Frackson Health Care #105-1001 Cloverdale Avenue Victoria BC V8X 4C9

Telephone 250.382.2225 May 2014 Edition

Office info for May and June:

-Please say hello to our new receptionist Amy, who will be joining our office family

on May 5th. -Our office will be closed on Monday May 21st for Victoria Day

-Jaime (our receptionist) is expecting a baby girl and will leave on maternity leave June 20th. -Please note that Rachelle will be away from the office from Friday June 20th through July 6th.

Strawberries Reduce Cholesterol:

A group of healthy people were given 500 grams (about 18 ounces) of strawberries every day for 30 days. At the end of that time, numerous tests showed many benefits including “significantly reducing total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides levels.” The authors concluded that “strawberries consumption improves plasma lipids profile, biomarkers of antioxidant status, antihemolytic defenses and platelet function in healthy subjects, encouraging further evaluation on a population with higher cardiovascular disease risk.” You may want to consider a trial of eating strawberries for a month if you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or both. http://blog.toyourhealth.com/wrblog/2014/05/strawberries-reduce-cholesterol/

Protect Your Kidneys: Be aware of the dangers involved in mixing your Tylenol with alcohol, you could be jeopardizing the health of your kidneys. A study recently released by the American Public Health Association (APHA) found that the combination of alcohol and acetaminophen (the primary ingredient in Tylenol) could have a negative impact on a person's kidneys. Researchers noted that "results from the study indicated that neither taking a therapeutic amount of acetaminophen nor consuming a light to moderate amount of alcohol posed a particularly greater risk to an individual's kidneys. However, when taken in combination with one another, results showed a 123 percent increase in risk of kidney dysfunction." All drugs have side effects. Mixing drugs with alcohol can elevate those side effects significantly. Make sure to talk to your doctor if you suspect you may have combined these two or would like advice on alternatives to acetaminophen. http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1964

Friends Keep You Healthy:  An interesting study looked at “Long-term illness (LTI) and psychosomatic complaints (PSC)” in children ages 2 – 17 and how these are impacted by leisure time activity. What they found is that

“’Reading books’, ‘visiting friends’, ‘listening to music’ and ‘activity in organisations’ were related to an absence of PSC, LTI and well-being. ‘Surfing/blogging on the Internet’ was negatively related to LTI, PSC and well-being.” Further examination found that “’visits or is visited by friends’ was related with a low probability for LTI and also with a high probability for well-being.” Actively spending more time with friends can turning off the television (X-Box, etc.) can enhance your child’s health. Consider limiting sedentary activities in favor of social ones.