5 Habits to Avoid Over 60 and a Bonus

1.     Avoid excessive alcohol consumption.  Your brain is shrinking and cannot manage the usual amount. Also, reflexes are aging, too, and you are less able to protect yourself from a fall. If you do hit your head, your brain, smaller now, is more prone to injury bouncing around inside your skull.

2.     Avoid eating too much.  You do not need the extra calories. Usually you are metabolizing less energy due to less muscle and less movement.  The excess calories will turn to fat with a generalized cellular inflammatory effect that is unhealthy.  Think diabetes, heart disease, stroke

3.     Avoid a sedentary lifestyle.  Use it or lose it!  Disuse atrophy leads to frailty, falls, increased risk of dementia.

4.     Avoid a solitary life style. You are a social creature and too much time alone increases the risk of depression and suicide. Get out there and have some meaningful if possible social interactions. At least get out of your home.

5.     Avoid smoking. If you have been smoking for years, stopping will prevent further loss of lung function and will reduce risk of heart disease and save money in this time of inflation. No, you are not too old to quit.

Bonus

6.     Avoid an unbalanced diet. Briefly, eat what your grandparents used to eat. Avoid food faddism, red meat, added sugar.

Summertime

Summer, roughly the 100 days from Memorial Day at the end of May until Labor Day in early September, is a delightful, long, sun-filled time of year. Carefree days of summer are hoped for but all too often things can come between you and the expected good time.

Too Much Cold?

Adjusting to the heat is doable. Then you can tolerate the heat more easily and continue to enjoy it without adverse effects. Exposure is needed, and hours and days of exposure to hot temperatures (but not direct sunlight) will allow your body to increase its ability to manage heat by increasing its rate of heat loss, and quicker and more voluminous sweating. 

In our modern society that means avoiding Air Conditioning, or at least turning the thermostat up. If you work in an office 40 hours a week, I can imagine the pushback that would prevent you from turning the temperature up to 78 or 80 degrees. Probably not doable. Avoid the AC whenever you can, like when you are in your car driving or at home. It may take six weeks of training, but your tolerance will greatly improve.

Caution is needed, particularly for those with the potential for heart failure, those on medications that reduce a person’s ability to sweat (antihistamines), and medications that change your ability to know that you are heating up (anti-depressants). 

Sun Avoidance

Some medications can cause unusual skin reactions from the sun (retinoids and some antibiotics). One strategy is to avoid the sun’s rays from striking your body. Part of that strategy may include the use of Sunscreen. I like to use long pants and long-sleeve shirts and top it off with a broad-brimmed hat (one that covers your nose and ears). Gloves, a bandana and sunglasses complete the “look.”

Hydration

Also, remember to stay hydrated. Tip: If you are thirsty then you are behind on your fluids. Even a small degree of dehydration impairs performance of mind and muscle. Drink sufficient liquids so that you are urinating about once an hour! Ordinarily, what you drink is of secondary importance to the volume and frequency.

Water

You must know how to swim. No excuses. It is a requirement for graduation from some Universities and the Navy. Once you know how to swim, don’t screw it up by being under the influence of drugs or alcohol while in the water. Obvious, but so many people needlessly drown while impaired.

Insects

Insects annoying you? Use insect repellent, plenty of it and apply it often. DEET in various concentrations is a good repellent. Barrier-type clothing and a hat with a veil work as expected to mechanically keep the bugs away. If you do get bitten, try and resist scratching the bite. Apply some OTC (over the counter, non-prescription) steroid cream as often as needed.  Scratching can lead to an infected bite that turns into a cellulitis (skin infection), a boil, or, rarely, worse.

Some Life Pro Tips

1.    Beware of driving for too many hours at a stretch on your classic road trip.

2.    Don’t use motorcycles. They are just too deadly.

3.    Mow early in the day to avoid sparks starting a fire

4.    Be ladder safe.

5.    Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. What did you think was going to happen?

And as always, Stay Emergency Free!

The Dangers of Oversleeping This Winter

Excerpt from the article on EatThis.com By Erin Hueffner

November 20, 2019

"Oversleeping regularly, more than 9-10 hours in a row, may be associated with a significant medical problem that should be diagnosed,” says Dr. Paul Weinberg, M.D. Because of these risks, doctors recommend getting just enough sleep—7 to 8 hours per night. And if you're sleeping a lot and still feel tired during the day, see your medical provider.

For the link to the full article, click here

Lifesaving Skills Worth Learning for Emergencies

Excerpt from the article on blog.Cheapism.com By April Neale

September 12, 2019

Avoiding Conflict and Danger

Preventing injuries avoids the need for first aid, so learn to mitigate the most obvious dangers, at least. Emergency room and trauma doctor Paul Weinberg says this means driving safely. "Obey traffic laws, particularly regarding speeding, which is a killer," he says. "And that includes not driving under the influence of any medication or alcohol." In addition, avoid unnecessary conflict by walking away from situations of escalating tension.

For the link to the full article, click here

Winter Blog 2018

It comes every year so don’t be too surprised.

Rain, sleet, snow, ice, and darkness.

All familiar and all with a challenge.

Hypothermia, the condition of low body temperature, is the main peril of rain, sleet and snow.

