The Presbyterian Church in Morristown, New Jersey

“Here’s to Your Health” from the Congregational Health Ministry

Attention Men!

Do you take better care of your car than you do your body? Come on, be honest! Research shows that men generally do not see a doctor for a physical exam nearly as often as women. Many men will wait until something is terribly wrong, then they reluctantly go. Does this sound like you?

For all the men out there who haven’t seen a doctor lately; it’s not all about you! Remember you have people in your life who care about you –wife, children and parents. Your wife wants to grow old with you. Your children want you at their college graduation. Your daughter wants you to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Your grandchildren want to play with you, get bounced on your knee and snuggled up next to you with a good book. Get regular checkups and screenings so you can make lasting memories with your family.

National Men’s Health Week is June 9-15^th. Live healthy, stay healthy. Below, is the proposed schedule for checkups and health screenings, by age, as recommended by the Men’s Health Network.

Men's Health Checkups - Ages 20–39

· Physical exam every 3 years

· Blood pressure every year

· Tuberculosis skin test every 5 years

· Blood tests and urinalysis (cholesterol, diabetes, kidney and thyroid dysfunction) every 3 years

· Electrocardiogram (EKG) at 30 years of age

· Tetanus booster every 10 years

· Rectal exam every year

· Testicular, skin, oral, and breast self-exams every month

· Sexually transmitted diseases screening

Men's Health Checkups - Ages 40–49

· Physical exam every 2 years

· Blood pressure every year Tuberculosis skin test every 5 years

· Blood tests and urinalysis (cholesterol, diabetes, kidney and thyroid dysfunction) every 2 years

· Electrocardiogram (EKG) every 4 years

· Tetanus booster every 10 years

· Rectal exam every year

· Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test is recommended for African-American men and men with a family history of prostate cancer at 40 years of age

· Hemoccult (microscopic stool screening for polyps and colon cancer) every year

· Chest x-ray – discuss with doctor, especially if you are or were a smoker

· Testicular, skin, oral, and breast self-exams every month

· Testosterone screening – discuss with doctor

Men's Health Checkups - Ages 50+

· Physical exam every year

· Blood pressure every year

· Tuberculosis skin test every year

· Blood tests and urinalysis (cholesterol, diabetes, kidney and thyroid dysfunction) every year

· Electrocardiogram (EKG) every 3 years

· Tetanus booster every 10 years

· Rectal exam every year

· Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test every year

· Hemoccult (microscopic stool screening for polyps and colon cancer) every year

· Testicular, skin, oral, and breast self-exams every month

· Testosterone screening – discuss with doctor

· Chest x-ray – discuss with doctor, especially if you are or were a smoker

· Colorectal screening every 3 – 4 years

· Bone health screening at 60 years of age

“With long life will I satisfy him…Ps.91:16.                                                                          MKW

Congregational Health Ministry is sponsoring a Faith and Health Fair on May 4. Here’s a sample of the kind of information you find there.

“YOU have the POWER to PREVENT colon cancer"

1. This is truly a preventable cancer due to colon cancer's biology. Most colon cancers are preceded by an asymptomatic benign polyp (not yet a cancer) stage. If these polyps are detected and removed, cancer does not develop. Even if colon cancer is detected during an early stage, it often can be removed before becoming life-threatening.

2. Colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death.

3. Both polyps and early colon cancer produce no symptoms. Waiting until symptoms develop is risky.

4. If you are 50 and older, you need to be tested, earlier if you have a family member who has had colon polyps and/or colon cancer.

For more information on these tests, attend our Faith and Health Fair on May 4.

John E. Rossman, M.D.

High Blood Pressure – A force to be reckoned with

May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month. The prevention and control of high blood pressure are possible. High blood pressure (also called hypertension) increases your chances of having a heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, and other life-threatening illnesses. Anyone can get it, and as you get older, the likelihood of your developing high blood pressure increases. If you are overweight or obese or if you have diabetes, the odds are even higher.

