Day 235, Year 10: Cold, Rainy Weather
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Weather: Cold and Rainy All Day, High Temp Barely 50 degrees F
Location: Quissett Harbor, Falmouth, MA
I wish I could report that it was warmer today than yesterday, but it was not. If anything, it was a couple of degrees cooler. Cool is one thing, but damp and cool is just no fun. The weather forecast shows that we should gain a few degrees each day until next Wednesday when the high should be 70. All I can hope is that it just keeps climbing from there!
We seem to spend a great deal of time in doctors’ offices these days and today was no exception. We started at 8:30 am with my appointment with the rheumatologist. The good news is that I don’t need to see her again as I do not have rheumatoid arthritis. Instead, I’m privileged to be one of the 27 million Americans that suffer from common osteoarthritis which I already knew. And there’s no magic pill for this. You just have to keep moving. Use it or lose it is what the doctor said. So she sent me to physical therapy and the rest is up to me. Yesterday’s x-rays showed that my left knee is a mess, but I already knew that as well. But the doctor did confirm that I’m not hurting anything by putting off surgery. So I’m good to go. Mark’s appointment with the orthopedic doctor was this afternoon and he basically got news. The doctor thinks his partially dislocated rotator cuff is healing. He gave him a cortisone shot for the pain and sent him to physical therapy as well. So we’re going to keeping those therapists busy in the next couple of weeks.
Heather sent an email this afternoon inviting us to dinner tonight. She said the boys requested our presence, so, of course, we accepted. Tomorrow we are going to pick the kids up from school early and take them to their annual dentist appointment. Heather is out of town tomorrow, so Jed will meet us at the dentist office and help rotate the boys through. It is most convenient that the dentist is right in Woods Hole, so Jed can walk over from work in a couple of minutes. With Heather and Jed both working, their schedules can get absolutely insane and we are so glad we are here and can help out a bit. We love any excuse to spend time with those little Goldpebbles.
In between doctor appointments today, Mark and I both worked in the storage unit. Mark’s job was to go through our extensive collection of sailing books and decide which ones to get rid of. We ended up with three plastic bins to sell or give away and one box to keep. So, painful as it is, the paring down of things in the storage unit continues and will do so until Heather’s yard sale on June 20. What we don’t sell there will go to the Swap Shop at the dump. Books will be donated to the Falmouth Library for their annual 4th of July week sale.
And now the news on longevity. I finished the book, “Spring Chicken”, and as expected, there is no fountain of youth out there . . . yet. Scientists are working hard on this, but one of the issues is whether or not this earth can really sustain a ‘living longer’ population. I think most of us would just like to be healthier for the years we have. And there are things that look promising in helping us to do that. But there are lots of ‘buts’. Here’s my take on the suggestions in the appendix to the book listing things that might work.
1) Scientists know that resveratrol is definitely effective in preventing aging, BUT getting enough of this to do the job is the trick. It is in red wine, but you can’t get enough by just drinking wine. And the supplements on the market are not reliable. Supplements are not regulated by the FDA and sometimes you simply don’t get what you think you are buying. But drinking red wine is probably a good idea as many studies show that moderate drinkers of any kind of alcohol are far better off than teetotalers, especially in terms of cardiovascular health. And since red wine has the redeeming quality of resveratrol, it seems the best thing to drink.
2) After years of saying coffee is bad for you, some scientific studies now indicate that drinking coffee might extend your life. One thing it seems to do is lower your risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.
3) And there is good news for those people who do have Type 2 diabetes and are taking metformin. For some mysterious reason, it seems to be one the most promising anti-aging drugs available. Lots of studies show that people on metformin have less cardiovascular disease, less cancer, and possibly even better cognitive functioning.
4) Curcumin, an ingredient in the spice turmeric, is trying to be a shining star in the longevity race, but like resveratrol, it is hard to get enough of this. It definitely works as an inflammatory agent and this is a good thing. So it’s not a bad idea to eat turmeric anyway you can get. BUT if you take the Curcumin supplements, try hard to find out if you are really getting what you are paying for.
5) Aspirin and Ibuprofen are both anti-inflammatories, so if you are taking them for pain, you get double your money. They might be extending your life span as well. One study found that ibuprofen is associated with a significantly lowered risk of Alzheimer’s. That’s an interesting concept that certainly needs more research.
6) Vitamin D . . . If you live in this country you have more than a 70 per cent chance of being Vitamin D deficient. BUT taking a supplement might not be enough to alleviate the problem. At least one scientist who has studied Vitamin D extensively advocates a little bit of sun exposure a few times a week without sunscreen. Evidently Vitamin D supplements need UV rays to activate. BUT then we have to worry about melanoma.
The two things that are mentioned over and over in the book are eating less and exercising more. Since neither of those things costs us a penny and certainly can’t hurt us, I guess they would be the best advice, no BUTS about it.
