Monday, February 27, 2012
It pays to attend
Don't forget we only have a few short days left in this session of "It Pays to Attend". You must get have claimed (not redeemed, but claimed) your gift certificate by the end of the month if you're playing. Call 236-2999 to find out if you qualify or for any other questions.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Something for residents of Poweshiek
At a recent Iowa Department of Public Health training I learned that Poweshiek county has a higher rate of colorectal cancer. Read below and spread the word...
Preventive Screenings for Colorectal Cancer Could Save Thousands of Lives
Posted: 20 Feb 2012 07:52 AM PST
In 2011, 141,000 Americans were diagnosed with the colorectal cancer, and 49,000 patients died of the disease. But for every 10 percent increase in colon-cancer screenings, 1,900 deaths could be averted, doctors say.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women, yet only 65 percent of adults get screened for the disease, the Washington Post reported Feb. 13. If caught in its early stages, the disease has a 90 percent five-year survival rate; once the cancer spreads to other organs, however, survival rates drop to just 10 percent.
People should talk to their doctors about the right to time to get screened for colorectal cancer, but most cases occur in adults age 50 and older, according the National Cancer Institute.
Lifestyle changes like eating less red meat and more fruits and vegetables and fiber, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight can also lower your lifetime colorectal-cancer risk, studies show.
Preventive Screenings for Colorectal Cancer Could Save Thousands of Lives
Posted: 20 Feb 2012 07:52 AM PST
In 2011, 141,000 Americans were diagnosed with the colorectal cancer, and 49,000 patients died of the disease. But for every 10 percent increase in colon-cancer screenings, 1,900 deaths could be averted, doctors say.
Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death for men and women, yet only 65 percent of adults get screened for the disease, the Washington Post reported Feb. 13. If caught in its early stages, the disease has a 90 percent five-year survival rate; once the cancer spreads to other organs, however, survival rates drop to just 10 percent.
People should talk to their doctors about the right to time to get screened for colorectal cancer, but most cases occur in adults age 50 and older, according the National Cancer Institute.
Lifestyle changes like eating less red meat and more fruits and vegetables and fiber, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight can also lower your lifetime colorectal-cancer risk, studies show.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Exercising with Arthritis? Yes!
Don’t Be Afraid to Exercise with Arthritis
by Bob Curley on July 2, 2010
The painful and debilitating effects of arthritis can make some exercises impossible, but people with arthritis can still benefit from a good cardio workout, researchers say.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who get regular exercise have less joint pain, better functioning, and an improved quality of life, according to a study by researcher Athan Baillet, M.D. The American College of Rheumatology recommends that people with rheumatoid arthritis get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise weekly, such as walking, aerobic dance, or aquatic exercise.
“Our results show that patients with stable RA would benefit from regular aerobic exercise,” Baillet said. “Cardiorespiratory conditioning appears safe and its effects, while small, help to reduce joint pain and improve function … While past studies have indicated that [arthritis] patients are quite physically inactive, our study shows aerobic exercise to be a safe and beneficial intervention for this group.”
The study was published online in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
by Bob Curley on July 2, 2010
The painful and debilitating effects of arthritis can make some exercises impossible, but people with arthritis can still benefit from a good cardio workout, researchers say.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who get regular exercise have less joint pain, better functioning, and an improved quality of life, according to a study by researcher Athan Baillet, M.D. The American College of Rheumatology recommends that people with rheumatoid arthritis get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise weekly, such as walking, aerobic dance, or aquatic exercise.
“Our results show that patients with stable RA would benefit from regular aerobic exercise,” Baillet said. “Cardiorespiratory conditioning appears safe and its effects, while small, help to reduce joint pain and improve function … While past studies have indicated that [arthritis] patients are quite physically inactive, our study shows aerobic exercise to be a safe and beneficial intervention for this group.”
The study was published online in the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Saturday Yoga
Due to very popular request, our Saturday Yoga class will now run from 9:15-10:15, keeping it more consistent with our Monday, Wednesday, and Friday class times. Thanks for your input, everyone!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Red Friday
Heart Disease is #1 killer of women. Know your risk factors on National Wear Red Day®.
