Contents This month’s focus: Knowledge is power
LIFE 01 Life is…
A note from the editor
04 Over to You
Letters from our readers
08 News
Medical innovations, what’s new at Life Healthcare and latest reads
12 Exercise your way to good health
With cold season fast approaching, a new study suggests that staying active will keep you healthy By Erin Coe
15 ‘I was determined to survive’
When a taxi dragged Kim McCusker 780 metres, her only thought was survival As told to Lynne Gidish
18 Epidurals: Fact vs Fiction
Deciding whether or not to have an epidural means being informed about the benefits and risks before labour begins By Sam Brighton
20 Less is more when it comes to salt Responsible salt consumption can lower your blood pressure and the risk of heart disease By Charlene Yared-West
22 When a head injury causes mental disorder
An investigation of the symptoms and treatment of mental illness associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI) By Lisa Lazarus
26 How well do you manage your money?
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Get Active for your health
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Take the quiz to gain insight on your spending behaviour and determine whether your tendencies serve emotional, rather than practical needs
28 Safari, so good!
Pack your bags and say hello to the bushveld for a break that provides many mind-, body- and soul-boosting benefits By Jocelyn Warrington
Autumn 2017
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LIFE KEEP FIT AND STAY HEALTHY / SALT AWARENESS / HEAD INJURY AND MENTAL ILLNESS
‘Smell the sea, and feel the sky, Let your soul and spirit fly...’ Van Morrison
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EXERCISE YOUR WAY TO
good health
Did you know that exercise has the ability to decrease your risk of cancer, stroke, type 2 diabetes and even cold and flu? The time to get moving is right now, says Erin Coe
A
utumn is fast approaching and with it, cold and flu season. While it may be tempting to remain indoors curled up with a good book, exercise is recommended during this time to keep your health in check. A study headed by Dr David Nieman of the Human Performance Laboratory at Appalachian State University in North Carolina has shown that subjects who exercised five or more times a week logged 40% less sick days than those who didn’t exercise. But getting your body moving is not just good for preventing colds, it can also decrease your risk of stroke, type 2 diabetes and cancer. According to Gabriel Eksteen, exercise physiologist and dietitian at the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA), for every stroke fatality, HSFSA estimates that another three people have suffered a stroke and survived. ‘According to the latest South African data, that means 253 strokes occur every day and 24 strokes occur every hour,’ he says. These might be worrying statistics but according to Gabriel, ‘increased activity and physical fitness can reduce the risk of strokes by modifying risk factors such as blood pressure, blood sugar control, obesity and inflammation.’ You only need to do 150 minutes of 12
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STROKE
AUTUMN 2017
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When a head injury causes mental disorder
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) associated with motor vehicle accidents, falls, high-contact sports and assault constitutes a major public health concern. Lisa Lazarus investigates mental illness associated with TBI as World Head Injury Awareness Day (20 March) draws closer
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quiz
How well do you
manage your money? Are you careful and frugal or do you find it difficult to resist the urge to splurge? Learn more with this test
1. I buy luxuries that I can’t really afford. A Quite often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never 26
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2. People close to me tell me they are worried about how much I spend. A Quite often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never
4. I get so excited when I shop I hardly realise how much money I have spent. A Quite often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never
3. If I don’t have the funds, I borrow money from others in order to buy something I really want. A Quite often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never
5. I buy things I never use. A Quite often B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never 6. I have had to take extreme measures (i.e., refinancing my home, taking out a loan, etc.)
in order to pay for credit card debts. A Completely true B Mostly true C Somewhat true/false D Mostly false E Completely false 7. You just got your salary. What’s the first thing you do? A I deduct my household bills (e.g., rent/bond, groceries, etc.) and then put the rest in the bank. B I spend almost all of it as soon as it clears in my account. C I buy a small treat for all my hard work, and then the rest goes toward bills or into my savings.
