Tag Archives: health

Are people with non-urgent problems clogging up Ontario ERs?

Posted on February 24, 2024 | 2 comments

The short answer? No. Definitely not.

The long answer is found in the Toronto Star, here.

The next time you hear someone ranting otherwise, show them this.

 

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Things to Pack When Heading to the Emergency Room

Posted on January 11, 2024 | 2 comments

Here’s a really good list: 11 Things to Pack When Heading to the Emergency Room.

A few thoughts/additions:

  • take your smartphone. Much of this information can be found there. Indeed, you can put much of this information in a central, easy to find place on your phone, so when you are at the hospital and at admittance, you can easily share it with the hospital. Plus you may use your phone to order Ubers, pay for things, update work, etc.
  • take a smartphone charger. Your smartphone is your contact to the outside world. It’s also a reliever of boredom while you wait for treatment. You don’t want it to die on you while you are in a waiting room.
  • take your wallet. Things not on your smartphone are there.
  • take some snacks (e.g. granola bars) and water if you can. You may want to have some sustenance to keep you going if you are waiting for awhile. Don’t assume your trip will be brief or you can find food there.
  • take something to listen to sounds on your phone. It can help you stay calm and relaxed when you are waiting.
  • write down the timeline of events that made you decide to come to the ER. Do this either on your phone or on paper. It will help you when you have to repeat things and you and you are too tired or ill to tell them.

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If you are going for an eye exam in Ontario, ask some questions before you go

Posted on November 25, 2023 | Comments Off on If you are going for an eye exam in Ontario, ask some questions before you go


If you are going for an eye exam in Ontario, ask the staff some questions before you go. Otherwise you might get surprised by charges you were not expecting.

As the Toronto Star reported, the Ford government has cut back on OHIP-covered eye services for some seniors. Specifically….

 Free annual eye exams paid for through the Ontario Health Insurance Plan will no longer be available to all seniors…Only those with “eligible medical conditions affecting their eyes such as macular degeneration, glaucoma or diabetes” will get a yearly checkup. “Seniors without an eligible medical condition will receive one exam every 18 months,” the government said…As well, seniors will be limited to just two minor followup assessments with an optometrist every year. Currently, there’s no limit on such minor assessments. OHIP coverage of eye exams for people of all ages with cataracts will continue.

Additional charges are not limited to seniors. I was surprised at my last visit: I knew I was going to be charged for the visit, but I did not know that the optometrist was going to do additional tests that drove the cost of the visit to over 300. I am lucky to be covered for that: some Ontarians who have stretched finances might find that hard to deal with.

It’s not just limited to Ontarians, either: provinces like Manitoba and Nova Scotia only insure eye exams every 24 months for all seniors.

The next time you go, ask what it will cost.

(This might be mind boggling to any Americans reading this, I know.)

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It’s Thursday: let’s go rucking. (Here’s some fitness links on exercise, dieting, gear and more for ya)

Posted on October 19, 2023 | Comments Off on It’s Thursday: let’s go rucking. (Here’s some fitness links on exercise, dieting, gear and more for ya)

Exercise: You don’t have to use heavy weights to get stronger. The Washington Post explains. Speaking of weights, you can get a full body workout by filling a backpack full of weights. And the weight could be something as simple as groceries or even books. Get on the rucking bandwagon. Meanwhile, if blood pressure is your worry, skip the weights and consider doing wall squat workouts.

Dieting: Matt Yglesias recently lost 70 pounds with a combination of surgery and dietary restrictions. Here’s what he learned. Relatedly, here’s how former NFL Player Russell Okung lost over 100 pounds on a 40-day water-only fast. I can say I don’t recommend either of those things. Now maybe ozempic is what you are thinking about. Well so are major retailers, and they are worried about it. So much so that Walmart is monitoring the relationship between ozempic use and reduced shopping. I think a lawsuit is going to be coming there.

Gear: If you are using an Apple Watch to improve your fitness, you might find this piece on how to set apple watch move goal useful. I did. Also useful: some tips on what the value should be. If badges motivate you, here’s how to get all of the Apple watch activity challenge badges. You can use your watch for other health benefits, such as monitoring your sleep. Here’s a good article on why you want to get the benefits of rem sleep. Let your watch help you with that.

As for other gear, if you plan to workout this winter in the great outdoors, consider getting a pair of  new balance fresh foam x permafrost running shoes. I am sure they are great. For more advice on working out in bad weather, check out this. It has gear recommendations and more.

Finally, the Guardian has a piece on the new Taschen book focused on Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fascinating. And yeah, Arnold had a head start on most people in the bodybuilding game.