Know Your Numbers

High blood pressure is called “the silent killer” because there often are no symptoms. Your numbers are your only warning. The numbers are recorded in millimeters of mercury. (mmHg) Systolic blood pressure is the pressure of blood in the vessels when the heart beats. This is the top number of the recording. Diastolic pressure is the pressure between beats when the heart relaxes. This is the bottom number.

Normal blood pressure should ideally be less than 120/80 mmHg.

High blood pressure - 140/90 mmHg or higher

Prehypertension       -   120-139/80-89 mmHg

8 things you can do to prevent and control high blood pressure.

Talk with your health care professional. Ask what your blood pressure numbers are and ask what they mean.

Take medication as prescribed. If you need medication make sure you understand what it’s for and how and when to take it, then take it as your doctor recommends.

Lose weight if you are overweight and maintain a healthy weight. Limit portion sizes, especially of high calorie foods, and try to eat only as many calories as you burn each day – or less if you want to lose weight.

Eat heart healthfully. Follow an eating plan that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy products and is moderate in total fat and low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Reduce salt and sodium intake. Read food labels to choose canned, processed, and convenience foods that are lower in sodium. Limit sodium intake to no more than 2,400 mg or about 1 teaspoon’s worth, of salt each day. Avoid fast foods that are high in salt and sodium.

If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. For men, that means a maximum of 2 drinks a day, for women, a maximum of 1.

Become more physically active. Work up to at least 30 minutes of moderate-level activity, such as brisk walking or bicycling each day. If you don’t have 30 minutes, try to find two 15-minute periods or even 3 10-minute periods for physical activity.

Quit smoking. Smoking increases your chances of developing a stroke, heart disease, peripheral arterial disease and several forms of cancer.

Enlist in this vital mission for a healthier you!                                       MKW

CONGREGATIONAL HEALTH COMMITTEE: The “placebo effect” is a term you will see in every medical investigation going. That’s the effect a drug or treatment has on people which can’t be explained by anything other than “coincidence”, psychological, or just not known. If you were in study and given a pill that is supposed to relieve pain, but you didn’t know whether or not you’re getting the real thing or just a sugar pill, the results might show no pain relief. Thus, scientifically speaking, it would be deemed of no value to anyone. However, the results never come out 100% and a relatively small number of people will get some pain relief and think it’s great stuff. This group is said to demonstrate the “placebo effect”, present in practically every study. Suppose you were in the “placebo” group and no bad side effects showed up, prompting the warning “consult your doctor before taking”. In that case wouldn’t you be tempted to take it anyway to relieve your pain? A lot of people do (which the advertisers are counting on), and no one can blame us for that.

cpr/aed

Lent is a season for reflection and soul-searching. This year, Lent begins on February 21, 2007 and ends on April 7, 2007. Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a preparatory time for Easter – a time for the faithful to rededicate themselves. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ withdrawal into the wilderness for forty days. For one week during this period ( March 15 -21) we will make available a Labyrinth as a tool for meditation and an experience for prayer.

The labyrinth will be a canvas replica of the Labyrinth laid in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral around 1220. It will be spread out on the floor of the Parish House. The labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. When you walk the labyrinth, you embark on a spiritual journey.

Meditatively walking the circuitous path of a canvas labyrinth serves to still our thoughts, allowing space for God amid the usually jam-packed confines of our minds. The rhythm of walking is conducive to prayerful contemplation. The unpredictability of the labyrinth’s twist and turns helps us to relinquish our need to feel “in control” and to acknowledge our dependence upon God. The certainty of reaching the center inspires us to trust in God’s providence.

A labyrinth is distinct from a maze which is designed to confuse and challenge. Mazes are full of wrong turns and blind alleys, deliberately inducing the experience of being lost and disoriented. By contrast, labyrinths have no “forks in the road”, no wrong turns and no blind alleys. If you continue to walk the path you inevitably come to the center of the labyrinth. With a labyrinth there is only one choice to be made. The choice is whether or not to enter and walk a spiritual path. A passive, receptive mindset is needed.

