Diagnosis: Diabetes

By Darlene Mitchell March 4, 2024 March 4, 2024 Affordable Care Act "ObamaCare", Body Fat, D. S. Mitchell, Dangers of Sugar, Diabetes, Disease, Food, Health and Beauty Tips and Hints, Health Care, Health/Fitness, Heart Disease, Medications, Modern Life, Obesity, Public Health, Staying healthy, Stretching, Stroke, Vaccinations, Weight Loss

Diagnosis: Diabetes

A diagnosis of diabetes can be a scary thing, but with life-style changes the condition can be improved, or even reversed. Patients do not need to face years of fear, guilt, and drugs.

Diagnosis: Diabetes

By D.S. Mitchell

A Public Health Emergency

One in ten Americans is living with Type 2 diabetes; that’s approximately 38 millions people. Some might call that a public health emergency. With diabetes comes other life altering diseases; cardio-vascular disease, kidney failure (dialysis), stroke, neuropathy, blindness, and lower limb amputation.

Medical Treatment

Many diagnosed diabetics are on high doses of injectable insulin and multiple oral anti-diabetic medications. Insulin is a hormone that transports sugar out of the blood and into the body’s cells. With diabetes the body can’t manufacture the hormone (Type 1-sometimes called childhood diabetes) or the more common Type 2 diabetes, where the body becomes resistant to insulin’s effects. In both cases, insulin injections are the standard fallback treatment.

Change Your Tactics

It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of accepting the “inevitable” some patients decide to implement strategic behavioral tactics that have shown to improve the condition and even reverse it. Said more simply, if you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes, you can turn it around. What follows are seven behaviors that can make a difference in your life and your battle with diabetes.

Lose Weight: Do not under estimate the impact of gaining, (or losing), even a few pounds. The physiology of diabetes causes the body to ineffectively regulate blood sugar levels because at the heart of diabetes is “insulin resistance.” With insulin resistance the pancreas is forced to manufacture more and more insulin in an effort to transport sugar from the blood to the cells. What is often misunderstood is that insulin whether manufactured in the body or taken as a medication promotes fat storage and weight gain. It becomes a vicious circle, gain a few pounds and the weight gain will force the body to produce more insulin which in turn causes more weight gain-and so it goes. The good news, however, is that even a 10% weight loss can improve insulin sensitivity by 60%.
Keep Up Your Fluid Intake: Hydration is a pretty big deal, don’t ignore it. With dehydration comes a concentration of sugar in the blood. Studies show that patients who drink less than a half liter of water per day increased their risk of elevated blood sugar compared with those who drank more. Water, milk, herbal tea all work. Caution for coffee lovers; caffeine is dehydrating, limit the intake to a maximum of three cups per day.
Stay Vaccinated: Many believe that COVID is behind us. Well, for folks with immune suppression, over the age of sixty, obesity, and diabetes the threat remains serious. In fact, studies indicate that COVID damages the pancreas and causes system wide inflammation, which in turn increases insulin resistance. New studies link COVID to new cases of diabetes. If you are in one of the high risk groups get vaccinated and stay boosted. Vaccinations lead to milder cases of the disease which should indirectly result in decreased COVID impact on pre-existing diabetics.
Increase Protein Intake: Protein at every meal, not just dinner. Protein maintains muscle and contributes to blood sugar regulation. Fill your plate with fish, white meat chicken, lean cuts of beef and plant based protein sources such as beans, nuts, quinoa.
Bite-sized Bits of Activity: “Exercise snacking” means spreading short bursts of activity throughout the day. A fifteen minute walk, two or three times per day, may do more to help control blood sugar than one long workout. Remember the 10,000 steps recommendation? In that study there was a link between exercise and improved diabetes control. The goal is to mix various types of exercise. Schedule exercise periods for yourself each day. You might start the day with a fifteen minutes block of strength training, using weights, resistance bands and body-weight moves. Mid-morning do fifteen minutes of aerobic activity such as fast walking, swimming, jogging, or tennis. After lunch try fifteen minutes of stretching which improves joint flexibility, balance, and reduces chances of injury.
Read Labels: Do not focus on sugars, but rather read labels for the “Total Carbohydrate.” This term incorporates both naturally occurring sugars and those added. Women should aim for 30-45 grams of total carbs per meal, and men 60 to 75. A typical reaction after hearing a diabetes diagnosis is to eliminate sugar and carbs. Such behavior can result in nutritional deficiencies, fatigue, and dangerously low blood sugars. Consider talking to a Registered Dietitian and setting up a realistic eating plan. Many insurance plans pay for such training. Ignorance is not helpful, your quality of life depends on understanding how you can best help yourself.
Finally: Losing weight, changing eating patterns, and exercising, are things that a newly diagnosed diabetic, or a long time diagnosed diabetic can do to reverse the disease. However, even with all those interventions, there may still be times when insulin and other diabetic medications have a role to play. Pregnancy is such a situation. Pregnancy frequently elevates the expectant mom’s typical blood sugars, just proving insulin has a secure place in the treatment of diabetes.