(Link to photo by Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times)

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How cooking and other things can achieve mindfulness benefits

Posted on September 2, 2023 | Comments Off on How cooking and other things can achieve mindfulness benefits


While mindfulness exercises can bring many benefits, benefits you might want, not everyone is cut out to do them. Even people who like them sometimes struggle with mindfulness exercises.

The good news is that other activities can bring similar benefits. This piece argues you should try cooking if you want the benefits of mindfulness. Now some people hate cooking, but read that piece and see if cooking could help you with the sort of thing mindfulness does.

Besides cooking, some people find cleaning helps them clear their brain. I used to find doing woodwork would do it for me. Maybe exercise is the thing that could replace mindfulness for you. Or yoga. Or bowling. Who knows? It all depends on the individual.

If mindfulness activity is working for you, that’s great. If not, don’t despair. There’s many ways to achieve the same benefits. Find the one best for you.

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85 or so interesting things I wanted to write about and maybe will some day

Posted on June 18, 2023 | Comments Off on 85 or so interesting things I wanted to write about and maybe will some day


Many times I find things I would like to write about but never do. I think people should check out these links though. So I am including them all in this Sunday post to read at your leisure.

Start with this one on mapping data visualisations from Victorian London to today. Or this, on the film Unforgiven and the line, “deserves got nothing to do with it”. I am fascinating by ex-Royals haunting Europe, like Ferdinand Habsburg, who occupies his time racecar driving, so I recommend that. I also loved the story of  Jenny Nguyen and the sports bar she opened just for women’s sports, The Sports Bra.

This is good: how to help your kids find happiness.

Are these the best movies ever made? Possibly. Do I know why old man Robert de Niro is having a 7th kid? Nope.

I wanted to say something/something more about  Ted Lasso, The_Blues_Brothers, bad artists, David_Shrigley, or ska, but I could not. I don’t even have anything clever to say about the Wakefield amazonian love god statue, other than you should check it out. (Seen above.)

I recommend you also check out this amazing Maine home, this Manual Coffeemaker (seen below) and this piece on the Amazon Halo Rise. Even this desk lamp, which is the visual motivation youll need to start your day. Or this cool utility shelf , or this Concept TV, or even these linen sheets.

If you need some advice, read about the move out method of organizing or read this for anxiety reduction. I do believe writing make you healthier. This can tell you how to retire when you have basically nothing saved. Consider this more radical and practical than stoicism (shugendo).

When it comes to health and fitness, here’s a good piece on Kipchoge’s boston marathon pace. It’s VERY Fast. This guy is not fast but he is a cheat: Joasia Zakrzewski at the ultramarathon. A different form of cheating:  how one man ate cheat meals which helped him lose weight. I was going to write about the mediterranean diet and Kettlebell exercises and how kettlebell workouts burn 20 calories / minute, but didn’t. I didn’t know what to say about this article that was a grim reflection on a life of drinking. Nor did I know what to write on how depression rates are reaching new highs.

This is an interesting story about Carmelite nuns abandoning their nest in Brooklyn. A good piece on  riding  the New York subway in the 70s. Speaking of the craziness of the 70s, here’s a story on cocaine and cooking at Chez Panisse. All worthy of a post some day.

I once wanted to write about the red shoes of Pope Benedict XVI and their many hidden meanings but I passed. Related in a fashion sense, here’s something on GQ’s outfit of the week. And from a religious POV, I’ve always been fascinated by the story of France’s eminence grise. Not to mention forgotten masses like Childermas!

Here’s some LISS links I never could make anything of: What Makes Fascism Fascist? – by John Ganz, how Nazis are not socialists, and Why Paul Ehrlich got everything wrong. Then this is this piece on who will sell the books. Plus Horizontal History on Wait But Why this? A cautionary tale: The Dangerous Decline of the Historical Profession. Quasi-historical: on Raiders of the Lost Ark. Strangely historical: It’s not a darning tool it’s a very naughty toy – Roman dildo found.

Some clippings from out east where I come from: on the East Coast Kitchen. Here’s 2 things on the international student housing crisis in Cape Breton, including how medical residents moving to cape breton are struggling to find housing. The famous nscad university is moving to the Halifax seaport. Also worthy of fame, Kate Beaton’s affecting ducks dives into the lonely life of labour in Alberta’s oil sands. Lastly, Food truck diner experience helped relaunch Zellers brand.

I didn’t know what to do about  Linda McCartney’s photos, or why art installations make people angry, or this piece on Vermont and the law and art and slavery, but they are all interesting. Go check them out.

For some time I was going to write a defence on consultants after reading this and this and this and this and this. Even this and this. Most of them insinuating that consultants are all powerful and manipulative and evil, like this: Opinion: The Trudeau government seems awfully cozy with McKinsey. In the end I didn’t have the energy or the interest.