Do you know The Heart Truth® about women and heart disease? More women die of heart disease than any other disease—even breast cancer. And living with it can lead to disability and a decreased quality of life.
Join The Heart Truth campaign on Friday, February 3 — National Wear Red Day — to help spread the message that "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear, It's the #1 Killer of Women.®" Wear your favorite Red Dress, red scrub, red shirt, or red tie to inspire women to take action to protect their hearts.
Having just one risk factor can double your risk of developing heart disease. Multiple risk factors multiply your risk. Know the risk factors for heart disease that you have control over:
Smoking;
High blood pressure;
High cholesterol and high triglyceride levels;
Overweight/obesity;
Physical inactivity; and
Diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Talk to your doctor to find out if you are at risk and take action. Not smoking, heart healthy eating, physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking prescribed medication can help to control and reduce your risks.
To find out more about women and heart disease, visit The Heart Truth Web pages at www.hearttruth.gov or call the NHLBI Health Information Center at 301-592-8573.
Provided by your GRMC Celebration Council
Do you know The Heart Truth® about women and heart disease? More women die of heart disease than any other disease—even breast cancer. And living with it can lead to disability and a decreased quality of life.
Join The Heart Truth campaign on Friday, February 3 — National Wear Red Day — to help spread the message that "Heart Disease Doesn't Care What You Wear, It's the #1 Killer of Women.®" Wear your favorite Red Dress, red scrub, red shirt, or red tie to inspire women to take action to protect their hearts.
Having just one risk factor can double your risk of developing heart disease. Multiple risk factors multiply your risk. Know the risk factors for heart disease that you have control over:
Smoking;
High blood pressure;
High cholesterol and high triglyceride levels;
Overweight/obesity;
Physical inactivity; and
Diabetes and pre-diabetes.
Talk to your doctor to find out if you are at risk and take action. Not smoking, heart healthy eating, physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking prescribed medication can help to control and reduce your risks.
To find out more about women and heart disease, visit The Heart Truth Web pages at www.hearttruth.gov or call the NHLBI Health Information Center at 301-592-8573.
Provided by your GRMC Celebration Council
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
A nutritional experience
Today was a Fun with Fitness day. Fun with Fitness is my (Jen's) after-school wellness program with area school age kids. We had a wonderful nutrition experience today at our local HyVee store. Elaine Hammes, the dietitian here at GRMC, works as a dietitian at HyVee and gave us a very interesting, kid-friendly presentation. She described the importance of healthy eating and using moderation. She also explained HyVee's NuVal system and ways to make it work for us. Those of you who aren't familiar, HyVee has instituted a nutritional rating system from 1-100. Their criteria include fiber, sugar content, various nutrients, etc... All those things that can make choosing healthy food a headache. Personally to have a rating system helps me because while I know I want whole wheat bread, there are still several other factors that go into choosing the best kind. This just makes a shopper more confident in their choices. Elaine made the system into a game for the kids. They had to guess what items matched with which NuVal score. There were some that were surprising results on both ends of the spectrum. A few were pretty disappointed with mac and cheese's ultra low score. Everyone was impressed with orange's perfect 100. Afterwards we went shopping for a snack. The kids did a great job perusing the aisles. A few of them tried to sneak cookies by me but I could refer them to the NuVal so it was very simple. A big thanks to Elaine and HyVee for allowing us to come!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Yoga Injuries
Potential yoga injuries must be a hot topic lately as I (Jen) have just read the fourth article about the risk of injury to participants. You might think I'd be quick to jump to yoga's defense but, surprise, no I'm not. People often turn to yoga as a therapeutic, relaxing way to spend some. It absolutely can and should be used that way. But participants need to be aware that even though we move slowly and there's quiet music going on and the teacher speaks in a soft calming voice, it's still involves moving the body in ways outside of our normal routine. The chance of incorrectly aligning the joints is fairly great. When I first started doing yoga, I just did videos at home and had no one there to tell me the reason my knee hurt is that it was way out of place. Sometimes it can be so tempting to try to stretch thiiiiiiis much past the point we really should be, especially when the guy next to me can bend a mile further than I can. I find that I can get wrapped up in it and obviously I'm not alone as it's all over the news. But when we get competitive with others, we risk injuring ourselves and we also risk missing out on the mental relaxation we can find, which is a fundamental part of the yoga experience.
