Caring Currents

Would you cut back your work hours if you knew that working long days could -- literally -- kill you? This week researchers announced data showing that stress from overwork can indeed kill.

There were actually two studies released showing similar results. The first study found that people who work more than ten hours a day are about 60 percent more likely to develop heart disease or have a heart attack than people who clock just seven hours a day. This study was conducted by following British civil servants. Those who put in three hours of overtime had higher rates of myocardial infarction (MI), angina, and death from a coronary attack.

In a second study showing similar results, female nurses in Denmark who felt they were under "too much" pressure at work were found to have a significantly increased risk of developing angina or myocardial infarction (MI).

The real shocker: The people who worked longer hours were actually healthier, overall, than the other people studied...  Read more

Okay guys and gals, let's talk about one of the most confusing and most common types of cancer: prostate cancer. Prostate cancer causes endless confusion and worry, because in many cases doing nothing -- also called "watchful waiting" -- is the best approach. But in other cases, the cancer can be aggressive, move to other parts of the body, and then it's another story altogether.

There's big news this week that can help us figure out what we need to do.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University announced that an updated version of the standard prostate cancer test, which they've dubbed the Prostate Health Index, can improve predictions about which men need immediate treatment, and which don't. It's basically an amped-up version of PSA screening, which measures the blood levels of a protein produced by prostate cells called prostate-specific androgen. The new test measures blood levels of three different types of PSA, called pro-PSA, free PSA, and serum total PSA...  Read more

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If so, you have plenty of company. Generally speaking, men don't handle illness well. Psychologists have lots of theories on this topic, having to do with men needing to be in control and all that, but when it comes right down to it, all we need to talk about here is the fact that many men make lousy, grouchy, and often ungrateful patients. And cancer, with it's complexities of understanding and treatments that can be almost as hard to endure as the disease, is not going to bring out the best in most people to begin with.

So when a man in your life has cancer, and you're running around and trying to understand medical-ese and dealing with doctors and cooking tempting meals and he's being - well, let's say it -- plain old mean -- what do you do? It's awfully hard to take. We're doing this out of love - is it too much to ask to feel loved while we do it?

This has been a hot topic among Caring...  Read more

Today I heard the news that Doug Feiger, lead singer of the late '70s new wave band The Knack (Remember the hit "My Sharona?") died of metastatic lung cancer over the weekend. He was 57 and had battled the disease for several years.

The news made me sad because Feiger is one in a surprisingly long list of 70s and 80s Baby Boomer icons, including Patrick Swayze and John Hughes, to die in recent months, and I think it's making all of us in that age range sit up and take notice.

But what really moved me were some words Feiger said to another journalist when interviewed for his hometown paper, the Detroit News, just a few months before he died. Here's what he said:

"I’ve had ten great lives. And I expect to have some more. I don’t feel cheated in any way, shape, or form."

Would you be able to be so philosophical if you received a terminal diagnosis in your mid 50s? I'd like to think I'd be capable of such wisdom and perspective, but I'm not sure...  Read more

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What's worse –- the many challenging dimensions of dementia caregiving, like losing your privacy, worrying, assisting with daily living, filling the long hours, coping with new expenses, the anticipatory grief of watching someone you love change, and family-work stress (to name, oh, a few) –- or the thanklessness of it all?

Feeling taken for granted as a caregiver is incredibly common. Surveys indicate that more than half of all caregivers do. And yes, these understandable feelings are a stressor. What also adds stress: Feeling sheepish when you want to complain about this.

"I know it sounds petty to gripe about not being appreciated," apologized a friend who moved her newly widowed mother halfway across the country to an assisted living near her home. "But every little thank-you is like gas in the tank that keeps me going."

No kidding...  Read more

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This week, two nutrition studies swept across the newspapers and airwaves. Did you see them? Here are the short-and-sweet headline versions:

1. Soda pop causes pancreatic cancer.

2. Chocolate prevents stroke.

These studies got a lot of attention because these are popular foods. One study warns of a serious disease we all fear, while the other gives you another reason to eat something you want to eat anyway. But are they true? To be honest, even after taking a look at the actual data, I'm still not sure, and I'm not sure the experts know either. But they make sense and fit with what we already know about nutrition, so they do make important points.

The Problem with Soda

Most soft drinks are made with highly concentrated sweeteners, like high-fructose corn sweetener. Even the "healthier" versions made with good old-fashioned sugar deliver it in a highly concentrated dose. The job of the pancreas is to secrete insulin when needed to process sugar, so when you hit your body with a wallop of sugar, the pancreas goes into overdrive...  Read more

At Caring.com, we constantly hear stories of frustration and pain as our users try to help their aging parents, spouses, and other family members continue to live in health and safety. We also get many requests for information and assistance from users whose family members can't make ends meet.

One of the hardest issues to manage for older family members and caregivers is understanding and negotiating the maze of legal and financial issues around Medicare, Social Security, and other financial benefit systems.

Last week, we ran a news story that recounted how elderly people with diabetes can't pay for medications due to changes in the Medicare Part D drug benefit program. The article generated many comments from upset Caring.com members; they say seniors who take medication to control diabetes are falling through what's known as the "doughnut hole" in coverage. Without the aid, families are unable to pay for the drugs they need...  Read more

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If someone we love smokes, we want them to quit. But we may not feel there's anything we can do about it. If we smoke, we probably know we need to quit, but may not feel we have the willpower to do it right now. (Though chances are, quitting's one of our New Year's resolutions.)

According to statistics kept by the Centers for Disease Control, about 23 percent of U.S. adults -- or almost one in four -- still smoke cigarettes despite years of public health warnings not to smoke.

From the caregiver's perspective, what really matters to us is that our loved ones live as long as possible, in as good a state of health as possible. In that spirit, here are a few things to think about when it comes to smoking and cancer.

1. Smoking increases the risk of all types of cancer, not just lung and throat cancer. It's a common misperception that if the lungs and throat seem to be tumor-free, then everything's hunky dory...  Read more

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When you're caring for someone, or several someones, it can easily feel like you're stuck on a one-way street. I can't tell you how many holiday seasons I've spent running around trying to make everyone happy, and feeling a little hollow at the core. A little voice echoes in my head, saying, "I sure wish someone cared whether I have a good holiday too...."

And let's be honest, that feeling that no one's looking out for you can give the holidays an undercurrent of sadness and resentment, even as you try your darndest to make everything merry and bright.

What you need, of course, is a little acknowledgement. Someone to notice your hard work and reward it with attention, affection, maybe a pampering gift or two. The problem is, trying to get others to reciprocate your caring is likely to lead to disappointment as well. Demanding acknowledgement tends to sap the moment of any satisfaction.

People who drink several cups of coffee or tea a day -- even decaf versions -- can dramatically lower their risk of diabetes, researchers reported on Monday. Drinking three to four cups of coffee per day was associated with a 25 percent lower risk of diabetes than drinking no coffee or just one cup, researchers said.

And the more coffee or tea you drink, the greater the benefit -- so keep that pot filled. "Every additional cup of coffee consumed in a day was associated with a 7 percent reduction in the excess risk of diabetes," wrote Rachel Huxley, who headed a team of Australian researchers at the George Institute for International Health in Sydney, Australia. The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

One reason this study is making headlines around the world is that the conclusions didn't come from just one study, but were the result of what's called a "meta-analysis" of 18 different studies, which together included more than 450,000 people...  Read more