It's Where I Am with Zandra Polard

Wesley Knight 0:00
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Zandra Polard 0:45
Good morning, good morning, good morning. It's Zandra polar. The show is it's where I am. The focus is on mental health and wellness. Today I have Eric, Eric and Chiquita in the building. Eric is a pediatric physician, and Chiquita is a doctor of gerontology. So we're going to talk two parts, y'all. We're going to have today and we're going to have next week, talking about infantry to seniors, okay, so we're gonna go through the lifespan, all right, so we're gonna jump right into it. I know everyone's time is valuable. It is your anniversary, yes? So I want to say happy anniversary. Thank you so much. So as we get right into it, I want to talk about asthma. Yes, with the youth, lot of infants have asthma, and primarily the black community, you know, they have, we have the highest numbers with asthma. And I was reading that there were some new developments that I don't know what it was before. I'm sure you'll tell us Yes, but now we're understanding that is inflammatory. Yes. Can you explain why do we have asthma so much? Yes,

Eric 2:05
and so in the pediatric population, Asthma is a very common chronic condition, and it's actually even more common in African Americans. And one of the reasons why is because some of the risk factors we have, some of the poor housing, some of the triggers that we have air is not as pure. We may live in communities where the air is not as pure. They may live near freeway, highway or factory, and so many times, the African Americans do not live in areas where the air is as pure. And it is a respiratory condition, as you say, also it is there's some inheritance, some genetic composition to it. So if you have asthma, there's a high likelihood that your child will have asthma. So it is, yes, it is an inflammatory condition, meaning that when you are exposed to a trigger, it inflames, or it triggers, or it has, you have allergic reaction in your lungs that can cause breathing problems.

Zandra Polard 2:55
Wow. Okay, so then, how do we fight that? How do we combat that? As First of all, the mother has to be healthy while the child is in the womb, right? Yes. So what does she need to do? And if her child happens to get asthma, how can the mother treat or the parents treat the child? Well,

Eric 3:13
the most important thing is awareness, knowledge of it. And so as we said, that many times parents who would have asthma, they'll pass it along to their children, not all the time, but many times, some people are under the misconception that they grow out of asthma. And so if I say that, did you have asthma as a child? They said, Yeah, I had it, but I don't have it anymore. And that's just not true. You always have an asthmatic condition. So it's knowledge, it's awareness, it's being knowledgeable that you have it. And if your child is coughing or has a particular type of cough, or coughs during a particular time of day, that could be asthma, many times they're giving them all this different type of medications, they go and give them all these medications that don't really work for asthma, and there's really particular medications that work for asthma. So first of all, it's just knowledge. And if your child has a particular cough and you remember that you had asthma, your child also may have asthma, and then check in with your

Zandra Polard 3:57
caregiver. Okay, so what if the child then has asthma. It's true. Yeah, the infant is asthmatic. What are some of the treatments for that? Is it like a humidifier? I mean, aside from the medicines? Yes,

Eric 4:09
that's a good question. And so first of all, it's the awareness. And say, okay, my child has asthmatic condition. He went to the doctor. It was confirmed. Recognize the triggers, because if you start to remove the triggers, then the asthma won't flare up. Common triggers are significant change in weather. We can't control the weather. Another common trigger is viral illnesses. So keep your child as healthy as you can, healthy eating, healthy diet, enough sleep, and we'll talk about that later. And another thing that you can do is many times activity, heavy activity, will also cause that. So there's only, like one or two things that we can actually do are the main triggers. But if you recognize those triggers and control those triggers, and also, if you have the appropriate medication on hand and regular regular to ready to go, then everybody helps.