I thought this piece, you can’t say that in the 1930s which relates to this, Agatha Christie novels reworked to remove potentially offensive language was worthwhile. Likewise, this, on Black Panther 2’s Namor casting and how it opens up a Latino colorism debate.

I found these social media leaks disturbing and a caution as to what to share and not share: alcohol counseling patient data leak and discord document leak tiktok.

Here’s two things on Samuel Alito, whom I find especially terrible: here and here. Also terrible, those doing child labor lobbying in the USA.

Last, I was going to write something on the bystander effect, on some blogging myths, on happy warriors, on Maiden Lane Transactions, on the CBC Massey lectures archives, on driving a Lyft, and on college and students and success. Someday, perhaps.


As always, thanks for reading this blog. I deeply appreciate it. I hope you found a link or two above worthwhile.

 

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How to get better sleep using your Apple Watch and the Health app

Posted on April 24, 2023 | Comments Off on How to get better sleep using your Apple Watch and the Health app

I wear my Apple Watch every night while I sleep, and I have found it’s been helping me sleep better.

My watch sends a ton of information to my phone during the day, including information about how I am sleeping. When I wake in the morning, I head over to the Sleep summary in the Health app on my iPhone and check how I did that night. Here’s an example:

You can see this was a pretty good night for me. I slept for 7 hours, and I managed to get in a fairly decent amount (for me) of deep sleep. I don’t know if this is typical for most people, but it is for me. I have a number of deep sleep periods, about 4 periods of REM sleep, and the rest is core sleep. You can see I woke up twice, but barely for any time at all. I also found I was refreshed and alert the next morning. 

That wasn’t typical though. If you look below, you see my sleep for the week:

There’s quite a number of days where I was awake for large periods of time. Every day I would wake up and see that and think: what can I do to fix that? Some days it would be something simple, like the room was too warm. Or I ate too late. Other days it is due to more difficult things like too much stress. (Stressful days tend to cause other issues, like eating badly, which compounds the problem.) 

Before I had this data, I would let myself sleep badly for a long stretch of time. Now when I start seeing I am not getting enough sleep, I work hard to get the right conditions to get a better sleep the next night.

There are plenty of things you can do to maintain good health: eat well, exercise, and sleep well. The Apple Watch can help with all of those things. If you can get one with these features, I highly recommend it.

P.S. Why is deep sleep important? It could be the time your brain gets cleaned. To see what I mean, go here.

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If you want to keep track of the COVID-19 Wastewater Signal in Ontario, bookmark this

Posted on March 10, 2023 | Comments Off on If you want to keep track of the COVID-19 Wastewater Signal in Ontario, bookmark this

You can either bookmark this post or the actual URL that makes up the image above. The URL (or more accurately, URI) of the image stays the same, I think, but the data changes.

I’m glad it exists. I check the hospitalization and ICU numbers that come out every Thursday and they seem to align with the wastewater signal. That’s an indication for me at any given week how we are doing in terms of COVID-19, despite the dearth of other metrics like case loads or deaths.

While things in the first quarter of 2023 are better than the first quarter of 2022, there are still relatively high levels of COVID-19 in the wastewater. Manage your risk accordingly.

For more on wasterwater data, go here.

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For people whose mental health affects their home’s cleanliness (and vice versa)

Posted on February 11, 2023 | Comments Off on For people whose mental health affects their home’s cleanliness (and vice versa)


The New York Times has a good piece exploring the link between mental health and messy homes — as well as and how to deal with it — here, Why Clearing Clutter Can Feel Impossible.

For some people, a chaotic home can lead to more mental health problems which can lead to more chaos. The spiral needs to be broken. That article can help.

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On Dry January

Posted on January 20, 2023 | Comments Off on On Dry January

Kudos to all of you succeeding this long into your dry January this year. I hope you are crushing it. If you are not, or if you are curious about this and want tips on how to do it well, then check this out.

Dry January does not mean you can’t be social. No sir. If you want to have a party and keep it dry, there’s plenty of ways to do that. One way is with mocktails. For instance, here’s 6 Mocktail Recipes you can use. You can find a ton of such concoctions on the Web these days.

After some consideration, perhaps you want not so much a dry January and more of a…damp January? Yes, it’s a thing. Read this and see what I mean.

If you need more guidance: How to Drink Less Alcohol: 9 Tips for Drinking Less and Enjoying It More this Also this: How to Be Sober and Work in a Bar . And this recovering rule follower sobriety.

For people wanting to get on this healthy bandwagon, don’t wait until next year. As I have argued, February is the best month to do resolutions. Why not have a dry February? The best month to change is the one you’re in on the day you decide to change.

