by Michelle | Mar 21, 2019 | Being Well
Where There’s Smoke … Second and Third Hand Smoke & Diabetes
By DeAnna Pearl, MAT, BS, CPS, SOS Tillamook Prevention Program, Tillamook Family Counseling Center
“I have diabetes but I don’t smoke – how does smoking impact me?” Most everyone is aware of “second-hand smoke.” Second-hand smoke is the byproduct of the act of smoking made up of particulates of ash and dust that holds up to 4,000 chemicals, including nicotine, which is inhaled by others.
But what about “Third-hand smoke” — what’s that? Third-hand smoke is the ash and dust that holds up to the same 4,000 chemicals, including nicotine, that gets absorbed into the surface of other materials such as walls, clothing, and floors. These are slowly released back into the air of your home and can enter the body through direct contact.
According to Prof. Manuella Martins- Green, UC Riverside CA, “Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to Third-Hand Smoke (THS) and its impact on health. Because infants frequently crawl on carpets and touch objects exposed to exhaled smoke, they are at high risk for THS exposure. The elderly are at high risk simply because older organs are more susceptible to disease.” While the toxic byproducts of the act of smoking are dangerous, the chemical nicotine causes arteries to constrict, reducing blood flow.
This is especially serious for people who have diabetes. Complications from diabetes include being vulnerable to peripheral vascular disease or narrowing of blood vessels that carry blood to the body’s extremities, such as arms, hands, legs and feet. There is danger of a blood clot blocking a narrowed artery, and the result could be damage to or the loss of an arm or leg. Exposure to nicotine, in any form, is a major risk factor of peripheral vascular disease and more severely for smokers than nonsmokers. Diabetics who smoke or who are exposed to second/third hand smoke are twice as likely to develop this disease and increase dramatically their chances of amputation.
The good news is that when smokers quit, symptoms improve immediately, restoring blood flow to the body’s extremities. And in cases where surgery is needed, it’s more likely to be successful in people who’ve stopped smoking!
Thinking about quitting? Setting a date is a great first step – Kick Butts Day in March is a national day to encourage smoking cessation and, in particular, to end youth smoking. There is help. Ask your doctor about cessation resources covered by insurance. There are also free, effective programs through the Oregon Quit Line at 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669), or www.quitnow.net/oregon.
For local programs and classes, contact SOS Tillamook Prevention Program at 503-815-5426, or www.sostillamook.og.
For more on this subject go to “Where there’s Smoke, There’s Diabetes”
https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/innocent-bystanders/
“Thirdhand Smoke Linked to Type 2 Diabetes.” – https://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/35360
For more health tips and information about local wellness partners, visit tillamookcountyhealthmatters.org or find us on Facebook at Tillamook County Wellness.
by Michelle | Mar 21, 2019 | Recipes
Sweet Potato and Orange Muffins
Recipe Source: Recipe and photo from www.FoodHero.org
Number of servings:18
Time for preparation (including preparation and cooking): 30 min
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 can (16 ounce) sweet potatoes (yams), drained
2⁄3 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 cup orange juice
1 carrot, shredded
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly oil muffin tins for 18 muffins.
- In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
- In a large bowl, mash sweet potatoes. Add brown sugar, eggs, orange juice, carrots and vanilla. Mix well.
- Add dry ingredients to liquid ingredients and mix well.
- Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 15-20 minutes, until tops are brown. Let cool and remove from tins.
- Cool completely then store in an air-tight container at room temperature.
by Michelle | Mar 14, 2019 | Move Well
Making Time for Family and Fitness Pays Off in a Big Way
Juggling priorities of work, family life and kids’ activities make it hard for people to have time for their own health needs. For Trina Vogel, the motivation to take care of herself was high and she had support from her family but her ability to sustain those efforts yo-yoed as other life commitments got in the way. Now that she is working in the healthcare field, she sees first-hand how important it is to be proactive and make preventive wellness a priority. “I don’t want to have a huge list of medications or have to use a walker when I get older,” said Trina. “I want to be active with my grandson and I want to feel good about myself,” she explained.
Since October 2018, Vogel has lost 26 pounds. She attributes her success to eating healthier and just eating less. She also found an exercise program that fits her work schedule and family needs. In fact, she has combined the two — doing at-home workouts in the evenings with her daughter and her daughter’s friend who lives with them. “The girls really like the workouts. They are short and we are seeing the results which keeps us motivated,” she commented.
When asked what specific changes she has made and the lessons she has learned along the way, Vogel states, “The biggest thing with my eating changes has been figuring out which changes I will stick with, not just to lose weight but that will help me be healthier. I always keep cut up veggies on hand and we have cut out junk food. Even so, I think it is important to give ourselves grace to have a cheat meal or treat every once in a while.”
Vogel also realized how important it was to have a routine in order to sustain her exercise practice. She struggled to maintain her workout regimen during the summer months when the family’s schedule changed from day to day. Morning workouts did not always happen as planned. By switching to evenings and working out together, the routine has been easier to maintain.
Another factor in her success is that she joined an on-line workout community called “Street Parking.” The subscription-based fitness app encourages people to make the time and space (in the garage, for example) for exercise by offering pre-planned, short workouts which can be done with minimal equipment. The workout options come with modifications for different fitness abilities and allow people to progress to more challenging workouts as they get in better shape. For Vogel, app-based challenges created added motivation and encouragement. “My body has changed a lot since I started doing the workouts, so I know it works,” she added.
In addition to seeing positive physical changes, Vogel notices a change in the girls, “My daughter’s grades have improved a lot. She’s consistently getting all A’s now. She doesn’t get as tired as she used to either. In the past, she has struggled with depression and anxiety. Her Principal at school recently told me she is a totally different kid now.”
