Healing skin wounds is a complex process. The same is true for relationship wounds.
Civility, caring for other people, conflict management, self-control, integrity are constructive traits. I am disappointed and dismayed by the negativity in society right now. As we near our national election there is blame, ridicule, slander, questionable integrity, and division. Candidates and regular people on the streets are tearing each other apart. These wounds can be hard to heal. Consider what love, patience, and goodwill could do to aid healing in our society right now.
Healing skin wounds
Do you have any scars? The body’s primary defense mechanism and largest organ is the skin. Any breach in the skin’s integrity can allow bacteria and infection into the body, alter the body’s ability to regulate temperature and water storage, and it usually hurts. The skin is a very sensitive organ.
Any cut, tear, wound results in an influx of parts of the immune system to start healing the wound.
If the wound is small enough, the skin on either side of the cut can rejoin, sometimes without even a scar.
If the wound is larger, the gap is too big to allow the two sides of the skin to reattach. In that case, granulation tissue forms to fill the gap. New small blood vessels grow in to the area, fibrin ‘scaffolding forms’ and cells build in around the fibrin. Then, more small blood vessels are formed, more fibrin ‘scaffolding’ forms, and more cell fill in the area. This continues until the whole space is filled with granulation tissue. This appears as a scar. The space where the wound left a gap that was filled with granulation tissue is noticeable. That skin will not be or look the same. Granulation tissue contains fewer cells and blood vessels compared to normal skin.
Healing relationship wounds
This scar tissue is only 60-85% as strong as normal tissue. So although the body heals itself, it is not like the wound never happened. That is so true of our emotional scars as well. It’s too easy to let words fly when we’re angry. In a rage, your objective might be to win and tear the other person down. This might feel ‘good’ in the moment. But what happens later? What about the guilt and shame? What about the damage done to the relationship? Some things can’t be completely undone. But much healing CAN be done, and a 60-85% healed relationship is better than no relationship at all.
For more information about how the body heals itself or the health impacts of negativity, contact us at http://www.medsmash.com/contact.
Biblical Application:
It can distressing to see so much negativity all over the media. It seems to be adding to the negativity in the workplace, the community, the church, and the home. I encourage us to take a deep breath and focus on our one stable source of hope and joy.
Our interpersonal differences can lead to cuts and wounds in families and groups. If those cuts can be identified and resolved quickly through skilled communication and love, they can often heal without so much as a scar.
But, when they are left unaddressed or allowed to get worse and worse, the healing process can be messy and less effective than it would have been if handled quickly. This is not to say that healing is impossible. Just as the human body is amazing in its resilience, with mediation, healing, communication, and forgiveness, relationships can heal and grow. They may not look the same, changes may occur, but reconnection and resumed integrity can be achieved. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
May your wounds, your relationships, your faith be strong.
Do you have any scars? The body’s primary defense mechanism and largest organ is the skin. Any breach in the skin’s integrity can allow bacteria and infection into the body, alter the body’s ability to regulate temperature and water storage, and it usually hurts. The skin is a very sensitive organ.
Any cut, tear, wound results in an influx of parts of the immune system to start healing the wound.
If the wound is small enough, the skin on either side of the cut can rejoin, sometimes without even a scar.
If the wound is larger, the gap is too big to allow the two sides of the skin to reattach. In that case, granulation tissue forms to fill the gap. New small blood vessels grow in to the area, fibrin ‘scaffolding forms’ and cells build in around the fibrin. Then, more small blood vessels are formed, more fibrin…
There are growing resources, help, and hope for those with PTSD.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is finally becoming a topic that is discussed – in public. It finally has ‘a voice’ and several avenues of treatment to address it.
I was fortunate to serve about seven years of my career in the Veterans Affairs system. I worked alongside some of the best, most caring providers and the most robust interprofessional teams. These teams consisted of physicians (geriatricians who focus on people over 65, in my case), nurses, pharmacists, dieticians, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and every level of trainee – students, residents, and fellows. Together we provided care to aging adults in the clinic, the acute care hospital, the intermediate unit, long-term-care (nursing home), and the domiciliary. The ‘dom’ was long term, independent housing for veterans who did not have a family to live with after the war.
I am thankful for every veteran that has served our country in one of the countless ways our uniformed services care for this country every day. The stories I heard during those years were enlightening, empowering, endearing, and sometimes gut wrenching. I have heard others say this: In my experience, those who talked the least about their service saw the most ‘action’ and devastation.
