CMK Home Care

Elderly people (that is, people aged 65 years and older) are more prone to heat stress than younger people for several reasons:

• Elderly people do not adjust as well as young people to sudden changes in temperature.
• They are more likely to have a chronic medical condition that upsets normal body responses to heat.
• They are more likely to take prescription medicines that impair the body’s ability to regulate its temperature or that inhibit perspiration

You can follow these prevention tips to protect yourself from heat-related stress:

• Drink cool, nonalcoholic, non-caffeinated beverages. (If your doctor generally limits the amount of fluid you drink or has you on water pills, ask him how much you should drink when the weather is hot. Also, avoid extremely cold liquids because they can cause cramps.)
• Rest.
• Take a cool shower, bath, or sponge bath.
• If possible, seek an air-conditioned environment.
• If you don’t have air conditioning, consider visiting an air-conditioned shopping mall or public library to cool off.
• Keep warm areas ventilation if not cooled. Proper ventilation will promote adequate sweat evaporation to cool the skin.
• Wear lightweight clothing.
• If possible, remain indoors in the heat of the day.
• Do not engage in strenuous activities.
• Sunblocks and sunscreens with a protection factor of 15 (SPF 15) can be very helpful when one is exposed to extreme direct sunlight.

What You Can Do to Help Protect Elderly Relatives and Neighbors

If you have elderly relatives or neighbors, you can help them protect themselves from heat-related stress:

• Visit older adults at risk at least twice a day and watch them for signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
• Take them to air-conditioned locations if they have transportation problems.
• Make sure older adults have access to an electric fan whenever possible.

What You Can Do for Someone with Heat Stress

If you see any signs of severe heat stress, you may be dealing with a life-threatening emergency. Have someone call for immediate medical assistance while you begin cooling the affected person. Do the following:

• • Get the person to a shady area.
• • Cool the person rapidly, using whatever methods you can. For example, immerse the person in a tub of cool water; place the person in a cool shower; spray the person with cool water from a garden hose; sponge the person with cool water; or if the humidity is low, wrap the person in a cool, wet sheet and fan him or her vigorously.
• • Monitor body temperature and continue cooling efforts until the body temperature drops to

101°–102°F

• • If emergency medical personnel are delayed, call the hospital emergency room for further instructions.
• • Do not give the person alcohol to drink.
• • Get medical assistance as soon as possible.

Heat Stroke

Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related illness. It occurs when the body becomes unable to control its temperature: the body’s temperature rises rapidly, the body loses its ability to sweat, and it is unable to cool down. Body temperatures rise to 106 ° F or higher within 10 to 15 minutes.

Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided.

Signs and Symptoms of Heat Stroke

Warning signs vary but may include the following:

• An extremely high body temperature (above 103°F)
• Red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating)
• Rapid, strong pulse
• Throbbing headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea

Heat Exhaustion

Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can develop after several days of exposure to high temperatures and inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids.

Signs and Symptoms of Heat Exhaustion

Warning signs vary but may include the following:

• Heavy sweating
• Paleness
• Muscle Cramps
• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Nausea or vomiting
• Fainting
• Skin: may be cool and moist
• Pulse rate: fast and weak
• Breathing: fast and shallow

Whether it’s for religious reasons or simply the celebration of springtime, Easter is a holiday where the focus is on new life and renewal. There are many Easter-time activities that can be organized for the elderly. Take advantage of this unique day to give the elderly a reason to smile.

Organize a Potluck

Elderly people, like most, love to gather together to talk and eat. Organize a potluck at your local church or fire hall. Find sponsors who will help carry the cost so you can make the event free for elderly attendees. Require each sponsor to make a covered dish. Center the potluck around Easter with spring-themed decorations and activities such as egg coloring, singing Easter songs and telling the story of Easter.

Have a Talent Show

If you are organizing Easter activities for a particular group of elderly people, such as church groups or nursing home residents, you can have an Easter-themed talent show. Involve both elderly volunteers and people from the community. Contact local school and religious organizations and see if there is a anyone interested in performing. Also give the elderly attendees an opportunity to perform. For many, they’ve left their talents with their young age and would love the opportunity to express themselves again. To keep the focus on Easter, ask performers to showcase Easter hymns, poems about springtime, or dance routines celebrating new life.

Make Crafts

Organize a craft event. Gather the elderly in the community and have them create Easter egg baskets and color eggs for a local charity or children’s hospital. This will provide the elderly with an outlet for their talents and an opportunity to help out the community. Find old wicker baskets at a local thrift store and have the participants decorate them, taking a very inexpensive item and turning it into a treasure for a person or child in need. Other crafts can include crocheting springtime blankets, painting flower pots for planting tulips and making chocolate Easter bunnies.

By Joey Papa

It also helps lower risk of diabetes, heart disease

More good news for chocolate lovers: A new Harvard study finds that eating a small square of dark chocolate daily can help lower blood pressure for people with hypertension.

The study joins the growing research into the heart-healthy benefits of flavonoids, compounds in unsweetened chocolate that cause dilation of the blood vessels. The Harvard study was announced today in Atlanta at the American Heart Association’s science session on cardiovascular disease.

The study analyzed 24 chocolate studies involving 1,106 people. It found that dark chocolate, the kind that contains at least 50 to 70 percent cocoa, lowered blood pressure in all participants, but most notably in those with hypertension. Eric Ding of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a coauthor of the study, says researchers also found that chocolate increased insulin sensitivity, good for lowering diabetes risk.

Dark chocolate also appears to affect cholesterol. The Harvard researchers found some evidence for a small decrease in LDL (bad) cholesterol and a significant increase in HDL (good) cholesterol. Triglycerides, however, were unchanged.

As the researchers write, there is “rather strong evidence” that cocoa consumption improves several important cardiovascular risk factors “and likely reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Research touting chocolate’s health benefits has become increasingly popular in the past decade. While tea, fruits and vegetables also contain these heart-healthy compounds, “flavonoids are notably abundant in the cocoa solids of the cocoa bean,” the study’s authors write.

Chocolate with a higher proportion of cocoa solids — like unsweetened or dark chocolate — will contain more flavonoids. Dark chocolate, for example, contains from 46 to 61 mg of catechin, a type of flavonoid, in 100 grams (about one ounce), while milk chocolate contains only 15 to 16 mg, the study notes.

Obviously, encouraging people to eat dark chocolate for its health benefits is appealing advice, and older Americans have taken it to heart. Men and women age 55 and over now make up the bulk of dark chocolate consumers, according to the latest figures from market research firm Mintel.

In a May 2008 survey of consumers who bought chocolate for themselves in the past year, two-thirds of those 55-plus said they chose dark chocolate. Among those 65 and older, the preference for dark was even higher — nearly 75 percent. But Ding and his team caution that commercial processing plus the added sugar in the average dark chocolate bar can counteract a big chunk of its benefits.

By Candy Sagon