Zandra Polard 4:52
Okay, so you mentioned the diet, yes, and the exercise, yes. So a lot of times, from just from my. Point of view, from what I see, a lot of times, kids that have asthma are overweight because they're not getting enough exercise. So let's talk about the diet. Then, you know, lot of parents, especially young parents I see, provide a lot of candy, lot of refined sugars. What can we say about the diet? Well, the

Eric 5:18
diet is critical. Diet is key. Was said, you know, 1000s of years ago that food is medicine, so it's so critical what we eat. And a lot of people say, I don't want to take the medicine. I don't want to take this chronic medicine that my doctor has me on. But then I go ahead and eat those foods, like you said, sugars, fatty foods, salty foods, that cause me to have these chronic illnesses. We also know in asthma that those kids who are overweight or obese, 20% over ideal weight have more chronic asthma and have more complicated asthma. So if you do have asthma and you're more and more overweight, you Make Your Asthma Worse. So you're absolutely right, and so what we talk about to parents is making sure they do what's called self care. Self care is an acronym which helps us to remind that the s in self talks about making sure you get enough sleep, also making sure that you're eating and you're exercising, right? L means less stress, and also fun means connected to family and friends, having fun with family and friends. And if you do those things, you reduce your complications from an asthmatic condition. Because you're not overweight, you're not obese,

Zandra Polard 6:14
all right, so there's the acronym self care, yes, se, l, F, do those things. Yes, take care of yourself. That's right. So now we've talked about that. We talked about preventative care, what in terms of asthma, but I want to talk about the well checks, how important they are. A lot of times, parents miss those, and they're so critical. You know, I grew up in a household where my stepfather was on top of me and my mother to make sure that my children made all of those well checks, yes. Don't miss a one yes. So when we're dealing with infants, you got to go to the doctor a lot Yes. Got to get a lot of shots, yes. So what are those well checks like, is it every two months? Yes, or it's every two months?

Eric 6:55
Well, in the beginning, as as you, as you start in life, as a newborn, you're more susceptible to infections, and also illnesses that babies can get really quick. So the two edges of life are when you're newborn, and then also when you're an elder, you're more prone to illnesses, infections. And so we really have to check you more and more. And so yes, as a newborn, you're getting checked, maybe make sure you're growing well, eating well, and also for those vaccines to protect you from harmful infections that we know that can cause disease, disability and yes and yes, some cases death, and vaccines protect us against that. I know some people have some ideas and thoughts and opinions about that, but if you look at the data, if you look at the population, Epidemiology, epidemiology of this, it is clearly shown that vaccines save lives and save communities historically. So yes, we have to get those well checks. It's also shown that those patients, those populations, that get more well checks on a more regular basis, they have a healthier population. So if the goal is for your child to be healthy, healthier, then get those well checks, those scheduled well checks. We're going to check the height, the weight. We're also going to give any vaccines that may be needed if you agree to that. But also we're going to give something called anticipatory guidance. Anticipatory guidance covers a whole array of different things to help you, with sleep, with education, with making sure that the family is safe and structured. And so we're going to cover those things. And lastly, the important thing about well checks is that you have, you build a relationship, a critical relationship, with your doctor. That is your doctor, and if something comes that doctor knows you as a parent and the doctor knows your child. And we do know from from data, from historical data, that when your caregiver knows you and your child, you get better outcomes.

Zandra Polard 8:34
Absolutely, I will agree that's been the case for me and my family, my children, they've had the same doctor for, you know, since we've lived here. So anyway, um, so have you noticed this is going off topic just a little bit. Okay. Have you noticed that everyone, not everyone, a lot of people, are blaming things on COVID shots. Like, I didn't have this problem before I got the COVID shot, since I got the COVID shot. Now I got this

Eric 9:01
and that. What do you say to that? We're gonna we're gonna go there, right?

Zandra Polard 9:05
We gotta go there. Because I don't even know if are you still supposed to take the COVID shot. Like, what's going on with the COVID

Eric 9:11
shot? Well, one thing, I mean, the COVID shot is one of those things, is a hot topic. And there's really some people who have a lot of belief, opinion and fear regarding the COVID shot, yes, and and so it because of the hot topic. It's a sensitive topic. It really deserves, you know, more time. But what I what I will say, is that it's been shown that COVID vaccines have reduced complications and in some cases, death in populations, and like anything else, there are some side effects. There have been some side effects from the COVID vaccine. But when you look at those populations prior to getting the COVID vaccine, there was also things going on. People were also getting sick. People also were getting cardiovascular and neurovascular problems from COVID. People were dying in great numbers. African Americans, Latinos, were dying in greater numbers. And so that's the whole discussion that we have to have about COVID. So many times, I don't that's not my first thing. I just. Gosh, because there's just because Andre, there's just so much layered belief, opinion and fear when you talk about COVID by itself, when you talk about the COVID vaccine, and remember, many of these families have people who were very, very sick from COVID, may still have long COVID, be disabled from COVID, and, in fact, may have had someone who died from COVID, yeah, so I really don't get into that discussion. I don't avoid if someone asks me, but that's something that takes a little bit more