i m a g e S i s t o c k c o p y r i g h t 2 0 17 – w w w . q u e e n d o m . c o m
Read every statement carefully and indicate which option applies best to you and your feelings, attitudes, behaviours and life in general. After finishing the test, you can sum up your points using the scoring table and view the relevant results for you.
autumn 2017
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HEALTH COPING WITH CANCER / NEW EYE HOSPITAL / EMERGENCY FIRST AID
‘Being healthy and fit isn’t a fad or a trend. Instead, It’s a lifestyle.’ Unknown
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COVER FEATURE
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With World Cancer Day (4 February) still top of mind, there is much to celebrate in the advances in cancer treatment technology at first-rate hospitals and the innovative ways patients cope with their illness. Young film-maker Stefan Rust is using art and YouTube to share his cancer journey and some life lessons. By Glynis Horning
Film-maker Stefan Rust, his favourite camera and the tattoo on his arm detailing his knee surgery
ive years ago Stefan Rust was 19 and life was great. He was studying his passion, visual arts, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and lived close enough to the Pietermaritzburg campus to walk or cycle to class. Then his right knee began to hurt. A visit to his GP found nothing out of the ordinary, but a small lump formed and his mother decided to take him to Durban for a sonar scan. ‘They did a biopsy the next day and that night they told me – I had bone cancer. The doctor warned my mom to prepare herself for a long road ahead. It’s a scary thought when you are 19 and just starting out in life.’ Putting his studies on hold, Stefan underwent three weeks of intensive chemotherapy to reduce the size of the tumour in gruelling sessions lasting up to seven hours. In February 2012, he underwent surgery. ‘They needed to remove my knee as well as part of my femur and tibia, and insert a metal prosthetic knee held together by metal rods. The surgeon warned me there was a possibility I’d come out without a leg. It was frightening. My dad tells me when I came around, while still zonked, I sat up and felt for my leg. It was there! I smiled and went back to sleep.’ The operation had gone well, and although Stefan’s right leg was now several millimetres shorter than the left, it didn’t affect him. ‘When I walk around in jeans, you don’t realise there’s anything wrong.’ He spent most of the remainder of the year in ICU in chemotherapy, which was as draining mentally and emotionally as it was physically. Stefan found himself turning to art to explore the changes he was undergoing, wrestling with a life-threatening condition. He poured his dilemmas and insights into drawing, painting and film. ‘Suddenly, what you thought were big things seem meaningless, and everyday things, like a sunset, take on major significance.’ Stefan returned to university the following year, focusing on media studies and film. All was well until his check-up scan in January 2014.
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i n n o va t i o n
Hospital brings
eye surgery into sharp focus
The latest technology and a dedicated team of specialists mean that the new Life Peninsula Eye Hospital offers world-class eye care. By Melanie Farrell
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f you’ve ever had vision problems, you’ll know how disorientating it can be when your eyes fail you. Although we have five senses, eyesight is arguably the one we rely on most. Recognising the importance of a dedicated ophthalmic hospital, the Life Healthcare Group opened stand-alone Life Peninsula Eye Hospital in Cape Town’s southern suburbs in October 2016.
The hospital is equipped with the latest technology and medical expertise available, ensuring a seamless, stress-free experience for patients needing eye surgery. The hospital’s highly specialised team, from nurses and technicians to surgeons and anaesthetists, are 100% focused on eyes. The end result is a faster treatment time and, in many cases, day hospital care is the only requirement post-op
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– patients are in and out of the hospital on the same day.
Clear view
The new hospital is already carrying out 30–40 surgeries a day, but all is calm in the spacious surgical waiting area. Patients waiting for surgery sit on one side of a bright and airy waiting room. There’s a clear view to the other side of the large space that is a dedicated post-op recovery area. Here patients
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Banish the
back-to-school blues
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Is it possible to avoid schoolmorning tantrums?
