Grandmabetsybell

Myofascial Release

Gentle Reader,

My newest therapeutic intervention for progressive osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis is Myofascial Release. Since hurting my back in 1992 and dealing with arthritis, I have sampled and treated with private Feldenkrais (Becci Parsons). Becci restored me to functional walking, sitting, rising up from sitting, lying down and even entering and exiting a car. The next therapy was private sessions with Mary Sue Corrado, a therapeutic Pilates specialist, who, after about eight years, helped me develop enough core strength to enjoy yoga without hurting myself. You can read my arthritis history here, and longer explanations of both Feldenkrais and Pilates.

I have had some sessions with a Rolfing specialist. I get regular deep tissue massage and have benefitted from acupuncture. Myofascial Release goes to the heart, the source of the structural problems in my body that contribute to pain. It does not cure arthritis, but it helps the body gain fluid movement.

Through a series of synchronicities, a friend introduced me to Cedron Sterling. She suffered from knee pain and her doctors recommended knee replacement surgery. Instead of surgery, Cedron worked with her through myofascial release therapy. The restrictions melted away and she walks without pain.

I decided to try this treatment. I have a lot of pain in my lower back, hips and feet and my right leg goes numb especially when standing around for a long period of time, choir practice and performance, museum viewing for example. In a recent diagnostic MRI, the sports doctor could see bulging discs in the thoracic and lumbar spine, but did not feel I was at risk for a major problem that would interrupt a walking tour in England. It is troublesome to have a leg go numb, I can tell you, even if danger of debilitating injury is slim.

You can read about the therapy on Cedron Sterling’s web site. You can listen to his teacher’s talk about the treatment and the resistance to embracing it as a viable therapy.

The fascia is a thin film, an internal skin that holds muscles, organs, blood vessels, tendons in place, interconnecting everything in our bodies from the top of the head to the big toe. Over the years, I have had a number of surgeries, strains, twists and each time the fascia adjusts its hold on the effected muscles, tendons and organs. Things get tight.

For example, I had a mastectomy of the left breast in 1971 and the scar area has been rigid for 44 years. By applying gentle pressure into the barrier of resistance, Cedron was able to release all tightness in the rib cage, the chest wall, the muscles and tissue where the incision was made all those years ago. My whole left side opened up. My left arm swings wide and strong without restriction.

He has worked on my feet which have large bunions and an inflexible second toe that has held an immovable arch after a neuroma in the ball of my foot. I have been able to walk long distances without pain because of the masterful craftmanship of Dr. Huppin. He fashioned an orthotic which spread the weight bearing function of the foot out and away from this damaged area. Cedron has released the holding that caused the problem in the first place. I have been grateful for Dr. Huppin’s band-aid, but I realize now that it is no more than a band-aid. Correcting the problem at its root requires release of the fascia which was stuck in a holding position that served some purpose at one time.

Myofascial Release cannot make the body new with one treatment. You are on the treatment table for 90 minutes and the cost is $160 per treatment. Insurance usually does not reimburse for this treatment. I will probably have upwards of twelve sessions before the most binding fascia relaxes enough to give me a fluid range of motion. Once we agree that one to two times a week is no longer necessary, I will return for fine tuning monthly or every couple of months.

I am taller. I can breathe with more lung capacity. I have not had any numbness in my right leg. Better yet, I am learning how to do my morning stretches more slowly, meeting the point of resistance and gently, with the breathe, increasing the pressure and range of motion as the restrictions melt. This is not about pushing through pain. It is about release. Athletes, young and old, find new movement, relief from chronic pain. People who sit at desks all day, or do repetitive activities like playing the violin, giving facials and massage or bagging groceries can get relief. Self care instruction is part of the deal.

I recommend myofascial release therapy highly.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

Please add your comments and be in touch. 206 933 1889.

Water and joint pain

Gentle Reader,

Does Drinking More Water Help With Joint Pain?

Photo Credit Digital Vision/Digital Vision/Getty Images

Gentle Reader,

I was a guest at a Merrill Gardens in West Seattle, giving a talk about graceful aging. I asked the staff, “What is your most frequent reason for calling 911?” I assumed it was because a resident fell and the staff needed help getting the person up from the floor. No. The most frequent call was in conjunction with a fainting, sinking to ground of an elderly resident. The first thing the paramedics asked, “When was the last time you had a drink of water?”

Dehydration is common in older adults. Probably because drinking a lot sends you to the bathroom. If you hurt from arthritis, you don’t want to move. So you don’t drink water. The resistance to drinking water is a spiral downward toward poorer and poorer health.

To quote Valerie: The amount of water you drink in a day can affect your joint health. There are many reasons why your joints might hurt. You could have arthritis, chronic dehydration, gout or the flu. Increasing your water intake may not cure your joint pain completely, but it can help your body handle the underlying issues that are causing you pain.

Function

Your joints are like hinges where two bones come together. Ligaments connect bones to each other and a coating of cartilage covers the bone surface to keep the two bones from rubbing directly against each other. A special liquid called synovial fluid fills the space between bones and provides food to the joint and cartilage. A healthy, well-nourished joint is able to move without pain, but sometimes chronic stress, an injury or a buildup of acidic crystals in the joints can cause pain.