One day I was in clinic with a student. It was a very normal day. As the pharmacist, my visits mostly pertained to medications – why, how, when they are taken and the result. On this day, during a normal pharmacy clinic visit, one of our veterans told his story. It forever changed my life. Here is a paraphrase. I will leave out the specific war, because the story could fit any of them.
“I was assigned the night guard shift for my platoon. It was my duty to walk around the perimeter of the base to look for anyone (of the enemy) who might try to attack at night. It was typically uneventful. One night, as I rounded a corner, I was face-to-face with a man from the ‘other side.’ In a split second I thought about my family – my wife and children. I thought about how I just want to go home to them. I thought I don’t know this man. I don’t hate this man. He probably has a wife and children waiting for him at home, too. We might even be friends in other circumstances.’
We all sat and cried for a long time.
After this event, this man, this veteran had a mental breakdown. He was sent to an island where soldiers not able to function in combat were stationed during that war. While there he started trying to stop reliving the event through alcohol. When he finally got home to his wife and children, he was an alcoholic. He had posttraumatic stress disorder. But, it wasn’t recognized, diagnosed, and treated as it is now. I certainly don’t know all of the details, but he and his family were not able to reunite and stay together. It broke my heart to see what had happened. I wonder if his wife and children ever knew what happened? I wonder if knowing could have changed the outcome for their family. No doubt he would be forever changed after an experience like that.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
PTSD is a condition where there is stress and symptoms for more than three months after a trauma or highly stressful event (or series of events). The stress and symptoms disrupt regular daily activities and are distressing. PTSD can result from war (as in the example above), natural disasters, sexual or physical assault, horror, accidents, or other terrifying event. PTSD can present in about four different ways.
Reliving the event – nightmares, flashbacks, triggers
Avoiding any reminders of the event – driving if in a car crash; crowds if they cause insecurity; fireworks if associated with gunfire; movies related to the event
Negative feelings or changes in feelings about the world and the future; suppressing or forgetting parts of the event
Treatment has multiple components. Understanding PTSD is an important step. Counseling and cognitive behavioral therapy can help. In cognitive behavioral therapy, people can become aware of thoughts and feelings, and that allows them to be processed and better understood. Then skills to face those feelings and make changes in a way that allows them to have less impact are developed. For each person, this process is different. There are highly trained, experienced therapists who will work with each personal individually.
For medication treatment, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are most commonly used. These are medications that are also commonly used to treat depression and anxiety. They are unlikely to resolve symptoms alone. They are an important part of the multiple components of treatment.
Other components might be exposure therapy, group therapy, family therapy, and more.
A recommended site to learn more about PTSD is through the VA.
Again, there is a growing number of resources available to anyone who might be experiencing PTSD. If you or someone you know might have PTSD, please seek help right away. To suffer alone is not the answer. Alcohol, drugs, and suicide are not the answer. Help is available!
For more information about PTSD, contact us at www.medsmash.com.
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
PTSD is a real disorder. It is estimated about 3.5% of adults in the US have PTSD. Over 9% of people ages 50-65 have now or have experienced PTSD.
It can be hard to think rationally when suffering from PTSD. The terror, stress, and anxiety can keep the brain in ‘fight or flight’ mode. When in this mode, reflection, perspective, and problem-solving functions are very limited.
So, how can you support someone suffering from PTSD? Understanding the disorder and being a source of compassion and love are good places to start.
No platitude or Bible verse makes PTSD go away. Some Christian leaders have implied PTSD is something that can be chosen or can be avoided with a focus on God. I strongly disagree. Sinful people can hurt, traumatize, and destroy other people. Even people who know and love God can be traumatized.
But as people of God, we can support people who have suffered. If you have PTSD, know you are not alone. If you know someone who has (or you suspect may have) PTSD, approach with God’s unconditional love. Support through the many stages and steps of recovery and learning to cope. PTSD doesn’t just go away at some point; it might take a lifetime of coping and skill building to live in spite of past trauma.
There are many stories of violence, war, and crimes in the Bible.
These are followed by God’s restorative grace and mercy.
There are many verses about love, strength, deliverance, and rest for our soul.
In time, with treatment and a strong support network, these conversations can be had.
Until then, in the more acute phases when the brain is so busy with ‘fight or flight’ mode, prayer, presence, and unconditional love are ways you can start the story of grace.
Be on the lookout for people who may have PTSD who are not yet receiving treatment. Pray for the many people in our world who are PTSD victims. Love and care for those with PTSD in your life.
