Category Archives: Osteoporosis

10 Great Gifts for Caregivers

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New Year's box with gifts and bows, fir cones, snowflakes and Christmas toy on old boardsIf you’re a caregiver, you have little time for yourself and you’re probably stressed out. You don’t need another pair of pajamas, and you don’t need another coffee mug.

What you desperately need is some time for yourself to relax and rejuvenate, and ways to make your life easier.

When friends and family ask you,” How can I help?” Or, “What do you need?” send them this list. They will appreciate it, and you will definitely appreciate the rewards.

  1. You know how wonderful it feels to have a sparkling clean house. And you probably haven’t had time to do a deep cleaning in a while. Ask your friends and neighbors for recommendations for a good house cleaner or cleaning service. Merry Maids is a national company available in most parts of the U.S. They also have gift cards online to make it convenient for your gift givers.
  2. Wouldn’t it be heavenly to get away for a few hours? It’s important to maintain friends throughout our lives, and even more important when we need to vent or just need a friendly chat or someone to tell you that you’re doing the best that you can. Gift cards to a neighborhood coffee shop or restaurant can help provide an excuse to connect to a friend you haven’t seen in a while. Make a date.
  3. But in order to make a date, you might need a companion to stay with your loved one. Providing TIME to you may be the greatest gift of all. Ask for a time donation, possibly in blocks of time. Two hours a week for a month? Four hours a month? Spread your wishes around. You’re bound to get several “yeses.”
  4. Do you like to sing? Whether you sing in the shower or in a chorus, it’s been well documented that singing reduces stress levels and depression. Group singing boosts oxytocin levels, and creates a feeling of “togetherness.” (Oxytocin is called the “love  hormone” because it is released when mothers breastfeed and when people snuggle up or bond socially. Request a favorite music CD that you like to sing to. Try to include the person you are caring for. Invite neighbors over for a singalong, and make it intergenerational. It’s amazing that people who even have advanced dementia can often remember the words to songs they sang decades ago.
  5. What about dance? You might have two left-feet, but you can dance away your blues without anyone watching in your living room. I always say that dance is what kept me off anti-depressant medication during the 10 years I cared for my husband. I did folk dance, salsa, and contra on a weekly basis. It was well worth the expense of hiring someone to keep my husband company on those evenings. Dance supports the release of endorphins from the brain into the bloodstream. I experienced firsthand a rush of happiness for hours, and sometimes days, after dancing for just a couple hours. Not only does dancing uplift your spirit, it can help you think more clearly. A 21-year-long Einstein Aging Study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 found that dancing is the best form of exercise to help prevent dementia when compared to 11 other activities including swimming, bicycling, and team sports. The study also found that dancing can help slow down cognitive decline. Dancing to music that carries special significance can be a wonderful way to connect with your care partner. Why not ask for a CD of your favorite music and dance in your living room, alone or with your care partner? Or, learn a new dance. Request a DVD to teach you the steps. Or, try a Zumba class. Fitness is a Latin-inspired cardio-dance workout that uses music and choreographed steps to form a fitness party atmosphere. While many of the types of dance and music featured in the program are Latin American inspired, classes can also contain everything from jazz to African beats to country to hip-hop and pop. Attend a Zumba class at your local recreation center or YMCA. They are also available on YouTube videos. And ask for a gift of companion-sitting for your loved one.
  6. House maintenance is often neglected when you have a million caregiving tasks. When is the last time you raked your lawn, pulled weeds, fixed a leaky sink, or had your carpets cleaned? The offer of someone volunteering their time to provide these services or the gift of a handyman service is always appreciated.
  7. Would you like to try a yoga class, either online or at a studio? Ask for a yoga mat, yoga blocks and a yoga strap. That’s all you need to help you release stress, build up endurance, relax muscles, and reduce risk of osteoporosis. Yoga videos are sold on Gaim, and are offered on their website for $11.99 per month after doing a free 2-week trial at https://www.gaia.com/yoga?utm_source=google+paid&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=gaiam%20yoga&utm_campaign=1-USA-ENGLISH-BRAND-EXCT&utm_content=gaia&ch=br&gclid=Cj0KCQiA5dPuBRCrARIsAJL7oejWgk-kRRzIVjk_nt7xXY3-I5F_cYeHbltpDj4H7vba2QBjnQPwwiMaAqLVEALw_wcB
  8. Everyone loves a home-cooked meal. A personal chef who prepares meals in your home or theirs is an extravagant service. But put the idea out there. You never know . . . . A more affordable option is home-delivered meal kits. Home Chef, Blue Apron, and Green Chef are a few of the meal kit companies that allow you to choose meals that arrive with fresh, pre-measured and prepped ingredients, and instructions on how to create a fast meal.
  9. Massage is a wonderful way to relax and tune out the world. I highly recommend asking for a gift certificate to a spa that offers massage with hot stone and aromatherapy. You will emerge like a new person.
  10. One of the best gifts you could receive is respite care.  Do you have a relative or friend who could stay with your loved one a night or two so you can get away and totally tune out the world? If not, maybe one of they would generously provide you with a professional care service. Just imagine getting away from it all without any responsibilities for 24 or 48 hours.

You deserve gifts that will help you, the caregiver. So don’t be shy. When people ask how they might help or what you need or want, send them this list.

Have a happy, restful and peaceful Thanksgiving!