Hydration

Staying properly hydrated throughout the day gives your body several advantages. Water helps you maintain an adequate blood volume so that nutrients can move through your blood and into your joints. If you think of your joints like a sponge, imagine how much more easily two wet sponges can move against one another than two dry, hard sponges. Water also allows waste products to move out of the joints. In addition to taking doctor-prescribed medication, people who suffer from gout pain should drink at least six to eight glasses of water every day.

Dehydration

The Missouri Department of Health and Human Services explains that chronic dehydration can lead to thirst, constipation, frequent joint pain, stomach pain, low energy and confusion. Unfortunately, your body’s ability to sense thirst might lag behind its need for water. The best way to prevent dehydration is to make a conscious effort to stay hydrated throughout the day. Drink plenty of water before any exercise, so that your body has some reserve fluid it can use for cooling.

Quoted from Jennifer Davis, in http://www.arthritistoday.org/news/drink-water-gout-attack008.php The more you drink, the less you hurt.

It has been thought that dehydration is a possible trigger for gout attacks, so researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine wanted to determine if drinking water could reduce their likelihood.

“Dehydration can increase the concentration of serum uric acid in the blood. It can also affect the kidney’s ability to clear uric acid and can make uric acid more likely to form crystals. In combination, these factors can lead to an increased risk for a gout attack. Water can reverse the effects of dehydration,” says lead author Tuhina Neogi, MD, PhD.

For this Internet-based study, researchers recruited 535 people with gout who had experienced a gout attack within one year of the study. Seventy-eight percent were men, their average age was 53 and their gout diagnosis was confirmed through medical records. Participants were asked to provide information about how much water they consumed in the 24 hours before each gout attack and during times when they did not have a gout attack. Participants could respond with zero to one glasses per 24-hour period, two to four, five to eight or more than eight.

The results showed that with each glass of water consumed in the 24 hours before an attack, the risk for recurrent gout attacks decreased, even when accounting for other fluid intake.

“For example, those drinking five to eight glasses of water had a 40 percent reduced risk of gout attack compared with those who drank only one glass of water or less in the prior 24 hours,” Dr. Neogi explains.

Dr. Neogi says he can’t make specific recommendations about the amount of water people should drink because it depends on their underlying medical conditions and physical activity levels. He says patients should talk to their doctor if they have any questions on that front.

The study was presented at the 2009 annual meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Philadelphia.

John Sundy, MD, PhD, a rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., questions the reliability of the information in this study because it is based solely on patient’s recall. “If you are asking people to recall dietary intake any more than 12 hours after the fact, it is notoriously inaccurate,” he explains.

But he says the results are still intriguing because they provide scientific proof to existing anecdotal evidence. “I think it’s probably one of the first efforts to try to actually gather data to test this hypothesis or this notion that dehydration is important. The dehydration issue had been driven a lot by doctor-patient experience but there are limited examples,” Dr. Sundy says. “I think what it is, is an effort to provide new confirmation to an old idea.”

Dr. Sundy says there are plenty of other benefits to staying hydrated, so he doesn’t think it would hurt most patients to drink water regularly. “It’s one more tool in the tool chest that might be helpful,” he says. “This might be a reasonable thing to try.”

But he cautions there are some people who have to be careful with their fluid intake. That includes people with poor heart function or poor fluid handling by kidneys not able to eliminate a water burden.

Dr. Neogi says he and his research team are continuing to study potential triggers for gout attacks, including other liquids. They don’t think all liquids will have a beneficial effect on reducing the risk for recurrent gout attacks because some, including caffeinated and alcoholic beverages, may have potentially detrimental effects on serum uric acid and volume status.

Anyone who is active, i.e. walking vigorously, hiking, playing tennis or other sports and experiences arthritis pain in their joints may want to consider more than just water for hydration. Water alone may not give you the support you need if you are sweating during your exercise. Hydrating with electrolytes can increase the benefit of water, but only if the sugar/mineral balance is effortless to absorb, requiring no rebalancing in the body. Most of the electrolyte drinks on the market do not have optimal absorption rates.

Most sports drinks on the market are what sports scientists call isotonic, which means they contain a carbohydrate solution that is at 6-8% concentration. These drinks are in the middle of the spectrum in terms of absorption rate, with water being the most readily absorbed (hypotonic) and something like fruit juice, being greater than 8% sugar concentration (hypertonic) being the least absorbable. Because the sugar concentration of most sports drinks is higher than that of most body fluid they are not readily absorbed into the blood stream and are thus not optimal for hydration. Thanks to Runner’s Connect for this.

The Shaklee company made the most bio-available hydrating drink ever (big sweeping statement, I know) in Performance. A team of engineers at MIT built a human powered flying machine from Leonardo da Vinci’s model to reenact the Greek Daedalus myth. The MIT Aeronautics and Astronautics Department’s Daedalus was a human-powered aircraft that, on 23 April 1988, flew a distance of 71.5 mi (115.11 km) in 3 hours, 54 minutes, from Iraklion on the island of Crete to the island of Santorini. The flight holds official FAI world records for total distance, straight-line distance, and duration for human-powered aircraft.

This light plane was powered by a bicycle-riding person able to keep peddling for the equivalent of three marathons, without stopping. The team sampled all the available supplemental drinks to find one that would do the job. In the end, they came to Shaklee’s science team and asked them to develop a drink that would keep the cyclist in the air while peddling across the Aegean Sea. The article published in the American Scientist, July-August 1988 can be read here.