Zandra Polard 10:26
time. Yeah, well, you know, I've people talk to me and they say, you know, this didn't happen to me, you know, before, and since I've gotten the shot, I now have this and that, but they weren't going to the doctor regularly in the first place, right?

Eric 10:39
Yeah, great point. Great point. You know, that's a great point, Don and the thing is, is that we have to understand that we do self care that we mentioned before. We're making sure you don't have sleep, exercise, eating, right, all those sorts of things that reduces your risk for infections and illnesses in general, most things. And most things, yeah, yes. And so we have to, you know, when I talk to people, when we have a conversation, we say, Oh, I don't want to take that medicine. I don't want to take that medicine. I don't want to take insulin, but then I'm eating a high sucrose diet. I'm drinking, you know, 10 to 15 pounds of liquid sugar a year, yes, so we can have it both

Zandra Polard 11:12
ways, right? Wow, that's a lot of sugar. Okay, well, I've tried to reduce my soda intake, so I think that helps a lot. I'm trying to stick to, you know, teas and lemonades. So that's my thing. What's your thing out there? What are you guys doing? You know, check your diet. Write down the things that you're eating and drinking, and just see how maybe you can make some alterations.

Eric 11:33
Can I make a suggestion? Of course, we just had a health fair. One of the things we recommend, recommended. And then Health Fair is three things. Keep it simple. Like to keep things simple. Life is simple, not easy, but it is three things. When you go to your doctor and they generate a lot of numbers, as soon as you walk in, a lot of numbers, your blood pressure, they can take your weight. Those are your three things. Those are your numbers. So you want to know what your numbers are, you want to own your numbers. They're yours. Yes, you weigh that. The weight. There's no conspiracy. The way it is not. It's not a racist. You know, scale. You want to know, you want to own the last you want to control, okay, no, own and control your numbers.

Zandra Polard 12:09
Okay? Like that, blood pressure, it's yours. Yes, all right. Well, that was very valuable. I'm gonna move over to your lovely wife, and we're gonna talk about seniors. We're gonna talk about those golden ages. We've talked many times about perimenopause, menopause. Let's get into it after the menopause. Then we're dealing with Gerontology or geriatrics, right?

Chiquita 12:35
Well, it actually starts before then, before the menopause. Yeah. You know one thing, one thing that I find interesting is the similarities between what Eric just talked about in the younger population and in older adults. So we're going to, instead of referring to older people as seniors, we're going to say older adults. Okay, and that's one of the things that I, as a gerontologist, am an advocate for in terms because language actually impacts how people feel about themselves and how other people feel about them. And so I know you and I had talked earlier about ageism, right? Yes, and realizing research shows that ageism begins in childhood. And so the when you talk about ageism, it's stereotypes, it's discrimination and it's prejudice, right? So the stereotype is what you have in your mind, right? How you see and visualize an older adult, you know, how we imitate them, positively or negatively? Most of the time it's negative. And then the prejudice is how you feel about older people. And then the negative side of that is that we internalize that we internalize that prejudice. So as we grow older, and I always say we because we are all aging right? We internalize that, and it limits us. And the reason why this is an issue, and because the World Health Organization declared ageism as the number one threat to the health and well being of older adults, and that's through health care, that's through social issues such as housing and education and workforce. And I'm sorry I didn't mean to get off topic from your question. I'll get back to that, but I want to give you an give you an example of and also, I want to mention that ageism is the most prevalent and acceptable form of discrimination today. Nobody talks about ageism, and it's

Zandra Polard 14:11
in the reverse too, because I'm guilty, you know, as a parent, you know, tell my kids you know, you don't know. You haven't lived long enough, right? No, that's their feelings. Sometimes Absolutely, because I think I know

