Monthly Archives: October 2011

October 20, 2011 · 4:05 am

What is Mental and Emotional Health?

Back in October I discussed when to seek professional help for emotional problems. Additionally, I have posted a number of items on the damage of stress on a person, dealing with stress and practicing relaxation for relief from stress.

Let’s look at the other side of that coin now. What is mental health and how do we know if we have it?

I will defer to our friends at helpguide.org. “Mental or emotional health refers to your overall psychological well-being. It includes the way you feel about yourself, the quality of your relationships, and your ability to manage your feelings and deal with difficulties.
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October 19, 2011 · 10:12 am

What is the Best Exercise to Trim Belly Fat?

Aerobic exercise beats strength training in trimming belly fat, according to the November issue of Nutrition Action magazine, put out by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

This conclusion was based on a study of 150 overweight, sedentary, middle-aged men and women with high LDL (bad cholesterol) or low HDL (good cholesterol) assigned to aerobic training, strength training or both.

Those in the aerobic training churned out the equivalent of 12 miles a week at a vigorous pace on treadmills, elliptical trainers or stationary bikes. For strength training, participants did three sets of eight exercises, with eight to 12 reps per set, three days a week.

After eight months the folks who did just strength training lost only subcutaneous (below the skin) abdominal fat. In contrast, those who did aerobic training – with or without strength training – lost deep belly fat, subcutaneous belly fat, and fat from around the liver. What’s more, they were less insulin resistant. Their insulin was more effective at admitting blood sugar into their cells.

Nutrition Action suggests that readers combine aerobic exercise (to lose the most fat and curb insulin resistance) with strength training (to minimize the loss of muscle that occurs with aging).

Completely anecdotally I can confirm this in my own experience. Back in January I wrote How I Lost 50 Pounds in 52 Weeks.

Although, as I said in the piece, I was literally flying by the seat of my pants, my combination of aerobics with strength training did result in a loss of 10 inches on my waistline – from 44 to 34 inches. I can’t attest to any of the medical observations regarding insulin as I didn’t use a doctor or physical trainer, but the belly fat loss is incontestable.

To read another blog item on the dangers of belly fat, click What About Central Obesity.

It is worth noting for anyone considering taking up this aerobic challenge what I learned at the lectures on osteoporosis last week (see previous posts). Namely, that weight-bearing exercise can have a positive effect in fighting osteoporosis. So, it may be better to do your cardio exercises on a treadmill (weight-bearing exercise) as opposed to an elliptical machine, exercise bike or rower (not weight-bearing exercise).

Tony

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October 19, 2011 · 8:43 am

Heart Failure Hospitalizing Fewer People – Wall Street Journal

Today’s Wall Street Journal reported a surprising finding that hospital admissions for elderly U.S. patients with heart failure fell by nearly 30% over a decade, an analysis of federal Medicare data shows, offering fresh evidence of progress in the battle against cardiovascular disease.

They based the finding on data from more than 55 million patients in Medicare who were hospitalized for heart failure between 1999 and 2008. Researchers estimated more than 200,000 fewer admissions for heart failure in 2008 than would have been expected if the rate of admissions had stayed at 1999 levels.

An article by Ron Winslow and Shirley S. Wang said that the gains, coming as the population ages and as obesity and diabetes—both risk factors for heart disease—are enormous public-health concerns, were a welcome surprise to some experts. Many attributed the improvements to better preventive measures and disease management, as well as a reduction in elderly rates of heart attack—a common cause of heart failure.

“At a time when we bemoan a lot of things in health care, this is a remarkable success story,” says Harlan Krumholz, a Yale University cardiologist and senior author of the study.

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October 19, 2011 · 8:04 am

John’s New Workout Regimen …

My weight-loss routine has stalled out this past year. Riding an exercise bike an hour a day at an average speed of 14.5 to 15 miles per hour just isn’t helping me lose weight anymore. My body has adapted, or I am out-eating my exercise.

So I decided to try to shake this old body up a bit. Luckily, Groupon recently had a workout deal here in Chicago. I bought 12 sessions at a local workout place called Body Empowered Fitness.

I went for my first session last Tuesday and sweated up a storm, which hopefully means it burnt a lot of calories. The exercise approach this place uses is basic circuit training. It started with me doing step-ups while holding a 15-pound weight bar, I think it was 15 step ups with my right foot while lifting my left leg up so my thigh was parallel to the ground, then doing the same with my other foot. The next move was 20 lifts with the bar.

