California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Director and State Public Health Officer, Dr. Ron Chapman, urges Californians to put health at the top of their list.
“New Year’s resolutions can be overly ambitious, despite your best intentions,” said Chapman. “But I’m recommending six simple steps that will make for a healthier 2012, and just might save your life.”
1. Ditch the butts (and save major bucks!)
Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do to improve your health, and your pocketbook. A $5 pack-a-day habit costs a smoker nearly $2,000 a year. As a family doctor, I have taken care of people who have suffered the horrible health effects of smoking which harms nearly every organ in the body. Not only that, but secondhand smoke is deadly to those around you, especially children who can develop asthma from being exposed to cigarette smoke. You can get free help to quit by calling 1-800-NO BUTTS or visiting www.NoButts.org. This service is also available to people who would like a friend or loved one to quit smoking.
2. Know your numbers
This includes your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and healthy weight. Being overweight, having high blood pressure or cholesterol can cause heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. When you get these numbers to a normal range, you lower your risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, diabetes, blindness, nerve damage, and other health problems. If you are overweight, by losing five-to-seven percent of your weight (10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person), you can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, and reduce the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis by as much as 50 percent.
3. Eat like a champion
In addition to making half your plate fruits and vegetables, vow to incorporate more whole grains and to reduce sodium by eating fewer processed foods and drinking fewer sugary drinks like sodas, sports drinks, energy drinks, sweetened teas and coffees. Get involved with your children’s school wellness committee to create healthier school environments, support healthier foods and quality physical education for all young people.
4. Get physical!
Moderate physical activity, even in 10-minute increments three times a day, helps keep muscles, bones and joints healthy, improve your heart health, helps reduce stress and makes you feel more positive. Be active with your kids – physical activity is good for their health and brain function!
5. Respect your health
Prevention really is the best medicine. Getting vaccinated – for both adults and children – is the most effective way of stopping whooping cough, flu and other dangerous diseases. It’s not too late to get a flu vaccination, since flu activity can continue as late as May.
It is crucial that everyone 50 and older be screened for colon cancer – this is a form of cancer that can be prevented, if it’s caught before it becomes cancerous.
Women, get screened for cervical cancer starting at age 21. Starting at age 50 be sure to get screened for breast cancer – younger if you have a family history of breast cancer.
Protect your skin from skin cancer at all times of the year by reducing sun exposure and using sunscreen.
6. Be prepared, California
We live in a large, populated state that has a very diverse climate and geography, which is why it is critical to make sure that you and your family are prepared for a disaster before it strikes. You can ensure the safety of your family by developing supply kits and disaster plans, knowing how you will communicate with each other during a crisis, and talking with your children about crisis events.
By doing these simple steps, you will be helping yourself physically, mentally and financially. For example, diabetes costs in California exceed $24 billion each year. The direct health care costs associated with smoking in our state is estimated to be $9.6 billion or $365 per Californian.
“My personal resolution is to incorporate the CDC’s Physical Activity for Everyone’s guidelines into my routine,” added Chapman. “This includes two hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week that work on all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms). You can follow my activity each week on Twitter and Facebook.”
Strange as it sounds most of us aren't eating enough food.
If you've been thinking about losing weight, the Lakeport Community Seventh-day Adventist Church is going to begin a new weight loss program created by the doctors who wrote "The Full Plate Diet."
It's an eight session program intended for small groups, kind of like a book club. The classes will show you:
How to enjoy a full plate and still lose weight;
The 55 foods at the grocery store that can help you lose weight;
How to escape the yo-yo dieting trap;
The 10 weight loss tools successful losers use unconsciously;
How you can lose weight even when you feel like giving up.
There are eight one-hour classes in all. The classes will start Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 6 p.m. at the Lakeport Community Seventh-day Adventist Church at the corner of Park and Hill.
Materials for the program are $40. Space is limited, preregistration is required.
Call 707-279-0560 for further information.
This is especially true for the elderly, small children, the chronically ill, substance-abusers and individuals who stay out in the cold for long periods.
