Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

How to Save Your Own Life: Part I

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

Street where Kitty Genovese was murdered
Street where Kitty Genovese was murdered

By Madeleine Kolb

 

Imagine this

“You’re spending a summer afternoon at a music concert in the park. As the concert ends and people begin leaving, you notice a slight numbness in one arm but dismiss it as nothing to be alarmed about. Yet, while moving with the crowd to the distant parking areas, you feel the numbness spreading down to your hand and up one side of your face. Feeling disoriented, you decide to sit against a tree for a moment to rest. 

“Soon you realize that something is dramatically wrong. Sitting down has not helped; in fact, the control and coordination of your muscles has worsened to the point that you are starting to have difficulty moving your mouth and tongue to speak.You try to get up but can’t. A terrifying thought slashes to mind: “Oh, God, I’m having a stroke!  (more…)

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Five Fabulous Veggies That My Mom Never Cooked

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

lc farmers market 028By Madeleine Kolb 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegetables are good for us. Everyone says so:  Mom, the doctor, even the government. They’re jam-packed with nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, folic acid, and potassium. And as if that were not enough, they have generous amounts of fiber (and we all know how important that is). 

There’s only one problem though:  Lots of people hate vegetables. When they see a pile of overcooked green beans on a plate, it brings back horrible memories of dreary lunches served up in the school cafeteria by hefty ladies wearing hair-nets. Sometimes, the vegetable du jour was peas from giant cans, stored in a government warehouse since the early days of the Reagan administration.

Not that it was any better at home. (more…)

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How You Can be Really Healthy Even if You Have Type 2 Diabetes

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Burke-Gilman Trail (Image by Bjorn)

Burke-Gilman Trail (Image by Bjorn)

By Madeleine Kolb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type 2 diabetes is scary:  it’s a chronic, progressive disease. “Chronic” means that there’s no cure; it doesn’t go away (despite unreliable claims to the contrary you may see on the internet). “Progressive” means that—as the years go by—it gets worse and worse. 

Here’s what you have to look foreward to, if you don’t manage type 2 diabetes over the long haul:

  • increased risk of a heart attack or  stroke,
  • irreversible damage to your eyes, kidneys, and blood vessels, and
  • blindness, kidney failure,  and amputation of all or part of your legs   

YOU:  Wait a minute.  Am I reading this right? A person can have this terrible disease and still be really healthy?   (more…)

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Weighing in on Alzheimer’s Disease and Crossword Puzzles

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

By Madeleine Kolb

There is probably nothing about aging more terrifying than the specter of Alzheimer’s disease. We are so afraid of losing our ability to remember things and, ultimately, to do the simplest things that we panic if we can’t remember trivial facts from the past, such as which of the Righteous Brothers had the wonderful high falsetto? [It was Bobby Hatfield]. 

I know that’s Alzheimer’s Disease is not part of normal aging, yet I dread the thought of getting it and having one of my children care for me as I lose the ability to cook a simple dinner without setting the house on fire or go out for a walk in the neighborhood without getting hopelessly lost.  

The cause of Alzheimer’s disease is not known for certain. But there’s no shortage of suggestions about how to prevent or delay it, such as the idea that doing crossword puzzles on a regular basis may help.  (more…)

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Do You Know What You’re Doing? That’s the First Step to Change

Friday, July 17th, 2009

By Madeleine Kolb

I love measuring things, such as how much I walked and how long it took and how much weight I lost or gained. Yesterday, for example, I walked for one hour and 15 minutes. This morning I found that I’d lost 0.2 pounds which is not bad, since I’m just trying to lose a few pounds. 

I’m not obsessive; I just love feedback! Without feedback, I literally don’t know what I’m doing. And if I don’t know what I’m doing now, how will I know when I  change what I’m doing?  If I want to change, how will I know when what I’m doing is working? 

A recent Real Age article cited a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture which found that “more than 80% of women underestimated their daily food intake by a whooping 700 calories.” (more…)

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Just Say “No” to Whipped Cream

Thursday, June 25th, 2009
photo by Stawek Wojcik

photo by Stawek Wojcik

 By Madeleine Kolb

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

When did whipped cream become the default topping on pie or bread pudding or pancakes with strawberries? Sometimes when I eat out, I forget to opt out, so my pancakes or desert comes slathered with the ubiquitous topping.  Don’t want it, don’t need it, won’t eat it!

As with so many things, it all goes back to Mom, and my Mom did not do whipped cream. (more…)

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