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Barbara Phillips, NP

Healthy Nutrition, Sound Principals

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You’ve heard this all your life…”you are what you eat”. But often, we get confused about what we should be eating. While there is a lot of information available to us about healthy nutrition, it’s good to start with a few sound principals.

As a rule, people of all ages, who wish to be healthy may want to look at the portions of food they eat.

You’ve heard of super sizing no doubt? You don’t have to super size in order to be eating too much…you can do that just by having portions that are a bit larger than they should be.

Most people have “portion distortion”. Get a good reference book on the subject of portions (any diet or nutritional book) and start measuring your portions.

Yes, get out the measuring cup, the tablespoons and the scale. Do this until you relearn the proper amounts of food to eat. Check yourself periodically to make sure you are staying on target. You’ll be amazed with the results. [Read more…] about Healthy Nutrition, Sound Principals

Are you on Medication?

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hospice.jpgWhen a new patient comes to my clinic, I ask them to list all their medications, including any over-the-counter medications, herbal and vitamin supplements they may be taking. Often times, they don’t know.

While I understand that it’s sometimes difficult to remember everything, I cannot tell you how important it is to your health and safety for you to know what you are taking and communicate that list to your own provider, the hospital or emergency personnel.

Let’s say you suddenly show up in the ER and are unconscious. Medical personal are not going to know what kind of medication you take or what your health problems are. This could be dangerous as they will be treating you somewhat blinded. As we all know, various medications should not be combined. But how will anyone know?

In our clinic, I have cards I give out to all my patients and encourage them to write down everything, each and every medication, and carry it with them at all times.

Here is a medication list I designed for you.  It has your information, your providers information, allergies and a place for you to list all your medications, why you are taking them, and how often. Feel free to download it, fill it out and carry it in your wallet or purse at all times. Keep it updated with new medications, or remove medications you are no longer taking.

Let me know how it works for you.

Hospice and Permission to Move On

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hospice.jpgOur family has seen a lot of death. My father when I was 16, two of my sisters before age 40, multiple aunts, uncles, cousins, Mom’s second husband, and several pets.

For years, Mom and I talked about what she wanted at end of life. I was her Power of Attorney for both health care and business matters.

She was very clear about how it needed to be and her desire included Hospice.
[Read more…] about Hospice and Permission to Move On

Binge Drinking in Baby Boomer Women

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Binge drinking has become nearly synonymous with college students.

But turns out, a study released a couple of years ago shows a significant, worrisome level of binge drinking among those age 50 to 64 as well.

Working with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Duke University researchers report that 22% of men and 9% of women ages 50 to 64 engaged in binge drinking — five or more drinks at a time — within the past month of the survey.

The research, based on a survey of 11,000 men and women that took place in 2005 and 2006, was published and  reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The survey also found that 19% of the men and 13% of the women had two or more drinks a day, which is considered heavy or “at-risk” drinking under American Geriatric Society guidelines for older people.

Dan Blazer, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke, says that level of drinking places the older group at more of a health risk than younger counterparts.

“They don’t metabolize alcohol as quickly, they may be on medications, or they may have some health problems that alcohol may contribute to,” Blazer says. “On average, if a young person drinks five beers and an older person drinks five beers, the older person is almost certainly going to have more difficulty.”

You can read the rest of the story here.

Menopausal Weight Gain

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Here is another reason to keep your weight under control.  Those extra pounds are not worth losing brain cell function! See what you think about this new study.

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Healthy women who put on weight between the premenopausal and postmenopausal years risk losing nerve cells in the brain, research suggests.

Gaining weight is a “highly modifiable” risk factor that may be targeted to prevent or slow the progression of potentially harmful age-related changes in the brain, the University of Pittsburgh-based study team suggests in the June issue of Psychosomatic Medicine. [Read more…] about Menopausal Weight Gain