“My cleaning lady took a sleep medication last night and was absolutely useless as she walked around the house looking half drugged,” complained my neighbor as we did our 2 mile walk with her dog.

Prescription sleep medications and certainly over the counter medications are a very common and often effective treatment for people who want to sleep and can’t. The problem, however, is the many side effects such as headaches and drowsiness. As a result many people are turning to natural remedies.

Acupuncture, Tai Chi, and biofeedback and herbal supplements are just a few of the approaches being used.  Some of the herbal supplements that claim sleep benefits include St. John’s wort, chamomile, melatonin, valerian, GABA and even lavender. The problem with all these possibilities is there is no real scientific research and clinical trials to prove they really work. There are pages and pages of testimonials that they work but that doesn’t make the scientific community sit up and take notice.

In fact in 2006 the American Academy of Sleep Medicine published a position statement regarding the treatment of insomnia with herbal supplements reporting that there was only limited scientific evidence that they are effective sleep aids and should be taken only with the approval of your doctor because some of them have adverse side effects especially with other medications. Melatonin, for example, is a hormone, not an herb and your body produces it naturally. The research on this hormone is conflicting; some saying it is effective and other studies reporting it’s not effective.

Some doctors recommend that if their patients feel the supplements work for them they should continue to take them as long as the supplements have no harmful effects. Keep in mind, however, that herbal supplements aren’t regulated by the Food and Drug Administration as are prescription drugs and that the safety and accuracy of the information that appears on the product may be an issue.

In the meantime here are some tips you might try for a good night’s sleep:
·    Establish a routine of going to bed and waking up at particular times.
·    Exercising daily can improve the quality of your sleep.
·    Get at least 20 minutes of natural sunlight daily to reinforce your circadian rhythm so you can be alert during the day and rest at night.
·    Don’t drink alcohol and caffeine at night.

These tips should help.

To your successful healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

http://www.ruthanbrodsky.com

I had very little sleep last night. It was already 11:30 P.M. and I wasn’t sleepy. That would be okay for some people but I’m an early riser, usually at my desk by 4:30 A.M. for an hour or so and then outside or on the treadmill for aerobic walking interspersed with a little jogging. I was wired and my usual remedy of an ounce of port or sweet blackberry wine didn’t work. I went to bed anyway at 12:30 hoping something would happen, thought about sleeping for at least 45 minutes and then I must have dozed off because I woke up right around 4 AM.

Gratefully this does not happen to me very often but millions of us do have trouble getting a good night’s sleep. Something like one-third of Americans complains about sleep disorders, something that affects or disrupts or involves sleep. The problem with sleep disorders and lack of sleep is that it can be debilitating. Not getting enough sleep may cause fatigue, moodiness, putting you at a higher risk of injury and with such health conditions as high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and obesity.

Scientists have been trying to figure out why we do or don’t sleep as far back as the history books tell us. We know we aren’t at our best, making good decisions when we don’t get enough sleep. Kids don’t do well on their exams either. And from what I’ve read, sleep deprivation is a kind of torture used in the world of foreign intrigue so you know it can’t be good.

Even with all this history scientists probing the purpose of sleep and why we don’t sleep when we should, are still in the dark. Some argue that one reason we sleep is to help our brains sort and store and consolidate new memories so that those experiences are in our well placed in our brain’s biochemical archives. I usually call it my brain’s hard drive.

More importantly sleeping gives us the ability to make sense of the new knowledge we learned and lets the brain detect the connections between the things we learn. This is really important to me, especially as I get older, because there is so much information on that old hard drive and even more information that just about overwhelms that biochemistry daily. If I weren’t able to make the connections I couldn’t make sense of any of it and miss all the possibilities and opportunities. I’m not ready to do that. And I bet if you’re reading this you are hanging in there just like me.

Thank goodness I am a great nap taker and can fall asleep just about anywhere.   More about sleep in my next post.

Ruthan Brodsky

PS If you have a natural remedy that works for you so you can get to sleep, let us know. Type a brief note in the comment area.  Thanks!

