Happiness and well-being

I read and article in one of my nursing magazines about happiness. It had some good points that are worth summarizing here. I also searched some internet sites and discovered that there are many more articles on depression than on happiness.

Happiness is a positive emotion that can be looked upon as an individual trait. Sustained happiness can be associated with characteristics that parallel success, including sociability, optimism, energy, originality and altruism. A positive psychologist, Martin Seligman calls it “manifests as deep satisfaction with how you live your life.”  

Some people are born happy. Scientifically, they seem to better use their serotonin transporter gene and are generally more satisfied with life. The others of us tend to be in control of our own happiness. We make choices that are more satisfying and we can rationalize the happiness.  Several factors can contribute to our happiness.

Age. We tend to get happier as we grow older. A Gallup telephone poll found that we are happiest between the ages of 50 – 70. Interesting.

Religion. I think we all see that being together for worship regularly is very satisfying. The other activities we attend stem from worship where the friendship with God branches in reaching out to each other. A Pew study found that people who attended services weekly or more were happier than those who attend less often. There is no scientific data as to why but there is a theory that church life reduces stress and provides meaning to life.

Money. Ask a lottery winner if the money brought them happiness and most will say it wasn’t the money. A Gallup World Poll found that a person’s satisfaction with their standard of living was associated with a more positive evaluation of life. Using one’s skill and autonomy brought more overall satisfaction.  Having the money did not bring daily happiness.

Marriage. Married people tend to be happier although there is not a clear reason why. It’s very complicated except to say that we are social creatures and we  require regular psychological nourishment. Being in a sustained relationship attends to those requirements.

The article went on to talk about some strategies to get happy.  Connecting socially, keeping a positive attitude, being grateful and tending to your body are all good virtues.

Learning to reduce negative thoughts can contribute to happiness.  Dealing with adversity, feeling out the situation, looking at consequences can be predictors of unhappiness. Recognizing your negative thoughts or checking on your energy levels can work in your favor. Perhaps there’s a situation that requires an intervention. Perhaps it is you who needs to forgive or make a change. Dealing with emotions, especially negative ones can prevent long periods of uncertainty that can lead to unhappiness. Studies have shown that those who forgive become less angry and more compassionate. It allows you to move on. It is a feeling of peace that emerges as you take your hurt less personally and take responsibility for how you feel. You can become the hero instead of the victim in the story you tell.

Finally, one way to be kind to your mind is through meditation or some form of mindfulness. Research at the University of Wisconsin found that meditation significantly increased positive emotion. It resulted in lower cortisol, cholesterol and blood pressure. The focused relaxation had some very positive effects.  Overall, it must be said that happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Take care everyone. Perhaps we can stay focused and in control with the upcoming holidays so that we can enjoy them.

Ann

We had our Health Fair and Flu Shot Clinic

Hi Everyone.

What a terrific day we had on October 9 at the Health Fair and Flu Shot Clinic!

Approximately 300 people came through, visited our 11 information tables, and ate Chef Winnona’s food.  Chef Andy baked 220 oatmeal raisin cookies and they were all eaten.

Of course, the thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers can be said over and over and it will never be enough. The information that was given was relevant and wanted. 

The medical team vaccinated 227 people. It was controlled chaos for a while but we were prepared and all went well. Again, the team was all volunteer. Dr Frank Andersen, Dr Rob Robinson, Nurse Tom Mayer, Nurse Laura Johnson are from St Mark.  Nurse Susan Johnson is from Community Medicine at Hoag Health Ministries.  Nurse Jeanette Tolentino, Nurse Heather Vittori, Nurse Joann Vanderpool are friends of mine. At the registration table was Dr Ken Dumars, Lois Butler and Joy Johnston.  It was great. Chef Andy came by in the nick of time to feed us cookies and water. We needed the energy.

Here are just a few tips about flu vaccination.

• Getting vaccinated yearly increases immunity.
• You can be contagious with the flu before you know you have it. The whole family should be vaccinated at the same time.  It takes about 2 weeks to develop the antibodies.
• Flu can be deadly to the very young, the elderly, the frail, the chronically ill and those with weakened immune systems. Pregnant women should be vaccinated.
• Anyone 6 months and older should be vaccinated. Those under 8 need to see the pediatrician for specific dosing requirements.  Those over 65 can ask their health care provider if they need the “super” vaccine.
• Washing your hands can significantly decrease the spread of flu virus.
• At this time approximately 50% of the population requests the vaccine. Once all people are vaccinated, flu can be eradicated.

For anyone who was unable to come to the clinic, I will have a small amount of flu vaccine available through the winter. Call me and we can arrange a time to give your shot.

Take care everyone.  Stay well.