Grandma, Unhoused in America

By Darlene Mitchell February 10, 2024 February 23, 2024 Charity, Coronavirus COVID-19, D. S. Mitchell, Dementia, Depression, Diabetes, Disabilities, Disability, Disability, Domestic Policy, Drug Addiction, Economics, Health Care, Heart Disease, Homelessness, Homelessness, Housing, Housing/Homelessness, Human Rights, Joe Biden, Medical, Mental Illness, Senior & Elderly Issues, Social Issues, Tiny House, Volunteer

Grandma, Unhoused in America

By D.S. Mitchell

Face of the New Homeless

The lack of housing for low-income people or those on fixed incomes is a big problem and experts are working on it but there is no one size fits all solution to alleviating homelessness; certainly, more affordable housing units and additional housing vouchers are needed, but many of the homeless need specialized housing. Housing that offers wheelchair ramps, roll in showers, grab bars, single level units and other accommodating features to assist the many older and disabled individuals now facing homelessness.

55 and Over

As baby boomers age into senior citizens, a series of recessions and the lack of a strong social safety net have pushed more and more elderly people into homelessness — a number that’s only expected to rise. Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council of Homelessness tells us that “Seniors over the age of 55 are the fastest growing group of people experiencing homelessness and for many of them, it is first-time homelessness.”

Why is this Happening?

Like with most things there is no simple explanation; the reasons are complex. Most obviously, the U.S. has an aging population. With aging, people are more at risk of poverty, more subject to traumatic events, such as the death of a parent or a spouse, and more likely to suffer with chronic illness, such as diabetes and heart disease, and at increased risk for falls and other physical injury.

Stagnant Income

While their income is limited, rent costs have skyrocketed across the country. Housing protection and assistance available during the COVID-19 pandemic have expired, leaving many people on the street. In addition, many of these folks with stagnant incomes are of retirement age, but are still working part-time, at low pay hourly jobs with no chance of a raise, just to supplement their Social Security check.

Federal Action

On December 19, 2023, President Biden, alarmed at the unprecedented number of people with no place to live, across all age groups, released an ambitious federal plan to strategically reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025. The plan will address the lack of affordable housing, aid people in crisis, and prevent people from losing their homes to foreclosure in the first place. Focus of the action are those most seriously effected: people of color, veterans, the disabled, and the elderly.

Statistics On the Growing Problem

From 2009 to 2017, HUD statistics indicate the number of unhoused individuals aged 51-61 grew from 14% of the total homeless population nationally to nearly 18%. The percentage of people 62 years or older living on the street has nearly doubled. Predictions indicate that by 2030 the number of unhoused individuals over the age of 65 will triple compared with 2017.

From the 1990s

The younger half of the boomer generation have long been the dominant group among unhoused adults. In 1990, on average those folks were 30 years old; today their average age is 62. But it isn’t just the long time homeless, many are newly unhoused; people tossed out of houses and apartments for the first time. These people often experiencing a total shattering of their lives.

Nothing New

The shortage of affordable housing in the United States goes back at least 40 years; Ronald Reagan’s war on “welfare queens” did incredible damage to the social safety net and it has never been repaired. This long-time problem has been exacerbated by a number of factors. Large corporations are buying up apartments and single-family homes and charging whatever the market will bear. In fact, rent and home prices have skyrocketed, while the country has recently experienced exceptionally high inflation on basics like food and gasoline. However, economics are only part of the explanation for the dire straits many elders find themselves in.

Growing Numbers

In 2023, homelessness shot up by more than 12%, with an estimated 653,104 unhoused individuals living on American streets and in her parks. I personally have a hard time accepting these numbers, because of the large number of displaced persons I see everywhere in my small southern Oregon town. All that aside, these numbers represent the sharpest increase ever in homelessness, leading to the largest unhoused population ever recorded in the United States.