Personally, I drink Performance every time I go hiking, mixing some powder in my water. It gives me that added stamina toward the end of the trail. No bonking, please. Use Shaklee Performance. It is helpful during any exercise, including a vigorous day of gardening. Try it.

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving.

Betsy

I welcome your comments.

www.HiHohealth.com for shopping

Daedalus Project

You may be interested in the scientific study behind Performance, the hydrating drink that fueled the famous Daedalus Project, human powered flight. The research document describing the problem and the solution and the results were first published in American Scientist, vol. 76, July-August 1988. Worth reading to understand how unique Shaklee products are. This same care is applied or has been applied to every product produced. Nadel-1988.

Landmark Study

Shaklee Health Sciences e-Bulletin April 2008

The Landmark Dietary Supplement Study

The Shaklee Landmark Study

Here at Shaklee, we’ve been supporting healthy lifestyles including healthy food choices, smart supplementation, and regular exercise for over 50 years! And now we’re proud to have published the Shaklee 50^thAnniversary Dietary Supplement Study, a landmark first-of-its-kind study that supports the potential benefits of long-term supplementation in a unique consumer population. The study, Usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of long-term multiple dietary supplement users: a cross-sectional study was published in Nutrition Journal, an online peer-reviewed scientific journal on October 24, 2007.

And the results are stunning! Long-term dietary supplement use was consistently associated with more favorable blood levels of important nutrients and key heart health biomarkers. More importantly, long-term users of multiple dietary supplements generally reported lower prevalence of disease in self reported health conditions including elevated blood pressure and diabetes, when compared to single multivitamin users and nonusers.

This first-of-its-kind study was conducted on a unique study population using new online data collection methods employed for the very first time in collaboration with renowned nutritional epidemiologist Dr. Gladys Block, from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.

Information regarding diet and supplement intakes, exercise, and health status was obtained from online questionnaires and on-site physical examinations from 278 long-term Shaklee multiple dietary supplement consumers. Data for 602 matched nonusers and 176 single multivitamin supplement users was obtained from the Nationwide Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) the largest and longest running national health and nutrition survey, sponsored by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Study Results

The long-term multiple supplement users included more females, were slightly older, better educated, had higher incomes, and lower body mass index (BMI) than the other groups. Dietary supplements consumed on a daily basis by more than 50% of the multiple supplement users included such products as a multivitamin/mineral, vitamin B-complex, vitamin C, carotenoids, calcium with vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids, glucosamine, an herbal immune supplement, a probiotic supplement (women), and a soy protein supplement (men).

Blood Nutrient Levels generally increased with increasing dietary supplement use. Blood nutrient levels for folate, vitamin C, alpha and beta carotene, and vitamin E were consistently found at more optimal levels in the multiple supplement user population. To address the safety of long term use of a broad array of supplements, the investigators also found healthy and safe blood levels of vitamin D and iron, nutrients for which high intakes have been associated with possible adverse effects. Specifically, serum ferritin, a measure of iron storage, was highest, and more optimal, among women in the multiple supplement user group vs single multivitamin users and nonusers. Conversely, it was lowest, but still more optimal, in the male multiple supplement users compared to the two other groups.

Blood Biomarkers. Multiple supplement users had higher blood levels of HDL cholesterol and lower blood levels of triglycerides, both consistent with lower heart disease risk. Increased supplement use was also associated with more favorable concentrations of serum homocysteine and C-reactive protein, a marker of low grade inflammation. Of note is the fact that none of the 278 multiple supplement study participants had an elevated CRP level (>3.0 mg/L) identified as high risk by the American Heart Association.

Disease Prevalence. In general, disease prevalence was lower in the multiple supplement user group compared to the multivitamin only user and nonuser groups. In addition, when researchers controlled for differences between groups in variables such as age, sex, education, income, and body mass index, they found the risk of elevated blood pressure was 39% lower in multiple supplement users than in nonusers and the risk of diabetes was 72% lower in multiple supplement users compared to nonusers. Finally, long-term multiple supplement users were four times more likely to describe their health as “very good or excellent” compared to nonusers.

Study Conclusions

This landmark study provides compelling support for the health benefits seen in long-term users of a broad array of dietary supplements as compared to single multivitamin and non-supplement users. Long-term multiple dietary supplement users consumed a broad array of vitamin/mineral, botanical, and condition-specific dietary supplements on a daily basis. They were more likely to have optimal concentrations of chronic disease-related biomarkers including serum homocysteine, C-reactive protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides and less likely to have suboptimal blood nutrient concentrations including folate, vitamin C, alpha- and beta-carotene, and vitamin E. Long-term supplement users also had a lower risk of prevalent elevated blood pressure and diabetes compared to nonusers.

A limitation of the study is the fact that the data are cross-sectional, and therefore the reported associations cannot presume causality. And although quite compelling in their support for the health benefits of supplementation, the study findings need to be confirmed by further research into the usage patterns, health, and nutritional status of other groups of long-term users of dietary supplements.

What This Means for You

The Landmark Study findings help to validate what we in Shaklee Science and Technology have promoted all along. Long-term healthy Shaklee lifestyle approaches including smart dietary choices from foods and supplements, and regular exercise to achieve and maintain a healthy weight are indeed strong supporters of optimal health and vitality. And we want you to be sure that your healthy lifestyle includes these smart diet, supplementation, and exercise strategies as you strive to achieve optimal health:

Eat Healthy. Your healthy eating plan includes smart choices from every food group and emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk products. It also includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts and is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars.

