Trinity's Later in Life Sessions - Good Health

Summary

Highlights

• Dr. Plusher's favorite among Mayo Clinic level doctors! 🏥
• The fun perspective on age: 104-year-olds have 'no peer pressure'! 🎉
• Balanced Mediterranean diet and the ease of gardening! 🌿
• The dangers of vaping epidemic among the youth. 👎
• Importance of community bonding for mental health. 🤝

Key Takeaways

• Good health is about simplicity and consistency. 🥗
• A balanced diet like the Mediterranean diet is advisable. 🥑
• Regular exercise enhances quality of life. 🚴
• Limiting screen time, especially for youth, is crucial. 📵
• Community involvement contributes to mental well-being. 👥
• Consulting counselors is beneficial for mental health. 🧠
• Getting vaccinated and regular health screenings are important. 💉

Overview

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Speaker Background The chapter introduces Dr. Plesia.
• 01:00 - 04:00: Discussion on Age and Life Expectancy The chapter begins with a discussion about the importance of documenting one's wishes to ensure they are followed when one can no longer communicate them to loved ones. The speaker, John Plusher, stresses the significance of these discussions and encourages the audience to engage with related literature to better understand the process.
• 04:00 - 07:00: Health Span vs. Life Span The speaker, a family doctor at the Oregon Clinic, also sees patients at Pinerest and Serenity Hospice. Serenity Hospice will be discussed later by Rob G. The speaker thanks Rob for the invitation and Pastor Josh for hosting the event. The audience is encouraged to ask questions at any time during the presentation, which is held in an intimate setting.
• 07:00 - 10:00: Maintaining Good Health: Simple but Challenging Habits The chapter humorously opens with a story of a 104-year-old woman interviewed about her favorite thing about being 104, to which she responds: 'No peer pressure.' This sets the tone for the chapter which delves into maintaining good health through simple yet sometimes challenging habits. It acknowledges the importance of community and support, highlighted by a reference to a 'favorite nurse,' indicating healthcare and community support as pillars in maintaining health even as humor is used to address aging gracefully.
• 10:00 - 18:00: Dietary Guidelines and Recommendations The chapter discusses how perceptions of age are relative and vary depending on one's own age, highlighting that individuals often view those younger than themselves as having more life and vitality.
• 18:00 - 24:00: Importance of Exercise and Physical Activity The chapter discusses the subjective nature of age perception, illustrating how different age groups perceive each other. High school students are seen as older by middle schoolers, while high schoolers view older adults as 'old'. The speaker emphasizes that age is relative and suggests that a number cannot fully define one's stage in life. Life expectancy and lifespan are mentioned as broader concepts within this discussion.
• 24:00 - 27:00: The Dangers of Smoking and Nicotine This chapter discusses the impact of smoking and nicotine on public health, with a focus on life expectancy. It highlights that despite technological and medical advancements, the life expectancy in the country remains around 80 years. This stagnation is largely attributed to early deaths caused by factors such as drug overdoses, infectious diseases, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), which significantly lower the average life expectancy. The chapter underscores the critical need for addressing these issues to improve overall public health and increase the average lifespan.
• 27:00 - 31:00: Alcohol Consumption and Its Risks This chapter delves into the concept of lifespan versus health span, particularly in the context of alcohol consumption and its risks. It highlights differences in life expectancy between genders, suggesting that men may have shorter lifespans due to 'testosterone induced stupidity.' It emphasizes the importance of health span, which refers to staying healthy, active, functional, and feeling well for as long as possible.
• 31:00 - 37:00: Managing Stress for Well-being Modern medicine has advanced to extend life expectancy, allowing people to potentially live into their mid-90s. However, a critical aspect to consider is the quality of those additional years. It is important for individuals to not only focus on living longer but ensuring that any extra years are enjoyable and fulfilling. The discussion around longevity should include both how long one lives and the quality of life experienced in those extra years.
• 37:00 - 43:00: Role of Medical Interventions in Health The chapter discusses the role of medical interventions in maintaining health, emphasizing the simplicity of actions such as eating well, exercising, avoiding excessive smoking and drinking, and managing stress. These lifestyle choices play a crucial role in ensuring not only longevity but also quality of life.