Graying of the Unhoused

Recent HUD data shows that nearly 1 in 5 people in the United States (that’s ‘effin 20% of the population) have no permanent place to live and a good share of those people are 55 years or older. Some are calling the spike in unhoused older citizens the “graying of America’s homeless.”

Intervention and Prevention

Advocates for the homeless preach intervention and prevention. For example, it might be better to pay for a seniors medication or arrange for meals than allow them to become homeless because they have had to choose between the landlord and the pharmacy.

Bigger Than the Finances

As already suggested, the issues are often more than just financial. Recent studies indicate that older unhoused people have problems performing daily activities and have greater difficulty with walking, seeing, and hearing. Furthermore, they are subject to falling, and their overall health is significantly worse than those of the same age in the general population. Importantly many of the identified individuals also have significant cognitive impairment.

In San Francisco

The problem is so significant that in San Francisco they are planning for at least one shelter set up specifically for older adults and those with disabilities. Similar shelters are being planned for New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Boston.

Self-Medicating

Exposure to the elements, poor diet, lack of sleep or fitful sleep, failure to take prescribed medication, shunning of professional services with doctors or dentists are commonplace among the homeless. Their physical circumstances trigger anxiety and depression, leading some to self-medicate with drugs and or alcohol. Such problems create a need for low barrier shelters, and housing, which are few and far between.

New Approach

Many experts are suggesting several types of shared housing situations that might be good solutions for the graying homeless population. A homeowner takes in a tenant, cohousing (where there is a cluster of private mini homes with communal spaces or a large central building with separate bedrooms and shared kitchen and living room) or the immensely popular backyard Accessory Dwelling Units. ADU’s are springing up in neighborhoods across the country where zoning laws allow them. ADU’s are usually built on the lot of a single-family residence.

Conclusion

I wish I could conclude with a happy ending, but I see no happy ending here. As baby boomers age into senior citizens, a series of recessions and the lack of a strong social safety net have pushed more and more elderly people into homelessness — a number that’s only expected to rise over the next few years before common sense tells us it will drop off, probably after 2030, as the boomers die.

Stretch For Life; From A Chair

By Darlene Mitchell September 24, 2023 September 25, 2023 #sports, Body Fat, Disabilities, Health Care, Health/Fitness, Heart Disease, Medical, Obesity, Staying healthy, Stretching, Weight Loss

Stretch For Life; From A Chair

Enjoy The Physical Benefits of Stretching

Stretching Can Be Done Anywhere, Anytime, Even From A Chair. Got tight Muscles? Got Back & Joint Pain? Stretching Can Relieve Chronic Pain. No More Excuses, Str-r-e-etch.

Stretch For Life

By D. S. Mitchell

Stretching Benefits Young And Old

A regular stretching program will improve your blood flow and make your arteries healthier. Within a couple months of starting a stretching program you could lower your risk of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction and more. If you stay loose and limber, your muscles respond better to stressors-expected and unexpected-that might otherwise result in injury. Stretching is not a magic elixir, but if you stretch regularly you will, according to science, feel better and be healthier.

The Benefits Of Starting A Stretching Routine

Improved Flexibility: Essential to overall health. Improved flexibility allows adults, particularly seniors to perform everyday activities with ease and naturally delays reduced mobility issues, common with aging.
Improved Range Of Motion: The ability to move a joint through its full range gives freedom of movement. Essential for healthy aging.
Improved Performance In Physical Activities: Doing dynamic stretches prior to activities is proven to prepare your muscles for the exercise. It may also improve your performance in the activity.
Increase Blood Flow To Muscles: Improves your circulation, increased blood flow to your muscles, which can shorten your recovery time and reduce muscle soreness or delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Improved Posture: Poor posture is often the result of muscle imbalances. A combination of strengthening and stretching specific muscle groups can reduce musculoskeletal pain and encourage proper alignment, thus improved posture.
Helps Heal And Prevent Back Pain: Tight muscles can lead to a decrease in your ROM. When this happens you increase the likelihood of straining the muscles in your back. Stretching can help heal an existing back injury by stretching the injured muscles. A regular stretching routine can also prevent future back pain by strengthening your back muscles and reducing your risk of muscle strain.
Stress Relief: Stress leads to tense muscles. Muscles tighten up in response to physical and emotional stress. Focus on areas of your body where you tend to hold your stress, primarily the neck, shoulders, and upper back.
Calm The Mind: A regular stretching routine can calm the mind. While you stretch focus on mindfulness and meditation exercises. Give your mind a break.
Reduce Tension Headaches: Tension and stress headaches can interfere with activities of daily living. Stretching reduces the tension and anxiety you feel from headaches.