Supplement Wisely. Make wise supplement choices a part of your daily routine. A comprehensive and balanced multivitamin/mineral supplement with at least 500 mg calcium and vitamin D just makes good sense. Antioxidant nutrients help protect cells against aging so be sure you’re considering the antioxidant vitamins C and E, and beta carotene. Ensure your intake of critical B vitamins including folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12, to help protect DNA and support healthy aging. Try to increase your intake of the omega three fatty acids, EPA and DHA, which have been associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease as well as improvements in inflammatory and metabolic balance. Finally, look to probiotic nutrition to support healthy digestion and immune function.

Exercise and Achieve a Healthy Weight. For the two out of every three Americans who are overweight or obese, losing weight is the first priority for improving health. Make regular physical activity a key component of your overall health management program to balance your caloric intake from food with the calories you expend each day. Try to be physically active for at least 30-60 minutes most days of the week and increase exercise duration or intensity for even greater health benefits or to help manage body weight.

Be well. Dr. Jamie McManus MD, FAAFP Chairman, Medical Affairs, Health Sciences and Education

For information about the supplements mentioned in the article, go to my personal Shaklee website, type in any of the items mentioned–calcium, vitamin D, soy protein–and you will find the products thousands of Shaklee users have been taking. Consistent use of these products over time may give you similar results. They have helped me remain vigorous into my late 70s. As a man I met at the gas station this week said when I told him I had recently been to my 55th college reunion, “You holding up well!”

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving, Betsy

No cure for aging

Gentle Reader,

In my Facebook inbox this morning came, “There’s no cure for aging, so embrace it.” I thought this is a post just for me. It sings my tune. Plays my tambourine. One of the comments let a little air out of the balloon by speaking truth to all of us songbirds of perpetual spring.

Tommie Montgomery Leydsman

There are many aspects to aging that are, quite frankly, NOT what you are dying to experience! Knees that dare you to move in the morning, BEFORE you have taken one of countless relievers of pain. Haphazard sleeping patterns, I mean who doesn’t love to wake up feeling refreshed at 3 A.M. , but dead asleep again at 4 A.M., only to wake up AGAIN at 5 A.M., pushing away at an annoying object on your chin. That object, of course, being the book you began reading at 3 A.M. !!!

The countless solicitations in the mail letting you know that the countdown clock has slipped into fast forward. You receive reminders like refrigerator magnets for funeral homes. I have always wanted to know whom I should contact after my demise. Not to mention the number of aging services that send you click style ballpoint pens, because our little fingers find it too hard to take the cap off a Bic.

However, there are upsides. I could fill my social calendar with invitations to hear people “advise” me on the best way to invest my entitlements, a.k.a., Social Security! Are they kidding? No, but they do provide “refreshments.” What I want to know is how every hearing aid company got my address? This group is especially devious. They send out envelopes, the size and quality of an upscale wedding invitation, with your name handwritten on the envelope. They invite you, in EXTREMELY LARGE PRINT (because your eyes are also going) to come in and try on some all but invisible hearing aids. I’m wondering if they are the same kind that the Secret Service uses, you know, the ones that they couldn’t hear out of when the White House perimeter was breeched?! *snarky laugh here*

I also love my copies of the AARP and Costco magazines, with aging celebrities on the cover, who don’t EVEN look like they are aging. When you read the articles, these people are going on Safari’s, taking hot air balloon rides over the Serengeti, car racing, starting new businesses (probably using their windfall SS checks as startup money.) You’ve got to watch these “entitlement generation oldies.” They’re a slippery lot!!!!

BUT…………….. All in all, I am embracing the process. Very happy to be aging, happily!
ENJOY THE VIDEO!!!
>

What’s better than the truth? The simple add-on: Very happy to be aging.

I natter on in these pages about strategies to slow the process down, to mask the symptoms or attempt to correct the problems with exercise, therapies and supplements. It seems to be a more positive approach; a going with the flow while using every available oar to navigate the rapids. Why not? I’m not in favor of the alternatives: sitting down, going deaf, searching for bigger and bigger print (I’m typing at 140% as it is. That way I don’t have to lean over to see the screen and can maintain an upright back posture. Hehehe)

Most of you, my faithful readers, are in the game to go out dancing, so let’s keep sharing our ideas for how to do that with aplomb.

Love you all,

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

www.grandmabetsybell.com/be-well/ thoughts on how to stay healthy

www.HiHoHealth.com shopping for Shaklee products

Vivix the anti aging tonic. I love my swig every morning.

personal training results

Gentle Reader,

I was wondering if I could walk to the car on my rubbery legs from the lunges with a weight vest on when PJ Glassey captured me on video. I had just finished my 21 minute workout with Dan this morning at the Xgym on Alki in Seattle. My goal in going to the Xgym 2 x a week for personal training is to increase bone density. At my next annual physical in Sept 2015, I’ll get that tested and report on the success. What has surprised me is the functional improvement in my daily life tasks.

Betsy X Gym Testimonial

Here’s one of the exercises, bench row with barbells.

I am in the middle of what they call splits: controlled small movements monitored for form, lasting until the muscles in use fatigue completely, about 4 1/2 minutes. Efficient and not damaging to joints. Can you see that it’s 25 lbs in each hand?

