![]() Why Sleep is Good for Children? Our brains are always active, even when we are asleep. While sleeping, the brain clears out its waste, sorts and stores information into our memories and regulates many of our body’s functions. Sleep is important for everyone, especially children as they are growing and learning at a great rate. Here are some of the reasons why. Growth and development While a child sleeps growth hormone is released which is responsible for the development of bone and muscle bulk. Children who get less sleep have less growth hormone. Memory and therefore learning While a child sleeps the things they’ve done and learnt during the day get sorted and stored in their long-term memory. If they are sleep-deprived they’ll store 40% less information than those who get enough sleep. Also sleep prepares them for learning, ensuring children can stay awake, concentrate and pay attention. Emotional, Social and Mental Health Studies show when sleep deprived we become 60% more emotionally reactive and are physically slower responding to things; much like being drunk. Lack of sleep may explain why some children are hyperactive, miss social cues, have regular “melt downs”, are anxious or appear clumsy and uncoordinated. This may also account for some childhood accidents. Poor sleep is an issue in most mental health problems - anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder. Improves our immune system A child’s immune system keeps developing until adulthood. While sleeping they produce cytokines (small proteins), which help them fight infections. After just one poor night’s sleep the activity of cytokines reduces by 75%, making a child more susceptible to infections such as the common cold. Maintaining a healthy body weight Sleep helps regulate the daily fluctuations in the appetite hormones ghrelin (stimulates appetite) and lectin (suppresses appetite). This means children don’t feel the need to eat constantly throughout the day or to store excess calories, so they don’t gain too much weight. If they eat a healthy amount they will sustain their bodies and gain some muscle mass. Those children who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, although there are other factors that influence weight gain. The bodies of children who get enough sleep are able to react to insulin levels better. Insulin controls the levels of glucose in the blood. Those who don’t get enough sleep have higher blood sugar levels and are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. How much sleep is enough? Eric J. Olson’s (MD) guidelines recommend the following: Our next post on sleep will give some tips on how to establish good sleeping patterns for your children.
Fitness as we age Keeping fit when older is important and takes more effort the older we get. Fifty per cent of those over 75 are sedentary (sit most of the time) and 25% of those over 85 aren’t active at all. Habitual activity makes up a large part of all activity. Housework makes up more than half of an older woman’s activity. As we get older, fitness is more Important than weight, so relax about your shape and concentrate on fitness. So how fit are you? What walking distances can you comfortably do? ![]() Being unable to walk round the block is one indicator you have an increased risk of falling. Test your fitness with the “Get up and go test” – using a dining chair. Record how long it takes you to stand; walk three metres (10 feet); turn; walk back; sit down again. After a month of exercising, test yourself again. A change more than four seconds can indicate a change in the level of mobility eg six seconds slower indicates slower/less confident mobility or six seconds faster indicates stronger/more confident mobility. Below are some moderate intensity realistic exercise ideas for you to improve your fitness:
![]() You know your voice matters when you’ve lost it! Is ageing, disability, injury or illness affecting your ability to be heard? The pitch, pace, pause, tone and volume of your voice comprises about 38% of all your communication. We challenge you to reflect on the quality of your voice, to take action to improve it whether or not you have lost it. The quality of your voice affects your communication, so it matters. There is a range of things you can do to improve it, such as
If your problem is significant then we recommend you see a Speech Language Therapist through the public health system or privately. Some Christchurch people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, and Stroke, are learning to use their voice effectively with the Cantabrainers Choir. The Choir was established by Therapy Professionals in 2012. On 1 January 2019 the Cantabrainers Therapeutic Choir Charitable Trust took over management of the Choir. This is a choir with a difference. Its purpose is not so much to create sweet music but to provide a safe environment in which members can rediscover their voice. Difficulties with vocal expression are common in neurological conditions. For example, in Parkinson’s disease, the voice can become very quiet, rapid, flat and monotone. Following a stroke, people may experience a complete or partial inability to form spoken words. Even with the ability to plan words and sentences people may lack the muscle coordination, making words sound slurred and incomprehensible. Singing can be a route to overcome some speaking difficulties. For example, it is well-known people who stutter can often sing quite well; the underlying rhythm provided by music can overcome the difficulties in planning the sequencing