman, said they were surprised to find that the benefits of massage for reducing anxiety were no greater than in those sessions of ‘thermotherapy’ or the deep breathing exercises. The researchers in the study agreed that the goal of massage therapy is more than relaxing people and also involves reducing physical tension.

Susan Findlay, spokesperson for the General Council for Massage Therapies, said massage is not just about dealing with emotional issues and relaxation. “Massage therapists do corrective work with soft tissue such as muscles and tendons. They try to make these tissues work as well as possible,” she said.

One big plus of doing deep breathing techniques to reduce stress is that it doesn’t cost anything, and since it can be done anywhere, it’s a convenient and effective way for relieving anxiety.

In her book, “Jump Start Your Metabolism: How to Lose Weight by Changing the Way you Breathe“, author Pam Grout says shallow breathing impoverishes the cells of the body and slows metabolism. “Without enough oxygen, your metabolism automatically slows down,” says Grout. One of the ways exercise increases metabolism is by increasing the oxygen to the cells.

A simple, deep breathing exercise

To ease tension and give your health and energy a boost, begin by sitting or lying comfortably. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose, counting to six. Hold your breath while slowly counting to six. Exhale slowly through your mouth, slowly counting to eight.

The key is to concentrate on counting while inhaling and exhaling. Feel you lungs fill up with precious oxygen. Feel your heart rate slow. By exhaling more breath than you inhale, you cleanse all the stale air held in your lungs. Repeating the exercise several times will produce a sense of relaxation.

About the Author:
Gloria Ha’o Schneider is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who has written advertising /senior-related issues and has a passion for writing human- interest stories like Skilled Nursing Facility Phoenix and Assisted Living Phoenix.

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Category: Don't Forget To Relax! /
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