Quick Tips: Staying Active in Cold Weather

“Here are a couple of great tips to get you through this winter.”

— Dr. Dale

Quick Tips: Staying Active in Cold Weather

https://www.blueshieldca.com/bsca/health-wellness/health-library/article.sp?articleId=HWAD1201&fromCategoryId=-1&_requestid=2537&WT.mc_id=nlc-mem-healthupdate-2099&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWm1WaU4yVm1PVGs0TXpjeCIsInQiOiJuK3NTQU9aZ0R5eUdvYm4wZGllb1c3VVloSzJcL2tuSEt3ZVd1Und2ZVVcL2RkQUF5bGZOdnBibkFtMEJCV2pzdjlYYjZOUXAyK2llVUxxaHdpeDZGZlVzaHoyaGJMMnZtTlUrYjNZQkdNTjBjPSJ9

There are plenty of ways to be active in fall and winter, even if the weather turns cold. You can stay in shape and have fun while you're at it. Here are some ideas: 

Indoors

• Go for walks at the mall with a friend. Local schools and churches may have indoor gyms where you can walk. You may want to buy a pedometer from a sporting goods store. You can use it to count your steps. This will help motivate you to walk more.
• Get some hand weights or stretch bands to use at home for resistance exercise. You can get fit while you watch your favorite TV show or listen to music. Try doing a little more each week. Use cans of food if you don't want to buy weights. 
• Buy or rent an exercise DVD, or borrow one at the library. If you have an MP3 player, you can download audio routines from the Internet. This can be a fun way to stay in shape at home. 
• Take the stairs and fit in walk breaks whenever you can. This will give you extra activity, even on a busy day.
• Do active housework like sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, doing laundry, or washing the windows. You can stay active while you keep your home looking good. 
• Join a gym or health club. You can use machines like treadmills, stair-climbers, or exercise bikes. Try a fitness class or a new indoor activity, like dancing or water aerobics. Many cities have community centers that offer affordable fitness classes. 
• Get involved in sports leagues in your community or at work. Many cities offer indoor sports like basketball, volleyball, indoor soccer, or swimming. 

Outdoors

• Rake leaves or do other yard work.
• Bundle up, and take the dog for a walk. This can help you make walks part of your daily routine. 
• Shovel snow. This can be great winter exercise. But if you have heart problems or other health concerns, be sure to ask your doctor if shoveling snow is okay. Overdoing it can put dangerous strain on your body. 
• Try a new winter activity like skating, cross-country skiing, or snowshoeing. When you do outdoor activities in less populated areas, be sure to plan ahead. Let people know where you will be, and take the right gear for the conditions.

Dress for cold weather

If you plan to be active outdoors, wear clothes that fit well and keep you warm and dry. For protection, it's best to wear:

• A warm hat. If it's very cold, you also may want to wear covering for your face, such as a scarf.
• Layers of clothing to keep you warm. Wear waterproof outer layers to keep you dry. 
• Clothing made of wool or polypropylene. These will keep you from losing body heat even if the fabric gets wet. Don't wear cotton.
• Wool socks and waterproof shoes. Socks and shoes should fit closely but not too tight.
• Mittens rather than gloves. This way, your fingers are together so you can roll them into a fist for warmth.

Be safe

Check with your doctor before you start a new activity if: 

• You have heart problems or other health issues.
• You have not been active in a long time.

Be sure to stop and call your doctor if you have chest pain or feel dizzy during any physical activity. If you have breathing problems like asthma or COPD, ask your doctor before being active in cold weather.

To stay safe, try to do your walking and other activities when it's light out. Use your lunch break, or do family activities when the kids get out of school. If it's dark out, walk with a partner. 

Be careful not to slip on wet or icy ground. You can buy "grippers" for your shoes to help keep you from slipping. Avoid outdoor activity in extreme cold, and take the windchill into account.

What's Causing That Cough? 4 Questions to Ask

“Determine what might be causing your cough.”

— Dr. Dale

What's Causing That Cough? 4 Questions to Ask

http://www.doctorondemand.com/blog/4-cough-questions

Got a cough that’s waking you up at night? Annoying coworkers during the day? We can relate. Coughing is our body’s natural response to irritation in your throat and lungs—but when it affects you, it doesn’t feel natural at all.

Not all coughs are created equal—most will go away on their own, while others can be a sign you need a doctor fast. Coughs often occur with other symptoms like sore throat, runny nose, fever, or pain from an ear infection. To find out what’s causing your cough, your doctor may ask you the following questions:

1. Is it dry or wet?

A dry, hacking cough typically means that something is irritating your airways, such as smoke or something in the air that you’ve breathed in. A wet cough, also known as a productive cough, is one that brings up phlegm or mucous. It is often associated with an upper-respiratory-tract infection, like the common cold. If the mucous doesn’t clear, you could be at risk for a secondary bacterial infection. Bacteria thrive in conditions of heavy mucous.

2. What does it sound like?

Certain coughs make distinct sounds that you should listen out for. A harsh, dry cough that sounds like a barking seal could be croup. Severe fits of fast coughing that creates a “whoop” sound—gasping for air, or even vomiting, could be whooping cough. If you hear these sounds, please talk to a doctor right away.