of regular speech. For others, problems with speech may be due to memory impairment or word finding difficulty. The use of familiar songs, rhyming and repetition can be a very effective way of helping them become more fluent. Research shows, after trauma the brain may recover some abilities given effort and the right stimulation. Like getting fit, rewiring the brain (neural plasticity) requires intensive exercise to be done accurately and regularly. Choral singing makes practice enjoyable while the group encourages rehearsing for longer and experimentation. As a result people may, for example, speak louder, for longer and use more words. The Cantabrainers Choir is run by a Music Therapist and Speech Language Therapist because music and speech share many characteristics: pitch, rhythm, tone, pace and the volume. The Speech Language Therapist’s expertise is in understanding the relationship between ageing, disability, injury or illness and how it affects your voice. The Music Therapist’s expertise is in using music and singing to promote positive change with the voice. While the Music Therapist leads and accompanies the choir, the Speech Language Therapist focuses on individual coaching. If you have a neurological condition you may like to join the Cantabrainers Choir. Contact details are: Email: [email protected] Phone: 027 327 0291 Website: https://www.cantabrainerschoir.nz The 'failosophy' of coping when things go wrong From Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan 3:10 pm on 18 January 2021 ![]() 2020 may go in the record books as an epic fail for all the challenges it gave us. Elizabeth Day prefers to think of it as the year we got a lot of opportunities to learn about what to do when life doesn't go to plan. She's a writer and host of the podcast, How To Fail. Her new book brings together the lessons she's learned not from success but failure. It's called Failosophy: A Handbook For When Things Go Wrong. Listen to the full interview with Elizabeth Day
Day tells Afternoons she never intended for her book to come out in a year where a global pandemic raged, but the timing is auspicious because there’s a sense that the feeling of control we had over our lives has been taken from us. “Within that, it feels very disempowering. I, like many people, felt during the first national lockdown here in the UK that I was failing in small ways every single day. I started the lockdown full of good intentions, I was going to learn Italian, I was going to bake sourdough loaves, I was finally going to watch The Wire and I did none of those things. “I just concentrated on getting through the days, and that’s really what I want to say to people; if you’ve got through the year 2020, that itself is a success, you don’t need to have done anything else.” Day says failure is both an objective and subjective thing. For instance, by failing a driving test we’ve objectively failed, but internally we might think we’re a failure as a driver, which is subjective. “The point that I make in failosophy is that not every failure will be easily assimilated, not every failure is easy to learn from. A lot of failures will require a necessary period of mourning. “Once you come to terms with it, my belief is you don’t have to live in a place of perpetual sadness where you’re reliving the pain that that experience caused you. You can choose to be at peace with that sadness.” Pain, Day says, is inevitable and there’s nothing we can do to avoid it in our lives. However, suffering is optional. “We can choose how we respond to it and there’s no doubt that’s a hard thing to do, but there are ways you can do it.” One positive outcome of failure is learning and eventual success. For instance, we’re likely to sit the driving test again with more knowledge and succeeded in passing. And in relationships, we learn who we want in a partner from failed couplings. “The necessity of failure makes success not only taste sweeter but feel ultimately more nourishing and you can recognise it when you see it. Success for me is now about fulfilment and authenticity. It’s about being able to be who I truly am in all areas of my life.” Day says on of the positives of the previous year is that a lot of people got more open and honest about their mental health. She says the ‘leave-your-troubles-at-the-door’ positivity expected of people can make people feel worse about the fact that they already feel down or anxious. “A lot more people were experiencing what that was like and I’m all about that, I really think people should be enabled to bring their true self into every situation whether that be into an office, into a friendship, or into a relationship.” Reference: Radio NZ https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018780162/the-failosophy-of-coping-when-things-go-wrong ![]() Helping children get up and go From Nine To Noon, 11:27 am on 17 October 2019 When children lack motivation and drive, their parents can be lost as to how to help them regain direction. Education consultant and parenting coach Joseph Driessen told Kathryn Ryan that in these situations some children can be defeated by their lack of self-management, amid other possible problems like learning difficulties. “They're just depressed because they can't make themselves follow through. They can't make themselves tidy up their work. They can't make themselves remember what to do. They go to school disorganised. “Or some small children are just caught into a sort of an ADHD pattern of completely kind of being hyperactive and not calming down and not doing anything and eventually, both the parent and the child give up because they lack the skills or the system isn't working.” Listen to the full interview with Joseph Driessen
