A long (we never say old) dear friend gave this Grandma a subscription for Instyle Magazine for a birthday present several years ago. I am still convinced that it is because I always wear black and she wanted to expand my fashion horizons. It did not work, although I loved the magazine. Yes, loved in the past tense. Lately, it has become too distressing that the magazine stops at “in the 50’s” for dress, style, and make-up tips. Even though “forever young” is my mantra, I am wondering if the magazine really wants me as a reader anymore.
I am in D.C. helping the parents of my grandchildren and noticed that they have The Oprah Magazine on their coffee table. I must admit that I have never picked one up, but it was at my fingertips. The cover of the June 2014 issue caught my attention. Oprah is facing away from the camera, and the headline says, “No Looking Back!” There is a quote from Oprah prominently displayed, “If you’re blessed enough to grow older, there’s so much wisdom to be gained from celebrating the process with vibrancy and vigor and grace.”
Wow! That spoke to me. So did so much of the dress, style, and makeup tips which had real women from 30’s to 100! Yes, I felt I could look as good as Jessica Walter at 73. If this is what 73 looks like, I MAY be able to deal. I wonder how much touching up they did on the picture. I ripped out the picture of the 95 year old who is still teaching yoga to bring to my yoga teacher who just had a difficult birthday questioning how long she could realistically continue to teach.
There was so much substance of interest in addition to the fluff. An article, “Crowdsourcing Your Care,” by Sarah Z. Wexler, caught my attention. She wrote, “(t)hese three patient-centered sites allow anyone greater control over her own health. ” this was after information about “the e-patient revolution” statistic that the majority of us look online for health information.
Patientslikeme.com sounds amazing by connecting over 250,000 people with more than 2,000 conditions and illnesses so you can swap medical information and compare notes on symptoms, solutions, drugs, etc. I know someone with MS to pass this along to, as it specifically mentioned how it helps MS patients.
Iodine.com “makes it easier for patients to understand prescription drug side effects.” They mention differences in doses for men and women of the same medication, mentioning Ambien and new FDA standard doses for women.
Crowdedmed.com “allows people with I undiagnosed conditions to anonymously post their symptoms for roughly 50 ‘detectives’ ranging from seasoned doctors to people with no medical training, to review.”
I do not know about having people with no medical training review symptoms, but the article quotes someone who had unexplained digestive issues that no one could figure out and within two weeks she had a new idea and cure.
Then, not to belabor this amazing June 2014 edition of The Oprah Magazine, there was a tip about antacids, medication actually interfering with digestion, and trying to start each day with a glass of room temperature lemon water –“the lemon, while acidic outside the body, is thought to help regulate acidity in the gut. ….”when the stomach is not acid enough, it can’t properly break down proteins.”
The parents of my grandchildren are always looking for presents to buy me, I, who needs nothing found something I think now fits into the need category–a subscription to The Oprah Magazine. Too bad Mother’s Day has past. I will save this idea for my next birthday coming up!
Yes. You guessed it. Someone else is also getting a subscription for her birthday–the long dear friend who needs also to move on from Instyle!
Joy,
Mema
Comments