AMR suggests the following tips to help avoid two potentially dangerous conditions, hypothermia and frostbite.
Both can happen even in areas known for warm weather, especially when wind chill and the possibility of getting wet in cold water or rain are involved.
To avoid hypothermia and frostbite, wear clothing in layers.
Layers of clothes provide much more protection than one thick garment. The layer closest to the body should be thin and made of polyester or similar material to pull moisture from your skin.
The next layers should be bulkier, providing more insulation. Wool is a good insulating material, as are newer materials such as polyester pile.
When you’re outdoors, the outer layer should resist rain, sleet or snow and have zippers for venting body heat if you become too warm.
Here are some other tips:
Wear a hat. Forty percent of body heat escapes through the head.
Wear mittens rather than gloves because mittens keep hands warmer.
Immediately remove any clothing that gets wet.
In cold weather, elderly people should be checked on frequently because age can weaken the body’s ability to sense and adapt to temperature changes.
Hypothermia is a general cooling of the body’s internal temperature. Hypothermia victims go through stages of shivering, numbness, confusion and drowsiness before becoming unconscious. Unless emergency aid is provided, death can follow.
First aid for hypothermia includes removing the person from the cold setting. Give CPR if needed. Remove wet clothes and wrap the patient in warm materials. If the victim is alert, give them warm non-alcoholic drinks. Never give anything by mouth to someone who is less than fully alert.
Frostbite is the freezing of a body part, most often the fingers, toes, ears or nose. The part often feels hard and waxy and may be discolored.
First aid for frostbite includes removing the person from the cold setting. Handle the injured area gently to protect it from further injury and wrap it in dry, sterile dressing. Do not rub the frostbitten area and do not allow the victim to try to use the injured area, such as walking on frostbitten toes. Never put ice on frostbite.
Rewarm the frostbitten body part only if medical care is remote or unavailable. After rewarming, keep the injury from re-freezing.
When hypothermia or frostbite is suspected, call for help from your local ambulance service immediately.
American Medical Response Inc. (www.amr.net), America’s leading provider of medical transportation, provides services in 40 states and the District of Columbia. More than 18,500 AMR paramedics, EMTs, RNs and other professionals, with a fleet of 4,100 vehicles, transport more than three million patients nationwide each year in critical, emergency and non-emergency situations. AMR, a subsidiary of Emergency Medical Services Corporation, is headquartered in Greenwood Village, Colo.
The state’s most recent cuts will reduce Medi-Cal reimbursement rates for paramedic level emergency ambulance transports to $104.
This rate is below the 1998 reimbursement level and is hundreds of dollars below the hard costs of providing the service.
Unlike other nonemergency health care providers, ambulance services who treat and transport Californians in a medical emergency, must take all patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“What is happening to our industry is no different than if the State forced all grocery stores to give out half of their food for free and then told stores to triple the cost for those who pay and lower the quality of their products to help make up for the loss,” said CAA Executive Director Brenda Staffan. “Medi-Cal has new policies that will negatively impact every Californian, and their position is that they are not responsible for these negative outcomes as long as all our emergency patients are impacted in the same manner.”
Private ambulance providers do not receive taxpayer subsidies and there is no reimbursement for more than 50 percent of the emergency services they provide.
Ultimately, these cuts will result in a hidden tax on privately insured Californians who already pay higher premiums, deductibles and copays in order to pay for the millions of Californians treated under the Medi-Cal system.
Reduced reimbursements will ultimately impact access to care for all Californians through extended response times to emergencies or delayed implementation of life saving procedures or equipment.
Medi-Cal is implementing a permanent 10-percent reduction in Medi-Cal rates for emergency and interfacility ground ambulance services retroactive to June 1, 2011.
The new permanent lower rate is scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 31, and will only cover about one fifth of the actual cost of emergency service.
Medi-Cal officials rejected the CAA’s request for an exemption from the rate cuts despite numerous independent studies and additional evidence from the state wide 911 EMS system that demonstrates that access to patient care is already being impacted by severely below-cost Medi-Cal rates.