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You Can Prevent Falls4/26/2022 Falls are the leading cause of death due to injury for older Americans.  According to information reported by the National Council on Aging (NCOA), an older adult American, aged 65 or older, is treated in an emergency room for a fall every 15 seconds! NCOA reports that a growing number of older adults fear falling, and as a result, self-limit activities and social engagements. This can result in further physical decline, depression, social isolation, and feelings of helplessness. Following are some fall prevention tips that may help to maintain balance and mobility. Strengthen Muscles Age-related muscle weakness and deteriorating balance lead to falls. As we age, many people tend to reduce their physical activity, which is a mistake. Take daily walks and do stretching and balance exercises while steadying yourself with a sturdy chair. Even better, investigate local free gym memberships frequently offered to seniors through their insurance plans, and add resistance (weights or bodyweight) training to maintain muscle strength. Check Your Vision Poor vision is a major contributor to falls for the elderly. Be sure to have regular vision checkups and update glasses as needed. With diminished visual input, important information the body needs for maintaining balance is reduced or lost. Fall-proof Your Home Instead of one little change at a time, make fall-proofing your living space a serious project. Make a TO-DO list and check items off as you complete them. Here is a suggested list to get you started:
Become fall aware to avoid becoming one of the fall-incurred emergency room visits that could change your life. Get to know Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) now, and all the home health services available to you and your loved ones, before you have a health emergency. We are proud to be the longest-serving VNA in the state of New Jersey, so we know a thing or two about helping seniors. The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) is a leading provider of comprehensive home health care services in Morris, Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties in Northern New Jersey. Established in 1898, generations have known that just one call to VNA opens the door to quality, patient-centered home health care solutions that allow patients to remain in the comfort of their homes with dignity, health, and independence. © All content on The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey's website, including blog posts, may be reproduced only if attributed to our organization with a link to vnannj.org.
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Don't forget to exercise these parts4/19/2022  Exercise these forgotten body parts for improved mobility. FEET and ANKLES It’s important to strengthen the muscles in your feet and ankles to prevent pain, improve balance, and stay mobile. Weak feet and ankles lead to dangerous falls. Here are simple exercises to do daily. •MToe Curls — Sit or stand. Practice picking up small objects, like marbles, with the toes of each foot and hold them as you slowly count to 10. Rest and repeat 10 times. •MToe Spread -- Spread your toes as far apart as possible and hold for 5 seconds. Now squeeze them together and hold for 5 seconds. Relax and repeat 5 to 10 times. •MHeel Raises -- Heel raises are great for strengthening your feet and ankles to improve balance and coordination. Steady yourself with a wall or sturdy chair. Raise your heels as high as you can, standing on your toes. Hold for several seconds and slowly lower heels to the ground. Rest and repeat 10 times. •MHeel Walk -- Position yourself next to a wall for balance. Lift the front of both feet off the ground, balancing on your heels. Now walk along the wall on only your heels, turn and walk back. Repeat 10 times. KNEES Knees can be painful as we age, causing us to limit our mobility, but for some people, certain exercises can help to lessen their pain. Strengthening knee muscles with simple stress-free exercise helps to maintain flexibility and mobility. Here is a very simple exercise you can do every day. •MLeg Extension — Sit in a firm straight-backed chair with knees at a 90-degree angle and feet flat on the floor. Now raise your right foot, breathing in as you straighten your leg as much as you can. Hold for a second and breathe out as you lower your foot to the floor. Now do the same with your left foot. Repeat 10 times on each side. NECK When was the last time you thought to exercise your neck? Probably never. But your neck is key to maintaining a good posture that promotes stability. Try these simple exercises daily to maintain neck mobility and good posture. These are especially good to do first thing in the morning. •MNeck rolls -- This sounds easy but you're going to find out just how stiff your neck is. Start by dropping your chin to your chest. Now roll your head to one side, laying your ear on your shoulder. Continue rolling your head back, looking up at the ceiling. Roll to the other side, then back to chin to chest. Repeat 10 times. •MBack Straighten -- Stand with your heels up against a wall and flatten your back, shoulders, and head against the wall. Try to arch your back as little as possible, pressing your spine to the wall while also keeping your neck and head against the wall. Hold this position while you deeply breathe in and out several times. Rest and repeat 10 times. WRISTS and FINGERS Let’s face it, stiff hands, fingers, and wrists come with age. Keeping them exercised reduces stiffness and arthritis pain. Fortunately, these exercises are super simple to do, anywhere at any time. •MStretches
Keep up this whole routine daily and you’ll go a long way to having good mobility. Get to know Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) now, and all the home health services available to you and your loved ones, before you have a health emergency. We are proud to be the longest-serving VNA in the state of New Jersey, so we know a thing or two about helping seniors. The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) is a leading provider of comprehensive home health care services in Morris, Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties in Northern New Jersey. Established in 1898, generations have known that just one call to VNA opens the door to quality, patient-centered home health care solutions that allow patients to remain in the comfort of their homes with dignity, health, and independence.
