10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Smoking Cigarettes

Saturday, November 19^th is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout event. Smoke from across the nation can use this day as a way to finally decide that they should quit smoking, or have it be the day when they actually quit. Either way, the goal is to create more non-smokers.

According to the CDC, as of 2014, approximately 17% of American adults smoked cigarettes. That equates to about 40 million adults. There have been many studies done showing the harmful effects of cigarettes, yet many adults continue to smoke.

With the Great American Smokeout just around the corner, we want to share 10 reasons why you should quit smoking cigarettes today:

1. The smoking rate has declined in the last 10 years; 21% in 2005 to 17% in 2014. More people realize the harm smoking does to their bodies.
2. Even with the drop in number of people smoking, almost 500,000 deaths each year can be attributed to smoking. This is 1 in every 5 deaths.
3. Smoking can hard almost every organ in your body and can cause many diseases.
4. Smoking is the cause of over a dozen cancers, including esophagus, lung, stomach, liver, kidney, cervix, bladder, colorectal and more.
5. Smoking causes 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths.
6. Smoking causes almost 2 dozen chronic diseases, such as stroke, cataracts, heart disease, pneumonia, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes, reduced fertility, arthritis and more.
7. Smoking may increase your risk of stroke and heart disease by 2 to 4 times.
8. Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers.
9. Within 2 to 5 years after you quit smoking your risk of having a stroke could fall to the same level as a nonsmoker.
10. Within ten years after you quit smoking your risk of lung disease drops by half.

If you haven’t seriously thought about quitting smoking in the past, now is as good a time as any. There are deadly consequences to people who continue to smoke. As each year goes by once you quit, you start to reverse the negative effects smoking had on your body. We have seen first-hand what a lifetime of smoking does to the health of a person. Use the Great American Smokeout event on November 19^th as your reason to quit.

At Assisting Hands^® Home Care, our goal is to provide our clients with the help they need to keep them safely in their own home for longer. Whether you need someone to be with your loved one during the day, in the evening or overnight, our at-home care can accommodate your needs. You will have peace of mind knowing that they aren’t home alone when they need help with medication, fall prevention, personal care, eating or other needs.

Contact us today to schedule your free in-home fall prevention assessment at 630-305-9100. To learn more about our in home senior care, click here.

Health Risks that Increase for Veterans

Did your dad, uncle, grandfather or a female relative serve in one of the armed forces? Chances are that someone in your family was in the military. My dad was in the Army, stationed in Key West during the Bay of Pigs invasion. You may think that Key West would be a prime place to be stationed, but being that close to Cuba during those trying times was not the ‘fun-in-the-sun’ that you might think!

On behalf of everyone here at Assisting Hands® Home Care, we want to thank all veterans for their service. It is because of their service that we have the freedoms we sometimes take for granted. We pray that the men and women currently serving in the Armed Forces stay out of harm’s way.

In addition to the dangers that these soldiers face, there are a variety of health risks that are greater for men and women who serve in the military than those who do not. Below we identify the added health risks they may face.

Most of these factors are prevalent whether veterans are young or old:

• Higher Risk of Heart Disease. Veterans who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) may have blood vessels that don’t expand as much as non-veterans, leading to a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. According to a researcher from the University of California, San Francisco, there needs to be more research into the relationship between mental health and cardiovascular disease.

• Suicides. Beginning in 2008, the rate of suicides in the Army outnumbered those of civilians. Almost one-third of suicides of military personnel involved alcohol or drug use. Depression and PTSD are suicide risk factors that should not go unchecked.

• ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). U. S. veterans are almost twice as likely to contract ALS as the rest of the population, according to the ALS Association. It doesn’t seem to matter if the veteran served in a time of war or peace. Researchers are still looking for the link between military service and this incurable disease.

• Cancers and Other Health Problems Associated with Agent Orange Exposure. Veterans who served in Korea or Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange are at an increased risk for several diseases, including cancers, type 2 diabetes, Hodgkin’s disease, heart disease and more. It is even more important that these veterans and their loved ones take care of them in the hopes of preventing one of these diseases.

At Assisting Hands® Home Care we take pride in serving our veterans, as well as civilians. With all the sacrifices they have made for our country, we are honored that we can be with them when you can’t be there. Our caregivers are aware of these health risks and are trained to look for these symptoms.

Whether you need someone to be with your loved one during the day, in the evening or overnight we can accommodate your needs. You will have peace of mind knowing that your loved one isn’t home alone when they need help with medication, fall prevention, personal care, eating or other needs.

Contact us today to schedule your free in-home fall prevention assessment at 630-305-9100.

Will you need long-term care in the future?

Everyone thinks about the future to some extent. Where will you go for vacation? Should you change jobs? How much money do you need to retire?

But have you thought about long-term care? Regardless of how old you are, you should think ahead about this type of care. The services we provide at Assisting Hands^® Home Care fall under long term care. They include things like personal care, meal preparation, light housekeeping, grocery shopping and companionship.

 

‘I’m fine. I eat right and exercise. I won’t need those services.’

You may be thinking, ‘I’m fine. I eat right and exercise. I won’t need those services. That’s for someone else.’ We hope so! But you would be surprised. We have clients from all walks of life and health conditions. They might not have thought in their 40’s that they would need assisted living services, but circumstances change. One fall or other type of accident and you may find yourself needing an extra set of hands to help you, even for a short period of time. Regardless of your age today, think about this type of care for your future self.

Did you know that Medicare does not provide coverage for this type of long-term care services? Medicare will cover medically necessary care, such as physical therapy to help a person regain function on a short-term basis. Many private insurance plans have similar types of coverage. There are other types of coverage, such as long-term care insurance to protect you or your loved one. But those policies are easier to get when you are younger and healthier (and not necessarily thinking about these types of needs).

 If you haven’t thought about long-term care before, here are a few facts:

 

·         Almost 3 of every 4 people turning 65 today will need some type of long-term care service and support.

·         Women will need care for longer than men (3.7 years versus 2.2 years respectively)

·         Twenty percent of seniors will need long-term care services for more than 5 years

·         Two-thirds of seniors have some sort of in-home care versus about one-third having care in an outside nursing or assisted living facility.

At Assisting Hands^® Home Care, our goal is to provide our clients with the help they need to keep them safely in their own home for longer. Whether you need someone to be with your loved one during the day, in the evening or overnight, our at-home care can accommodate your needs. You will have peace of mind knowing that they aren’t home alone when they need help with medication, fall prevention, personal care, eating or other needs.

Contact us today to schedule your free in-home fall prevention assessment at 630-305-9100. To learn more about our in home senior care, click here.