At its most basic level, the labyrinth is a metaphor for the journey to the center of your deepest self and back out into the world with a broadened understanding of yourself and your relationship with God. Walking the labyrinth may clear your mind and give you insight to both your spiritual journey and your life journey.

Next month we will provide you with ways the labyrinth may be used and some guidelines for the walk.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT HOSPICE

Many faith communities in NJ are participating in the statewide hospice observance this year. Organized by the nonprofit NJ Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and its members in communities throughout the state, it is a time to join in prayer for the dying and lend spiritual support to caregivers.

Most people think “a Hospice” is a place to go to die. Hospice, in fact, is a program of flexible services that provides compassion and care wherever a terminally ill patient chooses to live. In most cases, hospice care enables people to die at home, surrounded by the people they love.

Studies show that most people are afraid of dying alone, dying in pain, or becoming a burden to their families. Hospice offers choices. It gives patients permission to set the terms of how they will spend their final months and to maintain their dignity and respect. Hospice provides expert pain and symptom management and practical, emotional and spiritual support for the patient and family. Hospice lets us make the most of the time we have.

Patients receive the most benefit from hospice when they choose it as soon as possible after learning of a terminal diagnosis, instead of waiting until the last few days of life. Hospice is a covered benefit under Medicare Part A and NJ Medicaid, as well as many private insurers. No one is denied hospice care due to inability to pay.

Hospice uses a team approach including nurses, counselors, home health aides, spiritual caregivers, trained volunteers, and bereavement support professionals. The patient’s own doctor and clergy can remain involved throughout the process.

Recent events in this country have highlighted the need for everyone to have an Advance Directive-Living Will and Medical Proxy. For more information about Advance Directives, Hospice or to learn about becoming a trained volunteer, please contact Atlantic Hospice, a division of Atlantic Health System (Morristown Memorial, Overlook and Mountainside Hospitals) at 973-379-8440

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;” Psalm 23: 4.

We can all recall some elders who gained wisdom and understanding as they aged--the familiar figures of Biblical stories and parables, illustrated with flowing white hair and beards--and important people from our childhoods, a little bent and wrinkled, but a alert, opinionated, full of interesting stories and respected observations about their long experience in the world. We all want to believe that we will advance into a wise and respected old age, doing the same things that we've always done , having the same views of the world that we've always had, just compensating for some slowing and changing in our physical abilities. But we also know some personal and Church family members whose memories are inaccurate, who are confused about the past, disoriented in the present, sometimes distraught and distressed about their mental changes--often it is painful for us to be around them.

The name "Alzheimer's" is familiar to all of us and, with four million Americans suffering from the disease which bears this name, it is more than likely that we know one or more with this diagnosis. The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease is projected to increase by as much as four times as "baby boomers" age. And we know many others without the devastating diagnosis of "Alzheimer's disease" but with various manifestations of dementia which steal the "wisdom and understanding" from aging.

How can we calm our fears of a decline in our own mental functioning as we age? Media coverage makes it clear that considerable money and intelligence is going into research into the "aging brain". In time, answers will come from solving genetic puzzles about why certain brains accumulate the toxic protein fragment beta-amyloid that forms into the plaques that strangle neurons and synapses in Alzheimer's diseased brains.

Research has gone well beyond the search for a single gene that causes Alzheimer's disease; at least four genes associated with Alzheimer's disease have been identified; however, many who carry a gene do not get the disease. This has led to searches for "risk factor" genes, which may lead to potentially new ways to treat Alzheimer's disease. Already, scientists are working on vaccines to stimulate the development of antibodies against plaques in the brain. Other research is aimed at early prevention of plaque formation, including expanding from seeing plaques as the problem to speculating that plaques may be the brain's attempt to wall off inflammation. The hope of the future is that your doctor will look up your gene profile and decide whether you have a high risk of Alzheimer's disease, then begin some form of prophylactic treatment.

Until that future scenario, what can you do? Assuming that you will be among the great majority who never get the severe dementia of Alzheimer's disease, how can you progress toward the "wisdom and understanding" of a successful old age and be one of the active, vital elders that you know from the past or in the present?

