Join a hiking group: Hiking groups are golden. You can meet other like-minded people and you never know what you might learn. I learned to cook because I went to Culver’s Gap with a group of hikers from North Jersey. Hiking with others gives you an opening to this world and allows you to capitalize on the hiking experience in a safe place. For people of color, there are hiking groups such as Blackpackers, Hoods to Woods, and Outdoor Afro. Hiking is not just for white people. Let’s dispel this myth.
Learn how to use your hiking poles: Using hiking poles correctly is important. It’s a different movement going up or down. The majority of people around me when I hike have no idea how to use their poles. Watch a YouTube video. I happened to learn from someone in my hiking group.
Let someone know where you are: It is very important to register. Leave an itinerary with a friend and plan to check in with them. If you don’t show up after a certain time or date, they will notify search and rescue services.
Make noise: Make yourself known in the forest so the animals know you are passing by. Say, “Hey, Bear, I know you’re out there!” Hello nature! » Whatever makes you happy, even if it’s a “Woo!” ” noisy.
Don’t try to smell good: Don’t go into the forest with perfume or deodorant. It is not a natural smell for the forest and it attracts bears.
Bring a GPS device: I attach a small Garmin to my backpack that I can use to check in with friends or call for help. The time I fell into the ice ravine and had to be rescued, I had an ice ax and a Garmin. I was able to save myself because I could communicate with the rescuers and remain calm. I also carry a Garmin on day hikes. Something as simple as a broken ankle can be serious if no one is present.
She has many more good tips. You can read it by clicking on this link.
In case you missed it, I had a really fun live chat today answering questions about menopause. The reader questions were great. It’s disappointing to learn how many women have not received satisfactory care from their health care providers – largely because they seem uninformed.
One of the key takeaways from my conversation was the importance of women feeling empowered to ask questions and seek out educated providers. Fortunately, the North American Menopause Society has an excellent website at menopause.org, which allows you to search by zip code to find a qualified provider near you.
This is one of the questions we discussed.
I’m 44 and it’s like a switch went off last year: I’m SO grumpy. (This could also be due to politics/elections, or maybe these are exacerbating factors.) This coincides with my periods getting heavier and closer together. A friend suggested – gently, from a distance – that the irritability might be perimenopause. If so, is there anything that can help? Or should I just go to therapy and/or emigrate?? I’m asking for myself, my poor spouse and my dog, who would like to shed their winter coats as usual without getting stabbed in the eyes by yours truly.
Women in their 30s and 40s notice changes related to perimenopause, such as fatigue and irritability, but doctors often dismiss their complaints. There is some fascinating research from the Women Living Better research consortium that asked over 1,300 women aged 35-55 to answer questions about their menstrual cycles, stress, overall health and wellbeing . And they asked women how often they reported “not feeling like themselves.” It turns out that uttering the phrase “I just don’t feel like myself” can actually be a reliable clinical indicator that a patient is experiencing early signs of perimenopause. If you want to know more about this, we wrote a story about it: Don’t Feel Like Yourself? It could be perimenopause.
The good news is that there are prescription and non-medical treatments that can help. For example, cognitive behavioral therapy may be an option. What’s important here is that you need to realize and believe that feeling grumpy is not a character flaw: it may be due to changes in your body chemistry.
Ask for help to find relief, but also give yourself a break. Take a look at your life and ask yourself if you’re doing too much. Are there responsibilities you can let go of or friends you can ask for help? I think a large dose of self-compassion is also in order here. For me, during times of high stress, taking a moment and asking myself “What do I need right now?” is a helpful way to be kind to myself and get out of an irritable mood by identifying the source of my unhappiness. And the great thing about dogs is that they love you no matter what!
You can read the full chat by clicking on this link. And don’t forget to join me next week for another discussion.
An oncologist’s mother had cancer. Here are his tips.
My mother-in-law was recently diagnosed with cancer. What steps should patients like her take to ensure they receive the best care?
When my mother called me to tell me about her lung cancer diagnosis in 2017, my brain had a hard time keeping up with what my ears were hearing. The sentences came in isolated fragments: “shadow on chest x-ray,” “doctor says I need a biopsy,” and “malignant.” Suddenly, I found myself in the drama of cancer, playing an unfamiliar role: rather than an oncologist calmly providing information, contextualizing a diagnosis, and developing a treatment plan, I was the son of a patient, trying to get answers.
Over the next few days, after the shock wore off, I helped my mother come up with a plan. Here’s what we found and what I advise my own patients to do, including getting a second opinion from a pathologist, who examines the body’s tissues to distinguish normal from abnormal tissue.
Many patients skip this step, but mistakes can happen. In a study that my colleagues and I conducted through the National Institutes of Health, which involved more than 900 patients with suspected myelodysplastic syndromes, a cancer of the bone marrow, pathologists with expertise in the field disagreed with the diagnosis made by pathologists who were not experts in the field. diagnosis 20 percent of the time.
Even more worrying, 7% of patients who received a wrong diagnosis also received wrong treatment for their cancer.
This is why it is just as important to seek a second opinion from a pathologist, to confirm the diagnosis, as it is from an oncologist to verify the best treatment plan.
Read the rest of our Ask a Doctor column in oncologist Mikkael A. Sekeres here.
Here are some things that brought us joy this week.
- Enjoy some of this week’s best photography from The Washington Post. Our favorites include a bumble bee, a lucky Spelling Bee participant, and a cheese hunt.
- 2-Ingredient German Schorle is the Effortless Summer Drink We Need
- Dogs take on the viral “paws in” challenge. Here’s why.
- Here’s a fascinating medical mystery: She wasn’t diagnosed until almost too late.
- At 102 years old, my grandfather’s memory is fading. Coffee keeps us connected.
- She graduated from Yale after raising 3 children. His son was his classmate.
Want to know more about “joy” snacks? Our Brain Matters columnist Richard Sima explains. Yesyou can also read this story like a comic strip.
Please let us know how we are doing. Send me an email to wellness@washpost.com. You can also find us on TikTok.
News Source : www.washingtonpost.com
Gn Health
