Caring for the Elderly with Strength Training

One of the aims of physiotherapy in the care of the elderly is to
prevent falls and improve balance.

Major causes of falls in the aged are muscle weakness, poor balance
and posture, the very challenges that physiotherapy deals with
effectively.

Reduced muscle mass (atrophy), which leads to muscle weakness, is as a
result of lack of use, disease or reduced nourishment.

Involving the elderly in strength training, also known as resistance
training, will improve the strength and overall condition of their
muscles. This is turn would improve posture, gait and functional
independence of these mature ones.

Experienced physiotherapists know just how to engage seniors in the
appropriate strength training programme to enable them carry out
activities of daily living age graciously and generally feel good.

(photo-credit: heavy.com)

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Meetings Can Be Stressful!

Yep! I do not like frequent, unnecessary and endless meetings. Some
people just get the kicks from looking at peoples' faces and hearing
themselves "think out loud". Makes you wonder..."why have a meeting in
the first place!"

Whenever someone "wants us to meet" I have to know the agenda, what,
why, why now? Do we really need to meet in this technology age? I have
to know all these because I always give my all and don't want to get
drained.

An effective meeting should solve a serious problem or prevent one and
not CREATE one. No one wants to have a meeting where no one even knows
what exactly the issue is...we already discussed that the last time so
why are we here again.

• Take a coffee nap

Meetings should not be long and winding and should have their agenda
clearly defined before word goes out to others to attend.

Most managers feel stressed when they feel there's a lot in their
plate and are just simply overwhelmed. Technology has made
communication so easy and convenient so if the purpose of your meeting
is to share some information with your team consider creating an
online group or using an app that can disseminate information to your
team.

You may not need that meeting...

(photo-credit: imeetcentral.com)

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Stop Hurting Your Brain; 8 Good Habits to Adopt to Boost Brain Function

#WorkplaceBlues
Some "brains" may be "hurting" in the office, but these are eight good
habits you can imbibe to boost your brain's health:

1) Feed your brain with foods that have high levels of antioxidants
like nuts and blueberries (consider snacking on these at work).

2) Include fish, red wine, whole grain and fruits in your meals...this
boosts for brain's function.

3) SMILE! Make being happy a habit instead of being grumpy. Are you
the staff everyone wants to be around or the one who makes everyone
edgy? Psychologist, Shawn Achor has said smiling can retrain our
brains to look for possibilities. "Happiness leads to success and not
success to happiness"

4) Write down small tasks you need to get done. Some things don't need
to keep dangling in your brain, just get out your note pad and draft a
"to-do list". Then tick them as you accomplish them (yep it will feel
good). Experts say it boosts our dopamine levels ("Dopamine"is a
chemical substance that "turns on" the learning centres in our
brain...)

5) Praise yourself regularly for small accomplishments. Studies have
shown the "frequency" of success is more important than the "size" of
success.

• Laughter helps relieve workplace stress

B.J. Fogg of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University says you
should celebrate yourself daily...your brain doesn't know the
difference between progress and perceived progress.

6) Sit up!
A good upright sitting posture also helps boosts brain function.
Researchers say adopting a crouched position makes your brain prone to
thoughts of hopelessness and depression.

7) Be active!
How can you just sit at your desk all day? Beyond conventional
exercise and going to the gym... Move at work! Use the stairs instead
of the elevator. Take a stroll during your breaks at work.
Deliberately get up and move whenever you have the opportunity or just
create one.


8) Get a good night's sleep.
Our brains' cleansing system requires between six to eight hours of sleep.

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Before you Throw Away That Banana...

Unlike other fruits that have their nutrient content change as they
ripen, bananas have their antioxidant content increase as they ripen.

Most times when I get bananas from the farm they ripen so fast that
most of them end up in the dustbin. We notice the spotted bananas and
how the spots keep increasing and my kids go "eeew!".

But Japanese scientists have said "the spottier the better"...

In an experiment carried out by Japanese on ripe fruits such as
bananas, grape, pear, watermelon, pineapple and persimmon, the banana
came out tops:

"The fully ripe banana produces a substance called TNF( Tumor Necrosis
Factor) which
has the ability to combat abnormal cells. As the banana ripens, it
develops dark spots
or patches on the skin. The more dark patches it has, the higher will
be its' immunity enhancement quality.
In full ripe bananas with dark spots on skin, the starch content
changes to simple sugars that are easier to digest.

The research concluded that the
activity of banana was comparable to that of Lentinan, a chemical
immunostimulant
that is intravenously administered as an anti-cancer agent. So, ripe
banana can act
as an anti-cancer agent by stimulating the production of white blood
cells in the human cell line and preventing cell
mutation."
(www.healthyfoodstyle.com/what-happens-with-your-body-when-you-eat-ripe-bananas-with-dark-spots/)

The levels of TNF increase with the dark spots BEFORE the bananas turn
fully brown so no one is recommending brown or spoilt bananas. So eat
healthy!

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Is Wearing a Waist Trainer Dangerous?

So there's this new craze for a quick fix "hour-glass" figures and the
waist trainer, corset or shaper now seems to be the "in thing"...

But do these corsets actually do what the manufacturers say they do
and are there any side effects?

Can all women achieve the same body shape by wearing these waist
trainers? Can our body shapes be altered simply by a stretch or rigid
under garment? Because the impression we get is that this shapewear
moulds your body into that "figure 8" if you can wear it for certain
number of hours a day.

According to a clinical professor in Obs & Gynae, Mary Jane Minkin
M.D, these waist cinchers can make it difficult to breathe (because
of their tightness) and even cause rib bruising or damage.

A New York based plastic surgeon, Andrew Miller M.D, has also stated
the obvious; waist trainers don't have any effect on your "fat
anatomy", the moment you remove them, you are back to your normal
waist size.

So they just compress fat not burn it... and make you sweat...

Wearing waist trainers for a few hours may not be harmful but wearing
them for long periods like weeks or months at a time could be
dangerous...you could experience acid reflux and have a hard time
digesting food because of the shapers' pressure on your stomach.

Dr Galyna also warns that these shapewear can affect the neutral
positions of the organs; pushing the upper organs upwards and the
lower organs downwards and says the quality of your breathing can be
affected. (So please do not exercise with waist trainers!)

So the moral of the story is: if you decide to get a waist trainer let
it be for ceremonial purposes or occasional use rather than a
"consistent beauty regimen"...

(photo-credit: philly.com)

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