How to access quick medical care this holiday season
http://www.southasianfocus.ca/printArticle/83300
Tuesday December 22 2009

At a time of year when family doctors reduce their hours or close their offices, it's important for you to know how and where to access health services, should you get sick or have an accident. If you require emergency medical care, call 911 or go to the emergency department.

But if your condition is non-urgent, to avoid a long wait you may want to make an appointment with your doctor. Check with your doctor's office to find out when they will be seeing patients. If your doctor is not available, you may wish to go to a walk-in clinic for non-urgent medical care. Know when it is an emergency. Sometimes it is difficult to know if your problem is an emergency.

If unsure, you may wish to call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000 for free access to a registered nurse who will help with any health related question. They are available 24 hours a day.

Examples of when you require emergency medical care:

• When you are experiencing pains or tightness in the chest, shortness of breath or any severe pain;

• When you think that you may be suffering a fracture or may have broken a bone, or have a wound that may need stitches;

• When you have sudden, severe headaches, vision problems, sudden weakness, numbness and/or tingling in the face, arm or leg, trouble speaking, or dizziness;

• When a person is choking or having difficulty breathing;

• If your child has diarrhoea and vomiting and won't eat or drink;

• When a baby under six months of age has a fever of more than 37.9°C or 100°F; or

• When a child over six months of age has a fever that is more than 38.5°C or 101°F.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, please go directly to the emergency department or call 911.

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Be prepared for any emergency:

• Update emergency telephone numbers and post in a visible place, such as your refrigerator;

• Ensure your family has enough medical supplies and medications - prescription and non-prescription - and make sure that such equipment you use as inhalers, respirators, oxygen and glucose testing machines are all in good working order;

• Make it your business to know where your nearest 24-hour pharmacy is located; and

• Remind visiting family members and friends to bring their health cards or health coverage documents with them.

EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT:

For serious conditions that require immediate attention, go to the nearest Emergency Department or call 9-1-1. Â

If you go to the Emergency Department, please be patient.

Remember, patients are seen by a doctor in order of their need, not their time of arrival. Remember also to bring your Ontario Health Insurance card, as well as a list of all the medications you take.

If your child requires attention for a non life-threatening condition and your paediatrician or family doctor is not available, visit Trillium's Kid'z Klinic, a walk-in clinic for children; for holiday schedule, call 905-848-7174.

Have a safe and healthy holiday season!

Visiting with Elders
http://www.baycrest.org/Publications/8777.asp

Click here to read this free online guidebook!

Strategies to help you have a meaningful and rich visit with an elderly loved one

Baycrest has produced a free online resource to help families learn new ways of communicating and interacting with an elderly loved one who has Alzheimer's or other dementia.

As our elders live into old age, with increased likelihood of chronic illness, institutionalization becomes a necessary choice for some for the provision of care. Families and relationships will continue, though ways of connecting with one another may change. These can be difficult and emotionally stressful times, but there are many ways to have a positive and meaningful visit.

Visiting with Elders is a catalyst for creative thinking and a resource of practical strategies for:

• Relatives and friends of older people living in institutions

• Health care professionals working in long-term care

• Group leaders of caregiver support groups

• Companions who spend time with residents

Please note:
Hard copies are now available for purchase.($10) Click here to download the order form.

Psychology: Everyone Looks So Happy
From: http://www.zoomermag.com

Grief is part of the human condition. But it is also largely a female state. Consider the facts:

• Nearly one million Canadians are newly widowed each year

• By the age of 65, 50% of women will be widows

• Bereavement leads to serious depression in 15% of spouses

• This grief can trigger depression and mania

• Likewise, depression can greatly worsen grief

Of all people, Kay Redfield Jamison might have been prepared for the pain of it.

Jamison is a psychologist and a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her beloved husband was a brilliant physician who knew the score, and being a practical man, carefully set out his wishes should the cancer that was killing him finally succeed. Jamison had been through madness before, and has written eloquently about her struggles and triumphs over manic depressive illness.

Click here to read more

Social Connections: Could Heartwarming Be Heart-Saving?

"In general, it seems to be good for health to have close friends and family, to be connected to community groups or religious organizations, and to have a close partner."

ScienceDaily
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/05/050502144309.htm   

WASHINGTON, D.C -- Men who are socially isolated have elevated levels of a blood marker for inflammation that's linked to cardiovascular disease, according to data from the Framingham Heart Study presented today at the American Heart Association's 45th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

"Our analyses suggest that it may be good for the heart to be connected," said Eric B. Loucks, Ph.D., an instructor in the department of society, human development and health at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston. "In general, it seems to be good for health to have close friends and family, to be connected to community groups or religious organizations, and to have a close partner."

Loucks' team studied 3,267 Framingham Heart Study participants, with an average age of 62 years, who underwent physical exams between 1998 and 2001. The researchers measured blood concentrations of four inflammatory markers including interleukin-6 (IL-6).

The researchers asked the participants five questions about their social network:

• marital status;

• number of relatives in whom they can confide private matters;

• number of close friends in whom they can confide private matters;

• involvement in religious meetings or services; and

• participation in groups such as senior centers.

They then assigned a social network index of 1 to 4, based on participants' response, with the lowest number corresponding to social isolation and the highest to high social connection.

After considering major known risk factors for heart disease, men with the lowest level of social involvement had the highest levels of IL-6, the study showed. Specifically, the average concentration of IL-6 in the blood of men with a social network index of 1 was 3.85 picograms per milliliter, compared with 3.52 picograms per milliliter in men with a social network index of 4. "This was a statistically significant difference," Loucks said.

No such link was found in women, however. Researchers noted that the study counted the number of relationships, but did not assess the quality of relationships. For example, were these relationships supportive for the study participants, or did they often cause stress and conflict? Future studies on the quality of relationships will provide knowledge on the effect of social relationships on inflammatory markers in women.

Also, researchers found no association between social involvement and three other markers of inflammation in the blood: C-reactive protein, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1. "These observations need further study," Loucks said.

Studies indicate that inflammation plays a role in causing atherosclerosis. "It seems to allow white blood cells to tether to and become engulfed in the side of the blood vessel wall," Loucks said. "This allows lipids to be deposited in the blood vessel wall more easily, causing atherosclerosis."

Researchers say IL-6 -- and by extension, inflammation -- may be elevated for two reasons in men who are socially isolated. First, social isolation may influence health behaviors such as smoking and physical activity, which in turn affect IL-6 levels. Second, socially isolated people are often depressed and under more stress than their more outgoing counterparts (studies show that even acute stress can increase levels of IL-6).