Being creative and starting with small, doable habits has led to this family’s success in making positive lifestyle changes.
For more tips and inspiration, visit our website Tillamookcountyhealthmatters.org or like and follow us on our Tillamook County Wellness Facebook page.
by Michelle | Feb 8, 2019 | Archive
Many of our Tillamook County Wellness partners have made both employee and community wellness a priority. One important example of this is Tillamook School District 9 (TSD9), where internal investments in staff and student health are paying off in a big way. Thanks to a multi-year employee wellness grant from the Oregon Education Association, TSD9 is attempting to change the culture of the district by promoting mental and physical wellness.
Curt Shelley, TSD9 Assistant Superintendent, has taken on coordination of the grant. Working with committee members representing all areas of the district, Shelley describes the effort as building a “culture of wellness” in the district. According to Shelley, the goals of the program are to:
- Increase job satisfaction and level of support through Wellness Programs
- Have all staff actively participate in at least one Wellness Program activity
- Decrease the number of days of leave used by staff as a result of changes in the workplace culture to support health, well-being, employee camaraderie, and job satisfaction.
Some of the wellness activities being offered directly to employees include weekly Yoga, Qigong, and Spin Classes. In addition, employees have access to staff-led Mindfulness sessions, a walking challenge and “Wellness Wednesday” activities.
The program has been well received by employees and participation in district-sponsored wellness activities has been growing. Denise Harrington, a teacher at Tillamook High School and a participant in the district’s new programs, says the payoff has been immeasurable. “From Qigong on Wednesday nights to Mindfulness on Tuesday mornings, I have found the self-awareness and care these classes provide to improve my baseline as a teacher and human being.” Harrington’s personal experience prompted her to bring her Wednesday night school students to Qigong. “The kids were amazed at how the activities lowered their stress levels.”
In a recent district-wide email, Shelley encouraged employees to take time to take care of themselves mentally and physically. This represents a welcome shift from the typical work culture of busyness and multitasking as the gold standard, which often places productivity above health and well-being. It is refreshing to see employers not only give employees permission to practice self-care but actually create the conditions for that to happen.
For any business or organization, while it is important to have a healthy bottom line, it won’t do you any good if your employees become sick in the process, especially if a business is self-insured. In other words, they pay for and manage the health insurance costs of their own employees. The more money they save in healthcare costs, the more they have for wages, benefits and other investments to grow their organizations.
For this reason, Tillamook County Wellness has a “workplace wellness” committee, as there is a very clear message: The healthier employees are, the happier and more productive they will be. Healthy, happy employees are not only important for an organization’s overall health, they are important to community health as well. Of course, the same principle applies to us as individuals. The healthier we are, the less money we spend on co-pays, missed work, and other healthcare expenses, putting more money in our pockets to spend on other necessities like food and housing. Investing in employee wellness creates a win-win-win benefitting the individual, the organization and the community.
Visit tillamookcountyhealthmatters.org for information about local partners, events, classes, recipes and more! Be sure to Like and Follow Tillamook County Wellness on Facebook for the latest news and events.
by Michelle | Jan 31, 2019 | Being Well
Making Simple Changes to Feel Better
Ian Fauver, 26, looks like a guy whose got it all together. He just started his career working at a local bank and is newly married. On the inside, however, he wasn’t feeling so good and he decided he needed to do something about it.
Recently, Fauver began experiencing debilitating digestive symptoms. He was lethargic, bloated and “just felt sick all the time.” It got so bad, he began calling in sick at work and was struggling with anxiety. He visited his primary care doctor, and listened to advice from friends, but he just wasn’t getting to the root cause of his symptoms. He became very discouraged. “I found that doing what other people said worked for them, was not working for me. I had to figure things out for myself.”
He started paying attention to how he felt after eating and noticed patterns of food sensitivity. Wanting desperately to feel better, he began preparing all his own meals, monitoring his food intake carefully and making changes based on how he felt. He read food labels and was careful to eat a balanced diet of healthy, whole foods. The results were astonishing. His stomach sensitivity improved dramatically. He had more energy and his anxiety improved. He also noticed he was saving a lot of money by not eating out.
Fauver credits his mom and his best friend as being the biggest influences along his health journey. “My mom has always been really ‘health forward.’ She used to be very overweight and worked to lose a lot of weight.” Fauver says his mom became very health conscious, sees a Naturopath and is a very spiritual person. In thinking about his mom, Fauver decided the issues he was having provided a good opportunity to make some lifestyle changes of his own, including reading the Bible and reconnecting with God.
The other main influence in Fauver’s life has been best friend, Ollie, who he also describes as being “health forward.” Ollie, also 26, attended Nursing school and has been a “gym rat” since high school. Ollie tried to get Ian to join him in the gym over the years but lifting weights just wasn’t Ian’s thing. Growing up, Fauver was active in sports but was able to show up and participate without doing any formal training. “You have to have your own reason for doing stuff. Just because someone else does it, doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you.” Ian knew he wasn’t into lifting weights, but he did miss being physically active. “I didn’t want to get bogged down with having to learn workout routines. I just wanted something simple.” He began going to the gym for a cardio workout on the treadmill, bike or rowing machine before work each morning. Fauver says, “working out has been a total blessing.” In fact, he has even added weight lifting to his morning routine and is loving how it makes him feel.
“I just feel a glow. Everything I have done has made a black-and-white difference. I have such a sense of accomplishment and it gives me the motivation to keep going with the changes I have made.
Visit tillamookcountyhealthmatters.org for more local wellness information and inspiration.
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