My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
Turn your health around. Make changes to improve your health.
Is it too late to turn your health around? Although we were raised certain ways we can still make a U-turn, or at least navigate a big curve. I was raised with dessert every day, lots of processed foods, little to no access to seafood, and limited fresh vegetables beyond summer. Meals were built around meat and potatoes. As for exercise, anyone who knows me can attest to my utter lack of athletic ability. So, should we settle for life-long habits and figure it’s too late to make changes now?
Actually, there is a LOT of evidence that changes, at all stages of life, still help you. Below are just a few of the most common habits/choices that can be changed in a way that really makes you feel better.
Decreasing your daily calories by 500-1,000 per day will decrease weight 1-2 pounds per week. [Faster weight loss is not as healthy and hard to sustain.]
Exchange some of your red meat meals for fish (your grocery store meat section will likely have instructions on how to prepare whatever is on sale or available in the meat section).
Try nuts for snacks over sugary snacks.
Sugar
Drink more water or unsweetened beverages in place of sugary soda or fruit juice.
Eat smaller portions of your dessert, as a starting point to cut back.
Exercise
Get moving – it helps with more than just weight control.
Decrease joint pain and strain, especially your lower back.
Get stronger and be more resilient against small strains and sprains.
Be more flexible.
Decrease your risk of a fall that could injure you.
Stay healthy and independent longer through fitness.
Have more energy and stamina.
Exercise doesn’t have to mean joining a gym or playing a sport.
Get up and move around during commercial breaks on TV.
Park farther from the front door.
Go for a walk with a friend.
Window shop in all of the stores at the mall before making a purchase.
U-turns are allowed in your life. No matter your age and for how long you have been doing things a certain way, make a change. Turn your health around. See how much better you can feel with very small changes starting today.
For more information about healthy choices and making a U-turn, contact us at www.medsmash.com.
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
Are you drowning in your negative self-talk? Are you always striving to do better? Or, are you constantly making excuses and blaming others for your weaknesses?
These are such easy routes to take! They are such easy ruts to fall into.
Will you ever be at peace and feel that all is right in your world? What would that take?
My understanding of the Bible is that the peace and promise you’re seeking is available to you RIGHT NOW.
There is nothing you have done that God doesn’t already know about. You can’t hide. Rather than being terrified by that, realize you are loved. You are loved and accepted and forgivable. Absolutely nothing you have done could make God turn away from you.
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
Not only can you take a U-turn in your daily physical health choices, you can take a U-turn in your spiritual health. Stop hiding. Stop beating yourself up. Embrace this love that is completely yours. You are forgiven as soon as you let go and give your all to God who loves you with no conditions.
The fourth of the four components of health is emotional health. True health requires health in all four components. Over the last three weeks we covered physical, mental, and spiritual health. Striving to attain health in all four areas enhances your overall health.
Emotional health refers to how you deal with life and its ups and downs. Everyone goes through difficult trials. The specifics are different between people. Even for you, there will be a wide variety of difficult times you experience. Everyone has good days. These can be peaceful, contended days; days where you reach a goal; days where you are celebrated; and days when you feel loved and secure.
Your feelings play a big role in your emotional health. People express their feelings in many different ways. Some people are more visibly emotional. Other people keep their emotions carefully hidden from view. Either way, emotions can impact our behaviors. How we act, how we respond, how we treat people, and how we feel about ourselves can all be affected by our emotions.
Why does my emotional health matter?
When looking at the differences between healthy people and not so healthy people, researchers have found emotional health to be a key factor.
How do you handle your anger? How kind are you to yourself in your ‘self talk’? How do you express your joy? What is your response when someone criticizes you? How often do you put other people’s needs before your own? Do you feel like the world is out to get you? How do you respond when your car breaks down? How do you feel when you forget to send a birthday card on time? What makes you happy? What makes you sad?
Studies have shown that prolonged stress and negativity make you age faster. There are actually measurable changes in your brain (shorter telomere length and less activity). This stress can also make you more susceptible to other diseases. Your blood pressure can go up, risk of heart disease goes up, and risk of diabetes goes up.
Improved health does not come from lack of negative situations. It comes from how you handle those situations.
The research has shown that the people who are more emotionally healthy have:
Friend(s) to talk to
People who care about you
A sense of self-worth
Ability to give and receive forgiveness
Conflict management skills
A desire to be giving toward others
Concern for others
As you can see, these are not things you are born with. They are skills and attitudes you can develop. They are choices you can make. They are best navigated with friends and supportive people around you.