• 43:00 - 53:00: Screen Time Concerns and Its Impact on Mental Health This chapter discusses the challenges and importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle amidst modern concerns such as screen time and its impact on mental health. It emphasizes consistency in various aspects such as eating right, exercising, avoiding smoking, and controlling alcohol consumption while managing stress. The chapter hints at a deeper discussion for each topic, acknowledging the complexity and effort required in sustaining these healthy habits in the long term.
• 53:00 - 57:00: Closing Remarks and Audience Interaction The chapter focuses on the issue of fad diets, such as the low carb diet, explaining that rather than following specific diets, people should adopt simpler and more sustainable dietary practices. The speaker notes how people often get burned out from following restrictive diets, suggesting a need for more straightforward approaches.

Trinity's Later in Life Sessions - Good Health Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Dr. Plesia. Now, you may think he's the only doctor, and it's not true. I go to the Mayo Clinic once a year, and they have good doctors, as you might imagine, but this guy's my favorite. And he's going to talk to us about what it takes to be in good health. Thanks, Rob. Thanks. being compared to Mayo Clinic. That's
• 00:30 - 01:00 Wow. I appreciate that. Um and I would put in a plug for that book or other books like it um so that you can get your wishes known so that your wishes get followed even after you can no longer um explain those wishes to your loved ones. Having those discussions is a great great idea. So, uh, I see a lot of familiar faces in the group. Uh, but for those that I don't know, um, I'm John Plusher. Um,
• 01:00 - 01:30 like Rob said, I'm a family doctor at the Oregon Clinic and I also see patients at Pinerest and Serenity Hospice. Um, you'll hear more about Serenity from Rob G a little bit later in the program. Um, thanks Rob for the invite and thanks Pastor Josh for posting. Um, this is a nice intimate venue here, so feel free to stop me with any questions as we go along. Um, there
• 01:30 - 02:00 was once a 104 year old woman who was being interviewed and the reporter asked her, "So, what's your favorite thing about being 104?" And she said, "No peer pressure. Hi. Um, here's one of our favorite nurses community. You're too kind.
• 02:00 - 02:30 Um, so I do think age is very relative. You know, this whole discussion today is about later in life issues. And that 104 year old woman would look at an 80year-old and say, "Wow, they are young. They have so much life ahead of them." And that 80-year-old would look at a 60-year-old and be like, "Wow, they are so fit and strong." And the 60-year-old would look at the 40year-old. You know, on and on. Um, our
• 02:30 - 03:00 high schoolers, I'm 43. Our high schoolers and their friends look at me and my wife and they're like, "Gez, they're the old people." You know, and the middle schoolers look at the high schoolers and like, "Wow, look at those big kids. They're driving." You know, it's all so relative. So, I don't think you can look at an age and a number and say too much about that. Um, you know, there is such a thing as the lifespan and really life expectancy in
• 03:00 - 03:30 this country is still right about 80 and um that really hasn't changed a whole lot lately. A lot of that has to do with infant mortality and and younger deaths. you know, if people are dying in their 20s and 30s from drug overdoses or infectious disease, um, or SIDS, let's say, for newborns, that's going to pull the the life expectancy average way
• 03:30 - 04:00 down. Um, but still right around 80 is where we're at. A little bit higher for women, a little bit younger for men. Um, we say that's testosterone induced stupidity leads to some of those earlier deaths. So, there's lifespan, but there's also health span. Um, and that's staying healthier longer, staying more active, staying functional, um, and and feeling well. You
• 04:00 - 04:30 know, modern medicine can get people to live longer, but you know, let's say somebody lives to 95, 96. How are their last 10 years? Were those last 10 years enjoyable? Would those people say that it was worthwhile to get those extra 10 years? You know, it's kind of like however long you're going to live, you want it to be enjoyable. Um, so those are the things, you know,
• 04:30 - 05:00 as we try to stay in good health that we're looking for, making those years quality. Um, and a lot of people would ask, you know, is it as simple as eating well, exercising, not smoking, not drinking to excess, and managing stress. And I would say yes, it is that simple. It's so simple to say that, but
