Call
or email now to discuss your needs
AAA Warman Home Care’s E-Update is intended to bring to you timely and useful articles and information at the click of the mouse. It is sent monthly in an effort to keep you apprised of what is happening across the healthcare continuum of care effecting hospital, hospice and rehabilitation social workers and case managers, as well as Assisted Living, Independent Living and Skilled Nursing facility executives. Warman understands that time is limited and has undertaken to share with you important industry information without your having to search for it.
Perhaps safety is the last thing on your mind as the holiday season approaches; but spare a few moments to consider these top 12 safety tips to ensure that your festive period, family home time, journeys and activities proceed without mishap, and ensure you, your family and your guests have a merry and cheerful holiday.
Preparing to visit relatives or friends over the holiday season? The American Red Cross suggest you make an emergency car kit and include items such as blankets or sleeping bags, jump leads, a fire extinguisher (A-B-C type, 5 lb), compass, road maps, shovel, tyre repair kit, tyre pump, extra clothing, flares, and a tow rope.
And of course, don't drive off until you and your passengers have buckled their seat belts and children 12 and under are in the back seat. Avoid travelling with sharp or heavy objects in the passenger area of the car; in the event of a sudden stop or crash they turn into dangerous flying missiles. Also, make sure any child seats meet recognized federal or national standards for crash protection.
You should avoid driving in a storm, but if you feel you must, keep your gas tank full and don't let the fuel line freeze. Let someone know where you are going, which route you are planning to take and when you expect to arrive.
Don't drink and drive: this doesn't have to be boring for the driver if you make sure he or she has plenty of delicious non-alcoholic drinks to choose from. Be a thoughtful host and make sure drivers coming to your party have a good choice of non-alcoholic drinks. These are available in good supermarkets, or you can make your own.
Try this non-alcoholic Christmas punch: take 2 cups (half a litre) white grape juice, 2 really ripe mashed bananas, 1 cup each of pineapple and mango juice, 2 cups ginger ale, a litre (a quart) of sparkling water or plain soda, half a cup blueberries, 1 cup raspberries, 1 tin mandarin segments. Mix all together, sweeten to taste (eg with agave syrup or sugar syrup), decorate with chopped mint leaves and cinnamon sticks.
When it is very cold outside, if you dress in several thin layers rather than rely on one single heavy coat you will stay warmer and avoid hypothermia; plus wear a hat, especially one that covers your ears.
The American Academy of Pediatrics advises that you dress an older baby or young child in one more layer of clothing than an adult would wear in the same conditions. For outdoor activities they suggest children wear thermal long johns, turtlenecks, one or two shirts, pants, sweater, coat, warm socks, boots, gloves or mittens, and a hat.
Hypothermia symptoms include: confusion, dizziness, exhaustion and severe shivering: seek medical attention immediately if you get cold and have these symptoms.
For peace of mind while you enjoy your Christmas party, engage a baby sitter who is trained in first aid. If you have a regular and reliable baby sitter who is not first aid trained encourage them to get training.
Red-Cross certified babysitters learn how to give basic first aid, hold and feed a child properly, monitor safe play, actively engage with the child, take emergency action when needed, and they can also become certified in infant and child CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation).
Keep flammable items such as towels, curtains, cloth potholders away from the stove top. Keep children out of the area where hot food or drinks are being prepared, and use back burners and turn pot handles toward the back of your stove so they are out of reach of little hands.
Winter is a time when household fires occur, so remember to install smoke alarms on every floor of your home, test them every month, and make sure family members know what to do in the event of a fire. Don't leave portable heaters or fireplaces unattended.
If you are planning to build a new home, consider installing fire sprinklers.
According to a 2004 report from the Home Safety Council, falls are by far the leading cause of cause of unintentional home injury death and account for over 5 million injuries and nearly 6,000 deaths a year in the US.
Walk through your home and look for potential fall hazards and put them right. For example, have handrails on both sides of stairs and steps, have lots of light at the top and bottom of stairs, tape rugs to the floor or don't use them, keep the stairs clear of toys and obstacles, use non skid bathroom mats, install grab bars in the tub and shower, and have a non slip mat or non slip strips in your tub and shower.
Poisons are things you breathe, touch, eat or get in your eyes. Know where they are in and outside your home. Keep all poisonous items locked away from children, read the instructions and make sure containers have child proof locks on them. Don't leave tablets and medication lying around where children can get them, eg open handbags, low lying drawers or bedside tables.
