Contact us at (866) 323-3662 in St. Louis, MO, to learn more about our health plan services. Above & Beyond Health, LLC 9191 W Florissant Avenue, Suite 204 Saint Louis,MO 63136 Phone: 3145228844 Contact Email: info@aboveandbeyondhealth-cds.com Main Keyword: health plan, st. louis, mo ...read more

It’s a new year so start it off right!  In this blogI will be addressing posture. Please let me help you if you have any questions in this areas.  Hope it helps.  Posture:  I could write a book on this. Standing habits can contribute to neck and back problems along with effecting the way you age.  Yes I said it…standing tall and strong will make you live longer and healthier.  Here are some tips, but if you want to know more let me know. Simply stand up straight.  Don’t be a slouch!  Make sure your top teeth are level to the ground and your ears are over your shoulders Keep your core tight, even with a slight tuck in your pelvis The shoes you wear mean a lot, but that’s another newsletter :) Keep yourself moving You can also stay fit while you sit.  Don't slouch or slump.Keep your shoulders out of your ears by rolling them back and down, relax your neck and again keep a slight tuck in your pelvis to avoid sitting with your back arched Your knees need to be at or above waist level.  This puts your spine in the best position taking pressure off of the low back and making it harder to slouch Relax.It is easy to become intense and uptight making you overuse your muscles. Take breaks when you need to find your happy place Watch your leg crossing patterns.Although leg crossing should not be encouraged, it’s comfortable and we do it.  Be aware of constantly crossing the same leg or sitting on the same foot.  This will cause you to tilt and your muscles will accommodate to this position causing muscle that aren’t being used to weaken.  If you insist on doing it switch sides regularly How does aging get involved with this? Good posture and a strong core is an important part of anti-aging or aging well.  Twenty something’s fear looking old, over fifty’s want to feel good and stay active and if you ask someone over eighty about their fears of aging the #1  response is “not being able to get around and take care of myself.”  Your body learns what you teach it and slumping has become the 21 century posture A prime example of when bones aren’t balanced, aligned or able to move correctly is arthritis.  Posture exercises and balance training keep your body in motion and moving in the proper way, firing muscles in the right order and decreasing the stress on the joints.  By focusing on posture, balance and restoring proper motion to the body, the body will be under less biomechanical stress and therefore should last longer before wearing out Our bodies are designed to move in certain patterns.  If injury or chronically poor posture place undue stress on the body, then the body can’t move as it should, setting the stage for future injury and premature aging Correct posture can even help you breathe easier and more efficiently. ...read more

The Gossip Imaging studio was opened for its friends, family, and VIP besties for the first time, to introduce Helena Williams unique space to the world. Guests were free to admire the studio and have refreshments August 6 between the hours of 6 and 8 o’clock pm. Doors will opened for business on August 8 at 8 o’clock am. At that time clients were allowed meet Helena and be entered in a raffle to win a Gossip Beauty basket filled with gifts only a true Fashionista would deserve. The Image consulting firm focuses on unleashing the inner Diva in every woman while catering to their fashion and beauty needs. Through educating, giving, and demonstrating integrity, Gossip Imaging has helped the upper class, women in need, and every woman in between achieve self-worth that they never knew existed. As women rush to Gossip for pampering and pedis, they’re also helping someone less fortunate. Every month five percent of Gossip income goes to donating to a different charity. Its last donations have gone to the ALIVE and March of Dimes organizations. Come, enter the fabulous world of Gossip Imaging, and prepare yourself to be washed with Redken and painted with MAC. Experience first rate customer service and leave feeling fulfilled fashionably, beautifully, and spiritually, because, there’s no better Gossip for the soul than giving. ...read more