• 05:00 - 05:30 to actually do that is very difficult. And you have to do that. Do all those things not just once or twice for a day or a week. You have to do them consistently long term to maintain good health. Um so those will kind of be the the topics that we'll talk about today. The eating right, the exercise, not smoking, not drinking to excess, and managing stress. Um you could easily spend an hour talking on each one of
• 05:30 - 06:00 those. Um, but I'll just hit on them very briefly. Um, there's so many fad diets out there. You know, you're always hearing about, you know, the low carb diet, the this that I think it should be much more simple than specific diets and people get burned out on those diets. Um, you know, let's say the the low carb diet for example, it will work. you know, you
• 06:00 - 06:30 will lose weight if you completely cut out carbs, but you're going to be losing a lot of enjoyment, too, in eating some carbs. And there are some healthy carbs out there, too. Um, and so many people start on that diet and then fall off of it, and their their weight goes right back up. So, I think a couple things with diet, it's it's got to be more of just a um a dayto-day routine, not a specific
• 06:30 - 07:00 diet. I like to say heavy on the fruits and vegetables. Um kind of the Mediterranean diet, you know, if you're going to pick one, that is a good one that's very well balanced. um heavy on the fruits and vegetables. Really about three fruits and three vegetables each day. And that's a lot. I mean, it's it takes effort to get that many fruits and vegetables. Um preferably fresh, but if you can't get fresh, frozen is better
• 07:00 - 07:30 than canned. Um canned just has so much salt in it. Um and a lot of the nutrients are are baked and boiled out of that. Um, freezing at least maintains a lot of those good nutrients. Um, I think growing a garden is excellent because you're going to be not only active being out there growing it, um, but then you can eat it so incredibly fresh. Um, I think it's hard to beat a fresh tomato, you know, just
• 07:30 - 08:00 that flavor is just right there. Um, but if not growing it yourself, farmers markets, amazing farmers markets all around the Sock Valley. I mean, and then you're supporting local farmers, too, which is cool. Um, I say kind of light on the meats, especially the red meats. Um, some chicken and fish definitely a good idea. And kind of the idea is less processed the better. you know, eat a
• 08:00 - 08:30 chicken breast that's grilled rather than chicken tenders, rather than chicken McNuggets. You know, the more processed you get, the worse. Um, there's so many additives there. Um, less packaged foods, you know, don't do your grocery shopping at the gas station or Dollar General, really. um go someplace where you can see real food that's not packaged.
• 08:30 - 09:00 Um beverages, soda is really a bad idea. Um a lot of people say, "Well, is diet better?" It probably is maybe a touch better just because they're not so many calories. But I would say moderation on the diet soda as well. Um, if you really enjoy one Diet Coke every day, fine. You know, it's it's not going to hurt you, but don't have five of them. You know, 12 ounces of diet soda, little caffeine
• 09:00 - 09:30 boost, that's fine. Um, I think another takeaway is to just not make it so rigid that you're worried about what you're eating all the time. You don't want to be stressed. Shoot, food should be enjoyable. So moderation, you know, if you're going to kind of splurge and have some pie and cake on Thanksgiving, great. You could probably do that once a month, you know, but not once a day. So, a little
• 09:30 - 10:00 moderation. Uh, people ask about coffee and caffeine. One or two cups a day, that's fine. One or two pots a day, that's too much. You know, moderation. any questions at this point and we'll have a little time for questions at the end too, but feel free to ask if they come up. Um, so that's kind of eating right. Um, I also say heavy on the nuts, seeds,
• 10:00 - 10:30 whole grains, fiber, um, all just very healthy. avocados, chestnuts, almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds. Um, some people cringe at the idea of salads, but you can make a good salad that that tastes good and will fill you up a little bit if you put sunflower seeds and craisins and grilled chicken. I
• 10:30 - 11:00 mean, that can be a really tasty good salad. So, get creative. Um, you know, there's so many websites and cookbooks out there and it takes time, you know, to prepare these meals. Um, I I think it's worth worth the effort, though. Uh, then we go to exercise. You know, Americans are so sedentary nowadays. Uh, we've gotten away from the agrarian society where everybody was farming and working
