On issues of health, women must speak up
This is my first column for 2006. A heart infection put me in Sacred Heart Hospital and Waterford Extended Care from Christmas Eve until Jan. 28. I have been assured of complete recovery, and am under the superior care of my daughter, Jenny, and the Visiting Nurses Association’s excellent staff. I am grateful for the calls, cards and good wishes, all of which made me realize how good my life has been and will be again.
Observing medical facilities “up close and personal,” gave me the chance to see that older women sometimes are at a disadvantage. This may be in part because we are vague in describing our symptoms. We often have not documented our medications, our recent health history, or what we perceive to be the problem. Women also tend to be more intimidated by physicians and are reluctant to challenge doctors’ diagnoses.
Having said all that, however, it seems obvious to me that doctors are obligated to understand the differences in the way men and women describe their medical conditions. The new emphasis on women and heart disease is a good example of this disparity.
Faculty at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine have said that “Women are more likely to present with shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, nausea and fatigue; these symptoms are frequently thought to be related to anxiety, which is more common in women.” There is also evidence to “suggest that women tend to delay seeking treatment.” This may be because of fear, but more likely, it is a financial issue.
I hope to see more women taking a larger role in their own health care, speaking up and calling attention to their needs.
Watching from the sidelines
While I recuperated in bed, our colleagues in the Eldercare Alliance were fighting for the rights of seniors before the Washington Legislature.
The Eldercare Alliance is composed of The Alzheimer’s Association of Western and Central Washington, Eldercare Northwest, the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, the Resident Councils of Washington, the Washington Adult Day Services Association and the Washington Association of Area Agencies on Aging. The last group included representatives from the Eastern Washington Area Agency on Aging, with staff support headed by Nick Beamer. One of the group’s continuing goals is the restoration of the 2005 cut in funds. (During the last legislative session these agencies lost 3.75 percent in funding for case management).
There was testimony urging funding increases for respite care, funding for non-Medicaid eligible seniors and an adjustment in rates for adult day health services. We salute those who speak on our behalf and now our part is to keep track of our legislators’ voting records. For more information, call Aging and Long Term Care of Eastern Washington at 458-2509.
‘Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker’
However, only coffee seems to improve your short-term memory.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune reported that a team of Austrian researchers using advanced brain imaging have found that caffeine in coffee and soft drinks makes people more alert.
Testing approximately four cups of coffee on Americans (three times the world average), it was discovered that short-term memory activity increased in the frontal lobe (the kind of memory used to look up a number in the telephone book and remember it long enough to dial it). What a novel idea!
A poem for closing
My dear friend, Betty First, who also has some health problems, shared the past two months with me, first at Sacred Heart Hospital, then at The Waterford. This poem seems to define her:
“Testament”
Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble,
Courage in your own.
-Adam Lindsay Gordon