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Category: Health and Fitness

Chef offers free healthy cooking demonstrations at Weight Watchers locations

Chef Tim Cikra hosts cooking demonstrations at Weight Watchers centers around Metro Detroit throughout the month.

Learn to cook tasty grilled dishes that combine healthy meats with in-season vegetables.

Cooking demonstrations are free and open to the public. Each demo provides a non-pressure environment for people learn how to prepare quick, interesting, and healthy meal choices.

Check out dates for Chef Tim's appearances at www.florineonline.com.

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Category: Health

Take steps to reduce deaths and injuries from falls, an epidemic among seniors

Traumatic brain injuries due to falls caused nearly 8,000 deaths from unintentional falls, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.

Falls resulted in 56,000 hospitalizations in 2005 among Americans 65 or older. The CDC, which recently declared seniors falling a national epidemic, also reports that every 35 minutes an older American dies as the result of a fall, and every 18 seconds an older adult is treated in emergency for a fall.

While these statistics are alarming for seniors and their families, there are steps that can be taken to reduce injury.

The Journal of American Geriatrics Society reports that exercises reduce the number of fall-related injuries by 35 percent.

Dr. Betty Perkins-Carpenter, author of "How to Prevent Falls: Better Balance, Independence and Energy in 6 Simple Steps", teaches seniors six steps they can take to reduce injuries and fears associated with falling.

She offers these tips to greatly reduce the chances of falling:

1) Stretching In Bed: "Stretching is key to flexibility and mobility because it creates warmth in our muscles and ligaments. Warm muscles function better than cold ones."

2) Practice Your Balance: "Balance is the basis for all movement. Good balance promotes better posture, increased confidence, leg strength and overall stability."

3) Bounce A Ball: "Improve your balance and dexterity by bouncing a ball. Constantly repositioning the body keeps it naturally aware of its surroundings. This means that you will see curbs more accurately, height of steps, and environmental obstacles. Plus, bouncing a ball is fun!"

4) Walking While Talking On The Phone: "An everyday activity, this exercise focuses on dual tasks and involves both hemispheres of the brain to improve balance."

5) The Slump (formerly known as the "10 Martini Slump"): "Every time you sit down to watch television practice the art of falling with a relaxed slump into a comfortable chair and at nighttime into your bed. You thereby reduce the fear of falling by becoming an expert in falling. People who have practiced slumping don't resist when they fall and they reduce their likelihood of a fracture."

6) Dancing With Your Pillow: "Using a pillow as a dancing partner brings about a positive and significant impact on reducing falls and the debilitating injuries they cause. Dancing develops strong muscles, improves flexibility, coordination, agility and balance. Dancing also strengthens muscles sometimes not used in other activities because of the movement in different directions and with varying speeds."

For more information, go to www.seniorfitness.com or www.howtopreventfalls.com.

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Category: Health and Beauty

Wear a seatbelt, save your face

Safety experts have known for years that seatbelts and airbags can prevent deaths in automobile accidents.

Plastic surgeons now have evidence that they can also help prevent serious facial trauma, a new study shows.

A research group at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health studied extensive accident data from the National Trauma Database from 2000-2004, poring over the results of more than 15,000 facial-fracture patients and more than 114,000 cases of facial laceration (jagged cuts).

The study appears in the current issue of the Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal.

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Category: Health

Avoid serious eye injuries

Michigan Optometric Association doctors want you to keep your eyes safe.

Here are their recommendations:

-- Stay away from private firework displays and instead enjoy displays conducted by professionals.

-- Wear some sort of eye protection, like goggles, when lighting fireworks.

-- View displays from at least 500 feet away.

--Respect safety barriers set up by pyrotechnicians.

--Don't touch unexploded fireworks. Never relight a dud.

--Have a bucket of water or a hose nearby in case of accidents.

Did you know?

--Bystanders are most likely to be injured by fireworks.

--The eyes are the second most common body part to be injured by fireworks.

--Sparklers can reach 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit (982 degrees Celsius) -- hot enough to melt gold.

To locate a Michigan Optometric Association doctor, visit their site at www.themoa.org and click the Vision Care tab.

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Category: Health

Condoms offer new ways to wrap it up

For many users, condoms are often too tight, loose or stiff. And even worse, they reduce sensation for men and women.

LifeStyles Condoms plans to address these issues with the release of its latest condom creation, LifeStyles SKYN.

The new condoms will hit shelves everywhere in July and will become the first polyisopreme condom. The non-latex condoms are designed to be softer, more pliable and provide a more natural feeling.

LifeStyle representatives say they condoms should reduce the number of excuses people have for not using condoms -- even latex allergies which affect about 10 percent of the American population.

Category: Health

Bill may allow use of stores' employee-only restrooms for certain medical conditions

If you're pregnant or have fecal or urinary continence, you may want to attend a hearing tommorrow on Bill 5046 scheduled to be heard before the Senate's Commerce and Tourism Committee in Lansing.

The hearing is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. in room 100, Farnum Building, 125 W. Allegan Street.