Ann

Ringing in the ears

Tinnitus or ringing in the ears can be annoying, aggravating, depressing and disabling. I think everyone has experienced the problem and most of the time it goes away with time or goes away with treatment for swimmers ear, getting high blood pressure under control, or stopping a medication. More than 200 drugs are known to cause tinnitus when you start or stop taking them. Other causes can be excessive ear wax, ear or sinus infections and Meniere’s disease. Worst case scenario would be a brain tumor or heart trouble. But, lets not get too excited, those last two are pretty rare.  I read an article from the National Institutes of Health about this problem. The article states “that each year about 1 in 10 adults nationwide has an episode of tinnitus that lasts longer than 3 months”. This isn’t a disease.  It has to do with the inner ear, or the brain.  “The network of nerve cells that process sounds have been thrown out of balance in a way that creates the illusion of sound where there is none”. It is unknown why this happens. There is no cure for the tinnitus with no obvious cause. 

Treatment is based on ideas and response. Some people are helped by hearing aids when a hearing loss and tinnitus occur together. Others wear a sound generator that puts out pleasant sounds to help mask the tinnitus. Behavioral counseling helps some to deal with the noises. Most patients need combinations of these treatments and must be willing to try one after another to find the most benefit. 

There is a trial taking place now with ex-military personnel .”The most common service-related injury among those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is tinnitus”. Many of these people have been exposed to loud noises such as bombs and vehicles. Some of them have tissue damage resulting in tinnitus. The trial combines educational counseling with a sound-generation device. For more on the trial go to http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01177137.

If you have tinnitus lasting more than 3 months, see your Dr. to rule out some obvious causes. After that, you will probably be referred to an ENT specialist. Be sure you like the specialist, you might be seeing him fairly often until this is resolved or controlled.

I hope this information is helpful and generally educational.

ann

Sodium & Potassium in your diet

Today in the paper was an article about death rates for people who take in twice as much sodium as potassium in their diets. Sobering facts. It was not a clinical trial so they cannot make definitive recommendations but they did say “those participants who got high sodium and low potassium had the highest death rates of all: a 46% higher risk of dying from any cause than those who ate equal proportions of the nutrients. So, I thought I would make a few remarks about general diets. I am not going to address disease related diets for patients with diabetes or kidney disease. Clearly, those patients must follow the doctors orders exactly.

The U.S. dietary guidelines for the daily intake of sodium is 1500 mg and for potassium it is 4700 mg.  Most Americans are on the opposite ends of these recommendations. They will intake 3400 mg of sodium and only 2500 mg of potassium.  Everyone has experienced that high sodium morning after a night of pizza and chips. You feel bloated, slow, and your blood pressure is higher than usual. If you’re smart, you’ll go on low sodium the next day and drink plenty of water to flush it all away. You need both electrolytes to make the pump work properly. Together, they make the heart regular, the blood pressure normal, the kidneys excreting proper amounts of urine and the head is able to make proper decisions. So, how do you do all this without undue stress?  The study cited in the paper had one easy suggestion. Don’t eat processed food.  Choose fresh, whole foods.  Very simple.

So, now what. I went online to healthaliciousness.com and found lists of fruits and vegetables with the amount of potassium in each. I didn’t bother with the sodium list. Just limit table salt, use less salt when cooking and eliminate processed and fast foods. Easier said than done but it’s an easy list to remember.

The following is a list of foods high in potassium from the most per serving to the least. Interestingly, bananas are pretty far down on the list.

Dried apricots, prunes, dried currants or raisins, dates, dried figs, dried coconut, avocados, bananas, nectarines, peaches and oranges, melons and watermelon.

The vegetables are: sun-dried tomatoes, raw spinach, swiss chard, mushrooms, sweet potato, raw kale, brussels sprouts, zucchini, snap green beans, beets and asparagus.

Of course these lists are not comprehensive but it’s always interesting to see an item and think about adding it to your diet. I like a raw spinach salad with raisins, almonds and beets. Of course you can ruin the healthfulness of a salad by drenching it in a fatty salad dressing so I like a little flavored vinegar and oil. Sometimes, I like cottage cheese on the side but I have to be careful about the amount. Cottage cheese may not have many carbohydrates but it is loaded with sodium.

So, keep it as simple as possible. Read food labels and choose your menu before you eat. Grazing or hungry eating can get you into trouble from a sodium/potassium level and total calories level.

Hope this is food (pardon the pun) for thought.

Ann

Save the dates:

• CPR/AED/First Aid  August 27, 0900 – 3:30p
• Blood Drive Sept 11, 0800 – 2p
• Health Fair/Flu Shot Clinic, October 9, 11 – 1p

West Nile Virus

Andy did the preaching this morning and mentioned my blog. Hopefully more people will see it now. Please comment and any recommendations are welcome.