Two things: I have hiking friends who give me a run for my money without this kind of training. Some people are lucky with their genes and don’t have as much to overcome as I do. Secondly, I am convinced diet and supplements make a big difference in my recovery and improvement. I always take an after workout recovery drink Physique or the 180 smoothie Shaklee makes, to repair the muscle break down. The protein powder has leucine in it that heals muscle. I get enough protein every day from both plant and meat and fish sources, at least 100 grms. And I eat many servings of vegetables, beets, carrots, celery, kale, other greens, onions, tomatoes plus apples, raspberries and blueberries. No grains, or very little. It seems to be working to keep this arthritis-ridden body going. Hiking, anyone?

Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,

Betsy

www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com/be-well/ for more health stories and tips

www.HiHoHealth.com to shop for Shaklee products on my personal web site

206 933 1889 I still love to talk to people, answer questions, hear your stories.

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Dirty dozen non-organic foods

Gentle Reader,

The following information will help you make healthier choices when grocery shopping. Organic food is worth money. Take care of yourself and your family. These are the dirty dozen non-organic foods to avoid.

I am grateful to my customer, Lanni, for sharing this web site with me. You can follow Garrick Dee, something of a guru for juicing, at http://www.juicingwithg.com/category/blog/. I hope this helps you at the check out counter justifying the expense of organic. It does make a difference.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

Change Habits

Gentle Reader,

Would you like to change habits? Is there something you have a core desire for but don’t seem to be arriving at it? May I share an insight I have had about my two core desires that have resisted the changes required to realize them?

I put on 20 lbs. my junior year in high school. I got too sick to swim competitively and finished the season eating the way I always ate when in training, but doing no exercise to burn off those calories. Boom! Twenty pounds; stretch marks; shock. The whole family got involved in Betsy’s weight problem, monitoring my caloric intake and my weight every single day at breakfast.

No will power! No will power! No will power! My brothers and father taunted.

The Yo-Yo dieting program began. I lost and gained those same 20 pounds (and 5 more) for the next twenty-five years. I owned three sets of clothes.

In 1985, I met Jayme Curley who encouraged me to address a number of “little” health issues by starting a wellness program of soy protein shakes and a group of vitamins every day. The protein shake became my breakfast, alone or as the liquid I poured over a small bowl of cereal. I started to lose weight. The Shaklee Company, whose products I was taking, brought out a Slim-up-and-Live program. With it came an audio tape by the same name. I listened to it faithfully each morning and evening before getting out of bed and before turning off the light. A soothing voice spoke.

Picture yourself at your ideal weight. Picture what you can do, running on the beach, playing ball with your kids, dancing for hours with airy steps, stamina and pleasure.

Picture yourself in a skinny pair of jeans, stepping in your car, driving to a friend’s, joining in the conversation with comfort, pride and confidence.

Without knowing the science behind it, I had changed my eating habits and I had created a new image of myself. The cue (boredom with the tasks of wife and mother) for eating a dozen cookies on my way home from grocery shopping, faded. New cues (excitement about the new pants I fit into) dominated, and I no longer reached for the packaged Lorna Doones. To eat cookies all the way home flew in the face of my image of myself in that bathing suit.

Charles Duhigg analyzes The Power of Habit, Why we do what we do in life and business, and presents his scientific findings about the formation of habits. Listen to this description of the five key points in his book by Thomas Frank, the college info geek.

The loop for cue > activity > reward is an unconscious habit and requires some work to figure out what the reward is you are craving when you do the activity. One of my core desires is to write a book. I go to my desk, turn on the computer, and instead of going to my project, I check email. After an hour or so, I struggle to redirect myself to the writing project to get the reward I want, a satisfying writing experience.

My cue was turning on the computer first thing in the morning. Examining the loop, I realized that the cue lead me to the wrong activity. Turning on the computer brings up gmail, often moving on to Face Book. I started to resent my core desire—writing the book. I was stuck and unclear about my next step. Gmail and face book provided a diversion from the discomfort my project caused.

First, I decided, as Duhigg suggests, to examine what was behind the gmail distraction. Wanting to connect with people. My house is quiet. I live and work alone. I feel disconnected from friends and family. Gmail fills this void. Or so it seemed. Unconsciously I turned to email and face book for that “Good morning, Betsy” contact.

What I realized was that it did not satisfy that longing for connection to read and respond to email. I needed to develop other ways and other times to get people in my life. Recognizing the poor reward this email activity provided my desire for human connection, I plan to call, email and arrange connections in the evenings and on weekends. I can make a change. I can enjoy the thrill of three fresh morning hours several days a week with nothing to do but write. My people reward will come later. My creative activity reward is immediate. I believe people will be there for me. All I have to do is organize it.

I am five days into this. Turns out, I didn’t believe I could change. Belief is a major ingredient in changing habits. Sunday night I had one bad dream after another. Every story line I began in my dream was co-opted by the computer which forced a story arc having nothing to do with my plot. It was as though the computer became Hal in the Space Odessey, taking over my mind. I woke up laughing at the power of the subconscious to twist a mind into knots.

On Monday, I managed to complete my morning stretches, meditation and short walk, return to the office and open my project WITHOUT looking at email. I knew there were several Shaklee business items that needed attention. I knew I had ample time after lunch to address them.

Monday was creatively productive beyond hope.

Tuesday was the same.

I completed all my business and household work.

Email took a fraction of the time. I made dinner arrangements with a grandson and snow shoeing plans with my girl friends.

Yesterday, I wrote in the Uptown Espresso and did not read email even though a little ping told me someone called.