From a physical standpoint, the great thing about going to a any kind of class is the idea of having the instructor there to assess how your body looks as you move. One article I read spoke about instructors jumping on and pushing students to force them into poses. You're never going to experience that in our classes. Luckily, all of our instructors have had training on proper alignment. Our ethos is not about manipulating students to get this one idea of how a pose has to be. We encourage students to find their version of a pose. The concept of a deep stretch is so subject to the individual. It doesn't matter how great of a teacher we are, none of us will ever know the level of sensation a person feels as well as they will and we recognise that stretching one inch for one individual can be at least as challenging as a limber person stretching a foot. We work to encourage participants to become aware of their own personal limits and then to be honest enough to honor those boundaries. When the other instructors and I teach, we try to stress the importance of listening to your body. You'll often hear us giving tips about where we want our joints in relation to each other. Listen to those, they are intended to help prevent injury.
We want people to get the best experience they can have emotionally as well as physically. Yoga offers people the chance to turn off their day. You can get into this mental "yoga zone" that can be hard to describe but feels great. Personally, final relaxation is the part that first sold me on yoga. There is no where else in my day where I get the chance to have quite reflection for even 5 minutes, and I'm sure I'm not the only person out there like that. If someone is moving through our series of poses to the best of their abilities, using the alignments cues the instructor offers, not worrying about what their friends, spouse, neighbor is doing, they can get into that zone. However, if someone spends their time straining to power through the whole class and worrying about everyone else, they probably haven't really had the chance to mentally decompress. That means they have missed out on an important component of yoga and that's unfortunate.
Take heart that coming to yoga does not necessarily guarantee you will walk out our door limping or worse, at risk for stroke or anything else that's currently being reported. Here you have instructors that work to safely guide you through your yoga practice in order to help you give yourself a wonderful experience that can be repeated over and over again. Keep honest with yourself about your abilities and keep coming to class!
From a physical standpoint, the great thing about going to a any kind of class is the idea of having the instructor there to assess how your body looks as you move. One article I read spoke about instructors jumping on and pushing students to force them into poses. You're never going to experience that in our classes. Luckily, all of our instructors have had training on proper alignment. Our ethos is not about manipulating students to get this one idea of how a pose has to be. We encourage students to find their version of a pose. The concept of a deep stretch is so subject to the individual. It doesn't matter how great of a teacher we are, none of us will ever know the level of sensation a person feels as well as they will and we recognise that stretching one inch for one individual can be at least as challenging as a limber person stretching a foot. We work to encourage participants to become aware of their own personal limits and then to be honest enough to honor those boundaries. When the other instructors and I teach, we try to stress the importance of listening to your body. You'll often hear us giving tips about where we want our joints in relation to each other. Listen to those, they are intended to help prevent injury.
We want people to get the best experience they can have emotionally as well as physically. Yoga offers people the chance to turn off their day. You can get into this mental "yoga zone" that can be hard to describe but feels great. Personally, final relaxation is the part that first sold me on yoga. There is no where else in my day where I get the chance to have quite reflection for even 5 minutes, and I'm sure I'm not the only person out there like that. If someone is moving through our series of poses to the best of their abilities, using the alignments cues the instructor offers, not worrying about what their friends, spouse, neighbor is doing, they can get into that zone. However, if someone spends their time straining to power through the whole class and worrying about everyone else, they probably haven't really had the chance to mentally decompress. That means they have missed out on an important component of yoga and that's unfortunate.
Take heart that coming to yoga does not necessarily guarantee you will walk out our door limping or worse, at risk for stroke or anything else that's currently being reported. Here you have instructors that work to safely guide you through your yoga practice in order to help you give yourself a wonderful experience that can be repeated over and over again. Keep honest with yourself about your abilities and keep coming to class!
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