The best stretches are ones you can do whenever, wherever — including from the comfort of a couch or chair. If you are having trouble getting down on the floor and then back up again I’ve got 10 popular seated stretches to add some beneficial stretches into your daily routine; you’ll notice very quickly the improvement in both mobility and flexibility.

Suggested Seated Stretches

I suggest you do each of the suggested stretches only once and see how your body responds. Once comfortable with a stretching move incorporate those chosen poses into your daily routine. If each stretch feels good, do each stretch in the order listed below for an effective full-body session.

Ear-to-Shoulder Stretch

How you do it: This simple movement will release neck and shoulder tension. Place your feet flat on the floor and sit up straight in a chair. Your arms are hanging at your sides with your shoulders down and relaxed. Without rotating your head, drop your head to the side. Go as far as you can without straining or lifting your shoulder. For the greatest muscle relaxation, breathe deeply throughout. To deepen the stretch you can use your hand to gently pull your head toward the shoulder. Hold for 15 seconds. Remember to take slow, deep breaths. Switch sides and repeat. Do two, each side, each with a 15 second hold time.

Chin-to-Chest Stretch

How you do it: Keep your feet flat on the floor and sit nice and tall in a chair. Interlock your fingers and place behind your head; then gently lower your chin toward your chest, keeping your hands on the back of your head. Hold the pose for 15 seconds, taking slow, deep breaths. Do four 1poses each with a 15-second hold. The key to the chin-to-chest move is being gentle.

Shoulder Roll Stretch

Rounded Back Stretch

How you do it: Sit straight and tall in a chair with your feet resting flat on the floor. Lean slightly forward and place your hands on your knees with arms extended. The idea is to focus on not just rounding your upper back, but also involving your lower back by tucking your tailbone on the chair’s seat. Now push down on your knees to round your back, now bring your chin toward your chest, tuck your tailbone slightly, imagine your upper body forming the letter C. Take slow, deep breaths, hold for 15 seconds then release. Do four poses, holding each for 15 seconds.

Cross-Chest Stretch

How you do it: If you spend a lot of time hovering over a computer or a book this stretch should help release the tension through the shoulders and upper back. Sit up straight with your feet flat on the floor. Cross one arm in front of your chest and place your opposite hand on the arm crossing your chest and brace it at the elbow to support. If it feels good, you can gently apply pressure to your arm to increase the stretch. Hold for 15 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. Do four holds per side.

Overhead Triceps Stretch

How you do it: We carry tension throughout our bodies, one place that might surprise you is the back of our arms. The triceps stretch will relieve the pressure. Sit straight in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Raise one arm overhead and bend your elbow to lower your palm between your shoulder blades, as far as you comfortably can. Place your opposite hand on your raised elbow for support. If it feels good, gently press on your elbow to increase the stretch. Hold for 15 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. Do four on each side, hold for 15-second holds per side. Be sure not to let your lower back arch.

Behind-the-Back Stretch

Spinal Twist Stretch

How you do it: Our spines are meant to move in all directions. This simple twisting pose will improve spinal mobility and release hard to reach muscles in your back. Sit with back straight in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Place one hand on your opposite knee and the other on the seat behind you. Gently rotate your torso toward your hands. If it feels good, you can gently press on your knee to increase the twist. Hold for 15 seconds, taking slow, deep breaths, then switch sides and repeat. Do four times per side.

Figure 4 Stretch

How you do it: This stretch is good for people suffering from sciatica, it targets lower body tightness and subsequent back pain due to long periods of sitting. Sit tall and straight in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Cross one ankle over your opposite thigh, just above your knee. Gently press the knee of your raised leg down toward the floor, allowing your torso to lean forward slightly as you do. Hold pose for 15 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. Do four per side.

Shin Stretch

How you do it: If your shins are tight this simple movement can relieve the tension and ease shin splits and improve ankle mobility. Sit, back straight in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Slide one foot in until it’s in line with your hips — either bringing it underneath the seat of the chair or beside it. Point your toes and place the top of your foot on the floor. If it feels good, gently apply pressure to the top of your foot to increase the stretch. Hold for 15 seconds, then switch sides and repeat. Do four on each side.

If you think you would like to try a stretching program go to YouTube and check out the myriad of stretching programs that you can visualize and get your technique perfected. Thank you, Silver Sneakers for this series of suggested exercises. Happy stretching!!

