Napping is it good for you

 Napping: Do's and don'ts for healthy adults

In our seminars, we recommend napping if you are tired, but some people are unsure whether napping is good for you. Understand the pros and cons and the best way to take a nap is important, to help decide if napping will work for you read this article written by the Mayo Clinic Staff

If you're sleep-deprived or just looking for a way to relax, you might be thinking about taking a nap. Napping at the wrong time of day or for too long can backfire, though. Understand how to get the most out of a nap.

What are the benefits of napping? Napping offers various benefits for healthy adults, including:

·    Relaxation

·    Reduced fatigue

·    Increased alertness

·    Improved mood

·    Improved performance, including quicker reaction time and better memory

What are the drawbacks to napping? Napping isn't for everyone. Some people simply can't sleep during the day or have trouble sleeping in places other than their own beds, which napping sometimes requires.

Napping can also have negative effects, such as:

·    Sleep inertia. You might feel groggy and disoriented after waking up from a nap.

·    Nighttime sleep problems. Short naps generally don't affect nighttime sleep quality for most people. But if you experience insomnia or poor sleep quality at night, napping might worsen these problems. Long or frequent naps might interfere with nighttime sleep.

When should I consider a nap? You might consider making time for a nap, if you:

·    Experience new fatigue or unexpected sleepiness

·    Are about to experience sleep loss —For example, due to a long work shift

·    Want to make planned naps part of your daily routine

·    Could a sudden increased need for naps indicate a health problem?

If you're experiencing an increased need for naps and there's no obvious cause of new fatigue in your life, talk to your doctor. You could be taking a medication or have a sleep disorder or other medical condition that's disrupting your nighttime sleep.

What's the best way to take a nap? To get the most out of a nap, follow these tips:

Keep naps short. Aim to nap for only 10 to 20 minutes. The longer you nap, the more likely you are to feel groggy afterward. However, young adults might be able to tolerate longer naps.

Take naps in the early afternoon. Napping after 3 p.m. can interfere with nighttime sleep. Individual factors, such as your need for sleep, your sleeping schedule, your age and your medication use, also can play a role in determining the best time of day to nap.

Create a restful environment. Nap in a quiet, dark place with a comfortable room temperature and few distractions.

After napping, give yourself time to wake up before resuming activities particularly those that require a quick or sharp response.

More Questions than answers, the way of the future

My thanks to Ken from the Tri-Cities Seniors Acton Society for this 

Will the Influenza season interact with COVID this Fall?

How will the influenza season interact with COVID this Fall? Nobody really knows.

Last year, influenza virtually disappeared. There were many countries all over the world that recorded very few incidences of influenza. We had a very low flu season last year because people were wearing masks, physically distancing, and washing their hands with hand sanitizers and following good health practices.

The major benefit of the very low influenza season last year is that there were significantly lower rates of heart attacks or serious heart disease. Significant cardio-vascular complications--particularly heart attacks, fell drastically. The reason?

Influenza causes inflammation and inflammation increases the risks of heart attacks and other heart conditions. So…when the flu goes away, there are fewer heart attacks. So that’s good.

The problem? Nobody knows what’s going to happen this year.

Is the flu going to come roaring back? Our bodies have not developed any natural immunity over the last 18 months with the lack of exposure to community flu germs. Will, there be a sharp rise in Influenza this Fall or will we have a quiet flu season because people are wearing masks, washing their hands, and physically distancing?

Here is a reminder: When we hit flu season (October and November), we really don’t want COVID and flu to interact at the same time. When they announce that the influenza vaccine is available--please get it. It will lower your risk of getting flu and heart disease and respiratory concerns and potentially interacting with COVID.

This year in BC, the Influenza vaccine is a quadrivalent shot that gives better protection for all. For those seniors over 65, it is important to ask for the High Dose Influenza quadrivalent shot--4X the strength to boost your immune system. (about $80) We’ve seen how vaccines are effective. We need to get the word out to our communities to get that “herd immunity” level. We can do it. We did it with the COVID vaccine.

