Simply Well - Summer 2017

S I M P LY W E L L We l l n e s s T i p s a n d E n c o u r a g e m e n t f ro m H e a l t h A l l i a n c e

WHAT’S INSIDE Statins Help

Keep Cholesterol in Check–p. 3

Healthy Diets Can Help Blood Pressure and Diabetes–p. 4

Back to School Checklist for Asthma and Diabetes–p. 6 Guidelines for Treating Lower Back Pain–p. 7

Follow Your Doctor’s Medication Directions As you kick off fall, it’s a great time to make sure you and your family are staying on top of your health.

While you need certain checkups and vaccines only once a year, there are some actions you can take all year long to help you be your healthiest, like making sure you take your medication as prescribed.

Talking to your doctor about your meds during your wellness visit each year helps you stay on the same page. It also gives you a chance to make sure your prescriptions are up to date and working for you.

But if your meds aren’t working well for you or are causing unwanted side effects, don’t wait for your next wellness visit. Call your doctor and ask about other options.

Do not stop taking a prescription drug earlier than planned without checking with your doctor first, even if you think you no longer need it.

Sometimes, it’s hard to remember to refill a prescription before it runs out. If you’re taking meds for an ongoing issue, you can set up automatic refills or refill reminders, and the pharmacy will let you know when your prescription is ready. Ask your pharmacist to learn how it works.

If you have questions about your prescriptions or over-the-counter drugs, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. If you can’t afford your prescriptions, you may be able to get help paying for them.

Call our Pharmacy Department at 1-800-851-3379, option 4 to learn more.

Helpful Resources Anytime Nurse Line: 1-855-802-4612 Diabetes • American Diabetes Association, diabetes.org • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cdc.gov/diabetes • National Diabetes Education Program, nhlbi.nih.gov • For Kids: kidshealth.org (search for “diabetes”)

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Hypertension • American Heart Association, heart.org (click on "Conditions" then "High BloodPressure") • CDC, cdc.gov/bloodpressure

Asthma • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, www.nhlbi.nih.gov (search for “asthma”) • Centers for Disease Control and Prevetion, cdc.gov/asthma/inhaler_video • American Lung Association, lung.org/asthma • For Kids: American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, aaaai.org (search for “kids”)

Statins Help Keep Cholesterol in Check A statin is a type of medicine that lowers LDL (bad) cholesterol. It works by slowing down your liver’s production of cholesterol and also helps your liver remove extra LDL cholesterol from your blood.

Having high levels of LDL cholesterol is dangerous because it can cause plaque to build up in your arteries, which raises your risk of stroke or heart attack.

If you have diabetes or ASCVD, you could benefit from taking a statin.

• If you have diabetes, a statin can help you avoid developing ASCVD. • If you have ASCVD, a statin can help prevent the condition from getting worse.

Even if you don’t have diabetes or ASCVD, your doctor might prescribe you a statin based on your family history or other risk factors.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association recommend that adults age 75 and younger with ASCVD take statins.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) is caused by plaque building up in artery walls and making them hardened and narrow. ASCVD raises your risk of heart attack, stroke and other blood vessel problems.

The American Diabetes Association recommends that all people ages 40–75 with diabetes take statins.

Based on family history and other risk factors, you may need to start a statin medication at a younger age.

If you have diabetes or ASCVD and aren’t taking a statin, ask your doctor if it could help you control your cholesterol.

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Healthy Diets Can Help

Blood Pressure and Diabetes DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) This plan, originally created to lower blood pressure, also helps with diabetes and overall health. It focuses on reducing sodium while also eating foods with lots of nutrients that help lower blood pressure, like calcium and potassium. The American Heart Association recommends less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.

For a 2,000 calorie diet, it suggests the following.

Talk to your doctor about what your daily calorie intake should be.

• • • • •

Grains: 6–8 servings per day Veggies: 4–5 servings per day Fruits: 4–5 servings per day Dairy: 2–3 servings per day Lean meat, poultry, fish: 6 or fewer servings per day • Nuts, seeds, legumes: 4–5 servings per week • Fats and oils: 2–3 servings per day • Sweets: 5 or fewer servings per week

Mediterranean Diet This plan focuses on eating plant-based foods, like fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, herbs and spices. It also focuses on fish and allows you to eat eggs, poultry and dairy in moderation. It replaces butter with olive oil and replaces salt with herbs and spices, and it limits sweets and red meat.

Weight Watchers Diet This plan assigns SmartPoints to foods and drinks (based on their nutritional value) and gives you a SmartPoints daily target. You work to stay within that target. Foods high in saturated fat and sugar are more costly, and foods high in protein have lower point totals to help you stay on target. It helps you eat filling foods with lots of nutrients.

Nutrition is key for lowering your blood pressure and keeping your diabetes in check, along with boosting your overall health. And with back-to-school season in full swing and fall festivities popping up, it’s important to work healthy eating into your busy schedule.

There are different food plans to fit different tastes and lifestyles, and you should pair them with exercise. Talk to your doctor about what healthy eating plan is right for you.