HAVE YOU DONE YOUR POSTURE EXERCISES?   DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?    DO YOU THINK YOUR POSTURE NEEDS HELP?    DO YOU THINK POSTURE AFFECTS YOUR OVERALL HEALTH?    READ ON…   Good posture and a strong core is an important part of anti-aging or aging well. Twenty something’s fear looking old, over fifty’s want to feel good and stay active and if you ask someone over eighty about their fears of aging the #1 response is “not being able to get around and take care of myself.” Your body learns what you teach it and slumping has become the 21 century posture.    Proper posture and focus on balance, alignment and proper motion. A prime example of when bones aren’t balanced, aligned or able to move correctly is arthritis. Posture exercises and balance training keep your body in motion and moving in the proper way, firing muscles in the right order and decreasing the stress on the joints.    Here are some stats from the Arthritis Foundation:   · Arthritis is one of the most prevalent chronic health problems and the nation’s leading cause of disability among Americans over age 15. · Arthritis is second only to heart disease as a cause of work disability. · Arthritis limits everyday activities such as walking, dressing and bathing for more than 7 million Americans. · Arthritis results in 39 million physician visits and more than a half million hospitalizations. · Costs to theeconomy totals $128 billion annually.   By focusing on posture, balance and restoring proper motion to the body, the body will be under less biomechanical stress and therefore should last longer before wearing out. Our bodies are designed to move in certain patterns. If injury or chronically poor posture place undue stress on the body, then the body can’t move as it should, setting the stage for future injury and premature aging.    It has been so exciting to incorporate this training in my office and see how it can affect such a large range of patients and conditions.   This is just the surface of how posture can affect us. There are also correlations to fatigue, muscle aches and pains, stiff joints, balance, coordination, and even breathing difficulties. Proper posture can improve performance from the weekend warrior athlete to the professional athlete and grandma and grandpa.    Call and ask how we can help!! This is the best anti-aging advice I can give. The best medicine is to KEEP MOVING! ...read more

Wishing you and yours all the Best in 2011 May you enjoy health and prosperity throughout the New Year!   From All of Us at All Metro Health Care   At All Metro Health Care, our caring staff can help answer all of your questions abouthome care, including how to reducecaregiverstress while providing tender, quality care to your loved one.All Metro Health Careis ahome careagency providingcaregiversandin home care in St Louis MOand surrounding areas. ...read more

Home Care for the Holidaysby Edyth Ann KnoxThe Holidays are times of great joy, feasting and family traditions that fill us with secure and warm feelings. They are times to reestablish family ties and bonds. The Holidays are days we remember and cherish for years to come.Yet for those caring for a family member with Alzheimer's Disease the Holidays can be filled with trips to the doctor or the emergency room. They can be times that our loved one may show frustration, agitation or aggressive behaviors, instead of being filled with joy and good will. This can destroy the Holidays for thecaregiverand the rest of the family. Many caregivers often cease participating in the Holidays altogether after a horrendous holiday.The Holidays are times that can bring great stress for many. When you add a loved one who has Alzheimer's Disease into the mix often the stress can become too much for both thecaregiverand the loved one. You do not need to dread the arrival of the Holidays.There are ways you can still celebrate the season by making adjustments and considerations to improve your chance of a safe and happy holiday for both you and your loved one.Source: ElderCare Onlineâ„¢continue reading...... The caregivers at All Metro Health Care are available to answer any questions you might have about home care for your loved one. We are a home care agency providing quality in home care in St Louis MO and surrounding areas. ...read more

The Best Holiday Gifts for SeniorsBy Philip MoellerWelcome to the age of gadgets, where Best Buy has become the new Toys 'R' Us. In assembling a gift list forseniors, there are plenty of goodies that either plug into an outlet or require a large intake of batteries. There's just no way around them. But experts drum home some cardinal rules: Remember who the gift is really for. Make sure the recipient has a use for the gift. Make sure you or another family member can provide real-world tech support for the recipient. Your continued help needs to be part of the gift. Do not saddle the recipient with monthly service charges or other hidden fees for your gift. "To me the question is, 'What gift would be personally meaningful to asenior?'" says Dan Cohen, a social worker who looks at technology issues involving older people. "You know, seniors are not pining for another shirt or sweater." His gift, he explained via e-mail, satisfies an old need with a newer tool: "One item that will keep them engaged and give them pleasure is the gift of music. The iPod Shuffle is tailor-made for seniors. Once it's set up, to operate it all one has to do is click-on and click-off. Someone else who is already familiar with iTunes needs to learn what their favorite music is, obtain it, set up the playlist, and load it. If theseniorknows how to operate a TV remote, they'll be able to handle this single-button operation."...continue reading from news.yahoo.com  AtAll Metro Health Care, ourcaregiverscan help you and your family with all of yourhome careneeds.All Metro Healthcareis ahome careagency providinghome care inSt Louis MOand surrounding areas. Call us at 314-843-6616. ...read more