 

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On the mind and mental health

Posted on November 15, 2022 | Comments Off on On the mind and mental health


I sometimes posts links I find on physical health, which is all well and good. Here’s some pieces on mental health care and the the mind that I found worthwhile.

When I would run I was always struck by how I felt physically would literally changed my mind. If I was having a good run, positive thoughts would spring up. If I was struggling, plenty of negative thoughts arose. So I thought this was a good reminder of how our body — in this case, our physical heart — influences what we perceive and fear. Relatedly,  when you feel sick, you can thank your brain. It’s a good reminder to me of the tight interconnection between our physical and mental health.

An important way to take care of your mental health is therapy. Here are a few pieces on the topic. Therapy is important and useful, but it has its limits. For example,  this is a sad reminder of the limits of mental health therapy.  More on the topic of the limits of therapy, here: The philosophical roots of CBT help explain its limitations.

Moving on to a practical note, here’s a good piece on the importance of rituals. And this piece on training your brain for hard things is good. As is this one on how habit stacking will trick your mind into adopting a new habit.

Let’s not forget exercise. A reminder that even a single exercise session can help shift depression. That’s especially important in the winter time if you suffer from something like SAD. Besides exercise, there are other things you can do for it. See this and feel better.

Finally, if  Jonah Hill can take mental health breaks from his work, we all should.

Mental health is a serious matter, as is physical health. That’s why I think this made me sad: advice columnist does not take the mental health of someone’s dad too seriously.

Take care of yourself, mentally.

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Want to be healthier? You need to be more social

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Comments Off on Want to be healthier? You need to be more social


You have to socialize if you want to be healthier. That’s been tough during the pandemic. And it is tough for men in general. As VOX shows, men have fewer friends than ever.

Of course having friends is good, and if you can form new friendships, that’s great. But socializing with strangers is also healthy. This piece, talking to strangers, shows why.

Get out their and make small talk. Smile at people. Thank them for their help. You will be doing them a favour and yourself as well.

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Why polio? Why now?

Posted on August 30, 2022 | Comments Off on Why polio? Why now?

You may have heard that there have been new instances of polio outbreaks. There have been outbreaks in New York, in other parts of the U.S., and the world. If polio largely vanished thanks to vaccines, why is it now back? A good question, and one each of the pieces I’ve linked to tries to answer. The “TL; DR” answer is: it comes down to people being unvaccinated. We have had a rise in people rejecting vaccines for many reasons over the years, and this has lead to outbreaks of diseases that should be all but dead.

I remember getting vaccinated against polio and other diseases when I was young. The one disease I was terrified of was polio. There were lots of stories of people in iron lungs (shown above) that enabled people to live and breathe. The thought of being trapped in such a device made me easily get over any fears of needles and get the vaccine.

I really hope we don’t get a severe outbreak of that disease. No one should suffer with it, especially because there is no reason to.

If you are fearful of it, read those pieces for more information. And make sure whoever needs to gets their shots.

(Image: link to image in the S.A. above)

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Summertime fitness links, July 2022

Posted on July 20, 2022 | Comments Off on Summertime fitness links, July 2022


Here’s a list of things on fitness and health I’ve been collecting that you may find useful. It’s summer: at the very least it’s a good excuse to walk more and eat salads more. 🙂

Exercise: a nice list of articles on getting in shape…

Diet/weight loss: four pieces on losing weight

Health in general:

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For anyone needing medication in the USA, you need to check this out.

Posted on July 2, 2022 | Comments Off on For anyone needing medication in the USA, you need to check this out.

For anyone needing medication in the USA, you need to check out this service provided by the billionaire Mark Cuban: Cost Plus Drugs. They cover a wide range of medication and they clearly illustrate how they go about doing it.

Kudos to Cuban for doing this. It’s a highly practical and substantially useful service for people. I hope it saves people a ton of money. More importantly, I hope it saves and extends the lives of many in the USA.

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Two pieces on people Doing the Thing despite Difficulty

Posted on June 24, 2022 | Comments Off on Two pieces on people Doing the Thing despite Difficulty

Some people find it motivating to see people doing the thing (in this case art and running) despite challenges. If that’s you, then you may find these pieces worthwhile:

I admire people struggling and working to do the thing they love, despite their physical challenges. But I don’t romanticize the physical challenge. And I wish them (and all of us) the best of good fortune in overcoming it.

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On retiring my COVID-19 reporting (for now)

Posted on June 13, 2022 | Comments Off on On retiring my COVID-19 reporting (for now)


Recently I was reporting COVID-19 data daily. I wrote a program called covid.py that scraped the Ontario.ca Covid web site and and pulled out data for hospitalization and cases. It was a rough but useful gauge to see how COVID was going in Ontario, and I was able to get the information in a snap.