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Caprese Salad Ingredients

1 large tomato, sliced into 8 slices 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into 8 slices Âź cup basil leaves

2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil Fine sea salt, to taste Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

On a large platter, alternate and overlap the tomato slices, mozzarella cheese slices and basil leaves.

Drizzle with olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper.

Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste.

Nutrition (Servings: 8) Size: 1 ounce cheese, 1 slice tomato 100.4 calories; 7.5 g fat; 1.8 g carbohydrate; 6.5 g protein; 0.3 g fiber; 180 mg sodium (without adding salt); 0.4 g sugar.

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Fight Flu, Pneumonia and More Flu season is right around the corner, and the best way to prevent getting or spreading the flu is with the flu shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends getting the shot once a year starting at 6 months old.

You can also protect yourself with other shots, like pneumococcal vaccines. These shots prevent pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis and other serious infections.

There are two types of pneumococcal shots, and the CDC recommends both for adults 65 or older. The CDC recommends the PPSV23 for people 19 or older who smoke or have asthma and recommends PCV13 for people 19 or older with conditions that weaken the immune system, like HIV or leukemia. PCV13 is also recommended for infants and young children, and PPSV23 is recommended for kids at high risk for pneumococcal disease.

Talk to your doctor about what’s right for you and your children. Check your coverage by calling the number on the back of your ID card.

Health Alliance Medicare is a Medicare Advantage Organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Health Alliance Medicare depends on contract renewal. This information is not a complete description of benefits. Contact the plan for more information.

Limitations, co-payments and restrictions may apply. Benefits and copayments/coinsurance may change on January 1 of each year.

Benefits for expenses incurred for services or treatment are subject to the plan terms in effect on the date services or treatment are received. Call the Customer Service number on the back of your ID card to check your coverage.

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Checklist for Asthma and Diabetes The start of a new school year is a great time to make sure you, your child and the school are all prepared to help manage your child’s asthma or diabetes.

disabilities, which could include diabetes and asthma, to participate in their education. Call the school to find out more.

Here are some things you should do this fall to help your child have a safe and healthy school year.

Talk with your child. Go over their asthma or diabetes plan several times before school starts. Make sure your child knows to tell an adult right away if they’re having an asthma attack or feel like their blood sugar is low.

For children with diabetes, discuss not swapping lunches or snacks with other kids.

Share your child’s Asthma Action Plan or Diabetes Medical Management Plan with the school. These list your child’s specific needs, directions for treatment and emergency contact info. Give the school an updated plan each year.

Call or visit the school nurse. Discuss the asthma or diabetes plan and ask about any signed forms your child needs to get treatment at school. If your child has diabetes, leave one “low box” with the nurse and take one to your child’s classroom. Low boxes have snacks and glucagon (if prescribed) to raise blood glucose.

Ask about a 504 Plan. This is a clear, written plan that tells the school about your child's specific needs including diabetes or asthma treatments or requirements. A 504 Plan also makes sure the school does all it should under the law to enable people with 6

Make a Sick-Day Plan Make a plan with your child’s doctor so you’ll know what changes to make to your child’s daily routine if they get sick.

Being prepared can help prevent any dangerous swings in their condition.

Your child’s sick-day plan should include: • How to adjust their diet, fluid intake or medication • Changes to their monitoring schedule (like taking blood pressure or testing blood sugar) • When to call their doctor or get care • Daytime and after-hours contact information for their doctor Go to HealthAlliance.org/Disease-Management to learn more about sick-day plans.

GUIDELINES FOR TREATING Lower Back Pain Lower back pain from a strained muscle is a common injury. In many cases, it can be treated with a combination of: • Physical therapy • Ice application • Medication X-rays, CT scans and MRI scans are not usually recommended in the first six weeks of treatment. Try physical therapy first, keeping in mind it might take a few sessions to see improvement.

Diabetes Testing Reminders Make sure you’re keeping up on these key tests recommended by the American Diabetes Association. Call your doctor to schedule your next test or to ask about any tests you’ve missed this year.

• A1C test with goal of less than 7 percent, two to four times a year • Blood pressure check with goal of less than 140/90 at each doctor visit • Urine test to check for protein annually • Dilated eye exam annually • Dental exam twice a year • Flu shot annually

You can download an Asthma Action Plan from HealthAlliance.org/Disease-Management.

For a Diabetes Medical Management Plan or 504 plan form, go to diabetes.org.

Narcotics are not recommended to treat lower back pain for more than three weeks and should be avoided if possible. If your doctor prescribes a narcotic, ask if there are any alternatives.

Lower back strains are usually not emergencies. In most cases, you can visit your primary doctor first. If you have cancer (especially lung, prostate or breast cancer), a history of cancer or have experienced significant trauma recently, make sure to see your doctor right away.

If you have any of these symptoms after your lower back pain begins, go to an urgent care center or ER. • Fever • Unexpected weight loss • Trouble moving your leg or poor circulation in leg • Loss of bladder or bowel control

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