• 11:00 - 11:30 physically hard. Um, we spend too much time in front of screens and that's for kids as well as aging adults. You know, do you spend two hours a day in front of a TV or a computer? That's time you could have been exercising. I have so many patients that say, "I I just don't have time for that." You probably do, actually. I mean, you've got to look at where you're spending your time. What do you value? If you value good health,
• 11:30 - 12:00 you'll make time for a little exercise. Um, I'm a big fan of walking. Um, I think it's pretty low impact. Um, most people can do it regardless of age. Um, and it burns calories and it gets your heart rate up. Um, I think walking outside is great because you're then getting the fresh air and and nature exposure as well. Um, but when the weather's terrible, you may have to go indoors. Um, let's say you've got really bad hips
• 12:00 - 12:30 and knees and walking is just too painful. I say get in a pool and walk in the pool. Um, or swim. It's just so low impact, but you'll still be burning the calories. Um, I love seeing my patients at Nash. It's just, you know, that shows they're they're doing something. They're moving. Um, a lot of patients ask, well, how much time needs to be spent? And that
• 12:30 - 13:00 kind of depends on the intensity of the workout that you're doing. Um, kind of the recommendation is four to five times per week of a half hour of moderate to intense exercise. You could cut that down to three to four times per week if it's 45 minutes of high intensity exercise. Um, walking at a rapid pace is kind of moderate intensity. Jogging
• 13:00 - 13:30 would be high intensity. Um, I recommend the elliptical machines also if you have bad joints. Um, that can can be a little bit easier on the joints and still get the heart rate up. Um, kind of the goal for heart rate is 220 minus your age. That's the max heart rate that you should be going for. Um, and try to get about 80% of that max for that half hour
• 13:30 - 14:00 workout. So, that's a little bit of a goal there. Um, I would say don't be too hung up on the weight, on your own weight. Um, go for more health. How do you feel? Um, you know, um, if you and how functional are you? What are the things you want to be doing? Going up steps, getting in and out of vehicles, um, carrying groceries, um, carrying
• 14:00 - 14:30 grandchildren and great grandchildren. Um, can you do those things that you want to do? If you can and you feel decent, that's a sign of good health. Um, not smoking. I mean, that's pretty obvious. We all know smoking's terrible for your health. Um, and it's not just smoking. It's any nicotine. Don't chew tobacco. A lot of people think, "Oh, well, it's it's not so bad. I'm not breathing in smoke." Any nicotine is a
• 14:30 - 15:00 vasoc constrictor, and it's going to constrict blood vessels across your entire body. So, um, it's going to affect your heart, it's going to affect your kidneys, it's going to affect your eyes. Um, you know, guys struggle with erectile dysfunction. Well, if you're smoking a pack a day, that nicotine is constricting blood vessels and all an erection is is more blood flow. So, think about that. Um, you know, we see the teenagers now with
• 15:00 - 15:30 the vaping and it's an epidemic. I mean, in the middle school and the high school, so many kids are vaping and it's it's the next wave of catastrophe. Honestly, we've gotten away from the cigarettes over the past few decades. Now, we're into the vaping and the kids are just as addicted to nicotine. I've seen kids with migraine headaches, not sleeping well, um problems focusing, and turns out they're hitting
• 15:30 - 16:00 that vape all the time. So, um, so that's one thing to maintaining good health, avoiding nicotine. Um, alcohol. Um, it's kind of seessawed in the recommendations. You know, for a while they were kind of saying, well, have a glass of wine for good health. Have a beer or two for good health. Now they're we're kind of getting away from that. Um, the recommendation now is don't
• 16:00 - 16:30 drink on purpose for good health. You know, don't go out of your way to have that glass of wine every single night thinking that that's a healthy thing to do. If you really enjoy a glass of wine, great, have it. You know, if you want one beer a night, great, have it. Um, don't have five. and probably don't have that one glass of wine or beer or two every single night, maybe a couple nights out of the week.
