Naps dangerous??

This is so not good news for me, the champion napper. I adore my naps. Naps are my Happy Place. Naps are good for me, aren't they?

Not according to this article, Daytime Dozing Might Raise Stroke Risk.

Ok, so it's not the napping that's dangerous - it's the reason why you may need to nap. That makes sense though. So, if you're a nap lover like I am, maybe we need to look into this to be sure that there isn't a medical reason why we nap.

Good and bad cholesterol?

We often hear about good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, such as when we read articles like Not enough 'good' cholesterol makes it harder to recover from stroke. Unfortunately, many people don’t understand what bad or good cholesterol are and what the difference is between the two.

First, what is cholesterol? Cholesterol is a fat-like substance that is produced by our liver and ingested through food. We need cholesterol as a building block for healthy cells walls and tissues, among other things. However, cholesterol can also be dangerous as it can build up and block blood flow.

The so-called good cholesterol, the one we need to keep healthy is called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and the so-called bad cholesterol is called low-density lipoprotein (LDL). A trick to remember which is which – you want the good cholesterol to be high so HDL; you want the bad cholesterol to be low, so LDL.

The American Heart Association has this great section, What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean to help you understand the numbers and what numbers you want to see when your blood is tested.

Since it’s known that high LDL can contribute to heart disease and stroke, everyone – particularly those with heart disease in the family – should know their baseline cholesterol levels. The earlier you know your levels, the earlier you can begin working on prevention. If your levels are normal, your goal is to keep it normal; if your levels are too high for LDL, then your goals are lower your numbers.

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Time is not your friend if you're having a stroke

Strokes are life changing events, whether they result in long-lasting effects or complete recovery. The very idea that something went wrong in the brain can have a profound impact on realizing one's mortality.

We’ve often heard a lot about mini-strokes or TIAs, but what are they? TIA is short for transient ischemic attack. Ischemia is the state where there is not enough blood – and its nutrients – to body tissue, usually caused by a blockage or obstruction. A TIA occurs when there is a section of the brain tissue that is deprived of this blood for a short period of time. In other words, it’s a stroke that lasts a few minutes or a bit longer.

So, how can you tell whether you’re having a stroke or experiencing a TIA? You can’t. If you have the symptoms of a stroke, even if you have a history of TIAs, do NOT wait and see if it will resolve on its own. If you wait and it is a true stroke, you are robbing yourself of valuable treatment time. Strokes need to be treated as soon as possible to minimize the damage. Time is not your friend in this situation.

The following information was taken directly from a patient fact sheet, Stroke Facts, found at the National Stroke Association.

How can you tell if you or someone you know is having a stroke or TIA? Think FAST:

F= Face – ask the person to smile. Check to see if both sides of the face are moving the same way, or does one side droop?

A= Arms – as the person to raise both arms in front of them. Does on arm seem to drift downwards while the other one stays outstretched?

S= Speech – Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Does the sentence make sense? Was it repeated properly? Is the speech slurred or garbled?

T= Time – if any of those signs are present or you suspect them, call 9-1-1 or seek help immediately.

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Strokes 4th leading cause of death in Canada

How much do you know about strokes? Did you know that stroke, or CVA (cerebral vascular accident) is the fourth leading cause of death in Canada today, killing about 16,000 Canadians per year? And that more women die from stroke than do men?

I found this information from the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s website. They have other sobering stats too. As you reach the age of 55, your risk of stroke doubles, but you don’t have to be older to have a stroke. Out of every 10,000 Canadian children under the age of 19, there are 6.7 strokes. Once you have had a stroke, you have 20% chance of having another stroke within 2 years. The average Canadians spend an average of 3 million hospital days because of to strokes and their effects.

Pretty scary stuff but if that’s not impressive enough, how about the fact that strokes cost the Canadian economy 2.7 billion dollars a year and the average acute care for a stroke, per person, is about $27,000.*

When I worked on a medical floor, I cared for many patients who had strokes and they ranged from completely recovering to dying – and there was an incredible range in between.

One of my favourite comic strips is For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston. One of the characters, Elly’s elderly dad, had a stroke. He is aphasic (can’t speak) but she draws strips of him as he tries to come to terms with his lack of motion and slow progress. Some of the strips can bring you to tears, they are so poignant.

I should worry about stroke. Heart disease runs in my family. I’m not in shape and I’m not exactly the healthiest eater. And yet, knowing that, I still am finding myself not trying all that hard to prevent anything from happening.

So, starting yesterday, it’s weight loss and get fit time. I’m not all that overweight. In fact, according to my body mass index, I’m just fine. According to weight charts, I’m about 10 pounds over. I’m not dieting per se, just cutting back and behaving a bit better when it comes to food I love. And, now that it’s summer time again, I have no excuse not to get out and walk my dog.

Let’s see how it goes. We have to bring those stroke numbers down, one by one.


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A few hours of your time can save a life

First Aid and CPR – a few hours of your time can save a life.

I’m a huge proponent for people learning first aid and CPR. In fact, I think that kids shouldn’t be able to graduate from high school without CPR. I know that the curriculum is packed already, but surely we could find a way to squeeze a few hours into health or phys ed courses?

I renewed my CPR certification last week. It’s so incredibly easy now compared to when I first learned in the 70s and 80s. Back then, we had to remember different ratios depending on if you were doing CPR alone or with someone else, and depending on if it was a child or an adult you were helping. Not only that, but the mannequins that we practiced on had breathing monitors and you have to be able to do artificial respiration in a way that you could see how hard you breathed in and how well you did it.

It’s *so* different now. One thing to remember for everyone. The only difference is that the compressions for a child are not as hard as for an adult.

I used to teach first aid. I took a course offered by the Canadian Red Cross and I was a certified instructor. I loved teaching it. Most of my classes were Boy Scout and Girl Guide leaders, but I did other groups too. I used to meet so many people who would say, “I can’t take a first aid course, I panic when there’s an emergency.” I’d reply, “of course you panic! You don’t know what to do!”

It’s true. If you take a first aid course, or a CPR course, you learn several things. But the most basic and important thing is how to call for help. I used to tell my students that if all they remembered from my course a year from then was how to call for help properly, they’ve learned something. If they remembered how to secure the area, they learned something, and so on. Every little thing they learned was something that they now knew, and didn’t know before.

If someone you loved started choking in a restaurant or in a public place, wouldn't you want someone to know what to do? If *you* began showing signs and symptoms of a stroke, wouldn't you want someone to know what to do? So, maybe you can be that person for someone else.

It doesn’t take long to learn first aid and it doesn’t take long to learn CPR. I can’t think of many better ways to spend a few hours. If you never need it, that’s great. But isn’t it great to know how to do something if you do need it?

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