Feb 2006 Newsletter
New at COiN:
COiN is conducting a pilot project of its kind in India - project "Senior Citizen Health Care Services" . Under this program, a basic health care package will be provided to a total of 100 senior citizens. The initial survey work has already started, and the first phase of recruitment will start in the second quarter of this year.
Coping with a new joint?
Dr. Andrew Weil
If you’re a candidate for hip or knee replacement or both, you probably have been told that you’ll face a six- to eight-week recovery period during which you’ll need physical and occupational therapy to learn how to sit, stand, walk, dress and protect yourself from injury. You’ll be expected to start to move - with assistance - immediately after either type of surgery. The best advice I can give you is to be conscientious about doing all the prescribed exercises - this will speed your recovery and enhance your mobility.
You’ll also need help once you get home. If no one is available to be with you during your recovery, your physician may suggest spending some time in a rehabilitation center until you are able to take care of yourself. If you are going straight home from the hospital, follow the tips below from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons to make you and your environment safer and more comfortable:
> Arrange items that you use regularly at arm level so that you don’t have to reach or bend for them. Keep all your medications and instructions from your physician or physical therapist within easy reach.
> Rearrange furniture so that you can move about easily with a walker or crutches; remove any rugs that you could slip on; make sure that electrical cords are secured out of your path around the house.
> Install a shower chair, gripping bar and raised toilet.
> Get a chair that is firm and has a higher than average seat.
By the time you get home, you should be eating a normal diet although your physician may recommend temporarily taking supplements of iron (if you’re
advertisement anemic from blood loss) or vitamin C. If you are put on a blood-thinning drug like coumadin, you might be told to avoid foods high in vitamin K, which reverses the effects of some blood thinners and might promote clotting. These include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, liver, green beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, soybeans, soybean oil, spinach, kale, lettuce, turnip greens, cabbage, and onions. That does not mean avoiding vegetables. They are good for you. Just don't eat pounds of Brussels sprouts a day.
There are a few supplements that can help stimulate healing and reduce the pain, swelling and bruising that follow surgery. Take 200-400 mg of bromelain three times a day on an empty stomach along with three to five 30c tablets of homeopathic arnica every two to four hours as needed.
In order to avoid stressing your artificial joint, it is important to watch your weight. This means losing weight if necessary or being careful not to gain if your weight is normal. Your recuperation period is a good time to begin a weight control program: your limited mobility will probably make it difficult - if not impossible - to raid the refrigerator or shop for unhealthy, high-calorie foods. Plan healthy balanced meals and ask those caring for you to help you switch to a diet that will promote weight loss.
I’d also recommend mind/body techniques like hypnosis, visualization, and progressive muscle relaxation to help prepare for surgery, and to generate healing imagery during the recovery process.
If you follow the orders of your doctor and therapist, you should have a speedy and safe recovery.
Dr. Andrew Weil, M. D. is a world-renowned leader and pioneer in the field of integrative medicine. He combines a Harvard education and a lifetime of practicing natural and preventive medicine to provide a unique approach to health care which encompasses body, mind, and spirit.
Bitter Melon for type 2 diabetes and weight loss
For centuries, bitter melon (gourd) has been used in both culinary and medicinal circles throughout the world. Traditionally, bitter melon has been taken for conditions including gastrointestinal diseases, parasites, and viral illnesses. Because of its ability to lower blood sugar, it has increasingly attracted attention of the scientific community working on type 2 diabetes. Although research on humans is still limited, evidence also supports its roles in lowering cholesterol, in weight loss, cancer protection, immune support, and for decreasing inflammation.
Animal studies demonstrate bitter melon's ability to lower blood sugar, and several human trials show promise. Although the active ingredients have yet to be identified, the fruit appears to increase the body's storage of glucose, lower glucose production, raise insulin production, and decrease insulin resistance.
In animals, bitter melon has shown to decrease weight gain and lower the ratio of body fat to lean tissue. Preliminary evidence suggests that bitter melon may increase body's ability to break down fat. In animal studies, bitter melon leads to increased immune defenders and there is positive effect on stomach, colon and liver cancers.
Footnote
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