Preventing Falls

Maybe it's all those candles on the birthday cake but geriatric concerns are quickly becoming joeblack concerns.  Maybe it's the nature of my work too.

Anyway, I do know one of the greatest fears of those that are older is a fear of falling.  And it's a legitimate fear, with over 2 million people falling every year in this country alone.

One of the tragic consequences of a fall is a broken hip.   For those with already compromised health (the elderly are chief among those), that can be bad news.   Probably 25% of those that break a hip will die within a year of their injury.

 So what can be done about it?  Can we really do anything to prevent falls?

Oh yeah.  Lots. 

First up is staying physically active.   Not only does this give us stronger bones and muscles, it gives us better balance (but more on that in a minute).   Staying active means staying engaged in the community, staying active in your neighborhood, and exercising regularly.  Your exercise regime should include strength training.  I've said many times, it is more important to lift weights at 70 than it is at 30.

Osteoporosis is a really problem as we age, especially for women.  Weightbearing activities (running, walking, hiking) can have a huge impact on the development of osteoporosis.   One of the side effects of that is that if you do fall, your bones are stronger and can maybe withstand a fall without breaking.

Get rid of the vanity.   I strongly recommended to a patient not long ago that she begin using a cane.  After a series of falls and health issues that guaranteed more, it just seemed prudent.   Her refusal was quick and adamant.   A cane would not fit in with her "image."

Having something, anything to aid in balance might just prevent a fall.  It's not that much different from the hiking sticks that folks of all ages carry.   Maybe I should start recommending hiking poles instead of canes for some folks.

Bifocals (or progressive lens or whatever it is that you might have) contribute to falls.  The bottom of those lenses are made to allow you to see things up close.   The ground or the floor is blurry when you look down through them.   I don't wear mine when I go hiking.   I need to see the ground below me.  

The solution?  Maybe smaller frames so that you can see below your glasses.   Or just consciously looking below the lower rim.   In any case, the visual input of seeing where you are stepping is a huge assist in falls prevention.

Finally, balance can be trained.   If you are at significant risk, there are falls prevention programs available at many physical therapy clinics.   Those programs really work. 

But for most, a few simple exercises performed daily at home, can help your balance.   Start by standing on one foot.   Sounds simple but time yourself--how long can you stand on one foot?

Or stand with your eyes closed.   Be sure and have a family member available and some way of stabilizing yourself if you start to fall, such as a handrail (don't depend on furniture).

Next, stand on one foot and close your eyes.   Or maybe stand on one foot and swing your arms from side to side.  Get the picture?   Put demands on your balance system and it gets better.  

Stay sharp.  Stay active.  Stay balanced.

Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's Day.  For those of us blessed with children, I'm not sure that we have a more important role in our lives than to be good parents to our children.

I've said many times that I don't see many bad kids but I've seen way too many bad parents.  Anybody that's been around sports as much as I have has seen the worst of the worst.

Like the dad that didn't want to go to his daughter's games because she wasn't going to get to play anyway.  My sermon was that he needs to be there more if she's not playing than if she is.

Or the dad who was so overbearing that his child couldn't enjoy the basketball game because of the constant criticism that was being offered from the sideline.   That child ended up quitting the game they loved because of it.

I've listened to dads in the stands yell at their kid, coaches, referees, and opposing players.   One of the worst would criticize everyone on his son's team but his own son.  Loudly.  Bitterly.

I want to tell you about a couple of dads that I think got it right.

Logan Winders was a standout  on the 2012 MHS football team that made it to the state championship game and an important part of the 2011 team that won that same championship.  His brother Zane, who just completed his college career at Maryville College (where Logan will matriculate this fall), did much the same.

Their father, Joey Winders, has coached a variety of youth sports teams around here but is most widely known as the Head Coach of the Maryville Southerners, a Pee-Wee team in the Parks & Recreation football league.

Joey's efforts on behalf of youth sports in this community are almost beyond compare.  Long before his boys were playing, he was coaching.  Baseball, basketball, football.  I don't recall that he coached other sports along the way but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he did.

He has been such a part of the fabric of youth sports around here that if he had tried to be heavy handed with the high school career of his sons, few would be surprised.   He coached them pretty much all the way up to high school, and it had to be hard to step aside and turn Zane and Logan over to other coaches.

But that's exactly what he did.   Sure, he worked behind the scenes, doing whatever parents could do to support the WHOLE team.  Like feed them, before and after games.  Come early and stay late to do those things that need to be done.

He lifted his kids up when they were down and stood to the side and let them live in the glory when they thrived.  For my money, he was a really great dad--an example of how that role should be played out.

Nick Myers was the quarterback of this same football team.  Few would argue that his performance from game 1 through the championship game wasn't a big reason, maybe the biggest, for this year's success. 

His dad Don Don was also a youth sports coach but what I will always remember about him is that he was at football practice pretty much every single day of Nick's high school career, quietly observing from the periphery of the practice field. 

As far as I can tell, he never tried to coach or criticize, and I honestly never heard a negative word come out of his mouth, even when his son was battling for a starting position or having a bad day.

