Achieving Wellness Through Arthritis

After a year of escalating back pain, I was suddenly hit with severe arthritis in my hands, back, knees, and feet. Being in my mid-thirties, I was used to running 10Ks and cycling to work. Now, it took two hands, wincing through pain, to turn the key to the ignition in my car. I was limping around the house, not wanting to go anywhere. After a diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis, I was faced with a lifetime of illness and serious medications. However, the onset of symptoms suggested some clear triggers to the disease. I put my engineering hat on, started researching, and testing diets, activities, and lifestyles. I tried everything to get rid of my arthritis. It took years, but I eventually recovered and feel stronger than ever before. And while my arthritis is not cured, and often lies just below the surface, I find refuge in an assortment of techniques to manage it without medication. Greatest of all, I can now share what I have learned.

A basic easy guide to creating your own walking fitness plan, including how to get started and stay motivated.

This completely revised and updated version of the perennial bestseller offers you a detailed, easy-to-follow program for treating arthritis at home, based on a simple diet of health-building foods. With this book, you can relieve or even reverse most cases of osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis without expensive drugs or equipment. The key is to substitute "restorative foods" for certain inflammation-generating foods, tap your inner well-springs of good health, and practice easy-to-do exercises for increased flexibility. You will discover: • The incredible arthritis-healing and health-renewing powers of restorative foods • How to maximize your chances for complete recovery of arthritis • Aspirin-free ways to reduce pain and inflammation • "Stressor foods" to avoid that block the healing of arthritis • Simple tests to help you pinpoint the foods that can aggravate your arthritis • Easy diet changes that eliminate joint inflammation, gout, migraines, osteoarthritis, lupus, and more No matter how old you are or how long you've suffered from arthritis, with this program you can help overcome arthritis and free yourself of debilitating pain in just a few weeks.

Addressing the growing number of individuals who suffer from this often debilitating ailment, this indispensable reference explains how to manage chronic or acute arthritis in straightforward language. Descriptions of the most common forms of arthritis and how they affect the body and its joints guide arthritis sufferers through the symptoms and show them how to manage their own treatment with the help of a health-care team. Self-management is emphasized and chapters cover topics such as pain management, working with health-care professionals, medication, exercise, surgery options, intimacy issues, emotional health, social interaction, and alternative treatments.

Gain the nursing skills you need to provide wellness-based care for older adults! Ebersole and Hess' Gerontological Nursing & Healthy Aging, 6th Edition uses a holistic approach to describe compassionate care along a continuum of wellness. Designed to promote healthy aging regardless of the patient’s situation or disorder, this text provides best-practice guidelines in covering physical, psychosocial, spiritual, and cognitive health. New to this edition are Next Generation NCLEX®-style case studies, updates on measuring clinical judgment, expanded coverage of core competencies, and more. Written by gerontological nursing experts Theris Touhy and Kathleen Jett, this concise text provides a solid foundation in every aspect of healthy aging. Focus on health and wellness provides the evidence-based information and strategies needed to promote healthy aging. Key concepts, learning activities, and discussion questions in every chapter emphasize the information needed to enhance care. Recommended competencies from the AACN and the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing are integrated throughout. Discussion of disease processes is placed in the context of healthy adaptation, nursing support, and responsibilities. Easy-to-use information on nursing techniques and communication appears with the associated disorders, symptoms, and situations. Tips for Best Practice and Resources for Best Practice boxes provide insight into proven methods of nursing care. Discussions of nursing and interprofessional actions help students learn to enhance wellness, maintain optimal function, and prevent unnecessary disability. Coverage of age, cultural, racial, and gender differences highlights these important considerations in caring for older adults. NEW! Updates reflect the NCSBN Clinical Judgment Model. NEW! Next Generation NCLEX® (NGN)-style case studies provide optimal preparation for the Next Generation NCLEX Examination. NEW! Specialized information addresses the unique needs of older adults such as atypical disease presentation, geriatric syndromes, neurocognitive disorders, quality of life with chronic illness, legal and ethical issues, and mental health challenges such as depression and substance abuse. NEW! Coverage of competencies of expanding nursing roles in the care of older adults addresses the continuum of care. NEW! Gerontological expertise is incorporated into nursing actions and complements other nursing texts (including med-surg, community health, mental health, and assessment books) used in programs without a freestanding gerontological nursing course. NEW! Expanded content includes information on COPD guidelines, medication use and misuse, Alzheimer’s Disease, wound care guidelines, diagnosis and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing, joint replacement, caregiver strain, hospice and transitional care, and more.

The Institute of Medicine study Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001) recommended that an interdisciplinary summit be held to further reform of health professions education in order to enhance quality and patient safety. Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality is the follow up to that summit, held in June 2002, where 150 participants across disciplines and occupations developed ideas about how to integrate a core set of competencies into health professions education. These core competencies include patient-centered care, interdisciplinary teams, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and informatics. This book recommends a mix of approaches to health education improvement, including those related to oversight processes, the training environment, research, public reporting, and leadership. Educators, administrators, and health professionals can use this book to help achieve an approach to education that better prepares clinicians to meet both the needs of patients and the requirements of a changing health care system.

Nearly 3 million Americans suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, a painful, incurable connective-tissue disease that attacks the hands and feet as well as the joints and may lead to deformities and permanent disabilities. Rheumatoid Arthritis: Plan to Win offers an inspiring, scientifically based game plan for minimizing the effects of this chronic illness, and ultimately, achieving optimal health. Here is the definitive resource for practical strategies and emotional support, whether you need help controlling pain, are concerned about medication side-effects, or want to locate a reliable RA news source or support group on the Internet. Helpful chapters detail the latest therapies, special dietary and exercise needs of people with RA, how to deal with arthritis at home and in the workplace, prepare for surgery, pregnancy and childbirth, enjoy healthy sexuality, use the mind-body connection to control symptoms, make informed decisions about alternative medicine, and perhaps most important, how to build a healthcare team and maintain excellent communication and working relationships with that team. By using this book as a starting point and a 24/7 reference guide, people with RA will be better equipped to form an effective plan of action, making well-informed decisions about their health along the way, and greatly enhancing their ability to live happy, productive lives. Cheryl Koehn, who was an Olympic-caliber athlete when she developed RA, is a leading advocate and spokesperson for people with arthritis. Together with her co-authors, John Esdaile, MD, and science writer Taysha Palmer, Koehn provides a wealth of information and practical advice, assembled from thousands of research papers as well as from her personal experiences with this debilitating disease.