Rewards? I wrote the next chapter. The one to follow is waiting for me to put pen to paper. I broke through the wall.

How can this discussion of habit help you? You might pick up Duhigg’s book. If you want to lose weight or stay faithful to an exercise program, eliminate seductive food from your food intake, figure out the cue that leads to the activity, and discover what the reward is.

My daughter who told me about this book realized she was anticipating a glass of wine the minute she stepped into the light rail car on her way home from work. She wasn’t happy with that habit. She decided to develop a new activity to get the reward. The reward was a signal to her system that her workday was finished. A short run would bring the same reward. Stepping into the neighborhood for a breath of fresh air and exercise said “release from work” with every step. To help with the anticipation, she took her running clothes to work and changed into them before her commute. Cue in place, activity (run), reward (ah, the workday is over).

For some of us, change comes more easily with a buddy. That’s why the 180 Turnaround Weight Management program provides so much support. In Dr. Jaime’s most recent talk, she describes the four tools to use to stay motivated.

Your scale,
your tape measure,
your body fat index and
your hand held food tracker.

Behavior Tracking Tools that shape a new habit

The four trackers are the tools that help form the habits you need to override the habits that got you over-weight in the first place. People weigh too often. People skip the tape measure part. They fail to make a chart where they can write down the change. Pants size can do this job especially if you have a skinny jeans waiting for your new body to show up. I was out with a friend the other night who proudly showed me her outfit and said she hadn’t been able to get into it for a long time, but now she could. What a motivator to keep going that little success is!

People weary of keeping track of their food intact. That’s why the hand held app can ease the pain and actually increase your conscious eating all day long. Shaklee’s 180 app is easy to use. Your phone is always with you. Just the act of pulling it out and recording your next bite will change your behavior. It becomes a habit. When you hit your goal weight, you will mentally be calculating the little indulgences if you have faithfully used that tool for the whole duration.

Calculating your body fat is simple if you have a new fangled scale that does that for you. At my Xgym, they run my stats every 6 – 8 weeks. I have consistently lowered my body fat even though I haven’t lost weight. Lean muscle is building every week. I haven’t been trying to lose weight. I have been trying to gain muscle so my bone density will increase.

Here she is, explaining the program.

Here is the best description of the 180 Weight Management Program available.

Be well, Do well and keep moving. If you would like a supportive guide in any habit change you want, I am here for you. If you have a habit changing method that works for you, please share with all of us. Betsy

GrandmaBetsyBell guides you to your ideal weight and helps you keep it off.

Pain Management

Last week I questioned the wisdom of masking pain, asking if I might be missing a diagnosis by taking my Pain Relief Complex. Following up with you after 72 hours of no herbal pain tablets, I can tell you that taking them alleviated discomfort. Not taking them left me with the discomfort of aching hip joints, sore knee and ankle. The numbness in my right leg came and went, mostly went. I experienced a tough workout at the hands of JR at the Xgym, walked four miles up and down the hills of West Seattle, sat at the computer, drove the car, and attended meetings all without debilitating pain. I was happy at the end of the experiment to take a Pain Relief Complex before going to bed to insure a pain-free sleep.

I visited my chiropractor, David Kirdahy, during this hiatus. He found the usual pelvis miss-alignment, clicking and prodding everything back in place. He wondered if I might have a neuropathy in the right leg and foot. I was not able to give him specific cues as to the center of the numbness. It is hard to help with pain management when I can’t identify exactly where the pain is.

In answer to the questions, is there anything you can’t do because of numbness or pain? I had to answer, no.

I am left with the annoying unanswered question, in spite of advice from a neurologist and a nurse who read my blog post, if my activities are not impaired, why seek further diagnosis? I did that already in May of last year and have the report from the sports medicine doctor at the Polyclinic. Clearly, taking Pain Relief Complex is not covering up a condition that may need attention. I seem to be able to handle my pain management with all the measures I already use.

I wanted to show you a schematic of the COX 1 and COX2 pathways, but the pictures and science is too complicated for me to introduce here. I don’t understand it well enough to comment scientifically. I do remember the schematic the Shaklee scientist used to describe how Pain Relief Complex works. You can explore this for yourself if you are interested.

My intention here is to look at the more typical medications prescribed and over the counter that people use for pain management. The wisdom in the alternative world is that pain medication masks conditions and that pain is an indicator of something that needs medical attention. I agree with that, hence my experiment. What I have been taking for pain did alleviate discomfort. Stopping it did not reveal a condition that seems to require immediate attention.

Type of pain

Every one experiences pain differently. Some of us push through. Others of us want to eliminate the slightest hint of discomfort. Pain is a communicator from the body to us, telling us something is amiss. Pain management is different for each of us. If it weren’t for pain, we wouldn’t know to take our finger off the hot stove, or to rest with our foot elevated after spraining an ankle.

Pain can be categorized. Acute pain typically comes on suddenly and has a limited duration. It’s frequently caused by damage to tissue such as bone, muscle, or organs, and the onset is often accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress.

Chronic pain lasts longer than acute pain and is generally somewhat resistant to medical treatment. It’s usually associated with a long-term illness, such as osteoarthritis. In some cases, such as with fibromyalgia, it’s one of the defining characteristic of the disease. Chronic pain can be the result of damaged tissue, but very often is attributable to nerve damage. See WebMD. A third type of pain is psychogenic, the emotional side of physical pain.