Keep in mind: when children are faced with any situation that causes anxiety, they will act out. This is because they don’t have the skills or tools to manage their feelings in response to stress. Their tantrums are very often their only coping mechanism. One way to avoid tantrums before school is a simple morning plan. ‘Routines help kids get used to what is expected of them – they make school mornings predictable,’ says psychologist Dr Brenda Talbot, based at Life Entabeni Hospital. Part of
this routine is to leave enough time for children to move from one activity to another, for instance, from eating breakfast to getting dressed.
What are the best lunch box fillers for school days?
Children need a lunch or snack that will sustain them until the end of the school day. Therefore, Dr Talbot advises that parents make snacks simple and appealing. Dr Talbot suggests fresh fruit, unsalted nuts, dried fruit, small tubs of yoghurt and veggie sticks to dip in cottage cheese. She also advises that
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After a long break, it’s often really hard for kids (and parents) to get back into the school routine. For some, it means finding ways to avoid morning meltdowns and for others, finding the time and patience to deal with a full schedule. Ruth Rehbock has a few suggestions for coping with some common issues Autumn 2017
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CARE COMMUNITY OUTREACH / KIDNEY DISEASE / LOW-CARB RECIPES
‘no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.’ John Joseph Powell
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In a food processor or blender, mix all the ingredients, except the xylitol and cinnamon, to a very runny consistency. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Bake for 30–40 minutes or until brown and some cracks appear in the surface. Allow to cool and then sprinkle with xylitol and cinnamon just before serving. To make the marinade, melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat, and then pour all but about 1 Tbsp worth into a blender. SautÊ the onion in the leftover butter. Add the xylitol and allow the onion to caramelise a bit. Place the onion and the remaining marinade ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth and thick. Place the open snoek onto a double-sided grid and, before closing the grid around the fish, paint a generous layer of marinade over the inside of the fish. Place the grid onto mediumhot coals with the fish skin side down. Continue basting with the marinade on both sides. Cook for 15 minutes or until the fish is flaky. Serve with the pumpkin fritter pie.
TOTAL CARBS FIBRE NET CARBS FAT PROTEIN KILOJOULES
56
11.1g 2.9g 8g 34g 40g 2104
Autumn 2017
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puzzle this... Test your mental agility with our brain-teasers
1 CROSSWORD PUZZLE 2 SUDOKU
Difficulty level ***
1 Amazement, plus 4 Glistened 9 Insulation material (Abbr) 12 That girl 13 Melodic and harmonic 14 Golf ball’s position 15 Tinseltown 17 Help 18 Having a bug 19 Villain, slangily 21 Asian capital 24 ‘____ It Romantic?’ 25 Sprite 62
26 Lorne Michaels’ brainchild, for short 28 Quarrels 31 Union payments 33 Obtained 35 Any time now 36 Refine metal 38 ‘Holy cow!’ 40 Kimono sash 41 Bad witness 43 In the thick of 45 Hallux 47 Scott Pelley’s network 48 Fuss 49 Glenn Miller classic
54 Virgo neighbour 55 Waste conduit 56 Pair 57 Pop 58 Crocodile _______ 59 Blunder DOWN
1 Bonfire residue 2 Personal question 3 Conger, for one 4 Fashions 5 Coyotes’ din 6 Yoko of music 7 Actress Watts
8 Firstborn 9 Greenhouse 10 Henry _____ 11 Relinquish 16 Back talk 20 Black birds 21 Danson and Koppel 22 Grad 23 James Brown hit 27 Journal 29 Watch chains 30 Fit of peevishness 32 Narrow cut 34 Head of the class? 37 Follower of Lao-tzu
39 Hearth remains 42 Actress Zellweger 44 Doctrine 45 Hairless 46 Notion 50 Old airline initials 51 Praiseful verse 52 ‘____ Town’ 53 ‘Le Coq ____’
I M A G E i s t ock PUZZLE S pr e s s / m a g a z i n e f e a t u r e s ( p t y ) l t d
ACROSS
autumn 2017
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