Unfortunately the information is no longer posted on the page I was visiting with my code. The data is out there somewhere in the datasets, but I think I will reconsider things before modifying my code. It is a shame that the data is harder to get though.

All these actions by government organizations to make it harder to get data is a bit frustrating. I read people say: you should track the pandemic and make good decisions. It’s hard to do that though when the information is hard to get.

For more information and data:  Government of Ontario data sets on COVID-19 are here. Government of Canada COVID-19 information is here. More on my code, here.

 

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How Many Close Friends Do You Need in Adulthood is a good question

Posted on May 19, 2022 | Comments Off on How Many Close Friends Do You Need in Adulthood is a good question


How Many Close Friends Do You Need in Adulthood asked The New York Times:

One 2016 study suggested people who have six or more friends have improved health throughout their lives, while a 2020 study by Suzanne Degges-White, professor and chair of the Counseling and Higher Education department at Northern Illinois University, found that middle-aged women who had three or more friends tended to have higher levels of overall life satisfaction.

Hmmm.

Before you dismiss it — I see you, fellow introverts! — go read it. Not everyone needs the same number of friends, nor does everyone need the same type of contacts. But like other parts of our lives, if we neglect our friendships, it has a adverse health on us.

We all need friends. And like exercise, we have to work at it as we get older. When we are younger, it’s much easier to find and make friends. For proof of that, check out this: Who We Spend Time with as We Get Older from FlowingData.

It’s been hard for anyone, young or old, to make and keep friends during these pandemic. Especially in places like Toronto, which suffered numerous lockdowns. But the weather is getting nicer, so get outside (literally) and work on your friendships.

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Three things to add to your first aid kit for minor mental health issues

Posted on April 12, 2022 | Comments Off on Three things to add to your first aid kit for minor mental health issues


Do you think: there are two types of people, those with mental health problems and those with no mental health problems? I used to think that way too. Like an on-off switch. Now I think of mental health as being on a slider switch.

Physical health can be like that. We can have cuts and pains that aren’t life threatening but require some form of physical first aid kit full of bandages and ASA to help us. Similarly, we can have minor bouts of anxiety and depression that also need dealing with. We should have a mental first aid kit to help us with that too.

Here’s three things to consider putting in your mental first aid kit. First, if you are feeling down more than usual, I recommend adding the HALT method. As they explain here,  How To Use the HALT Method When You’re Grumpy | Well+Good:

What Is the HALT Method? HALT stands for: Hungry Angry Lonely Tired The HALT method is based around the premise that you’re more likely to make poor, highly emotional decisions when hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. “The purpose is to help us identify these experiences when we are tempted to engage in a negative behavior and to instead address the underlying issue,” says Kassondra Glenn, LMSW, a social worker and addiction specialist at Diamond Rehab.

I’d add hungry or thirsty. I don’t know how many times I felt down in a minor way, drank some water, then suddenly felt better. Your down moods may be more serious than this, but like any first aid, try that first and see if it helps.

A second thing to put in your first aid kit is movement. Getting out and using your body has well been shown to help with anxiety and depression. Take a look at how much activity (or not) you’ve been doing when you are feeling slightly mental ill. You may need to get out more and move around. Even a brisk walk. For more on how to go about this and why, read: Can Moving the Body Heal the Mind? – The New York Times

The third thing I’d add is logging. Keep track of your moods and feelings and combine that with self care you’ve been applying to yourself. Log your sleep, your eating, your socializing and your movement and combine that with tracking your mood. Then try to apply the things discussed here and see if it changes.

Finally, if you had a headache or some other pain and you treated it and it persisted, you’d go see a doctor (I hope). Likewise with mental pains and sores. If these things don’t help you, go see your doctor. Take care of yourself the best way you can. For physical and mental illness.

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On the ethics of the pig heart transplant

Posted on March 17, 2022 | Comments Off on On the ethics of the pig heart transplant

David Bennett Sr. has died, two months after receiving a genetically modified pig’s heart. Like any transplant operation, there were ethical decisions to make. If you are an animal rights activist, you have even more ethical decisions to think about. But this particular transplant brings in even a broader range of ethical considerations, which is obvious once you read this: The ethics of a second chance: Pig heart transplant recipient stabbed a man seven times years ago.

I generally have faith in medical professionals to make the right ethical choices when it comes to transplants.  I think he should have received the transplant and a transplant from a pig is acceptable. But read about it yourself and see what you think.