If you experience any intense, unexplained pain or an outbreak of blisters, contact your doctor immediately.

When you get shingles, the sooner you start receiving antiviral medications the less severe will be the pain and the duration of the rash of blisters that comes with the condition. Most studies show the drugs are most effective if started within 2 or 3 days when the rash first appears.

To develop shingles, you have to catch chickenpox first which usually happens when you’re a kid. When you get over chicken pox, the varicella-zoster virus stays in your body but remains dormant  sometimes for life. As you age, however, there’s an increasing risk that the virus will reactive and result in shingles. You can’t catch shingles from someone else who has shingles. But a person with a shingles rash can spread chickenpox to another person who hasn’t had the chickenpox and hasn’t gotten the chickenpox vaccine.
The vaccine is a live single injection, usually in the upper arm. Most common side effects are redness, pain, tenderness and some swelling at the injection site. Children and adults under 60 who have not had chicken pox should receive the chickenpox vaccine instead of shingles vaccine.

Shingles is treated with antiviral medications such as Zovirax. Pain is treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, opioids like codeine and local anesthetic lidocaine can help.  Cool wet compresses on the skin also relieve the pain.

Keep in mind that you cannot be vaccinated if you have an active case of shingles or if you have a compromised immune system from cancer treatments. As of today, there are no booster shots available and no one is absolutely sure how long the vaccine lasts. Which is probably why that even with the vaccine, your risk of getting shingles increases as you get older.

Check your medical insurance to see if you are covered for the vaccine. In some cases, the cost of the shingles vaccine may be covered by Medicare part D so you will need to pay for it up front at your doctor’s office. The vaccine can costs from $150 to $300.

My goal is to give you a good overview of shingles so you can help yourself and others receive early treatment, and to encourage you to get the vaccination if possible and at least 60 years old.

To you success at healthy aging,

Ruthan Brodsky

For additional information check out the Mayo Clinic Website:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/shingles

My notion of vaccination is something for kids but I’ve changed my tune! If you’re 60 years or older you should get the shingles vaccine. A cousin just recovered from a very painful bout of shingles and he is in his early 50′s. It struck without warning, he told me. Read the rest of this entry

When your doctor gives you a prescription you assume the drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That’s not always true. In fact something like one in five prescriptions in the U.S. is for a use not approved by the FDA but your doctor considers it beneficial and it is legal.

Cancer drugs are a good example because they are often cited as multiple-use. Most of the drugs over the past 20 years have gone through the FDA approval process with testing against only one kind of cancer. In the meantime, researchers may have identified a drug’s potential to treat another type of cancer. Today, over half of all uses of cancer drugs are off-label.

Another common type of off-label drug are those that are prescribed to treat the condition it was approved for but outside certain specifications. For example, Viagra and the other two erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs, Levitra and Cialis, are approved to treat ED which is a definite clinical symptom. Today, these drugs are commonly prescribed off label to treat men who may not meet the guidelines for ED but simply want to be stronger sexual performers.

Another example are the statins, originally tested for lowering cholesterol. Years ago, however, doctors prescribed statins for people with diabetes even if they didn’t have high cholesterol or other heart disease risk factors. This was an off-label use because the drugs weren’t tested to on diabetics at the time although today, the studies do show that statins help prevent heart attacks and stroke for patients who are diabetic.

There is, however, a growing concern that the risk of using off-label drugs is growing because drug companies aren’t following all the rules when they promote a drug for an off label use, patients aren’t informed about the unapproved use, and it adds to wasteful health spending. The bad news is that for every good example of off-label use, such as the statins, there are two or three that cause serious problems.

When your doctor prescribes a medication ask:

• If it’s an approved use or an off-label use?

• If your doctor doesn’t know, ask the pharmacist.

• If the drug is prescribed as off-label, ask what the drug has been

subscribed for?

• If the drug is off-label, ask your doctor whether the scientific evidence really supports the use.

• Check out trusted internet sites that discuss the off-label use of the drug.

• Don’t accept the statement from anyone: “Everyone prescribes this as

off-label.”  Check it out.

