Urinary incontinence Archive

Studies suggest that adopting a sunnier outlook may improve your health and even extend your life.

Image: © lzf /Thinkstock

In these turbulent times, it's sometimes a struggle to maintain a glass-half-full view of life. But if you can, it may serve you well. A growing body of research links optimism—a sense that all will be well—to a lower risk for mental or physical health issues and to better odds of a longer life.

One of the largest such studies was led by researchers Dr. Kaitlin Hagan and Dr. Eric Kim at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their team analyzed data from 70,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study who, in 2004, had answered questions about how they viewed their futures

Women with early cancer in one breast may opt to remove the other, healthy breast because they overestimate their risk of a second cancer.

The risk of developing stress incontinence or urge incontinence increases along with BMI and body fat percentage. Stress incontinence is also associated with declines in grip strength.

Data from more than 200,000 people indicates that the risk of developing melanoma increases by 13% for every glass of white wine consumed per day. Drinking beer, red wine, or liquor was not associated with increased risk.

This list describes your priorities in an emergency situation. Follow these steps:

1. Evaluate the scene to protect yourself and others from injury or danger.
2. Be calm and reassuring.
3. Do not move the person unless he or she is in imminent danger or unless you cannot provide assistance without moving the person.
4. Get help. Call out for someone to phone 911 or, if the person does not need immediate assistance, make the call yourself.
5. If the situation is a choking emergency, perform the Heimlich maneuver (see Choking).
6. Look, listen, and feel for breathing (see Breathing Difficulties).
7. Feel for a pulse to determine if the heart is beating.
8. Control bleeding with direct pressure.
9. Treat for shock.
10. If the person is unconscious, move him or her into the recovery position.

Adult Recovery Position

This position helps a semiconscious or unconscious person breathe and permits fluids to drain from the nose and throat so they are not breathed in. If the person is unconscious or semiconscious after you have done everything on the Emergency Checklist, move the person into the recovery position while waiting for help to arrive.

Do not use the recovery position if the person has a major injury, such as a back or neck injury

Removing a Stuck Ring

Choking

A person who is choking will instinctively grab at the throat. The person also may panic, gasp for breath, turn blue, or be unconscious. If the person can cough or speak, he or she is getting air. Nothing should be done.

Immediate care
If the person cannot cough or speak, begin the Heimlich maneuver immediately to dislodge the object blocking the windpipe. The Heimlich maneuver creates an artificial cough by forcing the diaphragm up toward the lungs.

When you are alone and have to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), your primary effort should be compressing the chest to help the person's heart pump blood. If there is a second person helping, providing breaths can be done at the same time as compressions are performed.

The brief review of CPR on the following pages can help you in an emergency; however, this information should not take the place of a certified course in CPR.

Mouth-to-Mouth Resuscitation

Mouth-to-Mouth-and-Nose Resuscitation on a Child Under Age 8 or on an Infant

• Place the child on a hard, flat surface.

• Look into the mouth and throat to ensure that the airway is clear. If an object is present, try to sweep it out with your fingers. If unsuccessful and the object is blocking the airway, apply the Heimlich maneuver. If vomiting occurs, turn the child onto his or her side and sweep out the mouth with two fingers.

• Tilt the head back slightly to open the airway.