Richfield Lutheran Church (ELCA)

        Nursing Notes…Robbi Moore Parish Nurse

THEME: Nutritional Choices

THEME:  Heartburn or GERD

          Heartburn VS GERD – When is simple heartburn something more and even more important something serious?

             If you heave a burning in your chest from under your sternum to your belly button more than twice a week IT IS NOT simple heartburn. If the discomfort has you eating anti-acids daily – IT IS NOT heartburn. GERD(gastroesophageal reflux disease) is a chronic digestive disease that is not controlled with lifestyle changes and over the counter medications. People with GERD need stronger (prescription) strength medications and in some cases surgery.

            GERD signs include: burning sensation in chest, chest pain, difficulty swallowing, dry cough, hoarseness or sore throat, sour liquid in mouth, sensation of lump in throat. Any of these symptoms need to be reviewed by your doctor. If you have heartburn more than 2 times a week you also should be seen. Anti-acids should not be part of your daily meds unless a doctor has advised it. Keep those tummys happy/ Robbi

Theme:  Sleep       

    “ To sleep, perchance to dream…” No I am not going to talk about Shakespeare but I am going to talk about sleep. For years we have heard that the older we get the less sleep we need – to quote Daffy Duck – Phooey! !

    Mayo clinic researchers repeatedly publish that regardless of age, all adults need 7-9 hours of sleep. Less than that can lead to more infections, stress based illnesses and a weakened immune system. Too much or too little sleep has also been linked to weight gain…

    Adults sleeping more than 10 hours a night have had increased amounts of heart disease, strokes, sleep disorders, depression and other long term illnesses.

   School aged children and adolescents need 9 or more hours. Turn those TV’s, DVD’s , and other electronic devices off at least 1 ½  hours before bed time in order for children to settle enough to get sleep.

   Have a good night’s sleep but not too little or too much. / Robbi  Zzzzzzzzzzz

THEME:  Volunteering

“Take 2 hours of volunteering and call me in the morning”. If your doctor prescribed this what would you think? Well, it is very possible he/she may do just that in the near future! Recent research by several organizations including, the U.S. Census bureau and the Center for Disease Control have found that states with high volunteer rates have lower death and heart disease rates. The states with the lowest volunteer numbers are the states with the highest health problems and early deaths, no matter what the age of the volunteer.  It also shows that the earlier we start to volunteer, the better health outcomes we have as we age (you go – RLC Youth!!!!!!). Volunteers report, higher levels of happiness, life-satisfaction, self-esteem, and sense of control over life and physical health. A separate study showed improvement in diagnosed depression patients who volunteered at least 4 hours a month. With 77 million baby boomers, efforts need to be made for us  to seek out volunteer experiences now and in the future! So take 2 hours of volunteering and you won’t need to call me in the morning!  ---Robbi

THEME: Exercising 

 Our beautiful weather has us all itchy to get outdoors into gardens, out for golf and out for evening walks with our sweeties (mine are 2 delightful dogs). Before we get out, don’t forget to warm up those muscles. ER visits for muscle injuries peak during April and early May because people are so anxious to get out they don’t warm up and don’t gradually build up their use. Spend a good 5 minutes stretching from head to toe, get new shoes (this should be at least 2 times a year), walk to warm up muscles and then gradually build time spent and endurance in that activity. If you are mowing the lawn or clearing out gardens and yards, spend 10 – 15 minutes then rest 15 minutes then do another 10 -15 minutes. If you are gardening, after warming up muscles, sit or kneel on a rubber mat and keep back straight. Don’t twist in unnatural ways and have rest periods often where you completely change positions. When things start to hurt or stiffen that is your body saying, “Hey I need to take a break”, LISTEN to it. Injuries occur when we push through pain saying - ,” I just have a little more - I’ll just get it done. As we age, muscles need more use to stay flexible and strong. A regular daily warm up and strength exercise will keep you going for a long time. You don’t need to go out and buy expensive equipment, take 2 dish soap bottles and fill with water hold them while you move arms out in front of you x 5 then shoulder height out to the side x 5. This simple daily exercise will do wonders for upper body strength – a big problem for women. Golfers, take a club and do the same thing – gently lift to shoulder height out in front of you x5 then to the side x5. Your body will thank you and your game will be GREAT!

               Do you find all of the nutritional articles in the paper and on the news confusing and hard to put into your lifestyle? Your doctor recommends a healthy diet but doesn’t give you a plan or place to start? Many people report that these reasons and others keep them from making healthy changes to their diet. They also report that “ healthy food doesn’t taste good”.

              One way to get started on a healthy diet is to look at your own health. Do you have high cholesterol? Then you should look at a diet that lowers your intake of high fat foods and condiments. Do you have high blood pressure? Then look at a diet low in salt and commercially processed (canned or frozen) foods. No real problems? GOOD FOR YOU but we can ALL benefit from a diet that is low in salt and fats and high in fresh, unprocessed foods. Organic foods may offer better nutritional values than non-organic. Make sure to include foods from all of the food groups. Check out the food pyramid. www.MyPyramid.gov or let me know I can give you a copy.

             The only successful way to change an eating lifestyle is gradually. Add one or two healthy food options every week or two and drop one or two bad options. It takes a month to change a habit and our food choices are a habit – maybe created by our Moms when we were young, but habits can be broken and those who have successfully made the change report that they didn’t realize food tasted this good without the table salt, sauces and gravies added. I, myself can say that I have learned that all veggies don’t need to be creamed as my German grandma and mom did.

              Give healthy changes a try and you will be surprised how good food can taste!

  THEME:  SALT INTAKE

Nursing Notes…