Similarly, other researchers found that keys to overall health are:
Thinking kindly of people
Feeling optimistic
Supportive friends & family
Ability to bounce back
Making healthy choices
Being grateful for all you have
I found it interesting that the findings are so similar. Other studies have supported these important areas of emotional health. When you feel good, your thinking of more creative and flexible. You see problems with more possibilities and solutions.
So, I encourage you to take a personal assessment of your current emotional health. Consider the things that delight you and the things that upset you. Where can you incorporate more of the listed items that are shared among people with more emotional health?
Medications can help on a short-term basis when circumstances have you so upset you can’t function or sleep. Long-term emotional health, however, is gained more through self-insight, positive choices, and self-development.
If you would like citations for the studies mentioned or have any questions about the role of your emotional health on your overall health, contact us at www.medsmash.com.
(Note, severe abuse, neglect, and trauma are much different than daily negative situations. This blog is not intended to cover the health effects of these experiences that usually involve severe mental illness of the perpetrator.)
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
Our emotions can guide so many of our behaviors, especially if we don’t have an anchor of hope. Resilience is the result of knowing God’s love and mercy never fail. No matter the situation, you are not alone, and you have the ultimate resource walking with you.
Throughout the Bible we are assured that bad things will happen. Since sin entered the world, this has been a basic fact. Throughout the Bible we are assured there is hope and joy that can get us through any situation.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
As we go through difficult times, either big life-altering events or short bursts of anger or frustration, we are encouraged to give those over to God. We aren’t meant to figure it all out or deal with it on our own. Actually, when we do try to handle things ourselves, we often get into trouble.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.
I love this visual of Romans 5:3-5. With each time around the circle, we grow in hope and joy and the certainty of God’s love. This can then spill over to others.
There can be several reasons you are cold or hot more than the people around you. One of those reasons can be your thyroid. If your thyroid is underactive, you could have hypothyroidism.
Normally, your body has this ingenious feedback loop that keeps your thyroid hormone levels just right. The two key hormones produced in your thyroid are triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). When these are at the correct levels, your thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) controls their production. When more is needed, it stimulates more. When no more is needed, it does not stimulate more.
Hypothyroidism
The most common thyroid medical condition is hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid. In this case, the TSH keeps going up and up but the needed amounts of extra T3 and T4 are not produced.
Some of the common symptoms of hypothyroidism are:
feeling cold all the time
feeling sluggish or tired
brittle nails and hair
weight gain
The most common and very effective treatment for hypothyroidism is levothyroxine. A common brand name is Synthroid. It is T4 that is given to replace the T4 your thyroid is no longer producing. Giving T4 in this form is enough to bring your TSH back to normal levels. It is not necessary to take both T4 and T3; several studies have now demonstrated this. Each dose has a different color. This helps you and your prescriber keep track of exactly what dose you are taking.
When you are first started on levothyroxine, your prescriber will probably have you get blood drawn to check your TSH about 2 months after you start therapy, every 3-6 months until your dose has your TSH right in the goal range, then it will be checked at least yearly. It is common for your dose to change several times, in the first year especially, until the correct dose is identified to keep your TSH at the target level.
When you take levothyroxine, you should take it either first thing in the morning about an hour before breakfast or at the last part of your day at least 3 hours after your last meal. There are several foods and other medications that can interact with levothyroxine. Keeping it separated from your other medicines and meals helps to avoid these interactions.
Note, you especially to do not want to take it near milk or other dairy products, vitamins, or some cholesterol medicines. Taking levothyroxine too close to some of these foods and medicines can make the levothyroxine less effective.
A common question is about brand versus generic when taking levothyroxine. Either is truly fine. What you don’t want to do is switch back and forth. There can be a very tiny variance (2.5%) between medicine made by different manufacturers. For most medicines that makes no difference. Levothyroxine is a ‘narrow therapeutic index’ medication. This means the range from too little to too much is very small. So, the tiny variation between products can make a difference. I recommend generic, but ask your pharmacist to always give you the generic from the same manufacturer.
If you suspect you might be hypothyroid, please talk with your doctor. The most common age to be diagnosed with hypothyroidism is in your 40’s and 50’s, but it can be identified at younger or older ages.
For more information about your thyroid and medications to treat thyroid conditions, contact us at www.medsmash.com.
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
We just read about the amazing feedback loop of the thyroid gland. It is a perfectly designed system that keeps itself in constant check. (Unless it is harmed by disease or other outside influences).