3 Gremlins Facing Health Care In The U.S.

By Darlene Mitchell July 10, 2023 July 11, 2023 Affordable Care Act "ObamaCare", Dangers of Sugar, Diabetes, Disability, Disease, Health Care, Health/Fitness, Heart Disease, Medicaid, Medical, Medicare, Medications, Mental Illness, Obesity, Public Health, Senior & Elderly Issues, Social Issues, Staying healthy, Stroke, Vaccinations, Weight Loss

3 Gremlins Facing Health Care In The U.S.

By D. S. Mitchell

On The Front Line

Writing for www.CalamityPolitics.com allows me a grass root platform to discuss health care, and every other area of our political spectrum, for that matter. It does not give me the right to say anything I want about the issues. With that said, I have ground level experience in health care. Because of that experience and exposure to trench warfare in hospital health care I have strong opinions. Client care and results need to be discussed and evaluated for effectiveness. I have a passionate interest in health care, and in this area, I believe my street level experience gives me the right to discuss the issues. Bringing common sense thinking to health care should always be welcomed. I am an RN, and have worked for 38 years in hospitals in Oregon, Washington, California and Nevada.

The Sickest

My two primary areas of specialty are Crisis Psychiatry and Cardiac Intensive Care. Whether the issues are mental, behavioral, or cardiac emergency, many of the issues facing the caregiver, and the client are the same. Despite the obvious differences in the front line needs of the clients, both of these populations are often the sickest in the hospital. One thing I know, is that the health of the American citizen should not be decided by a politician in Washington, D.C. Sadly, that’s where this battle always shows its ugly underbelly.

Gremlin 1: Big Pharma

Suitcases Of Medications

For the first twenty-five years of my career, when I admitted a patient that came to the unit with a suitcase of medications, I believed it was because they were incredibly ill. Like physicians I had been trained to believe in pharmaceuticals. Once I was an old nurse, my thinking transformed into, the patient is sick because they are taking so many prescribed medications. I can hear the protests from the audience now. Don’t believe me, just read the labels. These are chemicals and they are toxic and poisonous.

Side Effects

Truthfully, every pill has the potential to cause side effects, some known and some unknown. When a person complains to his doctor that he is uncomfortable due to the side effects of the medication he is taking, his doctor writes him another prescription to help deal with the side effects. The patient has pain so his doctor writes him a prescription for an analgesic. When he complains that the pain medication makes him constipated, he is given a prescription. You can see where this is headed, right?

Advertising Medications

In America, television is the best friend of the pharmaceutical industry. Constant television marketing has convinced viewers that there is a pill that will fix anything and everything. Unfortunately, many Americans now believe that there is a pill that will make everything in their life better. Health care policy makers need to take this issue very seriously. I realize drug manufacturers want to make a profit, but I also believe constant repetition creates a need that previously did not exist.

Body Fat and the Health Risks

By Darlene Mitchell April 20, 2023 April 20, 2023 Body Fat, Dangers of Sugar, Diabetes, Disabilities, Disease, Health Care, Heart Disease, Medical, Obesity, Public Health, Staying healthy

Body Fat and the Health Risks

Studies repeatedly indicate, without a doubt, obesity is dangerous to our health. As we grow older our bodies accumulate fat and then deposit most of the accumulated fat around our waistlines. At the same time we are losing muscle mass. The combination of those factors are a pathway to health problems; most particularly Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, elevated cholesterol, and overall mental decline.

By D. S. Mitchell

Body Fat

Mention body fat and a lot of us start to get anxious. It’s not that the bathroom scale tells the whole story, but it does tell how much body fat we are carrying. We mostly choose not to think about it until our pants won’t zip up or when we pass a full length mirror. More and more information shows that there are serious health risks in carrying extra body fat. Experts tell us that the accumulated body fat begins to act as an endocrine organ. The endocrine system is a complicated network of organs and glands that uses hormones to control multiple body functions. Most specifically, body fat is involved in the metabolism of sex hormones, blood clotting, blood pressure, and insulin sensitivity.