Chiquita 14:24
Yeah, because you've lived here longer, which in most cases you do, yeah. But an example is, and this is a recent example of justice, Judge Briar, right at the age of 83 he was actually forced off the bench. It was a lifetime position, and I don't want to get into the politics of it, but there was nothing wrong with him, nothing wrong with him, nothing wrong with his cognitive ability. The man could do his job, but based on his age, he was told to step down. The problem is, nobody thought about nobody cared. Nobody said, Where's the injustice in that? So if you were to take age, take age out of that line, and put in his gender or his religion or his ethnicity, that would be a problem. Right? Because that's the ISM that's not acceptable. Very true, but because of this age, everybody was good with

Zandra Polard 15:04
that. So because, I think most society accepts that, older people accept it, are not able

Chiquita 15:11
or not, and that's the issue, and that is and that is the issue, and that's why, look, I'm on my own personal missions to change that. So everybody that I meet and greet, when I hear them say negative things about older adults or themselves or ourselves as we age, you know, I just, I just correct them, lovingly, correct them that that's not true. You know, don't buy into that.

Zandra Polard 15:30
Awesome. Yeah, well, I've learned a little thing older people, older people,

Chiquita 15:33
older adults, you know? The reality is, Andre not every older adult considers themselves a senior. We have senior centers, right? That's what they're called all over, all over the country, and there are some people who will not go to a senior center, simply because it's called, what a senior center. And they will say, I remember my grandmother telling me that she didn't want to be around a lot of she would call them old people. I don't want to be around a lot of old people. I've heard that several times. Yeah, nobody. Number one, it seems discriminates against themselves more than older people. Yeah, they've been chewing on that for years. So you asked a question about post menopause.

Zandra Polard 16:07
Well, I thought older people began after menopause.

Chiquita 16:12
Well, you know, some women go through menopause earlier in life,

Zandra Polard 16:16
yes, but I want to know, when does it end?

Chiquita 16:19
You know, I wish I could tell you, because I'm not there yet, but, you know, but interesting, and I like what, what Eric said about education and teaching children about how they eat right, their diet and exercise. That is a life perspective. It should be a life perspective, because based on how you take care of yourself as a young person, that will tremendously impact how you live your life as an older adult. Oh, very true, because a lot of the diseases that begin to manifest in childhood through middle adulthood, they just get worse as you get older. That's even if you survive long enough to grow older, and that's why one of the things that I'm advocating is that children be taught the lifespan while they're young, so that they can make better decisions and know what the well, I know

Zandra Polard 17:01
you teach at a college, that's one of the main college courses, is to take a class in some sort of sort of health that deals with the lifespan, right?

Chiquita 17:10
Well, this particular program that I I'm in, it's for workforce development. So I actually put together curriculum for three Gerontology courses. One is caregiving, oh, okay, one is on communication, and the other is wellness in older adults. So in a caregiving course, I'm basically teaching my students, and the student population is made up of traditional age students all the way up to people in their 70s who want to provide care for their spouses or their neighbor or their parents or grandparents. So people take the class for a whole host of reasons, and when I'm teaching them, I'm teaching them from the perspective of wholeness, meaning that you're not teaching this old person, or you're not teaching a senior. Then when you see someone, you see your future self. You know you treat people the way you want to be treated at every stage of life, because that is a huge problem with older adults right now, when they in the healthcare system, for example, not everyone, but they are. They are tremendously marginalized as a people, and that's why I'm an advocate of when older adults, especially go to the doctor, oftentimes they need to take someone with them, you know, someone who could help them and speak on their

Zandra Polard 18:14
behalf. Yeah. So while you're as you're teaching, you're also teaching how to cope maybe with an older person, an older adult, absolutely. What if they have a condition like Alzheimer's or dementia that can be very difficult, and I will believe they need a lot of support and some switching out

Chiquita 18:33
absolutely of help. And that is definitely a part of the curriculum. I spend time teaching about Alzheimer's in all three of those courses, because, as a caregiver, treating someone with Alzheimer's, it almost involves having a special skill. You know, you need a little extra something, extra love, extra patience. Yes, you need a better understanding. You need to understand that as Alzheimer's, which is a form of dementia, right, that as the disease progresses, people change their attitudes, change their behavior changes. So the biggest part of the training is education, because if people know what to expect as the disease progresses, then they learn not to take it personal, and learn how to keep yourself safe and keep the person who you are caring for safe. So

