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Being Well with LGBTSr: The Stats On Statins
Being Well is a regular feature at LGBTSr highlighting health and wellness.
I never wanted to be that older adult with a pillbox that has the weekdays on it, and inside, several medications to be taken at mealtime, before mealtime, at bedtime, or some combination of them all. But here I am, 61 and on a statin for elevated cholesterol, something I’d been cautioned about for years but never treated for. So what are statins? And are they safe?
What are statins
Statins, also known as HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, are a class of lipid-lowering medications that reduce illness and mortality in those who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease. They are the most common cholesterol-lowering drugs. (Wikipedia)
Statins are often prescribed by doctors to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood. By lowering the levels, they help prevent heart attacks and stroke. Studies show that, in certain people, statins reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and even death from heart disease by about 25% to 35%.
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Book Review: Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health, edited by Adrian Shanker, foreword by Rachel L. Levine, MD, afterword by Kate Kendell
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Bodies and Barriers: Queer Activists on Health,” edited by Adrian Shanker, foreword by Rachel L. Levine, MD, afterword by Kate Kendell
c.2020, PM Press $20.00 / higher in Canada 208 pagesYou woke up this morning feeling pretty good.
That was quite a relief: in these frightening, uncertain times, every day of wellness is a bonus – especially when you consider that healthcare for a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer patient can be different than what straight people require. Too bad healthcare providers don’t always know that. But read “Bodies and Barriers,” edited by Adrian Shanker, and you’ll feel more empowered to tell them.
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The Savvy Senior: How Medicare is Covering Coronavirus
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Is Medicare covering testing for the coronavirus? My husband and I are very nervous about this virus and would like to find out if or when we should get tested, and how Medicare manages it.
Nervous Nelly
Dear Nelly,
Yes! Medicare is indeed covering the cost of testing for the coronavirus, or COVID-19. But be aware that getting a test isn’t as simple as going to your local pharmacy or doctor’s office and asking for one. Here’s a breakdown of what Medicare is covering, along with how to get tested if you think you may have symptoms.
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Cathy’s Wealth of Health: Our Eyes Are a Window to Liver Health
By Cathy McNease, Herbalist
Traditional Chinese Medicine has given us a way to physically view how healthy or unhealthy is our liver via the eyes. So much information is provided to me as a practitioner by simply observing my patient’s eyes. The tongue is used in Chinese Medicine for diagnosis. The sides of the tongue tell you about liver health…pale=blood deficiency; red=heat; purple=stagnation. If your eyes are still in good condition, but you observe one of these colors on your tongue, start now to remedy the imbalance in your liver and protect your precious sense of vision. One of the beauties of tongue reading is that it empowers us to prevent diseases before they strike.Here are some of the most important messages seen in the eyes, followed by some simple remedies:
RED EYES show heat, inflammation, or irritation.
DRY EYES show lack of body fluids, deficiency of blood or too much heat.
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One Thing or Another: Panic in Aisle 9
By Mark McNease
It’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
This one’s for posterity, since the terms ‘coronavirus’ and ‘covid-19’ will hopefully be behind us in a few months.
Who needs that much toilet paper, seriously? I can understand a couple of 12-packs, but an entire shopping cart? Are these people planning on being housebound for the next month? And what do they expect the rest of us to do—the ones who don’t think filling our garage with paper products is the best use of resources at a time of national crisis?
I’m not one to take a pandemic lightly. Not only am I at the age most ripe for paying the steep price of negligence, but I care about my friends, neighbors and co-workers. A good Corona beer joke seemed acceptable a couple of weeks ago, now, not at all. I’ve always been one to admit what I don’t know, and I don’t know, as most of us do not, how this will play out. Will we see a surge in people running to the emergency rooms, overwhelming our healthcare infrastructure and exhausting our healthcare workers? Will fatalities begin to pile up, expanding exponentially as this novel virus spreads like a silent, gaseous killer among the population?
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The Savvy Senior: How to Prevent the Silent Epidemic of Kidney Disease
Dear Savvy Senior,
Do kidney problems run in families? My mother died from kidney failure 10 years ago at age 74 but didn’t know she had a kidney problem until it was too late.