Cold Weather Increases Risk to the ElderlyAbout 600 people in the U.S. die each year from a dangerous medical condition called hypothermia, and about half of those are over the age of 65.Hypothermia occurs when a person's body temperature drops below 95 degrees because of exposure to cold temperatures.  The danger isn't limited to being outside in winter weather.  It can also occur from exposure to cold temperatures inside as well.  Theelderlyare often at risk for hypothermia because they lose body heat faster.  Older adults also may have complicating medical conditions or take certain medications that affect their ability to gauge how cold they are.If you have anelderlyrelative or friend, watch for these signs of hypothermia and call 911 if you suspect the condition: Sleepiness Confusion Cold hands and feet Pale skin Slurred or slow speech Slow or shallow breathing Clumsy or unsteady movements Source utmedicalgroup.com  If your family needs help withelder care in St Louis, please contact thehome carecounselors atAll Metro Healthcare, 314-843-6616.All Metro Healthcareis ahome careagency providingcaregiversto the residents of St Louis MO and the surrounding areas. ...read more

Happy Thanksgiving From All Metro Health Care!Please remember to check on yourelderlyfamily members.  It's the perfect time to establish a base line on behavior and make sure they are taking care of themselves. If not, please have discussions and don't be afraid to 'say what you see'. Let them know your concerns when there is a chance to talk, so that these discussions can continue without hard feelings. Let them know they are loved!If you need answers toelder carequestions or need help withhome care in St Louisor the surrounding area, please contact us at 314-843-6616 or visitwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.com. ...read more

Alzheimer's Awareness Month Sheds Spotlight on Treatment, Prevention EffortsNovember marks the beginning of National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month, a reminder that the number of people who will develop the disease is expected to skyrocket over the next few years. Starting Jan. 1, 79 million baby boomers will turn 65 at a rate of one every eight seconds.That is more than four million per year, according to a recent op-ed piece in The New York Times. If scientists could delay onset of the disease by five years, via better drugs, the United States could keep much fewerAlzheimer'spatients from needing nursing homes, former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and Alzheimer's experts Stanley Prusiner and Ken Dychtwald said in the piece. Currently, for every penny the National Institutes of Health spends on Alzheimer's research, Americans spend $3.50caringfor individuals with the disease, for a total of $172 billion a year.  At that rate, by 2020, the cumulative total will be $172 billion a year, or $20 trillion by 2050, according to the op-ed titled "The Age of Alzheimer's." ...read more from Mcknights.com For information about howAll Metro Home Health Carecan help your family withhome carefor a loved one suffering fromAlzheimer's Diseasein the St Louis MO area, visitwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.comor call 314-843-6616. ...read more