If you burn fuel for cooking or heating, install a carbon monoxide (CO) detector near bedrooms and arrange for a service engineer to check heaters, stoves and fireplaces every year.
Call the emergency services if someone won't wake up, is having trouble breathing or is having a seizure: call them even if the person seems OK but you think they may have taken poison.
If an object can pass through a toilet paper tube it can cause a young child to choke. So keep coins, peanuts, grapes, other small round or hard foods, small objects, hard sweets and candy, buttons, pins and jewelry out of the sight and reach of children. Don't let young children play with balloons unsupervised and make sure no pieces of latex are left lying around from burst balloons: these can be dangerous if swallowed.
Don't put loose blankets, pillows, comforters or toys in a baby's crib or cot: they can sometimes cause a baby to stop breathing. Don't be tempted to hang pictures, quilts, or ribbons on or over the cot or crib, even if they were well intended Christmas gifts.
Don't leave young children unattended in baths, tubs, near toilets, pools and spas: stay close enough to reach out and touch them.
Observe sensible guidelines about safe winter sports. For example don't let children skate on unapproved surfaces and don't let them skate alone. Check sleds are free of sharp edges and splinters, make sure slopes are free of obstructions and end with a flat run off away from traffic. Keep young children separated from older children.
Don't ski or snowboard on your own, and always make sure young children are supervised and wear the appropriate equipment that is safe and of the right size for them. Avoid crowded slopes and skiing in areas with trees and other obstacles. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should be taught to ski or snowboard by a qualified instructor in a program designed for children and that children under the age 7 should not snowboard at all.
It may be hard to believe, but the sun's rays can burn in winter, especially when they reflect off snow. So make sure you cover exposed skin, particularly on children, with sun block if spending time outside, for instance going for walks or doing winter sports.
Help prevent spread of flu this winter by practicing simple and sensible hygiene. Wash hands with soap and water as often as possible, or use hand sanitizer with at least 60 per cent alcohol. If travelling by plane or other means where there are lots of people, take sanitizing wipes with you and disinfect hard surfaces like the food tray table on the plane, luggage handles, door handles, seat armrests and even your cell phone.
Learn to save lives, not just during the holidays, but all year round. The Red Cross suggests every household should have at least one member trained in life saving skills and first aid. If you don't have time to attend a course before the holidays, schedule one for the New Year: it only takes a few hours to become certified in first aid and CPR/AED (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillation).
SOURCE: Red Cross, Home Safety Council, American Academy of Pediatrics, December 16, 2009
Estrogen seems to act like a middleman in its positive effect on the brain, raising the possibility that future drugs may bypass the carcinogenic hormone altogether while reaping its benefits.
A split-personality chemical, estrogen is thought to protect neural circuits and boost learning and memory, while at the same time increasing cancer risk when taken in high doses.
In a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), neuroscientists at USC and the Western University of Health Sciences show that estrogen sometimes acts through another chemical.
Their experiments on mice verified that the hormone stimulates parts of the brain dedicated to learning and memory.
"We show very clearly that it does activate the same machinery that is activated during learning and memory," said Michel Baudry, professor of neurobiology at the USC College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
But the researchers also found that estrogen acts through calpain, a protein considered crucial to learning and memory since a seminal paper in 1984 by Baudry and Gary Lynch of the University of California, Irvine on the biochemistry of memory.
Baudry is senior co-author on the PNAS study, which implies that the hormonal description of estrogen needs revisiting.
Estrogen acting through calpain does not work as a slowly diffusing hormone, Baudry said, but as a neurotransmitter with a more powerful and nearly immediate effect on the brain.
He compared estrogen to adrenalin, a substance that acts like a hormone in most of the body but as a neurotransmitter in the brain.
"It's not a hormonal effect. It's a synaptic modulator. It completely changes the way we look at estrogen in the brain," Baudry said.
That change may lead to better drugs against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, according to USC graduate student and lead author Sohila Zadran.
"Estrogen is critically involved in learning and memory," she said, and the PNAS study shows that its effects "critically involve calpain."
In the future, drug developers may choose to target calpain directly, possibly avoiding the risks associated with hormone therapy.
Such a strategy would not have been possible if Baudry's group had not clarified estrogen's mechanism of action.