Today lets discuss West Nile Virus. The mosquitos are out and that’s when this virus can be transmitted.  First the mosquito has to be infected with the West Nile, then it bites you.  Take account of your neighborhood.  If there are crows around, you probably don’t have the virus in your area. If you find a dead crow or you notice the crows are gone, suspect the virus may be at fault.

Of course, prevention is the key. Remove standing water from your yard, cover pools & hot tubs, be sure the flowerpots are draining and watch the trash can area.  Wear protective clothing and mosquito repellent containing DEET.  Repair any window screens and be sure the rain gutters drain properly. I’m sure there’s more but you get the idea. Prevent yourself and your family from getting mosquito bites.

If you do get bit, be assured most people recover fully and some never have any symptoms.  If you fall ill, unfortunately the signs are the same as any other virus of fever, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands, a rash and general malaise. The symptoms usually last 3 to 6 days.  Go looking  for those crows. Talk with your health care professional and find out what’s going around. If that’s as sick as you get, you probably won’t be diagnosed with West Nile. You will recover and go about your life.

If you get sicker with a stiff neck, confusion, tremors, seizures, muscle weakness, loss of vision or numbness, than call your Dr and look for the mosquito bites.  You may need to call 911 if you have a seizure or can’t get out of bed. Remember, this isn’t spread from person to person so your family won’t get it from you.  Of course I have to mention the worst case scenario and that is permanent muscle weakness, brain damage or death. In 2010, 981 Americans were diagnosed with West Nile virus and 45 died. As usual, the very young and the very aged are most likely to have the worst outcomes.  As I’ve already mentioned, most people aren’t diagnosed so that 981 are the really sick ones. What is the key component here? PREVENTION. 

You may be diagnosed with a blood sample. This is a reportable disease to the Health Department. Vector control people will come to your neighborhood and do an inspection. The treatment is all palliative. Rest and fluids for the stay at home person.  IV hydration, fever and nausea control for the hospitalized person.  Intubation and drug induced coma for the really sick ones.

Take care of yourselves while outdoors. Have fun but take precautions. Don’t be casual about mosquito bites.

As always, here are the upcoming events from Health Ministries:

• CPR/First Aid        August 27   0900 – 3p
• Blood Donation      Sept 11       0800 – 2p
• Health Fair and Flu Shot Clinic     October 9   11 – 1p

See ya soon

Ann

I walked for Crohn’s & Colitis patients

A couple of weeks ago, I went to UCI at  Aldrich Park and donated some time to walk for the patients who suffer with Crohn’s, Colitis and other inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).It was fun with good commradory between competing teams. You can see our start by going to www.cctakesteps.org/orangecounty. As you know, in the Endoscopy Center we see the patients repeatedly who have these diseases. Here are a few tidbits for the educational mind.

Crohn’s disease was discovered in 1932 and the physician who described it got bragging rights. It has other names such as granulomatous enteritis,regional enteritis, or ileitis. It’s a chronic inflammatory condition of the intestines small or large but can also affect the digestive system anywhere from the mouth all the way to the “end”.

It’s closely related to another chronic inflammatory condition that only involves the colon called ulcerative colitis. Together, these conditions are IBD.  Unfortunately, they have no cure, only remission and then exacerbation. They affect about a million people in the U.S. Men and women are equally affected. It can be diagnosed in adolescence or early adulthood. The patients I have seen are between 20 – 30 years of age. Usually, there is a blood relative with the disease. It’s considered an autoimmune disorder. It’s not contagious, you can’t catch it!  One of my brothers has Crohn’s. He’s doing all right with the latest therapies.

The patients seek medical care because of symptoms. They have crampy abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, a feeling of fullness in the abdomen, fever, rectal bleeding and weight loss. Their lives close down because they have to be near a bathroom all the time. It affects their work, social situations, dietary habits and life in general.

The Doctor will order testing. This will consist of blood tests, stool analysis, perhaps a Barium X-ray and a colonoscopy. Biopsies will be taken during the colon exam and pathology will be the final diagnosis. The pictures we take are also very telling.

Treatment is based on symptoms. There is no cure. Inflammation needs to be reduced, diarrhea stopped, bleeding stopped and nutritional deficits corrected.  Medication will be ordered to reduce the inflammation. There is an array of drug therapies to choose from. The walk I participated in is one way more money is available for drug research. The new drugs are working and helping make these patients lives more comfortable. My brother is on an immunomodulator and doing well.