I found this very interesting article about why the medical industry is dwindling onKaiser Health News.  Here is an excerpt below, to read the full articleClick Here. Physician Shortage Expected To Balloon To 91,500 In 2020 News outlets report on workforce issues, including the doctor shortage, Medicaid pay cuts and the effects of long work hours on medical residents."Nationwide physician shortages are expected to balloon to 62,900 doctors in five years and 91,500 by 2020, according to new Assn. of American Medical Colleges work force projections," American Medical News reports. "That's up more than 50% from previous estimates. AAMC officials attribute the widening gap to increased demands from the aging baby boomer generation and expansion of coverage by 2019 to 32 million uninsured Americans under the health system reform law. ... To counter shortages, the AAMC is urging federal officials to lift limits on Medicare funding for residency positions, which have been capped at 100,000 slots since 1997" (Krupa, 10/11).In a second story, American Medical News reports that 20 states enacted Medicaid pay reductions for physicians in 2010, while also struggling "to cope with strong Medicaid enrollment growth, according to an annual survey of state Medicaid programs. Meanwhile, 11 states, six of which also cut pay in 2010, and the District of Columbia have enacted physician pay cuts for fiscal 2011, which in many states began June 30. But the worst of Medicaid pay cuts may be yet to come" as additional Medicaid funding from the 2009 economic stimulus package dries up. "Some states' Medicaid costs could increase by 25% or more in fiscal 2012" (Trapp, 10/11).The Los Angeles Times reports on the pros and cons on long work hours for residents. "Heroic working hours have long been a badge of honor for senior physicians - the late cardiovascular surgeon Michael DeBakey often bragged that he slept for only five or six hours per night tops. But critics of the policies have long questioned how all these tired doctors affect patient safety and what chronic fatigue is doing to the lives of medical residents at a critical point in their training. Continue reading byClicking Here. For more information on Elder Care in the St. Louis, MO area visit our website atwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.com.  ...read more

Making the decision to put your parent in a home or keep them at home is a very difficult one.  I found this good article onForbesthat discusses not putting your aging loved one in a home.  Here is an excerpt below, to read the full articleClick Here. "Promise You'll Never Put Me In A Home." By: Carolyn Rosenblatt Mom probably made you say it.  Maybe Dad did too.  Could there be anything that causes more guilt in adult children withagingparents?  It's an almost universal plea parents make to us.  And we universally agree to what they ask, not thinking too far ahead. When ouragingparents extract this promise from us, they're usually in pretty good shape and make it clear that they want to remain in their homes until they die.  Most people want that, and we'll probably want that too as we age ourselves. But, maybe no one planned on living to be so old as our parents are getting to be. Certainly no one plans on getting dementia, or being a huge burden to one's children.  My own Mom, (may she rest in peace) who was mentally ill and frankly, a huge burden used to say "I never want to burden you children". Of course, she didn't want to, and we recognized that none of us could care for her and she spent all her last years in a care facility, where her quality of life was good. We all have limits ascaregivers.  Whether they are physical, emotional, financial or family tolerance limits, we all have them.  There is only so much we can do and so much we can take before we reach the breaking point. When we're past our own limits, we may start to recognize that we are not going to be able to keep going as full timecaregiversfor our parents. As they decline in health and require more care, day and night, sometimes with difficult to manage behaviors, it can sap our energy, wipe us out emotionally  and financially, and threaten our health and our relationships. It can cause us to break that ill-thought-out promise we made before we and our parents really knew what we were promising. We probably didn't understand the level of our own personal sacrifice involved when we said Mom or Dad would never be in a care facility. My client, "Jim" took care of his Mom full time at home, with help from his wife. He, too had made the  promise. As Mom developed dementia and was unable to care for herself, as well as being unable to sleep nights, Jim grew totally exhausted. He was getting up with her at night. He was with her during the day. She wandered throughout the house, went outside and started to walk down the block repeatedly, sometimes while he tried to get a few hours' sleep. She didn't have money.  Jim wasn't wealthy either and couldn't afford full timecaregiversaround the clock.  He asked for advice about a difficult decision:  was it time to put Mom in a nursing home? We weighed the pros and cons.  Medicaid would pay for full time care Jim simply couldn't afford. Mom qualified for it because she was low income and had no assets.  Her behavior was getting ever more difficult for him to manage even with his wife's help. He was a very committed son, and felt bad about the idea of taking her out of her home. Finances narrowed his choices of what to do.  He had to keep doing thecaregivinghimself or find a nursing home. I am not one to promote nursing homes.  I've worked in them as an aide and a nurse and sued them as a lawyer for neglect of my clients.  But I do know that good nursing homes exist.  I know how to look for one, and Jim and I went over the process. Most importantly, I helped Jim understand how to keep his Mom safe in a nursing home.  No matter what kind of facility they go to when that time comes, we have to become the safety police. Mom had some trouble at first adjusting to her new life in the nursing home, Jim told me,. But she got used to the place, and was doing fine within a short time. He visits every day and spends an hour or two. With that schedule, he knows exactly what's going on and can nip any problems in the bud.  So far, it's working well. He dealt with the guilt he had by making a careful choice of the nursing homes in the area, and by making sure that he or his wife or another family  member stopped by daily to see his Mom. Jim is at peace with his decision. Mom is well cared for, Jim gets to sleep at night and he's in a better frame of mind when he spends time with her.  Best of all, Mom looks forward to his visits and has made some friends in her new home. If you find yourself thinking about a nursing home for an aging loved one, consider these 9 steps to take the guilt out of the choice you need to make. For the nine tips, continue readingClick Here. Remember for the best in Home Care in the St. Louis, MO area visit our website atwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.com. ...read more