A lack of belief in one’s self or lack of confidence can arise after repeated failures, Driessen says. Eventually, the child can fall into a pit of realisation that they will not be able to accomplish anything and gives up, he says. Ultimately, their energy and feelings become negative. But there are also children with attention deficit disorder, Driessen says, whose neurological system is far more focused on the immediate outcomes rather than the prioritising the most important goals and tasks. “And so you get sidetracked, you don't read your list, you forget your diary, you don't pack your bags because something else takes the place and you just get caught in the moment and you think, 'well, that's fine that's what my brain told me to do, but now I forgotten this'. “Repeated failures of that, that can cause a child to become deeply demotivated.” As a result of a lack of coherent planning and execution of important tasks, he says teenagers can feel down about sustained failure and not progressing in areas at school. Strategies to help However, there are ways for parents to help children who fall into that predicament. Driessen says the first thing to note is sometimes in these situations even the parent feels defeated. “But what the children really most respond to, what I found and what the research finds, is that actually the adult takes it seriously and sits down with them and initiates a series of conversations initially, then actions. “So a conversation might be 'well this is not working, you're doing year 11 NCEA, you haven't started anything, it's a shambles, and we've tried, let's sit down and work hard, and then let's have some expectations of change, and let's do that together'.” The parent's determination, guidance and analysis of what’s really happening gives the child hope, he says. “Goal setting is very important, but each goal should have a reasonable stage for what they can do, and they should tick them off and feel that we're getting there. “Goals really need to be based on their dreams on what they really want to achieve … you can't ram goals down people's throats.” And getting that conversation going is a good start, but it must be followed up with insistence for accountability to wake the child up a little, he says. Driessen suggests parents also enforce better routines – going to bed at a certain hour, unpacking at a certain time, and so forth. “The second thing is you got to realise that some children can't - they're just so scattered, it's not their fault. They can't concentrate on what's most important now, and so very short lists with colours and big letters on the fridge, changing them in the morning, in the afternoon, evening, because some children just can't cope with 10 things, they just need three. “Or little reminder cards, or kneeling down at the child's level and looking them in the eye and say, remember, what is the most important thing you're supposed to be doing now?” Another approach Driessen recommends is the Montessori system, whereby children organise themselves and become more self-aware by writing down when they did certain tasks and for how long. He says these tactics will create a more simple and explicit communication system - lists, cards, labels – so that the child can eventually learn to manage themselves. Driessen also notes it’s critical that this process is ongoing – that they revisit where they’ve reached, with frequent catch-ups or chats – otherwise there’s a risk of them backsliding. Some parents misunderstand how much guidance, structure, accountability and encouragement children need, he says. Positive reinforcement in between is key On the other hand, some parents can also become over-stressed or disappointed to the point where they only focus on when the child fails. It pays to be positive with research showing that we are designed to follow positive reinforcement, Driessen says. “You might say to a child who's had quite a bad day, 'well, some parts of the day went really, really well, and I'm really happy about that’. So you keep on focusing on what goes well, and how they could improve and you keep on saying, 'well, you're just growing up and you're just getting a little bit better'. “Because once a child has that self image of ‘I'm a failure’, they will be surprised and will not accept your compliments … But once a child thinks, 'well maybe I'm getting better at whatever it is', then you can say, ‘well, let's try and be better next time’.” To encourage and get that child feeling they’re accomplishing, parents can try to focus on picking the small battles first, he says. “Some children actually are quite stubborn, once they enter this dysfunctional behaviour, they are not going to do it. In the worst cases, the parents get really angry and then has a massive row and then not doing anything and the whole thing starts again. But it's better to actually start small.” For example if a parent is concerned their child is not doing homework and exams are coming up, they can start by telling them that without any exceptions at such a time they will unpack their bag. They may be stubborn and ‘forget, he says, but the adult must remain firm on their resolution and try to win in this “battle of wills”. “They reluctantly sit down at the table and do it, unpack that bag and then [the adult] says, ‘well, that's really good … okay, now the next thing is that we're going to do...' so you carry on. “You win one small battle, you make it a habit, and then you make the next a small habit, and you win that. Sometimes the initial winning, that the parent actually prevails and the child gives in, actually is what the child wanted. They wanted an adult to take charge, set limits, obtain them.” Reference: Radio NZ Nine to Noon ![]() Reducing your risk of dementia as cases soar From Nine To Noon, 9:35 am on 27 July 2021 Currently, 70,000 New Zealanders have dementia. That's set to rise to 170,000 by 2050. Auckland psychiatrist Dr Etuini Ma'u is the co-author of a University of Auckland study that shows the potential for reducing rates of dementia by targeting common risk factors in middle-aged New Zealanders. 