Hope this is helpful information. If you can add to this post, write your ideas in the comment box.

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky

I am pretty sure I can write at least two more posts about what you and I can do to lose weight and keep it off without dieting. So far I have had 2 people email me suggesting I put all these posts into a short report. Great idea and I thank you!  That is now on my project list.

One of the best ways to maintain your weight loss is to change and control your environment. That means tossing out the cookies, the already opened creamy dips in the refrigerator. Read the rest of this entry

Losing weight is confusing because there are so many “best” diets telling you what to do. The good news is you can clear that confusion by simply making a few choices regarding nutrition and physical activity that can help you lose weight without purchasing expensive diet programs. Read the rest of this entry

“Loose Weight Like the Stars,” #6 Tips to Fast Weight Loss”, and “The Magic Formula for 12 Pounds in 2 Weeks” were just some of the headlines on the magazines I saw while checking out of the grocery store. These were all magazines targeted to women and each was touting the quickest and easiest way to lose weight.

My question is why do you have to go on a diet to lose weight? Why can’t you just change your life style?

Some will argue that I am just playing with words. I am not. After all, the whole purpose of losing weight is to lose it and keep it off for life. To do that you need to change how you think about food and learn more about those foods that give you value and those that don’t. Rather than struggle and put yourself through a 2 week or a 4 week struggle of some formula that the latest health maven just created, why not make a few changes in your life, enjoy the successful results, and then include a few more healthy changes.

For instance, eat breakfast every day. Eating breakfast is the one habit that is common to people who have lost weight and kept it off. You may think not eating breakfast is a great way to cut calories. The result is by 9 am you are starving, you eat way too much for lunch, and then you just keep on eating all day. Try a bowl of whole grain cereal topped with fruit and low fat milk for a quick but nutritious start to your day.

How about closing the kitchen at night? You choose the time when you will stop eating so you won’t give in to late-night munchies or snacking while you visit friends in Facebook or tweet your neighbors or watch Iron Chef on the Food Channel.  Have a cup of tea, enjoy a small bowl of fruit or light ice cream or yogurt if you want something sweet after dinner. Then brush your teeth and use that as a signal that you finished eating.

Try doing just these two lifestyle changes for the next 2 months. If you’re feeling comfortable with them after a couple of weeks, add another change to your life style. I will list some of those in my next post.

In the meantime, if you have any ideas about lifestyle changes, let me know. Click on comments and type your ideas in the comment box.  This could be a fun exercise to share. We could compile a list and share them with the world on the Internet.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

No one and not any one thing has the power to make us feel stressed. This is my response to the many comments in which people asked how to handle stress at family gatherings. It is our internal reaction to external events that generate stress. That is why some of us seem to take most things in stride while others tend to become overly excited frequently.

Don’t get me wrong; there are some things all of us need to be stressed about all the time – such as a small kid running in the street after a run away ball. And it is true that things would be easier to manage if life were simpler, if the pace of change was slower and we had fewer choices to make. However, since life is not like that there are steps you can take to reduce your overwhelm and reduce your stress.

Exercise. Thirty minute of physical activity may not only help you relax, it may also get your body in better shape. If you are stressed at work and you have an hour for lunch, take half of that and go for a walk or jog or run up and down the stairs. Find a co-worker to do this with you.

Stop thinking that you can control things. It is impossible to cover every eventuality. For instance, if you are going on a vacation, some planning is a good idea but you cannot control on weather. However, you could come up with a Plan B for bad weather on your vacation.

Reduce your multi-tasking. Multi-tasking can contribute both to overwhelm and to low effectiveness. If you do multi-task make sure those are tasks that can be done automatically, without much thought.

Meditate. It won’t take you long to learn to meditate. Five to 10 minutes of quiet reflection can bring some relief. If you are having a stressful day at home or at work, close your door and meditate or go for a quick walk and clear your mind.

Above all do not put any of these suggestions on your to-do list. You don’t need to go to class to learn any of these techniques. I recommend you simply make them part of your life.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky