Tag Archive | Strenthen Bones

Part 1 The question asked every fall season, why and who should get the flu shot?

Sep2

THe FLu1                                 flu

THe flu b part 1

For starters let us look at what is the flu shot first.

The standard flu vaccine (or, the “flu shot”) is made from flu viruses that have been grown on fertilized chicken eggs. The viruses are killed during manufacturing, a process known as “inactivation.” These inactivated viruses are a source of proteins or antigens that trigger a protective antibody response when the vaccine is injected into the arm or thigh muscle. Antibodies against flu viruses begin to appear one to two weeks after getting the flu shot and last for months, and sometimes even up to one year.

The standard flu shot is the main flu vaccine that will be offered at PAMF for the 2015-2016 season.

Three other flu vaccines will also be available to certain patients:

1) FluMist nasal spray vaccine:
FluMist, an intranasal vaccine, is available to patients 2-49 years of age who have no contraindications to it.

2) Fluzone High-Dose:
Fluzone High-Dose vaccine, a flu shot with four times the antigen dose per strain as standard flu vaccine, is approved only for persons 65 years of age or older.

3) Flublok:
Flublok is a recombinant flu vaccine manufactured without the use of eggs. It is indicated for highly egg-allergic persons aged 18 years or older. It is available only in our allergy departments.

PAMF has transitioned from trivalent to quadrivalent flu vaccines (containing 2 A strains and 2 B strains) with the exception of Fluzone High-Dose and Flublok which are still trivalent (2 A strains and 1 B strain). The second B strain was added to quadrivalent vaccines by manufacturers because predicting which flu B strain would circulate in any given season proved difficult. While this is a modest change, scientists hope it will result in increased protection against the flu in coming years. The higher dose of antigen in Fluzone High-Dose vaccine produces higher antibody levels in patients 65 years or older which results in a modest boost in effectiveness compared to the standard-dose vaccine.

Because vaccine strains often change from one year to the next and immunity wanes, flu vaccine must be given every year. In more depth of explaining this is as follows:

Like stated the influenza viruses are constantly changing. They can change in two different ways.

One way they change is called “antigenic drift.” These are small changes in the genes of influenza viruses that happen continually over time as the virus replicates. These small genetic changes usually produce viruses that are pretty closely related to one another, which can be illustrated by their location close together on a phylogenetic tree. Viruses that are closely related to each other usually share the same antigenic properties and an immune system exposed to an similar virus will usually recognize it and respond. (This is sometimes called cross-protection.)

But these small genetic changes can accumulate over time and result in viruses that are antigenically different (further away on the phylogenetic tree). When this happens, the body’s immune system may not recognize those viruses.

This process works as follows: a person infected with a particular flu virus develops antibody against that virus. As antigenic changes accumulate, the antibodies created against the older viruses no longer recognize the “newer” virus, and the person can get sick again. Genetic changes that result in a virus with different antigenic properties is the main reason why people can get the flu more than one time. This is also why the flu vaccine composition must be reviewed each year, and updated as needed to keep up with evolving viruses.

The other type of change is called “antigenic shift.” Antigenic shift is an abrupt, major change in the influenza A viruses, resulting in new hemagglutinin and/or new hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins in influenza viruses that infect humans. Shift results in a new influenza A subtype or a virus with a hemagglutinin or a hemagglutinin and neuraminidase combination that has emerged from an animal population that is so different from the same subtype in humans that most people do not have immunity to the new (e.g. novel) virus. Such a “shift” occurred in the spring of 2009, when an H1N1 virus with a new combination of genes emerged to infect people and quickly spread, causing a pandemic. When shift happens, most people have little or no protection against the new virus.

While influenza viruses are changing by antigenic drift all the time, antigenic shift happens only occasionally. Type A viruses undergo both kinds of changes; influenza type B viruses change only by the more gradual process of antigenic drift.

All flu vaccines at PAMF will be Thimerosal-free and latex-free.

Here are a few reasons why you absolutely need to get a flu vaccine this year:

  • Influenza (the flu) circulates all over the world, and it can affect anyone, regardless of their age or health.
  • The flu can lead to complications like pneumonia, ear infections, and sinus infections. It can also worsen existing conditions, like asthma or diabetes.
  • Each year, thousands of people in the U.S. die from the flu and its complications.

So you may want to think twice of avoiding the flu shot personally but most of all having your children avoid the flu shot.

 

The key to healthy bones!