Just Turned 60
Dear 60,
Anyone who has a family history of kidney disease, or who has high blood pressure or diabetes is at increased risk and needs to have their kidneys tested.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, around 37 million U.S adults have chronic kidney disease (when the kidneys can’t properly do their job of cleaning toxins and wastes from the blood), and millions more are at risk of developing it, yet most people don’t realize it. That’s because kidney disease develops very slowly over many years before any symptoms arise. But left untreated, the disease can eventually require people to spend hours hooked up to a dialysis machine or get a kidney transplant. Even mild kidney problems can double a person’s risk of heart attack and stroke, as well as cause anemia and bone disease.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Mick’s Potato Fertilizer
Photo by Sue Hardesty The Amazon Trail: Mick’s Potato Fertilizer
By Lee LynchWhen I asked for advice about growing potatoes, our friend Mary wrote, “Here is what Mick does: blood meal, green sand, or wood ash, bone meal, a handful of each above item for each potato you plant, mix in wheel barrel with dirt and some peat moss, and steer poop. Love M&M.”
Or, said Mick, who grows blue and other exotic potatoes, we can just buy an organic fertilizer. Whew. I found the prospect of mixing manure with soil a bit unappetizing. Which is why, last year, when a neighbor gave us her handmade wooden raised bed, I put off loading it at all and used it only as a support for plastic planters and grow bags. Not exactly best practice.
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The Savvy Senior: Important Legal Documents All Seniors Should Have
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What kinds of legal documents do I need to prepare to help my family after I’m gone? I would like to get my affairs in order but could use some help.
Almost 75
Dear Almost,
All adults – especially seniors – should have at least four essential legal documents to protect yourself and your family. These documents will make sure your wishes regarding your estate are legal and clear and will help minimize any conflicts and confusion with your family and your health care providers if you become seriously ill or when you die. Here are the key documents you need, along with some tips to help you create them.
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Book Review: Under the Rainbow, by Celia Laskey
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Under the Rainbow” by Celia Laskey
c.2020, Riverhead Books
$27.00 / higher in Canada 288 pagesIt’s worth a try.
You never know what’s going to happen when a new endeavor begins. You only know what it’ll cost: time, money, effort, and a lot of patience for a great unknown. This experiment could end well, or it could end very badly but either way, as in the new novel “Under the Rainbow” by Celia Laskey, it’s worth a try.
It was a scientific fact: Big Burr, Kansas, was the most homophobic place in the U.S.
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One Thing or Another: 2020 Vision
By Mark McNease
It’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
Two months into a new year and this one feels different. Depending on your preferred echo chamber, America is either experiencing a renaissance of greatness restored by the last presidential election, or crumbling into a sinkhole of authoritarian despair. The earth is slowly catching fire while the ice caps melt, or it’s all a conspiracy to make us vote for liberals. The extremes are increasingly extreme, and now, as we hurtle toward an election many people are declaring the most significant in their lifetimes, it’s all too much, like a hangover breakfast at a diner after a party you never wanted to attend. We live under sustained assault by social media and a news cycle that stopped knowing how to shut off back when the Indian head ceased displaying on our TV screens from midnight till 6:00 a.m.
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25 Great US Cities and Towns for LGBT Retirees
By Dave Hughes, RetireFabulously.com
This article is an excerpt from Dave Hughes’ new book, The Quest for Retirement Utopia: How to Find the Retirement Spot That’s Right for You.
When it comes to choosing a place to live during retirement, LGBT people want the same things that everyone else wants – safety, reasonable prices, agreeable climate, cultural and recreational amenities, and good healthcare.
However, LGBT people have a few additional factors to consider. Those include how tolerant an area is, the presence of a gay community, and healthcare providers that are welcoming towards LGBT people. Sadly, instances where LGBT patients are treated poorly and same-sex partners are denied visitation rights or decision-making rights in hospitals and nursing homes are still all too common.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Tabloid Edition
Photo by Sue Hardesty The Amazon Trail: Tabloid Edition
By Lee LynchBath Door Balks at Booting Hostage
Hostage Trapped for NINETY-MINUTES
Suspect Subdued with Electrical WeaponA woman in a remote town in Oregon suffered a harrowing ninety minutes before her rescue by three brave public servants.
The woman, who wishes to remain unnamed for “professional” reasons, reports pounding on the hollow core washroom door and adjacent walls for at least three minutes to alert her Lesbian “wife” about the ongoing crime.
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The Savvy Senior: 2020 Census Offers Temporary Jobs Ideally Suited for Retirees
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
The U.S. Census Bureau is in the process of recruiting thousands of workers for temporary jobs to help collect valuable data for the 2020 Census, and retirees are ideal candidates. Can you write a column to get the word out? Thanks for your help!
Census Recruiter
Dear Recruiter,
I’m happy to oblige, and I agree. This once-a-decade job opportunity is a great fit for retirees that have some free time on their hands who wouldn’t mind earning some extra income while helping the community.