The diet is a low-residue diet for most. Not all patients mind you, and this is just general information here. It doesn’t look that  bad.  The avoidance foods are seeds and nuts of course, whole-grain products, raw or dried fruits, raw vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu and a few others but in general all soft, easily chewed foods are good. Also the patient is allowed to have some of the avoidance foods if they don’t cause problems.

Obviously, these patients require frequent check-ups and they need to stay in touch with their doctors. Exacerbations happen and the doctors number on speed-dial will be most helpful. Over time, most patients know what triggers their symptoms and can be prepared ahead of time. A goal is to get these people back into the work force and enjoying life, comfortably.

See you next time.

Save the date for the Health Fair and Flu Shot Clinic  October 9, 2011  11 – 1p in Fellowship Hall.

CPR / AED / First Aid Training date has changed.  AUGUST 27, 0830 – 3p. You may take either or both classes.

Blood Drive for the American Red Cross.  Sept 11, 2011. (Great date to donate) 0800 – 2p at the church.

Ann

It’s Snakebite season

I have worked in the Emergency Rooms of several major hospitals over the years.

Snakebites are always serious injuries and must be handled carefully and quickly.

Lets put away the old Boy Scout Handbook about the tourniquet and the knife and I’ll tell you about the latest treatments. Of course the best outcome is not to be bit. So let’s get a little educated about what snakes are in our area and  how to identify the differences between the venomous and non-venomous. I went to the Loma Linda website to look up the Southern California venomous snakes. They are all Rattlesnakes (crotalids) except the Southern Sea snake so divers be aware.

Here are the six rattlesnakes in our area.

• Red Diamond Rattlesnake (crotalus ruber).  This guy is brick-red, lives in the low hills and has a more passive disposition compared to the others.
• Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus heller). The most dangerous of the snakes and is responsible for most of the bites in the LA basin. He lives in the coastal valleys and foothills.
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox).  This one is the largest of the species in the Western U.S. He is nervous and quick to rattle. Fortunately, he lives in sparsely populated areas.
• Mojave Rattlesnake (Crotalus scutulatus) He lives in the high-desert areas and has the most toxic venom of any North American rattlesnake.  He would like to go unnoticed and will lay still until bothered. Then, he will defend himself enthusiastically.
• Sidewinder (Crotalus cerastes). Famous for the mode of locomotion, this is the smallest of the rattlesnakes and therefore has the least amount of venom. Bites are usually not as serious. There are two subspecies in our area: Mojave Desert (C.c. cerastes) and Colorado Desert (C.c. laterorepens).
• Southwestern Speckled Rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchelli pyrrhus). This one has two locations it likes. The rocky hillside deserts towards Palm Springs and the coastal hills and valleys near San Diego.  They have few encounters with people because of the hilly terrain they prefer. Hikers be aware.

So how do we know if the snake on the path is venomous?  Well, if it’s rattling at you, it’s venomous.  Hold very, very still and perhaps he will reconsider your threat and retreat.  Here are some general differences between the non-venomous and the venomous.

Non-venomous: scales may be smooth or ridged, eyes are elliptical pupils, head at rest is narrow and barely distinguishable from the neck, slender body, and the tail tapers to a thin point.

Venomous: scales are keeled or ridged in the center, eyes are vertical cat-like pupils, head at rest is broad and triangular, body is heavy or fat in appearance, the tail is blunt ending in a cluster of scales (the rattle).

So, you get yourself bit by a rattler. Your day plans just changed immediately.

Call 911 and thank the Lord for GPS in cell phones.  Do not try to capture the snake. Try to remember a description.  Good enough. More bites are often encountered trying to identify the snake.

The most common site for snake bite is extremities usually the hand or ankle. Lay down or sit down. Keep the affected area still, and below the heart. This will help keep the venom localized. Mark the site at the margins of the swelling. Note the time. No ice, no tourniquets. As the ice melts, venom travels upward, as the tourniquet is released, venom shoots up the vascular system. Remove any jewelry or restrictive clothing. The Paramedics will be with you shortly, try to stay calm. Remember, most bites do not contain venom. They are considered “dry” bites.  As it turns out, snakes aren’t really very good an envenomation. As they get older, they learn how but younger snakes usually miss altogether. So, try to keep your heart rate and blood pressure down as best you can.

When the Medics find you, they will immobilize the extremity, start an IV and contact the local hospital to check the antivenom supply. Don’t worry, the hospitals know how to activate the system to get you the antivenom should you need it.  If you do need it, you’re going to be in the hospital for a while. It’s one of those deals where the treatment is just as difficult as the injury but you could die without it.

So what’s the moral. Don’t get bit by a rattlesnake. Educate yourself and be very aware.

See you soon with all extremities intact!

ann