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PAGE 14, MARCH 30, 2009, THE ISLANDER
(News to Q-CeCv
The Best is Yet to Be
By Clark Gillespie M.D.,
Professor Emeritus, the University of Arkansas
When the going gets tough
Like every other single thing in
our senior bodies, our intestinal tract
slows down somewhat as we move on
up the age line, and so our discarded
“things” don’t run - er, move on -
through that channel’s terminal dis
posal outlet as we would wish. Thus,
constipation becomes a more likely
companion of our other groaning
nags, and we must deal with it.
In any discussion - except in our
government circles - it is valuable
to understand the terms involved
in that discussion. So, constipation
denotes hard bowel movements
(bms) that are difficult - often pain
ful - to expel, and which occur less
than three times weekly.
Such movements may further feel
incomplete and difficult to finish off.
Defecation is the term for that expul
sion, obstipation is severe constipa
tion when nothing - not even gas
- can be expelled. Again, bowel move
ments normally take place at least
three times each week though for
many of us it is more or less a daily
trip. So - regular painless defecation
three times a week or more seems to
define our normal lower limits.
The usual cause of our constipa
tion in the absence of real bowel
disease or contributing systemic dis
orders and medications, is a seden
tary lifestyle with bad dietary and
fluid-intake habits, abetted by the
slow transmission of waste through
an aging colon, accompanied by the
re-absorption of most waste fluids
there-from.
So, a small hard bm. trying to
leave a tired colon has less and less
to make it move on and pass on. That
is one absent right of passage that
we will talk about.
For everything from greeting cards
and beauty products to prescription
drugs and over-the-counter
medications, we hope you’ll continue
to make us your first choice. We
certainly appreciate your business.
Tommy Bryan - Pharmacist/Owner
Andy Ledford - Pharmacist
Longview Shopping Center
Frederica Rd • St. Simons Island
912-638-8676
Open Seven Days
The correction of our uncompli
cated constipation is mainly written
above amongst the causes.
First, and probably the most dif
ficult task, is to motivate a change
in our lifestyle. We have talked with
one another about positive motiva
tion - how easy it is to say it, to spell
it, to talk about it - but not to moti
vate up to it.
That drive is internal and can
only come to us from us - like inspi
ration. But, when we keep asking
and searching ourselves, come it
will, so that the drive to be as mobile
and active as we can will surround
and capture us. Once you get mobile
there are thousands of programs at
home and abroad that will keep you
moving, along with proper dieting,
drinking and thinking. What greater
release would any of us want?
Fine - that’s a start. Now, to the
diet. This may be a tender area to
trod upon since many of us have
dietary restrictions and intolerances
all coupled with a declining appetite
related to the way we feel and to
what systemically is bugging us.
Some of these impediments will
certainly disappear as we become
more active. Basically, though, we
must follow a diet that ads signifi
cant fiber to our intake. Thus fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, and beans
must become necessary, regular and
significant components of our daily
fare.
Our often-touted Mediterranean
diet is a valuable base here as it is
in so many of our nutritional needs.
It’s outline is everywhere available
on the internet and for our non-com
puter buddies, I will be hammering
upon it again very shortly.
The old dictum of eight full glass
es of fluid daily does not hold water
anymore. That amount would drown
or float some of us away but leave
others severely dehydrated. It all
depends upon our individual build,
lifestyle and physiology.
Fundamentally, though, we main
ly all tend to under-hydrate ourselves
somewhat and thus the important
fluid component of our bms is dimin
ished, as we have noted, by colonic
fluid re-adsorption in order to get
water back into our systems.
So we drink up - but make it
mainly water, fat-free milk, simple
fruit and vegetable juices, topped
with limited coffee, tea, wine, ale,
and liquor. We avoid soft drinks
(calories) and highly manipulated
power drinks. When out and about
or traveling near or far, we must
mimic our TV sport figures, and
carry extra bottled fluids with us -
wherever we go.
Laxatives have a temporary but
important role in constipation care.
The safest and best tolerated are the
bulking agents such as Metamucil
or Citrucel and their generic equals
- all of which happily require outside
fluid company to get absorbed, and
which are least likely to cause side-
effects anywhere.
Next come the lubricants, such as
mineral oil, which grease the bms to
ease their slide and passage along
the colonic trail. Then there are
the osmotics like milk of magnesia
that draw fluid back into the colon.
Finally come the stimulants such as
Ex-Lax or Senekot.
Other harsh agents may be includ
ed in with some of these stimulants
which all work by jangling the colon
into contracting. This category of
forceful laxatives should be used
sparingly and only for a few days.
Constipation that does not respond
reasonably fast to these agents or
our lifestyle changes, and which are
a new and growing complaint, are
accompanied by blood or mucous
or by episodes of obstipation, needs
to be investigated by a physician.
Pronto!
The constipation of our mellowing
years that riles up most of us most
often, however, should respond to
our total lifestyle changes with per
haps, plain bulking agents to fill in a
dietary gap.
Mainly, though, we want that
area of our life to just be easy come,
easy go. □
Health System Auxiliary names
Volunteer of the Quarter
Long-time volunteer Ivalee Rober
son of Brunswick was named Volun
teer of the Quarter at the Southeast
Georgia Health System Brunswick
Auxiliary’s quarterly luncheon on
Thursday, March 5.
Roberson began volunteering at
the Brunswick Campus 24 years ago
after her retirement from Brunswick
Pulp and Paper (now GP Cellulose).
She and her husband Frank, a for
mer hospital volunteer, have been
married almost 61 years and are the
parents of two and grandparents of
four. She is a graduate of Brantley
County High School and the Perry
Business School in Brunswick.
As manager of the Brunswick
Campus Gift Shop, she oversees the
operation, stocking of merchandise,
and scheduling of its employees, as
well as works behind the counter her
self—keeping the shop open 365 days
a year with an all-volunteer staff.
What was once a tiny space with
very few items to sell is now a spa
cious gift shop stocked with every
thing from jewelry, snacks, and baby
gifts and products to home decor,
sports memorabilia, and more.
All of the money made in the gift
shop goes directly to the hospital to
help fund patient care and equip
ment purchases.
“Ivalee is an invaluable member
of our Auxiliary,” said Kristin Doll,
manager of Volunteer Services. “Her
devotion and faithful service to the
Health System is remarkable and
she is an outstanding example of
what a volunteer should be.
"In addition to this honor, the
Health System also recognized
Ivalee’s outstanding service as our
selection for last year’s YWCA Trib
ute to Women Leaders." Doll said.
"She is truly an inspiration not only
to those of us at the Health System
but those in the community as well.”
Volunteers, from teenagers to
seniors, work throughout the Health
System at both the Brunswick and
Camden Campuses, as well as the
Senior Care Center in Brunswick
and St. Marys Convalescent Center.
To find out more about volunteer
ing, contact Doll at 912-466-1071 or
visit www.sghs.org. □
Live Oars
Neuromuscular
Bonni Smith,
LMT
912-634-4747
and
Ynteqlated
Wassaqe Wolks
Neely W. Hunter,
LMT
912-399-1919
Seeking Massage Therapist to share two fully
furnished and equipped massage therapy rooms.