Zandra Polard 19:18
I see like in commercials, because I don't know firsthand, what are some of the symptoms? Because, like, on the commercials, I see, like, you know, quick temperedness, not remembering things. Can you tell us what the actual symptoms are you're talking about for, yeah, actually, or any sort of dementia. Like, what are some things we need to know? Like, Oh, I think maybe my loved one needs to see a

Chiquita 19:41
physician, right? So what you want to look for memory lapses is definitely one of the signs. However, if you all all of a sudden, begin to forget things or become forgetful, that doesn't mean that you have a form of dementia. It's only

Zandra Polard 19:54
to the Yes, because I do that and I realize that I need a little bit more vitamin D to. You know, and whenever I get those episodes, I say, up, I need some vitamin D.

Chiquita 20:05
It's only when the memory lapses impact the quality of your life or your lifestyle, like if you're if you go into room and you forget why you went into that room, but he comes to you right. Eventually you stand. I've done this thing. Okay? Why did I come into this room, you know you forgetting where you forget where you put your keys. That's normal. That's normal aging. But if you I'll give you an example. I was at the grocery store one day, and I came out of the grocery store, I observed a woman, and she was standing there, and she had this puzzled look on her face, and she she was concerned, and just because of what I do and my background, I walked up to her, and I said, You look like you have that. Where did I park my car? Look on your face? And she said, Yes, she didn't even she didn't know where she not only where she parked her car. She was confused. And I asked her if she would trust me to give me her her FOB, you know, so I can go through the parking lot try and try to find her car, which I found it. And then I said, just sit here for a moment. I said, Can I call someone for you? And she said, No, I don't want anybody to know. So I told her, I said, just sit here for a while. It'll come to you. And it did. I drove back up there and she was gone, but that person would need to see a physician. Okay, okay, so that's an example. Behavior changes. If you notice a person's behavior is changing, or if you notice that in communicating, they begin to kind of trail off from the conversation, kind of like they forget, they forget what they were talking about. And oftentimes, and this is true, other people pick up the signs of someone before they do, because if you lovingly bring it to their attention, they may say to you, I don't have any problems with my memory. What are you talking about? And that's why it's important to make notes. Because when you go to the position with this, your loved one or your friend, and you want to explain what you've noticed you've been you need to be able to give, like, the dates, and give specific examples of what's going on with this person. And then that is when they will conduct tests to find out if, indeed, there is anything going on. And what I always tell people, people need to go and be seen. There's a fear, right? A lot of people don't go to the doctor out of fear. They don't want to know. And the assumption is, oh my god, something's going on with my memory. Well, something could be going on with your memory, but it does not have to be dementia, right? There are a lot of other issues that contribute to that. Depression, for example, will greatly impact your memory. A lot of people don't know that. Dehydration, there are other physical you can have a UTI that impacts your memory. So there are medications. It could be a side effect of medication. It could be, as you said earlier, a vitamin deficiency could impact your memory. So you need to go to the doctor so that we can rule out all these other conditions and then find out what indeed is affecting your memory. And so that's the number one defense, just like Eric said with the children, you just have to stay on top of your health. Wellness checks are key. They're critical. A lot of times because of fear or apathy or whatever the reason is, by the time we go to the doctor, we're already mid stage or late stage of whatever is going on. Yes, yes, and that's a problem.

Zandra Polard 22:51
Wow. This was a great show, very informative. I want to thank everyone out there for tuning in. Thank you all for being here. I don't know if you're going to be around, be able to stick around for part two, but if not, if you've missed any portion of this broadcast, you know, you can find it on any major podcast platform, such as Apple, Spotify, Google, I'm there. It's where I am with Zandra. And you know, I'm right here on 91.5 every Saturday at 7:30am thank you for tuning in, and we'll talk to you next week. Oh, and as I promised you, we are going to play Tony Tony tones. It's our anniversary. It is your anniversary. Happy anniversary. Thank you. Thank you.

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