Similar to what I did; in mine, I had to step up from the side of the step.

There were two more sets of three exercises on the circuit, all involving stretching and flexing rather than heavy weights. Every station required repeating three sets of reps for each exercise. It took me about 50 minutes and I felt exhausted after.

The next three days I felt worse, by Thursday my legs were so stiff I could barely walk when I’d get up from my desk at work. And I was continuing my exercise biking the following days, although I was going at a slower speed the day immediately after the workout.

I dropped a pound with the workout. Even though I came out of there at 7:30 p.m. famished, I was good in only buying a Subway roast beef salad for dinner rather than going to the pizza place or Chinese restaurant that were in the same strip mall as the workout place.

All in all, I’m looking forward to more sessions to see if there’s any permanent improvement in my flexibility and strength.
John

Editor’s Note: John left the blog in December 2012. He suffered a near heart attack and had an emergency angioplasty in August of that year to clear an 80 per cent blockage in the artery to his heart. His doctors put him on a severely restricted diet, limiting his salt, fat and sugar intake in an effort to combat his eating habits.

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October 18, 2011 · 6:53 am

One More Italian Meal, for Columbus

I came back from Reno Sunday feeling very Italian from my visit to the street fest there and then had to work on Monday, which was Columbus Day.

I know all about the controversy in recent years about having a day for Columbus, who owned slaves and did other despicable things that men of his time did. But I think all that misses the point.

Columbus Day was never really about just honoring Columbus, it was about recognizing all the contributions of Italian-Americans. That’s been lost at companies that don’t consider it a real holiday and I resent it every year I have to work on that day.

Raviolis with home-made gravy...is there any other?

That said, I decided to celebrate the day as best I could with an Italian dinner. I didn’t have time to make my own raviolis, so I used frozen ones from Costco, but I did have some of my home-made tomato sauce (we called it gravy) in the freezer, so I added that. Here’s my plate.

I think I gained a pound that day from it, but it was worth it.

Also, a Reno postscript. That trip cost me 3.2 pounds. I weighed in at 210 the morning I left and 213.2 Monday morning after returning Sunday night. I don’t care. These were pounds well-spent in terms of how I felt out there. I’ve resolved now to just stay in the best shape I can at whatever weight I’m at.

In line with that, read tomorrow about a new workout regimen I’ve started.
John

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October 17, 2011 · 7:32 am

Reno’s Italian Fest or How Many Calories in Sausage, Peppers and Onion?

Excuse the gaps in my posts the past week. Last I wrote you, I was in Reno. I returned Sunday and plunged into work, so this is my first chance to catch you up.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to an Italian street fair in Reno. It was an amazing coincidence of timing that such an event would be going on while I was there. While my wife and her family went to see Lake Tahoe Saturday morning, I went to the street fest instead.

The first musical group I heard was pure old-time Italian-American, playing all the old songs we’d sing at my grandmother’s house. I was singing, laughing, crying…and so were all the people around me because, we were all Italian-Americans. It was a bit of the going home I wrote about last time, the going home that’s not entirely possible for me anymore.

The food was old-time Italian as well, fried calamri, fried artichoke hearts (noticing a theme), fried dough (we called those zeppoli but at the fest the vendor called them sfingi, we discussed how they were regional variations of the same thing).

Calamri frying in oil; fried food is common in Southern Italian cooking.

When my wife and her family arrived for a late lunch, I’d already eaten about 1,000 calories or more. Then came the sausage, peppers and onions.

The calamri when done and ready to eat


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October 15, 2011 · 3:43 pm

What are Threats to Healthy Bones for Both Men and Women?

As we have written in previous posts, both men and women are more subject to osteoporosis as we age. Additionally, everyone knows that women suffer more cases of osteoporosis than men.

Going forward, are there any activities or practices that lead to additional bone loss. The answer is yes, and they affect men and women differently, according to Pam Whitfield, MS, RD, LDN CDE of Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group speaking before a Northwestern Memorial Healthy Transitions Program ® gathering.

The first is our old friend cola drinks. A Framingham Osteoporosis Study covered more than 1400 women and in excess of 1100 men. It was found that higher cola intake, both regular and diet, lowered bone mass density in women, but not men.