• 16:30 - 17:00 And it's all riskreward. You know, how much do you enjoy it versus what is the risk? Um, you know, they're kind of saying there is a link between cancer and alcohol. So, you know, think about it, but, um, don't beat yourself up if you're having a glass of wine here and there. um managing stress that's an issue across the age spectrum I would say um the stresses
• 17:00 - 17:30 probably change as we age but how do you manage that yoga guided meditation spirituality nature communion with groups of people that you enjoy being with family, friends, um groups like this. Um the exercise and the eating well is
• 17:30 - 18:00 going to help manage the stress. Also, all these things kind of feed off of each other. As you're doing one or more of these healthy activities, you're going to feel better and it's going to make the other things easier. Um I think everybody should have a counselor of one kind or another. Um, I think it's a lot like physical therapy, um, or exercise. You know, for your physical body, you need mental and emotional well-being as well. Um, that
• 18:00 - 18:30 human connection with another person of counseling is is really beneficial. A lot of people say, "Well, I don't need a counselor. I talk to my spouse or I talk to my neighbor." Um, and that's all good, but counselors are trained specifically for this. And um, and they're objective because they don't know you on a per, you know, on a a friend level or a family level. Um, so I think they can be more helpful in that
• 18:30 - 19:00 way. Um, so basically like I said, it is very simple. health. Good health should be simple, but it's very difficult to do these things. And you've got to get in a routine of doing them most days out of the week. Um, especially it's difficult with society kind of pushing us in the opposite direction. You know, every time you go in a gas station or watch TV commercials, it's pushing all of these
• 19:00 - 19:30 prepackaged junk foods. Um, and you know, everybody seems to be so rushed a lot of times that families are are going to the easier foods and life is getting so hectic for so many people. Stress levels go up, time for exercise goes down. So, it's like you kind of have to buck the trends and and make this a priority if you want to have good health. Um, aside from these healthy lifestyle choices, you know, the medical community
• 19:30 - 20:00 does have things to offer for for good health. I'd say, you know, doctors and nurse practitioners maybe contribute 10% to good health. All the other things we talked about is probably 50% of good health. And the other 40% is genetics. I was talking with Rob earlier. you know, athletes, you've got to have some genetics for it. Otherwise, especially elite ath athletes, or you're just not going to make it. You could do all these
• 20:00 - 20:30 things that I just talked about exactly right and still have a terrible event, a motor vehicle accident, a terrible fall, some unforeseen cancer, you know. So, life is fragile. Um, you could do all these things right and still have something bad happen, but you're improving your likelihood of living long and living healthy if you do these things. Um, the things that the medical
• 20:30 - 21:00 community really can provide I that are the most bang for your buck I would say are vaccines. Um you know for the older crowd shingles vaccine tetanus dtheria and pertasus booster pneumonia vaccines one of the newer ones is RSV I think is worthwhile getting covid boosters every year worth getting flu shot every year definitely worth getting and then cancer screening
• 21:00 - 21:30 tests for women that's breast cancer cervical cancer and for men colon cancer and prostate cancer. Colon for both men and women, obviously. Um, and mammogram for women, very important. Um, after age 75, you no longer need those if you've had normal ones leading up until that. Um, and then DEXA scan, especially for women, but also for men
• 21:30 - 22:00 over age 70, getting one DEXA scan, that's a bone density scan, looking for osteoporosis, um, is worthwhile. Um, let's say you have really poor bone density, there are medications that can help that, but all the lifestyle things also help. Not smoking, not drinking to excess, and exercising all improve bone density. Yes, Jan. How about measel snacks for adults? No. Yes. They're saying if you live in an area where there's an endemic
• 22:00 - 22:30 going on, it's worth getting that booster. Um because I have no idea if we've had it as a child, right? That's a good question. What was their question? Should folks get the measles vaccine later in life? Um, what you can do is get a tighter. I could ask my mom. She'd remember. Yeah, she may remember, too. Thought of that. Yeah, she know. Um, I
• 22:30 - 23:00 mean, yeah, it's a good point. And I don't because I heard four cases in Illinois. Yeah, I heard that, too. Not right around here. We've had pertasus here, right? Um yeah, I don't know the exact recommendation right now. Um but but watch for it over the coming months to see. Um the CDC website is really good information. You can just Google that and see what's recommended.