Jun2

The infrastructure of the human body that allows us to perform our daily activities from standing, to sitting, to walking, or even climbing is our skeletal system. The major pillar or beam in the skeletal system is the vertebral column (spinal column). This bone structure allows us to bend, stand upright, twist, to dancing up a storm down the happy trail of life, if taken care of properly. If not, you may not be considering your life a happy tune, during that time of injury that can be a short or long haul before resolved, if ever. This infrastructure is so vital in our activities of our daily life. Many of us don’t realize that until the injury or damage sets in. There is one way you can bypass this disaster, don’t have it become a part of your life which is taking preventative measures; especially if you do heavy lifting in your life; like in my job as a nurse. One major ingredient to preventative measures is proper body mechanics but the trick here is never lift heavy items from below your waist level without bending your legs or even better without a second person helping you or some form of support but there is more to it than just that. There are more factors involved in helping you keep your back with all other bones strong. That would be healthy dieting, maintaining a good weight for your height (body mass index), and good exercise (not necessarily work out but if that is what you enjoy doing, it’s even better and don’t stop). All these ingredients to a better development and maintenance of your skeletal system=HEALTHY HABITS. A plus and benefit that many choose to do is going regularly to a chiropractor who can keep your spine in alignment (see one before injury starts).

Recommended in Rockland County, NY is Dr. Diane Gregory, who I go to for my back and who has done both prevention & Rx; www.gregorychiropractic.com.

The key to healthy bones is living a healthy life.

This consists of diet, exercise, activity and healthy habits learned and practiced in your routine of daily living that will help prevent or assist you in treating bone and back injuries; even problems caused by the inactivity with doing heavy lifting (Ex. lack of any muscle tone or muscle knots), which can inflict bone or back injuries.

The better we treat ourselves EVERYDAY regarding health the higher the odds we will live a longer life. One common problem in America that can occur if not living healthy and/or using improper body mechanics with heavy lifting, especially frequently, can increase the risk of sciatica nerve damage. The pain of sciatica is typically felt from the low back (lumbar area) to behind the thigh and radiating down below the knee. The sciatica nerve is the largest nerve in the body that begins from nerve roots in the lumbar spinal cord in the low back and extends through the buttock to send the nerve ending down the lower limb to the foot. Depending on the precise cause of the sciatica symptoms with the duration, the outlook for recovery from sciatica ranges from excellent to having long term chronic symptoms. This can be prevented to some extent by avoiding low back trauma injuries. Thinking before lifting is the one of the best ideas. Osteoporosis is a common bone problem that is a abnormal loss of bony tissue resulting in fragile porous bones attributable to a lack of calcium, most common in postmenopausal women. This progressive bone disease that’s characterized by a decrease in bone mass and density leads to an increased risk of a fracture. The causes of this disease that are modifiable (can be changed) would be: Vitamin D deficiency, menopause, excess alcohol, tobacco smoking, malnutrition (identified risk factors include low dietary calcium and/or phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, boron, iron, fluoride, copper, vitamins A,K,E, and C; also D where skin exposure to sunlight provides an inadequate supply. Excess sodium is a risk factor.

High blood acidity may be diet related, and is a known antagonist to the bone. Some have identified low protein intake as associated with lower peak bone mass during adolescence and lower bone mineral density in elderly populations. Other risk factors are inactive, underweight, heavy leads-a strong association between cadmium and lead with bone disease has been established. Low-level exposure to cadmium is associated with an increased loss of bone mineral density readily in both genders. Some studies even show soft drinks can increase the risk of osteoporosis related to high phosphoric acid. Others suggest soft drinks may displace calcium containing drinks from the diet rather than causing osteoporosis.    Another bone disorder is osteomalacia that is a softening of the bones caused by defective bone mineralization secondary to inadequate amounts of available phosphorus and calcium. The most common cause of the disease is a deficiency in vitamin D, which is normally obtained from the diet and/or from sunlight exposure. We can help our bones in many ways. There is not just one food to eat or one type of exercise to do or one healthy habit to practice to keep you healthy with strong bones, there are choices.

 You need assistance or guidance?  There is always a diet program to get you started on the right track and than you make your healthy diet routine in time.  There is Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or what I did use Medifast.  If your interested just how these diets work.  Just go on your internet and check them out for no fee, no charge, no hacking, where they let you look further in understanding how to take a healthier shape for your life.  I liked Medifast with Dr. Anderson. They explained to me what healthy habit changes with diet changes that I needed to make  in trying to lose weight and how to live a healthier life.  I am still working on it and will be for my life.

Medifast site allows you to make all the decisions in what you want to do regarding what to eat (diet), what exercise/activity, and what healthy habits you want to add in your daily routine life. They just provide the information and healthy foods in your diet through information to broaden your knowledge with even a catalog on diet foods, if you desire. You make all the choices. Wouldn’t you want less risk of bone or back injury or disease for yourself and for others throughout the nation including the future generations? Than join one with others. Thank you for taking the time to read my introduction to how we can help you get healthier and make a healthier USA.