Measuring the BMI

Physicians use the BMI to measure body fat, and diagnose whether the client is underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obese, or morbidly obese. A BMI of less than 18.5 is underweight, 18.5-24.9 is healthy weight, 25-29.9 is overweight, and 30 plus is obese, 40 or more is morbid (severe) obesity. Where an individual carries their extra pounds seems important. The visceral fat; that’s fat that is carried in the belly means higher risk of heart disease, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. In fact, many doctors now suggest patients regularly monitor weight, BMI and waist measurement just as we currently monitor blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. In a 10 year study with 190,672 participants, obesity tripled the risk for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

Sugar Is Killing Us

By Darlene Mitchell April 10, 2023 April 10, 2023 Anxiety, Dangers of Sugar, Dementia, Depression, Diabetes, Disease, Health Care, Heart Disease, Medical, Mental Illness, Obesity

Sugar Is Killing Us

By D. S. Mitchell

When I started writing this article, my intention was to write a quick easy read, nothing in-depth, certainly nothing scientific. Something along the lines of, “Ten Reasons To Kick The Sugar Habit”. That plan was quickly dashed as I read one scary article after another explaining the dangers of sugar consumption. If you are suffering from any of the diseases highlighted in this article, remember, you are not alone. If you want a better, longer life, it is time to take a look at your relationship with sugar in all of its malevolent forms.

**This article first appeared in CalamityNewsandPolitics.com on 04/03/2020

THE DANGERS OF SUGAR: PART ONE

Sixty-Five Pounds Annually

The average American consumes 65 pounds of sugar annually without even being aware of it. That information alone should be a heart stopper. The American Heart Association recommends that men consume no more than 9 teaspoons (36 grams) of added sugar per day and women no more than 6 teaspoons (24 grams). On average each of us ingests 19.5 teaspoons or 78 grams a day. Research on the dangers of sugar on health are ongoing, and new information is being constantly being uncovered.

Dangerous And Addictive

If there was ever any doubt about the dangers of sugar they are being put to rest by a series of scientific studies. Research is proving sugar is both dangerous and extremely addictive. A person who drinks one 20 oz sugary beverage every day will cut their life expectancy by nearly five years. That is, comparable to being a regular smoker. If that fact doesn’t get your attention, read on, it gets worse, a whole lot worse.

Just As Bad

Sugar does a lot of damage to our bodies. With all the negative news about sugar is there an alternative? Some people say, “just use a sugar replacement.” Whoa. Evidence is mounting that sucralose, saccharin and aspartame are just as dangerous as sugar. Research shows that sugar replacements injure and destroy the essential microbiome in the gut. Microbiome are the millions of microorganisms inside our bodies that help us stay alive. These microbes protect us against germs, they also break down food to release energy, and produce vitamins.

Find A Garbage Can

To make it clear, sugar substitutes are just as bad as the real thing. In addition to the physical damage products like sucralose do, they are also associated with weight gain and glucose intolerence-the very things people use them to prevent. Those folks trying to cut down on sugar may be drawn to advertised benefits such as “maple syrup’s antioxidant benefits” or “honey’s healing power”. Forget such misinformation. Sugar is sugar, no matter what form it takes. I suggest that no one consume them. Keep them out of the house. If you have any of these sugar substitutes in your cupboard toss them in the closest garbage can.

Highs And Lows

The body’s reaction to sugar is like taking a roller coaster ride; an unending ride to extreme highs, followed by extreme lows, sending the body into a spiral of endless cravings. People report being “hungry all the time”. Descriptions include “being obsessed with food”, and literally feeling “addicted” to food. It makes perfect sense, because everything they eat and drink is loaded with sugar.

Addictive Cycle

High sugar intake sends the body into a crazy, roller coaster ride of ups and downs.

The danger of sugar is easy to describe, it is addictive, sharing all the highs and lows of any other addictive drug.

The danger of sugar is easy to describe. As the addictive cycle begins, say after you eat a piece of cake, a predictable pattern begins. Blood glucose begins to rise. Then, Dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain’s reward and pleasure centers is released, messaging that everything is “great”. Meanwhile, if you are not a diabetic, your pancreas is busy releasing insulin into your blood stream to help lower the threat of rising blood sugar. High insulin levels signal the body to store fat throughout the body, including the liver. With the release of insulin, blood glucose drops.

Another Piece Of Cake

As the sugar high subsides, your brain begins sending signals that you are ‘hungry’. The ‘false hunger’ signals kick cravings into high gear, demanding another piece of cake. Predictably, as you consume that second piece or cake, or cookie, the sugar driven roller coaster takes the body on another crazy, dizzying ride.

