Aging Parents and Fish Oil Supplements for Heart & Brain Health

Time for a new blog on the subject of health this Memorial Day weekend.   There has been a lot of information about Fish Oil Supplements and Omega 3 fatty acids possibly reducing the risk of coronary heart disease.  This blog is more of a quick introduction to the topic with more to follow in the future.   For those of you fortunate enough to have your parents still living,  if they are elderly, some of what follows may be familiar.  This inspiration for this blog is my mother who was unfortunately diagnosed last August, at age 84 w/early dementia.  Her doctor prescribed Arricept to slow the progression.  In January, she was also put on Namenda, which is supposed to be a wonder drug for Alzheimers.   I must say that Mom seems to be doing quite well under the circumstances.

One of my sisters drives 120 or so miles every Monday to take her to the psychoneurologist so Mom can do "brain games", get some "brain homework" for the week and discuss coping strategies for optimizing her situation.  I have been driving 140 miles on another day every week to refill her pill boxes, as she needs to take 6 pills every morning and 2 every evening and another one every Saturday.    It takes less than half an hour now to line up all the pill bottles and organize her pills, but it does require a lot of focus, as too much of one drug would be dangerous and not enough would also be detrimental.  When I first checked in with her doctor in January about which medications she should be taking, it turned out she was only taking four of her required eight pills a day.   The doctor found that her blood pressure was up to 160 because she was only taking one of her blood pressure medications daily, not two as she needs to maintain her health.    Three weeks after taking both medications, it was down to 148 and now it is down to 132, which makes her doctor very happy.  My father is 84 and has other health issues to deal with.   I asked the doctor to write down a complete list of their medications and put the one for my mother on the outside of her pill refill box.  My father is able to manage his own medications which is a blessing.

A couple months ago, one of my sister-in-law's and my five month old niece were visiting while I was there.  She has been studying the brain for about six years, ever since their oldest child was diagnosed with autism.  Because of her research on the brain, she suggested Fish Oil Supplements for Mom, which I seconded.  I have been taking Fish Oil supplements daily ever since reading the book "Younger Next Year" by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge.  They discuss how great this stuff is for optimal health, especially after age 50.

My mother asked "How does it work?" .  She had attended medical school from '48 to '50 where she met my father.  After leaving medical school, she took a year of English Literature in grad school, then worked for a year as an assistant for the famous MD specializing in pain management, Dr. Janet Travel, who was the personal physician to John F. Kennedy while he was in the White House.  The next blog on this subject will be dedicated to answering her question about how Fish Oil works towards heart and brain health.   Do you take Fish Oil supplements?  Were they recommended by your physician or do you take them on your own?

Bill Gladstone's North U. Presentation for the Mudheads at Shennecossett YC on April 13, 2011

If you enjoy sailboat racing,  you have undoubtedly heard of North U. and Bill Gladstone.  You may have purchased one of his books,  DVD's, or been to his clincs or attended his presentations.    Originally from New York, he lived in Chicago from 1980 to 2000, then moved back East.  His homebase with his family is now Madison, CT.   Bill is famous around the world with racers who want to improve their speed, tactics, boat handling skills and knowledge of the rules.  He travels quite a bit, as you would imagine, and we are very lucky to have him living here on the CT Shoreline.

Bill Gladstone is one of the brightest, most entertaining speakers you can imagine - I am definitely a fan, in case you can't tell!  Quite humble, he graduated from Yale University in New Haven, CT, which may give you an idea of how knowledgeable and articulate he is about all aspects of sailing and racing. He was on the Yale Sailing Team along with some other great sailors who also reside in Connecticut like Dave Perry.  If you ever have an opportunity to attend a clinic with these two, do not pass it up!   I attended a Match Racing Clinc with Bill Gladstone, Dave Perry, Dave Delenbaugh and Liz Baylis, Women's Match Racing Champion, several years ago - some of the best info and best times I've ever experienced on and off the water!

I first got to hear him speak at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT back around 1998. Captivated by the depth of his knowledge and entertaining style with which he conveys tons of helpful information, I bought one of his books which has been enormously useful over the years.  He is very approachable and happy to answer questions afterwards.   Since that day, after running into each other a few more times on the sailing circuit, because of our mutual love of sailing, kids of similar ages and "working in the business", Bill and I have gotten to be friends.  I even got to help him make a DVD with Dave Dellengaugh on the Racing rules.   This is a great way to really get to know your rules because you can see them in realistic action.    If you are trying to get better with your rules - you will love this DVD which you can get on his website:  www.northu.northsails.com/ .

At Shennecossett Yacht Club in April, there was an audience of about 125 or so sailors happy to shake off the winter doldrums and/or change their focus from spring skiing to the upcoming sailing season for the Mudhead-sponsored presentation.   The Mudheads are a "paper yacht club"; a very fun, competitive group of racers both on and off the water in the area around Mystic, CT.  At the presentation, funds were being collected for the new upcoming Hospice Regatta in June.  After Bill was introduced, he announced he would focus on Tactics, Boat Speed, and Boat Handling.  These three areas, he said, are the foundation of the "Success Pyramid" in Racing.   He mentioned that "in this case, tactics included strategy".  Strategy he defined as "simply sailing around the race course as quickly as possible" as well as meaning "how one deals with other boats", one's competitors on the race course. 

For Boat Speed, he gave a very detailed description of how to get the most out of the sails whatever the wind conditions, and when sailing up wind or downwind.    He spoke about the angle of attack of the wind on the sails and taught us the meaning of some unfamiliar terms like "upwash", which means how the air bends on the sails.    He also discussed sail-related terms such as camber, draft, and depth that all mean the same thing.  He contrasted this to the polar opposite use of a word like "tack" which is used to mean three entirely different things in sailing.  The reason for this complicated and confusing vocabulary, he said, is to fool the uninitiated and novice sailors into thinking that sailing is very difficult which helps keep sailing instructors, race coaches and boat captains in business!

With regard to Upwind Boat Speed and sail shape, he gave some helpful pointers like, "it's good to have the sail deeper aloft (up high) where there is more wind until there is too much heel".  He led an excellent discussion on "Twist" with easy to remember statements like "the Mainseet controls Twist going Upwind" and "the Vang controls Twist going Down wind".  "The Traveller", he explained, "controls the Angle of Attack without changing the Twist."

There is so much more great information he gave us that night and I will be happy to write another blog on the subject if people request it.  Bill Gladstone teaches a "North U. Racing Course" in Captiva every April for Offshore Sailing School along with a bunch of other Racing "Rockstars".  Each year, I keep promising myself I will attend....no luck yet, but it is definitely on my Bucket list!  If you love racing sailboats and want to "kick it up a few notches" and also love sailing in "paradise and warm weather" with palm trees and dolphins, you should contact Bill or Offshore Sailing School and sign up for next year.  Meanwhile you can catch him on his lecture or clinic circuit or get one of his DVDs or books as your "secret weapon" for this sailing season.  Your racing friends will wonder how you got so much better so quickly!