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Barbra Cohn cared for her husband Morris for 10 years. He passed away from younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2010. Afterward, she was compelled to write “Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s & Dementia”–winner of the 2018 Book Excellence Award in self-help– in order to help other caregivers feel healthier and happier, have more energy, sleep better, feel more confident, deal with feelings of guilt and grief, and to ultimately experience inner peace. “Calmer Waters” is available at Barnes & Noble, Boulder Book Store, Tattered Cover Book Store,  Indie Bound.org, and online at Target and Walmart, and many other fine independent bookstores, as well as public libraries.

How lack of sleep can lead to osteoporosis . . . and what to do about it.

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Radiography

May is Osteoporosis Awareness Month, and just when we thought we didn’t need one more thing to worry about, The Endocrine Society has published a new study linking prolonged sleep disturbance with bone loss in men.

The study researchers found that healthy men had reduced levels of a marker of bone formation in their blood after just three weeks of restricted sleep and circadian disruption similar to that seen in jet lag or night shift work. A biological marker of bone resorption, or breakdown, was unchanged.

“This altered bone balance creates a potential bone loss window that could lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures,” said lead investigator Christine Swanson, M.D., an assistant professor at the University of Colorado in Aurora, Colorado.

“If chronic sleep disturbance is identified as a new risk factor for osteoporosis, it could help explain why there is no clear cause for osteoporosis in the approximately 50 percent of the estimated 54 million Americans with low bone mass or osteoporosis,” Swanson said.

Inadequate sleep is also prevalent, affecting more than 25 percent of the U.S. population occasionally and 10 percent frequently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

The 10 men in this study were part of a larger study that some of Swanson’s co-authors conducted in 2012 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Mass. That study evaluated health consequences of sleep restriction combined with circadian disruption. Swanson defined circadian disruption as “a mismatch between your internal body clock and the environment caused by living on a shorter or longer day than 24 hours.”

Study subjects stayed in a lab, where for three weeks they went to sleep each day four hours later than the prior day, resulting in a 28-hour “day.” Swanson likened this change to “flying four time zones west every day for three weeks.” The men were allowed to sleep only 5.6 hours per 24-hour period, since short sleep is also common for night and shift workers. While awake, the men ate the same amounts of calories and nutrients throughout the study. Blood samples were obtained at baseline and again after the three weeks of sleep manipulation for measurement of bone biomarkers. Six of the men were ages 20 to 27, and the other four were ages 55 to 65. Limited funding prevented the examination of serum from the women in this study initially, but the group plans to investigate sex differences in the sleep-bone relationship in subsequent studies.

After three weeks, all men had significantly reduced levels of a bone formation marker called P1NP compared with baseline, the researchers reported. This decline was greater for the younger men than the older men: a 27 percent versus 18 percent decrease. She added that levels of the bone resorption marker CTX remained unchanged, an indication that old bone could break down without new bone being formed.

“These data suggest that sleep disruption may be most detrimental to bone metabolism earlier in life, when bone growth and accrual are crucial for long-term skeletal health,” she said. “Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to explore if there are differences in women.”

What to do about it?

The first line of defense is to improve sleep hygiene. Find more ways to get a good night’s sleep in my book “Calmer Waters: The Caregiver’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s & Dementia,” (Blue River Press) available wherever books are sold.cropped-front-cover-42316.jpg

  1. Exercise early, not in the last two hours before going to bed. Regular exercise has been shown to help people fall asleep faster and benefit from deeper and more restful sleep.
  2. Alleviate the stress and fatigue of the day with safe, proven herbs such as passion flower, magnolia, and valerian, and amino acids taurine, theanine and GABA, and melatonin which have been scientifically shown to produce a gentle calming effect on the whole physiology.
  3. Get thyself outside! Researchers found that bright light in the early morning and avoidance of light in the evening promotes a healthy circadian rhythm, whereas bright light in the evening disrupts the sleep cycle. And make sure you sleep with the lights off in you room.
  4. People with stressful lives often take their stress into bed with them and are unable to turn off the mental chatter. Eat dinner earlier, and don’t watch an exciting or scary movie before bed (that goes for reading matter as well), and certainly do not smoke, or drink alcohol or caffeine in the evening.
  5. Go to bed earlier. Research shows that the hours of sleep before 2 a.m. are more rejuvenating than all the hours after.
  6. Take a warm bath with soothing lavender oil to help you unwind.
  7. Establish a regular bedtime, but don’t go to bed if you feel wide awake.
  8. Once in bed, use creative imagery and relaxation techniques to pacify your mind.
  9. Avoid staying in bed for long periods of time while awake, or going to bed because of boredom.
  10. Take your TV or computer out of your bedroom. If not, your brain becomes used to the stimulation and starts to expect it when you are there. This makes it harder for you to fall asleep.
  11. A snack before bedtime helps many people. Foods such as warm milk, turkey, tuna, nuts, banana, grapefruit, dates and figs are high in the amino acid L-tryptophan, which promotes the production of serotonin, a natural relaxant. Avoid eating heavy meals at least two hours prior to going to sleep.
  12. Sex can be a natural sleep inducer for some people.
  13. Avoid emotional upset or stressful situations prior to bedtime.
  14. Relax with an inspirational book, soft music, and a cup of herbal tea.
  15. Talk with your health care provider if you’ve tried the above and are still having difficulty falling asleep, awaken several times throughout the night, have early morning awakenings or have marked difficulty getting out to bed in the morning.
  16. Good night, sleep tight.