Mood Swings

The ups and downs of unstable blood sugar will cause a person to experience mood swings, fatigue, and headaches. As described in the “addictive cycle” unstable blood glucose contributes to cravings, which begins the cycle of “false hunger”. When the body is under stress, it immediately kicks into fight-or-flight mode, releasing large amounts of stimulating hormones. Interestingly, the body has the same chemical response when it detects low blood sugar, created by the insulin response. After eating a sweet snack, stress hormones begin to compensate for the crash, by raising your blood sugar. Unexplained anxiousness, irritability, and even tremors often result. By contrast, those who avoid sugar have fewer cravings, and feel emotionally balanced and energized.

Sleeplessness

Can’t sleep? Thirty percent of Americans complain of insomnia, or interrupted sleep. Sugar may be keeping you up at night. Researchers have found that eating more sugar, along with less fiber and more saturated fat, is associated with lighter, more disrupted and less restorative sleep. Insomnia has been connected to diabetes, obesity and heart disease. This deadly trio of health conditions, is now being directly tied to sugar consumption.

Sugar And Mental Health

Consuming high-sugar products like cookies, candy and sugary drinks, are associated with a higher risk of depression. Researchers believe that blood sugar swings, neurotransmitter dysfunction, and inflammation may all be reasons for sugar’s detrimental impact on mental health. Sugar in fact, could be making you sad and depressed. Capping off a bad day with a comforting sugar laden snack may make you feel worse in the long run.

Increased Depression

A recent Columbia University study found that post-menopausal women whose diets were high in added sugar and refined grains were at a high risk for depression. Study participants, that ate more dietary fiber, whole grains, vegetables, and unprocessed fruits had a decreased risk of depression. In another study, men who consumed 67 grams or more of sugar per day were 23% more likely to develop depression than men who ate less than 40 grams per day.

Patient Gets Genetically Modified Pig Heart

By Darlene Mitchell February 12, 2022 February 12, 2022 Disease, Health Care, Heart Disease, Medical, Medications, Science & Technology

57 Year Old Gets Genetically Modified Pig Heart

“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it is a shot in the dark, but it is my last chance,” said the recipient of a genetically modified pig heart last week.

By MAHINROOP PM and D. S. Mitchell

A Major Breakthrough

American doctors have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a desperately ill 57 year old patient. It is an unquestionable achievement, a breakthrough for medical science. The patient, David Bennet is doing well after the surgery. The organ transplant proved that a genetically modified animal heart can serve like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body. Bennet had been connected to Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation, a heart lung bypass machine, in order to remain alive. The patient was informed of the procedure’s risks and that the procedure was experimental with unknown risks before consenting to receive the heart transplant.

Emergency

Because Bennet faced certain death without the Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency authorization for the surgery last week. The doctors at University of Maryland Medicine performed the procedure called Xenotransplantation. Bennet had been on cardiac support for almost two months and couldn’t receive a mechanical heart pump because of an irregular heart beat. Neither could he receive a human transplant, because he had a history of treatment noncompliance.

Organ Shortage Crisis

“This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis. There are simply not enough human hearts available to meet the long list of potential recipients. We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first in the world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future,” said Bartley P Griffith, Professor in transplant surgery at University of Maryland Medicine.

High Risk

Although the process can potentially save thousands of lives, it comes with many risks including the chance of triggering a dangerous immune response. Such responses can trigger an immediate rejection of the organ, leading to the immediate death of the patient. A new drug was combined with conventional anti-rejection drugs to suppress the immune system and hopefully will prevent Benet’s body from rejecting the foreign organ.

Ethical and Technical Hurdles

Doctors will monitor Bennet for the rest of his life to determine whether the transplant provides the hoped for lifesaving benefits vs complications. The ultimate focus of xenotransplantation research is on genetically modified pigs because of the physiologic similarities between pigs, human and non-human primates. Revivicor, a biotechnology company located in Virginia provided the pig heart for the transplantation.

What The Future Offers

Transplant surgeons are hoping that recent advances will enable them to give more people animal organs. Physicians believe that the surgery will kickstart clinical xenotransplantation. As with everything, there are numerous ethical, as well as regulatory issues confronting the wholesale use of animal harvested hearts, and other organs, to sustain human life. Only time will tell.

How To Survive a Heart Attack When Alone

By Darlene Mitchell July 27, 2021 July 27, 2021 Heart Disease, Medical

How To Survive a Heart Attack When Alone

Take Two Minutes To Read This Life Saving Information

By D. S. Mitchell, R.N. (retired)

I was having lunch with another retired R.N., when we got up to leave she reached into her purse and handed me a folded piece of paper. I opened it and the title at the top of the page read, “How to Survive a Heart Attack When Alone.”