3. See any strange colors?

When your cough brings up mucus, that’s your body’s way of ridding it from your lungs. The color of mucous is not as important as a change in color, type,or smell. If something seems odd to you, it’s a good idea to see a doctor. 

4. Are you having heartburn?

Believe it or not, acid reflux is a common cause of cough. It’s often worse when you’re lying down because you don’t have gravity helping to keep acids and mucus down. Elevating your head with an additional pillow can help. Acid reflux can also be hard to detect, meaning that all you’ll notice is a constant cough, which may act up after meals. 

Making Sense of a Common Symptom

The cough is a symptom of over 90 medical conditions. Although some coughs don’t respond to medication, check with a doctor to be sure you’re following the right treatment for the type of cough you have.

The aging paradox: The older we get, the happier we are

“The upside to aging.”

— Dr. Dale

The aging paradox: The older we get, the happier we are

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-older-people-happier-20160824-snap-story.html

Believe it or not, there are upsides to getting older.

Yes, your physical health is likely to decline as you age. And unfortunately, your cognitive abilities like learning new skills and remembering things is likely to suffer too.

But despite such downsides, research suggests that your overall mental health, including your mood, your sense of well-being and your ability to handle stress, just keeps improving right up until the very end of life.

Consider it something to look forward to

In a recent survey of more than 1,500 San Diego residents aged 21 to 99, researchers report that people in their 20s were the most stressed out and depressed, while those in their 90s were the most content. 

There were no dips in well-being in midlife, and no tapering off of well-being at the end of life.

Instead scientists found a clear, linear relationship between age and mental health: The older people were, the happier they felt.

“The consistency was really striking,” said Dilip Jeste, director of the UC San Diego Center for Healthy Aging and senior author of the study. “People who were in older life were happier, more satisfied, less depressed, had less anxiety and less perceived stress than younger respondents.”

The results were published Wednesday in the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Experts on the psychology of aging say the new findings add to a growing body of research that suggests there are emotional benefits to getting older.

“In the literature it’s called the paradox of aging,” said Laura Carstensen, director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, who was not involved in the work. “How can it be that given the many well-documented losses that occur with age, we also see this improvement in emotional well-being?”

As it happens, Carstensen does not think this is a paradox at all. 

In her own work, she has found evidence that people’s goals and reasoning change as they come to appreciate their mortality and recognize that their time on Earth is finite.

“When people face endings they tend to shift from goals about exploration and expanding horizons to ones about savoring relationships and focusing on meaningful activities,” she said. “When you focus on emotionally meaningful goals, life gets better, you feel better, and the negative emotions become less frequent and more fleeting when they occur.”

The authors of the new work also suggest that improved mental health in old age could be due to the wisdom people acquire as they grow older. 

Jeste defines wisdom as a mutli-component personality trait that includes empathy, compassion, self-knowledge, openness to new ideas, decisiveness, emotional regulation and doing things for others rather than for yourself.

“As we get older, we make better social decisions because we are more experienced, and that’s where wisdom comes into play,” he said.

Another possible explanation for the emotional benefits of aging could stem from the physiology of the brain, the authors said.

Brain-imaging studies show that older people are less responsive to stressful images than younger people. 

When scientists showed older and younger adults pictures of a smiling baby — an image designed to make everyone happy — both groups exhibited increased activation in the part of the brain associated with emotion. However, while a disturbing image of a car accident evoked a lot of activity in the emotional region of the brain of young people, older people had a much more subdued response.

Arthur Stone, a psychologist and head of the USC Dornsife Center for Self-Report Science who was not involved in the study, said that while the various explanations for the aging paradox are intriguing, there is still still no definitive finding that can explain the phenomenon.

“There’s lots of speculation about why older people are happier and having better moods even when their cognitive and physical health is in decline, but we still don’t have anything that fully explains what is going on,” he said. “It’s a big puzzle, and an important puzzle.”

Another important finding of the study is that despite our culture’s obsession with youth, it turns out that the 20s and 30s are generally a very stressful time for many young adults who are plagued by anxiety and depression.

“This ‘fountain of youth’ is associated with a far worse level of psychological well-being than during any other period of adulthood,” the authors said.

They noted that there are many pressures unique to this life phase including establishing a career, finding a life partner and navigating financial issues.

“It could be that age is associated with a reduction in risk factors for mental health,” said Darrell Worthy, a professor of cognitive psychology at Texas A&M University, who was not involved in the work. “Older adults may not have to deal with these stressors as much.”

The authors noted that the study does have some limitations. 

Participants were contacted via landline, meaning the experiences of people who have only cellphones were not included in the results.

In addition, people were excluded from taking part in the survey if they had dementia, lived in a nursing home or had a terminal illness. That means the elderly participants were, on the whole, fairly healthy, which might influence their sense of well-being.

Finally, everyone involved in the survey lived in sunny San Diego. It is possible that aging in Michigan could be very different than aging in Southern California.

Still, Carstensen said the study had major implications, especially considering that within just a few years, more people on the planet will be over 60 than under 15.

“Policy leaders are saying, ‘How are we going to cope with all these old people?’ ” she said. “But a population who are in good mental health, emotionally stable, more grateful, and more likely to forgive are a pretty great resource for a society with so much strife and war.”