 

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Forget resolutions and get healthier any time (My fitness and health links for March, 2021)

Posted on March 1, 2022 | Comments Off on Forget resolutions and get healthier any time (My fitness and health links for March, 2021)

Forget resolutions: you can get healthier and fitter anytime. Heck, stop reading this and go touch your toes or head out for a walk. When you finish that you can check out these 20 links to help you with exercising more, weighing less, drinking less, sleeping better or anything else related to fitness and health:

Exercise

  1. This is me:  When the Last Thing You Want to Do Is Exercise.
  2. Not all cardio has to kill you:  Low-Intensity Cardio Training: What Is It & How Does It Work?
  3. These are an old collection of links I’ve gathered that are good:  Are you in terrible shape? Not so terrible but bad enough shape? Do you need help? Here you go
  4. This Simple Piece of Equipment Could Elevate Your Workout. Can you guess?
  5. Especially good for people who can only workout at home:  How to get motivated to start exercising at home.
  6. One home form of exercise you can do:  Embrace winter with this 5-minute outdoor yoga practice to connect with the earth and stand tall.
  7. You will have to go outside for this, though:  Sprints.

Weight Loss:

  1. Very helpful if you feel stuck:  How shifting your expectations about food can help you lose weight.
  2. 15 Impressive Fitness Goals to Strive for That Aren’t Weight Loss. This is great. For example, stretching and being more flexible.
  3. I felt this was bogus, and so did many who read it:  Mike Pompeo tells The Post how he lost 90 pounds in six months. Glad he got fit, but I think he did that for reasons other than good health, and he lied how he did it.
  4. If you need a challenge:  The 30-Day Well Challenge 

Sobriety:

  1. If you are considering your drinking, think of how it affects others:  My sobriety is not just mine.
  2. This is good:  Reframe: Drink Less & Thrive 17+
  3. As is this:  Should You Try ‘Mindful Drinking’?

Sleep:

  1. A good intro to melatonin. It has not worked well for me, but it might for you:  Melatonin Isn’t a Sleeping Pill. Here’s How to Use It.
  2. My Before-Sleep Ritual Is to Treat Myself Like a Baby. I liked that.

Finally:

  1. Hey, this is good to know:  The Secret to Making Colonoscopy Prep Less awful
  2. I like the qualifiers here:  How to (Try to) Quit (Almost) Anything …
  3. Interesting:  Retiring the Cinderella view of the spinal cord as an intrabodily cognitive extension
  4. Also good:  Health Insider – Workout & Nutrition Blog

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Why some people in the hospital with COVID despite being vaccinated …

Posted on February 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Why some people in the hospital with COVID despite being vaccinated …

…is explained by this tweet from Dr Jennifer Kwan:

Yes, vaccines great reduce your chances from landing in the hospital from COVID. But it can still happen. Get vaccinated and stay well.

(Image from her tweet)

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Notes from having COVID last week

Posted on January 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Notes from having COVID last week

Last Monday (Jan 3) my daughter had a sore throat. She got tested later that evening and was positive for COVID. No one in my house/bubble had symptoms before that, but by Wednesday morning, all but one of us had them.

Our experience with the disease was similar to Liz Renzetti and her family, described here: Opinion: Lessons from the COVID not-so-sick bed – The Globe and Mail.

All of us felt tired and exhibited symptoms associated with COVID. I had a incessant cough, runny nose, stuffy head, and at one point fever then chills. I also slept a lot. Normally I am restless so if I am sleeping that much then I am sick.

We all isolated from each other as much as we could. We had a hepa filter going, and we were all vaccinated (and in some cases boosted). We did what we could to minimize the impact. As it was, the course of the disease took under a week (at least in terms of present symptoms).

People were great in offering us well wishes and close friends offering to bring us food. We were lucky to be able to have food delivered and appreciative of the people who did so.

We only had one rapid antigen test between us. (Good luck getting one of those anywhere.) We were all pretty sick, but we used it and the results were negative. My doctor friend tells me the false negative percentage is 30% (vs 1% false positive).  We acted all we all had COVID anyway and we likely did.

I don’t have any great insights into the disease. Get as vaccinated as you can as soon as you can. Follow local public health guidelines. Take care of yourself and others. Hang in there.

(Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash )

 

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What is healthy? (My fitness and health links for December, 2021)

Posted on December 5, 2021 | Comments Off on What is healthy? (My fitness and health links for December, 2021)


Here’s some links on fitness and physical health that are not typical. For example, I Did 340 Pushups a Day to Prepare for the TV Version of Prison. Then I Got There. Reading about this:  Emily Ratajkowski‚Äôs New Book Tests The Limits Of Self-Awareness got me thinking about this Dear Younger Me: Lauren Fleshman. Sometimes we push yourselves from the extremes of one form of unhealthiness to another. You may think these  Sample Menus for a 1 200 Calorie Diet can help you lose weight, but if so you should read this: 1 200 Calories a Day Is a Starvation Diet Actually, you may change your mind.