“My heart’s great, but just in case, it’s probably good information to have.”

“Share it,” she said.

So that’s what I’m doing. Please, take two minutes to read this life saving information.

Imagine it is 5:30 at night and you’re headed home, (alone of course) after an unusually hard day at work.
You are extremely tired, upset and frustrated.
Suddenly, you experience severe pain in your chest that starts to drag out into your arm and up in to your jaw. You are only about five minutes from nearest hospital.
Unfortunately your symptoms are severe and you don’t want to drive in your condition. **Call 911. Take a baby aspirin. If you have no baby aspirin take a regular 325 mg aspirin if there is one available.
You have been trained in CPR, but your trainer never taught you to perform it on yourself.
How to survive a heart attack when alone. Many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has an estimated 10 seconds before losing consciousness.
However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must he deep and prolonged, as when trying to produce sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart from the coughing helps it regain a normal rhythm.
PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO DRIVE YOURSELF TO THE HOSPITAL. Pull off the road and call 911 it would be tragic if you passed out behind the wheel and killed someone.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2017/10/12/warning-signs-of-stroke-and-heart-attack/

Women and Heart Attack Warning Signs

By Darlene Mitchell February 13, 2021 February 13, 2021 Health Care, Health/Fitness, Heart Disease, Medical, Public Health, Valentine's Day

Women and Heart Attack Warning Signs

*Although not exactly what Valentine’s Day is about, we here at Calamity Politics.com thought it was important to highlight women’s heart health.*

Women and Heart Attack Warning Signs

D. S. Mitchell

It’s Not Always Crushing Chest Pain

Signs of a heart attack are often the same for both men and women, but not always. The most common symptom of a heart attack for men most often includes “crushing” left upper chest pain. Also notable is generalized upper body pain and discomfort, shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, and lightheadedness. Women, however, can have a heart attack without the traditional “crushing” chest pressure/pain.” They like men may also experience: 1) pain or pressure in the lower chest, jaw or upper abdomen, 2) dizziness or faintness, 3) upper back pressure, 4) overwhelming fatigue. Any of these symptoms without the crushing chest pain can be early signs of a pending coronary event. Any of these signs can occur weeks before the actual heart attack.

Statistics Reveal Inequality of Research

What is important is that early signs of a heart attack are missed in 78% of women and their heart attacks are statistically more fatal than those of men. Women often report NO chest pain. The reason for these startling facts is that the majority of heart research has centered on men. Typical tests such as electrocardiograms and blood work come out normal for women because they were designed to interpret information about men’s hearts. Often women are sent home mis-diagnosed with “anxiety” or “heartburn” when in fact they are experiencing a myocardial infarction (MI).

What’s an MI?

An MI occurs when one or more of the arteries that feed the heart with blood and oxygen is totally blocked by a blood clot or fatty plaque. This means immediate care is essential. Without treatment the affected parts of the heart will die. Muscle tissue death, depending on how severe, typically leads to the death of the individual. An emergency trip to the cath lab is imperative during such events. It is in the cath lab where stents can be placed to open the blockage and save the patient’s life.

Our Bodies

It is time for more heart research funding to be spent on women’s cardiac health and diagnosing potentially lethal events. It is especially important that women with a family history of heart disease to be especially vigilant when assessing their symptoms. Women must be more persistent when discussing symptoms with their care givers and insistent that when something feels wrong it might very well be. We know our bodies better than the physician. Be your own best advocate.

HEART ATTACK WARNING SIGNS IN WOMEN:

Pale clammy skin
Difficulty breathing
Heart fluttering or rhythm irregularities
Cold sweat
Unusual fatigue
Dizziness and or lightheadedness
Shoulder, neck, jaw, arm, and or back pain
Nausea, and or vomiting
Insomnia
Stomach pain

If you experience any of the, above symptoms, whether you are a man or a woman, please immediately chew 160 milligrams of aspirin and call 911. Your life may well depend on it.

https://www.calamitypolitics.com/2017/10/12/warning-signs-of-stroke-and-heart-attack/

The Dangers Of Sugar

By Darlene Mitchell April 3, 2020 April 27, 2020 Cancer, Dangers of Sugar, Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity, Public Health, Science & Technology, Weight Loss

The Dangers Of Sugar

The dangers of sugar are compounded by repeated use. Sugar works slowly, its devastating results often taking years to manifest themselves in measurable ways, such as diabetes.