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These Superfoods Help Aging Skin4/12/2022  Superfoods help fight aging – and aging skin If you follow our emails you’ll notice this isn’t the first time we’ve recommended some of the following “superfoods.” That’s because they are high in antioxidants that not only help reduce visible signs of aging in skin but also provide overall health benefits that fight aging throughout the body. Try to incorporate them into your daily diet:
Superfood No. 1: Wild salmon Wild salmon is high in protein and loaded with skin-plumping essential fatty acids and the powerful antioxidant astaxanthin. In addition to helping neutralize free radicals, those volatile molecules that accelerate inflammation (and thus the aging process), salmon is a good source of readily absorbable protein. Protein is broken down into amino acids, which provide the building blocks for all cellular repair. Experts say you should aim for 2-3 servings per week (3-4 oz. per serving). And make sure to always choose wild salmon; farmed salmon is often contaminated with PCBs, a “probable carcinogen” according to the EPA. Superfood No. 2: Blueberries and other low-sugar berries Blueberries and many other berries contain wrinkle-fighting antioxidants known as anthocyanins, flavonoids that researchers believe may help suppress the growth of tumor cells and regulate blood sugar (preventing glycation, a process that makes collagen and elastic fibers in skin become stiff and lose its firm supple nature). Blueberries also contain vitamin C, which helps boost radiance and aids in collagen synthesis. In addition, researchers believe the phytochemicals in blueberries may positively affect our gut microbiome, which plays a key role in maintaining the health of our skin (not to mention our brains and virtually every other system in our body). Superfood No. 3: Beans and legumes A great source of animal-free protein and essential micronutrients, just one-half cup of beans is equal to 1 ounce of animal protein. Beans also provide our bodies with valuable prebiotics, insoluble fiber that helps support gastrointestinal microflora, key gatekeepers of skin health. If the balance of good versus bad bacteria in your belly gets out of whack, it can lead to wrinkles, acne, sun spots, and rosacea, says Santa Monica, California-based dermatologist Ava Shamban. Avoid canned beans, which are high in sodium and can make skin look puffy. If you are short on time and need to use canned beans, make sure to drain and thoroughly rinse them before cooking. “This can cut the amount of sodium by around 40 percent, says New York City-based physician and certified nutritionist Jeffrey Morrison. Superfood No. 4: Full fat plain Greek yogurt High in protein (as much as 17 grams per cup versus 9 in regular yogurt) and teaming with gut-friendly bacteria, full-fat Greek yogurt helps keep blood sugar steady — and your microbiome in balance. Of course, not all yogurt contains live cultures (some bacteria get killed off during processing), so always check the label before you buy it. Also, avoid sweetened versions as they can trigger spikes in blood sugar (and accompanying inflammation). Shamban recommends sweetening yogurt with cinnamon, which adds “a ton of antioxidants” and virtually no calories. If you don’t like plain yogurt, probiotics can also be found in kefir (again, avoid sugar) and fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, miso, and kombucha. Superfood No. 5: Tomatoes Lycopene, the carotenoid that gives tomatoes their bright red color, may help ward off UV-induced damage like sun spots and wrinkles, according to Shamban. And yes, tomato sauce counts. Our bodies actually absorb lycopene more easily from cooked tomatoes than from fresh ones. Keep in mind: Though all processed tomato products contain high levels of lycopene, many also contain a lot of sodium (tomato juice) and/or sugar (ketchup), so read labels carefully. Superfood No. 6: Dark green leafy vegetables Spinach, kale, arugula, bok choy, swiss chard: Nutrient-dense and low in calories (one cup of spinach contains just seven calories) dark green leafy vegetables are loaded with detoxifying fiber and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients. In addition to helping to protect skin from UV damage, antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin help keep eyes bright and clear (while preventing age-related problems like macular degeneration and cataracts). According to a 2019 study in Food Chemistry, eating uncooked chopped spinach provides higher amounts of lutein than cooked methods. The best way to release lutein from the leaves is to slice it into strips in a salad or chop it up in a blender (try mixing it up in a blender with fresh lemon juice, celery, one-half green apple, and ginger). Superfood No. 7: Nuts and seeds Experts say you’ll get the most bang for your nutritional buck with walnuts and almonds. Both contain high levels of vitamin E, which helps keep skin supple and hydrated and may offer some protection from UV rays. Walnuts and flax seeds also boast skin softening alpha linoleic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Recent studies link dietary α-Linolenic acid (ALA) with reduced systemic inflammation, which helps protect your heart, brain — and yes — your skin, too. Nuts are a good source of potassium, which may help reduce facial bloat caused by excess sodium. The list above, as published in AARP, is from an article by Amy Synnott, an award-winning writer and former Executive Editor of Elle. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, The New York Post, and Women's Health, among other publications.
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UTIs can be dangerous for seniors4/5/2022 Here’s what you need to know: 
Get to know Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) now, and all the home health services available to you and your loved ones, before you have a health emergency. We are proud to be the longest-serving VNA in the state of New Jersey, so we know a thing or two about helping seniors. The Visiting Nurse Association of Northern New Jersey (VNA) is a leading provider of comprehensive home health care services in Morris, Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties in Northern New Jersey. Established in 1898, generations have known that just one call to VNA opens the door to quality, patient-centered home health care solutions that allow patients to remain in the comfort of their homes with dignity, health, and independence.
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