I still think carrying a lot of weight is unhealthy. As did this father: He Struggled to Play With His Daughter So He Turned to the Couch to 5K App to Lose Weight. Find your own level and continually move in the healthier direction.

If you use a fitbit, read this: How Many Steps Do You Really Need Each Day? If you are in the market for one, check this out: Your Fitbit Can Now Let You Know Whether You Snore. If you are looking for new shoes, consider these: Nike Air Zoom Alphafly Next Nature Running Shoe via Uncrate.

(Image via Uncrate)

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On the passing of Aaron Beck, developer of Cognitive Therapy

Posted on November 11, 2021 | Comments Off on On the passing of Aaron Beck, developer of Cognitive Therapy

Last week Dr. Aaron T. Beck died. He lived a century. As the Times said, his

brand of pragmatic, thought-monitoring psychotherapy became the centerpiece of a scientific transformation in the treatment of depression, anxiety and many related mental disorders

I’d argue he did as much if not more for the health and well being of people than any doctor or scientist.

I highly recommend reading this: Dr. Aaron T. Beck, Developer of Cognitive Therapy, Dies at 100 – The New York Times. I was fascinated to see the pushback he received over time, and how he fought back against. Truly a great man.

 

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Eight links to help you have a fitter fall. (Or my fitness and interests for October, 2021)

Posted on October 29, 2021 | Comments Off on Eight links to help you have a fitter fall. (Or my fitness and interests for October, 2021)

It’s fall and it’s a pandemic, but gyms are opening wide up and no doubt you (and I) want to get some of our fitness back. Here’s eight links I’ve found recently that could help:

(Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash )

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Health and wellness apps can be expensive. Here’s some alternatives

Posted on September 3, 2021 | Comments Off on Health and wellness apps can be expensive. Here’s some alternatives

I am sometimes surprised how expensive health and wellness apps can be. If you leave them running on your phone for a year, that can really add up.

And that’s too bad. People can really benefit from such apps, and being short of cash should not be a limit on getting well.

If this applies to you, then you want to check out these 7 Meditation Apps That Are Cheaper (and Better) Than Headspace and Calm .

Headspace and Calm are fine apps. But check out some alternatives.

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On clean water, Canada, and the First Nations

Posted on May 30, 2021 | 1 comment


We will soon enough have an election in Canada, and I hope this is a major topic during the campaign. No one should have undrinkable water in Canada. We need to do better as a country.

  1. If you want to read more about it, here are three links:What Would It Look Like to Take the First Nations Water Crisis Seriously? | The Walrus
  2. Liberal government will miss drinking water target by years, CBC News survey shows | CBC News
  3. Globe editorial: Since 1977, Ottawa has spent billions trying – and failing – to bring clean water to every reserve – The Globe and Mail

(Photo by manu schwendener on Unsplash )

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Can an app stop nightmares?

Posted on December 8, 2020 | Comments Off on Can an app stop nightmares?

smart watch
Occasional nightmares? No. But persistent nightmares, possibly.  WIRED magazine has the story, here:  How a Vibrating Smartwatch Could Be Used to Stop Nightmares | WIRED

If you want to access the app, click here.

Fascinating. I hope it helps.

(Photo by Oscar Nord on Unsplash)

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You need Vitamin D. Here’s why.

Posted on November 29, 2020 | Comments Off on You need Vitamin D. Here’s why.

From information is beautiful.

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Are you more worried these days? This can help

Posted on November 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Are you more worried these days? This can help


Are you more worried these days? Ha! I know you are: I see your tweets and your socials! Hey, it’s fine. These are difficult days. That’s not a licence to worry your head off though. Difficult or not, being able to worry less is a good skill to have.

If you don’t think it is a skill you have much of, read this. It will give you good practical tips to deal effectively with your worrying. Better yet, read it with a pen and paper handy; when you are done, write down a practical plan to change your worrying.

Worrying is a habitual way of thinking that can cause you damage. The good news is you can break that habit and change your thinking and have it shift away from worrying.  Worrying is like smoking or eating badly or any other harmful behaviors. Behaviors you can change. So set your mind on a different form of being. You’ll be calmer and more positive soon enough.

(Photo by Henrikke Due on Unsplash)

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Two good articles on sleep

Posted on November 4, 2020 | Comments Off on Two good articles on sleep

Man and dog sleeping

If you are having sleep problems, read #1. If you need to understand why you need to sleep more, read #2.

  1. Shuteye and Sleep Hygiene: The Truth About Why You Keep Waking up at 3 a.m.
  2. Scientists Now Know How Sleep Cleans Toxins From the Brain | WIRED

I especially liked #2. I had a long held belief that is why we sleep. It’s satisfying to see it established by science.

