Michael J. Fox Brings Humor and Honesty to His Battle with Parkinson’S
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total For Members of United Service Association HEALTHFor Health Care &WELLNESS &wellness 2014 G N PRI S Writing His Own Script: Michael J. Fox brings humor and honesty to his battle with Parkinson’s plus Your 5-Step Plan for Aging Gracefully andNo Gym Required: Easy exercises to do at home total For Members of United Service Association HEALTHFor Health Care &WELLNESS &wellness [ cover story ] SPRING 2014 Michael J. Fox Writing His Own Script: brings humor and Michael J. Fox honesty to brings humor and honesty his battle with to his battle with Parkinson’s plus Parkinson’s Your 5-Step Plan for Aging Gracefully page 10 andNo Gym Required: Easy exercises 6 8 to do at home 5426M_USAH_SP14.indd 1 3/27/14 3:40 PM TOTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS Executive Director: M. Cranon Director of Operations: T. Barton Director of Operations: R. Davis Staff Support: C. Mangrum and B. Mayer Total Health & Wellness is published by United Service Association For Health Care. 9 16 18 This information is intended to educate the public about subjects pertinent to their health, not as a substitute for consultation with a personal physician. © 2014 Printed in the U.S.A. United Service Association For Health Care is 3 Spring Allergies? Breathe Easy with These Tips an organization that provides privileges and services that promote the health and welfare of its members. 4 Your 5-Step Plan for Aging Gracefully For more information, please contact: United Service Association For Health Care 5 The Downside of Social Networking P.O. Box 200905 Arlington, TX 76006-0095 800-USA-1187 6 4 Heart-Smart Ways to Revamp Your Recipes EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD 8 Be Smart When Using Your Phone David S. Alkek, M.D., Clinical Professor of Dermatology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 9 Your By-the-Books Guide to Managing Arthritis Joseph D. Beasley, M.D., Director, The Institute of Health Policy and Practice, 13 Look What USA+ Members Are Saying! Amityville, NY Kathie Davis, Executive Director, IDEA Health & Fitness Association, San Diego, CA 14 Is Your Family Ready for a Natural Disaster? Sidney Friedlaender, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 15 Simple, Free Exercises—No Gym Required Charles M. Ginsburg, M.D., Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 16 Decoding Due Dates on Food Labels Susan Johnson, Ed.D., Director, Continuing Education, The Cooper Institute, Dallas, TX 17 The 5 Golden Rules of Living with Diabetes Julie Waltz Kembel, M.S., Ed., CHES, Education Director, Canyon Ranch, Tucson, AZ Don R. Powell, Ph.D., President and CEO, 18 Are You Hovering Too Closely Over Your American Institute for Preventative Medicine, Farmington Hills, MI Grown-Up Children? Charles F. Seifert, Pharm.D., Director of Clinical Pharmacy Services, Rapid City Regional Hospital, Rapid City, SD 19 Steady Bedtimes Bring Better Behavior Kathryn K. Waldrep, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., Medical City Dallas, Dallas, TX Arthur H. White, M.D., Medical Director, San 20 5 Easy Brain Boosters Francisco Spine Institute, Daly City, CA SPRING 2014 Cover photo: AP Photo/Stuart Ramson [ HEALTHY LIVING ] Spring Allergies? SHARE Your STORY! Breathe Easy with These Tips Do you have a story to tell about • Stay in air-conditioned buildings You’re not alone if spring finds you when pollen counts are high. Find a personal health sneezing. Seasonal allergies affect pollen reports for your area at the challenge? National Allergy Bureau website, 60 million U.S. adults and counting. www.aaaai.org/nab. We want to hear it! Here’s what you need to know to • Take over-the-counter medicines, manage spring allergies. such as antihistamines, decongestants, and nasal sprays. Ask the pharmacist what side effects to expect and which A Allergies and Asthma: medicines you should avoid, depend- Related Conditions ing on your medical conditions. Seasonal allergies are commonly referred to as hay fever. They cause the If these steps don’t help, talk with your body to overreact to airborne pollen and doctor or consider seeing an allergist. mold. Symptoms include sneezing, a Also seek medical care if you have new stuffy nose, and itchy, watery eyes. or severe breathing problems, such as In addition, about one in 14 Americans wheezing or chest tightness. Your has asthma, a chronic lung disease in doctor may suggest prescription which the airways swell and narrow. Most medicines or immunotherapy shots, asthma is allergic, meaning attacks are which reduce your body’s reaction to triggered by the same pesky particles as allergens over time. Ë allergies. Climate change may increase the prevalence of