Healthy lifestyle choices with information and articles.
Whether you’re working out at the gym or going on a big hike, the single most important factor for muscle factor is hydration.
Before, during, and after work outs, ensure you are suitably hydrated. Depending on your body size you will lose 1 and up to 5 litres of water during a strenuous workout. Hydration is important to keep your body functioning properly!
Continue reading “The Single Most Important Factor for Muscle Recovery – Water”
One of the quickest ways of living a healthy lifestyle is altering your diet to eliminate bad foods. One of the culprits in sugar, and soda contains loads of it.
Someone who drinks two cans a pop per day every day, for a year, will consume hundreds of thousands of calories, all from sugar. That’s 60 POUNDS of sugar from soda alone in a year.
That’s an extreme example, but it doesn’t prove a point, regular consumption of soda affects your health. It leads to weight gain (calories) and increases the chances, among other things, for Type-2 diabetes.
Solution? Eliminate soda and drink water.
Continue reading “This is why drinking soda pop daily is bad for your health”
Kale is one of the healthiest foods you can get your hands on. Trouble is, many of us remember kale in one form–plate garnish. Putting it in your mouth doesn’t compute with your mind.
But do the health benefits outweigh the aversion to kale? It should, because being a super food means a commitment to kale will translate into numerous body benefits you can’t find in other foods.
One thing to help, find some simple recipes that will help you enjoy eating kale.
Continue reading “The Love Hate Relationship of Eating Kale – 3 Recipes”
And this stunning graph that should raise a few eyebrows. (What are Americans spending their tax revenues on?)
Firstly, all countries in this graph have followed an upward trajectory (life expectancy increased as health expenditure increased), but the U.S. stands out as an exception following a much flatter trajectory; gains in life expectancy from additional health spending in the U.S. were much smaller than in the other high-income countries, particularly since the mid-1980s. And secondly, the gains for all countries (except for the U.S.) were not diminishing, as in the previous graph. This suggests that there are many other factors affecting life expectancy, that are not determined by healthcare spending. Indeed, as we have pointed out before, healthcare is just one of many inputs to produce health.
Source: Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser, Financing Healthcare, 2017. Published online at OurWorldInData.org.
Additional insight on this data and more http://www.moneyandbanking.com/commentary/2017/3/12/improving-us-healthcare-and-coverage
And some another article on negative side of upcoming Republican healthcare plan. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2017/03/13/Why-Republican-Health-Care-Plan-Destined-Fail
Which products are the perpetrators on the crowded shelf? The most questionable claims and safety involve weight loss products, products to improve sexual performance, and body building products. Many of these so called natural supplements have been found to contain prescription drugs or steroids. Liver and kidney function, blood pressure can be adversely affected as well as the possibility of heart attack or stroke have been linked to the use of these supplements.
Other dietary supplements have been found to contain contaminants such as pesticides, or heavy metals. FDA rules do not extend to the companies that provide the herbs or other materials that are manufactured in the US. The fine print on bottles of supplements can sometimes come with a disclaimer that the FDA has not verified the manufacturer’s claim.
Protein drinks are a billion dollar product. Claims they advance are weight loss, energy boost, building muscle, and delay of aging.
Continue reading “Part 2 – Identities Revealed – You are what you eat”
Let’s start this article with a riddle. What do more than 50% of Americans spend billions of dollars on yearly, and is the most popular alternative health therapy in the nation? If you answered dietary supplements instead of Disney World you are correct.
What goes on behind the shelves and shelves of products with 1000 new ones being introduced annually? As you stand there deciding you need to know who and what is involved in the behind the scenes action. Often obscured by cryptic acronyms this article will reveal their true identity and purpose.
Continue reading “Caveat Emptor: To Eat or Not to Eat – dietary supplements”
The Joint Commission anticipates the new and revised National Patient Safety Goals will improve patient safety and quality of care by reducing morbidity and mortality, as well as health care costs and length of stays associated with CAUTIs. The R3 Report is available here.
The following scenario is played out with increasing regularity in the nation: An elderly person, let’s call her Edith is living alone because she has lost her husband. Due to one or more chronic conditions she has decreased independence. Maybe she can’t drive any more and needs to use a walker or wheelchair. Her condition requires a regime of prescription medications. The chronic condition causes pain. If Edith has family that can visit her they are likely very busy or may not live close enough to visit regularly. Consequently she spends a lot of time alone, and may possibly feel a loss of significance. In this scenario it would not be easy to maintain a positive outlook of the future and life itself.
Depression in the elderly is often unrecognized and undiagnosed. Yet there is a growing awareness that many life factors that the elderly must cope with in fact contribute to the likelihood of depression. Also age affects the structure of the brain. Mental and physical health affect each other. Many elderly suffer from one or more chronic conditions which can cause or worsen depression. Untreated depression can cause chronic conditions and the condition itself or it’s medical treatment can cause depression. Depression also affects treatment compliance or self management of physical conditions.
Continue reading “It‘s Not Just Old Age – Depression in the Elderly”
The new policy unraveled in May of this year put out by the Joint Commission would have opened the door for texting to be used as an effective communication tool to exchange patient orders.
Initially, the policy what is welcome news because it would’ve made sharing patient info easier. Summarized, it stated, along with some caution,
Eeffective immediately, The Joint Commission has revised its position on the transmission of orders for care, treatment, and services via text messaging for all accreditation programs. Licensed independent practitioners or other practitioners in accordance with professional standards of practice, law and regulation, and policies and procedures may text orders as long as a secure text messaging platform is used and the required components of an order are included.
Now it seems that policy change is on hold.
Continue reading “Texting Patient Orders Still up in the air with Joint Commission”
The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare has released Oro™ 2.0, an online assessment and resource library designed to assist hospital leaders with determining their organization’s level of maturity in multiple components of high reliability and striving for the goal of zero preventable harm.
Oro 2.0 is a Web-based assessment for hospital leadership that is accessible on the Center for Transforming Healthcare website. The assessment process guides the leadership team through a series of questions which allows for discussion and alignment on key strategic performance issues. Once an assessment is completed, a report is generated that identifies strengths and opportunities for improvement and directs the user to resources specific to their organization’s high-reliability maturity level. The content included in the Oro 2.0 Resource Libraryfocuses on the areas of leadership commitment, safety culture and performance improvement.
Continue reading “The Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare release Oro™ 2.0”