Women and Heart Disease, or Are You Having a Little Heart Attack? August 25, 2014

Preventative cardiology is a field where cardiologists like to make an intervention or after the heart ‘event’. I was lucky enough to hear a preventative cardiologist for women speak.

 

The video, ‘Just a Little Heart Attack’, is a must see for women.

Since women are usually the nurturers in the family, taking care of everyone else but themselves, this video is spot on!

 

Just a Little Heart Attack

 

The cardiologist gave several examples of women patients she has seen in her practice who have displayed one of the top symptoms of heart disease: Denial

Intuitively women know there is something wrong but……

 

An example she gave was of a woman who was having symptoms but the family was about to go on a family vacation and she didn’t want to ruin it by having a heart attack. The family made it to their destination and that night she called 911, but met them outside because she didn’t want to wake up her family! As a result she ended up in a hospital in a city she was unfamiliar and doctors she didn’t know.

 

Because men were studied first regarding heart attacks their symptoms were thought for years to be the same for women. Not really is the reality. Women will have symptoms of jaw pain, throat pain, fatigue and heartburn more than men.  

 

So here are modifiable factors to reduce your chance of becoming 1 out of 4 women to die of a ‘Heart Event’:

 

• High Cholesterol
• High Blood Pressure
• Smoking
• Abdominal Obesity
• Nutrition
• Lack of Exercise
• Stress Management

 

Have you had your cholesterol tested or your blood pressure? Are you at risk?

How Do You Know You are Menopausal? August 18, 2014

I spoke with a friend recently who mentioned she didn’t think she was menopausal any longer although she still suffers some hot flashes and night sweats. As we were talking she lost her train of thought twice. She also mentioned some mood swings. I suggested she was still menopausal and she snapped at me with a sharp retort, and eventually agreed maybe she was still a wee bit menopausal!

Here are the signs that menopause has a grip on you and how to cope:
CRS, Can’t Remember Shit
Write everything down. Do not say to yourself that you will remember, you will not! Write everything down on a note pad that you keep in the same spot in your purse or on your desk so you can check it often and frequently.
Do not leave your to do list, or calendar only on your phone because you will forget to charge your phone.
Do you walk into a room and forget why?
Do you find milk in the pantry, socks in the frig, or other items temporarily placed and forgotten?

DGS, Don’t Give a Shit
You think you look better, younger, and sexier, than anyone else you know even when others may comment lovingly, critically or snidely to you about your dress, hair or overall appearance and you don’t care.
You think you used to be the smartest person in the room. You know that may not be the case because you cannot remember some words or have become dependent on spell check but who cares.
You cannot watch a Lifetime/Hallmark movie without sobbing. You hate criers at work and now there you are blubbering about someone’s story and you don’t care.

Mood Swings
One day you are happy and satisfied and the next you want to sell the house, leave the family and the job to eat chocolate in Paris.
Are people saying things like “You just need your morning coffee”?
Do you have co-workers who only email you?
Does your family ask “Why are you so sensitive?”
Do you have sudden road rage?
Have you gone Ape Shit in a public setting?

What can help?
Try to get a good night sleep. Ask your Doctor for sleep medication.
Not even when you were at the top of your game did you function well while sleep deprived. Shameless plug for our wicking sleepwear, www.haralee.com, can help!
Try exercise of some kind. Whacking a ball in some sport or joining an exercise/dance class can help.
Talk with friends your same age.
Just know it is normal, you are not going crazy or becoming emotionally unbalanced; you are menopausal.

I am sure I forgot an important tip or sage advice but you can comment here.

 

Eating Close To The Bone August 13, 2014

 

Do you eat ribs?

Do you eat chicken wings?

Do you eat big shrimp?

Do you eat crab or lobster in the shell?

If so, do you pick up your food with your hands?

 

The above foods have to be picked up with your hands to eat, using a fork and knife is not necessary. That is my opinion. I will admit that I observe people eating. I don’t make judgments just observations.

 

Do you eat chicken pieces on the bone?

I think so many people eat boneless skinless chicken that the idea of eating a piece of chicken on the bone is forgotten. Yes a fork and knife is needed.

 

I realize many people do not like to eat foods with their hands. Many people also do not like to cut food away from the bone. Many people do not like to eat close to a bone.

I don’t get it. I really don’t. A fork and knife application isn’t that hard.

 

Eating with your hands I think could be awkward if you are in your very finest clothes at a very fancy event. But if you are with friends in a casual setting like a home what’s not to enjoy with munching down chicken wings, or ribs with your hands?

 

I have seen people eat chicken wings with a fork and knife, carefully removing the skin. I have seen people cut bits of a rib off with a fork and knife to eat. I have also seen people appear to pine over some shrimp because they did not want to lift the tail with their hands to eat! Crab and lobster in shells, my observations, some just say forget about it!

 

Am I barbaric? I am fixing corn on the cob with a grilled lamb chop tonight. I’d invite some friends but I don’t want to offend anyone. What are your rules when it comes to eating with your hands? Do you eat close to the bone?

 

I Don’t Want a Bucket List August 4, 2014

Many people have bucket lists. I don’t. The idea of a list to check off items before I die has no appeal to me. Am I alone?

I have heard some precise, outlandish, and ridiculous bucket lists. Learning to be a snake charmer? Really? So if you put something like learning to become a snack charmer on your bucket list and it never happens is the whole list voided? Is it a way to achieve lesser and more reasonable feats?

How old do you have to be to start a bucket list? I overheard a 30-something woman talking to a 40-something woman about their bucket lists. Before they could turn to me at my advanced age and ask me about my list, I left the vicinity.

I think I underestimated the popularity of a bucket list. I thought it was like the Macarena, something fun for a short amount of time. Bucket lists, I read, have appeared on people’s resumes and in job interviews, and even in obituaries!

Bucket list fundamentals, I really want to know:

Why do you have a bucket list?

Do you keep a bucket list because you are afraid you will die with regrets?

Is it a way to brag?

Is it a checklist to keep score among your friends, neighbors and associates?

Is it a conversation starter?

Is it a filter, you only associate with people who have similar bucket lists?

 

What is on your bucket list?

Do you think you will achieve all the items on your bucket list?

What happens if you don’t meet 25% or 50% of your list?

Convince me I need a bucket list!