This makes me think of a feedback loop described by Paul. It is not necessarily a comfortable feedback loop, but I know I have seen the truth of it in my own life. And, when I look at those people that have been big spiritual mentors to me, I can definitely see the realities of this feedback loop in their lives. I have yet to find a spiritually mature person who hasn’t experienced this feedback loop more than once.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The part that we sometimes miss is that this is a continuous loop. It’s just each time you go through it, the better you are able to ‘REJOICE’ in the suffering knowing that the love is continuous. The loop always involves suffering – something bad is happening to you. But, the more you embrace the love that is yours no matter what, the braver and more joyful you can be with each time around the loop.
So buckle up. The next round is coming! Experience it with the joy that God’s love never fails.
Blessings,
Michelle
Image Source: National Library of Medicine; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
As you work through your to-do lists, travel to your holiday destination, and settle in for the holiday season, here are some additional ways to give and receive.
RECEIVE
Following is a list of things that can help you feel your best.
Plenty of fluid
Avoid dehydration in the busy-ness of your holidays. This can help avoid headaches, constipation, and feeling lethargic.
Fiber in your diet
This can help you avoid constipation and and issues with diverticulosis (little pockets in your colon which are more common over age 50).
Veggies and fruits for vitamins
These are colorful, packed with vitamins, help you feel alert and energetic, and are another source of fluids.
Rest
Getting plenty of sleep will help reduce your feelings of stress and being overwhelmed.
The love and support of family and friends
This helps with perspective, reduces stress, allows you to relax, helps to focus beyond your own needs and wants.
GIVE
Helping other people can reduce your stress levels
Volunteering and caring about other people improves your health
Altruism, giving to others, is linked to improved health and longevity (living longer)
Time with friends and family. Feeling the love and time with others raises our spirits.
GIVE (UP)
Excess alcohol
It might relax you for a bit, but then will interrupt your sleep, increase your risk of dehydration, and actually make you feel more tired
Tobacco
The health risks are just too great. You’ll enjoy many more happy new years if you give up the tobacco.
Too much fatty party food
A balanced diet, plenty of fruits and vegetables, and exercise will keep you feeling better.
Isolation and brooding.
Everyone has experienced or will experience hard times, disappointments, betrayal, and/or loss.
Your attitude, your source of hope, the support of others will determine whether these events stop you.
You can grieve and experience these negative events and also pick yourself back up and continuing living a hopeful, happy life.
Wishing you joy, peace, and love from Meds MASH, LLC. www.medsmash.com
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Throughout the Bible we learn about the importance of giving. The message is consistent. The more we GLADLY give, the more we are blessed, and the more we receive.
Note, giving is not meant to be divisive. Wanting more for yourself is not a reason to give so that you’ll get more in return.
Rather, our giving is a sign of gratitude and love and honor to our Father in Heaven.
Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Giving is a beautiful expression of our gratitude and the love that is spilling over in us.
I’m praying you know God’s ever-sufficient, extravagant, glorious peace and love this Christmas!
Did you know there is a list of medications to avoid over age 65? A group of physicians and other experts first published this type of list in 1991. Since that time, the list has been updated several times. The most recent update was released this October of 2015. The list is of medications for which there were safer, as effective options. Mark Beers is the physician who took the lead with these lists, so they are often called the ‘Beers List’.
Did you know that kidney function starts to decline – in the healthiest of people – around age 40? The liver also slows down as we age. The efficiency of the heart pumping is more than we need until about age 30, then it starts to slowly decline.
This is not all bad news. The body is designed to function for a very long time, even with the changes that occur with aging.
The more you keep yourself, and your body, healthy, the better you will feel for many years.
Getting back to the naughty list, these body changes slow how medications get out of the body. So often, a single dose will last longer in your 70’s than it did in your 30’s. This means some medications are dosed at a lower dose. Other medications are taken less often. And the Beer’s list medications should not be taken at all.
Beer’s list medications:
Anticholinergic medicines are very drying, increase risk of falls, increase confusion and constipation. A common example is diphenhydramine found in Benadryl, Tylenol PM, Aleve PM, and most over-the-counter sleep aids.
Certain blood pressure medicines that can make you very dizzy when you stand up – doxazosin, prazosin, terazosin, clonidine, methyldopa, nifedipine
Digoxin – if used, should be used a very low dose such as 0.125 mg daily
Some depression medicines like amitriptyline, imipramine, notriptyline, paroxetine have a lot of side effects. There are some effective antidepressants that are safe, have fewer anticholinergic (drying and confusion) effects, and less drop in blood pressure.