The second activity is drinking alcoholic beverages. Chronic alcohol abuse increases bone loss, especially in men. Post-menopausal women with moderate alcohol use have higher bone mass than abstainers. The alcohol doesn’t grow bone tissue, but seems to slow bone tissue loss.

The third activity is smoking. Lung cancer considerations aside, smoking decreased bone density. Women who smoke tend to have earlier menopause because of less estrogen production. Years of smoking and more cigarettes per day increases the risk of fractures. Lastly, healing time is increased in smokers.

To repeat the three elements necessary for healthy bones we need calcium, Vitamin D and weight-bearing exercise.

As much as I enjoy using the rowing machine and Schwinn Airdyne bike in my health club, I am switching to the treadmill for my indoor cardio because that is weight-bearing exercise. Remember, the elliptical machine is not.

Tony

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October 14, 2011 · 8:17 pm

Cycling Pros Have Increased Risks to Osteoporosis

Incredible as it may seem to you, at least it did to me, professional bicycle riders have an increased risk to Osteopenia and Osteoporosis.

How can that be when they spend their lives engaging in one of the top cardiovascular activities in existence? Surely they are among the most fit athletes on the planet.

Despite the energy burned and muscles used in bicycle racing, it does not protect against osteoporosis

Pam Whitfield, MS, RD, LDN CDE of Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group Speaking at a Northwestern Memorial Healthy Transitions Program ® gathering today, said that the cyclists needed to include weight-bearing exercise in their workouts. Cycling is great cardio exercise, but there is no weight-bearing involved, hence no protection for the bones.

Because of this risk, Ms Whitfield said that professional cyclists were now including weight work into their exercise regimes to protect themselves.

As an active if unprofessional cyclist, I plan to increase my weight-bearing exercise, too. The good news is that walking is an excellent weight-bearing exercise.

To read further on osteoporosis and men, check out my posts:

How Vulnerable Are Men to Osteoporosis?
What Can I Do To Prevent Osteoporosis?
What Foods Fight Osteoporosis?

Tony

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October 14, 2011 · 8:04 pm

How Vulnerable Are Men to Osteoporosis ?

Men don’t suffer from osteoporosis as often as women, but they are indeed vulnerable. The International Osteoporosis Foundation says that the lifetime risk of experiencing an osteoporotic fracture in men over the age of 50 is 30 percent, similar to the lifetime risk of developing prostate cancer.

According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation:

• About 20-25 percent of hip fractures occur in men. The overall mortality is about 20 percent in the first 12 months after hip fracture and is higher in men than women.
• Vertebral fractures may cause equal morbidity in men and women. Hip fractures in men cause significant morbidity and loss of normal functioning.
• Although the overall prevalence of fragility fractures is higher in women, men generally have higher rates of fracture related mortality.
• As in women, the mortality rate in men after hip fracture increases with age and is highest in the year after a fracture. Over the first six months, the mortality rate in men approximately doubled that in similarly aged women.
• Forearm fracture is an early and sensitive marker of male skeletal fragility. In aging men, wrist fractures carry a higher absolute risk for hip fracture than spinal fractures in comparison to women.
• In Sweden, osteoporotic fractures in men account for more hospital bed days than those due to prostate cancer.
• 30 percent of hip fractures and 20 percent of vertebral fractures occur in men.


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October 13, 2011 · 9:35 pm

When to Seek Professional Help for Emotional Problems

We have posted a number of items on the impact of stress on a person, how to deal with stress, as well as several items on the value of learning relaxation techniques. We consider them all to be useful tools in the sometimes daily struggle that makes up our lives.

But, there are times when our problems become too much for us to handle alone. If we fall and break a bone, we don’t hesitate to go to a doctor and get fixed. The same principle applies with overwhelming problems. How do we know when we have more than we can handle?

Our friends at helpguide.org published a list of what they call red flag behaviors.

“If you identify with any of these red flag symptoms, make an appointment with a mental health professional – and the sooner, the better. It’s much easier to overcome a mental or emotional problem if you deal with it while it’s small, rather than waiting until it’s a major, entrenched problem,” Helpguide stated.