asthma, too—100 million more kids and adults worldwide are Each issue of Total Health & Wellness expected to get asthma by 2025. features a cover story about a celebrity’s personal health struggle. Don’t Sniffle in Silence Whether it’s Michael J. Fox’s fight to While allergies and allergy- find a cure for Parkinson’s disease, or induced asthma don’t have cures, you Robin Roberts’ battle against a rare can manage the symptoms. blood disorder, our members look to Try the following: these stories for insight and inspiration. • Assign yard work to a nonallergic family Now we’d like to hear your story. member. If you must Have you or a family member experi- mow, wear a mask. enced a serious health challenge? Would you like to be featured in our magazine? If so, we want to hear from you! Please email your story to Christa.Mangrum@ usahc.com, or submit it by mail to United Service Association For Health Care, P.O. Box 200905, Arlington, TX 76006-0095. Questions? Call our Member Services Department at 800-872-1187. If you are chosen, you may find yourself on the cover of Total Health & Wellness. WWW.USAHC.com 3 [ HEALTHY CHOICES ] Your 5-Step Plan for Aging Gracefully Modern medicine has eliminated deadly diseases and extended the human life span. A UNforTUNATELY, MANY PEOPLE SPEND 4 Eating a healthy diet. THEIR OLDER YEARS copiNG WITH A Choose fruits and vegetables NEW SET OF chroNIC coNDITIONS, in an array of colors. Eat fish at INCLUDING HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, least twice a week. And cut back on AND CANCER. saturated fats and added sugars. But your last decades don’t have to consist of a slow, steady decline. Taking 5 Keeping your weight in check. steps to stay active and healthy can help Weighing too much or too little can you stave off illness. Just consider a harm your health. Talk with your recent study in the American Journal of doctor about the best weight for you Medicine. It found that older adults who and how you can maintain it. lived the healthiest lifestyles delayed disability by about eight years. The earlier you start a healthy lifestyle, Exactly how do you age successfully? the better—but it’s never too late. In one Doctors recommend: study, adults with an average age of 72 who made just one healthy change 1 N ot smoking. If you still light up, decreased their risk of becoming disabled quit. This can help your health more in the next two years. Those who than almost any other action. adopted a few new habits reaped even bigger rewards. Ë 2 Staying active. Your goal: two hours and 30 minutes of moderate movement per week. If you haven’t exercised for a while, check in with your doctor. MAKING FITNESS FUN Then start slowly by walking, swim- ming, dancing, or gardening. Make it Looking for some new ways to stay fit something you enjoy, and gradually and active? Add a little variety to your add time or difficulty to each session. fitness program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests trying these activities: Take a class in martial 3 Limiting alcohol use. Stop at arts, dance, or yoga. Play a round one drink per day. You probably of golf whenever you can. Go shouldn’t drink at all if you have a canoeing, rowing, or kayaking. physical or mental health problem Play racquetball, tennis, or or are taking certain medications— squash. Go downhill talk with your doctor. or cross-country skiing. Take a nature walk. 4 TOTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS SPRING 2014 [ HEALTHY LIVING ] The Downside of Social Networking “Like” it or not, Facebook is a part of everyday life for not just millions, but billions of people around the world. Update Your Mental Health Profile You don’t need to completely unplug to avoid the possible downside of social networking. Just follow these suggestions and strike a healthy balance between Internet life and real life. • Set a limit: It could be 30 minutes or it could be two hours, but keep your Internet use at home to a set time. Use the extra minutes to go for a walk or ride your bike. • Check yourself out: Another study found that people who looked at their own Facebook profiles actually boosted their self-esteem. Take some time to look back on your happy memories when you A FACEbook IS USED TO KEEP IN Touch only that but spending hours catching get a chance. WITH FRIENDS, TELL PEOPLE AbouT up online leaves you little time to get EVENTS, AND SHARE IN THE LATEST out and exercise. Regular exercise is • Keep track of use: You might be INTERNET TRENDS. But despite all the known to boost your mood and give you surprised how much time you actually cute cat pictures and uplifting videos a sunnier outlook on life. spend online instead of working out or going around, one study shows that this The 82 people who participated in the engaging in other hobbies.