Benzodiazepines include alprazolam, lorazepam, oxazepam, temazepam, triazolam, clonazepam, diazepam. If you are taking one of these for anxiety, please talk with your doctor at your next visit about reducing and gradually coming off of this medication. They greatly increase your risk of falls, difficulty thinking, car crashes, and delirium.
Mineral oil. There are much safer remedies for constipation or any other use of mineral oil.
Meperidine is one of the most risky pain medications in older adults due to the slower ability of the body to get rid of it. Talk with your doctor about one of the many safer options.
Skeletal muscle relaxants include cyclobenzaprine, methocarbamol, orphenadrine, carisoprodol. These have anticholinergic (drying) effects, make you sleepy, and increase your risk of falls and fractures. In addition, they don’t have very good evidence that they are actually helpful.
Nonsteroidal pain medicines, especially indomethacin and ketorolac, can cause stomach bleeding and dizziness. Other common nonsteroidals are ibuprofen, Naprosyn, meloxicam, or etodolac. If you take one of these, talk with your doctor about taking it with an acid blocking medication to help protect your stomach.
There are other medications on the list. Some are specifically hazardous if you have certain other medical conditions.
DO NOT STOP or change the way you take any medicine without first talking with your doctor.
This is a long list. Please discuss this with your doctor if you are taking any of these medications.
Or, please contact us at www.medsmash.com. We are experts in medications for adults over age 60. We can explain the list and any hazards in your medication list to you. Then, we can work with your doctors to make safer changes.
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
Here are two key ‘Nice Lists’. In these times of holiday activities and worldwide turbulence, I hope these bring hope and joy. The Bible says these are to help us glorify our God in Heaven.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Some of the greatest gifts of the season can be love, tolerance, patience, and peace.
I will be praying for each of these for each of us.
Interestingly, studies have shown that more money is not linked to happiness. Actually, more money is associated with higher depression and anxiety rates.
Thinking kindly about other people and helping other people is linked to health, living longer, and overall well-being. Rather than focusing on yourself and your own problems, who could benefit from your care?
Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that happier people are healthier people. It is fascinating that happier people don’t necessarily have more stuff, live with more innovations, or have more resources. This is especially true for psychological and emotional health.
Feeling optimistic that good things are going to happen
Having supportive family and friends
Being able to bounce back from bad situations and make healthy choices
Some aspects of health go beyond diagnoses and medications. Perhaps those elements are at our deepest core and the ones that need the most attention.
Hope is integral to happiness. It is also a key aspect of recovery. It is the element that pulls you away from the slippery slope to negativity. Many people with hope usually believe in a higher power with a sense of spirituality.
So, again, ask yourself, what makes you happy? For what are you grateful? What is your source of hope? What changes can you make today to do something helpful for another person?
The answers could be your source of health.
For more information about the literature on this topic and the relationship between happiness, hope, and health, contact us at www.medsmash.com.
BIBLICAL APPLICATION
So what are the answers to the questions? God, your loving, merciful, forgiving, creator is the source of all hope. Have you experienced that grace? Are you confident in that unconditional love?
It is hard to imagine life without this source of hope. What would each day be like not knowing the God of the universe?
If you do not have a daily, personal relationship with God, keep reading.
God can be your source of hope to get beyond anything that has happened in the past, of strength in the present, and of excitement for the promises of the future.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
You are deeply and unconditionally loved. God has big plans for you.
Bad things will still happen. Some days will be harder than others. Most of the future will be unknown. (But we know the ultimate outcome is eternal life in Christ!)
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
May this hope and love be your source of happiness and health!
Do you have any scars? The body’s primary defense mechanism and largest organ is the skin. Any breach in the skin’s integrity can allow bacteria and infection into the body, alter the body’s ability to regulate temperature and water storage, and it usually hurts. The skin is a very sensitive organ.
Blessings,
There can be several reasons you are cold or hot more than the people around you. One of those reasons can be your thyroid. If your thyroid is underactive, you could have hypothyroidism.
Did you know there is a list of medications to avoid over age 65? A group of physicians and other experts first published this type of list in 1991. Since that time, the list has been updated several times. The most recent update was released this October of 2015. The list is of medications for which there were safer, as effective options. Mark Beers is the physician who took the lead with these lists, so they are often called the ‘
What defines your best days?
yourhealthandsoul 