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY We must understand the physical activity is linked to mental activity and slower mental decline. Exercise increases blood flow to all parts of your body, including your brain and will help you think more clearly, feel better, even promote cell growth. Exercise should not be painful or arduous; instead, activity should be a part of your life that you enjoy, for example, a daily walk (with or without a dog), gardening, swimming, riding a stationary bike--start by parking the car further away from your destination than usual, choose stairs instead of an elevator--just challenge yourself to gently increase your activity. Marilyn Moffat, professor of Physical Therapy at NYU and co-author of "Age-Defining Fitness" says, "We now know that a decline in strength and fitness isn't entirely a natural consequence of the aging process, but is also due to lack of use. We need to push ourselves physically no matter how old we are--we just may need to alter the activity--giving up exercises that stress and jar joints and emphasizing activity that promotes flexibility and balance, especially stretching." An important function of exercise is keeping weight under control; dementia has been added to the list of diseases that correlate with excess weight, especially carrying excess weight on an "apple-shaped" body.

DIET Is there a special diet that you can eat that will make your brain function better than it is now? The media is full of suggestions: blueberries, pomegranates, green tea, red wine, coffee, tomatoes, nuts, natural and organic foods--the best course is common sense: limit saturated fats,sugar, and empty calories; build your diet around a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, low-fat dairy products---all of the things that you already know. There is some evidence that omega-3 fatty acids can spur the growth of healthy new synaptic membranes in brain cells. Antioxidants are substances that protect and nourish brain cells, with Vitamin E leading the list; foods high in antioxidants include colorful fruits and vegetables.

ATTITUDES Drs. Guy McKhann and Marilyn Albert in "Keeping the Brain Young" state that " possessing a positive attitude and self-motivation could be what separates the average from those who excel." The most important thing is that individuals see a positive image of themselves--that they see themselves as having a role to play, whether its in their family or in the community".

Maintaining a strong network of social connections has been associated for some years with decreased risk of dementia: But recent studies show that the larger a person's social network, the less impact that Alzheimer's disease had on cognition and memory--maybe social networks help the brain to function and compensate for damage to the brain.

Managing stress calls for conscious effort--when you're stressed, your brain releases hormones that can damage your brain, as well as lead to anxiety and depression, both of which interfere with memory function. Both small and large strategies can help: Keep a regular routine to promote adequate rest and sleep, practice a focused and prayerful life, learn more about deep-breathing and relaxation techniques, seriously consider a yoga class--and remember hobbies and diversions in which you "lose" yourself--needlework, art, refinishing furniture, making bread--whatever your "thing" is.

MENTAL ACTIVITY The Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research emphasizes that mental activity keeps your mind sharp and agile. If you continue to learn and challenge yourself, your brain continues to grow, literally. This helps your brain store and retrieve information more easily, no matter what your age. How can you challenge yourself? Try fairly simple things such as staying informed with what is going on in the world, doing crossword puzzles (or sudoku), reading one "serious" article every day, purposefully interacting with others--then, consider greater challenges such as joining a new group, taking a class (the Church offers many short courses and presentations), starting a new hobby (something that you've always meant to do), learning a new language, even taking up a musical instrument.

Gary Small,M.D., director of the UCLA Aging and Memory Research Center and author of "The Longevity Bible" and "The Memory Prescription" says that certain behaviors might preserve memory and delay brain changes such as Alzheimer's disease, but "there's nothing startling about any of them: improved nutrition (a fruit-and-vegetable heavy, junk-food eschewing diet), physical activity (including stretching and frequent, vigorous walks); stress reduction (short relaxation and meditation/prayer breaks); and mental stimulation (a series of challenges, from doing mazes to coming up with images to remember names).

Bruce McEwen PhD, director of the neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller University says, "Americans have been so focused of finding their magic bullet, the quick fix, the pharmacological treatment to slow aging--we don't realize there is a lot we can do to help ourselves."