"If you don't understand the mechanism, it really makes it difficult to go after a problem," Zadran said.
In addition to Zadran and Baudry, the research team consisted of senior co-author Richard Thompson, Keck Professor of Psychology at USC College; USC graduate students Homera Zadran, Young Kim and Michael Foy; and postdoctoral fellow Qingyu Qin and professor Xiaoning Bi of the Western University of Health Sciences.
Funding for this research came from the National Institute of Aging and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
SOURCE: University of Southern California, December 10, 2009
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first generic versions of Aricept (donepezil hydrochloride) orally disintegrating tablet s on Dec. 11. Donepezil hydrochloride is indicated for the treatment of dementia related to Alzheimer's disease.
Orally disintegrating tablets dissolve on the tongue, without having to be swallowed whole. This may make it easier to take the medication for older or disabled patients who have difficulty swallowing.
"Generics offer greater access to health care for all Americans," said Gary Buehler, director of the FDA's Office of Generic Drugs. "Health care professionals and consumers can be assured that FDA-approved generic drugs have met the same rigorous standards as the brand-name drug and are the same as the branded in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use."
Alzheimer's disease is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that slowly destroys memory and thinking skills and, eventually, the ability to carry out the simplest tasks of daily living. In most people with Alzheimer's disease, symptoms first appear after age 60. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia among older people, but it is not a normal part of aging.
Dementia refers to a decline in cognitive function that interferes with daily life and activities. Alzheimer's disease starts in a region of the brain that affects recent memory, then gradually spreads to other parts of the brain.
The generic donepezil hydrochloride orally disintegrating tablets, manufactured by Mutual Pharmaceutical of Philadelphia, have been approved in 5 milligram and 10 mg strengths.
SOURCE: U.S. Food And Drug Administration, December 16, 2009
Nine weeks of education about the glycemic index in foods is enough to encourage adults with type 2 diabetes to adopt better dietary habits that result in improvements to their health, recent research suggests.
Participants in a clinical trial attended weekly sessions to learn about the potential benefits of low-glycemic-index foods - carbohydrates that are digested slowly and are less likely to spike blood-sugar levels than are carbohydrates that have a high glycemic index.
After nine weeks, the participants had adopted a lower glycemic-index diet and recorded lower weight, smaller waists and improved blood sugar levels.
And when they were tested again another nine weeks later - during which they received no additional education - the participants had maintained most of those benefits.
The research addresses a controversy in the nutrition community, where some practitioners believe the principles behind maintaining a low-glycemic-index diet are too complicated for average consumers.
"We found that with education, people with diabetes were able to adopt a lower glycemic-index diet. And it had a significant improvement in their weight control and glucose control," said Carla Miller, senior author of the study and an associate professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University.
"A vast majority of people with diabetes don't get sufficient education about their condition when they are diagnosed. And yet for many patients, that's the only time they receive nutrition education. What they really need is continued education and support to help them maintain good control."
The research is published in a recent issue of the journal Public Health Nutrition.
In the study, people with diabetes were randomized into one of two groups. One group participated in the nine-week intervention immediately, and the other group waited for nine weeks before undergoing the same intervention. v
The 103 participants who completed the study were between the ages of 40 and 70 years, had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes for at least one year, and did not require insulin therapy for diabetes management. For the most part, participants were already doing a good job of controlling their blood glucose levels.
Each group education session lasted between 90 minutes and two hours. Session topics included self-monitoring food intake and portion sizes, carbohydrate counting and maintaining behavioral change. Overall, the intervention emphasized selecting lower-glycemic-index foods instead of restricting overall carbohydrate intake.
The glycemic index is represented by a scale from 1 to 100. Foods that tend to slow the speed of digestion and prevent rapid increases in blood sugar include many vegetables, whole grains, dairy foods, nuts and seeds, beans and fruits. They are considered low-glycemic-index foods if they have an index of 55 or fewer points. Foods with a point value of 100 are the equivalent of pure glucose.
"The emphasis historically has been to control how much carbohydrate people with diabetes eat rather than the type of carbohydrate they choose. And the controversy has been that the glycemic index is so complicated, it's just another thing that we are asking people to worry about," Miller said. "And they do have to balance many different variables to get all of these blood parameters under control. That's another reason they need a lot more education than they receive."