• 23:00 - 23:30 Um in closing, um I would say stick with it. It can, you know, be frustrating sometimes. you feel tired. Um, but getting up, getting out there, and exercising afterwards, you're probably going to have more energy. So, worth doing it. And, and just by here being here and hearing these talks, uh, it shows that you you have an interest and a desire to stay healthy. Thank you much. Yes. Rob, a
• 23:30 - 24:00 question or a thought question for you. You alluded to screens and um the young folks and vaping. I just concluded a book called The Anxious Generation. It's very well done. It's very well footnoted. The basic premise seems to be that about the time that smartphones came into
• 24:00 - 24:30 existence, young people's mental health began to tank. Yes, I think that's completely accurate. Do you see any What's What's the light at the end of the tunnel, I guess, is my question. Yes. The light at the end of the tunnel is parents being parents and limiting that screen time and the the smartphone time. It's very interesting that that
• 24:30 - 25:00 answer coincides with the prescription. The author he had it broken down by age. So 0 to six something 6 to 10 something different. Over time, there was more uh leniency in allowing the children to have more sophist sophisticated equipment and screen time. I think that's fair. I think that's reasonable. They're going to be on the screen a lot at school as it is. Um I think there's
• 25:00 - 25:30 just so many unhealthy interactions with Snapchat and Facebook and all of this. Um, parents have to try to limit it. And that's easier said than done, too. I mean, we have four teenagers and it is not easy. But as parent, you could say, "I'm going to take your phone for the next 6 hours. I'm going to all the phones have to come out of the bedrooms at night." I think that is very reasonable. You don't need
• 25:30 - 26:00 your kids getting woken up by messages in the middle of the night. You know that is another healthy habit that I wanted to mention is good sleep. So important especially in the aging population. Everybody's worried about dementia and memory loss. Heart health is brain health and part of that is getting good sleep. Um no screen time within two hours of going to bed for any
• 26:00 - 26:30 age is recommended. Um, if you have sleep apnea, getting it treated is is a healthy thing to do. Keep that brain oxygenated. One of the coral areas that this author came up with was, as you just suggested, um, limiting the screen time, but getting the children outside to play. Absolutely. Get rid of the screens and don't organize their play. Let them choose up sides and play hideand go seek
• 26:30 - 27:00 or pick up baseball or whatever, but get them out in nature socializing with their friends. It's huge. I mean, the brain is developing at these young ages. Making eye contact is good for the brain. Um, and if kids are just constantly looking at their phone, they're losing that. Um, anxiety and depression are huge in the adolescent population. I think getting them to
• 27:00 - 27:30 counselors, getting them outside, um, it it can be the damage that's been done by the technology, I think, can be reversed, but it's going to be very difficult. And that generation, you know, even people in their early 20s that had COVID for those three or four years during their college or high school years, that was such a strain on them. Um, I think, you know, every generation
• 27:30 - 28:00 has to be a little bit gentle to the to the others, you know. Um, plenty of people bash the boomers, you know, and then other, you know, the boomers bash the Gen X and the Gen Z. You know, every generation has had its difficulties and it's its positives. You know, um, I think if we be sensitive to each other, that can help too. Having a
• 28:00 - 28:30 mentor, you know, if you find some teenager early 20s and kind of take them under your wing and they're receptive to that, that could be huge for you and them. It keeps your brain young and functioning and getting in tune with newer ideas and it shows them, hey, I've got somebody that actually cares about me and they're teaching me how to make eye contact and work hard. And you know what was the other part of your question? I think you answered the Okay.
• 28:30 - 29:00 What was the name of the book? The anxious generation. The I can't remember the first name of the author. The last name was H A I G H T. Read that. Thanks everybody. Stay healthy. I'm going to go and try to be a good parent and spend time with my kids. [Applause]