People seriously ill with cancer often need help, and others want to help them. The question is, How can their needs best be met? An organization called Gilda’s Club Worldwide is devoted to helping organize a network of support, matching friends and family members with tasks that can best assist the person who is ill.
Examples of needs to be met are:
– Running errands, such as grocery shopping.
– Cleaning the house.
– Helping to care for young children and/or pets.
– Assisting with yard work.
– Doing important paperwork, such as paying bills and handling health insurance issues.
– Providing transportation to appointments or a local place of worship.
– Keeping concerned relatives and friends updated on the ill person’s progress.
For more information on Gilda’s Club Worldwide, visit www.gildasclub.org or call 888-GILDA-4-U.
Mosquito protection
Although the warmth of summer may lure you into spending long hours outdoors, be wary of mosquitoes, especially from dusk to dawn. Mosquitoes carry the threat of West Nile virus, and the only way to avoid it is to “fight the bite,” notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People ages 50 and older are at highest risk of severe disease.
Reminders of what you can do to keep the bugs at bay can be found at the centers’ Web site, www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile. The most important step is to use insect repellent containing DEET. Products with 23.8 percent DEET offer about five hours of protection. You also can protect yourself by wearing long sleeves, long pants and socks.
If you’re doing yard work, avoid activity in the evening and early morning, when mosquitoes are particularly active. It’s equally important to keep your screens in good repair and to drain standing water near the house.
Before traveling, check out the Web site’s map of mosquito activity levels. It clearly marks the distribution of mosquito infection among animals and humans by state.
Limit bruising
Aging and bruising seem to go hand in hand, and it’s not just because you keep bumping into things. As we get older, the skin’s dermis thins and blood vessels weaken, making us more prone to bruising, says Jamison Starbuck, a naturopathic physician at the University of Montana at Missoula, in the July issue of Bottom Line Health. Medications such as ibuprofen (Advil) and aspirin also can lead to more bruising because they thin the blood.
There are ways to improve the health of your skin and limit bruising. Starbuck suggests the following:
– Eat flavonoid-rich foods, which have antioxidants that strengthen cell membranes. Have two servings daily of oranges, lemons, blueberries, blackberries, onions or green tea.
– Pop 500 milligrams of vitamin C with each meal.
– Try a 240-milligram daily dose of elderberry or bilberry.
– Move, move, move. Exercise keeps the body’s circulation moving, reducing bruising.
– Important: If your bruises are very large, painful and accompanied by bleeding in other places, see a doctor.
