Golden Horizons Elder Care Services blog. Senior in-home health care companions, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, elderly healthy tips, community involvement and other topics.

Heart Healthy Habits

2/22/2019

Have you ever wondered how your everyday habits affect your heart? What do you eat? How big are your portions? Are you active? Do you exercise?

Lifestyle, diet and exercise are important factors when it comes to maintaining a healthy heart. Our decisions about our eating and exercising habits now will impact our health later in life. Let's explore tips to practice healthy habits.

We've all heard the old adage, "You are what you eat." It's true. For instance, if we are eating "bad fats", it'll adversely affect our weight, hormones, and health of our organs and heart.

Not all fats are bad. "Good fats are often naturally occurring - monosaturated fats like avocados and olive oil, polysaturated fats like in nuts and seeds, and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon or tuna.

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Let Your Heart Beat to the Rhythm...

2/15/2019

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"If music be the food of love, play on...!"
~ William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene I ~

We've all heard that famous line from Shakespear, "If music be the food of love...". He meant it soulfully, but perhaps it can also have a literal impact? Yes, music has an incredible healing ability in humans!

Today, music therapy is a growing field, but music and healing have been intertwined since ancient times. In Chinese, the character used is the same for medicine and music. In the ancient Greek culture, music

was a mode to reduce stress, help with pain, and deepen sleep. In both African and Native American ancient cultures, music, singing and chanting were integral in the healing processes and rituals.

In today's modern, Western medicine, the effects of music in the healing process are being studied and utilized across many disciplines, including those related to the heart. Since 1980, there have been a number of studies on how music affects the heart. Here are a few, quoted from a Harvard Heart Publishing Journal:

"~ At Massachusetts General Hospital, a nurse-led team found that heart patients confined to bed who listened to music for 30 minutes had lower blood pressure, slower heart rates, and less distress than those who didn't listen to music.
~ Another nurse-led team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee found that heart attack survivors who listened to restful music in a quiet environment for just 20 minutes were less anxious about their health than those who rested in a quiet room without music.
~ At Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, men and women who listened to music soon after undergoing cardiac surgery were less anxious and reported having less pain than those who just rested quietly.
~ At the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, researchers measured blood flow through the forearm (a stand-in for blood vessel health) as healthy volunteers listened to music or relaxation tapes. Blood flow increased significantly while the volunteers listened to music that evoked joy or to relaxation tapes, and decreased while they listened to music that provoked anxiety.
~ In a study from Hong Kong, older volunteers who listened to relaxing music for 25 minutes a day for four weeks lowered their systolic pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) by 12 points and their diastolic pressure (the bottom number) by 5 points, while a control group that didn't listen to music had no change in blood pressure.

Studies are ongoing, but music always does the heart good! Listen.

Sources
~ "Music Therapy in Cardiovascular Patients", Wolfgang Mastnak,
Today's Geriatric Medicine, Vol. 8 No. 6 P. 5
~ "Using music to tune the heart", Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, November 2009
~ "Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene I", William Shakespeare, www.owleyes.org

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Have a Heart...and Keep It

2/8/2019

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How many of you know the symptoms of a heart attack? Do you know what a heart shunt or a heart stent? Do you know if your family has a history of heart disease? Do you know what your heart does for you?

The human heart is one of the most important organs in our body. Located in the left side of the chest cavity, it is about the size of a large fist, weighs 8-10 oz in women and 10-12 oz in men, beats 100,000 times a day, pumps the equivalent of 5,000 gallons of blood through the body. The function of the heart is circulate the blood in the body supplying nutrients and oxygen to tissues and cells throughout the body, and

removing the toxins and carbon dioxide that builds up in those same tissues and cells.

The heart is made up of four chambers - right atria, left atria, right ventricle, left ventricle. The atria are the upper chambers and the ventricles are the lower chambers. The left and right sides of the heart are divided by a wall of muscle. The right chambers and left chambers work together as the right heart and left heart.

The heart pumps blood through two systems - the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. Deoxygenated blood gets pumped through the right ventricle going to the lungs where it is oxygenated. It returns to the heart via the left atrium. This is the pulmonary circuit. From the left atrium, the oxygenated blood leaves the heart through the left ventricle and is pumped out into the body supplying oxygen and nutrients to cells and removing toxins and carbon dioxide buildup. It returns to the heart through the right ventricle. This is the systemic circuit. The right side works with the deoxygenated blood and the oxygenated blood is handled by the left side of the heart.

Your heart is vital to your health, to, in fact your life. February is American Heart Month. We will be exploring more about the importance of our hearts and health.

Sources:
- The Heart: All You Need to Know, Tim Newman, January 10, 2018, Rev. by Dr. Deborah Sullivan, Medical News Today
- Human Heart: Anatomy, Function & Facts, Tanya Lewis, March 22, 2016, Livescience.com

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Golden Nuggets, February 2019

2/1/2019

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A publication of Golden Horizons Elder Care Services, Inc.

Announcement! We're Moving!

You read that right, we’re moving. As of February 1, 2019, we will be relocating to new office space... Now before you start to worry about how you will navigate to the new place, we are only moving downstairs. We will still be at 251 Main St. in Old Saybrook, but now in Suite 101. The great news with this - fewer stairs! Come visit us on the 1st floor in our regular building. Here’s our full address:

251 Main St, Suite 201, Old Saybrook CT 06475

A Message from the Office

I was watching the weather channel this morning as I was getting ready for my day. They were talking about the “polar vortex” dipping down

over most of the continental USA, bringing record-breaking cold temperatures. The upper Midwest was seeing wind chills of -50+ F. These are dangerous temperatures! Thankfully, we are only getting as

low as positive single digits, but it is still cold. We are in the midst of winter. Cold temperatures come with the season. To that end, we need to be diligent in our preparations - ie. winter maintenance on our cars, emergency kits in our cars with shovels, flashlights, food, batteries, water, first aid items, blankets etc. We need to be vigilant in dressing warmly and appropriately for the colder temperatures and take proper precautions in making sure our walkways are clear of ice, snow, and slippery conditions. Winter is a beautiful season - who doesn’t love a gentle snowfall, a roaring fire and a cup of hot cocoa - but we need to accord it proper respect. Stay warm and safe! ~ Golden Horizons Office Team

Mr. W's Inspirational Quotes

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage
to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill

Cultural Tidbit: Is there anyone in the world who hasn’t heard the name Winston Churchill? ...Yes, technically speaking, there are many in the world who haven’t heard his name and who don’t actually know who he is, but the sentiment remains. Winston Churchill was a British writer, politician and officer in the army. His greatest role was as Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII. He lead that nation through some of her darkest days; from when they stood alone against the Third Reich to the complete Allied victory. His leadership and iron will helped Britain navigate the pre-, during, and post-war worlds and his efforts echo through the halls of history today.

Caregiver of the Month

Luciana joined the Golden Horizons team toward the end of 2018. In her short time with us, she has demonstrated excellence and professionalism in her care for her clients and in her communications with the office. Through her hard work and dedication, she has become a valuable asset to Golden Horizons. She is a true team player. Thank you Luciana. Congratulations!

February Birthdays

We would like to wish the happiest of birthdays to all our clients and caregivers with February birthdays. May this year be full of

blessings and adventures beyond your wildest dreams.

Clients
- Mr. G, February 2
- Mrs. B, February 5
- Mrs. D, February 16
- Mrs. M, February 18

Caregivers
- Khum N, February 8
- Tynasia D, Februray 12
- Leila H, February 16
- Zanaya B, February 22
- Irene D, February 23