I found this very interesting article about celiac disease onHealthDay Newsand wanted to pass it along to you.  Here is an excerpt below, to read the full articleClick Here. Celiac Disease Seems to Be on the Rise, Mainly in Elderly: Study MONDAY, Sept. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The autoimmune disorder known as celiac disease appears to be on the rise, particularly amongelderlyAmericans, new research suggests. Researchers from the United States and Italy uncovered evidence that overall incidence rates of the disease -- marked by an intolerance to the protein gluten that is found in wheat, barley and rye -- have been doubling every 15 years since 1974. The findings are reported in the Sept. 27 online edition ofAnnals of Medicineby lead author Dr. Carlo Catassi, of the Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy, who also serves as co-director of the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Celiac Research. The study authors said it's not clear what causes a person to develop the disease. Genetics seem to play a role, and some people are born with it. But, genetic predisposition doesn't always translate into actual illness, because others without a predisposition can develop gluten intolerance. Environmental factors are also believed to figure into the equation, although it's not known why, Catassi and his colleagues said. To get a better handle on the condition, the researchers took blood samples from more than 3,500 adults. The investigators found that the ratio of people who had blood markers for the disease rose continuously from one in every 501 individuals in 1974 to one in 219 by 1989. The researchers also pointed to a 2003 study that placed the incidence rate at approximately one in every 133 Americans. The researchers also found that as their study participants grew older, the rate of disease went up. This mirrored an earlier Finnish study that suggested that celiac disease appears to be two-and-a-half times more common among theelderlythan the general population. This contradicts a previously held notion that gluten intolerance usually takes place during childhood, the researchers said. For the best in Home Care in the St. Louis, MO area, please visit our website atwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.com. ...read more

I found this interesting article onNPRabout dementia and wanted to pass it along to you.  Here is an excerpt below, to read the full articleClick Here. by Allison Aubrey When it comes to staving off dementia, new evidence suggests that the "use it or lose it" dictum holds true — at least for a while. But it also appears that mentally stimulating lifestyles may speed up dementia once it hits inold age. "We do think that a cognitively active lifestyle is protective up to some point," says Robert Wilson, a professor of neurological sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. But the protection doesn't hold up indefinitely. New Evidence Wilson and his colleagues recruited 1,157 peopleage 65and older from the Chicago area. When the study began, none of theseniorshad dementia. During face-to-face interviews, each was asked how often he or she participated in stimulating activities. "Things such as reading a newspaper, listening to the radio, going to a museum, or playing a board game such as chess or checkers," Wilson says. Then they gave each person a score on a cognitive activity scale. The more frequently people engaged in stimulating activities, the higher their score. More than a decade later, researchers followed up with cognitive evaluations and diagnostics. They found that among theseniorswho didn't have dementia, the rate of cognitive decline was reduced by 52 percent for each point on the cognitive activity scale. But the results were much different for those who developed Alzheimer's disease — their rate of decline increased. The average rate of decline per year increased by 42 percent for each point on the cognitive activity scale. Continue reading byClicking Here. For the best in Home Care in the St. Louis, MO area, please visit our website atwww.allmetrohealthcarestlouis.com. ...read more

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