UNSAFE SHOWER HEAD PLACEMENT

Hello,





Just wanted you all to see the placement of this shower head. This shower head was also placed too high, in relation to the height of the woman who had to use it. (See yesterday's post about the unsafe towel placement)
This is a picture example of what not to do.

She had to almost fully extend her neck (see the position of her forehead-it was almost completely facing the ceiling!)

As she extended her arms to reach for the hand held shower head, her risk of slipping in the tub increased even more.

The location of the shower head forced her into an awkward posture. This posture changed her trunk balance and stability. Once her stability was out of balance, her fall risk became greater than average fall risk in a slippery tubn.

My recommendation was to lower this shower head, using a sliding vertical bar, which eventually settled the problem. The shower head could be raised and lowered as needed, with minimal damage to her tiles. It was a cost effective solution, that satisfied the client, and made her life easier and safer.

Stay safe and healthy.

Dr. Vanessa

UNSAFE Towel Rod Placement

Hi,

As you can see, this is a picture of a towel rod that was installed way too high for this woman's height. This placement created an enormous fall risk hazard.

The reason: The position of the rod, in relation to her height, forced her to stretch beyond a comfortable limit.

Imagine adding soap suds to a slippery tub floor, maybe limited vision, and you have an accident ready to happen.

Anyway, my best advice,....don't do this.

Signing off.

Dr. Vanessa

Some intermediate smoking risk factors

Intermediate Smoking Risk Factors

Who hasn't heard that smoking is bad for health? Rarely do we hear why. Here are a few thinga that happen to the body with smoking:

• Damage to medium & small arteries: AKA: Atherosclerosis: Arteries clog up; Get ready for heart attacks
• Holes start to happen in the lungs: AKA: Emphysema (enlarged air sacs in the lungs) Very hard to breath; coughing starts; increased mucous
• Blood pressure increases: Arteries aren't able to easily pump blood efficiently and it is harder to get fresh air into the blood system
• Bones get less dense, because nicotine reduces calcium absorption. Reduced bone density causes:. Osteoporosis. The end result is fragile, weak and brittle bones.

That's just some of the intermediate effects of smoking.

Signing off for today.

Dr. Vanessa

Passive Smoking

If you are a smoker, more than likely today's litte blog might turn you off. But here goes any way. There is no point in saying how much damage smoking does to the smoker's body. Smoker's are warned ad nauseam about that. No smoker cares about that until the time they decide to quit. If a smoker smokes anywhere near someone else, they don't care about them, either. Second hand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults.

(I generalize but why does it so often have to be AFTER the person is diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, asthma, emphysema, etc.) Think of the huge costs we pay as taxpayers due to lifestyle medical conditions such as cancer and heart conditions caused by smoking. The amounts are astronomical.

Anyway, I don't smoke. I don't want to be near smoke of any kind. What annoys me is I don't have a choice when I have to walk through a cloud of smoke to get somewhere or leave a place.
I don't want to walk through smoky entrance way doors to get to a place I want to go. (Like a restaurant, a movie theater, a store) I don't want to go to a place of entertainment like an outdoor concert, or a shopping center, or a racetrack and have to tolerate second hand smoke.
The dangers of second hand smoke are real; they are life threatening and there are a lot of them.

Yesterday, I went to a casino. I left stinking of smoke, but worse, I was hacking, coughing and hoarse. It made me sick. What totally set me off, was when I ask a woman to move her cigarette (politely) out of my face. She was highly insulted. She also impolitely let me know I should move if I didn't like it. Well, I didn't like it, and I HAD TO MOVE!

Passive smoke,also known as second hand smoke, is when a nonsmoker breathes smoke from someone else's cigarette, pipe, or cigar. The idea that I have to ingest smoke that came from someone else's mouth is really disgusting,...but here is why I get so upset.

Second hand smoke has more than 50 cancer causing agents

• It has at least 250 chemicals that are known to be toxic or carcinogenic.(cause cancer)
• According to the Office of the Surgeon General "concentrations of many cancer-causing and toxic chemicals are higher in secondhand smoke than in the smoke inhaled by smokers."

Poisons in Cigarette Smoke

The smoke that comes off the tip of a cigarette is twenty times more deadly than the smoke that is inhaled by the smoker. Besides nicotine, here are a few other poisons in cigarette smoke:

• Acetone: one ingredient in nail polish remover
• Ammonia: this increases the amount of nicotine absorption in the body
• Benzene: Used in pesticides and causes leukemia
• Formaldehyde: Embalming fluid
• Lead: (Causes anemia and stomach problems. It also damages the brain, nerves and the reproductive system)
• Hydrogen cyanide: (Used in the gas chambers)
• Toulene: (Highly toxic substance found in paint thinner)

Second Hand Smoke and Children

I am a grandparent now. Kids just should not be around smokers. They imitate smokers, so you are pretty much guarenteeing a future smoker. Plus, their little lungs and bodies are getting huge doses of toxic poisons.

Here is what passive smoke can do to kids:

• Slows long growth
• Causes breathing symptoms
• Causes colds, bronchitis, more frequent and severe asthma attacks
• It can reduce a child's ability to learn.
• It causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Low birth weight
• Middle ear problems
• Brain tumors, and other diseases
• and there is so much more, but you get the picture
  

Myths About Second Hand Smoke

• Myth 1: Air conditioning eliminates exposure to smoke toxins
• Myth 2: Ventilation eliminates exposure to second hand smoke
• Myth 3: Opening a window in a home eliminates exposure to second hand smoke
• Myth 4: Separating smokers from nonsmokers in one area of a building eliminates exposure to second hand smoke
  

WISE AGING TIPS To REDUCE HEALTH RISKS DUE TO SECOND HAND SMOKE

FOR SMOKERS

• Protect your loved ones from second hand smoke
• If you are a smoker, do everyone a favor and quit.
• If you have kids around, NEVER smoke around them
• Avoid touching kids after you have smoked.
• If you have smoked, change clothes and shower before touching children or anyone else.
• Smoke outside, as far away from your home as you can
  

FOR NON SMOKERS

• Do not allow children to be exposed to smoke
• Ask others not to smoke around you or loved ones
• Do not allow anyone to hold or touch your children or grandchilren if they are smokers
• Do not frequent businesses that permit smoking.
• Thank and support businesses that have smoke free policies.
• Be an advocate against smoking
• Walk as far around clouds of smoke as possible
• Ask people to quit smoking around you
• Move away from people who refuse to quit smoking around you
• Do not allow anyone to smoke in your house

To read a complete article in the SAFE AGING newsletter, take a look at http://www.safeaging.com/newsletter/Aug2007newsletter.htm

There are a number of Internet resources if you want more info. Please feel free to comment.

To anyone who knows a legislator,...how about stopping public smoking altogether? It is time.