'It's a really simple message to get out there - anything that is good for your heart is good for your mind' : Add to playlist Download It's a misconception that dementia is a disease of the elderly, Dr Ma'u says. While the symptoms manifest in older age, in the 20 years before there are incremental changes occurring in the brain of a person who will develop dementia. There are twelve modifiable risk factors for dementia, as highlighted in a 2020 Lancet Commission report: less education (i.e. not completing high school) hypertension, hearing impairment, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, low social contact, excessive alcohol consumption, traumatic brain injury, and air pollution. The University of Auckland study also looked at the prevalence of these risk factors across different ethnicities in New Zealand - and found they differed between ethnic groups, Dr Ma'u says. To be effective, any government dementia prevention strategy would have to be tailored to target New Zealand's ethnic groups specifically. "For example, in Pacific Island groups, because the cardiovascular risk factors are so much higher potentially, that's where the targets need to be. But in Europeans, depression and social isolation are coming up with the strongest link, on top of hearing loss." The study's findings are a great starting point for discussion about how New Zealand can target dementia risk factors and reduce dementia prevalence. "It's a really simple message to get out there - anything that is good for your heart is good for your mind." Dr Etuini Ma'u is a consultant psychiatrist at Waikato Hospital and a senior lecturer in Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland. Reference: Radio NZ ![]() Is running or walking better for you? From Sunday Morning, 7:45 am on 29 November 2020 Share on Twitter Share on Linked In We all know the benefits of exercise are enormous — but do we need to run to get the best physical returns, or can we get enough just from walking in the time we have to exercise? In a recent piece in New Scientist, sports engineer Steve Haake pitted running against walking and dispelled a few myths along the way. He told Jim Mora that the mechanisms for the two exercises are subtly different and that as a species, humans are built for endurance. “We’re designed for going long distances, hunting for our food, when you find that food what you do is stuff it down your face, you’ll eat as much of it as you can, you put on weight… we’re very good at putting on weight, we’re designed to do that, so that then you can go walking long distances hunting out your next bit of prey, you lose weight while it happens and then you find your next bit of prey and stuff your face with that.” Listen to the interview on Sunday Morning with Jim Mora He says anecdotally, running and walking produce the same amount of injuries as each other, though stories of runners’ injuries are more talked about. But he says there is also an abundance of evidence that running helps lower the risk of health defects such as cardio-vascular problems, diabetes and stroke, compared with walking. However, there are caveats. “If you walk half as fast and twice as long (as a run), you cover the same distance, you’ve done the same amount of energy as running it in half the time… the risk (of those health problems) was the same. “The key is getting your heart rate up, a brisk walk is as good as a slow run, it just takes longer to get there.” Professor Steve Haake So, while you may think walking is better for you than running or vice versa, Haake says it is important to remember that both are a safer option than doing nothing. “Generally in a country like New Zealand and the UK we’ll have 25 percent of the country being completely inactive, doing less than 30 minutes [of exercise], so that’s our sedentary population which we worry about a lot… we have these problems over here in the UK where people will automatically just get in their cars to drive to the shops, to go and buy the paper, to go to work… and then they’ll sit there for 15 minutes in the car and it just does not do them in any good when they could’ve probably walked in 10, 15, 20 minutes. “So, those 10, 15 or 20 minutes, if you are sedentary, are the most important 10 minutes of your life, they are likely to save your life… you want to do 150 minutes brisk walking] a week at least (to reduce your chances of disease by 10 percent).” Reference: Radio NZ ![]() The ability to imitate another person is the cornerstone of speech development, social skills and motor abilities so it's critical we see it getting underway in young children, says speech and language therapist Christian Wright. Babies usually start copying the actions of adults from around six months of age, at about ten months they will show delight at being imitated themselves. At