Brain Injury Awareness

Brain injuries can happen in any shape, way, or form from slipping on ice to crashing a motorcycle. There are many people who aren’t diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injuries or are diagnosed late because they thought it was “just a concussion”. Generally, veterans who return back from war are usually diagnosed with TBI. Football players, hockey players, or any other intensive sports can lead to great head injuries that may end a players’ career. 

There are three levels to Traumatic Brain Injuries; mild, moderate, and severe. Mild head traumas are just as bad as severe head traumas. TBI changes a person physically and mentally. A person who was once able to multitask now needs to concentrate at one thing at a time. Sleep patterns and daily routines alter. It’s frustrating and confusing. It’s as if you’re literally born again and need to learn this new body. The people who knew the “old” you now need to adjust to the “new” you. It doesn’t just stop with a head injury, it continues throughout your entire life. There’s also a sense where you don’t belong or fit in. It’s like high school all over again. 

Just like a person who suffers from chronic panic attacks shouldn’t be told “relax” or “calm down” a person who suffers from TBI shouldn’t be told, “It’s just a concussion”. Just because brain injury is considered to be an “invisible injury” doesn’t mean it’s non-existent. People with TBI can and eventually will go back to their daily routines however, they aren’t as productive as they used to be. 

It’s difficult to convey feelings and pain of going through TBI unless you’ve actually been through it. Understanding and empathy from friends and family are helpful to though at times people may feel like they’re outsiders. 

With today’s research and findings, we are more aware and knowledgeable about brain injuries and our bodily functions then ever before. However there is still much we don’t know and raising awareness is vital for us and for our loved ones.  

Love Your Pet Day

This “unofficial” National holiday is set aside to give our lovable pets a little more extra love and attention. 

Our pets constantly give us unconditional love. They’re protective, supportive, loyal and they’re the best at keeping our secrets.  In addition our pets provide us with great health benefits such as reducing stress and lowering blood pressure. 

Our pets give us so much without asking for anything in return

Here are some ways to show our love to our wonderful pets. 

When walking your dog allow them to explore a new path. While you’re at it, stay out a little bit longer, this also allows them to get some good exercise.  

After a long day from school or work, coming home to an enthusiastic creature full of joy and happiness makes anyone feel good. Spend a little more time with your pet or great them at the door with a new treat to show your little cutie how much you love them. Don’t forget to scratch their backs a little longer that would really make your cat purr. 

Finally, when you give them a bath, give it to them full of love and maybe for tonight let your pets sleep beside you. 

Our pets do so much for us; let’s give them a little bit more love in return. 

Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home Continues to Help Raise Awareness for Heart Disease on National Wear Red Day

February 23 2015

Brooklyn, NY, February 15, 2015 --(PR.com)-- February 10th 2015, In support of National Wear Red Day, the nurses and staff at Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home came in wearing red shirts. National Wear Red day is a famous ongoing campaign to raise awareness for heart diseases. By wearing the color red it allows us to represent the color of love and the color of our hearts.

Cardiovascular diseases range from having a Congenital Heart Disease, a type of defect in one or more structures of the heart of blood vessels occurring before birth, to having a Heart Attack, where a coronary artery is suddenly blocked and stops the blood flow to the heart muscle, both of which are evidently frightening.

However, everyday there’s new technological innovation and research that help improve diagnoses, treatment, and care for such matters. Although doctors, researchers, and other professionals are all doing their best in helping us, we should also help ourselves and our communities.

While many people to this day still believe that a heart disease is a man’s disease, more women than men have died each year from cardiovascular problems. Heart diseases don’t discriminate between genders, age, or size. A heart attack or stroke can happen to anyone at any time and is the leading cause of death more so than cancer. The symptoms of heart disease can be different in women and men and are often misunderstood. In fact, many people are still unaware of the symptoms or think it may be something else.

One in every three women dies of a heart disease and stroke. Although sharp chest pains are usually associated with heart attacks this is not usually the case for women. Women may describe their chest pains as having some sort of pressure or tightness. At times, women might not even feel any chest pains at all, rather, they may have other symptoms unrelated to chest pains such as:

Neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back, or abdominal discomfort
Shortness of breath
Right arm pain
Nausea or vomiting
Lightheadedness or dizziness
Unusual fatigue

Women with Diabetes in particular have subtle symptoms and are more at risk of obtaining heart disease.

How much sleep, eat, exercise, and stress a person receives also determines different risk factors of heart diseases. Here are some tips for a healthy heart.

For Handling Stress:

Focus on one thing at a time
Take a break
Adjust expectations- set little goals that lead to the big goal

For Eating Healthy:

Use a food diary to help control portions
Eat 6 small meals instead of 3 big meals
Go for a walk with family or friends after a meal

For Exercising:

Walking
Bicycling
Swimming
Jogging
Yoga
Gardening
Exercise with Children

American Heart Month is one of the great ways to raise awareness about heart diseases of any kind. Help prevent it close to home and worldwide.

Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home is a premier 140-bed nursing and rehabilitation care center that provides comprehensive inpatient care to all its residents. Located at 2749 Linden Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11208, Brooklyn Queens’s professional and compassionate staff provides around-the-clock medical and nursing care in a caring and comfortable environment that centers around its residents.

Brooklyn Queens offers outstanding short-term rehabilitation for individuals coming from an acute-care setting, as well as superior long-term care and hospice care. Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home has an exceptional staff of physical, occupational and speech therapists that carefully tailors unique recovery programs for each and every resident.

For more information on Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home, visiting hours or general inquiries, kindly contact Marty Dicker at 718.277.5100 or martybqctr@gmail.com.​

Senior Citizens and Global Warming: Polar Opposites?

(January, 30, 2015)In today’s day and age, the jaw-dropping effects of global warming have become a worldwide phenomenon and scientists can’t believe how fast it’s approaching society. Global warming is the increase in temperature on the Earth as a result of the trapping of heat by overly abundant greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide. Since 1870, global sea levels have increased by an astonishing eight inches and keeps growing at a steady rate. Also, according to the US Global Change Research Program, temperatures have rose by about two degrees in the last fifty years and only keeps getting hotter. Due to the increase in temperature, there has been an increase in precipitation as well. In addition, carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are at the highest levels that they have been in the last hundreds of thousands of years.

Global warming clearly is an issue worldwide for many reasons, but more specifically for health reasons. The portion of society probably the most affected by health issues related to global warming is senior citizens. Global warming creates major risks and dangers for senior citizens because extreme heat for days at a time can cause heat strokes or dehydration and possibly even death. Senior citizens with diabetes have it one worse being that their risks for illness from the heat are greater. Also, global warming creates smog, a combination of high temperatures and pollution from greenhouse gas emissions. This smog degrades the quality of the air in the atmosphere and the higher the temperature, the worse it is. This creates a problem for senior citizens with heart and respiratory diseases and increases the risk of severe health issues and even death.

In the end of the day, global warming has had an enormous impact on senior citizens especially and its only going to get worse in the future. The bottom line to sum up this article is: senior citizens and global warming are POLAR OPPOSITES and its only getting worse.