The WebMD article classifies pain in a couple other ways: tissue damage or nerve damage; type of tissue or part of the body affected such as back pain or chest pain, muscle or joint pain.

Drug Therapy most often prescribed for acute or chronic pain

Milder forms of pain may be relieved by over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen. Both acetaminophen and NSAIDs relieve pain caused by muscle aches and stiffness, and reduce inflammation (swelling and irritation). Topical pain relievers are also available, such as creams, lotions, or sprays that are applied to the skin in order to relieve pain and inflammation from sore muscles and arthritis.

If over-the-counter drugs do not provide relief, your doctor may prescribe stronger medications, such as muscle relaxants, anti-anxiety drugs (such as diazepam), antidepressants (like Cymbalta for musculoskeletal pain), prescription NSAIDs such as Celebrex, or a short course of stronger painkillers (such as codeine, Fentanyl, Percocet, or Vicodin). A limited number of steroid injections at the site of a joint problem can reduce swelling and inflammation.

In April 2005, the FDA asked that Celebrex, an anti-inflammatory drug, carry new warnings about the potential risk of heart attacks and strokes, as well as potential stomach ulcer bleeding risks. At the same time, the FDA asked that over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs — except for aspirin – revise their labels to include information about potential stomach ulcer bleeding risks. [WebMD article on pain management]

A couple hundred milligrams of aspirin, or other NSAIDS, Tylenol or other acetaminophens for a short period of time, say 48 hours, is fairly safe. However, one of the most well known risks of painkillers is liver damage from acetaminophen. “Although [acetaminophen] has been used for years and overall is extremely safe, liver toxicity can occur with use of more than 4,000 milligrams in a day,” says Dr. Glaser. “This would be eight 500-milligram pills, which is the dosage of extra-strength Tylenol. Liver damage or failure may also occur at lower doses in those who drink alcohol regularly or who have pre-existing liver disease, such as hepatitis C.”

Because acetaminophen is often incorporated into other drugs, you may not be aware of exactly how much you’re taking, which further compounds your risk. “It’s also included in multiple other remedies for colds or sinus symptoms and is commonly paired with other stronger painkillers in medications such as Vicodin and Percocet,” says Glaser. “If an individual is not aware of this fact, he may unintentionally expose himself to amounts of acetaminophen in the danger zone.”

NSAIDs and Ulcers

Taking ibuprofen and naproxen doesn’t pose as great a risk to liver function as acetaminophen. However, some damage to the stomach lining is a possibility, which can lead to blood loss from the irritated area, stomach pains (gastritis), and even ulcers. This is also true of aspirin, which is related to NSAIDs and has many of the same properties. And if you use aspirin along with ibuprofen or naproxen, the risk to your stomach is even greater.

“Any of these pain drugs alone can cause ulcers, and using them together only increases the risk,” says Glaser. “All three of these medications reduce pain through their effects on the prostaglandin pathways.” Unfortunately, those same effects are what lead to an increased risk of gastritis and ulcer formation.

The prostaglandin pathways carry the pain signal to the brain. What these drugs are doing is interrupting the COX 2 pain pathway. Unfortunately these drugs also affected the COX 1 pathway, which resulted in stomach bleeding. Celebrex was the miracle when it came out because it did not cause damage to the stomach. Unfortunately for patients and for the drug company, Celebrex was implicated in heart attacks. [for further understanding of COX 1 and COX 2, go here.]

NSAIDs and Kidney Function

Though it’s rare, some people could risk kidney problems from using ibuprofen or naproxen. “A less common but severe complication related to these medications is kidney failure, which occurs more commonly in patients who have co-existing risk factors, such as diabetes or high blood pressure,” Glaser says.

Addiction

Some painkillers prescribed by doctors can become addicting, in particular Vicodin and Percocet which contain opiates. You can explore the internet to discover how high the abuse of these drugs has become, especially among high school students seeking to numb psychological suffering. If you have unused painkillers in your medicine chest, left over after surgery, get rid of them, especially if there are teenagers in your world.

But I digress, showing my bias against the use of medications. My original blog post tells my anti-drug bias.

There are many other options. My blog posts are full of them. I am particularly unwilling to take NSAIDS given the fact that I had Hepatitis C as a young adult, communicated by a dirty needle in the hospital when I was having a D&C after a miscarriage. In and of themselves, these drugs can be helpful. It is when they are used frequently and without regard for other conditions, such as high blood pressure, stomach issues, high consumption of alcohol. It can become a stew of interacting foreign substances.

Personally, I have found that the herbal Pain Relieve Complex does a pretty good job of keeping me pain free, along with chiropractic, Feldenkrais, frequent long walks, yoga, massage, Pilates moves and strength building training sessions at the Xgym. My trainers constantly check for good posture and make sure I avoid putting stress on joints that are compromised by osteoarthritis. Pain Relieve Complex is a COX 2 inhibitor. The Shaklee scientists found plant compounds that interrupt the pain path without any damage to the stomach or heart. I plan to keep doing what I am doing until break-through pain or severe numbness stop me in my tracks. Then I will check in with the sports doc for a new MRI. I am convinced I am not increasing my risk by waiting.

To understand how Pain Relief Complex works, click here. To order some from my personal Shaklee web site, click here.

I welcome your comments. It takes a village.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

Do I need a pain diagnosis?