If you get too cold, all the systems in your body do not work well. It rather quickly leads to weakness, loss of coordination and inability to think clearly. If you are alone, it can be difficult to self-rescue. Prevention is the key: Dress for the weather you fear. Generally, a wind and waterproof outer layer, then sufficient insulating inner layers to stay warm. You want to stay dry because you lose heat very rapidly from a wet body. A balaclava, face covering or equivalent is suggested when it starts to get quite cold. Obviously, adequate gloves or mittens, and shoes or boots are needed.

A diet higher in protein will aid in keeping the metabolic furnace output high and keep you warmer. Alcohol in any form increases heat loss; it will not keep you warm and will increase your chance of hypothermia. Though with enough alcohol inside, you may not care or be aware enough to know that you are getting dangerously cold.

I have seen enough broken bones, hips and sprains to know that a slip and fall from icy conditions is too common. Prevention is key. Crawling will work in an extreme situation! I suggest using a slip-on crampon that goes over shoes or boots. They work well with minimal inconvenience. They are so effective that in some Arctic communities they are given away to some of the residents.

Darkness is a underestimated winter variable. The loss of joy, the restlessness, anger, and depression should not be discounted. Broadly speaking, our geographic migration has outstripped our genetic makeup. People freak out in both the extremes of the long Arctic winter and summer. Twenty-four hours of darkness or light is not psychologically comfortable for most people.

Exposure to bright light of sufficient (individual) duration is the treatment for shorter days. Buy one and follow the exposure directions. They work!

Tips to Avoid the Busy Emergency Room This Summer Season

Summer will be here so soon.

Water - Enjoy the water but don’t drink then swim, raft or dive. An elevated blood alcohol concentration (that means if you’re buzzed or more) will allow you to be confused and drown more easily than not. It may also alter your judgment and allow you to be in risky situations (going down those rapids that you were always afraid sober to try and raft)

Fire - Like they say: Fire is a great servant but an awful master. Take caution in starting fires with any of the fire-starter accelerants. A flash burn or worse can be the result. Remember to stop, drop and roll if you need to extinguish yourself.

Allergy - Just the usual avoidance of the plants and take antihistamines (OTC usually works well).

Insects - Don’t mess with the hive. Africanized honey bees can be nasty in their vigor and persistence in attacks upon those who torment them. Distance and barrier protection will minimize the problems. Call for help promptly.

Avoid being outside at dawn and dusk without insect repellent (high concentration applied DEET is excellent repellent). Too many viruses are spread by insect diseases. 

Tics - Let someone check you each 24-hour period or less. Remove them carefully (see internet for management).

Other Summertime Activities - Generally, don’t mow grass barefoot. Do not put hands in holes unless you can see that it is safe. Watch for snakes. Climb trees carefully. Think before you use a rope swing: Are my arms/hands strong enough?

July 4th - A big day in the Emergency Room. Too much sun, alcohol, fire and explosions.

Fireworks - Remember, if a firecracker goes off in your hand (blowing off fingers) it can also blow out your eardrums! If you dare, you can drunkenly firewalk across the still-hot coals and maybe still Have a Glorious Fourth!

Softball - remember to not slide in that softball game; too many severe ankle fractures, even in those cases when there is a break-away base. Head first? Do you really need to be that hero?

Sun - A tan is not your friend! Despite the popularity suggested in the fake press.

It speeds up the aging of the skin and thus your appearance. It will also increase your risk for a variety of skin cancers (the surgery required can be somewhat disfiguring); some deadly. Cover up completely and use sunscreen. Practice looking at your shadow to protect your face!  Lol

Temperature and Humidity - Stay hydrated. Keep drinking and urinate about once each hour. With usual (non-alcoholic or weakly alcoholic) liquids and pretty normal kidneys, drinking is more important than what you drink in keeping you going. Volume is more important than particular ingredients or lack of ingredients. In low humidity areas (think the Arizona desert) where you may not notice sweat, since the sweat you produce evaporates so quickly you miss identifying it; nevertheless, you are losing water. So, keep drinking. Plain water is good, but after a couple of quarts try something with some electrolytes in it. That can help avoid a low sodium concentration in the blood (it’s not good and makes you feel bad).

Have a great summer and as always Be Emergency Free

Paul Weinberg, MD

Want to Avoid the Flu? Get the Vaccine

Don’t be fooled. The generic term “flu” - referring to one of many  viruses that cause the common cold with fever, achiness, runny nose, sneezing, nasal congestion and generally feeling poorly - is not Influenza.

Influenza, the name of the specific virus responsible for the big, bad, deadly, worldwide pandemic of 1918, is the virus category I am talking about.

It is the virus the Influenza vaccine (a.k.a. flu vaccine) is trying to stop or at least stun. Influenza can be and is an annual killer. Usually the very young or old, chronically ill, smokers, and others who are immunologically depressed from their disease burden suffer the most from catching Influenza.

Get the vaccine!! The earlier in the season the better and also better late than never.

No vaccine is 100% effective (is anything really?) but it helps against the risk of death across a wide category of disease. The flu vaccine has low side effects and it does not give you Influenza.  You still might get the common-cold type ailment right after being inoculated (given the shot).

Vaccine = Avoidance

Avoidance also is keeping those viruses, which are riding on microscopic droplets of water from sneezes, coughs, and non-clean hands, from entering your body through the nose and mouth. Keep three or more feet away from those who spray those droplets, and, never touch your face without first washing or cleaning your hands (an alcohol-based hand sanitizer also works).

Pretty simple.

Obviously, wearing a mask that covers the nose and mouth may be helpful as well.

Keep it safe and healthy. Be Emergency Free!

2-2018