The following information on locations and pricing is for readers in BC Canada.

Reserve your Influenza Vaccine NOW at your nearest pharmacy across BC at this safe website: https://seniorselfcare.ca/vaccines  The pharmacy will contact you when the flu vaccine is available and will have you book an appointment.

• Be sure to have both your COVID shots,

• Get both of the Pneumonia shots (Pneumovax-23 (free) and Prevnar 13 ($125),

• Get your two Shingles shots (Shingrix--2 shots at $150 each), 

• Get your Diphtheria, Tetanus, & Pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine booster (every 10 years),

• and in the Fall get your Influenza shot. If you are over 65 years of age, please ask for the High Dose Influenza Vaccine that allows your immune system to give your more effective protection.

Golf Adventures

 I just returned from our annual golf trip. It was fun but very tiring, 20 years ago we would golf 5 days in a row; stay up late, talking and drinking; get up early in the morning and hit the links by about 8:00. Those days have passed. This year we golfed for four days out of five using Wednesday as a day to explore the community. Every year we pick a different part of our area to visit, but we never seemed to get the time to explore the area.

This year we took the time to explore and I found the change of pace restful, which allowed me the energy to finish the week on a higher note. We still stayed up late, going to sleep between 2 and 4 for the first two nights and getting up by 7:30 to get ready for golf. On the third day, we needed the time off, not from the golfing but from the talking till the wee hours of the morning. The last two days we were asleep by one.

Most of our late-night early-morning discussions were spent talking about earlier trips and antics at high school and university. I graduated from a very large high school in the mid-sixties, and my friends graduated from very small schools. So much of the time was spent talking about the different experiences. Bruce Springsteen was not far off when he wrote the song "Glory Days".

The trip this year was just as much fun as it has been for the last 22 years, and I hope to continue being part of the tour for a long time to come. Next year I will have to return as I won the trophy. My friends said I had won because I was the most improved and showed the most consistent improvement over the five days. I appreciate the reasoning and I know my score was after applying the handicap by the end of the week was 78 and I do know that the others were lower than mine, but they said, that I had started a lot higher.

 

More golf humour

 1.   It is almost impossible to remember how tragic a place the world is when one is playing golf. -- Robert Lynd 

2.   If profanity had any influence on the flight of the ball, the game of golf would be played far better than it is. -- Horace G. Hutchinson 

3.  They say golf is like life, but don't believe them.   Golf is more complicated than that. -- Gardner Dickinson  

4.   If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork as poorly as they do a golf club, they'd starve to death. -- Sam Snead  

5.   If you drink, don't drive.  Don't even putt. -- Dean Martin  

6.   If you are going to throw a club, it is important to throw it ahead of you, down the fairway, so you don't have to waste energy going back to pick it up. -- Tommy Bolt  

7.   Man blames fate for all other accidents but feels personally responsible when he makes a hole-in-one. -- Bishop Sheen 

8.  I don't say my golf game is bad, but if I grew tomatoes they'd come up sliced.-- Arnold Palmer  

9.   My handicap?  Woods and irons. -- Chris Codiroli 

10.  The ardent golfer would play Mount Everest if somebody would put a flagstick on top. -- Pete Dye  

11.   I'm hitting the woods just great, but having a terrible time getting out of them!-- Buddy Hackett  

12.   The only time my prayers are never answered is by playing golf. -- Billy Graham 

13.   If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball. -- Jack Lemmon  

14.   It's good sportsmanship to not pick up lost golf balls while they are still rolling. -- Mark Twain  

15.   Don't play too much golf.  Two rounds a day are plenty. -- Harry Vardon   

16.  May thy ball lie in green pastures, and not in still waters. -- Ben Hogan  

17.   If I hit it right, it's a slice.  If I hit it left, it's a hook. If I hit it straight, it's a miracle. -- Anon  

18.  Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe. -- Lee Trevino  

Finally:

19.  The No: 1 Golf rule you MUST follow: Always take the car keys out of your golf bag before you throw it into the creek.