Joey & Don Don:  Good dads that understand that these days passed too quickly yet made the best of them.

Well done guys.  Happy Father's Day.

Choose To Be Happy

"The Lady Who Cuts My Hair" has accused me on a couple of occasions of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses (if that's a metaphor that you don't understand, Google it up) but I'm capable of getting down too.

Like just the other day.  I was really, really tired.  As in, dinner-is-over-are-you-ready-for-bed-yet tired.  There had been some tough issues to deal with at work and I hadn't slept real good the night before and I'm getting older but you already knew that.

I was beginning to think that maybe those birthday candles had finally caught up with me and I was definitely feeling sorry for myself.  Anyway, I was walking around looking like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.  My wife noticed and asked about it. 

And then I saw this video clip of the little girl throwing a baseball to start a game because her daddy was in the middle east fighting a war that seems to be more than half a world away from us when the catcher popped his mask off and it was that same daddy come home.

And I stopped to think about my new friend and former patient whose dog just died and that dog and the one this guy lost last year were just about the best things going on in his troubled life.

I look at a lady that I know that is a retired "lunch lady" (cafeteria worker) that has remained one of the most enthusiastic high school sports fans know despite steadily declining health.  And one of the nicest people too. 

She was concerned with paying a $10 bill because she had just spent her last $10.  No mention of eating or other expenses.  She wanted to make sure she could meet her obligations.

Then just yesterday, I was behind a vehicle traveling down 321 traveling so slowly that other cars were backing up behind it.  The driver then pulled off and began driving down the shoulder to let cars go by, but he kept moving.

I'm gonna bet that this vehicle was probably going as fast as it could go.  The driver and his young family were maybe headed home, maybe having gone to the grocery store or to the doctor or something.  I know I'm jumping to some conclusions here but I believe I may be guessing correctly.

If all that is true, then it would be easy to then assume that he couldn't afford to get his vehicle fixed.  But it was probably their only means of transportation and so off they go.

Can you imagine how embarrassing this would be for this young man?   Trying to make ends meet and put food on the table and yet driving a vehicle that would barely get them around?  How powerless that situation would make him feel?

I'm in good health, the only time I'm hungry is by choice or neglect, and my truck starts when I turn the ignition every morning.  

So what possible reason could I have for feeling down?  What burdens do I carry...really?

 

Simplifying Weight Loss

Weight loss is a topic that I've tackled in this space many, many times.  Some might offer  too many.

It's just  that a lot of the health issues that we face today are because of obesity.  Diabetes, heart disease, blood pressure, even certain types of cancer.  And we know that obesity makes it hard on your joints. 

Obesity is the #1 preventable problem facing Americans today.   And notice the "preventable" part of that.  We can do something about it.  

Throughout time, there have been more diets than...well, you can imagine or I can describe.  I've looked at many of them.  The Adkins diet.  The Watermelon diet.  Paleo.  South Beach.  The detox diet.  The grapefruit diet. 

But the main conclusion that I've reached is that the simpler the weight loss program, the more likely it will be that you will stick with it.  That the easier it is to live with, the less self-control that you will have to use   That the better you stick with it, the more effective it will be.

So I've adopted a very simple plan that most people can follow.  A path, if you will, to better health.   I believe that you need to look at doing two things:  Exercising every day and eliminating that one "worst" thing from your diet.

That every day exercise thing is important and is probably the most daunting aspect about this whole concept.  Studies distributed by the American College of Sports Medicine have indicated that to achieve fitness, you should exercise at least 4 times a week.

Notice the "at least" part of that.  I don't believe that is enough.  If your exercise is going to affect your metabolism (and it can in very important and profound ways), you've got to do it every day.

The exercise doesn't have to be vigorous but you do need to do it every day.  Walking is a great start but you'll find that if you do it daily, pretty soon it won't be enough.  Swimming is great if you've got access to a pool.  Most people know of my love for everything bicycling and CrossFit. 

You've just got to find something that you can stick with.  I would suggest that it should be several "somethings."   Strength training should definitely be in there part of the time.   Interval training and cardio are important too.   But if you don't do something that you find fun, you won't be able to sustain it.

And I can tell you from years of experience in working with people pursuing fitness, you've got to sustain it.   You've got to be in for the long haul.  A commitment to the lifestyle change that this requires is not something you can do for 6 months, see great gains, then move on to something else.

You have to build it into your daily schedule.  If it's Tuesday, it must be cardio day, or something like that.  Have a plan and then stick with it until it doesn't work anymore and then change it.  It helps to have exercise partners.  Being accountable to anyone makes it harder to miss a workout.

And the best time to exercise is in the morning.   Even light exercise will change your metabolism (for the good), with the net result being that you burn more calories the rest of the day (another good thing).

The other part:  remove that one worst part of your diet.  Not everything, just the worst thing.

I used to have a secretary that brought a 65 ounce jug of soda to work every day.   And she refilled it at least once every day.  She didn't really have a weight problem but she had a lot of health problems that were likely the result of all that sugar. 

What is that one bad thing for you?  Identify it and cut it out.  It really is that simple.   No wholesale changes to your diet and definitely no "diet" to follow nor calories to count.