We all need clean and shiny brains. To do that, get some sleep.

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Gardening as a form of mental wellness

Posted on September 4, 2020 | 1 comment

Gardening is a tricky hobby. I’ve always associated it with older people. Which makes some sense: if you go to a gardening center in spring, it will be packed mainly with old folks. This is a bad prejudice to have. As this article by Samin Nosrat showed me, gardening can be a great activity to help with one’s mental wellness.

She starts:

Last winter I suffered a devastating bout of depression. Unable to do much else, I took to the neglected beds of the vegetable garden I share with my neighbors. Weeding and composting for hours a day, I was regenerating both the soil and something deep in myself. It felt so crucial to my well-being that sometimes I wore a headlamp to extend my work time past the waning daylight.

It’s worthwhile reading the entire article. She makes a great case for the goodness that gardening can do for you. After you finish it, you may want to rush out to a garden center and get started on your own garden and improved mental health.

(Photo by Benjamin Combs on Unsplash)

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Sweden: how not to deal with a pandemic

It’s not good to be too confident with making pandemic assessment, but the evidence is that Sweden has failed in their approach to dealing with it. According to this, via Sweden Has Become the World’s Cautionary Tale – The New York Times:

This is what has happened: Not only have thousands more people died than in neighboring countries that imposed lockdowns, but Sweden’s economy has fared little better.

“They literally gained nothing,” said Jacob F. Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “It’s a self-inflicted wound, and they have no economic gains.”

The experiment was Lose-Lose: they suffered more deaths and their economy is worse off.

There is much to be learned from what happened in the Nordic countries. We are learning at the expense of the Swedish people. Read the article for more details.

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Posted on July 7, 2020 in health, new!

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No area should get cocky when it comes to their dealing with the coronavirus

Because as this shows, How California went from a coronavirus success story to a new hot spot – Vox,  all you need to do is let your guard down and the disease comes back. I am reading stories of many places having surges and many places are having to go back into lockdown. I understand why people want to read stories of places like New Zealand where life has returned to normal. Life hasn’t returned to normal: all places have done is managed through strong measures to stop it from spreading in their area. Meanwhile it is spreading to other areas of the globe, like India. All it will take is enough relaxing of controls and it could come back stronger.

We know very little about this disease. Social distancing and masks seem to be helping to control it. That’s what we have for now: some level of control. No medicine is coming to help us yet. No mutation is coming to blunt it yet. We may have a long way to go.

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Posted on July 7, 2020 in health, new!

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For the few (I hope) young people who think they have nothing to fear from COVID-19

I recommend you read this: ‘Feeling Like Death’: Inside a Houston Hospital Bracing for a Virus Peak – The New York Times.

Sure, your survival rates may be higher than someone much older than you. But that doesn’t mean you still can’t suffer intensively and be weakened for much longer in the future.

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Posted on July 1, 2020 in health, new!

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Your brain is dirty. There’s only one way to clean it

Sleep. At least according to this:  ‘Waves’ of fluid clear the brain of toxins during sleep, say researchers – Big Think.

When you sleep, your brain is designed to wash away toxic chemical buildup in your brain. If that toxic buildup is allowed to stick around (due to lack of sleep), bad things happen to your brain and you.

So clean your brain. Get some sleep. See the article to understand more of this.

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Posted on June 29, 2020 in health, new!

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How giving up coffee affects you


This may not be something you want to try during the pandemic, but if you ever thought about giving up coffee or any other form of caffeine, read this: This Is What Happens to Your Body During a Caffeine Detox.

I was impressed by how detailed the article was. Also how your nervous system changes over time. Remarkable!

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Posted on June 12, 2020 in health, new!

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Lighten your mental load by lifting a physical one: lift weights to lift depression

You may hate lifting weights, but if you struggle with depression, even from time to time, then you should consider it.

More details, here: Resistance Training May Help Relieve Depression (Time)

What are you looking at in terms of exercise? It says:

He recommends following the guidelines provided by the American College of Sports Medicine: doing strength training at least two days per week by performing eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 10 different strength-building exercises each time.

Sounds hard, but it isn’t. And if you need some exercise routes, go to Darebee and find some routines you need.

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Posted on June 8, 2020 in fitness, new!

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Why running may help your brain

Based on this older study (For Your Brain’s Sake, Keep Moving – The New York Times), it seems like running helps the brain grow better. It’s a good read. It may also explain, at least in part, why people’s brains are not doing so great lately with the lockdown due to the pandemic.

We rightly attribute running to helping our muscles and our cardiovascular system. It seems to help our nervous system as well. Try to get out and move if you can.

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Posted on May 21, 2020 in new!, running

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