Sharing the Health!
This holiday season, remember to plan and pace! Plan your activities in advance so you have the time to pack your clothes, or get all the gift wrapping supplies or rec- ipe ingredients without being rushed. Pace yourself to go as fast as you feel comfortable going!
Be careful of strong smells during the holidays. Air fresheners with balsam scents can be so strong it can send sensitive airways into spasm. The same holds true for candles. When getting your decorations out from their storage space, be careful of the dust that may have gathered on them.
Be careful not to eat too much, even though this is much easier said than done!
When your stomach is distended and pushes up on your diaphragm, it will make it harder to breathe.
If you are lucky enough to celebrate with family and friends, try to simply enjoy it. If there have been strained rela- tions in the past, try and forget it while together.
Get in the spirit! Dress your inhaler, nebulizer or oxygen units up for Christ- mas!
Volunteer in any capacity to help someone as a gift to yourself.
Enjoy reminiscing about the good memories you have and think about the ones to come!
I keep one and two pound weights next to the chair where I watch TV and try and do arm exercises while sitting.
It motivates me to also be involved with others in a yoga class – they have low cost sessions at my local senior center.
Susan A. Palm Coast, FL
Want a simple often forgotten exercise?
Take a walk! With a friend, neighbor, family member, your dog – around the block or any part of it, around the mall or around your house – with or without headphones for music!
Just make sure you have comfortable shoes on. Vary your pace – step it up a bit and slow back down. I like to use a pedom- eter so I can track how many steps I have gone. I am lucky enough to live in Florida so we can walk outside most of the year. I have written my steps in a journal every day for over a year.
Mary, Largo, FL
Ann O. of Maryland saw an advertise- ment for a Salt Room that said it would be beneficial 
for people with lung disease. An article in the Wall Street Journal several years ago reports owners of indoor salt rooms say small salt particles can soothe respiratory and skin conditions. Scientific evidence is scant and some doctors urge caution for asthmatics. Salt is an irritant that could cause airways to constrict.
The experience of breathing in salt air is designed to mimic salt caves, which have been considered therapeutic in Eastern Eu- rope. Sometimes called halotherapy cham- bers, the walls and ceilings are salt-coated, and grains are often scattered a few inches deep on the floor. Some facilities just pile up salt in the room, while others use special “salt generators,” machines that grind the salt into very tiny breathable particles and blow it into the air. Salt is thought to help respiratory conditions by drawing water into airways, thinning mucus and improving the function of cilia, the small hairs that help move mucus out of the lungs.
The cost averages about $50 for a one hour session. The spa experience can be re- laxing in itself. If there is a salt room in your area, get your physician’s opinion about it!
The United States Department of Ag- riculture has launched What’s Cooking? USDA Mixing Bowl. It is a resource for healthy recipes for one person or a large crowd. You will find many cookbooks including one with lunch-time ideas and one from the White House. You will be able to create healthy recipes on a budget and save them in your own personal cookbook. Get started with Holiday Recipes at http://www. whatscooking.fns.usda.gov/
Smoking Prevention
In the tobacco settlement of 1998, $206 billion was pledged to each state to fund anti-smoking campaigns. This year only 1.9% of the money was spent on preven- tion. The rest was spent on everything from fixing potholes to building jails. Nine states have even issued bonds backed by future payments. Where did we read these sad facts? From Mr. Butts, a character in Garry Trudeau’s comic strip Doonesbury! Pay- ment will continue through the year 2025.
The state of New Jersey has been awarded $7,576,167,918.47 so far – not one penny has been spent on smoking education.
Cindy G. from NY has a tip for those who have tried DaliResp – a medication used to prevent flare-ups of COPD. “I was getting nauseated when using it when my doctor suggested I take half the pill on Monday, Wednesday and Friday for a week. The next week I was to take a full pill on those days. When I tolerated this much better, we went to the normal dose of one pill every day. Here’s hoping I have a hospital-free winter!”
Rhyming answers to the Halloween quiz from our last issue:
- What do you call an Abominable Snowman named Elizabeth? Betty Yeti
- What do you call a cart used by a monster who breathes fire? Dragon Wagon
- What do you call a fake monster wrapped in linen? Mummy Dummy
- What do you call a sugary candy?
Sweet Treat
- What do you call a serious monster made of clay? Solemn Golem
- What did the grave keeper use to sweep the graveyard? Tomb Broom
- What is a fast prank? Quick Trick
- What is a scare in the evening?
Night Fright
- What is a great incantation? Swell Spell
- What is a thin furry animal that flies?Flat Bat