I was standing in front of the piano along with my fellow choir members. Heading back to my seat, I realized my right leg was dangling from my hip. No feeling. Just a dead weight. While standing for rehearsal something, probably in my back, pinched off a nerve to the entire leg. Numb. If I took a step, would I crash to the ground?

This has happened before. I was alarmed by the numbness in late May of 2013. I was leaving in a few days for a writers’ retreat in southern France. While I have experience the numbness off and on during the past two and a half years, when it came on right before leaving for a 100-mile hike in England in May of 2014, I was worried. I remembered walking from Montmartre to the Shakespeare and Company bookstore on the left bank, talking to my right leg the whole way, “Lift, swing, step, lift, swing, step.”

The incident last week was much worse.

Dr. Kirdahy, the chiropractor who has been keeping me out of the operating room for years, was puzzled when I went to see him. “You have no pain?” “No” I reassured him. “I have no pain.” “How can that be?”

Maybe because I take Shaklee’s Pain Relief Complex first thing in the morning and as often as required to keep pain at bay all day long.

“What’s in this Pain Relief?”

Pain Relief contains two herbs: Boswellia and Safflower

Boswellia extract

A controlled clinical trial found that a daily dosage of 1,000 mg of Boswellia

Extract taken in divided doses significantly improved joint discomfort,

Knee flexion, and walking distance.1

In a clinical study, an extract containing boswellic acids was shown to promote

comfortable joint movement.2

Safflower extract

The benefits of the safflower are newly discovered in the West, but have a long

tradition of use in Asia.3

Kimmatkar et al. Efficacy and tolerability of Boswellia serrata extract in treatment of osteoarthritis of knee: a

randomized double blind placebo controlled trial. Phytomedicine. 2003;10:3–7.

Etzel R. Special extract of Boswellia serrata (H15) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Phytomedicine.

1996;3:91–94.

Hsu HY. Oriental Materia Medica. A Concise Guide. 1986. New Canaan, CT, Keats Publishing Inc. and

Oriental Healing Arts Institute, Long Beach, CA.

[From the Shaklee Product Guide, a fact sheet]

I told Dr. Kirdahy I would come back next week after 36 hours without any Pain Relief Complex.

This chiropractic visit induced a search of the literature for the answer to my question: does pain help diagnosis?

According to Spine Health, because the causes of back pain can be very complex, it is often more difficult to get an accurate diagnosis for back pain than for other medical conditions. While some spinal diagnoses are relatively straightforward (such as tumors, infections, or fractures), for many conditions there is little agreement among spine specialists about a diagnosis.

However, getting an accurate diagnosis of the cause of back pain is critical, because different diagnoses will require very different treatment approaches. And the sooner an accurate diagnosis is made, the sooner the patient can find an appropriate treatment for pain relief and to improve his or her ability to enjoy everyday activities.

Pain is our friendliest enemy — it keeps us out of trouble even though it often seems to actually be the problem.

The body ‘locates’ pain near the surface quite well but has trouble indicating the source when the pain is deep. Pain from deep injuries, diseases or infections of organs, such as the heart, stomach, lungs and back may seem to come from somewhere else nearby or may radiate into multiple places. Intense pain may be more localizing but not always.

Therefore, when back pain is accompanied with other changes, fever, swelling, redness, heat, neurological problems or changes in body functions, the diagnosis may be sharper — and the back pain diagnosis may be more serious.

The milder backaches that one feels over one’s lifetime can generally be successfully managed by simple back pain treatments — rest, medication, massage, the application of salves, exercise, weight loss and learning to put up with it.

So, if the severity of back pain does not serve as a guide for when to see a physician, the question is how does one know? While there are exceptions, there are several generally accepted guidelines of when to see a doctor for back pain:

If the back pain has any of the following characteristics, it is a good idea to see a physician for an evaluation:

Back pain that follows a trauma, such as a car accident or fall off a ladder
The pain is constant and getting worse
Back pain that continues for more than four to six weeks
The pain is severe and does not improve after a day or two of typical remedies, such as rest, ice and common pain relievers (such as ibuprofen or Tylenol)
The pain is worse at night (most common forms of back pain are alleviated by rest)
Severe pain at night (e.g. pain that wakes one up from deep sleep)
Abdominal pain that accompanies the back pain
Numbness or altered sensation in the saddle area (upper inner thighs, groin area, buttock or genital area)
Neurological problems, such as weakness, numbness or tingling in the leg(s) or arm(s).

I have seen orthopedists, neurologists and sports medicine doctors for my chronic pain. Currently, I handle the pain with Pain Relief Complex, exercise, Back2Life machine every morning, and moving as much as possible during the day (sometimes a challenge as I am a writer!) So I would say I live my life pain free.

The above article persuades me that it is time to cut out the Pain Relief for a day or two to see just how bad this pain is. Before leaving for England last May, I had an MRI and a consultation with the Sports medicine doctor at my clinic. She told me I have several bulging discs, a normal condition in people my age, but that I was not at risk for hospitalization or major trauma on my hike. In fact, she assured me, the 100 miles hike would be good for me.

And it was.

The degree of increase in the numbness worries me. Doing without Pain Relief even for 48 hours worries me, too.

I’ll keep you posted. Next week, I will discuss the most common medications used to handle osteoarthritis pain, and why you might want to think twice about using them habitually. Stay tuned.

Be well, Do well and Keep moving,

Betsy

206 933 1889

betsy@hihohealth.com

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