Here is their list of feelings and behaviors that require immediate professional attention:

▪ Inability to sleep.
▪ Feeling down, hopeless, or helpless most of the time.
▪ Concentration problems that are interfering with your work or home life.
▪ Using smoking, overeating, drugs, or alcohol to cope with difficult emotions.
▪ Negative or self-destructive thoughts or fears that you can’t control.
▪ Thoughts of death or suicide.

If you find yourself identifying with items on the list, please do seek professional counseling. There is no shame in asking for help.

Tony

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October 10, 2011 · 4:05 am

What Can Seniors do to Protect Their Mental Powers?

In a recent post  How to Reduce Your Risks of Alzheimer’s and Dementia, we enumerated The six pillars of a brain-healthy lifestyle. They include:

1. Regular exercise
2. Healthy diet
3. Mental stimulation
4. Quality sleep
5. Stress management
6. An active social life

The more you strengthen each of the six pillars in your daily life, the healthier and hardier your brain will be.

Last week at a Healthy Transitions ®
program at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, some similar aspects were enumerated. They included:

1. An active lifestyle
2. Healthy diet, limit cholesterol, high fat foods. Check out the Mediterranean Diet.
3. Medications, including
– cholesterol lowering drugs
– blood pressure lowering drugs
– aspirin/blood thinners
– diabetes treatment
Last, but not least was:
4. Avoid smoking! Dementia is twice as common in smokers.

Because I have dealt with both Alzheimer’s and dementia in my family, we have covered these previously. You can check out the following blog items:

Exercise, Aging and the Brain,

Is Physical Exercise better than Brain Exercise for Seniors,

Maintaining Brain Function in Later Life.

My Page Important Facts About Your Brain (and Exercise) has more.

Tony

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October 8, 2011 · 11:02 am

Family and Food, and Why They’re Linked

Reading over my post from yesterday, I was wondering why I said I would be dragged to family events while we’re here in Reno.

Last night, for example, there were nine of my wife’s family sitting around her aunt’s table having a big Italian dinner, just the sort of thing I did regularly when I was growing up, and it was a really enjoyable evening, so I certainly didn’t feel dragged there.

Gnocchi at an aunt's

But I think at some level gatherings like that hurt me because they remind me that days of doing that with my family are long over. After my maternal grandmother died in 1967, my mother’s large family (she was one of eight children) drifted apart. Giant celebrations like we had each New Year’s Eve at my grandmother’s house became a thing of the past.

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October 8, 2011 · 4:14 am

The Chicago Marathon Health and Fitness Expo

The Chicago Marathon happens on Sunday here and as a prelude to it, they stage The Chicago Marathon Health and Fitness Expo.

Although I am no longer a runner and under no circumstances would I ever consider running a marathon, because I think that running 26.2 miles is destructive to the body. The only benefit is the ego and not worth the price the body pays. Nonetheless, I went to the Expo. A friend of mine said she had gone in previous years and while there was a lot of running info and products, there was also enough general endurance sports stuff to make it worthwhile. So I went.

Although there was a lot of emphasis on running in general and the Chicago Marathon in particular, a goodly number of vendors had stuff I was interested in.

One problem I have as an active cyclist is that I often come home with pains in my upper legs. Fortunately for me, runners do, too and there were a number of very neat massagers available.

I saw a good display of The Stick.

Aptly named, The Stick looks like one

If you are unfamiliar with The Stick, it is a stick with beads on it that you roll over your aching muscles. It can give you sharp pain in the moment, but works wonders for relaxing sore muscles and breaking up lactic acid deposits. I know that some NFL teams use them. I already own one, but my friend bought one after trying it out.
I was very impressed with the Moji 360 massager.

The steel balls roll over your skin in the Moji 360

It worked similarly to The Stick, but you could also rub in circles with it and The Stick doesn’t allow that. I bought their “show bundle” and got a smaller massager that just fits over the palm, too. (My dog enjoyed a rubdown with the palm one.)

There were a number of stands with tee shirts available and I picked up several with wicking material. I was interested to see that not many cotton shirts were for sale.

As you might imagine there was a plethora of energy drinks, gels, bars, etc., all claiming to give the runner (or endurance athlete) that little extra something to extend their performance. I already use PowerBars and Clif Bars now, but was impressed with the taste and attributes of the Power Crunch Bar. Of course, I tried some sample pieces, too.