People diagnosed with fecal or urinary incontinence, including those with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, other inflammatory bowel disease, ostomy devices, cancer surgery, bladder diseases or birth defects, as well as pregnant women, often experience a sudden and urgent need to use the toilet while in a public setting. Sometimes they are not in close vicinity to a public restroom. The bill would allow these people to use the employee-only restrooms when a public one is not nearby.

Bill 5046 would require retail establishments to let these customers with proof of a legitimate need or a doctor's prescription to utilize employee-only restrooms, when there is no access to a nearby public one.

Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas are among states that already passed laws to support use of employee-only restrooms. Similar legislation has been introduced and is pending in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

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Category: Health

Use common sense when handling fireworks

The bright colors and booming sounds of fireworks can be fun for children and adults, but this annual summer ritual is an accident waiting to happen if simple safety rules are ignored, a local trauma surgeon warns.

Nearly 11,000 Americans were treated in emergency departments for fireworks-related injuries in 2005, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. At least 45 percent of people with fireworks-related injuries were children ages 14 and younger.

Dr. Maggie Brandt, a Henry Ford Hospital trauma surgeon, says most fireworks-related injuries involve the hands and fingers, and more than half of the injuries are burns. Eyes are injured 25 percent of the time, while the head and face are harmed 20 percent of the time.

Brandt calls the situation tragic because she says most of these accidents happen because the adults were drinking and the children were left unsupervised.

She suggests these safety tips:

- Never allow children to play with or ignite fireworks, even sparklers. Sparklers burn at a high temperature - 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

- Always wear safety glasses or goggles when lighting fireworks, a habit few people follow.

- Be sure other people are out of range before lighting fireworks.

- Light fireworks outdoors in a clear area, away from the house, dry leaves or grass and flammable materials.

- Keep a bucket of water nearby for emergencies. Pour water on fireworks that don't go out.

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Category: Health

Learn how to prevent and manage osteoporosis

Osteoporosis affects 25 million Americans and causes more than 1.3 million fractures of the wrist, vertebrae and hips each year.

The Women's Health Program and the MFit Health Education Resource Center at the University of Michigan Health System will host the health talk "Osteoporosis: Prevention and Management" next week. The event will take place from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 at the Ypsilanti District Library, 5577 Whittaker Road in Ypsilanti.

The seminar will focus on prevention and management tips for women who already have osteoporosis and for those who simply wish to learn more about it.

Topics include the importance of nutrition in preventing osteoporosis, tips on how to include more calcium into a daily diet, exercise do's and don'ts. A question and answer session with the experts will follow.

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Category: Health and Fitness

New round of summer boot camps for plus-sized, pregnant women and teens

You may recall my story in mid-April on fitness bootcamps. Spurred by television shows such as VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club" and NBC's "The Biggest Loser," boot camps are the fitness rage for 2008.

During my reporting, I found Jennifer Gray, a fitness expert who seems to have mastered designing boot camps to fit different women's needs.

I'll admit just watching her high-energy classes made me sweat. And the women I interviewed who had taken her boot camps seemed so pleased with results in a short period of time.

This summer, she's offering a new round of boot camps I thought were an interesting mix. For example, she's tailored boot camps for plus-sized women, pregnant women, new moms and teens. She still offers boot camps for brides and women who just want to get in shape.

New classes start June 16 in a variety of locations including Southfield, West Bloomfield, Royal Oak and Rochester. Classes run for five, six or 12 weeks.

For more details and prices, call Jennifer Gray at (248)761-2321 or email jenn@bodybyjenn.com for info. Also visit her web site at www.bodybyjenn.com

Category: Health

Stormy weather brings carbon monoxide poisoning risks

The Michigan Department of Community Health urges people to be aware that while using generators and other sources of alternative power, you may be at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

Due to recent weather-related power outages, Michigan residents are asked to be extra vigilant as they compensate for the lost power.

If not used safely, gas-powered generators, kerosene heaters or other alternative heating or power sources can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Residents are encouraged to seek shelter with friends, family, or at a community shelter as a safer alternative.

Carbon monoxide is an invisible, tasteless, and odorless gas formed when fuel is burned. Carbon monoxide can build up to deadly levels within minutes in enclosed spaces and can only be detected with a carbon monoxide detector.

Warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include flu-like symptoms without the fever: headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, and confusion.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can cause coma and death.

Every year, hundreds of people in Michigan are hospitalized and 15 to 20 die as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning.

To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning when the power is out:

ￏNEVER run a generator inside your house or in your garage, and keep it away from windows and doors. (If theft is a concern, lock it to a tree or fence.)

ￏNEVER use charcoal or propane grills or camp stoves indoors.

ￏDo not use portable heaters powered by propane or kerosene indoors.

ￏAlways turn off your vehicle in the garage.

ￏPlace a carbon monoxide detector in the hallway outside bedrooms in all sleeping areas.

If you suspect you or a family member is displaying signs of possible carbon monoxide poisoning, get fresh air immediately and call 911.

For more information on how to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, please visit www.michigan.gov/carbonmonoxide