around the age of one, they start to imitate gestures - just around the time their first words are emerging. If by 18 months old, a child doesn't seem interested in copying gestures - such as waving, pointing and high-fiving - and also isn't babbling, that's a red flag for speech development problems, Christian says. A child's 'gesture vocabulary' - the range of gestures they have at 18 months - has been shown as a predictor of their spoken word vocabulary at 3.5 years. Imitation blossoms through face to face interaction, and it is a vehicle for your child learning how to show an interest in someone, how to show emotion, how to take a turn and how to pay attention, he says. To support a child's imitation development, Christian recommends games like Peekaboo and Ah-Boom, which was developed by American speech therapist Laura Mize. Songs like 'If You're Happy and You Know It' will help a child get better at clapping and playing with a balloon together can be helpful, too. Focus on developing their imitation skills before working on language, he says. "We want children to say words but if you don't know how to copy and you can’t copy very well and you're not very accurate when you do it, words are just too complex." Reference: Nine to Noon, Radio NZ. Travelling with the elderly: Know the risks Is it safe for seniors to be travelling now? Or should the elderly hit the brakes on non-essential leisure travel plans amid the current pandemic? from Aged Care New Zealand Issue 2 2021 ![]() Know the risks of air travel Air travel poses certain risks to the frail and elderly. Below is an abridged list that one should be aware of. Hypoxia – this is essentially a change in cognition due to the changing air pressures. This is frustrating in that it can be undetectable except through magnetic resonance scans. One might sense something is off if the elderly person acts delirious during or after the flight. Stroke – The leading cause of inflight death is cardiac related. If the older person has had a stroke in four or less weeks, they should not fly. The trip should be postponed (ideally until the patient is fit and well) or the trip should be made on the ground. Similarly, if they have had a myocardial infarct within three months, they should not be flying. Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism – in layman’s terms, if one sits for a long time one decreases blood circulation and increases the risk of blood clots. These clots may present later after the travel experience. The Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) offers this advice for travellers, “air travel may increase a person’s risk for VTE (Venous thromboembolism) by two - to four fold”. They go on to point out other studies found: “A similar increase in risk is also seen with other modes of travel, such as car, bus, or train, implying that the increase in risk is caused mainly by prolonged limited mobility rather than by the cabin environment”. Effect on body gases – the pressure changes within the cabin also affect the gases inside a person’s body. Travellers should avoid carbonated drinks and gas-producing foods like beans, chewing gum, cabbage and brussel sprouts. Ear and sinus problems – severe ear pain, tinnitus, or vertigo occurs in nine percent of air travellers. That statistic is for all ages, so the elderly has an even higher chance of being impacted. Any persons with a middle ear and sinus problems will have an extremely painful experience and possibly cause damage to their health. Motion sickness – those in a frail condition are most prone to motion sickness. The sudden lift off and any turbulence along the way may leave them feeling nauseous. This can lead to dehydration and a host of other scenarios. Those travelling with them should plan ahead and administer an anti-nausea band or anti-nausea medicine prescribed by their doctor before boarding. Other measures one can take is to pre-select seats away from the engines and closer to the plane’s centre of gravity (ie the inside seats slightly behind the wings). Some experts also recommend flying at night to reduce the visual elements. Temperature regulation – aircraft tend to be highly air-conditioned to lower the risk of infection, so don't forget the simple items like light jackets to control the person’s core temperature. ![]() Road Trips When going on the road with an elderly person, carers need to remember the basics. Plan on frequent stops, every two hours. Sitting for a prolonged period is hard on the body and will increase fatigue. It is likely that all travellers will need the restroom anyway, so plan on each of these stops adding an hour to the trip. The older person is moving slowly but you need to be sensitive to their health condition. And last but not least, if there is any doubt about how the person may be impacted by flying or driving long distances it might be a good idea to look into alternative travel services such as medical transport. Ref: Aged Care New Zealand Issue 2 2021 Some self defence basic breakaways 1. Avoiding Kicks Turn back side of leg, keep foot on the floor, step into kick turning your body away 2. Avoiding hits Both arms up to block, protecting your face ![]() 3. Wrist Grab – use element of surprise
![]() 4. Choke hold
![]() 5. Hair pull
6. Clothes hold – same as hair - push knuckles
7. Bites
You can also access: http://www.quc.ac.uk/schools/schoolofnursingandmidwifery/clinical educationcentre/videoteachingresources/breakawaytechniques/ Reference: ©Pumahara Consultancy 2018 |
AuthorShonagh O'Hagan Archives
July 2024
|