I want to reproduce the data directly from the website to give you a feel for this product.
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October 7, 2011 · 8:58 am

Does Actos Cause Bladder Cancer?

I was shocked to see a TV commercial recently from a law firm looking for people who had developed bladder cancer after taking a drug called Actos for their diabetes.

My mother had taken Actos. I know because I oversaw her medications when I moved her from New York City to Chicago shortly after 9/11 in 2001. In early 2006, she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and died the following month, February 2006.

I’ve found the Food and Drug Administration release on the possible connection between Actos and bladder cancer.

Obviously what you do is up to you but if you’re taking Actos now, I’d think long and hard about continuing it. My mother’s bladder cancer seemed to come from nowhere and by the time her doctors realized what it was, it was too late to treat it.
John

P.S. Full disclosure here, I have been in touch with a law firm about what happened to her. If there is a direct connection, I know she would have wanted me to take action. She once called a doctor an asshole after he told her the best thing to do for the pain in her legs was to take a walk every day. Turns out the pain likely was from the cancer, so he really was an asshole after all.

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October 6, 2011 · 4:00 am

What are Some Challenges to the Brain as we Get Older?

Everyone has heard and used the term ‘senior moment.’ Oh gosh, I just forgot … what I was going to say, what I was talking about, what I was going to tell you, you name it. Everyone knows seniors forget. Aren’t they all losing their memories? Not necessarily.

I have mentioned here several times about my own concern with dementia. I lost an aunt to Alzheimer’s some years ago and my mother suffered from dementia in her final few years.

So, the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Healthy Transitions program for folks over 55 talk on memory loss had special interest for me. It was delivered by HyungSub Shim, M.D., Behavioral Neurology Fellow, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center and Department of Neurology, Northwestern University.

There are many dimensions to cognition besides memory. Here are some very useful terms that we seniors live with:

Cognition:Types of thinking and memory
Attention/concentration
Emotional processing
Memory
Language
– Naming/coming up with words
– Comprehension
– Speech/writing output
Motor Control
Visual and spatial processing

Definitions
Cognitive impairment: deficits in one or multiple types of cognition
Mild cognitive impairment: deficits not severe enough to affect daily activities
Dementia: deficits severe enough to affect daily activities
Vascular cognitive disease: any cognitive impairment caused by vascular disease
Vascular cognitive impairment: deficits not severe enough to affect daily activities
Vascular dementia: deficits severe enough to affect daily activities.

As far as memory loss is concerned, we addressed that back in May here.

Tony

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October 5, 2011 · 10:19 pm

One of the Best Chicago Hot Dog Stands – Tony Dines Out

Chicago has a reputation for deep dish pizza because we have lots of super pizza places here that serve it. But, the city also has a wide range of superb hot dog stands, too. I used to live several miles north of where I am currently located and enjoyed many great meals at a place called The Wiener’s Circle.

The Wiener’s Circle – first class Chicago hot dogs

After telling a friend about it, she wanted to ride bikes up there and have a meal. We did that yesterday. So, it turns out that John isn’t the only guy to have dining adventures on the blog.

I was trying to remember the last time I had eaten there and I don’t think it was this Millennium. So, I felt I was in for a treat.

They make each meal fresh while you wait. The hot dogs are charcoal-broiled and the fries dropped in when you order them.

I got the charcoal-broiled cheddar cheese dog. It was my favorite years ago and comes with cheese melted along the length of the sandwich. I used to have a big weight problem 10 years ago. This is one of the reasons.

Our hot dogs came out first. Mine with cheese, hers without. Then the cook put up a huge basket of fries. Each of us asked if that was one order or two. Turns out it was just one.

We carried our orders outside to a table and commenced eating. The hot dog was as great as I remembered even though I no longer eat entrees smothered in melted cheese. At least on a regular basis.

The fries which had been made from scratch were also super. I have included a photo of my order. I hope it is clear how huge this was. I stopped eating around 1/3 of the way through. That was enough. I looked around for a homeless person to give it to, but there weren’t any around at the moment. So, I threw it away. They tasted great, but I just don’t need that much deep fried food in me at one sitting.

This huge order of fries came with each hot dog

In the past year and a half of riding herd on my weight situation I am convinced that  portion control is one of the major tools in getting the job done.

There are some good suggestions and helpful examples of portion control on our

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