Health measures and diet and physical activity information were collected before and after the intervention period. During the intervention, participants tested their blood glucose levels before and after meals four days per week. To track the participants' food choices, researchers made periodic unannounced phone calls and asked patients to recall what they had eaten in the previous 24 hours.
After nine weeks of intervention, participants in the first group lost, on average, about 2.3 kilograms (5.1 pounds), decreased their waist circumference by 2.9 centimeters (1.1 inches), reduced their body mass index, a ratio of weight to height, by almost a point and lowered their blood glucose concentration after eating by almost 18 milligrams per deciliter. Experts suggest blood glucose after eating should remain below 180 milligrams per deciliter in people with diabetes.
Another nine weeks later, even with no additional intervention, these participants had maintained those health benefits, with the exception of an average slight gain in waist circumference among women.
The participants who waited nine weeks for the intervention recorded similar health improvements after they attended the education sessions.
But Miller noted that while they waited, this group also gained weight and recorded expansions of their waists - yet another sign that education can't start soon enough for many patients with diabetes.
"They had a trajectory of change that was getting worse," she said. "People with diabetes do need continued support to sustain optimal glycemic control because the disease progresses as they live longer."
Based on self-reports of food choices, the study showed that participants' fiber intake improved and they ate less fat. And they did not restrict carbohydrates, but instead made different carbohydrate choices.
"We were not putting people on a strict diet. They consumed the same amount of carbohydrate that they normally would, but selected lower glycemic-index foods within that carbohydrate allotment," Miller said. "That addresses another controversy in nutrition. People with diabetes do not have to go on a low-carb diet, which typically is accompanied by a high intake of fat.
"What these participants ate was closer to the dietary guidelines generally recommend for Americans, with less than 30 percent of calories coming from fat. The quantity of carbohydrate does matter to some extent, but the type of carbohydrate makes a big difference."
This research was supported by a Hertzler Grant for Intervention Research from the American Dietetic Association Foundation, the California Raisin Marketing Board and a grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Co-authors of the study were Melissa Davis Gutschall, Diane Mitchell and Frank Lawrence, all of Pennsylvania State University.
SOURCE: Ohio State University, December 16, 2009
National Handwashing Awareness Week was from Dec. 6 to 12, and a Geisinger physician advises that with the presence of the H1N1 virus this year, handwashing is more important than ever.
"Washing your hands is one of the simplest and most effective ways to avoid infections such as H1N1 and seasonal influenza," said Lisa Esolen, M.D., Medical Director of Infection Control, Geisinger Health System. "Because this year's H1N1 virus has been so contagious and has rapidly spread widely, it is especially important to remember to wash your hands."
National Handwashing Awareness Week aims to decrease the spread of infectious diseases by educating the public on the health benefits of clean hands.
"We don't realize how often we touch our eyes, nose or mouth after having touched food, other people, or inanimate objects, all of which carry germs, that can lead to illness" Dr. Esolen said. "Handwashing is the single most effective way to minimize your risk for getting and infection or spreading one to others."
To properly wash your hands, run them under running water and then apply soap. Rub vigorously for at least 20 seconds (say your ABC's or sing "Happy Birthday" twice) develop a thick lather, and then rinse and dry.
"You should always wash your hands before eating, after sneezing, coughing, and after touching anything dirty," Dr. Esolen said.
About Geisinger Health System: Geisinger is a $2.1 billion integrated health services organization widely recognized for its innovative use of the electronic health record, and the development and implementation of innovative care models including advanced medical home and ProvenCare ("warranty") program. The system serves more than 2 million residents throughout 41 counties in central and northeastern Pennsylvania.
SOURCE: Geisinger Health System, December 5, 2009
AAA Warman Home Care is a family-owned Residential Service Agency which has been providing in-home health care services to thousands of clients for the past twenty years. Warman specializes in providing the highest quality of private duty, non-medical care and companionship for the elderly, those recuperating after hospitalization / rehabilitation, the terminally ill, disabled, alone or at-risk. It is our goal to assist our clients in living the most independent, healthy and comfortable lives in the privacy of their own homes.
If you have written or find any articles that you would like to contribute to the Warman E-Update, please contact Brenda Head at bhead@warmanhomecare.com or by telephone at (877) 694-4264. If any of your colleagues are not receiving the Warman E-Update, please send his or her e-mail address to bhead@warmanhomecare.com for inclusion.
